BLOG POSTS ARCHIVE - February 2007
Posted Feb 28th 2007, 11:25am
A poor second string
So United got through last night against spirited Reading despite rather than because of possibly the worst midfield ever fielded by the club.
How Park, Richardson, O'Shea and Fletcher ended up representing MUFC sums up not only the lack of strength in depth at the club but the way things appear to be going under the Glazers.
Of the four Park is probably the one likely to escape criticism because for some reason he's seen as a 'good squad player'. He's a quick wide man and a useful sub for Giggs or Ronny.
But the other three are supposed to represent the future of United (just as Farbregas, Denilson et al do at Arsenal). Where Wenger has blooded teenagers with quality, Ferguson has allowed three twenty somethings licence to fritter what talent they had by basking in the reflected glory of their more capable colleagues.
Of the three Fletch is just about ok. He has no discipline about his game whatsoever and his box-to-box antics are reminiscent of a golden retriever getting giddy in the park. But his hearts in the right place and he's scored more Premiership goals than Larsson and Shevchenko this season.
As for Richardson, he should have been sold to WBA two seasons ago, it's mystifying why someone whose sole contribution to the team in the last two seasons was a deflected goal against Burton Albion should still be getting paid. Richardson stinks the place out everytime he takes the field. He is without question up there with Ralph Milne as one of United's worst ever. Not only that but he thinks he hit the big time because United offered him a 50k a week contract.
Finally we come to John O'Shea. Anyone who can remember this lad's debut season will realise what a disappointment he's been. The 2003 PFA Young Player of the Year was compared to Paolo Maldini - classy defensively and superb going forward, he was United's future at left-back.
Then he was relentlessly skinned by Ronaldo in a friendly with Sporting Lisbon in 2004 and his confidence went, then he got injured and ate pies for most of the rest of the season and the rest is history - now he sweats if he takes a throw-in.
O'Shea, more than any other United player, sums up what's wrong at the club. Poorly 'trained on' he has been allowed to wallow in his own lack of confidence. The strapping, confident JO'S of '03 was a sight to behold, nutmegging Italian full-backs and rampaging through prone Geordies. The '07 JO'S just gives the ball away and looks lost anywhere but on the bench.
Fortunately we showed sufficient nouse at the front and the back to overwhelm the Royals on their big night. They must be kicking themselves that they didn't take advantage of such a tremendous opportunity to progress to the quarter-finals.
Posted Feb 26th 2007, 1:11pm
Tops for Game
It's become cliche to think of darts as a sport desperate to recapture it's 80s heyday when Bullseye and the Crafty Cockney swept all before them.
Yet it's clear that the sport is in some turmoil. Most players (including you and I whenever we throw the occasional arrow) are governed by the BDO (British Darts Organisation) while the elite top 32 are fenced off under the control of Barry Hearn's PDC (Professional Darts Corporation).
The latter exist to provide a worldwide tour for the elite and to keep numbers up (and Sky Sports interested). Understandably the BDO isn't too enthralled at the prospect of continuing to lose their best dartists to Hearn's rival outfit and the recent defections of Mervyn King and Jelle Klaasen have caused further friction between the camps.
To their credit the PDC attempts to put glamour (and money) back into the game if only for the few while the BDO sets about selling darts as a worldwide sport and controls the game of both sexes worldwide.
Unfortunately the BDO have no stick with which to beat the big boys should they be tempted to take Hearn's shilling - hence the laughable attempt to get darts included in the London Olympics. But the one can't exist without the other as the BDO doesn't have sufficient tournaments or prize money to keep the big guns and the PDC needs fresh blood, as the success of Raymond van Barneveld has shown.
That's why news of a proposed tournament between BDO and PDC players came as something of a surprise: why the PDC would deign to play 'lesser' players (with the potential of embarrassment) remains almost as big a mystery as why the BDO would run the risk of one of their better players beating one of the PDC big guns only to see him spirited away by Hearn after the tournament.
Perhaps the answer lies in the continuing confusion among the general public regarding this once mighty tea-time institution. Despite his 13 world titles Phil 'The Power' is still less recognisable than Jocky 'no teeth' Wilson who now lives as a recluse in Scotland and hasn't thrown an arrow in anger since the mid 90s.
To get this recognition however Hearn would surely have to ensure coverage on BBC or ITV and upset his Sky paymasters in so doing. Yet if he did pull it off darts might find a formula to bring it in from the cold and families could once again wake up household pets by shouting 'Onehundredandeighty'.
Comments
Good post.
It will be fascinating to see what develops over the coming weeks and months.
Something definitely needs to happen, that much is for sure.
It will be fascinating to see what develops over the coming weeks and months.
Something definitely needs to happen, that much is for sure.
Posted by Chez D'Angelo, Feb 27th 2007, 11:26am
Posted Feb 19th 2007, 1:59pm
when you walk through a storm you get wet
Often when the worlds of football and music collide the result is a mess. With the exception of New Order's "E for England" the general tenor of output has never risen above Chas and Dave levels.
The exception that proves this rule is the consistent brilliance of Half Man Half Biscuit who performed a one-off gig in Manchester last Friday.
For the uninitiated HMHB are a contemporary folk/rock outfit from the Wirral whose fame has grown in inverse proportion to their celebrity.
Lyricist Nigel Blackwell generally shuns the limelight, preferring to let the words do the talking and with good reason. His subject matter ranges from sneering at celebrities to acute observations of society.
How this guy has never won an Ivor Novello award when the likes of Robbie Williams and Elton John have received them is beyond me.
If you don't believe me then here are some examples.
Who else could come up with the phrase 'The Commodores' to describe football supporters who turn up 'once, twice, three times a season'.
Or how about 'if I were a linesman, I would execute defenders who applauded my offsides'.
Nigel's continuous gratuitous assault on modern life and modern football reaches a peak in the tune 'Deep House Victim's Minibus Appeal' where he informs us that 'Some of volleyball's top referees, will keep us all informed'. There is genius lurking in each of HMHB's songs but also a kind of obsession that only football supporters (the band are ardent Tranmere Rovers fans) could understand.
If you still don't believe me check out their vids on you tube.
Comments
Posted Feb 15th 2007, 12:43pm
Hero of 48
Off to meet a hero of my dad's tomorrow. Jack Crompton, goalkeeper in Manchester United's legendary 1948 Cup winning team, is now 85 and writing his autobiography and, while his tome will no doubt fail to outstrip those of the World Cup flops (as satirised by Joey Barton) it's worth recalling Jack's story for a second.
Crompton was a fitness fanatic who rose through one of United's nursery clubs to claim the gloves immediately after the war. Experts claim he was a very good, rather than great 'keeper nevertheless under his custodianship United finished in runners-up spot in the league for four successive seasons. However Jack and his colleagues will always be remembered for the 1948 Cup win, when the tournament was still regarded as the greatest cup competition in the world (remember England refused to compete in the World Cup until two years later).
Jack stayed at the club until the early 70s as coach and trainer before joining up with Bobby Charlton at Preston.
Strangely none of the '48 team ever committed their experiences to print so this is a unique opportunity to get the inside scoop on this fabulous outfit.
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