Footienotes

[Sweder]

Sorry to ramble on about football, especially as its often about 'top flight' teams and not the beloved Championship. I've been observing the fall-out from Ashley Cole's inappropriate use of the tackle and subsequent petulant display towards the ref.

Steve Claridge, a pundit much admired in these circles, revealed himself to be a fully paid-up member of the footballing yobs apologists (former player wing). Speaking on Five Live on Saturday he was in bullish (or should that be bullyish) mood, confronting callers who called for respect to referees along the lines shown at Rugby (both codes) matches. Claridge shouted over the top of several fairly made points, claiming that you can't compare the two and besides in rugby players get to wallop each other as part of the game. I was about to have a coronary as I scrambled for my 'phone when another caller was put through; Brian Moore.

'Mooro' as he is sometimes known is a former England rugby ruffian and often amusing television pundit. He's a lawyer, so despite his bulldog image and claims of his fellow professionals to have little between the cauliflower ears he's a confident and informed speaker. He challenged Claridge to spell out precicely why footballers should not, by way of punishment, be obliged to show respect to referees. Rugby officials are no less prone to cock-ups than their round-ball counterparts, yet they draw a fraction of the ire and disrespectful backchat to be found in professional (and, sadly, junior) soccer. Dissent is vorboten in Rugby, Tennis, Cricket . . . most sports actually. The penalties for openly disrespecting officials are in some cases fiscal, instant temporary dismissal, suspension or, and perhaps this would be a step too far for football, points deduction. These can be argued; the need to respect the word, right or wrong, of the match official should not.

Claridge was having none of it though his tone became a good deal more respectful in the face of a fellow professional and a learned one at that. It revealed a dark side to Claridge that I've glimpsed before. He's fallen some way in my humble estimation.

This afternoon we saw perhaps just a glimmer of hope.
During the Rowdies/ Liverpool Rednecks contest the referee, Mr Steve Bennett, was chased and questioned by a player over an incident. Mr Bennett reached for his pocket and produced a yellow card. It was Mascherano's second yellow and he was invited to leave the field. He did so reluctantly, raging and wailing, before eventually being hauled off by his colleagues. Since the end of the game Mr Benitez has been on TV to defend a player who ran a good thirty yards plus to give the referee grief. It should be known that Mr Bennett had awarded Liverpool an attacking free kick for a foul on Fernando Torres but had also booked Torres, aparrently for a remark made after the foul. Benitez claims Mascherano was 'only asking why' Torres had been booked. What the Sam Hill had it to do with Mascherano? If Raffa truly thinks his player was in the right why was he turning puce trying to get the player to shut up? Because he knew what was coming.

For the rest of the match I watched as celebrated official harrangers and sprayers of vitriolic abuse Wayen Rooney and Rio Ferdinand struggled to keep their lips buttoned. This is a side to my team I've always deplored, the need to hound officials and use foul and abusive language when things don't go their way. But here they were, in a game where they know they'd get booked if they played up. Worse, they'd have to explain such blatant stupidity to Lord Ferg. If players mouth off or act aggressively towards officials in this new climate and still manage to earn cards, get sent off and suspended, an upset ref will be the least of their worries.

The next fixture today featured Arsenal and the one team in the Premisership ready to challenge the Rowdies for the Bad Boy crown, Chelski. But wait; word from the Devilbowl must have drifted down to Stamford Dacha. John Terry, eater of referees, one-man spittle-blower, was on his best behaviour. Didier Drogba, the man with the largest quivering lip in modern sport, managed to keep his thoughts to himself before picking up a booking for flashing his horribly deformed torso after scoring. The poor man has no stomach - nasty prime-time viewing!

If the upshot of Mr Tweedy's latest indiscretion is that referees will be asked to deal with insubordinate behaviour by brandishing cards for repeat offenders I'm all for it. You never know, this might catch on. If we can change the behaviour of the players on our televisions perhaps we stand a chance of sorting out the vile abuse of officials going on every day in our parklands. It's a tall order. I'm talking about taking on a whole new level of abuser: the apoplectic parent.

[El Gordo]

Yes, it was clear to me that Fergie and Grant at least, had made it clear to the usual suspects that ref-bawling was off the menu for the time being. I can't recall the last time I've seen a ManU or Chelsea game that didn't have Rooney or Terry racing half the length of the pitch to scream in the ref's face. Looks like Benitez and Wenger didn't get the message across so forcefully, if Mascherano and Eboue were anything to go by.

Benitez has made a fool of himself, trying to defend his player. Much better to have done a Gordon Taylor, the egregious PFA supremo, who normally appears to share the same incompetent optician as Arsene Wenger when it comes to commenting on the shortcomings of his charges. How refreshing to hear Taylor this morning, chiding Mascherano in particular, and ref-bullying in general.

You know how it is when you see a TV clip from a game in the 70s, and you recall with horror the state of the pitches they used to have to play on? Or the state of their Keeganesqe barnets? And sprayed-on shorts? I really hope that a few years from now we'll see old clips of screamimg Chelsea players surrounding the ref, and think, "My god, did they really get away with that in those days?" And I think it will happen, too. People are fed up with it.

Well done to ManU yesterday for the result, and for their on-field behaviour, but of course it was barely a couple of weeks ago that Ferguson was berating and intimidating referees himself, in his own rather underhand way. He's a cunning bugger. Even the complaints about Ronaldo's treatment seem to be aimed at casting an influence on the referee's performance. So I haven't been able to listen to his post-Ashley Cole pronouncements without a rather grim smile on my face and an admonitory shake of the head. But if he has genuinely changed his views on the need for more respect in the game, then fair play to the guy. I'll congratulate him. Let's wait and see!

I'm still hoping for a ManU or Arsenal title, with just a very slight preference for the latter. United have shown greater consistency, and perhaps that's what it's all about, but for the relative neutral, Arsenal at their best have been scintillating. Patchy though, and perhaps sort of emotionally fragile. The Eduardo injury has obviously had some effect on them. Is it conincidence that since that moment, they've had their worst run in the league for 9 years? Surely not. But I'd take Arsenal or ManU -- just not Chelsea, please.

[Sweder]

I agree, Lord Ferg has a lot to answer for where respect for officials is concerned. His comments about officials are as inappropriate as Wengers' insulting myopia. The Professor managed to see that Chelsea were offside for their equaliser I notice. Managers have a huge part to play in this 'respect' campaign. I hope they all meet their responsibilities squarely.

Benitez is looking rather foolish this morning. I heard his defence of Mascherano described as like that of a thirteen-your-old making up nonsense when caught misbehaving by a teacher. Mascherano has told the Liverpool Echo he 'still does not know why he was sent off.' Someone needs to tell him, his team-mates and his manager PDQ, else they are likely to get caught out again. Mark Lawrensen and Alan Green understood and supported the decision. Green called Mascheranos' behaviour 'idiotic'.

An area of concern is consistency. As El Gordo says, Eboue appeared to behave in a smiliar manner to Mascherano yet avoided a second caution. Stan Collimore called for 'zero tolerance' this morning which I agree with but it must be applied evenly to be effective. If this change becomes permanent it will help our national team, provided we can reach a tournament or two.

As for the Title, I have a horrible feeling for the boys in blue. This might be natural pessimism of the armchair fan but it seems ominous that Drogba has chosen now to emerge from his post Africa Cup of Nations funk. Arsenal appear to be shot, as much by the FA Cup thrashing at the Devilbowl as by the Eduardo incident. One thing's for sure; there'll be a few twists and turns before it's over.

[stillwaddler]

How come he didn't get a second yellow for crowd hugging;-) I would have loved to see if Terry etc could have kept their newly found stiff upper lip then. Their collective surrounding of the ref last season in particular must have been particulaly intimidating for the boys who wear black.

[Sweder]

I'm horribly optimistic about 'our' football at the moment.
Having seen the beautiful game ravaged by speculators, moneylenders and Olygarks in recent times it's been a week for getting back to basics. I love the fact that the FA will charge Macherano - and believe me I would feel almost the same if it were a Rowdie - following his repeated attempts to shrug his shoulders and make out he has been wronged. It sounds like the new Grand Fromage at HQ is right behind this Respect campaign. Before we all snigger into our pints let's not forget racism used to be the scourge of football in England. Whilst it still lingers on the lips of the stubborn and the ignorant the problem here is a fraction of that displayed readily at continental grounds.

Then there's Capello, the man who Fighting talk introduce by playing The Godfather theme. He appears to be the real deal. I know he's won nothing and he may not ever, but with his direct, no-nonsense style and apparent disregard for a mewling media desperate to affect his judgement he's already a big hit in my book. No nods to friendly journo's, no winks to matey senior players; captaincy announced for the first time over the compulsory team luncheon. No hint of mercy for the wounded John Terry, no regard for the inevitable outcry from the tabloids about Rio's chequered past.

Of course the press will crucify him if he doesn't get results. The comforting thought is he doesn't give a monkey's what the papers say; he's paid by the FA to do a job. Other nations laugh at us for employing a foreigner to run our national side. They find it risible that the country that brought football to the world cannot find an Englishman worthy of coaching them. Perhaps, but with Fabio we appear to have a man impervious to media manipulation - or should I say unwanted media manipulation; he didn't get where he is today without playing the game to some degree.

I'll be proved wrong when France turn us over tonight but for me the sight of players looking concerned for their places - no Lampard in the starting line-up I see, and none of the papers I've seen guessed his starting eleven correctly - warms the cockles of this old heart. Mike Ingham interviewed Ferdinand last night for Sport On Five. He commented that when Capello announced Rio as captain for the France game Ferdinand was the only player at the table who knew he was in the team. Rio chuckled and offered his usual 'yeah . . .' before going silent for a moment.
You could hear the reality sinking in.

Picking players on merit?
Few, insignificant leaks to the press?
Respect for officials?
Whatever next?

[SIZE="1"]Starting XI: James, Brown, Ferdinand, Terry, A Cole, Hargreaves, Barry, Beckham, Gerrard, J Cole, Rooney[/SIZE]

[Sweder]

A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha . . .

Well, that was pretty poor fare. My Mother-in-Law reckoned France deserved the win. I kind of agree, though I'm bound to say England deserved it less than France in a stultifyingly dull affair.

Did anyone notice how Anelka played so much better for his country than he does for Chelski? England players usually suffer the reverse as many (Wesley Brown, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole) did tonight. I really thought Joe Cole could work with Rooney as Ronaldo does at the Rowdies but someone switched Joe's boots tonight and he played like me.

I can call him 'Joe', and refer to players like 'David', 'Steven' and 'Ashley' thanks to Ray 'Uncle Fester' Wilkins and the Great Sky Halftime Namedrop. The Crab rounded off nicely refering to his private chat with 'Fabio' - no doubt in faultless Italian. Butch's insights were a welcome relief after Glen Hoddle's opening gambit about how 'We was about to assert ourselves' when France 'lucked out' with the penalty. Never mind the defence-splitting pass and lightning pace that forced James into his thinly disguised body-check. Hoddle's contacts are legendary but I sometimes shake my head in disbelief at the sheer depth of his perception and foresight.

Hopefully we can all stop talking/ hearing/ reading about Mr B now that he's got his Golden Boots. Flatly refusing to swap shirts with William Gallas at the finish was a nice touch.

I understand the England team have delayed their departure from Paris tonight. Stevie MbE is apparently still missing . . .

[Seafront Plodder]

I must confess to liking the style with which Engerland tried to play in the first half. You could see the Capello influence, and it made a refreshing change to see the team doing something other than hoof the ball 50 yards upfield to a non-existent Rooney.

And wasn't it just a game of two halves Brian? I still think though that the (completely) different way we played in second half was with the manager's approval. Was Owen actually on the pitch though?

Hopefully we can all stop talking/ hearing/ reading about Mr B now that he's got his Golden Boots. Flatly refusing to swap shirts with William Gallas at the finish was a nice touch.

And Sweder that's hardly fair. His shirt was specially inscribed for him with (IIRC) "100th Cap" on the front, along with the opposition and date. You can't blame him for wanting to keep that one to show the grandkids?

[Sweder]

And Sweder that's hardly fair. His shirt was specially inscribed for him with (IIRC) "100th Cap" on the front, along with the opposition and date. You can't blame him for wanting to keep that one to show the grandkids?

I'm sure he had something else in mind for that shirt . . .
Maybe he was going to ask Victoria to wear it and . . . oh no, I really don't want that thought in my head!