Murder on Gdansk Floor

If you read my blog, you likely read it due to the Facebook update. If you are on Facebook, you will have likely have seen some random pictures of me in Gdansk, Poland over the last three weeks.

I left UEFA around 18 months ago, but have been fortunate enough to have been invited to work on some Champions League, Europa League and now the European Championships as an external. I struck lucky in Gdansk with the Spanish in town, a fantastic group of people to work with, and a fantastic city. Gdansk is a cool place, though we actually spent more time in neighbouring Sopot. Both cities are in Northern Poland and are on the Baltic Sea, which means beach time baby. I managed to visit the beach twice. Once at 5am for a vodka-fuelled swim, and another time for a short part of a run which was clearly a bad decision. As a side note, Sopot will host the 2014 World Indoor Athletics Championships and I am sure it will host a fantastic event.

Weather-wise, we were not so lucky. It rained most days and was quite cold most of the time. We had one glorious day of 30c but unfortunately it was Spain v Croatia, and I was wearing the full suit. Not ideal, and with a classic blue shirt on, you have to wear the jacket if you're prone to sweating like me.

Events like this are somewhat unnatural from a work perspective and so much depends on the people you work with. The hours are long, and it can be reminiscent of Big Brother as you spend a lot of time with your colleagues. My team were fantastic to work with - everybody did their jobs, we all had sufficiently decent musical tastes (I did not subject them to Barry or JBJ though), and we had laugh after laugh, picking up a few nicknames along the way which cannot be printed. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

What did I learn from Euro 2012?

…..that as much as I tried to dislike Jose Reina and Fernando Torres when we interviewed them due to their Liverpool connections, I could only find them incredibly friendly and normal.

….that as glamorous as it sounds to be working on a European Championships, it is three or four weeks of incredibly long hours and hard work. I am not saying it was not fun, but it is not easy.

….that working behind the scenes with players and coaches is a fantastic experience. I learned some amazing secrets that are not in the public domain….and unfortunately, they will remain that way!

….that some people can deal with pressure and stressful moments, and others cannot in all walks of life, and I am thankful that I generally can.

….that the people of Poland are extremely friendly and fun with Sopot & Gdansk ranking up there on my list as fun places to visit.

….that the Irish fans are fantastic. The results were miserable, but the fans are an absolute credit. They just have fun, simple as that…nothing more, nothing less.

….that Twitter has become the place for breaking news and coverage in sport. It may have struggled to cope with the barrage of Tweets at times, but that is where it is at these days.

….that I have said it before and I will say it again, as much as I have enjoyed the tournament, the quality of it is not as good as the Champions League in my view.

….that Polish vodka is dangerous and should not be mixed with beer. Or Jaegermeister. Or Mojitos. Or anything else.

….that my favourite t-shirt in Gdansk was on that had ‘GERMANY’ printed in bold across the middle, and underneath it read ‘I’m actually Greek but we’re sponsored by Germany’. Hilarious!

Neck on the Line

It is that time of year when I am prepared to put my neck on the line and make some outrageous sporting predictions for 2012. I think I did it a month earlier last year – but it has been a hectic start to the year with the launch of a new project that I am working on. And that new project is related to the subject of this blog and making predictions, and collecting and analysing data and events in sport (largely football). The company is called Onside Analysis (www.onsideanalysis.com) and I am working with a former Smartodds colleague, Dave Hastie…..exciting times but plenty of hard work ahead. A small part of the website and work is blogging, so I will be splitting my time between blogging for the Onside Analysis website, and Random Writing, but fear not, I shall continue to blog on here for all two of my loyal readers.

So without further ado, here goes with my thoughts and predictions for the year ahead.

Euro 2012 – I am not particularly throwing a huge outsider into the mix with this one, but I strongly like Germany to win the Euro this time round. At 100% fitness and form, I would go with Spain every time, but that is not going to happen. I cannot help but feel that Barca’s success in recent seasons is taking its toll on them and in turn on the national team. David Villa is already ruled out, and there are serious concerns over Xavi. He will be used sparingly between now and then with Guardiola preserving him for Champions League games now that the league race is pretty much over. Form is another issue – Fernando Torres. Don’t think I need to say much more. I could throw discipline and Gerard Pique out there right now, but that will resolve itself. The number of Clasicos could also bite them in the butt. On the flipside, the Germans are a hungry young team with plenty to prove, and for the first time in a long time, possessing some serious flair in the side.

Boxing – The world awaits for Floyd and Manny to get it on. I thought we were close for this May, but dreams were dashed once again. Well, Floyd is going to prison that is one thing that is certain. Beforehand, he faces Miguel Cotto in May and I think he will outclass him easily enough. Manny is up against Timothy Bradley and I have a feeling that Bradley is going to surprise him and dash any hopes of the dream fight somewhere down the line. Mayweather will continue to fight, continue to get $20m+ per fight even when he gets out of the nick, and will eventually retire unbeaten.

Stanley Cup – I would love nothing more than to see a NY Rangers or a San Jose get to the Stanley Cup Finals but I am going with the tried and trusted. This is something of a filthy prediction but this is going Boston/Detroit in my mind. I am hoping the Sens or the Leafs can keep hold of their playoff spots – and then I’ll be betting against both of them when they get there!

Premier League – I think this is going to go all the way to the wire, or at least the third to last game of the season when City host United. I think Man Utd have won the league in the last couple of seasons by being the best of the worst – I think this time they fall just short to City. The fixtures possibly just favour Man Utd, but I think it comes down to that one game, and I can see City edging it. I think Utd take the Europa League.

London 2012 – No specific predictions here apart from I recall from Vancouver how much pressure the Canadian athletes felt particularly at the start of the competition. Expectations were high, and media attention was huge – an early medal will calm everybody and the sooner it happens for a British athlete in London, the better it will be for all. I am not confident expectations will be met however.

Champions League – The Special One has imprinted his style on Real Madrid and he has the squad and lead in the league to focus on their bid for their 10th Champions League trophy. This could be quite an open UCL season and it would not surprise me if one of the Italian teams went far this season. I do however just see Barca falling short this time. Bayern may also come close for this one, but I’m edging Real as they are finally playing the way Jose wants them to and they are looking strong.

FA Cup – It pains me to say this and this is filthier than my Stanley Cup prediction but I can see a Cup double for the team that plays in Red on Merseyside. I am super excited about my team’s chances, but losing Landon Donovan and with Steven Pienaar being cup-tied, we lose a huge amount of creativity, and I think we will find it tough against Sunderland. I hope and pray that I am wrong, but I can see ‘them’ winning it this year.

UFC – Not easy making predictions too far in advance for the UFC such is the nature of the sport, but the fight I am most looking forward to is Anderson Silva v Chael Sonnen which is scheduled for June 16th in Brazil. I think Anderson finishes him early this time round. UFC 146 at the end of May also has a peach of a fight – Alistair Overeem v Junior dos Santos…..it will be immense. I give Junior the edge here as I question Overeem’s character in and outside the Octagon.

I think I need a shower after some of those picks.