Archive for November, 2008

24
Nov
08

Weekend’s talking points….

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Categories: Uncategorized
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So, the common theme is for me to talk about the weekends talking points. Not much has happened this weekend though. So all i have to say is well done Ricky Hatton for demolishing Paulie Malignagghi, comiserations for England Rugby team for being demolished by South Africa and a WTF happened to England’s One day squad in their defeat to India.

However, wait!

There are a few things to talk about. First off i cannot understand all of this talk about Paul Ince being sacked. It makes no sense to me. A few weeks ago i defended Mark Hughes by saying that he should be given time and the money promised to him, and although the situation is slightly different (Blackburn don’t have much money) the premise is the same. After watching some Blackburn matches, it is obvious that the win is coming and it’s coming soon. Hang on in there. Give Paul Ince a chance.

There has been enough said on William Gallas comments over the weekend. I don’t really want to dwell on it and give this spoilt, selfish and arrogant piece of crap any more of my time. Instead i will point you to the best sites that commented on his ridiculous outburst.

When Saturday Comes

Robbo Robson

A cultered left foot

 RT Wilcock

18
Nov
08

Weekends talking points…

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Football, News and Sport
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So there has been several points to talk about from the weekend, and as per usual with International week, stories have circulated that don’t really deserve mentioning. However there have been some decent stories.

Micheal Mancienne is a Chelsea youngster currently on loan at Wolves. Nothing unusual there you might think, however on Saturday night he was thrusted into the limelight after some very impressive performances for Wolves and included in the England squad for the Germany international. Now i am a fan of playing youngsters in the main squad because it gives valuable experience to the youngsters for when they are carrying the nations hopes. But i think it is a bit early for Mancienne. If  his policy to include youngsters then why not some of the burgeoning players in the Premier League? I know there are some youthful players in the squad but i think Mancienne wasnt at the top of the pile.

The other main story that has hit the headlines is the old chestnut of club versus country. I don’t see the argument. Gerrard is injured, Lampard has rib troubles and Joe Hart was visibly injured on Sunday. Do you honestly think Gerrard wants to shirk his responsibilities for England.There have been grumbles about unneccessary friendlies disrupting the domestic programme but i see that as ridiculous. Just when England make some progress and look like they are going somewhere again, we get some selfish premier league managers telling Capello and the Journalists that it is a waste of time. I think they should do their jobs and let Capello do his.

Just a quick note on Maradona’s Argentinian circus that is heading Hampden Parks way tomorrow night. I can only see tears with this marriage. Maradona was a fabulous player, no doubt about it. However he is just to volatile and inexperienced as a manager to make it.

It’s good to see the F.A actually see through some of their pre-season threats in respect( pun intended) to their respect campaign. Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson has been handed a ten thousand pounds fine and a two match touchline ban for improper conduct. And damn right. Quite frankly, he should know better, and he probably does. It’s only now that the F.A have decided to get tough with him and other Premier League Managers for improper professional behaviour. Lets hope it continues

RT Wilcock

14
Nov
08

Olympic D-Day

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: News, Something of Nothing and Sport
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So the big day is upon seven sports who are bidding for the chance to compete at the 2016 Olympic games. There are two spots available for the 28 sport extravaganza and the sport’s bidding for the chance to compete couldn’t be further detracted from each other if they tried.

In what promises to be an extraordinary day at the I.O.C Headquarters in Lausanne in which Squash, Rugby Sevens, Karate, Baseball, Roller Sports ( I know…say whaaaat), Softball and Golf  all pitch for the right to compete.

Now, there is no saying what the I.O.C are looking for in the sports however for me there are two sports that stand out in this race. Squash is a highly competitive and exhilirating sport that requires supreme strength of mind and remarkable stamina. The I.O.C have in the past expressed concerns about how it translates to the T.V screens. This is a fair comment because the sport does struggle to show it’s best parts. However, if they are concerned about the T.V viewing figures and the all important bums- on- seats, then i am astounded that they havn’t looked at the values of Table Tennis and Syncronised Swimming. Nothing against the prospective games but they aren’t any more exciting from a spectator’s point of view than Squash is.

squash

My second vote would be for the Karate programme to be included. I think it’s close with Rugby Sevens but my vote would be based on the simple fact that Karate is a sport that has a internationally developed set-up and is not just a shortened quickened game of a rather more established sport. Put simply, you wouldn’t put in twenty20 Cricket instead of the full game. It doesn’t make sense in the long-term development of the Olympic movement or Rugby Sevens. Golf has a strong case, however Golf is just Golf. It doesn’t really need the Olympic movement for the promotion of it’s sport and there are serious doubts over whether or not tour players would turn up.

golf

A Golfer playing Golf….yeah i know, boring isn’t it

As for Roller Sports, Softball and Baseball, they don’t stand a chance in my opinion.

What does everybody think will happen?

14
Nov
08

What respect….

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Football and Sport
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I mentioned at the start of the week that i thought Joe Kinnear had called the wrong person into question over Newcastle’s failings in the sunday game against Fulham. Now, i think my case has been vindicated by the charade that has ensued since then.

In case you don’t know, Joe Kinnear called referee Martin Atkinson a “mickey mouse” referee after a non existant push on Cacapa by Andy Johnson wasn’t punished. It angers me that over the last week the only story that has really eminated from the Newcastle camp is the repurcussions of Joe Kinnear’s ridiculous remarks.

He’s told that his remarks are out of line, he’s then called into the F.A Office to explain himself and then he is told that he has to apologise to Atkinson- and quite rightly so, and after all of that we get Kinnear releasing a statement telling us he might have been wrong. It shows that Joe Kinnear hasn’t quite grasped 21st Century football and all of it’s trappings. The day’s are gone when press conferences were three guys and a dictaphone. Everything you say is scrutinised, everything you do is straight on SkySports News in the morning. You can’t run your mouth nowadays without it coming back to haunt you. In a day and age of respect campaigns and disiplinary panels, it only serves as a hinderence to doubt a referee’s credentials. 

kinnear2

It all points to one thing and one man, whilst Joe Kinnear is doing his best in a bad situation he is lacking in respect of referees, he’s lacking in common knowledge of how 21st century football works. At a time when Newcastle sit ugly in 18th position and relegation becoming the unwanted buzzword on Tyneside, a petty squabble between a referee and Newcastle’s Manager is the LAST thing the squad needs.

13
Nov
08

Snippets! 13/11/08

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Journalism and Sport
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Didier Drogba in hot water:

http://www.oleole.com/blogs/the-darkside-of-the-ball/posts/didier-drogba-plain-wrong-or-within-his-rightsOle . Ole Ole look at Didier Drogba’s coin throwing incident. I couldn’t put it better myself!

Anti Doping in Football

http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/1585/38/; When Saturday Comes look at the Anti Doping story and its future in all it’s glory.

Inspiration through Football

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/81216-stefano-borgonovo-an-inspiration-to-our-beautiful-game: Michelle Alves looks at the incredible story of Stefano Borgonovo and his impact on Italian Football

Golden Oldie Holyfield returns

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/nov/13/barney-ronay-evander-holyfield-returns: Some how, Evander Holyfield is back in the Boxing big time and The Guardian’s Barney Ronay is looking at that.

11
Nov
08

Help, professional footballer stuck on fairground ride

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Something of Nothing and Sport
Tags: , , ,

Just seen this. Poor Standard Leige player Dieumerci Mbokani gets stuck on a fairground ride on a Belgian Football show.

Why he was there i don’t know but he manages to get his head stuck. Cue hilarious laughter in the studio with nobody in twenty yards getting close to a straight face for ten minutes.

If only you saw things like that on MOTD.

11
Nov
08

That wasn’t very good!

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Sport
Tags: , , ,

England Cricket have sensationally found themselves out for 90 runs against Mumbai. They’ve lost the game by 142 runs. This is literally two days before the first test against India.

Yup, the Indian side who just gave Australia a walloping.

This’ll be fun in the press conference.

10
Nov
08

Introducing the Gubbometer

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Football and Sport
Tags: , ,

This is fantastic!

over at Mike Whalley and his World of Sport, he has introduced the Gubbometer.

I’ll let this link do the talking, but it’s truly good.

Cheers Mike for making me smile (:

10
Nov
08

The unsung

By richwilcock 2 Comments
Categories: Journalism, Sport and Sports Journalism
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This week i was offered a chance to write in a young Sports Journalism contest.

The contest is a regular one which asks it’s contestants to write pieces a few weeks by a few weeks. It asks a question in which you must give a journalistic answer and is quite challenging by what i can see.

Anyway, the question they have asked this week is who should win this years Sport’s Personality of the year award?

Now the usual spring to mind. Joe Calzaghe, Lewis Hamilton, Ricky Hatton, Chris Hoy and countless others. I am not saying for one minute that they don’t deserve the accolade but there are others as equal in being worthy but unequal in column inches.

Who’s heard of Luol Deng?…..Any takers? No i didn’t think so. Luol Deng is a small forward for the Chicago Bulls- yes that’s right -THE Chicago Bulls. Now the extraordinary thing is Luol Deng is British.

luol-deng3

He’s won three major awards in the NBA since his draft in 2004. The Golden Icon Award and the Sportmanship award. He averages 18 points a game and commits less fouls than anybody in his position. He has appeared in both All-Star games and on top of that, he has won the UN Refugee Council Humanitarian Award of 2008. But all of this is completely ignored by the british media because we are too pre-occupied with what Wayne Rooney is doing this week.

Now, this isn’t some kind of Luol Deng love-in. I appreciate other unsung British sporting heroes.

David Weir won four medals at the Beijing Paralympic Games in the wheelchair track events and i doubt he’ll get a mention.

Dario Franchitti has been at the top of the NASCAR and Karting scene in America for several years but i can’t see him getting a mention neither.

There are more but i think and hope you get my point.

10
Nov
08

Weekend’s talking points

By richwilcock Leave a Comment
Categories: Football, Sport and Sports Journalism
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Where do we start? There was a few wasn’t there.

First off, i have to say that as a Newcastle United fan, it was a frustrating weekend. Not in the way you think i am frustrated however. It was clear to everybody at Craven Cottage yesterday evening that it was a penalty. Even Joe Kinnear could see that. No, i was frustrated because at the end of the game, Kinnear decided to go on the offensive and attack the referee about the decision not to award a free kick for a push on Cacapa by Andy Johnson just before the penalty was conceded.

Come on Joe. Is there a need?  There was a push on Cacapa but it was ever so slight. If 6 ft Cacapa can’t cope with a push from 5′8 Andy Johnson then he’s in the wrong game. There was nothing in it and it annoyed me that Joe Kinear decided to lay blame at somebody elses doorstep. Maybe he should look at the defensive frailties that lead to Newcastle’s downfall.

Ipswich Town midfielder David Norris has landed himself in hot water for apparantly displaying a “handcuffs” gesture towards imprisoned former team-mate Luke McCormick. They were at Plymouth Argyle together in case you were wondering. David Norris said it was a private gesture. Nope David, that doesn’t wash. It stopped being private when you displayed it in front of thousands of fans.

Next time, keep your private gestures and private thoughts to yourself.

luke_mccormick_33219t

Many media outlets are reporting that Mark Hughes is under pressure at Manchester City. To me, that sounds absurd. I would agree that Man City don’t look impressive at the moment and i would concede to the point that unless performances improve then he could be under the spotlight even more. On every available occasion, the established sport’s media will tell you that Man City are very rich and they have no limits on spending. That is true, but Manchester City can’t actually spend it yet. Give Hughes a season and a transfer window and then we’ll judge. It’s simply absurd measuring the current success on the pitch with what the future may hold for Manchester City. They simply don’t add up.

Congratulations to Blyth Spartans by the way. In case you were wondering, it’s just north of Newcastle and is historically the sixth biggest team in the North East.

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