FERGUSON GOES AT LAST.

Oh My God ! He's going, at last !

 

Given the amount of news coverage, anyone would think that the Queen had abdicated though it's actually just a football manager retiring. Admittedly Alex Ferguson has been a hugely successful manager over a period of many years but he's still just a football club manager; in the real world, he's nobody.

 

Ferguson is responsible for manufacturing a single product, his team, and even that has been assembled through the availability of vast amounts of money from others; Ferguson hasn't had to spend any of his own substantial wealth on this project. That his retirement should be accompanied by the type of eulogising normally reserved for people of genuine standing demonstrates just how much football has become so ridiculously overvalued in our society.

 

Ferguson has his supporters but, from what I've seen, heard and read about his frequent outbursts, I'm not one of them. His behaviour towards others in the game and his sometimes appalling treatment of match officials have no place within any sport. Many may mourn his departure, but I'll be cheering all the way.

 

FA UNFAIR TO SUAREZ, SAYS HIS BOSS.

The appalling and disgusting behaviour of Liverpool's Luis Suarez has been matched by the utterly self-serving responses from a number of other footballng figures.

 

Among others, the Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, has expressed his unhappiness with the punishment handed out by the FA for Suarez's actions. A 10-match ban, says Rodgers, is punishment "against the man rather than the incident". He's gone on to add the "We have a punishment with no intention of helping behaviour". What planet this moron lives on is open to debate but I suggest it's one inhabited by those whose entire world is ruled by football and footballers, rather than one in which the rest of society lives.

 

Suarez was not guilty of making a bad tackle and nor was he provoked into throwing a punch; he very deliberately and wholly gratuitously took hold of an opponent's arm and bit it. Shockingly, this was not the first time he's done such a thing and his previous punishment was a 7-match ban. Subsequent to that incident, he was found guilty of 'racially abusing' an opponent, an offence for which he received an 8-match ban. Along the way, he seems to have been more than happy to cheat, Maradonna-style, by using his hands in the penalty area.

 

For Rodgers and others to claim that the FA is now being 'unfair' is risible. Suarez has more than enough 'previous' to demonstrate that fines and talkings-to have no effect; of course the FA is punishing him, it was, after all, he who perpetrated his disgusting action and to suggest that the offender and the offence can somehow be separated and treated differently is incomprehensible. It is also a natural course for second and subsequent offences to be punished more harshly than the first and this is what the FA has done.

 

The behaviour of Suarez was a shocking disgrace and, in my view, he should be banned for good. The behaviour of those such as his manager in claiming that his actions were pretty minor and not worthy of serious punishment sends a message to younger supporters that this type of violence is acceptable; how long will it be before little Jimmy takes a lump out of the arm of young Bobby in the local park ? When Jimmy tells his dad that he only did what Suarez did and it wasn't really serious, what will his dad say ? What will Bobby's dad say when Jimmy's dad tells him it wasn't serious and he should forget it ?

 

Football may be our principal national sport but it's not beyond the laws of the country nor the morality of society, even if many of its players and representatives believe it to be so. It is time for proper action to be taken to correct this flawed view.

ANIMAL SUAREZ MUST BE BANNED

Fottball reached a new low point yesterday when the Liverpool player, Luis Suarez, tokk a bite out of the arm of one of his Chelsea opponents, Branislav Ivanovic. That this is not the first time Suarez has acted in this way makes it all the more shocking.

 

After the incident, the reaction from TV pundits was mixed with one, the former Liverpool player Alan Hansen, effectively saying that while Suarez behaviour was wrong, no one had really been hurt and doing anything serious about it would be excessive. How he could suggest 'brushing the act under the carpet' in such cavalier fashion escapes me.

 

Suarez behaviour was disgusting and bestial. He may be a very clever player but behaviour such as his cannot be excused or ignored and it certainly needs much greater sanction than an apology broadcast over 'Twitter'. If Liverpool FC have any claims to run a decent club, Suarez should never play for them again. If football as a whole wishes to be seen as anything but organised warfare, Suarez should also be ostracized by clubs worldwide and FIFA should ban him from all competition for a substantial period of time.

 

That none of this will happen is my only expectation. Football, and players like Suarez, are considered far too important for any normal standards of human behaviour to apply. While referees 'book' players for 'diving', acts like those of Suarez are well beyond the ability of anyone in the footballing hierarchy to deal with. No wonder that our children, many of whom worship animals such as Suarez, are so out of control.

TIGER WOODS IS A LUCKY MAN.

In the past, sport was something enjoyed by young men, and rarely by young women, of means; it was an amateur pastime and was played for enojoyment and prestige.

 

Today is very different. Most sports have been 'professionalised' and are now played with money in mind. The way in which they are played, the rules and the the prizes are all determined by financial considerations. Consequently some sports, though certainly not all, have been corrupted and are no longer played in a sportsmanlike manner; cheating has become a normal part of the 'game' in some instances. The prime example has to be football in which the rules seem to be ignored most of the time, particularly those relating to the direct interactions between players. Cricket, too, is no longer played in the gentlemanly manner that it was in my youth and players will happily get away with anything they can.

 

Today, we've seen two instances of rule breaches in different sports which seem to have been treated very differently. In the Formula 1 Grand Prix qualifying round in China, the Red Bull driver Mark Webber, recognized as being one of the top drivers around, ran out of fuel; as the adjudicators monitor the fuel to ensure it is within prescribed standards, Webber failed to provide a sample and suffered the full penalty for his offence. He will start from last place in the race tomorrow. In the 'Masters' golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, Tiger Woods not only played a shot from an incorrect position but also returned an incorrect score; both of these are offences, the first having a standard penalty of 2 shots and the second of mandatory disqualification. At the discretion of the stewards, only the first has been applied, though the full story may not yet have been told.

 

In Formula 1, the stewards chose to be very hard on Webber, a man for whom little seems to go right; the rules are the rules. In Golf, a sport in which adherence to the rules is usually paramount, the stewards have chosen to be somewhat picky about which rules to follow. In fact, as more details are revealed, it seems that they may even have done their damnest to avoid doing anything in support of 'their man'. Woods clearly played from the wrong place and yet the rules official on the course said nothing; Woods reportedly told officials in the scoring hut what he had done and they did nothing. It was not until he told the press and public that the officials took any notice. Now they have done as little as they can; a 2 shot penalty but no disqualification.

 

There can be no doubt that what Woods did was wrong but it seems that he actually did all that he reasonably could have done to ensure that the officials knew exactly what had happened; it appears that he is not to blame for this debacle. Nonetheless, and I acknowledge that I do not like the man one little bit, he should have sought proper advice on the course and should have been disqualified for returning an inaccurate card. That he is happily playing the third round as I write tells me that the officials in Augusta have bowed to the financial and nationalistic pressures on them by allowing Woods to continue, albeit with a stroke penalty.

 

I had thought that golf was one of sports that was immune to corruption but now I begin to wonder. When money and, in the particular case of the USA, national pride are considered of over-riding importance, how can we be sure that adjudications on the application of the rules will be fair and just ? The simple answer is that we cannot.

MURRAY WINS BATTLE OF ERRORS.

Yesterday saw Andy Murray rise to number 2 in the world tennis rankings after his win over David Ferrer in Florida. At one point during the match a commentator remarked that Murray would become the second best player in the world as a consequence of a victory, something which is, of course, nothing to do with official rankings.

 

Murray's win was, at best, messy and lucky. The match was horribly scrappy with both players perpetrating huge numbers of unforced errors; it was anything but a match between 2 of the supposedly best players in the world. That the points gained from his win move him above Roger Federer in the official ATP rankings means only that he has gained more points over the last 12 months than the Swiss; it does not mean that he is a better player.

 

In fact, Murray continues to be a serious disappointment. His pained demeanour throughout yesterday's match contrasted hugely with that of his opponent and it also contrasts vastly with the usual positive and upbeat demeanours of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. Murray may be the number 2 ranked player in the world but he is far from being the second best. Djokovic is the best and Nadal probably number 2; on his day, Federer is still number 3 and Murray is vying for 4th spot with the likes of Ferrer and Del Potro.

 

Neither ranking points nor the excessive enthusiasm of commentators can change this.

SIX NATIONS' GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE.

The penultimate round of matches in the 2013 Six Nations' Championship produced results which left the ultimate destination of the Championship, Triple Crown, Grand Slam and wooden spoon all in the balance.

 

Match 1 was Scotland v Wales. This turned out to be a horribly messy game, punctuated by a vast number of penalty kicks, apparently a record for any international match. Wales were the better side and deserved winners, mainly courtesy of the one try of the match. Their 28-18 victory was a third win in a row and gave them plenty of reason to believe that they could still win the Championship with a sufficient victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in their final match.

Up next was Ireland v France; this was another untidy game but played in awful weather. In the first half, France looking generally unhappy and were unable to apply much real pressure to their opponents; Ireland had most of the game but didn't often threaten the French line. In the second half, France were a different team although still not on top of their game. Ireland suffered several injuries which must have affected their ultimate performance, and they failed to score any points in the second half. France brought the scores level with a deserved try and that was the final result, 13 all. In the end, the main difference between the sides was that, while Ireland converted their penalties, France missed theirs. Neither could claim to have been at their best.

 

Finally, England entertained Italy on Sunday at a very cold Twickenham. Early pressure brought a penalty and quick lead for England who were totally dominant for first 15 minutes; they nearly had a try for Brown after a charge down. However, after this initial period, England found it impossible to make any real progress against a determined Italian defence, until a second penalty kicked by Flood.

Italy hit back with a penalty of their own, though England still dominated and came close to a try after 25 minutes when Flood was held up on the line. Italy lost a man to the bin after 30 minutes but England failed to capitalise; 2 more penalties were all they achieved to reach half-time at 12-3.

 

Italy started 2nd half brightly but England soon had another penalty converted by Flood. Italy quickly cancelled this out and followed it up with the only try of the match after a horrible miskick by Care; this made it 15-11 and 'game on'. Italy now dominated possession and caused England great problems. Orquera missed both his conversion attempt and a further penalty, otherwise Italy would have had the lead within the hour. Assorted substitutions were followed by English pressure which brought another penalty kicked by Flood. Italy continued to give as good as they got; sustained pressure almost brought another try but ended with a knock on, adjudged by the referee but disputed by the linesman. England ended defiantly rather than anything else with an 18-11 victory that was barely deserved.

The weekend's matches ended with the previously dominant England very much on the back foot while the Welsh had their tails very much up. Scotland and Ireland appeared to be going backwards, though the French appeared to be on an upward path, at least in the second half of their match. The real winners of the weekend were, though, the Italians, whose performance at Twickenham deserved more than another defeat. The last round of matches could yet throw up some real surprises; England can still seal a first 'Grand Slam' for 10 years, though Wales may be a tough nut to crack and can still win the Championship. Any of Ireland, France and Italy can still pick up the wooden spoon and, with Italy entertaining the Irish in Rome and France probably desperate for a win over Scotland in Paris, that particular 'prize' may well go down to the last kick of the last match at arround 21:45 on Saturday.

COMPTON CENTURY EMULATES GRANDFATHER

A few years ago I had the joyful experience of being able to watch Hutton and Compton batting together. Not, sadly, the original Len and Denis, but their grandsons, Ben and Nick who were both playing for Middlesex at the time. Both lads seemed full of promise but Ben's career never took off and he eventually suffered a terminal decline in form which led to an early retirement from the game. However, Nick prospered and I was fortunate enough to see him score a century at Lord's, the scene of so much of his grandfather's great career.

 

As happens rather too often, Compton then expereicned injury and a loss of form. He left Middlesex and journeyed to Somerset where he has re-established himself as a fine player; not just that, but he has become one of the very best batsmen in county cricket. His reward for perseverance has been a place in the England team and, today, he's become one of the very few players to emulate a forebear by scoring a test match century. At 29, Nick Compton is much older than Denis when he scored his first international century, indeed, he's been far behind Denis all of the way through his career. Denis made his debut for Middlesex when barely 18 years old and scored his first century a matter of a few weeks later; he played his first test match, against New Zealand, when 19, scoring 65, and hit his first test match century, 102 against Australia at Trent Bridge, when just 20. But Denis was a phenomenon, a player of the most extrraordinary abilities with whom it is unfair to compare anyone.

 

Nick Compton has had to carry the weight of dynastic expectations on his shoulders and has got there the hard way. He's come through the ranks, survived injury and poor form and today he has joined his grandfather as a Test Match Centurion. One of the greatest names in English sport is again making headlines and it's not just coincidence. Here's to Denis and Nick, grandfather and grandson, and let's not forget that there was a third Compton, Denis's brother Les who, though never quite making the England team, did sterling work for Middlesex over many years.

 

Jolly well done Nick Compton !!