If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
So what's the cause of this sudden groundswell of exciting Belgian talent? Nowadays on this small island, of course, you can't fall through a turnstile or click on a television set without catching sight of one of their gifted number; a ubiquitous phenomenon exclusive to no region.
Amidst the drama and contrasting emotions of the final day of the Championship season, a curious antithesis between eventually promoted Hull City and play-off bound Watford became apparent.
Roberto Mancini's sacking, is one of the most absurd I've seen in a long time. Ok, so he had money, but that doesn't airbrush over the enormity of his achievements. Before Mancini, City had not won a major trophy in 35 years. By the end of his third season, they had won three.
It's not good enough, though, for these clubs simply survive. Despite both having had relegations in their recent history, they should be well-established Premier League clubs. They now need to make sure this is a one-off, and the mistakes of this season are not repeated.
Ferguson has his place in the history of the game. He will serve as the biggest negative example of how to ruin the previously positive image of a historically-respected football club, making of them a byword for arrogance and the tendency to ride roughshod over the rules and conventions of the game.
The bottom line is that Liverpool at their peak - and it was a hell of a peak - typified all the values of football that some of us remember from a pre-Sky, pre-glitz, pre-greed age when it really was all about a ball. Now, it's all about money, and contracts, and egos, and snide bitching to the media if you don't get all your own way.
Second place and an FA Cup final (with potential win) has been deemed a bad year. We've lost the title of the champions that has led so many teams to up their game to beat us this season. Next season, with some fresh faces and the right mentality we can really take the title race back to them.
The ultimate encouragement for a player to come out, would probably be that there were sufficient other gay peers for it not to be such an issue, or at least enough to be able to offer support. As it stands, that day seems a long way off. If the Premier League is to wait for its own Jason Collins, it may be waiting a very long time.
This season could well prove to be a fascinating crux in players behaving badly. As the stakes in terms of money are raised ever higher, poor disciplined players are going to become greater and greater risks, and with this inevitable stamp down (excuse the pun) on bad challenges, it could be that players turn to Twitter to vent their frustrations rather than seeking out retribution Roy Keane style.
The likes of Alan Shearer, Alan Hanson, Mark Lawrenson, Garth Crooks and Martin Keown do little to help the dwindling cause, providing about as much entertaining and well balanced analysis as you'd expect from a John Terry lecture in to the merits of celibacy.
Flash forward four months and the fabled 'Harry Houdini' effect has failed to materialise. With just five games remaining, QPR are, barring a minor miracle, relegated, now ten points adrift from safety. Some in the media are still not quite ready to let go of their beloved messiah.
It is quite likely over the rest of the season the inability of Manchester United's keeper to deal with corners and the attendant publicity will lead to free-kicks, yellow cards and possibly worse going against West Ham by referees routinely cowed by the bigger clubs.
It was late October in 1863 when Ebenezer Cobb Morley and his contemporaries gathered together in London's Freemason's Tavern, near to where Holborn tube station is today, to establish a code of rules for the regulation of football. Fast forward to today and the modern game is unrecognisable from those humble beginnings. Its global audience has never been bigger with interest in the English game growing year-on-year. With this comes huge expectation, from fans, players, managers and the media...
Paolo Di Canio's first match in charge sees Sunderland head to Stamford Bridge without a win in their last seven games.
This is not a one-year or two-year project at QPR. This is a lifelong commitment. We need a new training ground, a new stadium and a more successful academy. The path in front of us is exciting. With a little bit of luck along the way, I am confident we can fulfil the dreams of the R's supporters over the coming weeks, months and years.
Sunderland fans spent the better half of a decade dreaming of Martin O'Neill being in charge; after just over a year, it's turned into a nightmare. The Northern Irishman's appointment was supposed to be a storybook wedding; it's ended more like a Hollywood one. There's no happy ending here.
