Friday, 10 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Don't fight me on this
Millions of people every year take pleasure and enjoyment out of seeing sporting events live or on television. The drama of a late goal in the Premier League, a perfectly executed overtaking in Formula One and a brilliant hook shot in cricket that goes for a six.
But what you won’t hear on a regular basis is somebody saying “Did you see the match last night, when he jumped off from the top rope, it was amazing!” You’re now probably wondering what on earth I’m talking about.
For those who did understand that, well done. But if you didn’t I will let you know now, that I was making a reference to professional wrestling.
Many people’s knowledge about wrestling is limited. Knowing Hulk Hogan and The Rock is far as it goes. During the mid 1990s, wrestling made its way into mainstream television programming. With edgy characters and close to fatal matches, it became popular for all ages. But recently it has faded away again.
Before you start thinking about jacked up, tanned meatheads supposedly fighting, having battle royals (a match where the object is to throw your opponent over the top rope), I want you to stop and listen. I am not ignorant to the point that there are many people who believe wrestling, on the face of it, is a complete farce. They don’t actually punch each other and they always know who will win beforehand. That does not take away from the athletic ability that these wrestlers have. It seems as if sometimes wrestlers get a Raw deal.
All wrestlers partake in years of training and preparation in order to perform safely the moves and acts in the squared-circle and sell the manoeuvres they do, in order to create the illusion of pain. The athletes’ safety is the most important thing of all. These men and women take this career very seriously. so saying that the whole thing is “fake” is a huge insult to them. The competitors having a rough idea what will happen is sensible and reduces the risk of serious injury.
There are times when people say “it’s fake”. When I hear this I always show them a clip of one grappler being thrown 20ft to the floor, where there is no padding; it is just concrete he lands on. How on earth can you fake that? The fact is, you can’t. It’s a huge risk the men decide to take in order to create a crowd pop (a positive crowd reaction) and entertain.
That being said, there are far fewer injuries in professional wrestling than boxing, but most see that a far more respectable sport because the fighters actually bludgeon each other relentlessly for the enjoyment of blood-thirsty fans.
Other than watching someone getting a Smackdown put on them to entertain. With impressive feats of strength and bravery, high-flying stunts and stunning technical ability, all wrapped up in a well-planned slick pyrotechnics routine, it’s all there for the fans. Wrestlers create characters that convey hope, or make you hate them. This formula to make wrestling more entertaining was spearheaded by the WWE (formally the WWF), who re-formatted the profession to make it appeal to a wider audience.
One of the company’s most appealing workers is John Cena. His clean cut, never-give up attitude has made him incredibly popular with young fans, despite his occasional lack of basic wrestling ability. John Cena generates a huge amount of revenue for the WWE, through merchandise sales, I myself, own a bright orange John Cena t-shirt. This goes back to a real common theme in all sport now days. It’s a business, main purpose to make as much money as possible.
More recently, the WWE has tried to take a softer approach to physical combat. They have done this by disallowing weapon shots to the head, for instance. As a company, they have made vast improvements to healthcare and conditioning too. Back in the 1970s, if a performer couldn’t wrestle they didn’t get paid.
Until recently performers were expected to carry out ridiculous stunts with no compensation to themselves or their families if they were seriously hurt.
In May 1999, Canadian grappler Owen Hart died after an entrance stunt went wrong. He was being lowered by harness and wire to the ring from the arena rafters, when the clip holding him released early. He fell 78ft and landed on the top rope before being bounced into the centre of the ring. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead on arrival from internal bleeding. Many believe he actually died in the ring. Owen Hart was 34.
Nowadays, every wrestler has health insurance as part of their contracts, and clauses that ensure safety. This has made wrestling easier to watch for children and parents who are worried about what their children watch.
It has been made more exciting and accessible for children through more childish gimmicks escape from the seemingly brutal bouts of old. These gimmicks are sometimes tiresome, but that can be forgiven when you think about how good the rest of the show is.
I love professional wrestling and I always will. The fact that you never know what might happen next, whether a superstar will hit their finishing move or tap-out to a painful submission, it really does captivate me. I am always trying to get my friends and family to take more of an active interest.
So, I want to ask the people who think that wrestling isn’t a sport, what on earth is it then?
The answer I would suggest is, that it’s “sports entertainment”.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
And the winner is...
Congratulations Sepp Blatter and the rest of the FIFA executives for once again showing that you really don’t have a clue. You claim to have the best interests of international football at the heart of your organisation, or should I say idiotic circus.
I say this, of course, because England failed to get the 2018 World Cup. Instead Russia succeeded in their seemly half-baked bid.
Football is an international phenomenon. Excitement, finesse, money and the big stars, it has it all. So that is why I was bitterly disappointed when it was announced that football was not coming home.
In order for a country to get voted to host a tournament, they have usually got to get 13 votes from the 25 delegates of FIFA. This year was different, thanks to the Sunday Times newspaper uncovering certain officials clearly offering to sell their votes for the right bribe, the number was cut to 22. Meaning 12 votes were needed.
Those in charge of the voting, look as if they haven’t had any physical exercise in the last 15 years, let alone kicked a football. So why on earth do they get to make the most important decision in Football? It should be left to people who really love the game. Not businessmen with ever-expanding waistbands and receding hairlines. They get to make the decisions of the games future, when most of them won’t be here to see it, in particular Mr Blatter.
I have criticised him in the past, and this time is no different. Why are people so surprised by him? This is a man who is so scared of the future that he continues to reject the use of goal-line technology. But that is a subject for another time.
He infuriated many, including myself by patronising England. “England is the motherland of Football” is what the confused pensioner said when describing the host candidates. Another thing that has angered the masses is the fact that the vast majority of the FIFA delegates admitted openly, that England had an excellent bid.
There are those who are blaming BBC’s Panorama for tarnishing and damaging England’s chances of having the 2018 World Cup. The programme made huge accusations against the Vice President of FIFA. Did this effect the decision? Who knows?
What has annoyed a lot of people is that there are many reports circulating that Russia knew they had won the bid 24 hours before the announcement was made. Was this because certain Russians gave the big wigs of FIFA a vast amount of Rubles to bulk up their already bulging pockets?
One of Sepp’s main goals is to take Football around the world. That is why in 2002 South Korea and Japan had the honour. And in 2006 FIFA apparently unified Germany. Then this year, South Africa hosted the biggest event in world Football. To this point I am not surprised that the oldies at Zurich choose Qatar to host the 2022 event. I think Sepp Blatter really does want a Nobel Prize for bringing Football to the entire world, but I thought Football was already everywhere.
Two things about Qatar I find interesting. 1) Possibly the only word in the English language which has a Q that isn’t followed by a U. 2) It’s a country with a population of on 2 million people.
So how on earth are they going to be able to deal with the extra people and build 11 new stadiums up to regulations, with a history of bad work conditions?
I know that I have asked a lot of questions, but hey, someone has to ask the blatantly obvious questions. As it seems those in charge totally missed them.
I say this, of course, because England failed to get the 2018 World Cup. Instead Russia succeeded in their seemly half-baked bid.
Football is an international phenomenon. Excitement, finesse, money and the big stars, it has it all. So that is why I was bitterly disappointed when it was announced that football was not coming home.
In order for a country to get voted to host a tournament, they have usually got to get 13 votes from the 25 delegates of FIFA. This year was different, thanks to the Sunday Times newspaper uncovering certain officials clearly offering to sell their votes for the right bribe, the number was cut to 22. Meaning 12 votes were needed.
Those in charge of the voting, look as if they haven’t had any physical exercise in the last 15 years, let alone kicked a football. So why on earth do they get to make the most important decision in Football? It should be left to people who really love the game. Not businessmen with ever-expanding waistbands and receding hairlines. They get to make the decisions of the games future, when most of them won’t be here to see it, in particular Mr Blatter.
I have criticised him in the past, and this time is no different. Why are people so surprised by him? This is a man who is so scared of the future that he continues to reject the use of goal-line technology. But that is a subject for another time.
He infuriated many, including myself by patronising England. “England is the motherland of Football” is what the confused pensioner said when describing the host candidates. Another thing that has angered the masses is the fact that the vast majority of the FIFA delegates admitted openly, that England had an excellent bid.
There are those who are blaming BBC’s Panorama for tarnishing and damaging England’s chances of having the 2018 World Cup. The programme made huge accusations against the Vice President of FIFA. Did this effect the decision? Who knows?
What has annoyed a lot of people is that there are many reports circulating that Russia knew they had won the bid 24 hours before the announcement was made. Was this because certain Russians gave the big wigs of FIFA a vast amount of Rubles to bulk up their already bulging pockets?
One of Sepp’s main goals is to take Football around the world. That is why in 2002 South Korea and Japan had the honour. And in 2006 FIFA apparently unified Germany. Then this year, South Africa hosted the biggest event in world Football. To this point I am not surprised that the oldies at Zurich choose Qatar to host the 2022 event. I think Sepp Blatter really does want a Nobel Prize for bringing Football to the entire world, but I thought Football was already everywhere.
Two things about Qatar I find interesting. 1) Possibly the only word in the English language which has a Q that isn’t followed by a U. 2) It’s a country with a population of on 2 million people.
So how on earth are they going to be able to deal with the extra people and build 11 new stadiums up to regulations, with a history of bad work conditions?
I know that I have asked a lot of questions, but hey, someone has to ask the blatantly obvious questions. As it seems those in charge totally missed them.
Friday, 3 December 2010
What I did. What I learnt. What I could of done better.
Since September 2010, I have learnt a wide range of new skill and how to use different tools in order to crate content for all multimedia formats.
These include: Television, Radio, Print and online.
In television we had Sean Walsh taking the lectures. We were taught about the importance of pronouncing names and locations correctly, how to plan and carry out a location shoot how to carry out a vox pop interview and how to use Adobe Premier Pro. We also had some time in the live television studio practicing our broadcasting.
In TV classes I feel I was very confident using the editing software and presence in front of a camera. Though I was not particularly strong on gain vox pop footage.
Radio classes were taken with Martin Fletcher; in his sessions we had time in the radio studio and learnt how to write a story for radio from a press release.
I enjoyed the studio time, but I do need work on slowing down my speech and pronunciation of words.
Steve Miller took the print lectures. We were taught how to write for print copy and how to use in design for page layouts.
I enjoyed using InDesign; having previous experience on Quarke express I picked it up quickly. Places for improvements are to be able to cut down on how long it take me to make a point, by making my articles more streamlined.
The fourth part of the multimedia unit was online, taught by Simon Clarke. He asked up to set up a blog on blogger.com and set up a twitter account. We learnt how to re-format images for use on the Internet. Using uploading websites like sound cloud was also a part of this unit.
The online section was interesting and I enjoyed learning how to use different software. However, I still need to learn how to use photo shop and regularly update my blog.
These include: Television, Radio, Print and online.
In television we had Sean Walsh taking the lectures. We were taught about the importance of pronouncing names and locations correctly, how to plan and carry out a location shoot how to carry out a vox pop interview and how to use Adobe Premier Pro. We also had some time in the live television studio practicing our broadcasting.
In TV classes I feel I was very confident using the editing software and presence in front of a camera. Though I was not particularly strong on gain vox pop footage.
Radio classes were taken with Martin Fletcher; in his sessions we had time in the radio studio and learnt how to write a story for radio from a press release.
I enjoyed the studio time, but I do need work on slowing down my speech and pronunciation of words.
Steve Miller took the print lectures. We were taught how to write for print copy and how to use in design for page layouts.
I enjoyed using InDesign; having previous experience on Quarke express I picked it up quickly. Places for improvements are to be able to cut down on how long it take me to make a point, by making my articles more streamlined.
The fourth part of the multimedia unit was online, taught by Simon Clarke. He asked up to set up a blog on blogger.com and set up a twitter account. We learnt how to re-format images for use on the Internet. Using uploading websites like sound cloud was also a part of this unit.
The online section was interesting and I enjoyed learning how to use different software. However, I still need to learn how to use photo shop and regularly update my blog.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Match Report
England was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw against Montenegro at Wembley Stadium.
The England team were expected plant themselves on top of the qualifying group for Euro 2012.
After a vastly disappointing World Cup, the national squad wanted to start restoring faith in the international game with another win on the road to the 2012 tournament.
The reality of the situation is that England failed to record a victory.
The open few minutes were very positive. Peter Crouch had an opportunity to put the ahead early on, if only he had got a touch to a very inviting ball, things would have been very different.
The first half passed by without much incident, but a lot of idea. Sadly the ideas had poor execution and we failed to take the lead.
The first 30 minutes was a tale of two Johnson's. The incompetence of Glen Johnson's ability to pass the ball forwards was more annoying than the fact that England hadn't scored. However, the Brightest star on the field was without a doubt, Adam Johnson, who constantly bamboozled the Montenegro defense, with bursts of pace and quick turns, was still creating the best of England's best opportunities. Towards the end of the half Adam had a very good opportunity to score from a 35-yard free kick. His shot sailing just wide of the goalkeeper and the post. This was England’s best opportunity of the half.
Throughout the first half, the referee, Manuel Grafe was making a number of suspect decisions concerning fouls and bookings. The ref was constantly missing the fact that both teams on the pitch were cheating to gain an advantage. He was also failing to spot when England should of had a number of decisions given their way.
England managed to subdue any attack that the Montenegro team tried to mount.
The second half began with more attempted progress from the England team, still with no avail. With words of the manager Fabio Capello, still probably ringing in their ears, the men in white and blue started the half far more positively than the first half.
Wayne Rooney looked as if he had a point to prove in his road to redemption. Peter Crouch was trying to show everyone that he is strong enough to play up front, and Glen Johnson was still unable to pass the ball forward affectively. There were a couple of opportunities for the England team as they pushed for the opening goal. Rooney was twice denied by Montenegro's goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic determination to get a result for his country.
The match aside, the German referee continued to make a catalogue of bad calls. Booking players after bad challenges, when they should have been sent off (one of which being Wayne Ronney).
A lot has been said about the effectiveness of Mr. Capello's tactical decisions in the past, he brought on Shaun Wright-Phillips and Kevin Davies for Ashley Young and Peter Crouch. Bolton's Kevin Davies at the age of 33, finally received his first England cap. An interesting side note was that Davies is the oldest England’s debutant for 60 years.
The second substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips. All he did in his short time on the pitch was run with the ball, try to knock it round the opponent, loose the ball and end up face down on the grass.
Towards the end of the contest England were robbed of a legitimate penalty opportunity as Jovanovic clearly used his bicep to control the ball in order to clear a dangerous cross from Ashley Cole. The frantic appeals of the England players were waved away by both the ref and his linesman, who was only 32 yards away, with an unobstructed view.
The bad luck for England almost meant that they lost the game, when the same player who handled in the box, volleyed left footed onto Joe Hart's crossbar. Young Hart was clearly beaten and if Montenegro had scored, that would of lead to a disastrous time for English Football, fortunately this was not the case.
So the game ended with England not conceding a goal but also failing to score against apparently inferior opponents. This leaves England lying in second placed in the group, behind Montenegro, with a game in hand.
In essence, the game was average, the play was poor and the refereeing was appalling.
The England team were expected plant themselves on top of the qualifying group for Euro 2012.
After a vastly disappointing World Cup, the national squad wanted to start restoring faith in the international game with another win on the road to the 2012 tournament.
The reality of the situation is that England failed to record a victory.
The open few minutes were very positive. Peter Crouch had an opportunity to put the ahead early on, if only he had got a touch to a very inviting ball, things would have been very different.
The first half passed by without much incident, but a lot of idea. Sadly the ideas had poor execution and we failed to take the lead.
The first 30 minutes was a tale of two Johnson's. The incompetence of Glen Johnson's ability to pass the ball forwards was more annoying than the fact that England hadn't scored. However, the Brightest star on the field was without a doubt, Adam Johnson, who constantly bamboozled the Montenegro defense, with bursts of pace and quick turns, was still creating the best of England's best opportunities. Towards the end of the half Adam had a very good opportunity to score from a 35-yard free kick. His shot sailing just wide of the goalkeeper and the post. This was England’s best opportunity of the half.
Throughout the first half, the referee, Manuel Grafe was making a number of suspect decisions concerning fouls and bookings. The ref was constantly missing the fact that both teams on the pitch were cheating to gain an advantage. He was also failing to spot when England should of had a number of decisions given their way.
England managed to subdue any attack that the Montenegro team tried to mount.
The second half began with more attempted progress from the England team, still with no avail. With words of the manager Fabio Capello, still probably ringing in their ears, the men in white and blue started the half far more positively than the first half.
Wayne Rooney looked as if he had a point to prove in his road to redemption. Peter Crouch was trying to show everyone that he is strong enough to play up front, and Glen Johnson was still unable to pass the ball forward affectively. There were a couple of opportunities for the England team as they pushed for the opening goal. Rooney was twice denied by Montenegro's goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic determination to get a result for his country.
The match aside, the German referee continued to make a catalogue of bad calls. Booking players after bad challenges, when they should have been sent off (one of which being Wayne Ronney).
A lot has been said about the effectiveness of Mr. Capello's tactical decisions in the past, he brought on Shaun Wright-Phillips and Kevin Davies for Ashley Young and Peter Crouch. Bolton's Kevin Davies at the age of 33, finally received his first England cap. An interesting side note was that Davies is the oldest England’s debutant for 60 years.
The second substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips. All he did in his short time on the pitch was run with the ball, try to knock it round the opponent, loose the ball and end up face down on the grass.
Towards the end of the contest England were robbed of a legitimate penalty opportunity as Jovanovic clearly used his bicep to control the ball in order to clear a dangerous cross from Ashley Cole. The frantic appeals of the England players were waved away by both the ref and his linesman, who was only 32 yards away, with an unobstructed view.
The bad luck for England almost meant that they lost the game, when the same player who handled in the box, volleyed left footed onto Joe Hart's crossbar. Young Hart was clearly beaten and if Montenegro had scored, that would of lead to a disastrous time for English Football, fortunately this was not the case.
So the game ended with England not conceding a goal but also failing to score against apparently inferior opponents. This leaves England lying in second placed in the group, behind Montenegro, with a game in hand.
In essence, the game was average, the play was poor and the refereeing was appalling.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
What was going on! England vs. Montenegro.
Right, there are a few things in life that I expect when I approach every day. The birds singing in the morning, the poor television programming of the Jeremy Kyle Show, the sun rising from the west and England beating Montenegro after 90 minutes of Football. I can safely say that 3 out of these 4 things happened yesterday.
Incase you didn't know, England drew with Montenegro at Wembley Stadium.
Before the match begin, I will admit that I thought that the England team would beat their opponents easily, thus planting themselves on top of the qualifying group for Euro 2012.
After a vastly disappointing World Cup, I was hoping that the national squad would continue to restore my faith in the international game with another win on the road to the 2012 tournament.
The reality of the situation is that England failed to record a victory.
I watched the game with a group of peers, talking about past experiences when watching the Three Lions. We were all enthusiastic about the game ahead and I yelled, "Come on England!" as the kick off took place. The open few minutes were very positive. Peter Crouch had an opportunity to put the ahead early on, if only he had got a touch to a very inviting ball, things would have been very different.
The game passed by without much incident, but a lot of idea. Sadly the ideas had poor execution and we failed to take the lead. The match continued as the fans frustrations continued to manifest into slight anger.
The first 30 minutes was a tale of two Johnson's. The incompetence of Glen Johnson's ability to pass the ball forwards was more annoying than the fact that England hadn't scored. However, the Brightest star on the field was without a doubt, Adam Johnson, who constantly bamboozled the Montenegro defense, with bursts of pace and quick turns, was still creating the best of England's best opportunities. Towards the end of the half Adam had a very good opportunity to score from a 35-yard free kick. His shot sailing just wide of the goalkeeper and the post. This was England’s best opportunity of the half.
Throughout the first half, the referee, Manuel Grafe was making a number of suspect decisions concerning fouls and bookings. The ref was constantly missing the fact that both teams on the pitch were cheating to gain an advantage. He was also failing to spot when England should of had a number of decisions given their way.
Despite this England managed to subdue any attack that the Montenegro team tried to mount. This was a pleasing sight, as there was a not a lot to report in attacking terms.
As the half time whistle blow, there were many moans and groans from many fans in the stadium, and from the venue where I was watching the match.
The Half time interval passed very quickly, and I still had hope that we would be able to salvage a good result out of this mediocre situation.
The second half began with more attempted progress from the England team, still with no avail. With words of the manager Fabio Capello, still probably ringing in their ears, the men in white and blue started the half far more positively than the first half.
Wayne Rooney looked as if he had a point to prove in his road to redemption. Peter Crouch was trying to show everyone that he is strong enough to play up front, and Glen Johnson was still unable to pass the ball forward affectively. There were a couple of opportunities for the England team as they pushed for the opening goal. Rooney was twice denied by Montenegro's goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic determination to get a result for his country. I will admit that seeing these chances gave me great encouragement in the ability of the Englishmen.
The match aside, the German referee continued to make a catalogue of bad calls. Booking players after bad challenges, when they should have been sent off (one of which being Wayne Ronney). If he wanted to make the English spectators angry, he was doing an excellent job in doing so.
A lot has been said about the effectiveness of Mr. Capello's tactical decisions in the past, but I have to commend him on his decision to bring on Shaun Wright-Phillips and Kevin Davies for Ashley Young and Peter Crouch. I commend him for his intestinal fortitude but I do not agree with the decisions. Bolton's Kevin Davies at the age of 33, finally received his first England cap. An interesting side note was that Davies is the oldest England’s debutant for 60 years. My problem with Davies was that, why bring on a player that has never had experience at international level, as a way of saving face.
The second substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips, only has one tool in his football repertoire that is running in a straight line and losing possession cheaply. I understand that there are many injuries in the professional game, and that many players are unavailable for selection. But is Wright-Phillips really a good swap for Ashley Young, or anyone for that matter? The answer is, “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” All he did in his short time on the pitch was run with the ball, try to knock it round the opponent, loose the ball and end up face down on the grass. I think I’ll stop this short moan at him to move on to the rest of the match.
Towards the end of the contest England were robbed of a legitimate penalty opportunity as Jovanovic clearly used his bicep to control the ball in order to clear a dangerous cross from Ashley Cole. The frantic appeals of the England players were waved away by both the ref and his linesman, who was only 32 yards away, with an unobstructed view.
The bad luck for England almost meant that they lost the game, when the same player who handled in the box, volleyed left footed onto Joe Hart's crossbar. Young Hart was clearly beaten and if Montenegro had scored, that would of lead to a disastrous time for English Football, fortunately this was not the case, however, the reality was not much better.
So the game ended with England not conceding a goal but also failing to score against apparently inferior opponents. This leaves England lying in second placed in the group, behind Montenegro, with a game in hand.
In essence, the game was average, the play was poor and the refereeing was appalling.
Things have to get better, please!
Incase you didn't know, England drew with Montenegro at Wembley Stadium.
Before the match begin, I will admit that I thought that the England team would beat their opponents easily, thus planting themselves on top of the qualifying group for Euro 2012.
After a vastly disappointing World Cup, I was hoping that the national squad would continue to restore my faith in the international game with another win on the road to the 2012 tournament.
The reality of the situation is that England failed to record a victory.
I watched the game with a group of peers, talking about past experiences when watching the Three Lions. We were all enthusiastic about the game ahead and I yelled, "Come on England!" as the kick off took place. The open few minutes were very positive. Peter Crouch had an opportunity to put the ahead early on, if only he had got a touch to a very inviting ball, things would have been very different.
The game passed by without much incident, but a lot of idea. Sadly the ideas had poor execution and we failed to take the lead. The match continued as the fans frustrations continued to manifest into slight anger.
The first 30 minutes was a tale of two Johnson's. The incompetence of Glen Johnson's ability to pass the ball forwards was more annoying than the fact that England hadn't scored. However, the Brightest star on the field was without a doubt, Adam Johnson, who constantly bamboozled the Montenegro defense, with bursts of pace and quick turns, was still creating the best of England's best opportunities. Towards the end of the half Adam had a very good opportunity to score from a 35-yard free kick. His shot sailing just wide of the goalkeeper and the post. This was England’s best opportunity of the half.
Throughout the first half, the referee, Manuel Grafe was making a number of suspect decisions concerning fouls and bookings. The ref was constantly missing the fact that both teams on the pitch were cheating to gain an advantage. He was also failing to spot when England should of had a number of decisions given their way.
Despite this England managed to subdue any attack that the Montenegro team tried to mount. This was a pleasing sight, as there was a not a lot to report in attacking terms.
As the half time whistle blow, there were many moans and groans from many fans in the stadium, and from the venue where I was watching the match.
The Half time interval passed very quickly, and I still had hope that we would be able to salvage a good result out of this mediocre situation.
The second half began with more attempted progress from the England team, still with no avail. With words of the manager Fabio Capello, still probably ringing in their ears, the men in white and blue started the half far more positively than the first half.
Wayne Rooney looked as if he had a point to prove in his road to redemption. Peter Crouch was trying to show everyone that he is strong enough to play up front, and Glen Johnson was still unable to pass the ball forward affectively. There were a couple of opportunities for the England team as they pushed for the opening goal. Rooney was twice denied by Montenegro's goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic determination to get a result for his country. I will admit that seeing these chances gave me great encouragement in the ability of the Englishmen.
The match aside, the German referee continued to make a catalogue of bad calls. Booking players after bad challenges, when they should have been sent off (one of which being Wayne Ronney). If he wanted to make the English spectators angry, he was doing an excellent job in doing so.
A lot has been said about the effectiveness of Mr. Capello's tactical decisions in the past, but I have to commend him on his decision to bring on Shaun Wright-Phillips and Kevin Davies for Ashley Young and Peter Crouch. I commend him for his intestinal fortitude but I do not agree with the decisions. Bolton's Kevin Davies at the age of 33, finally received his first England cap. An interesting side note was that Davies is the oldest England’s debutant for 60 years. My problem with Davies was that, why bring on a player that has never had experience at international level, as a way of saving face.
The second substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips, only has one tool in his football repertoire that is running in a straight line and losing possession cheaply. I understand that there are many injuries in the professional game, and that many players are unavailable for selection. But is Wright-Phillips really a good swap for Ashley Young, or anyone for that matter? The answer is, “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” All he did in his short time on the pitch was run with the ball, try to knock it round the opponent, loose the ball and end up face down on the grass. I think I’ll stop this short moan at him to move on to the rest of the match.
Towards the end of the contest England were robbed of a legitimate penalty opportunity as Jovanovic clearly used his bicep to control the ball in order to clear a dangerous cross from Ashley Cole. The frantic appeals of the England players were waved away by both the ref and his linesman, who was only 32 yards away, with an unobstructed view.
The bad luck for England almost meant that they lost the game, when the same player who handled in the box, volleyed left footed onto Joe Hart's crossbar. Young Hart was clearly beaten and if Montenegro had scored, that would of lead to a disastrous time for English Football, fortunately this was not the case, however, the reality was not much better.
So the game ended with England not conceding a goal but also failing to score against apparently inferior opponents. This leaves England lying in second placed in the group, behind Montenegro, with a game in hand.
In essence, the game was average, the play was poor and the refereeing was appalling.
Things have to get better, please!
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Football 26/9/2010 - What has changed?
O.K then, lets review, the games that took place today were:
Bolton vs Manchester United
Wolves vs Aston Villa
Newcastle vs Stoke
Looking at today's fixtures got me thinking, are there going to be any big upsets today? considering the results of yesterdays games (Chelsea and Arsenal losing being the most notable), anything could possibly happen.
So lets take a look at the results:
Bolton played a hard battle in order to earn the a point against Manchester United.
Bolton 2 - 2 Manchester United
Knight 6, Petrov 67 Nani 23, Owen 74
Aston Villa took the lead in the first half. Then were on the back foot against Wolves, after they scored in the second half. But scored with just minutes to go Villa scored to take all three points.
Wolves 1 - 2 Aston Villa
Jarvis 61 Downing 25, Heskey 88
Finally,
After taking a first half lead Newcastle suffered the misfortune of conceding a late own goal, gifting Stoke the win.
Newcastle 1 - 2 Stoke
Nolan (pen) 43 Jones 67, Perch (og) 85
After seeing two of England's more experienced international players on the score sheet, I started to wonder what the new Villa new boss Gerard Houllier must be thinking. It must seem as if nothing has changed in English Football since he left Liverpool in 2004, having both Michael Owen and Emile Heskey score on the same day, which of course is good to see.
What will be next, David Beckham resigning for Manchester United...
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
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I'm the Famous Warrior. I am studying sports journalism and have set up this area to express my opinions and thoughts about current sporting event.
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Famous Warrior.
I'm the Famous Warrior. I am studying sports journalism and have set up this area to express my opinions and thoughts about current sporting event.
Please enjoy, all feedback is welcome,
Famous Warrior.
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