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A Lesson From History
Liverpool fans - isn't it a pain the arse when you get punished for the bad behaviour of other team's supporters?
Nick, Cheadle
Predictable Scousers
Although I won't be able to see it through the grey, northern cloud which will fog my view tomorrow morning, I will know that the sun has risen. Equally, I will also know that as I shower and dress Liverpool fans everywhere will be munching their cornflakes and pondering why they are so often perceived as self-obsessed whingers. Those Scousers who regularly find themselves wrestling with this eternal conundrum might want to consider some of the comments which emanated from their official representatives yesterday.
To be quite frank I could have written this email long before a word was uttered by those who claim to speak on behalf of Liverpool supporters. As soon as UEFA's admirable decision to punish Atletico Madrid for the despicable actions of their fans during the game against Marseille I knew that the reaction of their opponents a week on Wednesday would not be one of solidarity over the matter, but instead a collective, self-righteous moan about how the authorities "don't care about the fans".
Admittedly, I would be frustrated at having to change my travel plans in the way fans are being asked to in this case, but is that really too much to ask to back a punishment which is aimed at clamping down on racism in the European game? Despite what some supporters clubs seem to think, fans are not the only people involved in the game of football and although Fernando Torres seems to relish the prospect of playing in a stadium which could well ring to the sound of monkey chants I'm not so sure all his team-mates will feel the same.
William Gaillard has already stated that UEFA is looking to provide supporters with any help they can and, if they have any sense, those planning to attend the match will have booked using a credit card or obtained some form of insurance meaning they face little or no financial loss.
This, combined with the fact that the sanctions imposed on the Spanish side are the heaviest ever levied by UEFA for such an incident, makes Spirit of Shankly spokesman Jay McKenna's belief that "Atletico Madrid are not being punished here, it us" seem simply moronic.
It's time Mr McKenna and his fellow Liverpool fans realised that when Shankly uttered those oft quoted words about football and life and death, he was joking.
Will Stevens, Rainy, Dirty Leeds
A Maverick Idea
In the debate about who's to play on the left for England against Belarus, there's one name that people are forgetting. Let's go through the other candidates first....
Downing? No - if you're rubbish against Andorra, then there's not much hope for you Barry? No - needed as defensive midfielder Bridge? No - needed at left back (I have an aversion to Klingons) SWP? No - one footed and can't pass the ball to a teammate Gerrard? No - too undisciplined to play out there Rooney? No - playing too well in the middle I'm running out of names here.
Heskey? No - playing too well in the middle. Can you believe Sven used to play him out wide?
Young? No - not in the squad. What's all that about?
So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the solution to this short term left sided problem. Why don't we pick Jermaine Jenas? He is in the squad.
Check if you don't believe me. And (I'm lowering my voice as I say this) he didn't look too bad on the left when he came on as a sub against Croatia and set up Rooney's goal.
You know it makes sense.
Steve Mills
Some People Really Will Find Racism Anywhere
Let's see here. If its not racism, then why is Ashley Cole widely considered a "pariah" by English football fans and media, yet Wayne Rooney is considered the "saviour"?
Ashley Cole agreed to $60,000 per week with Arsenal. Then Arsenal turn around and piss in his face by offering him $55,000 per week. Remember now, Cole was Arsenal's only English product of their academy and arguably the best full back in the world. So he goes behind their back and negotiates with Chelsea where he eventually transferred too.
Wayne Rooney wore the infamous "Once a Blue Always a Blue" t-shirt, then he engineered an acrimonious departure by handing in a transfer request. Also, let's not forget David Moyes successfully sued Rooney for making up spurious lies that Moyes leaked confidential conversations between the.
Ashley Cole supposedly cheated on his wife. Wayne Rooney supposedly cheated on his fiance.
Wayne Rooney has been guilty on numerous occasions of running around the pitch like a bloodthirsty thug trying to break an opponent's legs. Ashley Cole does nothing of the sort.
Ashley Cole often "dives" to win a free-kick. Wayne Rooney often "dives" to win a free kick.
Ashley Cole was once seen acting like a petulant child whilst showing utter contempt for a referee. Wayne Rooney almost always acts like a petulant child berating referees with way over-the-top swearing and abuse.
Ashley Cole rarely makes a mistake for England and he usually plays well for England. Wayne Rooney was crap for about 3 years for England until he recently had a few good games (one of them against Kazakhstan).
Was Rooney ever booed by England fans s after another pathetic effort from him missed the target during his 3 year scoring drought? NO, but Ashley Cole gets booed for one mistake that meant nothing to the result of the match.
It goes beyond this though. Why is Ashley Cole widely considered a "despicable human-being?"
Why is Wayne Rooney not widely considered a despicable human being? Arsenal crapped on Ashley Cole. Wayne Rooney crapped on Everton. Yet Ashley Cole is the worst human being in the world and that vile thug Rooney receives no such abuse?
Good ol' fashioned English Racism is still alive and kicking.
Michael in Miami (Editor and other mailers, don't bother mentioning that Lampard is booed - Lampard has played crap for England for as long as Rooney - Lampard and Rooney are equally deserving of boos - Cole simply isn't)
Football Mirrors Society
The comments on this site & elsewhere about football chants, be they racist, homophobic miss one crucial point. what was once regarded as acceptable can change with the times.
For a group of fans that grew up watching" Love thy neighbour" I am very proud of the way football was at the forefront of tearing down racial barriers in the 80's. My club can't take the moral high ground often but for all their sins, Birmingham was one of the first clubs to really stamp out racism & the push for that came from the fans, as a result of living in a progressive, multi cultural city. Similar for WBA thinking about it & to a lesser extent Villa.
This is why people are conflicted with homophobic chants, it is still in a cross-over stage. In the next 10 years it will be regarded as unacceptable as some of the shouts from the terrace we routinely heard a few years back.
Ian (anti fascist skinhead, '82) Dawson, BCFC, Brooklyn
Idiot
Reference Sam Williams, London. What an idiot.
He writes in to discuss the poor atmosphere at Wembley stating it feels empty and distant yet he has never been! His email also rambles on that the Emirates is so great but only because he has been loads of times. Umm maybe if you went to Wembley a few times you would actually enjoy the atmosphere much the same you enjoy the Emirates now you have been.
Seriously though, you cannot compare atmospheres of club grounds with Wembley mainly because of the size. Most huge grounds have a worse atmosphere than smaller grounds due to the closeness and with less people you are more likely to have the same thoughts and feelings which add to the atmosphere.
I have been to Wembley for every home game bar Saturday and the Czech game and if you sit in the lower tier of the SE corner * you will have a great atmosphere as this area is for real fans only although gaily called the "Singing section". Yes it does have the band near by but don't let this put you off. At least you can chant your favourite songs without having the fear of kids or corporate types being offended and create a more club like atmosphere.
Just a thought before you go criticizing something you know nothing about. I bet your next email is about how boobs are crap.
Jack Dudley
*I have just looked at the FA website and realized they have moved the "Singing section" to the other end of the ground and the SE corner are is now the away fans? Hang on; have I been with the away fans all this time? Makes sense with great singing and booing of England.........
P.S.I only booed A.Cole because he gives left backs (the world's greatest position) a bad name.
What A Banker
I was half way through writing a response to "Matt the Banker" and his views on corporate boxes single handedly saving International football, when I realised that he must surely be a David Brent-esque parody of everything that is wrong with corporate fans.
His in his letter he meanders from being a working class boy made good (he used to slum it on the terraces but now goes corporate), to a corporate big wig who rubs shoulders with the FA head, and finds him to be a "numpty."
I assume that this Banking persona supports Chelsea, or more likely, lives in Chelsea and supports Man Utd.
Andy, Luton
Carra Had The Right Idea
So far in the last few days I have seen:
- an England player roundly booed for an errant pass (loads of people)
- Beckham called "waste of space" despite his assists because "anyone can cross a ball when the full-back is too tired to stand" (Collins)
- Theo Walcott called piss-poor (a hat-trick hero about a month ago away to the then-dreaded Croatia, recall, Neil?)
- Gerrard now swapped in for blame when it was not too long ago that FFL was the focal point for the Ingerland fan's insatiable need to abuse (everyone)
- Wayne Bridge suggested as a good left back replacement for Cole (Wicken)
- Rooney is now a national hero again (that swung, didn't it? - everyone)
- even the stadium itself blamed (Sam Williams)
England won 5-1, right? Did I get that scoreline correct? But it wasn't Germany, it wasn't in Munich and it wasn't wall-to-wall entertainment, so it was crap.
For sheer entertainment in the F365 mailbox on Thursday morning, here's hoping for a 0-0 draw with Belarus...
Well done Carragher for ditching that lot.
Scott, LFC, Toronto
Rio
So Rio is horrified at what a circus the World Cup was, is he? And he apparently loves the new professional approach from Capello. As a result, the media are now fawning over Rio, saying how mature he is and what a great leader blah blah blah.
What a load of rubbish. Why did noone ask Rio whether he has been merked recently? Arranged any club Christmas parties where you bus in local girls? Kicked a hoarding or injured any fans? Made any homophobic comments on national radio?
He is right about the WAGS, but to act as if he was not part of that squad and was just a horrified onlooker is so ridiculous as to be quite funny.
And then he goes and misses the point about the England approach to tournaments, by saying they need to be more withdrawn so they can "focus". The whole problem with this generation of players is that they are completely separated from the fans. What would make great sense in South Africa is if the England team don't book out an entire hotel, if they don't hide themselves away from the fans and the locals. And instead of appearing with their bodyguards to go to designer shops with their WAGS, why not try engaging with the local community in a productive way - training sessions, autograph sessions, visiting schools etc. That is how they would get the most out of the experience and also reconnect with their fans.
But don't worry, Rio, because I'm sure JT (as the press love to call our captain fantastic) will show you all the right way to behave...just keep him away from the disabled parking spaces.
Nick
...I've just read Rio Ferdinand's most recent press conference and it left me wondering why this guy isn't England captain. Fair enough there are many who dislike him for one reason or another and he's had a few mishaps in the past. But hasn't he made sure that he has improved tenfold both as a player and a man. He's also the kind of guy who the kids can relate to as well.
He can string two sentences together and actually talks sensibly and his words have value to them. Whenever I hear him speak nowadays he gives me the impression of a guy who the kids can look up to. Someone who thinks about more than what to spend his next pay check on.
He brings attention to the racism in football issue in the right way with sensible comments and he even gives some insight into the world's of both Cappello and Fergie in his most recent interview that's over and above the usual worthless sound bites we get from pro footballers.
As we all know the captaincy is something of an outmoded role on the pitch nowadays. Tactical decisions are made by the manager and players shouldn't need geeing up from a captain in the midst of an international game. His only worthwhile role is as a figurehead for the team and nation and as a worthwhile role model for the youngsters to look up to and emulate. Terry fails in every one of these categories. Rio is a better player, a better person and a much better candidate for the England captaincy, and this is the opinion of a Liverpool fan.
Sean Kelly
More On Salary Caps
There is a lot of s**te flying round at the moment about salary caps etc and the impending credit crunch in the league. People have been writing in to suggest that we follow other sports and use some of their rules. The 2 that do the rounds are Rugby League and American Football and the fact that they have salary caps. There is one fundamental difference why we can't follow these 2 sports. In Rugby League there are only 2 professional leagues in the world and American Football there is only 1 (easy to implement). Football has professional leagues in just about every country in the world!
The line that gets trotted out is only let clubs spend a percentage of turnover on wages. As has been pointed out on more than 1 occasion there is already an informal agreement between the G14 (or however many it is now) to restrict spending on wages to 75%. I'm all for enforcing it more but there is already a clear mandate from the clubs themselves that something had to be done.
"Follow American Football" is always the one that makes me laugh the most though. They have a fully integrated system over there whereby the shittest teams are allowed to pick the best college players first. So even if you are shit you know that next year you will get the pick of the best players. Unfortunately we don't have that kind of integration with our Universities (or funding) over here and would be impossible to implement.
Considering America is supposed to be the land of the free the league rules are extremely restrictive. A couple of examples of this are that if the league has a sponsorship deal with Coca Cola or Nike for example the clubs are not allowed to negotiate their own deals with Pepsi or Reebok. They have to follow and sell the league sponsor products. All sounds good and means that every team gets an equal share of the dosh!
There is just one stumbling block for us to implement this - IT'S AGAINST EU LAW!!!
Tim (other than that, let's go for it) Collins
...To Simon the Canadian. I look at what you've written, and while the premise for making changes to match the American sports league model is good in its intentions, I have to point out just how flawed it is.
My main point against it is this:
To try and even out competition you suggest a salary cap based on a percentage of the club's annual turnover. Now I'm not sure but I think Manchester United's annual earnings dwarf the likes of say Hull or some such 'smaller' club. How then will this make much difference? It doesn't bridge the gap between clubs in the EPL as those that can offer bigger wages can still offer bigger wages (comparatively) than the smaller clubs - because their wage budget is still considerably larger (probably about 3x so). Even worse it would mean that players just move abroad to where the do$h is. How is that beneficial? 'Oh but it benefits grass roots football' I hear you exclaim. Not when no one wants to play in England because the only players left in the league are the drabs that couldn't get a contract for a club abroad.
I don't even want to think about this trading players rubbish, what's wrong with trading them for cash/loaning? Next you'll be asking for coupons! I just can't see how this would benefit anyone at all.
Stop sprouting your idealist piffle. I am so fed up with these 'let's radicalize football types' - not just directed at you Simon. You only have to look at the standard of the football in the MLS to see just how much 'good' it's doing for them.
Next it'll be multiball and blindfolding the bigger teams to give the little guy a chance. Well if money is such a big factor for success in football, explain Tottenham...
Matt Score, /rant
The Inevitable Sol Retorts
GP, London - I'm afraid I have to disagree with your comment that Sol Campbell's transfer to Arsenal is similar to Flamini's move to Milan. Really, it's a hybrid of the Cole & Flamini sagas, with an extra twist. He ran his contract down at his boyhood club, despite being offered £80k a week to stay, which is £20k more a week than Ashley Cole was offered by Arsenal several years later. Then he left for nothing, and went to the one club he said he would never join, during his "My blood runs white and blue" speech. So, imagine Ashley Cole coming up through the Arsenal ranks, and then leaving on a Bosman to Tottenham after saying how much he loved Arsenal for several years, and you might be somewhere close. And Cole wasn't your club captain.
James (Still bitter, but would never sing THAT song) Woodhead, Spurs
...GP, for the record Sol Campbell wasnt a free agent. He walked out on the club after going bonkers (allegedly), was tolerated, accomodated and came back to ruin Senderos' confidence and career (how bright does that look now.) He played in the CL final and then asked if he could be released from the last year of his contract so that he could play overseas. He then turned up at Pompey. So not like Flamini at all then. Flamini refused a contract, played out his existing contract with more commitment than anyone else on the team and then left for more money than we would ever pay him. Thats why we love and respect him. Sol quit on the team (allegedly), disrupted the dressing room (allegedly) and then lied and deceived the club (allegedly). That why hes a nob.
Although, in fairness to Sol, he has achieved the rare double. Has there ever been a player who both Gooners and Spuds hate equally ????(that played for them bot, i mean. I suspect we hate Maradona and Ronaldo equally).
Mark (allegedly) Johnson
Jimmy: Too Lovely
With all this talk of the disloyal, uninterested and greedy "modern footballers" (especially those that play for England), I think Jimmy Bullard should never play for England. His far too nice a fellow. He needs to start abusing the disabled, demanding 80k a week and take a few diving lessons at the very least before Capello considers him for the subs bench. At the very least he should syndicate an autobiography where he discusses cheating on his wife and spitting at referees (a granny mugging could do the trick too!)
Tom, Ireland
