That Was The Week.... 2

THAT WAS THE WEEK....2

ALLEZ LES ROUGES?

Were you there? What was it like? Were there audible gasps and wallets flapping to get hands on one? No-one? Anyone? I didn’t think so.
This week’s ‘launch’ (I use the term lightly) of the new England away strip seems to have passed many of us by. This is a surprise in itself considering the marketing fanfare that usually accompanies such things. No Beckham, Gerrard et al?
So when Kasabian’s singer Tom Meighan modeled the new design at a concert in front of two thousand Parisians, it was something of a damp squib. It was as welcome as seeing Archie Gemmill wearing Celtic’s new training kit at Rangers end of season awards party.

The FA’s website draws our attention to the ‘technology’ in this cutting edge garment:
“Unlike the home shirt, the away shirt is made up of three distinct panels consisting of different technical fabrics, each one aimed at providing players with the best possible advantage.”
Impressive stuff indeed!
With further mind boggling reference to ‘elastene’, ‘ventilation’ and ‘conceptual’, I am left with little choice but to accept the ‘advantage’ this will provide the England team at the World Cup.
Launching the away strip at an away venue was a subtlety lost on most of us. If the shirt does half that it says it can, we can only be grateful that it has had absolutely no input from the Keystone Cops that run the FA’s PR & Marketing departments.
What was the shirt like? I can’t say I noticed.

APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

The appointment of Craig Levein as Scotland manager has given renewed hope of a return for former captain Barry Ferguson. After his ban for the now infamous drinking session and schoolboy gestures during an international against Iceland, Scotland fans would be well within their rights to see their former captain bite Levein’s proverbial hand off.
The soap opera that surrounds football, no matter where it is, never ceases to amaze me. Following the stereotypical model of the modern footballer, the unashamed Ferguson has not only requested time to consider his position but had the bare-faced cheek to advertise it.
"I've still got a lot of thinking to do and I am nowhere near a decision... I am fully committed to Birmingham...They took a chance on me when people were knocking me down.”
You just couldn’t invent this stuff, could you?
The moral says that when you’re in a hole you stop digging. Ferguson’s lack of remorse is one thing but he has the gall to imply he was hard done by. The Scottish may struggle to build sustainable campaigns on the pitch but they are nobody’s fool. They give no quarter and fight for the shirt with a unique passion, expecting every man to do the same.
Ferguson cannot hang his head for a shame he does not know or understand. He should take some advice for a change and pluck up an appetite. Humble pie is the order of the day and the Scots who actually care will have their ovens working overtime.

RESPECT

How refreshing to see Fabio Capello, England’s very own Godfather, act with such calm reassurance in the midst of the storm. What happened in those twelve fateful minutes at the FA’s Wembley HQ? Did he really admonish Terry for not wearing a tie, as myth would have it? Did Terry show what the captaincy really meant by weeping for mercy, not unlike many of the pleas to Don Corleone seen in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic movie? We will probably never know.
In a script as subtle as great screenplays, more is said by speaking very little. Capello is a single-minded man and has little time for the circus that surrounds the England team. He brushes aside questions with the gait of a Don Corleone, wanting to get back to the things that matter in the world of football; in this case, the World Cup and Euro qualifiers.
What’s done is done. Finito! We move on.
So thankfully, whether you agree with his decision or not, we can expect more of the same from the boss. His actions are swift and to the point with no afterthought. Should he find himself with a similar dilemma in the future, Fabio will say virtually nothing but act with the symbolic assurance provided by ruthless operators on the silver screen. His next victim may well ‘sleep with the fishes’.

AND FINALLY...

Tottenham Hotspur and Harry Redknapp have had differing fortunes this week. Whilst Spurs failed to turn up at Molineux and lost, Harry did manage an appearance at Southwark Crown Court and, so far, is holding onto a stalemate in an uneventful no-score draw.
Harry is known for his sense of humour and no doubt revelled in the chants from the Wolves faithful.
“Stand up, if you’ve paid your tax.”
But with backs to the wall, I can see the Lilywhites putting a storming run together between now and the end of the season. Snapping at the heels of Chelsea and Man United, expect the mind games to begin and Harry to give as good as he gets.
I can just see him strolling into a pre-match press conference with a sheet of carefully prepared A4 paper (a la Benitez) only to announce that he is going to be talking about (and only about).....TAX!