Socceroos vs Paraguay

God it's a dull nite when there's no football on... No A league, which isn't that big of a drama but worst of all no Premier League which is a very big drama, at least the Socceroos put on a good display.
It's good to see them playing attacking football, I never realised until the world cup just how boring a brand of football we played. But it seems things under Holger Ossiek are different which makes viewing very good, at least after the first 15 minutes coz lets face it up until then the Socceroos were very slow to start.

But this attacking brand of football does leave us open to the counter and I don't think I'm making a massive statement by saying Jon McCain probably isn't going to be forcing Lucas to work too hard to get his spot back. Not that many of the guys seem to work too hard to force the selection issue anyway.

I was a bit perplexed by Brett Emerton's appearence on the sidelines. I wouldn't have thought Blackburn would let one of their players, and a player who scored on the weekend by the way, to travel all this way just to sit and watch. I suppose he would have gotten the opportunity to train with the squad and show Holger a little of what he can do but still I think it shows a lack of respect for Emmo and Rovers, although we kind of knew that after he was talked about being sold during hte most reccent transfer window. It's a shame because Emmo is a great player and a goal scorer you would think would be valuable to any club...

Josh Kennedy looks good with short hair and is good to hear he is top of the J League scoring table at the moment with Nagoya Grampus top of the table as well. He had minimal chances but seems to work well with Timmy up front as well.

Timmy has a quiet night as well, but as we saw against Man U sometimes his quiet nights are really quite good. Whatever, we love Timmy and if Timmy wanted to run for PM I'm sure he'd win hands down.

Harry Kewell had a really quiet night despite playing pretty much the full game before being subed for Dario Vidosic who made a good impact in the 3 minutes he had.
I think Robbie Slater is right and Harry needs to give up. He's not the player he once was and I think while the Asian Cup is a possibility for him the World CUp in 2014 in Brazil is no more than a pipe dream.

Mark Schwarzer again had a clean sheet although he wasn't ever really troubled by the opposition although our guys did sell him a little short at times but I guess that's what you get from an inexperienced defence.

Overall a good game, good to see them playing attacking football, I just hope Holger continues to get fresh blood in the team, picking younger guys who will take us to the World CUp in 2014.

Collingwood Fans

I don't think there is a more vile group of people in existence than Collingwood fans. Honestly I get the passion and the devotion and the one eyedness because I have it myself but honestly, I have respect and I have manners and above all I have class and God help me if I ever forget that, but I know if I do that I will still be above Collingwood fans on the food chain because my mother is not also my sister, my father is not also my grandfather and because I own a car and have all of my teeth and they are not a shade of brown.

What gets me most is not the 4 year old who abused me as I came out of my hotel on Saturday, it's not the guy that assulted me as I left the ground, although it was really fun to scream in his face, but it was the chant they did while our team song was playing.

We had enough respect to not do anything during your song, I think the least we can ask is that you stay quiet during ours. I'd like to know what Eddie Maguire thinks of this behaviour and what it says about his club and their supporters, but knowing what bottom feeding, inbred criminals that they are I'm sure he wouldn't think there's anything wrong with what they did.

Brendan Fevola

Oh dear oh dear when will Fev learn?
Well, seeing as he's 29 and at his second club which was obviously his last chance then I'm going to go out on a limb here and say NEVER.
What a complete and utter dickhead, even if the latest allegations aren't true you've still got to seriously wonder whta the hell goes through that thick head of his, or moreover, what doesn't go through that thick head of his.

I think regardless of the outcome of the investigations over this latest allegation the AFL has to deregfister him for bringing the game into disrepute, which then leaves the Lions free to sack him which I'm sure they're jumping at the bit to do, not least because of the room it will give them under the salary cap which they desperately need but to take the spotlight away from what has truly been a disasterous season for them which, a season which and I am included here, many thought they would be seeing some September action.

A couple of weeks ago the Herald Sun named the Fevola trade deal as the worst trade deal ever, that's without this latest saga. Surely now with all that has happened that title is without doubt.
Not only did the Lions lose Lachie Henderson, who has shown he has a career ahead of him, now at Carlton, but they lost Daniel Bradshaw to Sydney and Michael Rischatelli to the GOld COast Suns despite him saying being offered as trade bait had nothing to do with the switch. Everyone knows that's not true because from the very moment he turned down the move to Carlton he was linked with the Suns.

But to be honest, the Fevola move was never going to work. He's too all about himself and he showed that at Carlton, yes I know quite often troubled players at one club settle down when they're moved to another but Brendan Fevola is truly in a league of his own. His unwillingness to go up to the Gabba for his first press conference tells a lot.

So now the AFL will go and do the Lions dirty work, surely this is the very last in a long line of wrongs by Fev, and if they were seriously considering deregistering him after his Brownlow antics, antics which are going to see him charged by the Victorian Police, then this surely must be the straw that broke the camel's back. Afterall the AFL deregistered Ben Cousins without a positive drug test. But unlike Ben Cousins I don't think the Fev story will have a happy football ending. No club in their right mind, even in their wrong mind, would consider taking on Fev. I think he's well and truly done and although I hate to see the Lions worm their way out of this massive hole they dug for themselves the game is well and truly better off without Brendan Fevola in its ranks.

Pakistan Cricket

Ban the lot of them I say and while they're at it get rid if the ICC the useless sack of shit that it is. It wouldn't surprise me if the ICC were in on the betting as well, they seem to tie themselves to all sorts of shady people where money is the only thing that matters...

Nothing is going to get better in cricket unless the corruption is stamped out from the top and that includes the ICC not being held to ransom by the Afro-Asian bloc.

As for the Pakistanis, I can understand why they did it, if they did indeed do it, because they never get to play at home, they're underpaid and have massive egos because they're skilled with either a bat or a ball but surely somewhere along the lines morals and ethics have to come into it...

A League - Gold Coast United

Oh my Oh my what is Clive doing again?
Clive Palmer in all his wisdom is talking about the crowd cap at Skilled Park (not Skilled Stadium as people like to call it, we're not in Geelong, thank Christ for that!) and reintroducing it again for the season.
Yes Clive I know it is quite a lot cheaper to only hire a partially opened stadium but I'm afraid that from an A League point of view and from a players point of view it's just crap.
How about instead of closing you club from the people you open your club to people? Radical idea I know but obviously your way isn't working for the people of the Gold Coast so I thought perhaps I could give you a few pointers.
I had hoped that perhaps you could pay me for the following opinnions but as you obviously only hire people who will bow down to you and acquiesce to all your decisions and I really won't do that because having a shitload of money clearly doesn't buy you brains...

Anyway here are my ideas:

1. Treat your members with a bit of respect.
   Both my parents are members of GCU, members totaling in excess of $1000. GCU memberships are among the most expensive in the A League and for what reason? None. Even the Champions Sydney FC aren't as expensive as GCU. But aside from price you need to keep your members in the loop, make them feel a part of the club, as if they're wanted and are valuable assests. Afterall the players play for the love of the game and the fans right?
   GCU treat their members like shit. There is very little interplay between the club and its members, and half the time the club doesn't even know what's going on.
   Members supporters packs are able to be picked up at the 3rd home game of the season, a date which doesn't fall until September, yeah nice one Clive.
   And at public appearences by the players half the time Captain Jason Culina isn't there, this happened at at least 2 appearences last season.
2. Get out in the Community.
   Apparently the club does send it's players to local soccer trainning sessions and good on them they should, but on bye weekends, like this one, perhaps have a kick around session with one of the local teams, or have a family weekend with the players and their families or something.
3. Suck the kids in.
   Sydney FC have a great program in place, all registered soccer players under 12 get free membership. Naturally for kids to take advantage of this offer they can't go alone, they're under 12 for Christ sake and no one in their right mind would let a 12 year old traipse off to the football all on their lonesome, so what do the parents do? They ask little Johnny if he's likely to want to go to all of the games and as little Johnny is a big fan of Nicky Carle because he came to their school/training session and taught them a thing or two and has since become little Johnny's idol little Johnny wants to see Nick in action every week. So what option does that leave poor Mum and/or Dad? Going with them and as it makes sense finacially to buy a membership rather than a ticket to every game they buy a membership. And then little Johnny's brother Tim decides that it's unfair that Mum and/or Dad get to go to the football every weekend and he'd like to go to what does the family do? They buy a membership for Tim as well thus giving FC a bigger membership base and more people to the game simply because little Johnny was given a free membership.
4. Stop blaming the FFA for everything.
   Yes the FFA were stupid in expanding the A League so fast and yes they were stupid enough to believe you when you said you could handle running an A League club but aside from that it's not all their fault and it's a bit of a cop out to blame it all on them. And if it is true that the FFA does hanle your website then that's just about the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.
5. Listen to people when they try to help.
   I hate the A League. I have many problems with it and I will continue to have many problems with it until they do something about fixing the quality of the football and start using their heads rather than plan for world domination, but seriously when the people you are marketing to are telling you that there is something wrong and give you suggestions don't just say "yes yes we know" maybe take the time to listen to them and take some of what they say under advisement.
   In the lead up to last year's experiment of capping the crowds I went with my mum to pick up her replacement tickets. While we were there we said a few things to the guy from whom we picked up the tickets, along with other members who were agreeing with what we were saying and added stuff of their own. The guy handing out the tickets couldn't care less. As we were leaving another guy, Blair I think his name was, came out to us to chat. We again told him more of what we were thinking the club could do and he couldn't care less about what we were saying, telling us that they were doing everything they could and blah blah blah. I'm sorry but if that's the best they could do then someone seriously stuffed up when it came to hiring people because what they were doing was nowhere near enough, and it still isn't. In the lead up to the opening game of the season I saw nothing in the papers advertising the game. I guess now that the FFA isn't doing it and paying for the advertising I guess they don't care...

Well good on you Clive because when you stuff this club, and you have stuffed it, and in the process waylay the progress of Australian Football you can look back and say at least you have the somewhat dubious title of Professor to keep you warm at night...

EPL

How quickly things do come around again.
So the English Premier League season started on the weekend and I think it's safe to say that while we all had enough of the World Cup, those vevuzelas just made viewing hell, there is no league like the English Premier League, thankfully without vevuzelas!! I love hearing the crowd singing and chanting and I especially loved the Chelsea faithful all stand up when the boys were singing "If you're 5 - 0 up stand up". Very cool as was Roman Ambramovich, I love the way he seems to take pleasure out of football like any other person despite earning billions of dollars, by the way Roman I'm open to donations!!

Anyway my points of notice so far:

• Joe Hart starting for Man city.
  While I hate Man City I was quite stoked that Joe Hart got the nod over Shay Given who in his own right is a fantastic keeper though not as fantastic or anywhere as good looking as Hart.
  I reckon England should have played him in the World Cup although Lord knows nothing will fix what's wrong with that squad...
• Blackpool winning 4-0 over Wigan.
  Who tipped that one? At the start of the season Blackpool were 5-1 odds on going back down, but I guess being in the Premiership was quite inspiring...
  Good on them, but May is a very long time away and a week is a long time in football...
• Tim Howard's gaffe.
  Oh dear, oh dear Rob Green would be proud, as would some of the keepers in the A League but that's another story....
• Arsenal and Liverpool.
  It's quite clear that both of these clubs need the Aussie keepers they have either signed or want to sign...
  Come on Arsne you know you need Schwarzer so pull out the chequebook and play ball, Mark Hughes knows what big figures look like so give him an offer he can't refuse!!
• Chelsea's 6.
  Good to see the Champions start well, let's hope they can continue and go on and take the triple!
• West Brom's opening month.
  Who did they piss off?
  Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U all away in the first four rounds of the comp.
• New Squad Rules.
  Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the point of a national competition was to nuture home grown, truly home grown, talent so that for friendlies and international duty you had a mirriad of players to pick from.
  These new rules aren't so much for the sake of the England squad in the years to come but more to ensure that the club's acadamies comtinue with developing young talent that isn't neccessarily of English birth.
  Not that I mind from a Socceroos point of view, the less competition the better in my view, but from an England point of view their ageing squad at the World Cup did show that they needed young blood and these new rules won't neccessarily help...

But May is a long time away and before that we have the close of the Transfer window on the 31st with the big question being will Arsenal pull out the offer it needs to get Mark Schwarzer to the Emirates? Let's hope so for his sake, and maybe theirs...

AFL - rule changes

So the AFL has proposed some rule changes and I thought I would have my say on them, naturally.

1. Restricting interchange.
Personally out of the 3 options here, 3 interchange 1 sub, 2 interchange 2 subs, cap of 80 interchanges, I prefer either of the first 2, I think though I'm leaning more towards 3 interchange 1 sub.
I think capping the number of interchanges is stupid, it slows the game down, which may reduce injury but I also think it could increase injury, especially forcing players to stay out on the ground longer, although it would get their endurance levels up.

2. Length of game.
This one I don't see as a big deal. Sure it's annoying to be at a game and not know how long to go in the quarter but I think 2o minutes of play is fine. If stoppages force it go longer than so be it.

3. Advantage.
While some advantage calls are ridiculous, or moreover the lack of a call ie stopping the play, or bringing the play back for the free to be taken, I think maybe, or a lot of the time, players don't make the best decision when it comes to deciding if there's an advantage. I don't see the problem with letting play continue after the infringement and then if there's no advantage then bring it back. It's just an issue when the play is stopped and there was an advantage or if play wasn't stopped and there wasn't an advantage, but I think let the play continue and then bring it back if neccessary.

4. Boundary umpires paying frees.
All for this.

5. Free kicks for players who drag the ball under.
This would only work if the umpire had a good view and in congested situations would be very hard to pick out who was doing what. I guess in this case it would just be a ball up then, but in blatant situations I'm all for a free if someone is pinning the ball to another player who is trying to get it out.

6. Rough Conduct.
Fair enough. Any conduct to the head shouldn't be in the game.

7. Scoring.
Hell No!!! Most of the time when the ball hits the post it ricochets back into the field of play.
While I reckon from set shots a poster should be worth more because it's harder to hit, i think leaving a poster as a point is fine as long as it actually hits the post or is seen as hitting the post and called as such, not a goal... Tom Hawkins I'm looking at you you dirty cheating liar.