As the glorious first anniversary of Beyond the Cliche approaches, I am going to try and significantly up the number of posts created. In spite of what Ryan has just said, I think some quantity may now be in order.
So, where to start? Well, how about a quick criticism of the England national football team. After all, we give them too much of an easy ride here at BtC don't we!
John Terry has been reappointed captain of England, further stoking the media furore leading up to the Wales game; it is now akin to the boiler of a runaway train.
Why is Terry the captain? Because Rio Ferdinand is injured. Why was Rio made captain? Because Terry got himself sacked and there was quite literally nobody else to choose from. Seriously, they were down to having to pick between guys like Gareth Barry or Ashley Cole, the 'faceless mediocrities and complete bell ends' section of the squad.
How on earth can you be sacked from your job and then be given it back purely because you are deemed more of a leader than some pretty bad other options, in spite of the fact that you got your leadership experience doing the same job. And getting fired from it.
Nothing has changed in Terry's life between his dismissal and reappointment. He has done quite literally nothing to prove that he is more mature, or sensible, or capable of keeping it in his trousers. He was sacked for bringing the team into disrepute, but in no way does having to bring him back send any sort of negative message.
Terry is a prick. I don't care what he does in his private life so long as he follows the same rules as the rest of us (and doesn't, say, park in disabled parking bays because he is too lazy and feckless to walk 40 feet and subsequently hire lawyers to try and avoid paying the fines incurred). But he has been given a job that he has previously been found unsuitable for and incompetent at. I would image the men who designed the Fukoshima nuclear reactors will not be brought back to build the replacement ones when the radiation subsides...
And also, why does it even matter? That is what I hate about the hype over the reinstatement. As if it matters at all who is captain of England. Did it make a huge difference to the performance of the team at the last World Cup, and the one before that, and so on and so forth? Did it bring team unity and success? No, captain is a complete non-role. Nobody on the team respects the captain, mainly because nobody actually cares about anything other than their paycheck and media profile. He sets no positive example; indeed, he is usually as bad as the worst moaners, divers and cheats on his team. He is simply the one who the gaffer has given the armband to. Nothing more.
How much can you really care about that? Pathetic really.
I also have a bit of parting abuse lined up for my beloved Scottish Football Association. No, they are not the models of perfection you might think them to be!
Scotland have a moneyspinner friendly against Brazil coming up, to be played at the Emirates Stadium in London. To prepare for this, the SFA have seen fit to fly the squad to La Manga for pre-game training. Why?
What benefit is this to anyone? Flying the team to train at altitude before playing a match in Peru is fine, but why would training in the Spanish sun have any benefit to a match being played in Britain? And why have the SFA decided that this substantial investment on the training of our 3rd string internationals is justified? There are so many areas of football in Scotland that should be of a higher priority for investment that Henry McLeish wouldn't know where to start!
GM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment