I don’t think cheating is good or shouldn’t be punished. It should. Not really sure how you can do this though… perhaps France could request a replay and really confuse FIFA etc??
However…
There is no way that there can be a replay – because that will open the door for every game that turns on a dodgy incident to be replayed as well.
Also, we really live in cloud cuckoo land if we think that other Irish players haven’t cheated before.
However, it did get a great press conference out of Roy Keane.
Again, the BIG injustice was the seeding. That was scandalous. FIFA/UEFA should have nasty things done to them for that.
Get Platini and Blatter to comment on that. The Henry handball is utterly insignificant in comparison.
This is what makes football interesting… controversy.
If you follow me on twitter then you might have an idea of what I think about this last night… basically I do know that it is gutting to lose from a goal that shouldn’t have been allowed. It was handball in the buildup and in a perfect world Henry should have stopped and held his hand up. However, he’s not going to and nor would any of the Irish team. Nor the English team. Nor Liverpool or Manure or Chelski. Or even Wolves. If anyone is at fault it is the referee, linesman and FIFA – football should have video technology in use for controversial decisions.
This ridiculous view that only foreigners dive or cheat doesn’t even deserve a response. Get a life if you think that.
I couldn’t listen to the test match this morning as I was in a meeting in Cheltenham (I say meeting, I really mean out for a coffee). To be honest, I genuinely dreaded listening as I thought that the Aussies would make the total. So to walk into a big shopping mall in Cheltenham and see on Sky that we’d won was a great relief.
So great that I treated myself to some DVDs from HMV.
Little Miss Sunshine – £3
Ghostbusters 2 – £3
Most impressive – The Ashes 2005 series victory. 3 DVD boxset……….. wait for it……… £3
Already watched the Edgbaston Test from 2005…. now that was real tension.
As for the coffee…. ordered a decaf for my third coffee of the morning – and got a caffeine fix. That lasted until late afternoon. To be fair, I only paid for one of them so I shouldn’t grumble.
I’m not sure that I’m the only one who grew to be totally sick and tired of hearing how all Man Utd needed to do last night was to turn up and they’d be European Champions… so I was thrilled to see Barca outplay them with fabulous football. Makes you realised just how good Spain are going to be at next years World Cup as well unfortunately for England.
However, I’m more interested in how Barcelona are run.
The club is owned by its fans and not a single owner who at any minute could pull the plug and destroy the club
The club is not sponsored by anyone – they PAY money to Unicef for them to be on their shirts
We thoroughly deserve it and I don’t care if we’re already favourites to go down (13/8 apparently) it’ll be worth it. For what its worth I think we’ll stay up (I would though wouldn’t I) for a few reasons which I’ll list below. Before you get there though – read THIS ARTICLE on the official Wolves website which continues to explain my great confidence.
1. We have a great chairman with a bit of cash, but more importantly with a lot of sense who likes to buy young hungry players with a point to prove.Our CEO is phenomenal and crucial to our current success.
2. We have a good manager who on the whole has bought good players that have improved with us.
3. There are several Premier League clubs going out of business slowly. They have owners with no sense, and debts that make bank managers edgy. We are currently debt free and making a profit.
Anyway, as with all Champ Man. fans, I’m simply looking forward to the summer transfer speculation as there will be plenty of ridiculous stuff in all the papers every day.
Terrible organisation meant a late start but I got off well – the heat was always going to make things really difficult, but I started to really struggle at about the 8 mile mark. By the 11 mile mark I was really hurting, 12 miles I had lost the will to ever run anywhere ever again, and at the finish I collapsed over the line and didn’t get up for 15 mins.
Time… nowhere near my pb of 1:45 – I think I came in around the 2 hour mark, but I’ll get the exact time later this week. I’ll post some photos when they get passed on to me.
Worst moment… walking past a photographer at about 11miles who gave me a cheeky grin and took a photo. Hopefully I won’t be the “tired runner” in the Echo tomorrow…
Did my last long run today before next Sunday’s marathon… I ran the whole course in just under 2 hours, which I was well pleased with. I’ll run loads faster next Sunday I reckon…
Don’t forget to give me some money… all cash raised goes to the Potters Village
The Tewkesbury Half Marathon is coming up quickly… my training isn’t going too badly – I’ve got my usual bout of shin splints though which just makes it all painful. So far I’ve done some long jogs in Florida (too hot!) and around here – did about 10 miles yesterday which was all fine until the heavens opened twice and I got completely soaked. This resulted in 2 nice blisters and an early arrival home (was hoping to do about 12miles).
More importantly, I’m going to run to raise money for the Potters Village in Kisoro, Uganda (see pic below or click on my Flikr link)
I’m asking all those who read my blog to feel free to contribute to this… I don’t have a fancy website set up for fundraising so you can either email me or leave a comment with your amount! Also, if I break my PB of 1:45 from last year i’m asking for an extra £2 on top which gives me some extra motivation!!
As Hitchmo has put the enemy’s match report up, I thought that I should really put the truth about yesterdays game.
Fact – we lost 6-1
1-1 at half time… I only played the last 20mins, by which time we were 4-1 down. Jon Hills played a blinder with a hattrick – flukey corner, reasonably good second followed by a dodgy penalty . Being the good sport that I am, I have to congratulate the winners…
My biggest moan is with the fact that we couldn’t play at “Bishops Cleeve Stadium” and had to make do with a rubbish pitch with no tunnel and changing rooms like a prison cell. Still, like the Murphys I’m not bitter.
Oh, yeah, we DID steal all the chips and sausages afterwards!!!
I’ve been thinking… I don’t support a Premier League team (and sadly am unlikely to for a good while barring a miracle) and I generally just hope for teams to lose (especially Bolton, Tottenham and Middlesborough). I’ve also wished that Man Utd would lose on most occasions… until recently. I’ve suddenly realised that I actually quite like them… and here’s why:
1. They are keeping the England team afloat (Wes Brown aside as he is totally useless)
2. Ronaldo is really one of the best players EVER in the game (he dives as much as lots of ENGLISH players)
3. They play good attacking football
I do feel like I’m confessing some kind of sin though… my first ever football shirt was a Liverpool “Crown Paints” top as my grandmother supported them. I need to pull myself together… I need to spend time with more smug Man Utd fans to reignite my hatred.
I would still love it if Arsenal could overtake them in the league…
The good contenders don’t want the job (Curbishley and Allardyce)
The rest AREN’T good enough.
No top club will take a risk on English managers BECAUSE they aren’t good enough. Capello wins leagues in his first season in charge in different countries. So does Mourinho. Why? Because they are better trained and better equipped to do the job than Curbishley or McClaren. They had to earn their way up the ladder. We give jobs to half decent players (Robson and Southgate are 2 examples) who aren’t proven or ready to manage.
English managers need to learn better management and coaching skills from our friends abroad. They need to learn more languages. They need to not be in such a rush to get top jobs and earn their apprenticeship properly – see Martin O’Neil for an example as he was at Wycombe and Leicester for over a decade.
We need to radically change how we train and teach our coaches, and our players. I’m sick to death of people moaning about having a foreign this and that. The fact that we haven’t got anyone good enough should make us rethink.
I think he’s a good choice (now that Jose isn’t coming). He’s talked about as the hard man in football, unafraid to make difficult decisions, a winner, and a disciplinarian.
No wonder Terry and Lampard are already bigging him up in the press…
To be honest, I’m not that surprised. We’ve got a bunch of players who really believe their own hype. And a manager/coach that didn’t work out how to get them playing for them. Compare them to Scotland who have not got anything near the talent that England have (kenny miller v michael owen etc). They care about their national team. They play with passion and pride. They have good team tactics and a good manager who can bring a team of individuals together.
However, there is a bigger problem than just Steve McClaren or even the team of players. The problem is the Premier League. It doesn’t care two hoots about the national team. It is the best and most successful league in the world which means that it is a magnet for all the best players and coaches. Sadly this doesn’t give our managers and young players chance to develop because instant success is what is required. Also, none of our top players go abroad because the money is best here in England. And they’ve not got the balls to give it a go. We can slag Beckham off all we like but he succeeded in Spain and did his best to change the game last night. At least he cares.
A few other things. Steven Gerrard is NOT the best midfielder in the world. We don’t have world class players (defined by being class on the world stage). The best thing that we can do now is get either Martin ONeil in or Mourinho and give out a 3 year contract (till end of World cup 2010). And hope that there are significant changes in the FA.
Good ol’ Freddy.
I always knew we’d do it again some day 
To finish 7th on goal difference (1 worse than Watford) is galling.
After 
To be honest, I’m not that surprised. We’ve got a bunch of players who really believe their own hype. And a manager/coach that didn’t work out how to get them playing for them. Compare them to Scotland who have not got anything near the talent that England have (kenny miller v michael owen etc). They care about their national team. They play with passion and pride. They have good team tactics and a good manager who can bring a team of individuals together.