Toxteth über alles

I was in Liverpool yesterday and was taken with the huge changes there have been since I left in 1979.  Then it was synonymous with Militancy and decay, you had to leave to get a job.  Now it is a wonderful viable prosperous "visitor experience".  My Alan Hansen "Match of the Day"  moment of the day was meeting 3 German blokes from Berlin.  "Ost oder West?" fragte ich.  With political correctness they answered that Berlin was a complete city now, but within seconds they betrayed the fact that they were "Ossies" and proudly told me that their team was Union Berlin.  In my mind the English equivalent of Union could be Charlton Athletic.

The comparison would be even more accurate had the Russians annexed and walled south east London and the Secret Police ran Crystal Palace under iron fisted communist rule. However my Charlton/Union Berlin connection was the fan based democracy that exists systematically in Germany Football and acutely in "Cult Clubs" like Union Berlin and until recently St Pauli.  This fan democracy flourished on the English scene in the dark days of the 80's when Mrs Thatcher and her puppet cabinet were planning to destroy/regulate football through ID cards.  The FSA & the Fanzine movement roundly dispelled the myth that football was merely yobs and morons. Charlton at the time were dying with the rest of football but with smart and democratic action, the fans saved a club with no home and returned it to its rightful place  The Valley and Division 1 -  That's the Premier League for those who are going to pay £120 to watch Arsenal v Chelsea at The Emirates today.

Back in 80's I was in Valencia for festival of Music called La Conjuras de la Danzes put on by Radical Records.  NME hack Danny Kelly came along on a junket and told me the story of a trip to Berlin (East naturally, this was the NME.)  Danny got into a deep philisophical debate with some officials from Dynamo Berlin about the rights and wrongs of state intervention in footballing matters. "Surely it's wrong for Dynamo Berlin the state sponsored Stassi football club to enjoy league title after league title."  With impeccable German logic his hosts highlighted their belief that surely the same state intervention occurs in England with the Government ensuring continuous success for Liverpool in order supress the militant sponsored socialist revolutionary turmoils in Liverpool.

Liverpool, the city, has developed long and special relationships with Germany since their largely successful attempts to raise it to the ground. Liverpool Boys, the schools FA respresentative XI for under 16 year olds played a regular annual friendship two leg match with Cologne's equivalent team.  The Liverpool leg was annually played at Penny Lane, which links beautifully into Liverpool's other gift to Germany.  Liverpool gave Germany The Beatles a naive beat troupe in the early sixties and Hamburg returned them months later a wiser, rawer, more commercial, drug fuelled monster ready to be launched on an unexpecting world.  My favourite Scouse-German connection is the growing contingent of German men who come to Liverpool regularly on weekends of Football and nightlife.  Back in the days when the Kop was being rebuilt and was yet to get a roof, I took my Dad - tickets were easy to buy - cheap and available.  We were amazed to meet a group of Borussia Monchengladbach fans over for the weekend. I was waiting for  infamous "longest song in football" zwei vier sechs acht wer wissen wir zu schätzen wissen B O R .......

Which reminds me Hamann was on Scottie Road and went into William Hills for a bet.  Didi?  No, he's working through his gambling addiction now and things are looking a lot better.  (Cymbal Crash)

Changing Times

It is interesting that Tony Adams could not be considered a viable assistant to Harry Redknapp in Redknapp's new role as Tottenham Hotspur manager. It is reported widely that his long connection with Arsenal would make him unemployable at White Hart Lane.

What effect would such rules have had in the football of the post second world war period that saw former Liverpool player Matt Busby take over at Old Trafford. Or Joe Mercer - ex Everton take over at Manchester City.

The track record of former club players in the managment role, bears pale comparison with that of the shameless turncoats, as indeed does the record of less than star players (Wenger, Ferguson Mourinho) against the world class players (Charlton, Robson, Moore).

It would seem that in the day when continuous loyalty (or was it dubious contactual restrictions) was the norm we demanded less of our football people. And now when it is entirely obvious that football is a business unfettered by such kitschy ideals of undying love, we want to threaten abuse and generally destroy those who have the guts to play for two wildly different opposing football clubs. Of course because of this unnatural desire for loyalty we are treated to the ludicrous charade of badge kissing. Whoever kissed the first badge and those who now follow this dubious ritual should be placed in the corner at the Stadium of Light and ritually pelted with coins, bottles and the odd hot pie.

Fergy Boycotts the Press

Sir Alex Ferguson is widely reported to have ceased relations with the press. With BBC long since banished from his acquaintance, I reckon that only Sky and ITV remain his outlets for comment and vitriol. Heaven forbid should World in Action returns or Sky post match interviews actually demand a more challenging line of questioning.

It seems unfortunate that the most successful manager in English football cannot reconcile himself with so much of the media. With the FA, the refereeing Authorities and the media against him and his team, it is some testament to his powers that he and they have won so much. Oh yeah those special powers and Rob Styles.

Rob has cropped up on this blog before. In a climate where football people are calling for consistency, Styles has been the very picture of consistency with penalties given for a variety of similar offences. He just needs to give Arsenal a soft penalty soon to get his Big 4 card marked and he will have a complete set of grateful top 4 managers.

God vs Money Part whatever it is

QPR are presently looking good. Some solid results with equally solid performances to boot. Ancona have started the season without a win in the 3 games so far. So the money route seems to be showing an early turn of pace over God and his footballers.

That said QPR have been trying to play both ends of this fight between divinity and liquidity. Last week saw the signing of Damiano Tomassi. It is some time since Tomassi was considered at his most potent but at 34 years old he represents QPR's flirtation with matters more spiritual than the material. Some time ago whilst coming back from career threatening injury, Tomassi negotiated an "Agent-killing" contract where he settled for an Italian Minimum wage whilst he recovered from a dodgy knee.

Other good works have included the redistribution of football disciplinary fines to needy and worthy causes. None of which has gone unnoticed by his close friends at the Vatican. He seems a pretty good man.

Any way that was all last week, before QPR hit their fans with a £50 sting if they want to come and witness the "more attractive" fixtures for the remainder of the season. That's fifty quid in the posh seats for the better opponents. Needless to say there is uproar. Fans are ready to protest against this shameful exploitation of people with more money than sense. Presumably these are a different set of fans from the one's who have been waiting for and actively expecting Premier League soccer since 1996 when Ray Wilkins sadly sold Les Ferdinand and was never able to fill the huge gap left. In all the protest there is a regrettable belief that rich people somehow have a duty or desire to subsidise the loyal and the needy's dreams.

It's sadly never happened that way and in the new ear of "boutique" football clubs I suspect it is unlikely start up in Shepherd's Bush.

City the Brand

Today the papers are full of details of an 86 page document that will see Manchester City rebranded as "city" and be launched as a brand that will expand like virgin across the middle and far east.

Is it April the 1st?

What a joke.

Old Trafford revisited

I first went to Old Trafford football Ground in 1973 September I think it was. QPR had returned to the top flight for a second crack at greatness and were cast against Manchester United within the first few fixtures of the season. Such a trip was not as onerous as it would be nowadays for a newly promoted side but still United were favourites, they won.

QPR did take the lead with the cheekiest of cheeky goals a Terry Venables free kick specially dinked over the wall to a youthful Gerry Francis who had walked through the defensive wall after pacing out the 10 yards on behalf of the ref. Special moment in a very special ground the start of a history of going to that ground to watch my team, the home team, our national team and also various International teams - I saw Zola play there - another definite highlight. I've been there a lot.

Needless to say I loathe what Manchester United currently represents as the chief launderers of obscene amounts of our money in our game. It's not because I am jealous if I wanted to count trophies I could simply start as a Man U fan tomorrow and buy the T-shirts and merchandise and feed Glazer’s debt. I support QPR and I enjoy that, thank you very much.

So what's this all bout I hear you ask - what are you on about, oh self appointed "King of Football"

Well if you hadn't interrupted I would have told you earlier. I was there this morning at about 11:30 and I was reminiscing about my Gerry Francis goal and reflecting on a variety of things that have happened between that Indian summers day in 1973 and this rainy morning in the borough of Trafford.

I entered the megastore and was taken by the factory style processing of the gathered fans/consumers who where efficiently being parted with their money as they bought tokens and mementoes of their visit to Old Trafford. It felt soulless and cynical it lacked the passion that I associate with football it seemed more Tesco or Asda if anything.

I stood close to some efficient looking characters that had clipboards and earnest looks. I asked an approachable bloke from within the coterie of retail specialists what was happening. “We are just tweaking the store to improve things.” My heart sunk. Scientific principles being applied to modify the machinery, improve the yield, feed the debt.

The young man – a fresh faced stunt double for Nigel Clough – turned out to be a Forest fan. We shared a moment of pain whilst I recalled Clough’s historic hat trick against my beloved QPR at the City Ground in the late 80’s and I left the building, head shaking.

As I headed back to real life, I paused to look at the bronze statue of Best Law and Charlton. Inspiring, truly great players, but also sadly another cynical marketing exercise to create a visitor experience, attract people to the megastore, rinse them of their cash. Encourage them to prove that they are real fans. Feed the debt.

I’m too old, too steeped in the experience of the 70’s 80’s when Football was a deviant behaviour, a grimy joy, cheap and cheerful. Happy days.

The birth of a beautiful club

We return to the subject of "Money versus God" and the concurrent rebirths of both AC Ancona and QPR. You may recall from previous blogs setting up the contest where QPR got Briatore and Ecclestone and Ancona got the Pope. At that point as a veteran fan of the Hoops, I thought that disaster loomed and that Ancona would take the divine intervention and streak away. Money in football is no guarantee of success. Whereas Maradona proved that God can often come in at the most helpful times to save a sinner.

Now nearing the end of the season the picture is fast evolving where money is shifting into the final furlong a length or two to the good. Admittedly Ancona seem set for promotion and Serie B but they were in that slot from the day they kissed the Pope's ring. They have continued in a steady vein since the takeover. QPR on the other hand have dramatically stemmed form that would have guaranteed them a dip into the 3rd Division [old habits sorry] and are now developing a neck complaint looking up the table. All well and good but the true joy of this Lazarus like comeback [Mark, not the biblical one] has been the ability for Briatore to transform the whole fabric of the club, to turn them from a gun toting laughing stock of an operation, to a slick and sensitive club that is going places.

To me it's all marketing but it is just the kind of marketing that a club like QPR needs. The tradition of QPR is very glamorous. Since 1965 QPR have enjoyed some heady times and laced through that recent history have been players of immense skill and personality. The list is endless. No other club can boast a series of number 10's like it. Briatore and his sidekick Amit Bhatia can constantly be heard preaching the gospel of the club traditions and the power and passion of the support. QPR appear rich but they are using their heads not their wallets to build a sustainable viable club. "We are not Chelsea". is the mantra. Who wants to be? You only have to look at the likes of Terry and Lampard and their pay packets to see the poisoness route Chelsea have chosen. Pay packets that appear to all of us as indecent and obscene, but to Frank and John the slip is always half full.

The new kids in Hammersmith will build something unique and precious because that is what that have bought in it's rawest form in the very first place. Exciting days lie ahead. Briatore made Benetton Shops and F1 success out of thin air and just watch him create the greatest football club in the world. You read it hear first.