Beautiful Game - my arse

Let's have it right, football is not as good as it was. It is in a constant state of decline since the day it began. With the plethora of live football available to view on telly it becomes more apparent that if you want a guarantee of quality you may better going to see the new Coen brothers film.

Against this backdrop of falling standards and unmet expectations I would like to speak up on behalf of the African Cup of Nations. Far from the turgid moments of recent Euro and World Cup finals I am yet to see a game that didn't excite and raise the pulse rate. Last night Angola showed abandon, joy and a little homage to the stalwart role of the traditional English No.9. Blood and thunder, passion and desire. No balloons in site.

Kevin Cummins the revered Rock photographer is currently in Ghana and posting regular albums of photos on his facebook depicting the sights and flavour of what must be a joy to behold - check them out

"A sign of our elitist supremacy"

When your web browser brings you the words in the headline above, you would be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled into the world of neo-fascism or religious fundamentalism. But as you know this is a site dedicated to the beautiful game and that sort of thing doesn't happen in football any more, well not in the UK.



I have taken this quote from a fabulous site I was directed to by The Guardian. Calm down, calm down this isn't an excursion into the realms of woolly student political liberalism.



Reclaim the Kop is a pressure group charging itself with the task of reintroducing the traditional values of that esteemed standing area behind the goal at Anfield

Have a look at their manifesto, it is a really genuine attempt recreate the spirit of a bygone age, recover the Liverpool Way. It was set up in response to some unsporting chanting at a European fixture by Liverpool Fans. It's a fascinating read.

The question raised in my mind was what is this "Liverpool Way" they talk about. It's enshrined in a 10-point charter [very biblical] and eloquently lays down a code of conduct for the modern day fan. As someone who stood many times on the Kop and on some of those occasions even wanted Liverpool to win I remember the past in a slightly different way, I guess Bobby Hazel may do too. I'm also guessing that the bygone toilet habits, possibly point 11 that didn't make the cut, were dropped for reasons of hygiene

That said, good luck to RTK, their values are admirable and anything that improves the atmosphere should be encouraged, which gladly Rick Parry and his merry men are. In time The RTK may even want to reassess their sense of elitism when they realise that in the land of the fans there is no hierarchy, if you love your club and you love the game, we are all brothers (and sisters too) unless of course you support Manchester United that is.

Never Go Back

What a delightful notion that Kevin Keegan can become the Newcastle United manager in January 2008 with his track record and having been out of the mainstream of football so long.

It gives hope to those people who send in letters of application for random Manager's jobs that become available.- Both my brothers have unsuccessfully applied for the England job in the past. The FA's rebuttal polite, swift and negative. My only vicarious link to the England managership has been horrendous trouble with the inland revenue.

That said. Keegan like Capello is a stroke of genius, watch Newcastle mount a serious revival, Keegan is pure magic and his effect on the Toon originally, Fulham and Man City subsequently is unique and has never been equalled by any other manager in my recollection.

I once bumped into Keegan and his trusty sidekick Arthur Cox at Hartshead Moor Services on the M62 one late Wednesday evening back in August 2003. The two football men were returning from a reserve game in Sunderland. Kev was sheepish, I'm a lot taller than he is and I guess you never truly get over a Baseball batting incident. I congratulated him on his ability to transform City from a Club of intense self pity to a genuine big club with European Football coming up [OK it was a while ago]. He took it in good faith and went on his way with enough confectionery for an entire team bus - which was actually returning separately from the senior management team.

Good Luck to Kev and a plague on the nay sayers. Here's to Football and the true spirit of our game, lost long since.

Harry Plotter & the Sour Grapes

It is reported that Harry Redknapp said this regarding the recent appointment of Fabio Capello as the new England manager.


I would suggest that of all the English Candidates for the post he was top of the list. What he has achieved in his managerial career in the Premiership has been nothing short of miraculous, He is a genuine soccer hero. On the basis of his belief that England manager is all about tactics and motivation I suggest he may have overlooked Capello's ability to win things in a variety of locations foreign and home based. He is a sure fire winner and will definitely win something with England.



Harry seems to think that motivation can only be delivered by English managers, that tactically english tactics beat foreign tactics. Wake up and watch the England teams I've been watching since 1966, falling at the semi-final hurdle or undone earlier by foreign tacticians. Hiddink openly laughed at the England tactics after the defeat in Moscow, a surprising post match tactic from one, normally so respectful in his colleagues. If foreigners don't do motivation and tactics why was John Terry so keen for Mourinho to pick up the chalice



Capello is out of the top drawer and Harry - our best candidate - isn't. But really he doesn't seem to understand international management either and sadly will never get that opportunity. I'd suggest the Ireland job but I would imagine the money wouldn't be enough.

A thankless task

After a few days reflection I am moved to spare a thought for those poor folk who last week saw the writing on the wall for the England national side. From George Cohen to Alan Green the general feeling was England had blown it. The wisdom of going public with their condemnation of the nation was loud and certain. Now the outlook seems very different

Now after a weekend of results that put qualification back at the feet of tonight's starting XI, the dissenters are quiet. Possibly tonight's scoreline might vindicate their farsighted proniouncements

What I guess is slightly disappointing is that for anyone with any or many years of experience of football the possible outcome of Saturday in Tel Aviv were not even considered. Football journalism tends to get a really bad name and the laziness of this particular episode it easy to understand why.

Under New Management - 1

In the last month there have been two football clubs who have changed ownership/direction and there is something in these changes that has caught my eye. One, QPR, a club so close to my heart it used to hurt, and the Other Ancona the Italian Serie C club.

There are striking similarities in the two clubs in that there is enough in both of their histories to believe that they are either 3rd raters who struck lucky and made it to the big time or they are genuine contenders for the elite leagues in their respective countries. The answer is somewhere in between I guess.

Either way they are both under new regimes setting out with exciting agendas to change their current plight. It struck me as an interesting exercise to plot their respective paths as they move along their chosen paths. Ancona have gone for the rather historic and mystical approach of God and Fair Play while QPR the more modern and worldly tack of money and marketing.

Over the next 12 months let's look at what happens and the consequence of this exciting experiment in sports club management.

You've either got or you haven't got.......

Okay, so it's official, Rob Styles is rubbish - he shamelessly conspired to destroy Liverpool's season, before it even began and that is a crime of the highest magnitude. Well possibly less magnitude than spoiling the season for Man U or Chelsea, but still a biggy, nonetheless.

As all football people will tell you, it is the issue of consistency with refereeing, that is paramount. So it seems timely to remind those callers for consistency, to remember another diabolical decision at the start of last season. Cast your minds back to a lunge by Chris Morgan - minimal contact, if any, on Stephen Gerrard at Bramhall Lane on August 16 2006. Penalty given and dispatched : 1 point each for Liverpool and The Blades instead of 3 to Neil Warnock's lads.

In the dying embers of the opening day fixture of 2006-2007 season, Liverpool "won" a penalty which could well have saved us all a summer of legal action and sour grapes. I am struggling now to find any comment from Rafa Benitez about the ludicrous decision. So I'm presuming he accepted it, with enough grace to suggest he should have done the same after the non penalty against Chelsea.

I suppose we demand consistency in our refs but not in our responses to good and misfortune. I guess that's football for you.

Oh and the ref at Bramhall Lane that day when Liverpool received the gift of 1 point .

Go on guess click here