Sin City

Footballer’s inflated egos on millionaires row from the Mo Salah strop to the Kevin de Bryne on justifying a possible move to Saudi Arabia. City pay the Belgian 300,000 pounds a week but it’s still not enough, will greed destroy football? The Saudis with clubs of no recognition and of no historical value, de Bryne vaguely admitted to his greed, but to the ticket payers it’s a sick bag jobber.

Raised prices on clubs’ merchandise, season tickets and what ever else they can inflate, the Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters have voiced their disapproval to their club’s ticket hike, a petition of eleven thousand names and rising is their court of arbitration, but can they make a difference? Football club owners’ business head is outweighing the sporting head, the imbalance is disturbing, it’s no fashion show, it’s become ugly. The Chelsea project as termed can be termed as a frenzy of bullshit, but there are the owners out there who do ride on respect with JT Henry of Liverpool FC being an example, but even the JJ’s on occasions transgress into murky waters but the Liverpool supporters slapped him down, the slap worked. Another American dream of note the Aston Villa are harbouring on the warped Manchester City boat to release the club trigger to spend free and easy, that cannot be allowed to happen, football needs regulating, clubs need to be driven in the slow lane on monetising their brand to operate within the rules, no rules set in place football will become bandit country, that’s the devil lurking, the lesser lights will suffer, the Manchester City owners have had a positive effect on the games motherland, but they are now bringing that into disrepute, they need to be stopped. So will there be a dwindling of support on the terraces? There’s no sign of movement here bit it could become the dark underbelly.

Onto the social media platforms which are awash with grifters, they feed off the phoneyness to make numbers, their punters are easily tricked they can create a vehicle on the back of a football club it’s an easy slayer if the vehicle is the world’s biggest club on revenue streams, spin out the rhetoric and step foot outside of their limited boundaries of knowledge, fakers. They can also copycat from the ones who stretch beyond their limited bar, if challenged silence is their prevailer, if your knowledge is expansive then the comfort zone exists not to be fazed. To endeavour to expose their fakeness is a job in itself with masses of the pin heads following the fakers on social media, a society problem filtered into the veins of the footballing air waves, stashes of cash they can make for taking bollocks, it’s all become a stenched environment to a degree but to seek solace in seeking out their Achilles heels and there’s plenty of them.

The Joey Barton podcast which should be titled a ‘vile creature of one’s making’ courts controversy with outlandish nonsensible diarrhoea, but they listen, follow and subscribe to Barton’s beer intake. Thirty years ago, Barton’s mind crap would have been brushed aside but technology has created the monster. There is some good work out there being plied but it’s a limited ball park. We have the well versed radio station acting as transfer gurus, misinformation and stretching for a story, they can be lorded by a section of limited punters to cloud their judgement further, it’s a betrayal of the industry. If you are conditioned then the platform has no agenda, then you say it as it is, the Carl Froch podcast is the provider of what is real, it’s refreshing, it pumps the blood through the veins, the comfort zone is the provider on the platform and as the ‘cobra’ would say “I’m coming for you” the fakers, that’s what media work should be about, that’s what the comfort zone provides, in the depths of Sin City.

Radio TalkSport

A pit stop en route Euro 2024 Radio TalkSport in flashback kicking off with the delights of Munich on the river banks with ducks in the background, quack, quack do us a favour with Jim White and Simon Jordan housed behind a black lumberjack of a gruesome looking desk, watch the gas canisters. The first outing dress sense seemed to be the remnants of the local jumble sale, looks bloody cold, wet wipes to soak up the rain and the gushing wind, perhaps that was the problem.

An escape from the ducks was sharpish with a trip to Dusseldorf, with the black lumberjack desk being air lifted to the seventieth floor of a skyrocket hotel, time for spiderman. A German counterpart from the press core was in house with the fire brand Thomas Tuchel being spoken about, the question to the Lufthansa was on the Tuchel’s Bayern München Exit, we all know Tommy’s a bugger, but he gets the job done, the München were fed up with the buggering. We had a visit from the Aston Villa icon? The Gabby Agbonlahor who was unhappy with his single bed format accommodation, no cockroaches then Gabby? Simon Jordan seemed to be having a moody day, perhaps missing one’s butler and a daily change of one’s underpants on a ritual basis with an on a day airing to later get binned, there’s always Mother Care.

Moving deep into the tournament, David Moyes entered the Fray via the technology linkup, the bouncy ball Alex Crook setting his marker out on the selection and coaching theme of Gareth Southgate, Moyes avoided the questions with a porkly manner, suggesting to Crook that he should take the coaching qualifications, so according to Moyes anyone outside of a coaching badge has no opinion, that curtly custard pie, splat Moyes. The misery guts Steve Clarke’s Scotland was raised with Moyes defending Clarke, no surprise there Cilla, fellow Scot Graeme Souness entered the fray referring to White and Jordan as the Muppets Fozzy Bear, Kermit and all that, time to clear the decks Jeff Stelling formerly of link to article March 3^rd 2021 ‘Sky Sports Pub Saturday’ is on the way I’m out of here, enjoyed the show time.

England Sparkle?

Trent Alexandar Arnold stated that pressure makes diamonds the Jurgen Klopp philosopher, pressure is a privilege. England played strangulation football during the tournament, strangled by fear, strangled by pressure, strangled by expectation? Time to make those diamonds, they came good, diamonds are forever.

Southgate was castigated by the brick top press and the whole nation it seemed, Gareth the conservative manager to be blamed for England stumbling through the group phase? England topped the group, job done. Into the last sixteen v Slovakia, England played the joker card with two quick-fire goals, the first on 5 minutes added time. The second within a minute of extra time, 2-1 to the Three Lions. The Slovaks fought like Trojans as if their lives depended on it, life can be so much better to win, the Slovaks taken to the sword into the Lions inner being, the Three Lions survived to fight another day.

Time to bring on the Swiss, it’s quarter final time chocolates all round, it’s time to swizz the Swiss, change the system, Southgate obliged, England moved up a notch, the match became a game of cat and mouse, if Tom and Jerry were in town, they would have loved it. It was the Swiss who got the breakthrough on seventy five minutes courtesy of a deflection off John Stones boot into the path of Embolo, sticks and stones won’t break our bones, the English spirit must remain, that question was never in doubt, England responded as only this England can do, Sakas signature goal dazzled, England were level on eighty minutes, the Saka signature to cut inside, turn the defenders inside out, cross shot across the goal from a wide angle inside the goalkeepers far past the trailing arm of the GK was left isolated, what a relief, it had to be, we are England, extra time came there were no mouse traps lying in wait the match ended 1-1.

Into the penalty shoot out, up stepped last Trent Alexander Arnold, remember pressure is diamonds crafted, second in line came the supreme Jude Bellingham, into the zone Saka who was carrying baggage, the Euro 2020 final penalty miss, you have to go into the eye of the lion to seek redemption, boy was he lion hearted. Mr coolness personified, Cole Palmer and the gladiatorial attitude of James Toney, any bets taken, there was no doubt, they would all score with venom and ease, they obliged us all, a wonderful moment England are into the European Championship semi-final, a proud moment, sparkling England. Let’s not forget the crazy tuned Jordan Pickford employing delaying tactics to swizz the Swiss, it worked penalty saved one sunken shot was the passage, you may get berated on occasions Jordan but boy can you deliver.

Into the semi-final and a new dawn was set with England finally breaching the troublesome psychological barrier and did they deliver v Holland in an intriguing match with England dominating the first half with 60 percent possession. The Dutch were fortunate to take the lead on seven minutes with Simon’s venomous shot from the edge of the penalty box leaving Pickford grasping at thin air as the ball rocketed in the goals top right hand corner. England continued to dominate and a high boot raised at Harry Kane brought the talisman crashing down, penalty England, Kane duly dispatched on 18 minutes. The Dutch became more prominent in the second half but there was a vibe during the match that England were of a higher cut above Holland and so it proved. Ollie Watkins on receiving the ball inside the box pivoted before unleashing a bullet of a shot low down inside the goalkeeper’s post on 90 minutes, time up the Three Lions into the final v Spain. England entered the final wishing for hope and eternity to be etched alongside England’s 1966 World Cup heroes, but it never materialised as the English sparkle extinguished in Munich. The first half exchanges came with England matching the Spanish, but on the possession stat at a 70 to 30 ratio Spain ruled. John Stones pressure became of immense proportions to showcase the art of defending at the highest of levels, the goalkeepers were not tested during the first half but the match was ready to ignite and so it did and on 47 minutes and into the second half with a Nico Williams cross shot evading Pickford’s outstretched arm, as Kyle Walker failed to recover on his lost positional play. England endeavoured to respond but it was Spain who could have converted three more chances with extra panache. The introduction of Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins offered hope and on 73 minutes Palmer duly obliged with a guided shot from the edge of the penalty box into the right hand corner of the Spanish net. Into the last five minutes the Spanish pressure cusped the trophy on 86 minutes with Oyarzbal sliding the ball in from five yards. England’s sparkle flickered away as another missed opportunity went begging.