Having focused, quite rightly, in our last posting on the Premier League’s 39th game abroad idea, it now appears that the one factor that everybody, bar this blog, overlooked is that local and regional football authorities are none too keen on the idea of a big fat bloated Premier League pitching up on their turf. Even Sepp Blatter managed to tear himself away from the Ann Summers catalogue to stick his oar in and ominously implied that there needed to be consultation before such a venture could take place. Bernie Ecclestone, part owner of QPR and supremo of Formula One, probably summed up the ridiculousness of the Premier League’s proposal stating that he would be prepared to take the Big Four, only, abroad for a one-off tournament. Enough said. Let’s hope this one gets put to rest once and for all. One of the curious side effects of this proposal is that it has generated rumours of established teams being targeted to be bought and moved lock stock and barrel to foreign parts. Chelsea for Dubai anyone? At the moment we are able to laugh at what seem ludicrous proposals but, depending on how things progress in our beloved game, let’s hope we’re not soon crying.
So, with that put to rest for the time being, RTG is turning its attention on the media and the pub bores that feed off the myths largely generated and propagated by them. What does RTG mean by this? Well let’s have a look at some popular misconceptions that the lazy media people and ex-players, such as Richard Keys, maintain, and then become folklore the length and breadth of the country.
Great Football Pub Bore Myths of Our Time – Part 1
Terry Venables is a great manager. RTG does not doubt that he has done some good work, most notably at Barcelona, but if you analyse his actual record you’ll see a tale of financial woes at virtually every club, and national association, he’s ever been associated with. In addition, he’s often been cited as the best England manager of recent times and many have asked for him to return. The reality was he had the lowest win percentage of any England manager – all be it with one of the lowest loss percentages also – at a time when England played no qualifiers for a tournament that was held on home turf. Indeed, virtually all his games in charge were played at home. England won two out of the five games in Euro 1996 and his, and the media’s, obsession with one, by then overweight and unfit, individual caused us to limp out at the semi final stage.
Talking of Paul Gascoigne: well, he’s an England legend isn’t he? Is he? Let’s look at what he won for England, or indeed any of the teams he played for. Aside from some good performances against Oxford United and Portsmouth (then in the second tier of English football) he’s widely accepted as winning the cup for Spurs in 1991. Well, as far as anyone who stays on the pitch for ten minutes before injuring himself in a reckless challenge can be said to win the cup. A foul, by the way, that led to Nottingham Forest taking the lead. Italia 90 is still regarded by the media and pub pundits alike as the ‘Gascoigne’ world cup. All he actually achieved was to be filmed crying for his own misfortune at not making the final had England gone through. Which of course we didn’t. Likewise, six years later, he was too unfit, following his exploits in the ‘dentist chair’ (which he mocked the media for criticising) to get to a cross that would have been the golden goal that saw England through to the final of Euro 96.
So, with that put to rest for the time being, RTG is turning its attention on the media and the pub bores that feed off the myths largely generated and propagated by them. What does RTG mean by this? Well let’s have a look at some popular misconceptions that the lazy media people and ex-players, such as Richard Keys, maintain, and then become folklore the length and breadth of the country.
Great Football Pub Bore Myths of Our Time – Part 1
Terry Venables is a great manager. RTG does not doubt that he has done some good work, most notably at Barcelona, but if you analyse his actual record you’ll see a tale of financial woes at virtually every club, and national association, he’s ever been associated with. In addition, he’s often been cited as the best England manager of recent times and many have asked for him to return. The reality was he had the lowest win percentage of any England manager – all be it with one of the lowest loss percentages also – at a time when England played no qualifiers for a tournament that was held on home turf. Indeed, virtually all his games in charge were played at home. England won two out of the five games in Euro 1996 and his, and the media’s, obsession with one, by then overweight and unfit, individual caused us to limp out at the semi final stage.
Talking of Paul Gascoigne: well, he’s an England legend isn’t he? Is he? Let’s look at what he won for England, or indeed any of the teams he played for. Aside from some good performances against Oxford United and Portsmouth (then in the second tier of English football) he’s widely accepted as winning the cup for Spurs in 1991. Well, as far as anyone who stays on the pitch for ten minutes before injuring himself in a reckless challenge can be said to win the cup. A foul, by the way, that led to Nottingham Forest taking the lead. Italia 90 is still regarded by the media and pub pundits alike as the ‘Gascoigne’ world cup. All he actually achieved was to be filmed crying for his own misfortune at not making the final had England gone through. Which of course we didn’t. Likewise, six years later, he was too unfit, following his exploits in the ‘dentist chair’ (which he mocked the media for criticising) to get to a cross that would have been the golden goal that saw England through to the final of Euro 96.
Speaking of Terry Venables’ record, one of a succession of forgettable draws, during his tenure, was against Colombia at Wembley in 1995. The only memorable moment came in the form of Rene Higuita’s ‘scorpion’ save from Jamie Redknapp’s over hit centre. Many still wax lyrical about the ‘crazy’ Higuita’s antics. However, if you can see the whole of the footage, the linesman clearly raises his flag for an offside long before the ball gets to the goal. Spectacular maybe; but not as risky and ‘mad’ as the media would have you believe.
The unique factor in Higuita’s dive, is that it is the only time that the English media ever spoke fondly of a ‘diving foreigner’. After all, it is the ‘nasty foreigners’ that have brought this aspect into the game isn’t it? Anyone who saw Rodney Marsh or Francis Lee in the '60s and '70s will remember that these two in particular made diving an art form. Not to mention Michael Owen’s crafty efforts for England and Liverpool (the ones against Argentina in 1998 and 2002 are remembered with particular fondness but never spoken of).
Part 2 to follow. Watch this space.
Reclaim the Game. The Week’s Events
One of RTG’s major fights has always been against drug use in football. Many serious luminaries of the game believe it is not a point worth worrying too much about because drugs don’t have a major benefit in team sports. Wrong. Many of Juventus’s trophies in the 1990s were achieved using drugs, a scandal we still know only a fraction about. Arsene Wenger’s first great Arsenal team were taking a now banned substance, Creatine. RTG mentions this because Dwain Chambers’ return to athletics competition by threatening to take the UK governing body of athletics to court is a stark reminder that, the richer you become through sport, the better drug dealers available to you. If it is not a problem in English football now, it soon will be.
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