Thoughts on This and That

OK, the content is probably tedious, but you can’t argue with the title, or the sentiment!

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Viewers complain about too much Rugby Union on the beeb.

Quite right too, even more scandalous is the vast amounts of our money they squander on the rights for the 6 Nations with no competition, making it the most expensive program per viewer on the box.

I’m sure they’ll respond to the public’s concerns next time the renewal comes up, honest!

Anyone with the slightest interest in football (and plenty without) will have no doubt seen, heard or read about the shocking injury suffered by Arsenal’s Croation striker Eduardo yesterday.

Plenty have had their say on the incident too some, from both sides of the argument, have been ridiculous, talk of a life ban is almost as stupid as those saying things like “Taylor was only sent off because of the injury”, or “the tackle wasn’t that bad” - but it is about time that the authorities started to clamp down, before more serious injuries occur, and handing out the standard three match ban, the same as you might get for a shove on your opponent or “raising your hands”, isn’t going to deter offenders in the future.

It’s not about taking the physical side of the game away, no-one wants to see that happen less than me, but no true football fan wants to see studs-up challenges over the top of the ball, the reason they are often called “leg-breakers” is because of what we saw yesterday. I’m not for a moment suggesting Martin Taylor set out to cause an injury, but the fact that his challenge was reckless, rather than deliberate, isn’t of much consolation to the poor bloke who had the bone in his leg sticking out of his sock simply for trying to play football.

I should be pretty excited at the moment, tomorrow Bradford Bulls play St Helens at Odsal, the most successful clubs of the SL era, and two of the best teams in this years competition go head to head, but I just can’t build up any enthusiasm for the game at all, it’s doubtful that I’ll even watch on television.

It’s not just this game, SL as a whole just isn’t appealing to me at the moment, Rugby League is still my favourite sport and I can’t put my finger on the problem exactly, I guess it will pass - but you never know.

No-one can doubt that RL players in SL now are fitter and more athletic that they have ever been before, however I do wonder if this has been to the detriment of the skill level, and taken away some of the unpredictability of the game, to me the game is becoming more and more “run into tackle x 6 then kick” and there seems to be less and less imagination and freedom in the play.

Maybe that was always going to be a consequence of professionalism, maybe we have to wait until the competition is truly even before skill can again start to come to the fore on a more regular basis but, for now, I think I’ll stick to watching some lower league and amateur action, where players aren’t half as fit and athletic, but have a bit of time to try something out, you still have the spectacle of little guys running round big tired forwards, and there’s still a bit of the “biff” that sanitised Superleague has cleaned out.

I’ll give it about six weeks, then Superleague will probably have never seemed more appealing!

It’s today been announced that oral examinations in GCSE language courses are set to be scrapped, meaning the youth of today could soon achieve qualifications in languages that they can’t even speak.

Of course, the oral exams are the hardest part for most learners, but removing them because they “cause stress” is absolutely ridiculous, shouldn’t education be preparing kids for life?

Today’s FA Cup 5th round ties evoked a few memories of how it used to be (or, maybe how we perceive it used to be), and how it is nowadays - with “giant-killing” acts from, most notably, Barnsley at Anfield and Bristol Rovers beating Southampton, reminding me of an almost bygone age where teams from lower divisions had a go and every now and then nicked a famous win.

How it often is now was best summed up by Arsenal’s piss-poor display in their 4-0 defeat to Man United, an understrength, half-arsed team more focused on the Champions League next week than the game in front of them, and seemingly beaten before the first whistle.

Barnsley did today what the likes of Oldham, Huddersfield and Havant and Waterlooville have done before them this season - generally it’s been quite a good season for shocks, and there are going to be a few non-Premiership teams in the Quarter Finals, not to mention only 2 of the “big four”, obviously Man United or Chelsea will win it in the end, but hopefully there will be a couple more shocks before it’s over for another season.

Echoing the sentiment from this blog post of mine back in the day, I will once again express no surprise that Bryan Robson has yet again failed as a manager, and been given the boot by Sheffield United.

So, which stupid club chairman will ignore all the evidence and employ him next?

I was hoping to bring a little report about a trip to Batley, to see the derby with Dewsbury in the Northern Rail Cup, this afternoon - unfortunately I forgot to check the kick-off time, only finding out it was a 2 o’clock start (rather than the standard 3), as I was about to leave the house to jump on a bus there!

Typically it sounds like it was a bit of a cracker, Batley winning 19-18 with a last minute drop goal. Note to self: Do your research next time.

On the day Premiership clubs announced they were considering the possibility of taking fixtures abroad, there was a more localised story emphasising the greed, and the money obsessed world of Premiership football.

Bradford City’s 18 year old goalkeeper Sam Filler has been snapped up by Middlesbrough, despite barely featuring in the reserve side at Valley Parade, not to mention never getting anywhere near the first team in a recently struggling League Two side. The news follows hot on the heels of Liverpool signing a 14 year old from our academy a few weeks ago, to add to a 13 year old Chelsea took off our hands last year.

It’s hard to begrudge these kids (well, the ones going to Liverpool and Chelsea) the chance to make it at one of the worlds biggest clubs, but for me it is slightly disturbing to see such youth talent being hoovered up by a select few clubs, simply because they can afford to do it, and don’t want to take the risk of these kids being snapped up by their rivals, at 13 or 14 how on earth do you know that a kid will go on to make the grade?

In years gone by kids would come through at their local team after reaching 17 or 18, play there for a couple of years making a name for themselves then move on, all too often nowadays kids get snapped up while they are still children and, those that don’t kick on as they are expected, get cast aside. The number of kids who get discarded by the bigger clubs and are lost to football forever is way too high, and something I feel the FA should be addressing, especially given the concerns over the lack of English players around nowadays.

But forgetting all the “for the good of the game” sentiment, what really sticks in the throat is City releasing press releases as if this is a brilliant thing for us, yes we might rake in a few grand now (undisclosed fees rarely match up to what supporters of the selling club like to think), but if we can’t produce and keep talent, how do we realistically hope to be able to compete in the higher echelons of English football again? (if, indeed, that’s what we’d want to do).

When City got relegated last season after a pathetic capitulation at Chesterfield I pledged that no longer would I waste my weekends trailing up and down the country following them, I’m amazed it lasted as long as it did, but my resolve finally cracked yesterday, and I made my way to Macclesfield.

I’ve been enjoying my football again recently, for a number of reasons, and the combination of that, a new ground and a reasonable admission price (£10, the sort of price fourth division football should be) tempted me into making the journey, and I’m happy I did.

Town’s Moss Rose ground is a small stadium, ideal for a small club playing in a small town, it’s the type of traditional football ground that I like, and it’s been thoughtfully updated on two sides, while remaining some unique features…

The view from the open terrace designated to the away supporters was good, and luckily the rain stayed away, which helped us enjoy the 1-0 victory. It wasn’t the best of games, typical fourth division stuff really, but it means we are now undefeated in six games, have only lost three times in the league since October and still have an outside chance of reaching the play-offs, but I wouldn’t put any money on it just yet.