Rant Blog: [24/3/2011]
‘England, oh England’ Blog
Firstly, I know it has been over two months since I last posted a blog but I’ve had other stuff to do. I will try to do this more often but, just like when I’ve said this many other times, I’m not promising that. Anyway, whilst I’m here onto this week’s [or more like this month’s, knowing in me] blog...
What a week it has been if you’re an England fan. John Terry, yeah you know the name, is the permanent England captain. Me, and others, have quite a bit of gripe with this. Firstly, why? What has John Terry done that has made him deserved of this title? He is a back stabbing, cheeky, annoying bastard, to put it politely.
Now, I may be biased by saying I want Steven Gerrard to be, but my reasons for this aren’t because I support Liverpool. The reasons for this are that he is a true leader, something we really lack in the England squad, and doesn’t go to the press and backstab his team mates.
Let us go back to the World Cup last year in South Africa and remember [painfully] after the game against Algeria where we drew 0-0. A certain Mr John Terry came out to the press, he weren’t even captain nor vice captain, and said nine players had huddled in a corner and spoke about how bad the team were and said that they thought the management of the team was awful, he said this to the world’s press.
There are a few problems I have with this:
1) These allegations were completely false; the players accused came out and said they were speaking about how their performances hadn’t been good and how they can improve, none of what John Terry had said.
2) Why would you reveal this to the world’s press anyway? If it was that bad, talk to them yourself and keep it in-house, don’t reveal it to the press and other countries.
A few days ago, when Terry was handed over the armband, he came out and said he was sorry about what he had done several months ago but said he would do that again but not to the press, which leaves you to wonder who he’d say it to then, Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend?
That is another problem with him, going out with Bridge’s girlfriend [at the time, I don’t think they’re still together after that are they? If anyone can correct me on this, it would be good]. Now why cheat on your wife? What is that going to gain you, other than a bit of sex and then the whole world and its wife rains down on you in the press. Wayne Bridge then decided to temporarily retire whilst John Terry was still playing for England.
Now, I’m not saying Wayne Bridge is better than John Terry, but I’d rather he be in the England team than Terry. I hope John Terry never ever players for England again, never mind being the captain. After everything he has done, he does not deserve the privilege of representing our country.
That also reminds me of another story from the World Cup of him and Frank Lampard having a go at Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher over the captain’s armband. The tensions built between the two groups as it seems Terry was jealous about Gerrard being captain and Lampard was probably gutted he was only vice-captain. They should remember they’re a select few of 23 players representing their country at a World Cup, they should be proud, not taking it for granted.
One final piece about John Terry was about what he said in the paper, namely the Daily Mirror, yesterday and I quote: “He was wrong to sack me”. What, wrong to sack you? If it were me, I’d have kicked you out the team and you’d have never been seen again. Just for that, Capello should take the armband off him. What is Terry trying to say? That none of the other team can lead a team? Absolute nonsense! John Terry is a disgrace and I hope this backfires on him so much.
Just a quick note about the England team, it has been reported that Frank Lampard will be dropped from the first team for the first time in seven years. It seems like this “London mafia” of players are finally being put in order. I’ve always said to drop Lampard anyway as he is greedy and is not better than Gerrard, both of whom can’t play together. Get a five man midfield with Gerrard and Wilshere in the middle, with Barry playing behind them, protecting the back four. That way, both Gerrard and Wilshere can get forward whilst Barry protects the back.
Moving on from John Terry and onto the subject about what channels England should be shown on. I saw the adverts for Sky Sports showing they’re broadcasting the Wales vs England game on their channel. Now there is a problem with this, why?
I’m sure everyone knows of the prices for the Sky Sports package, most will get it if they have Sky TV but it isn’t cheap, and if you have Virgin Media, it isn’t any cheaper, £20 more per month if you want the Sky Sports package with Virgin Media.
Why are all England games not on terrestrial TV [a.k.a. the free channels]? Why are they on pay-per-view TV? This should be a protected sports program so the whole nation can see their football team represent them, no matter how big or small the nation they’re playing are.
All England games should be kept on either the BBC channels [like they used to be] or ITV, who have the rights to all England home games. It really is disgusting that you have to pay more for something that should be free, give me back my country’s team on normal TV! They better not expect me to pay more for it on TV either, I’d rather use streams. Going to the match is not cheap either, but that is another discussion about ticket prices which I’ve covered once before so I won’t go on about it again despite the disgusting prices for tickets to Wembley for the UEFA Champions League final.
FIFA tried to make England [and other countries who broadcast the World Cup and EURO competitions on free TV] broadcast the two competitions mentioned on pay-per-view TV, other than their own nation’s games which, they say, can stay on “free TV”. Oh, how nice of them.
Now what gives them the right to say they plan on what we do with our TV? I suppose it’s so they can get more money to line their pockets. The European courts quickly dismissed this as “absurd” [and rightly so] and said this would be an illegal move by FIFA.
Finally, I hope Mr Anti-England, Sepp Blatter, doesn’t get another 4 years in control of FIFA. He and the rest of them are corrupt and should leave as soon as possible. I also hope the Qatar candidate, Mohamed Bin Hammam does not get it either, he wants more international friendly matches during the year to improve the national game and improve finances for FIFA.
a) As if we haven’t got enough international games through the year to distract from domestic campaigns.
b) This just proves he is as greedy as the rest of them as far as finances are concerned, FIFA don’t fund anything other than their own offices so what do they need money for?
I hope the American journalist, Grant Wahl, gets the job as he seems the best candidate and has promised a complete overhaul of FIFA, including a investigation to all bid campaigns to host World Cups to see if anything “suspicious” was going on, he also will bring in goal-line technology something he, and I, say is needed.
He also wants to abolish the quota for referees being at the World Cup, saying that having only 1 referee from each country at maximum is ridiculous and means more “amateur” refs have to be chosen to fill in the gaps, which is true.
He also wants to scrap yellow cards for celebrations when scoring, which was a ridiculous rule in the first place. Finally he will appoint a woman as FIFA general secretary. He has said FIFA needs a “wiki leaks” type clean out of documents to show what has gone on.
He also believes that Bin Hammam's candidacy would change little, arguing that the Qatari is a Fifa insider.
Anyway, that is my blog for this week [month], I hope you enjoyed it. No idea when my next blog will be, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
