Having a Lovely Time! Wish You Were Here

European Championships? Well hardly! In the absence of England, frankly standards have been a little poor to say the least. Where are the plastic chairs being hurled across a water cannon-sodden public square? Where are the deserted streets of once bustling cities covered in a thin haze of tear gas billowing among the narrow cobbled passageways? Call this an international tournament? There has been a complete absence of gangs of Stone Island-clad youths steaming the designer label shops. And you call that a fight between the Germans and the Poles? Sky News pictures revealed that the weapon of choice appeared to be beer foam. Yes, when it comes to pre- and post-match mob-behavioural technique, the English can certainly show the rest of Europe a thing or two. So is Euro 2008 really missing us?

Joking aside, of course, RTG is gutted not to see England there, but we have to confess to quite enjoying the prospect of watching the tournament for purely football reasons rather than turning a critical eye to England’s performances and another eye on fancied teams in the hope that they perform badly – in case England end up meeting them. Though, worryingly, Russia and Croatia’s performances so far have perhaps highlighted just how poor England were. But let’s not dwell on that any longer. It’s been done. Not least by RTG in previous posts.

The English press has done its level best to try and persuade the rest of Europe that the tournament is worse for our absence. Meanwhile BBC and ITV have glossed over England’s lack of participation with the occasional break from script, by a pundit, when viewing Russia and Croatia, with the lament: “how on earth did England not make it?” Michel Platini, when asked (amongst a whole host of ex-football players and managers) if he missed England, replied to the effect that missing England would be disrespecting those teams that have actually qualified. And it’s hard to argue against that point.

The only real losers, let’s be honest, are the licensees and brewers of Austria, Switzerland and, of course, England, who must still be crying in their beer when they survey their empty bars. Let’s also spare a thought for Umbro, JJB and other sporting goods purveyors who could have done with the boost in these troubled times. In fact, given the current oil and credit crisis, we could all have done with a bit of a market stimulus.

On a positive note, for football lovers, the first round has actually produced some great matches. Apart from Romania and Greece, getting the win has appeared to be the overriding objective of each team. Just like the World Cup of 2006, having only two teams qualifying from each group and three points for a win, has put a premium on winning group games – especially the first one. Indeed, in two of the best matches, Holland v Italy and Spain v Russia, despite the three goal margins, with different luck, the results may have been different. It should also be remembered that, due to the unfairness of World Cup qualifying regional groups, this tournament is probably of a higher standard then the World Cup. Austria aside, the other 15 teams are all in the top 32 of the world and hence worthy of a World Cup place.

However, RTG does believe that the opening matches will gradually give way to a more cautious approach in the knockout stages, again like World Cup 2006. So be prepared for the brandishment of yellows and reds, general haranguing of officials and blatant diving to make a comeback in approximately two weeks time. Germany will, at some stage, definitely get through on penalties, after a cagey knockout stage performance and before reaching the final. Portugal will eventually flatter to deceive, probably at the semi final stage, again. Holland will do their usual self-inflicted implosion, again probably at the semi final stage and lose on penalties. Italy, however, should not be disregarded until they are actually on a flight home. RTG is still scratching its head wondering which ‘one-tournament wonder’ will be bought by a Premier League side, at great cost, only to end up on the bench once Christmas has been and gone. We’ve spotted Gomis of France but we’re not too sure yet. And it was nice to be reacquainted with the Greek players who moved en masse after Euro 2004 – some into the Premier League – only to be returned, tail between their legs, one year later.

Over this summer, though, there are optimistic signs for England fans to ponder. RTG believes we have got the best manager for the job as a result of McClaren’s departure (although we could do without him reminding us of his shortcomings by being a pundit on Five Live), we have an FA that appears to be finally getting its act together in setting up a better infrastructure for the grass roots, as well as, finally, setting a target date for opening the Burton centre of excellence in 2010. Readers of this blog would have noted this as one of RTG’s main issues in assessing the demise of England. Hence, the fight is by no means over. After all, the FA is only one area of the football industry that needs reform. There are still many others. Join us by signing the guestbook.

Hat’s Off. Take a Bow (or not)!

Player of the Week – David Villa spearheaded an exciting Spanish performance with a hat-trick.

Villain of the Week – Ronaldo. RTG is bored with all his transfer shenanigans. He should have sorted this out before the tournament. Now it is going to continue to be referred to every bloody day. Yawn!

Hero of the Week – Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Could have done his usual and gone down for a penalty when rounding goalkeeper Buffon but opted to stay on his feet. Hopefully this is a trend that will long continue. Although not to do with Euro 2008, RTG felt compelled to highlight also Randy Lerner, Aston Villa’s owner and CEO, for finishing his team’s shirt sponsorship and replacing it with a hospice charity instead.

Shock of the Week – Italy losing by more than two goals in a major tournament for the first time since the World Cup final in 1970.

Cliché of the Week – “Are you missing England?” RTG feels for all the people who’ve been put on the spot and asked this question when they clearly are not.

A Week to Wonder: What's Happening?

Football endured a tempestuous time this week including arrests on suspicion of corruption in the game, more bribery rumours/allegations and controversial issues which have been discussed and illustrated in previous posts by RTG. However you look at events this week, it is hard not to feel like the game is moving further away than ever from what supporters would call ‘reality’.

The England manager’s job appears to be turning into a PR fest, not helped by the FA’s appalling handling of the process last time around. As usual, the FA appear not to be doing anything. However, perhaps we are being unfair as RTG has no idea on the workings of the committees of the sub-committees and various points of order (Mr Chairman).

Candidates and their agents are professing not to be interested, then very interested, all within the space of 24 hours. Today’s papers have Jose Mourinho still saying, "come and get me" and "here’s my plan", while others claim he is waiting for a big club job and is using the England job as leverage in other discussions. However, due to the ponderous processes that the FA appears to operate under, it may be that, as the most ‘popular’ choice, Mourinho may well be bagged by someone else. After all, with the transfer window coming up, it would seem logical that a man of his ability would be snapped up by a leading European team. AC Milan for one!

One of the names being touted to succeed McClaren, Harry Redknapp was one of those arrested and released on bail this week. Presumably this is as an initial result of the recent Stevens inquiry and it is rumoured that more arrests will follow. This at least answers the question RTG posted some weeks ago as to what had actually happened here. How long will we wait for the next events to unfold regarding this matter? Possibly too long for Redknapp to ever be considered for the job (if indeed he ever was a serious candidate). The threat of more arrests may be impacting the selection process already.

The undue haste with which the FA despatched Steve McClaren’s P45 would seem to suggest that they had a ‘plan’ in place, wouldn’t it? It does not look like it, at the moment. What makes RTG worried is that, once again, we will end up with nothing more than a compromise candidate chosen by a combination of media pundits, ill-informed xenophobes and an FA under financial pressure. Don’t book your flights for South Africa 2010 just yet either.

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• More controversy involving referees at the weekend saw Phil Dowd (again) apparently refer to the fourth official – Uriah Rennie (well it would be wouldn’t it) – and presumably the TV feed, in sending off Robbie Keane. Aside from the hilarity of listening to Andy Gray trying to lip read what Mr Dowd was saying, it has, once again, clouded the issue of video evidence. Let’s hope the FA don’t punish an irate manager as he berates a fourth official into looking at the evidence of a dubious decision. The use of video evidence seems to have come in through the back door (remember Zidane’s sending off in the World Cup final). The only real reason this was especially highlighted yesterday was because the video evidence appeared to prove the officials got the decision wrong, or at least was still inconclusive. Which all just shows what RTG has long thought: the controversial decisions won’t go away just because technology is at hand; it will just shift into a more technical arena. But, the referees will not be in charge of the game.

• UEFA are investigating certain European matches (as yet undisclosed), thought to be Champions League and UEFA Cup qualifiers, for match fixing involving an Asian betting syndicate. Michel Platini is taking a hands-on approach and RTG awaits the outcome in his first major test as UEFA’s president. RTG was somewhat amused when parts of the media implied that some of Croatia’s Euro 2008 qualifiers were involved and that this might give a back door entry for England. This desperate wishful thinking might have more to do with pundit contracts being lost and drink-fuelled jollies to Austria and Switzerland having to be put on hold. No doubt the BBC will still find the budget to send Chris Hollins and Nicky Campbell to bake cakes, wear lederhosen and interview drunk fans in the street.

• Speaking of all things Euro 2008, the draw was held yesterday for the group stages of the tournament. It seems like it is of a better standard, and harder to win than the World Cup, so why spoil the potential of the tournament by allowing the draw to put three of the best teams in the same group. No disrespect to Romania intended. The draw was made a farce by the need to accommodate the two hosts as number one seeds. Clearly a stupid situation and why we should only have a single host for tournaments. It might be argued that this is the only way some countries will get to host such an event but, with only two venues above 32,000 capacity, these two should not have been awarded it in the first place. Look, if Mexico, a third world country, can successfully host a world cup with large venues, then rich nations like these should be able to make more of an investment in what is the second largest international tournament in the world.

• Aaaahh, the romance of the third round of the Famous FA Eon Cup™. The draw was held yesterday amid the usual anticipation of ‘David v Goliath’ and ‘a money-spinning tie’ for the minnows. Amazingly, Manchester Utd drew Aston Villa in the third round for the fourth time in seven years. What seems to have been missed is that, had United not pulled out of the 2000 competition, it would have been five in eight as the so-called ‘lucky losers’, Darlington (who replaced United in the draw) drew guess who? Statistically this seems highly improbable as well as a real bummer for Villa fans.
  
  Hats Off, Take a Bow! (or not).

Player of the week: Fernando Torres - playing sublimely and so surreal like, that you might just believe that Liverpool will break their 18 year taboo of winning the English league.

Villain of the week: all those that believe in video evidence - No! It's not going to work. It won't until we get 'feel around' - or is it 'sense around'?

Heroes of the week: FC Stuttgart Team and Supporters. Everybody in the UK paid scorn on their lap of honour when they picked up their only points in the Champions League. They gave it as a thankyou to their fans who had supported them (a full stadium, when they were already out of the competition). Treated cynically by the British press, yet a heart felt gesture.

Shock of the week: the Arrests! Without judging already, RTG really didn't believe any action would be taken from the Stevens Inquiry. Let's hope, however, that guilty parties are taken down and for those not found out, that this is a warning.

Cliche of the week: "I am interested, I am not interested" - in the England job, of course.

Not Back to Square One. Back to the Drawing Board.

Now you didn’t book that flight did you?

Austria and Switzerland Euro 2008 will undoubtedly be a poorer tournament for the lack of English supporters who usually outnumber most other countries by a considerable margin. The bar owners in those countries will most surely be cancelling their orders for their new Mercedes and wiping away a little tear. Perhaps the street cleaners may allow themselves a little smile.

So at RTG we are left once again pondering the whys and the wherefores and where we go from here. The usual bullshit will be spouted and frankly we’re too depressed to even bother getting annoyed about it. Safe to say already we’ve heard, “Oh David Beckham should have been on from the start”[Desperate]. “What if John Terry had been fit?” [Pointless]. “Stupid Rio for getting himself suspended”. [Scapegoat]. You can fill in the rest of the “if only” crap should you so wish. [Injuries][Pitch][Yadda…Yadda…Yadda].

Now we have a chance to put something right. England has the richest league in the World. It has the best players from around the World. Arguably it is the most exciting in the World if somewhat lacking in true competition. The English supporters are surely the keenest in the World and the resources available to the FA are second to none. In England we also have a massive desire to do well which is why we get so upset when we fail to reach our potential.

The time for talking about “passion” and picking managers and players based on how hard they can stick their fist in the air is over. Now is the time for a radical rethink about how we develop players and to build for a long-term future. It is time to start using our brains at all levels of the game. Sadly this approach has never been in abundance in English football. It was clear last night that when things started to go wrong we had neither the intelligence nor ability to work out how to put it right. This is especially true after Crouch’s equaliser when the only surprise was that it took 12 minutes for Croatia to go back in front.

Being optimistic, we have all the ingredients in this country to put things right. Being pessimistic, and given that we have had these ingredients for years, we are still searching desperately to find the recipe for success. However, the spectre of Brian Barwick flying around Europe trying to cajole people into the “impossible job” does not inspire confidence. Let’s at least hope that he improves his neck wear! Time and time again, over the last 40 years, it has been shown that the FA is not structured or organised for success. Until this is done, expect many more days like today in the next 40 years.

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• A step in the right direction? Possibly. Wayne Rooney is studying for GCSE's in English and Maths. It will not only make him comfortably one of the most educated English players but with such a large bank balance it has a modicum of common sense about it.
• In order to help pay for the New Wembley, the FA staged an NFL football game. How ironic that one of the most damaged areas of the pitch played a crucial part in Croatia's first goal. It was announced just a few days beforehand that the FA were going to re-lay the pitch at a cost of £100K next month. A month too late perhaps.
• How delighted RTG was this week to be granted the opportunity on Sky Sports to watch highlights from the North London Golf Classic - featuring both memorable and highly forgettable former Arsenal and Spurs players pitched against each other on the fairways. This is yet more ridiculous over exposure of football, and all that goes on around it. RTG has always believed in a dedicated football channel run by the FA for supporters so Sky subscribers don't have to subsidise this type of crap.

Do We Not Like That?

In a throwback to the bad old Graham Taylor England days, we are left contemplating various permutations for qualification to Euro 2008. So if Macedonia beat Croatia, and then we beat Croatia by a three goal margin or Israel draw or win against Russia and then we beat Croatia - we're through! Never going to happen. RTG hopes you took our advice from our September 6th posting not to book your flights to Austria or Switzerland.

Of the scenarios above, according to the form book, we are most likely left relying on Israel to get points off Russia. Let's take a look at the likelihood of this for a moment. We've already discussed in this blog last week how influence and interests of wealthy football investors appear shrouded in confusion and potentially detrimental to competition in the sport. Roman Abramovich is a major contributor to the Russian national team and is believed to bankroll Gus Hiddink's salary. He also 'found' the funding for the new Russian national stadium. Strangely, he doesn't seem able to afford to put underfloor heating in the stadium but we'll gloss over that for now.

But his influence also extends to Israeli football. He attempted to purchase Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2005 but was advised, given he is owner of Chelsea, not to do so. Consequently he persuaded his wealthy, close friend, Lev Leviev, to get involved with Israeli football and buy them instead. He seems to be most comfortable when he surrounds himself with Jewish/Russian cronies anyway. Take Avram Grant and Pini Zahavi as clear examples of this. Whichever way you choose to look at it, he clearly has major connections with both Israeli and Russian football. Can we really expect an Israeli team who are already out of the competition to go all out for victory? We don't think so, nor do we expect Croatia to lose to Macedonia.

Let's make no excuses for England's failure last night. We've heard a lot about "lack of passion" and "wanting to wear the shirt" ad nauseam from the pundits but the bottom line is we have not been good enough in what should have been a comfortable group. We made a promising start last night against Russia where we attacked and defended comfortably, and managed to take a one goal lead into the half-time break. But Russia's tactical changes saw us retreat further and further back until we were left looking like a bunch of clueless hoofers.

This has been a worrying trend right back to the Euro 2000 tournament where we were brutally exposed in our inability to keep possession of the ball. In his defence Sven Goran Eriksson must have realised this from the onset of his tenure because he turned us into a long ball side, capable of qualifying out of a group but shown wanting against the better sides. Last night we could blame Robinson, Rooney, plastic pitches or the ref if we wanted but, the way we were playing last night, it seemed inevitable that Russia would score again once they had equalised. The talent is there no doubt but the tactics and the intelligence to win important matches are not. Gus Hiddink out thought Steve McClaren completely and in an interview last night said that he knew that if you put the English defence under sustained pressure they would struggle to cope. And struggle they did.

Where do we go now? We've already discussed the problem lies deeper than just the manager but Steve McClaren clearly has to go. Who to replace him? Is there somebody out there with the tactical know-how, winning attitude, skin of a rhino and ability to get the best out of English players? Ole Jose!

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• The BBC have been preparing, over the last week, for announcing redundancies to recover a £2 Billion deficit. Here's some suggestions to recover part of the debt: 1. Concentrate on acquiring the sport in the first place and don't pay the useless, ex-footballers, but with no brain pundits - e.g. Alan (I'm so Mary Popiins, my wife makes me do this) Shearer, Ian (the louder I shout, the more people believe my credibility) Wright and several others who don't add anything to our coverage to make it worth the expense; 2. Keep your serious football reporters and get rid of Chris Hollins who seemed to spend the whole of Germany 2006, at our expense, reporting on anything but football. What on earth do WAG massages and making Black Forest Gateaux have to do with World Cup football? 3. Gaby Logan - why? 4. Stop sending Five Live's Nicky Campbell to every major sporting occasion just for us to have to listen to him recounting his previous evening's corporate (also at our expense) entertainment over breakfast. Do the BBC, or any TV company for that matter, not understand the basic supply and demand laws of economics. There are millions of people willing to do presenting jobs out there. The desire to do the job should pay for itself.
• The collective intellectual footballing brain that is the Sky Sports pundit team, suggested one solution to England's qualification woes is to 'bring back David Beckham'. Well, when he gets his place back in the LA Galaxy team perhaps it might be a 'solution' (?@!*@??&*) worth thinking about. Solution? It's too late to help us now thanks chaps but you keep spouting out the first thing that comes into your brain rather than giving any serious thought to something that might be worth hearing.
• Sammy Lee, despite being the early favourite, was not the first Premiership manager to get the boot this season. Just goes to show that promoting second in command to overall General doesn't seem to work. FA take note...........hmmmmm.