November Musings

Where has this year gone? I know we say that every year but this more than most has absolutely flown. To be put it into context, 2014 didn’t go fast. In fact, it dragged like you wouldn’t believe, but never a truer word spoken......time flies when you’re having fun.

So, with only 49 days left until Christmas (I googled that btw), it is time to get back into some blogging. And some serious blogging at that. Kicking things off, as usual, with some random sporting thoughts. And as always, don’t be shy in sharing your thoughts and opinions.

When I first felt obliged to write this blog, it was after reading an excerpt from Sir Alex Ferguson’s book Leading in which he named the Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only world class players he managed. Plenty was made about David Beckham not being mentioned in the list or Roy Keane. Becks’ reply was typical him – ‘I wasn’t world class’. You can debate him as a world class player all day long, but there’s no doubting he’s a world class operator. Personally, I would rate Beckham over Cantona myself.

October had a sad note in the passing of Howard Kendall, Everton’s greatest ever manager. I became an Evertonian because of him and the superb team he assembled in the mid-eighties. That midfield of Trevor Steven, Peter Reid, Paul Bracewell and Kevin Sheedy stands out to me as one of the most balanced midfields ever, and I have something of a random fetish for superbly balanced midfields. Others that stand out? The Leeds midfield from the early nineties of Strachan, Batty, McAllister, Speed. The Valencia midfield of 99-00 of Mendieta, Farinos, Gerard and Kily Gonzalez. Individually, you wouldn’t say any of them were world class, but as a unit constructed by canny managers, they formed a world class team, and credit to those managers – Kendall, Wilkinson and Cuper. RIP Howard.

It has been said that I like to attend one or two decent sporting events in my time. I can’t deny it. One sporting event which may not be that high profile but I would love to attend is the Invictus Games. They held it in London last year and the next one is planned for Florida next year and Australia in 2018. Fair play to Prince Harry for spearheading the campaign for it. Of course, it’s an easy win in terms of PR, but you never get the feeling that he is doing it for that reason. It’s on my ‘to do’ list!

Jose, Jose, Jose. I’m fascinated to see how this all plays out with him, but I felt it back when there was the special Eva Carneiro bust-up, it may be difficult for him to turn this one around. He really does not help himself. I suspect that incident more than the results, are the reason for him losing this dressing room.

On the Chelsea subject, little has been made of Juventus this season, but they too have endured a miserable start to the season, and their fall has arguably been greater given the fact they reached the Champions League final last season. They sit 10^th after scraping a late winner against local rivals Torino last weekend and their form is far from impressive. Chelsea are not the only big team to be struggling this season.

Speaking of under-performing stars, Sidney Crosby has had a ‘shocking’ start to the season with just 6 points in 12 games and 4 of those came in one game. Just how Cristiano Ronaldo had a dry spell for some 6-7 games without a goal at the start of the season, it happens. We’ve just been spoiled by their brilliance for so long, that these barren spells hit the headlines, but it’s only really about selling newspapers and creating some drama. Nothing to see here.

Going back to the Premier League, I am fully expecting a league win for Man City this year. United are still some way off from really challenging, while Arsenal will have sufficient slip ups for them to drop away. City on the other hand, have so much firepower and so many options, it is hard to see them slipping up as much as the others. They may still be a striker short, but I fully expect them to push on, and they may even go further in the Champions League this season than in recent years.

Now that I’m back in blogging mode, there’ll be the usual predictions blog at the turn of the year!

Short Sharp Jabs

It’s been a while since I have scribbled a few random sporting thoughts, so here goes.

Did anybody see the Floyd Mayweather fight? Youtube it if you didn’t - a truly amazing end to a fight. My take on it is this – the referee is 100% the one to blame for not having control over the situation and it is time for Cortes to be struck from the list. I love plenty of old people, but refereeing two world class fighters is not for them. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if it was Floyd that had gotten knocked out – I suspect many boxing fans would have not been so critical then.

Great news that Sid Crosby is back skating at 100% again. Hopefully he will be cleared for full contact soon and he can get back to his best. Concussions are scary. Looking forward to seeing him play again this season – can you tell I am excited for the NHL season to start? Funny to see how even when they are both injured, Crosby steals the limelight over Malkin, just like when they are playing.

I have often written about my sympathy for coaches and the expectancy and demand for instant success. Kansas City Chief have lost arguably their three best players for the whole season – Moeaki, Berry and Charles – and after losing their first two games heavily, their coach is under pressure. Unfortunately, it is going to be a long hard season for them now, but changing the coach will not help.

Basel aside, this is as ruthless a Man Utd team as I have seen in a number of seasons and they are getting that degree of invincibility back. Last season, I didn’t rate them at all, but they are looking strong and sharp this season. It will be necessary as City will push them all the way in the league season, though it is still hard to see them getting past Barca again in the Champions League. They may not have started the season particularly well, but the connection between Messi and Fabregas is already looking immense.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Ireland v Australia match in the Rugby World Cup group stage – absolute cracker of a game. There have been a couple of decent matches but I am looking forward to the quarter-finals onwards. Rugby has a similar problem to Cricket in that they do not have enough top class teams to make a great competition throughout such a long period of time. This is hugely elitist but seeing South Africa beat Namibia 80-something to nil is not fun.

On the rugby lines, I have to say that the press about the England team having a few beers and bungee jumping was wildly exaggerated and unnecessary. I do not and will not understand while a guy like Mike Tindall would play away from home – did he honestly think he would get away with it? Muppet.

It is flying under the radar to a degree in European football but the Man City style has rubbed off in Malaga where they too have received a load of cash and a load of decent players. Aside from Valencia, Barca and Real, there is no reason why they cannot push for fourth place. It may be Europa League at best, but if they keep up this strong start to the season, and sign a few more players in January, then they really could fight Atletico for fourth.

November 12th promises to be a sensational day of fights if you like MMA and Boxing. Cain Velasquez v Junior dos Santos and Manny Pacquiao v Juan Manuel Marquez are gonna be two quality fights, and I am truly excited for both of them.

Carlos Tevez? I have to admit to finding the situation at Man City quite humorous. I felt a touch sorry for him in the summer….suffering from homesickness and wanting to return to Argentina….it felt like Man City held all the cards….with no club in Argentina or Brazil being able to afford him. Now, it seems like the situation is reversed….he can cause them all kinds of problems until they agree to release him for an affordable price while he can sit back and pick up his ridiculous salary. City have nobody but themselves to blame for A. paying stupid salaries and B. signing incredibly temperamental strikers…..Tevez, Adebayor, Balotelli etc.