Marching Into The Abyss 2012 Style

The 2012 part of the 2011-2012 season has already given plenty of opportunities for RTG to get blogging. From criminal courts to bankruptcy courts, from racist allegations to resignations, through players refusing to play and then having to play, the first two months of 2012 have certainly illuminated the issues on which RTG has been campaigning.

RTG can’t be the only ones who were astonished by the flimsy criminal case that the tax authorities brought against Harry Redknapp, basically one that rested on his word against another. But it seems RTG is amongst the very few who were even more astonished as to the ethics, accepted as normal by all in court and by most of the media (as far as we know), of managers taking a commission on player sales. Add to that ethical question the fact that this was at the time that the financial implosion at Portsmouth started, and then it should raise alarms for all true minded football supporters.

As if by divine coincidence within a few days of the trial, Portsmouth was put into administration again, ten points were deducted from them again and the administrators now say that it’s very likely that they will fold before the end of the season. Meanwhile, step forward the next England Manager…..Whatever the future holds for Portsmouth, it is clear that their problems were sown by some very ethically dubious dealings and compounded by the continuing failings at the FA in applying their so called ‘fit and proper’ rules on club ownership.

We may complain about the English FA incompetence and we could continue to bleat about the fact that most of its bigwigs are failed business men, but for once the Scottish FA seem to have outdone their southern rivals. The financial mess that Glasgow Rangers find themselves in and the reports and rumours circulating as to some of the irregularities that Rangers owner, Craig Whyte, may have perpetrated, leave even a cynical RTG astounded. How Scottish football could have allowed one of its jewels in the crown to get to this sorry state is a salutary lesson for all supporters – even those that feel they are behind an impregnable financial force field. Basically, there are just so many examples of how football’s administrators throughout the world are either financially corrupt or incompetent – or both.

All this doesn’t bode well for UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. If football administrators can’t spot “bad ‘uns”, how on earth are they going to work through the smoke and mirrors of financial accounts, offshore companies and subsidiaries to make their fair play rules work? Watch this space because RTG is planning on raising this issue many more times.

On the plus side, racism has been elevated into the football consciousness. Plus side? Well yes. The casual racism as exemplified by the Ron Atkinsons and other little Englanders of his ilk, was never really addressed by football which, as a body, seem to content itself that monkey-noises and banana throwing were a thing of the past. The Suarez case and the pending criminal case against John Terry, whilst distressing to the injured parties and the defendants, gives all involved in football, the chance to debate and address these issues.

On the downside, the Terry race row seemed to give the perfect opportunity for Fabio Capello to jump ship. Now RTG was a great advocate of Capello’s appointment. This was based on the premise of “if he can’t do it, then no one can”. Well it’s clear he couldn’t do it and that he really didn’t want to continue to do it, even for the remaining few months of his contract. Where this leaves England, RTG has written about before and will again in the future. Suffice to say that RTG is not impressed that Capello walked away with a pay-off of £1.5 million – Capello seemingly having a media gag applied, says much also.

These are just some of the issues that emerged/re-emerged since RTG last published. We haven’t even begun to address the Tevez situation and the player power issue, but suffice to say that since we last wrote, football marches ever more steadfastly away from the sport that we love and into the cold spiny embrace of corporate values, marketing plans and incompetent/corrupt football administrators.

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Lack of Vision Means Same Old England

The England team have departed for South Africa. All the talk of who will make the 23 is over and the serious business of trying to win a World Cup begins. RTG watched the thrilling spectacle of a bunch of wealthy young sportsmen boarding a Virgin Atlantic 747 , live on Sky Sports News, and naturally, we felt a certain degree of excitement that only the World Cup can generate. But underlying the anticipation was a slight sense of regret that England have not really moved on from the huge disappointment that was Germany 2006, just like we hadn’t really moved on from Japan or France before that. Where are we as an international football nation and what have we learned?

In 2006, the team, dubbed the ‘Golden Generation’, departed these shores amidst enormous national expectation. Ultimately, the term ‘Golden Generation’ referred more to the opulence that the players and their publicity seeking WAGS lavished around the town of Baden Baden than it did the quality of their football. It was USA Today, a paper that measures its football coverage in millimetres rather than inches that stood alone in predicting that the ‘overrated’ England team would go out with a whimper. And, famously, as we know, they did.

You can’t really blame a nation like England for having unrealistic expectations of the national side. After all, supporters hear constantly about how our league is the best and richest in the world. The Premier League and Sky are forever slapping themselves on the back in congratulation at what a fine job they are doing and never stop telling us so. Surely, with the kind of sums of money we hear banded around and the celebrity status that some of our players seem to acquire in the eyes of the media, we should be winning more trophies shouldn’t we?

This time, as the team left to do battle in South Africa, there was undoubtedly a more distinct sense of realism about this squad and their chances? There are the inevitable last minute injuries to key players that inevitably reduce the chances of success. That always happens and this year is no exception. But, RTG wonders if maybe the football watching public are feeling, like us, that this is just a case of here-we-go-again.

The first choice team for South Africa bears a striking resemblance to the one that failed last time. They are obviously older and, perhaps to our benefit, more experienced. But it is worrying in the extreme that we don’t seem to have produced any players in the interim to challenge those that turned out in 2006 for places. Even the ‘Wonderkid’ of last time, Theo Walcott, didn’t even make the cut. Yes folks. This is just the ‘Golden Generation’, four years on, minus a few faces – left out mainly due to injury. Capello has been forced to stick with what he knows because there simply doesn’t seem to be anything better out there.

You may not even know it, because the coverage was so sparse, but the England Under 17s recently won their version of the European Championship. The Under 21s got to the last final of theirs. So there are good young players out there, there just aren’t enough of them pushing on to greatness once they make it to the ‘big time’.

When England went lamely out of the competition in 2006, at that point we needed planning, vision and proper footballing objectives from the governing body of our national sport. We needed the kind of strong leadership that could take this recurring problem by the scruff of the neck and deliver us an England team full of players capable of winning a tournament and giving the long-suffering, overpaying English supporter something to be proud of? Four years later and one failure to qualify for Euro 2008, where are we? The FA promise to focus on all the right objectives – that are supposed to be in the interests of football - but have continued to deliver all the wrong ones. Even England’s state-of-the-art new home, the New Wembley Stadium, was built with revenue raising as its main objective, while failing to deliver a playing surface worthy of Sunday League let alone potential world beaters.

The Premier League is increasingly the playground bully in English football. No one at the FA seems willing to stand up to them in the name of football development and, when they do, they seem to disappear without trace. Development of players is very much a random process left to the will of the clubs. If they make it, they make it. If they don’t – well who cares? This situation has allowed promising young English players to be swallowed up by big spending Premier League clubs only to spend many of their formative years languishing on the bench. Meanwhile, the experienced English talent that does feature regularly in the first team seem to arrive at the end of the season either injured or too tired to compete meaningfully in a four week tournament. The so-called ‘richest league in the world’ does not seem to be able to generate enough wealth or expertise to produce talent at grass roots level, merely to pamper and pay fortunes to its overrated stars.

There are some positives. St. George’s Park, once the national football academy at Burton is due for completion in 2012. Exactly what its role is, and what purpose it has, RTG is not sure. We wait to see. We do have a new manager and one that most supporters will feel was the right appointment, even if it took the FA, yet again, to throw huge sums of money at him to come over.

RTG desperately hopes that the Capello factor, and a little bit of luck, spur England on to victory. Of course we do. But there’s a distinct sense that our governing body’s refusal to change and their inability to set, and follow, proper football objectives, rather than corporate ones, means we are once again entering a major tournament having learned nothing from our failings at the last one and having squandered the huge resources that the game generates in this country.

As stated earlier, RTG believes we have the right manager. If it goes wrong again, surely it is time for supporters to start asking more questions of the powers that keep making the same mistakes over and over again with seemingly precious little will or ability to do anything about it.

The Keeper

He’s complaining about the ball already!

The Keeper apologises for his tardy appearance this week and can only blame the mountain of special and not so special world cup pull outs that has blocked his path to his desk. Amidst the mass of information of absolute no need to know facts and figures, very few media pundits were making predictions and of those that were, none were backing England to win. No bad thing since the jingoism of previous world cups has raised expectations that have only served to act as an additional squirt of lemon to the eye in the run of disappointing results. The Keeper notes that the last time the press was so pessimistic, in 1990, we did rather well!

Well the Keeper is going to make a prediction. Yes, the Keeper believes that come July, the words “arise Sir David Beckham” will be proclaimed. The Keeper predicts that under the astute tutelage and inspirational presence of himself, the Queen will respond to the will of the People (and the Sun, News of the World, Mirror, Daily Star, Hello magazine etc) to knight our favourite footballer for his outstanding contribution in getting England to the quarter finals, only to go out on penalties. Needless to say, Beckham’s Ingerlund was (sic) undone by cheating foreign bastards playing for Manchester United. The Queen will overlook the inauspicious start to Sir David’s coaching career, as his well publicised advice to “hit the space” to Theo Walcott prior to the final squad trials, was taken by Theo to be an invitation to go onto the deserted private beaches of recession hit five star resorts this summer.

Talking of Theo, the Keeper was truly taken by the humility shown in his acceptance of Don Fabio’s decision to leave him out of the final squad, along with his “will try harder” guarantees for the future. His PR company really did a bang up job issuing their client’s statement within minutes of the news. Well, he was too busy on a golf course with his dad to do it himself. Let’s hope though that Theo, before he hits the beaches, remembers his environmental duties in switching off some or all of his ten plasma TV screens that fill his mansion acquired on becoming a multi-millionaire before even kicking a ball for Arsenal. And no, professional solidarity means the Keeper totally refutes suggestions of too much too young in his career.

Having not much, too young, didn’t affect the greatest ever footballer too badly however - as the picture showing England fans’ most loved foreign footballer proves. Maradona has promised (threatened more like) to run naked through the centre of Buenos Aires if Argentina wins the world cup. Expect a run on magnifying glasses in the capital if they do. Although given his managerial record – in a word, awful – the most naturally gifted squad at the tournament will not make this happen.

The Keeper truly hopes England and their fans have a great world cup! We’re going to need a lot of luck, but with, for the first time ever, temperatures more suited to English players, you never know!

Capello's Contract Changes Reflect Uncertainty Over FA

In amongst all the, now customary, trivial tit-bits of World Cup stories leading up to the tournament proper, were reports of a significant change to Fabio Capello’s contract to manage England. Following the announcement and the ensuing uproar caused by the Capello fronted commercial scheme, a fantasy football style game based primarily on Capello’s own assessment of his players’ performances, the FA and Capello responded quickly to the media’s protestations by withdrawing from the scheme altogether.

Less publicised was the announcement that the two year break option in Capello’s four year contract – the break period coinciding with the end of the 2010 tournament – had been deleted at Capello’s request. No-one from the media seemed to link the two events. After all, it wasn’t the first time that an England manager tried to cash in on his position with some ill thought out commercial venture – Glenn Hoddle’s world cup diary in 1998 springs to mind. However, following a successful and encouraging start to his England tenure, characterised by Capello’s own strong sense of discipline, on and off the field, and his pronouncements on being focused fully on the job, using players who were both fit and in-form, RTG detects a worrying change in Capello’s attitude to the job.

Yes, the selection of players who are half fit and those that have played no part in any Capello selected squad might appear to be hypocritical to some or, they might just be acceptance that the ideals as set out by himself on taking on the England job cannot possibly be delivered in the real world. As Capello showed when managing Real Madrid, in his dealings with Beckham, at first discarding him very publicly and then bringing him back when Beckham responded with hard work and determination, he is a man who is not so proud as to admit a mistake – even if only to himself. This is encouraging and for once the media responded positively, “He’s learning about international football like any other new manager” and “He’s never been in this position before” being typical comments from the paid pundits. Had this occurred during a less than successful qualifying campaign RTG wonders if they might have been a little less sympathetic and torn him to shreds instead. But that’s a story for next season perhaps.

No, the worrying aspect is Capello’s clear concern on his job security, so much so that he felt compelled to enter into that ill-advised commercial venture. With Triesman’s high profile departure, adding to the recent somewhat furtive resignation of the FA’s CEO, Ian Watmore, it is clear not all is well at the FA. Now, RTG does not know what organisational power blocks exist within the FA. What it does know though is that they exist, within itself and in relation to the Premier League. That’s pretty normal. It is also clear, that if you add in former CEO Adam Crozier’s experience as an agent of change within the FA – he talked at great length about the need for the FA to modernise its outlook and organisation – the FA is not a place to be if you want to change the 130 or so years old institution. But change it must, as the guardian of the game in this country it is has been running, more or less, on the same basis in its entire history. And this is the most worrying aspect of Capello’s recent actions: his realisation that the FA is a “sick” institution with little or no prospect of re-inventing itself to deliver its key goals. That is to develop the grass roots of the sport, creating an environment which enables world class footballers to be produced and, therefore, a team that can actually win tournaments. If you were working for the FA, wouldn’t you feel insecure too?

The Keeper
He Stands Tall and Firm...ooer!

No World Cup build up would be complete without the release of the official England Team World Cup song. Who could forget the rousing tones of “Back Home” in 1970 or John Barnes in da house for “World in Motion” in 1990. Well, the Keeper has some bad news to report. The build up to South Africa will not be complete on account of the fact that there will be no 2010 England World Cup song released. Your modern day England footballer is no longer willing to make themselves look like an idiot for posterity’s sake anymore (well not intentionally anyway) and they certainly don’t get out of bed for the mere tens of thousands of pounds that a hit record earns these days.

But don’t despair out there. El Tel (formerly known as Terry Venables) sporting the very latest in outdated goatee beards has taken it upon himself to release his own World Cup song; a rather laboured version of Elvis Presley’s “If I can Dream” which actually sounds like it would have done had Elvis himself recorded it seconds before he passed away on the loo. Filmed for Sky Sports on the roof of that footballing Mecca, the O2 Centre, to promote the record, El Tel’s interview was sadly interrupted by the arrival on the roof of his backing group, the London Philharmonic Orchestra. “Sorry chaps”, said Tel, “it’s the London Filler…..Fillar….Fill Up…I’ve got to go!”. I think Tel you meant The London Fillyerpockets Orchestra.

Maradonna’s predictably stormy and somewhat unpredictable reign as Argentina’s head coach continued as he accidentally ran over a camera man’s leg this week. Calling on his usual reservoir of understanding and humility with regard to the plight of other less deified members of the human race, he was heard to say, “What an asshole you are. How can you put your leg there where it can get run over man?” Strange, because we England fans thought he was the expert at putting limbs in places they shouldn’t be.

Manchester City meanwhile seem to be hell bent on signing one of Don Fabio’s up and coming stars, James Milner. As with Chelsea a few years ago City seem determined to over bid for good English talent. It started at £20M rising to £30M and currently topping around £40M – the same sort of figure Arsenal are likely to end up getting for Cesc Fabregas. You know what the Keeper is saying. If it ended up at £100M, why should it matter? He can join the Glen Johnsons, Scott Parkers, Steve Sidwells and Sean Wright-Phillips of previous years who chased the big bucks to Chelsea and languished on the bench for the next few seasons at the expense of unfulfilled promise. It could be important to bag the best English talent, though, in the coming seasons as UEFA’s new rules on home grown talent kick in. City apparently made a £30M bid for Adam Johnson last week before they realised he was actually already one of their own players.

It was refreshing to be marshalled through the FA Cup final on ITV for the first time by the combination of Clive Tyldesley and Jim Beglin. When Didier Drogba’s shot rattled the Pompey cross bar to see the ball apparently cross the line, Messrs Tyldsley and Beglin launched into a frenzy of protestation. “It was over Clive”, “Definitely over Jim”. Then Clive consulted his TV commentator’s what-do-we-say-in-these-circumstances instruction book and decided to launch into a scathing attack on Fifa for not allowing technology. “It only takes a few seconds to confirm Jim, why oh why don’t we use it?” The TV replay dutifully followed 40 seconds later and, after several different camera angles were examined, revealed that the ball clearly hadn’t crossed the line after all. Jim Beglin immediately started back pedalling at a rate that would have taken him comfortably rear-first up Mount Everest. “Actually looking at it again Clive I’m not sure it was over”. But our Clive, clearly on a roll by now and enjoying his foray into the role of ‘commentator/technology bandwagon jumper, was not to be put off his stride. “It’s madness Jim. We have the technology. It just takes a few minutes so why don’t we use it?” At which point it became clear, after discussing the issue for n minutes that, in fact, Messrs Tyldesley and Beglin had illustrated exactly why goal line technology has been resisted. That is, a perfectly good decision made by a well positioned linesman prevented the need for unnecessary hold ups to play and a cumbersome and time-wasting, on-field player-appeal system. Thanks Clive.

Don't Panic Mr Media....Don't Panic

The good news is that England, under Capello, have plenty of time to try a few things before they have to play a competitive game. The bad news of course is that this fact serves as a grim reminder to England supporters that we'll be enjoying the sunshine or playing golf while the rest of Europe's elite fight it out in Switzerland and Austria. And another four years of RTG's all-too-short football watching life goes past without England being in a major tournament, let alone winning anything. But we are where we are and if it took the Euro 2008 qualifying debacle to learn that lesson then so be it.

The beginning of a new (and hopefully successful) era dawns with time to experiment and perhaps, just perhaps, to show the England players that there are other ways of playing the beautiful game than simply hoofing it up to the big man up front. The build up began with a little snipe from the Daily Mail (who else?) concerning Fabio Capello's assurance, when he took the job, that he would be speaking to the press in English by now. Well, Daily Mail, if that turns out to be the greatest sin of his reign as England boss, RTG can live with that.

Rio Ferdinand likened Capello's new regime to that of 'starting a new school'. Fair comment one would imagine but the media again chose to take that as a criticism of Capello's more autocratic management style. If you listen, Rio never once made any criticism at all but the media in its typical, "we want England to do well but we ain't gonna let them", chose to turn it into a little dig instead. And after all, if Rio's 'new school' turns out to be one of high academic achievement rather than your struggling inner city comprehensive, that's just been shut down by OFSTED, then, once again, who cares?

The BBC TV pundit team of Wright, Hansen and Shearer were all ready to get behind Capello and it was good to see that expectations were not grossly over exaggerated. As Alan Shearer rightly pointed out, "if this bloke can't turn England into a good team, then there really is something seriously wrong with English football." They, like the rest of us, were keen to see what Capello might try rather than by how many England would thump Switzerland. Capello himself should take a lot of praise for the way he handled the build up to the game. There was none of the ludicrously over the top speculation about who was to be captain or who wasn't. He didn't allow that to happen. He simply announced that the temporary captain would be Steven Gerrard for now. End of story. No hysteria. No media scrum. His new regime ensured that football was the order of the day. Not WAGS, shopping, golf, Playstation or any other distractions.

The game started fairly inauspiciously from an England viewpoint. At this point the dynamic BBC TV commentating duo of Lawrenson and Motson began to get on England's backs. Derogatory comments ensued and, at the point where Motson said, "they just don't understand possession do they Mark", and Lawrenson replied, "only that it's nine tenths of the law John", RTG went interactive and switched to Radio Five Live commentary. There, we were greeted by frantic panic and hysteria. Just 20 minutes in and they were calling for changes and questioning the formation, the players, the selection. Everything! At this juncture, the crowd started singing, "There's only one David Beckham." This was the point where RTG seriously questioned whether England supporters really deserve a manager with Capello's pedigree let alone any success. In much the same way as the players seemed to be finding it hard to be patient and pass the ball, you could sense a crowd, and a commentary team, desperate to see Stevie G, lumping great balls forward to the big number nine up front. So what that it's won us nothing in over 40 years; it's the only way we feel comfortable!

The truth is, of course, the long-suffering England supporters do deserve to see more success than we've had. And we mean the real England supporters, not the slightly podgy, middle class children with their replica shirts and faces painted that were on show with their middle-aged mums last night - no doubt disappointed that they didn't get to see media celebrity David Beckham win his 100th cap.

It wasn't a great performance. Quite rightly, Capello used the friendly to see how England might play football, not to give the media the story they wanted. Even if they struggled to execute it, there seemed to be a plan. And, for that matter, a plan B too. It may take a lot of painful lessons to make that group of players start to work together in a different manner but RTG sensed that Capello is working toward a goal that involves winning international football matches and not anything else. It's good that England didn't win easily as that would have hidden a multitude of sins, that we all know exist. Plus, it would have given the press the opportunity to go right over the top and hail Capello as the new Messiah (outside of Newcastle of course).

Motson, Lawrenson and Five Live should look back on last night's performance and realise that they were the ones who needed changing after 20 minutes, not Capello's selection. As for England supporters, we're feeling quietly optimistic that there are good signs for the future while, at the same time thinking, "God, we wish we were in Euro 2008 this summer!"

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• Sepp Blatter and FIFA have implied that they intend to take on UEFA and impose the 6+5 rule on national club sides. In other words, they would insist that all national club sides must contain at least six players in their starting 11 who would be qualified to play for the country in which the club is based. RTG understands why FIFA should feel that international football is under threat. After all, an average Champions League game is usually played to a much better standard, and is far more entertaining, than most average internationals these days. But we can't go back. The level is what it is now and imposing rules will simply decrease the standard of the end product. Not to mention, is it better to have English players who have to be developed to the highest standards to get in a team or to have players who know they can afford to be fairly average because they will get picked because they're English?
• Was anyone really surprised that the minute's silence for the 50th anniversary of the Muncih air disaster lasted only 23 seconds because certain people were shouting over it? Anyone who follows football properly can see what a tragedy Munich was and it's good that people want to pay their respects. But perhaps, it should have been confined to being a Manchester United issue and the club should have been left to deal with it in its own way. Should supporters of other clubs have felt strongly enough to go and pay their respects at Old Trafford, they could have done so. Instead, it gave the anti Manchester United lobby the perfect vehicle to air its unpleasant and somewhat distasteful views live on national television.

Ignore the Pundits. Time to Back England and Capello

RTG posted too early last week to comment on Fabio Capello’s first England squad selection other than the absence of David Beckham, which was known by that time. This blog is not about discussing the relative merits of each member of the squad as Capello himself, and for that matter, Steve McClaren et al, are far better qualified for that than us.

RTG’s concern is to get a winning England team within our lifetimes. Simple! Well maybe not. The England manager’s job is a difficult one, made even tougher by the enormous pressures from the media and now, in modern times, huge financial expectations. There’s not a lot RTG and supporters can do about the financial considerations – after all, Wembley has been built – but there are things we can do in our expectations and support of the England set up.

First and foremost, let’s ignore the mindless media bullshit that overwhelms our senses each time an England international comes around. Excitement is one thing. Filling up space and time in newspaper columns and TV slots just seems to heighten expectations that are never going to be fulfilled – not to mention heaping yet more pressure on the team and backroom staff. The sort of pressure that has seen England consistently fail to win penalty shoot outs, incidentally.

As far as England friendly internationals go, results should, for the most part, be ignored in favour of drawing conclusions from the team performance and individual performances of the players. Under Steve McClaren, the first match, against Greece, ended in a 4-0 victory that flattered a performance that saw England stutter in the second half (sound familiar?). Instead of learning from this, it was seen by the media as a justification for, not only McClaren’s appointment, but also that the England team was headed in the right direction. Neither of these proved to be true. Indeed the signs of the malaise were there for all to see had they wished to see them.

Capello must be allowed to do the job. His CV shows that he was the best available candidate in terms of both experience and winning things. He now has shown himself to be possibly the best candidate in terms of character. We know all about the pressure coming from the media and some of the ‘godfathers’ of English football to select David Beckham. There must also have been enormous pressure from the FA – indeed it’s been rumoured that the FA had to spend £100k on reprinting the programme for the Wednesday’s match because a certain person had been left out.

As supporters we should all get behind Capello. Accept that he will make mistakes. If he’s not making mistakes, he’s doing something wrong. But, allow him, and us, to learn from them and build a foundation for success in the future, and resist the negative and self-destructive reporting from various branches of the media. After all, they have had a huge part to play in virtually every England manager’s appointment and sacking since Sir Alf Ramsey. And where has that got us?

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• All talk was dominated by some controversial off side decisions this weekend. Some were result altering. However, it doesn’t help when some of the TV analysis tries to retro fit the decision making to the actual outcome. Referees and their assistants make mistakes and, in the case of Andrew Johnson’s disallowed effort, the ref’s assistant admitted it was his error. Get over it pundits and stop confusing us.
• Manchester United made the right decision that both teams wear sponsorless kit for what is the 50th anniversary memorial match of the Munich disaster against Manchester City this Sunday. Why then the appearance of the shirt sponsors, AIG, on the memorial picture displayed on the outside of Old Trafford? RTG believes that those supporters who complained were right to do so.

Hat's Off, Take a Bow (Or Not!)

Player of the Week – Jimmy Bullard. A cheeky face you’d gladly slap (as his team-mate Chris Baird did this week) but brought an enthusiasm and a rare win to Fulham with his late free kick strike.

Hero of the Week – Fabio Capello. Clearly not going to be swayed by sentiment and PR but chose to pick his team based on ability and fitness for the job.

Villain of the Week – all those that banged on and on about how much Beckham deserved his 100th cap.

Shock of the Week - Hayes & Yeading 3 Havant & Waterlooville 0. Oh how the mighty have crashed to earth.

Cliché of the Week – “when is a player deemed to be interfering in play?” Sort it out FIFA/UEFA – at least so that Andy Gray understands it and can explain it to thicko Richard Keys.

Reasons to be Cheerful. Reasons to Despair

There’s a lot going in the football world this week: perhaps a sign of the times that much of it is taking place in courts (and we’re not talking about an ailing furniture store). So RTG thought today we would provide some highlights for you to mull over.

One highlight, by the way, is we’ve just had our email read out on Sky Sports News in response to a poll that they ran saying that 80% of respondents thought that Beckham totally deserved to be included in Capello’s first England squad. We’re not going to bang on about it again, but it looks likely that Capello has put England’s interests first and not those of a media celebrity. Well done Fabio. Long may it continue. A place in the international team should be a cherished highlight of a player’s career, not a photo op for Vogue or OK magazine. Let Beckham fight for his 100th cap by playing at the right quality level and playing consistently well.

A ruling made yesterday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland throws the transfer system into yet more contention and confusion. The ruling provides for a formula that allows players to breach their contracts after a certain period and pay his club compensation based on the value of his remaining wages within that contract. The case arose from the transfer of Andy Webster from Hearts to Wigan where he unilaterally decided the move. Whilst details are sketchy at this point, most commentators have interpreted this as first, more power to the players and second, a drastic reduction in transfer fees. For example, it is believed that under the new formula, Fabregas or Ronaldo (arguably the two best young players in the world currently) could be transferred for as little as £12 million without the consent of their clubs under their present contracts. As a side issue, CAS also criticised FIFA for its handling of the case - no surprises there. Expect many more lawyers to earn a lot more money following this ruling.

Speaking of FIFA, in yet another court case in Switzerland, it is expected that the mystery individual who paid £1.2M to FIFA’s TV rights broker, ISL, will be revealed today. FIFA initiated proceedings claiming that it had not received its £29.6M share of the rights sale from ISL. But, investigating magistrate, Thomas Hildebrand, suspects that the original deal was oiled by backhanders (again surprise surprise), and that only revealing the identity of the mystery donator will prevent long-term prison sentences for those involved. Watch this space.

In an interesting development this morning, during a post-match interview with Steve Coppell, the Big Four have suddenly become the Elite Three! Which we can only imagine is bad news for Liverpool after losing 1-0 to West Ham last night. On a more positive note for Liverpool, there is talk of a £500 Million supporters bid for the club based on the Barcelona model. Needless to say, RTG thoroughly endorses their efforts and hope that it proves both a resounding success and a blueprint for the future of other clubs.

RTG is priding itself on its first exclusive. We have the first photograph of Keegan meeting with Dennis Wise. Scroll down for this ‘exclusive’.

Fabio Capello. Now This is a Test.

OK, so RTG is on its Beckham bashing soap box, again, but the issues surrounding Beckham epitomise exactly what RTG is railing against in modern football.

For the record, let us just reiterate. He was a great footballer with the sweetest right foot of several generations. He contributed immensely to Manchester United’s success and he was a stalwart of arguably the greatest midfield quartets ever. He also does usually give everything in an England shirt. That was then. Now is a different matter. Rightly or wrongly he chose a path to further his ‘career’ in a league that is barely English League 1 standard. We say career in his truest sense of the word – that of a media celebrity.

Sir Alex Ferguson has joined the chorus of bleating sheep saying that Beckham deserves his 100th cap irrespective of what England needs. Last week Beckham went to Sierra Leone; this week he’s in Brazil. Interspersed between these wonderful photo ops are pictures of him on a foggy Arsenal training pitch enjoying the banter and wet-towel slapping frolics of the Arsenal squad (Bendtner and Adebayor excepted). So imagine RTG’s surprise when waking up this morning to reports that Fabio Capello is having serious reservations about including Beckham in the squad. Is it just us or are other genuine supporters angry about how trivialised playing for your country has become?

Here is a man who has not played at a world class standard for nearly a year and who has not played a competitive match since his substitute’s appearance versus Croatia. Note also he only played a couple of handfuls of games for Real Madrid in his final season with them. Meanwhile we have an England team that has failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament and who need, at this time more than any, need to concentrate on getting the right players, tactics and systems in place. What do we get? Tiresome, and never ending, discussions on one person’s tribute to celebrityville.

Reports suggest that Capello wants to break with the tradition of naming a 23 man squad and pick an initial squad of 30 in order to see more players close-up at England training sessions. Which led RTG to thinking that ALL the English players in the Premier League (who are not too old, on crutches or serving at Her Majesty’s pleasure) should be included in the England preparation for EVERY game. This would cover all age groups. There are probably only 50-60 players across all ages that fall into this group. Gone would be the endless speculation about who is injured or who ‘deserves’ inclusion. What Capello and his staff would get to see is every English player’s motivation and commitment, up close. Plus, it starts the important process of building the concept of Team England. Of course, we assume that there will exist a suitable place (i.e. Burton) for this to take off.

Hopefully, Capello will see sense and treat this game against Switzerland as the beginning of a new era and not a salute to the last. After all, what is there really to salute?

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• Talking of tiresome, never ending discussions, the Toon (nostalgia and return of the messiah) army now await with baited breath over the potential return of Alan Shearer in their so-called ‘dream ticket’. Amazing, that multi-million pound organisations can make decisions influenced more on the principles of the schoolyard than those of serious businesses.
• Derby County are the latest club to find themselves with new American owners. The new owners were quick to point out that their management style is more Randy Lerner of Aston Villa and less Gillett and Hicks of Liverpool. The group to take over is an organisation called General Sports and Entertainment. Hmmmmmm…….not hopeful.
• The African Nations Cup, currently being played out in Ghana, has been rocked by a series of bribe scandals. Sketchy reports and accusations have been made, but officials of CAF so far are attempting to bury the story in the hope that it will go away. Watch this space.
  
  Hats Off, Take a Bow (or Not)!
  
  Player of the Week: Alfie Potter of Havant and Waterlooville (but on loan from Peterborough). Not just because he has a name that is a throw back to cloth caps and jumpers for goal posts, but also because for a few minutes at least, neutrals dared to dream of the greatest cup upset of them all.
  
  Villain of the Week: Yossi Benayoun. OK a bit harsh on Yossi but he spoilt the dream of the greatest cup upset of them all.
  
  Heroes of the Week: Havant and Waterlooville who led for most of the first half. Excellent effort – even if their team was shored up with a smattering of loan professionals.
  
  Shock of the Week: this week’s shock is one of the literal kind – how we laughed at the look of shock on Michael Ball’s face when he realised that he was clearing a balloon rather than the ball which resulted in United’s first goal in their ‘shock’ win against City.
  
  Cliché of the Week: With a Potter playing in the magical FA Cup 4th round, all those media muppets couldn’t help themselves in trying to describe Havant and Waterlooville’s exploits in terms of being more ‘Harry Potter’ than ‘Alfie Potter’.

Resources and Backing Now Needed for Capello to Succeed

The wait to find the next England manager, it seems, is over. For England supporters it was not a particularly long wait. For the journos freezing their nuts off outside Soho Square, it probably can’t end soon enough.

Yes, Fabio Capello is expected to be named as successor to Steve McClaren today. It is probably true to say that he was not the nation’s preferred choice but, in truth, that probably has more to do with the fact that people in England know more about Jose Mourinho, through the success he brought to Chelsea, than they do about Capello.

Being England Manager is much like being a politician. Wanting to do the job should, by definition, preclude you from getting it in the first place. Let’s face it, what person of sound mind and body would willingly choose to do it? But, Capello did in fact make his enthusiasm for the job known from the outset and those, like RTG, who demanded a man with a winning mentality, and a proven record of success, cannot claim he does not fit the bill. At RTG we were indeed very pro-Mourinho for the England job. But, after a period of quiet consideration of the two candidates (if indeed Mourinho ever really was a serious candidate), the more Capello looks like a better choice for the job. His record speaks for itself and he appears to pay little heed to reputation as could be seen in his treatment of the Galacticos when he took over at Real Madrid. One Galactico, in particular, came in for short shrift at first but, to be fair to Capello, he later conceeded that David Beckham's work rate and contribution merited his place in the team. And guess what? He coached them to their first title in four years.

It is important also not to forget that, successful though he is, Mourinho has shown a more unpleasant side to his nature in his mean-spirited, and sometimes disrespectful, treatment of other figures in the game. His accusations, concerning Frank Rijkaard’s supposed meetings with the referee at half time in the Barcelona game, were never proven to be true; and his comments regarding referee Anders Frisk whipped Chelsea fans into such a fury that he was forced to give up the game after he received death threats. England does not need a manager that considers manipulation of the media, to his and his side's ultimate gain, as important as coaching and developing the team. Dare we say it also that, perhaps (and this hurts), Brian Barwick deserves a certain degree of praise for not going after Mourinho hell for leather just because he was the people’s choice.

What is required now is a period of consolidation for England. Capello, if he is to be given the job, has until September 2008 before he has a competitive match. That means the FA should put at his disposal whatever resources are required to begin the building process. They have the time now to put a proper plan together in order that we can use his experience to build a genuine legacy for English football. He should also be allowed to choose his preferred backroom staff. Already rumours are rife that he will be forced into accepting a Stuart Pearce, Tony Adams or Alan Shearer as his right hand man in order that they can be groomed for the job. That’s what happened with McClaren and look where it got us.

Sporting just a slight tinge of optimism for the future (likely misplaced), RTG closes making a request to the media. We’re probably pissing in the wind here but can they back off this time and leave this guy to do his job. They effectively picked the England manager last time and it turned out to be a disaster. Their relentless calls to bring back David Beckham just caused Steve McClaren to focus on all the wrong issues and they were the first to crucify him when all he did was try and fulfil their every wish. Capello has enough experience and know-how to pick an England team so leave him alone and let him make the decisions he is paid to do.

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• Eggert Magnusson took his pristine claret and blue scarf back to the club shop, sold his shares, stepped down as Chairman of West Ham and went back to pursuing his other business interests today. At this stage it is too early to tell exactly why (and we reserve our judgement) but perhaps he was not as big a 'hammers' fan as he first made out when he helped take over the club.
• A good week for British interests in the Champions League as five out of six clubs made it to the last 16. The odds were always against Rangers who had the dubious honour of being the sixth and last club left to try and qualify from the hardest group of any of the Brits. Mixed feelings must abound for Liverpool players as successful qualification leaves them with a high-profile away trip in Europe. Once again their homes will be left at the mercy of the gang that has now robbed six of the squad in the last 18 months. Still, better to have your gaff turned over while away to AC Milan or Barcelona in the Champions League than some Swiss or Belgian team you've never heard of in the UEFA Cup.
• Those of you out there complaining about inconvenient changes to kick off times, spare a thought for supporters of FC United. Having to watch the Unibond League team play after the heady heights of Old Trafford must be hard enough. But now supporters of the Manchester United spin off, FC, are finding themselves having to take action again even at these lowly levels. The board of FC United are staying true to their constitution by urging supporters to boycott their fixture against Curzon Ashton on December 29th due to the game being moved to 12:45pm to accommodate an internet broadcast deal. Both clubs have asked the league to reconsider since Curzon are expected to make £10,000 in gate receipts from the 1200 travelling FC supporters and the internet deal itself is only worth £400. The relentless march of the corporate takeover goes on!