Reporters and their provoking ways

Anybody who’s watched a post match interview in the last five years, particularly on Sky Sports will read this article and it will resonate with it. The way that some of them are conducted is embarrassing, frankly.

I have little time for most football journalists. They are however much better than the roving reporter types that litter the dugout (technical area for you younger readers) area during a game, keeping us up to date with the latest substitutions and comments/instructions arising from the teams benches. I’m not quite sure what kind of a state we’ve got ourselves into when we're at the stage we need to know the finer details of a substitution before it has been broadcast to the rest of the stadium. Do we really need these people telling us that Joe Bloggs will be replacing Fred Bloggs in a minute? Isn’t that what the bloke sitting in the gantry with the big furry microphone is supposed to do? When the substitution actually happens?

The worst part of their job though surely is the post match interview. I personally find it very cringe worthy TV most of the time. They seem to be under instruction from their bosses to be as intrusive and aggressive as possible, the air they carry is almost one of belief they have a right to the inner-workings of the club. The most irritating thing is they pretend to be acting on behalf of the supporters, as if they have a right to know certain things and the reporter is going to make sure the truth will out.

I’m happy to see the manager of my club interviewed after a televised game, I look out for it because I want to know how he thought the game went or why we lost or what we did well to enable us to win. But when the reporter steps over the boundaries it becomes uncomfortable to watch. A recent example of this was the media’s relentless pursuit of Roberto Mancini after the Tevez debacle. The questions were relentless, and always the same. What was the media hoping for Mancini to say? “Ohh yes that traitorous c*nt, if he comes anywhere near my dressing room I’ll shoot the bastard”   It became embarrassing to watch Mancini squirm with awkwardness.

In fact, the purpose of these intrusive and aggressive interviews are to provide a hot comment or two for the “boys back in the studio” to dissect and discuss. It has nothing to do with the supporters (it seldom does when the media are on the case) and is always geared with an ulterior motive in mind. The pinnacle of the frustration for me though is when they repeatedly ask a manager what he thought of the referee’s performance. You’ll note they never do this when the referee has been largely anonymous (as he should be) and will only ever ask when there has been a controversial decision or decisions. What I find so frustrating is they know full well that the FA take a dim view of their soldiers being attacked and will come down heavily on managers doing so, usually via a fine yet they still persist. Most managers are wise and swerve these questions but sometimes a manager will be so enraged by a poor decision it only takes a few words from the interviewer and bang, he’s said too much and will be up in front of a court martial at Wembley before he knows it. It’s a shocking tactic employed by the media and further proof that they have no interest in the game, merely interest in selling their product, be it newspapers or TV subscriptions.

Run Forrest, Run!

I recently read an excellent book on weight loss, written by a chap called Allen Carr. No not the goofy toothed, camp-as-they-come comedian but an author who’s notoriety comes from his smoking cessation book “Easyway to Stop Smoking” which I read (well, listened to the audio book) and quit smoking on the 8^th December, 2011. His style of writing is unique in my view and I am 100% convinced, certain in fact that I will never smoke again. You’re probably sceptical and I don’t blame you however I know my own mind. It was easy to quit smoking, too easy in a way but that “if it’s too good to be true it probably is” frame of mind is arguably fuelled by the enormous number of smoking cessation aids in circulation. As part of their marketing strategy they convince you that quitting smoking is awful, and the withdrawal pangs are so unbelievably severe that you need some kind of prop to help you through them. Absolute nonsense, the lot of it. Anyway, I digress..

The long term plan for me was always to quit smoking, then lose weight and/or take up some form of regular exercise. I’d had this plan in my head for at least 5 years and probably longer truth be told. The catalyst for me actually doing something about it was the birth of my baby boy, who was born in January 2011. Even then it took me nearly year to get my backside into gear. So as said, I ceased smoking on the 8^th December 2011, and roughly 4 weeks ago I bought a pair of running trainers, a few tee shirts and shorts/tracksuit bottoms, and away I went. I must admit I had low expectations of my capabilities as I hadn’t undertook any regular exercise in over ten years and I wasn’t let down by my initial thought process. It was hard going. Luckily I stumbled upon a newspaper article on the London Marathon, that also had a pull out section that listed out a training regime, all geared up to get you running a marathon in around 6 months. I had no intention of doing anything of the sort but was happy that I had a routine to stick to as the previous week’s running had been a bit haphazard.

So I’m currently nearing the end of my third week with the newly found regime and the first part (6 weeks long) is aimed at getting you to run a 5k in a decent time (around 30 minutes) and its obviously a bit of a beginners guide. So halfway through almost and I’m pleased with the results so far, each session I’m able to run that bit further without slowing down to a walk and the recovery times between each walk/breather are becoming shorter, yesterday was the first time that I ran through a session without slowing down to a walk, so a bit of a milestone was achieved.

It has actually motivated me to carry on running. As mentioned earlier I had no intention of carrying on running, it was merely a stop gap until I found a suitable exercise bike (I targeted cycling as an activity I could enjoy and would most likely adhere to) but the more I run, the more I enjoy it. So much so that I have found out earlier today that the date for entry to the 2013 London Marathon is the 30^th April and I fully intend to enter. It appears that only so many people can apply, and only so many people will get selected, so if I am not part of that initial selection I can opt to run for a charity. I’m hoping by the time I need to start raising funds for my chosen charity, I will have enough of a following on this blog to be able to raise a decent amount (the London Marathon organisers expect you to raise £1k-1.5k)

I’ll make periodic updates on my running progress in the blog, hopefully this will end in roughly a year’s time with me completing a London Marathon! I never, ever thought I’d be saying that!

The Pantomime Villain

How often do you hear a television pundit say that the referee had a good game? What? Why are we paying these figures so much attention? Suffice to say when I watched football as a kid and subsequently an adolescent, referees were seen and not heard (yes I see the irony in using that cliché) yet these now professional men are seen and heard far too often. Perhaps not solely their fault, as they are given a set of rules to follow however a number of them seem to believe their own press and behave like they are the focal point of the game.

 I appreciate that it isn’t an easy job to do. That’s as maybe but who makes it more difficult? Our old friends the media again I’m afraid, with their umpteen camera angles, slow motion replays, and constant provocation of managers and players into commenting controversially about the referee’s performance, usually via one of their grotesque post match intervals.

 These days referees are virtually household names. I find it galling that I can recall several names of referees from the last 10 years but ask me a referee’s name from 20 or 30 years ago and I couldn’t name one. Why is it that a chap who years ago was regarded as a background distraction, is suddenly a noteworthy inclusion to the pre-match build up and post match analysis? It creates a talking point for a pundit, a reason to have a live phone in, something to fill the airtime up with, to make us feel like we are getting our monthly subscriptions worth. Step forward, part of the Sky Sports circus, the pantomime villain.

The rising cost of fuel

I did promise the occasional non-football related entry and this is one of them. I’d like to think that any visitor coming to this blog will not only read (and be interested in) my personal thoughts but will also read the odd article that they can get some practical use out of, maybe this will be one of them.

About a year ago I discovered all about Autogas, or LPG as it’s also known. Autogas is an alternative fuel to regular unleaded or diesel and somewhat cheaper (today’s price is as low as 74p a litre) and despite the fact it is becoming more popular and people are becoming more aware of alternative fuels I have lost count at the amount of people who accost me at a petrol garage and say “what’s that you’re putting in?” or the odd looks I get from people when I’m filling up.

I won’t bore your with the mechanics of how gas is converted into liquid in order to power your engine but suffice to say it isn’t done by magic or will power, you have to get your engine converted to be able to do so. This can only be done by an approved garage as obviously you’re dealing with explosive materials, so it’s not a case of asking your local cowboy garage to have a go. The cost of this can range from £900-£2,000 depending on what system you have installed and where the work is carried out. I imagine if you live in London the competition for the work is higher therefore prices will be more competitive. If you live in a rural location there may only be one approved garage within a 50 mile radius and naturally they will charge accordingly. Personally I paid £1,400.

Presently you cannot convert a diesel car, again I won’t bore you with why but I imagine as technology develops someone will eventually convert diesel cars and others will follow suit.

LPG is very, very popular across the continent in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe (the system installed on my car is manufactured in Poland) and also very popular throughout France, Germany and Holland. Those who take driving or camping holidays throughout Europe would definitely benefit as there would be ample opportunities to fill up and do so cheaply.

The basic mechanics of the conversion is that a kit is installed to your engine, and a tank to contain the Autogas is installed in your boot. Now depending on your preference and circumstance, you can either opt to have a tyre shaped tank installed in the spare wheel well, or a larger tank installed behind the rear seats. My car has a larger capacity tank due to the nature of my driving (motorway miles) which means more miles between re-fuelling stops, however this does encroach on my boot space. If you do not use your boot to full capacity on a regular basis I would highly recommend you choose this option, as there’s nothing more satisfying that filling up to the brim for £45, when everyone else is paying £75 or even £100 to do the same.

There are hundreds of web pages available if you are serious about carrying out this conversion which will provide further information. I hope this article has been useful to you and raised awareness about cheaper motoring.

Bet for this evening

From time to time, I will post up a little flutter I intend to have. I should explain I'm not a gambler in the typical sense of the word. A good mate of mine is actually a professional horse racing tipster and I avail myself of his services, I therefore consider myself as an investor as opposed to a gambler. I do of course have more than "a little flutter" on his daily tips but from time to time I'll have the odd football or golf bet, independently of the horse bets I make on a daily basis.

As a bit of interest, I shall be doing the following accumulator;

Swindon
Shrewsbury
Crawley
Reading
Cardiff
Middlesbrough

This pays around 14/1 and I'll be having a cheeky fiver.

The sanitisation of English football

Whether you like it or not, of have chosen to ignore the fact, football is a working man’s sport. It always has been, historically at least. It has been stolen by the money men and Sky Sports (and the general media have followed suit) and the vast riches that their investment has provided for football clubs or more specifically, the players that play for them, their stratospheric weekly wages, and the fees that the biggest leeches in football command. Player’s agents.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a subscription to Sky, I watch the occasional game of football on TV. I’m not adverse to televised football or the game being made available for a wide audience. Football certainly isn’t elitist, quite the opposite in fact. I recall a story my father has told me more than once, during his younger days where by him and a group of friends on a beach in Spain, engaged some locals in a game of football. None of his friends spoke Spanish, none of the Spanish lads spoke English but by the universal language that is football, a game was conducted on the sands of a certain holiday resort, lasting for 3 hours and sunburning my Dad half to death in the process. Football is a language, spoken by most of the known world, it brings people together, unites them in a common goal, and in its most basic form, provides entertainment. Or at least, it used to...

What I’m more frustrated with isn’t so much the fact that players like Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole have managed to carve out a substantially well rewarded career off the back of limited football ability, it is the growing number of football clubs that seem hell bent on destroying any kind of soul a club has by restricting the supporters to what they can say or do at a game, or how the are allowed to act. Football clubs will protest that they aren’t doing this at all but they are. They are stifling you, the supporter and it has been such a slow process that you probably haven’t even realised.

Hands up who remembers “The referee’s a w*nker” chant? Very popular in times gone by. What do we have now? “You don’t know what you’re doing” which is conveniently sung in the same tune.

Now I’m not saying everyone has to swear and abuse the referee just to generate an atmosphere (although let’s face it, it used to play a big part of a matchday experience) but this is an example of how we have been very slowly conditioned to accept that football is a place where you can’t swear, or abuse what has always been historically considered something of a joke figure.

Sky Sports would be absolutely delighted (though they would deny this) if at a packed Old Trafford, Etihad or Emirates, tens of thousands of supporters sat there singing broadcastable songs, and applauding the referee when he gets a basic decision correct. That may well sound ridiculous to you but that is not far off what is happening, and the orchestrator of the very reason why football has become sanitised, won’t stop until the job is complete. And those that have vested commercial interests in your club, are only too happy to assist this family friendly product, knowing the rewards far outweigh the desire from the common supporter for a proper football atmosphere.

The Kick Off

Hi, I’m James. This will be a blog focussing mainly on football, more specifically attempting to re-ignite the passion for the sport. We are in an age where the enthusiasm of the supporters of 90% of clubs in the UK is being slowly eradicated. I say 90% because I’m part of a group of football supporters who still have the ability to generate an atmosphere at a game. For now, I’m going to keep who I support anonymous. Not because I’m embarrassed of whom I support (quite the opposite) but I think if people know who I support it will create a negative feeling straight away for some of the visitors I hope to attract to this blog. There will also be some non football related stuff naturally. I’ll reveal what footballing mast I’ve nailed my colours to in due course. Maybe people want to have a guess. Maybe people won’t give a monkey's. Who knows?

So what do I mean by my earlier statement regarding re-igniting the passion for the sport? I’ll be explaining this over the next few entries. I must warn you now though, there will be strong opinions, words and some colourful language used at times. I make no apologies for my own opinions or how I deliver these opinions across. I’m hoping that lurking out there are thousands of similarly minded individuals who will enjoy reading this and perhaps start to exercise their right a bit more often. The right to enjoy themselves at a game of football!