narrowtheangle.com - information about domain
- Server Status: available
- Server IP: 216.239.32.21
- Server Response Time: 305ms
Site title
Narrow The Angle
Alexa information
Alexa rank: 12,290,197
Rank Trend
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DNS Information
| Host: | Class: | Type: | IP: | TTL: | Target: | Other: |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | SOA | 1800 | mname: dns1.name-services.com rname: info.name-services.com serial: 2002050701 refresh: 10001 retry: 1801 expire: 604801 minimum-ttl: 181 |
||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | A | 216.239.36.21 | 1800 | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | A | 216.239.38.21 | 1800 | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | A | 216.239.32.21 | 1800 | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | A | 216.239.34.21 | 1800 | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | aspmx3.googlemail.com | pri: 30 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | aspmx4.googlemail.com | pri: 30 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | aspmx5.googlemail.com | pri: 30 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | aspmx.l.google.com | pri: 10 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | alt1.aspmx.l.google.com | pri: 20 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | alt2.aspmx.l.google.com | pri: 20 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | MX | 1800 | aspmx2.googlemail.com | pri: 30 | |
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | NS | 3600 | dns2.name-services.com | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | NS | 3600 | dns4.name-services.com | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | NS | 3600 | dns5.name-services.com | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | NS | 3600 | dns1.name-services.com | ||
| narrowtheangle.com | IN | NS | 3600 | dns3.name-services.com |
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<h2 class='date-header'><span>Friday, 6 January 2012</span></h2>
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<a href='http://www.narrowtheangle.com/2012/01/few-memorable-fa-cup-third-round.html'>A few memorable FA Cup Third Round moments from the annals</a>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ayiq4dLdopU/TwcuXGoQojI/AAAAAAAAAKE/WkyC8nmd_bE/s1600/buzaglo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ayiq4dLdopU/TwcuXGoQojI/AAAAAAAAAKE/WkyC8nmd_bE/s400/buzaglo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woking's Tim Buzaglo grabbed a hat-trick at the Hawthorns in 1991</i></td></tr>
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</style>This weekend sees the return of many neutrals’ favourite date in the football calendar – the FA Cup Third Round. And for ultimate drama, you need most of the following boxes ticked: lesser team drawn at home; the so-called ‘giant’ team to have recently hit bad form; the weather to be either cold, wet or both; and the underdog’s entire squad to have cost less than one week’s wages for the giant team’s star striker. If you have these factors in place, then you have ideal conditions for an FA Cup upset that will go down in history. And no shortage of clichés for commentators to get their teeth into. <br />
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The FA Cup is part of our heritage; it’s in our genetic make-up. Over the years winners have paraded the trophy in open-top buses to adoring crowds. When Manchester United withdrew from the competition in 2000 to compete in the Club World Championship in Brazil it caused a national outrage. It just wasn’t the done thing. It’s the FA Cup; you can’t just decide not to take part. It is an honour to compete. <br />
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As a nation, we collectively love the Third Round for its sense of David against Goliath; the chance that you might see the mighty fall at the hands of a motley crew of call-centre workers and pipe welders from Leatherhead or Blyth. And if this drama is played out on a muddy quagmire of a pitch on a freezing cold day then so much the better. If the ball is struggling to roll properly and star South American centre forwards’ teeth chatter as they pull their hands up inside their sleeves to keep warm, you can almost taste the giant killing before it actually happens. Sometimes you can just see it in the players' eyes as the opposition captain shouts: “They don’t fancy this today, lads!” <br />
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Giant killing has been a proud English pastime for as long as the FA Cup has been around. Perhaps the most impressive upsets of the ‘black-and-white’ era of football were Walsall’s 2-0 triumph over Herbert Chapman’s star-studded Arsenal side in 1933, and Worcester City of the Southern League beating Liverpool 2-1 in 1959. The Reds would go on to appoint Bill Shankly in the aftermath of that shocking defeat, and thankfully for the red half of the city they wouldn’t taste such embarrassment again until 1994 when Bristol City went to Anfield and beat Liverpool 1-0 on their own turf. That defeat also did for another Liverpool manager in Graeme Souness. They take a dim view of humiliation up on Merseyside. <br />
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The advent of colour television brought with it a gritty realism that transformed televised football. Firstly, you could tell the teams apart – generally considered a plus. Furthermore, when a poorly irrigated pitch was muddy and puddle-covered, it got beamed into millions of homes in glorious technicolour – allowing viewers at home to saviour every moment as some highly paid internationals got chased all over the pitch at a packed lower league ground so full that supporters were practically spilling onto the pitch. <br />
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The most famous such occasion – and it is here that we welcome the excitable voice of John Motson into the world of FA Cup Third Round upsets – was when Hereford United welcomed Newcastle to their Edgar Street ground in 1972. Motty summed it all up with suitably flabbergasted commentary to a television audience of 14 million captivated viewers as Hereford beat the Magpies 2-1, thanks in part to an absolute screamer of a goal from Ronnie Radford. For the tiny minority of you not familiar with the goal, it’s well worth <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ze42I6NEo">watching it on Youtube</a> just to soak up the moment – and delight in the sight of fans running onto the pitch, so giddy with delight that they don’t know which way to turn. The televised cup upset was born and the nation lapped it up gleefully. <br />
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Three years later and non-league Wimbledon would knock out (then First Division) Burnley 1-0 in 1975. Wimbledon then proceeded to march up the divisions and take their place as underdogs in the top flight. Despite surviving there for over a decade, Wimbledon were always viewed as ‘little Wimbledon’ or ‘plucky Wimbledon’ due to their small attendances and their direct brand of football. That changed in 1988 when Wimbledon overcame all the odds and won the FA Cup at Wembley, beating the mighty Liverpool in the final by a single goal. <br />
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Skip forward nine years from 1975 and Liverpool had well and truly got their ship in order and were enjoying an unprecedented spell of domestic dominance. Less so their great rivals Manchester United, for whom the days of Matt Busby and George Best were beginning to feel like a long time ago. This was a United team lacking in flair and lacking in trophies. But they must have thought a cup run was on the cards when they got drawn against Bournemouth in the Third Round in 1984. But they didn’t even manage a goal as the Cherries won 2-0 and secured their place in giant-killing history. <br />
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So what are the ingredients that we can look for when trying to spot a potential Third Round upset? In truth, there are many. What you’re looking for is the magic combination of: a famous name, away from home to little team, having been in wretched form in the league, with a manager who is under pressure to keep his job. <br />
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Many eyebrows were raised when Coventry City beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in a classic 1987 FA Cup Final. Two seasons later, Coventry took their newfound reputation as cup thoroughbreds to tiny non-league Sutton United. Eight-thousand fans crammed into Sutton’s diminutive Gander Green Lane to watch the drama unfold. Sutton manager Barrie Williams felt that Coventry were vulnerable to set pieces and sent his team out with instructions to exploit this perceived achilles heel. It worked a treat as they scored two goals from corner kicks, sending their fans into raptures and delighting a huge television audience. The 1987 Cup winners had been humbled. <br />
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Two years later came that even more scarce of occasions—little team beats famous name in their own backyard. West Bromwich Albion had an illustrious FA Cup history, lifting the trophy five times over the decades. And when part-timers Woking made the trip to the Hawthorns, most people were expecting a whitewash in favour of the home team. But it proved to be a black day in the Black Country when, despite West Brom taking an early lead, Woking stormed back to win 4-2, with unknown striker Tim Buzaglo grabbing a dramatic hat-trick that dominated the newspaper back pages the following morning. But if Buzaglo’s antics really warmed the hearts of neutral football lovers everywhere, there was even better to come the following season. <br />
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In the early 1990s, nobody liked Arsenal, apart from Arsenal fans. They were defence-minded, and a far cry from the elaborate brand of football they’ve played during Arsene Wenger’s tenure – more famous for a well-worked offside trap than the intricate passing of today. <br />
<br />
Top of the league table and looking strong, Arsenal journeyed to north Wales to play Wrexham, who were Arsenal’s polar opposite. While Arsenal flew the flag at the top of the Football League, Wrexham were propping it up at the bottom – they sat in last place in the old Fourth Division. The two teams were essentially the bookends between which all other league clubs could be found. And so there was surely only going to be one winner as Arsenal entered the closing stages of the game with their customary 1-0 lead. But with eight minutes to go, wily veteran Mickey Thomas – once of Manchester United – hammered in a free-kick, before youngster Steve Watkin slid in a winner past David Seaman in the Arsenal goal, to the collective cheers of a nation weary of ‘boring, boring Arsenal’. <br />
<br />
Recent years have been a little short on memorable Third Round upsets so far – Shrewsbury’s 2-1 victory over Everton in 2003 standing out as perhaps the best – so maybe this is the season when we get a really big one. Premier League sides are so strong these days that upsets are getting fewer. But we’ve still had some classic Third Round moments, even if the big guns have not been sent packing as often as we might have liked. <br />
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Cardiff City’s then-owner Sam Hammam’s controversial dancing around the pitch as they beat Premier League Leeds stands out as one such memorable (albeit ill-advised) moment – but the finest advert for the Third Round in recent times came at Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road in 2006, when the home team stormed into a 3-1 lead, only to have their hearts broken as Liverpool came storming back to win 5-3, including a stunning lobbed goal scored by Xabi Alonso from inside his own half of the field. <br />
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Of course, sometimes an upset doesn’t necessarily involve a victory. Just holding a footballing giant to a draw still constitutes a mammoth achievement for a comparative minnow. That’s just what Burton Albion did in the same weekend as Liverpool’s exciting comeback at Luton. Burton, managed by Nigel Clough, welcomed Manchester United to their Pirelli Stadium. Against a United side featuring Rooney and Ronaldo, Burton clung on for a resolute 0-0 draw, earning them a money-spinning replay at Old Trafford in front of a 53,000 crowd. With gate receipts shared equally for FA Cup ties, Burton long felt the benefit of their day in the spotlight. That they lost 5-0 was academic – the point is, they got there. <br />
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<i>Modified from a piece I originally wrote a few years ago when this blog was merely a glint in the internet milkman’s eye</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div><i> </i><br />
UPDATE: Some of the big boys have done their own Third Round reminiscing ahead of the weekend too. So if you're hungry for more, here's links to the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/classic-fa-cup-third-round-ties-2177897.html">Independent</a>, the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/fa-cup/8996872/FA-Cups-most-memorable-third-round-ties-video.html">Telegraph</a>, <a href="http://sport.uk.msn.com/football/fa-cup-third-round-shocks">MSN</a> and <a href="http://www.itv.com/sport/football/facup/news/five-classic-third-round-shocks-24332/">ITV</a>. <i><br />
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<h2 class='date-header'><span>Thursday, 5 January 2012</span></h2>
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<a href='http://www.narrowtheangle.com/2012/01/what-if-joey-barton-could-edit-himself.html'>What if Joey Barton could edit himself in Football Manager?</a>
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Many of you will have seen Joey Barton's tweets this week about him playing <i>Football Manager 2012</i>, taking the QPR job, and then falling out with his virtual self. This has probably been the highlight of my week.<br />
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If you didn't see the tweets in question then here they are for you:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bcD3ThZsFQo/TwYeuG2tTOI/AAAAAAAAAJw/gN_wGNATcGI/s1600/jb+tweet+0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bcD3ThZsFQo/TwYeuG2tTOI/AAAAAAAAAJw/gN_wGNATcGI/s400/jb+tweet+0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fDMfs3toJDQ/TwYZnhTWrdI/AAAAAAAAAJU/jqtquVWkhjo/s1600/jb+tweet+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fDMfs3toJDQ/TwYZnhTWrdI/AAAAAAAAAJU/jqtquVWkhjo/s400/jb+tweet+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
As one wag pointed out to him on Twitter: "Hey Joey, you must be the first person to manage Joey Barton on <i>Football Manager</i> and not immediately transfer list him!"<br />
<br />
Anyway, this got me wondering how Joey Barton's <i>Football Manager</i> equivalent might look if Barton had been allowed to edit himself. His stats in the game are already very good - more than generous, I'd say - so he might not change much at all. Although I'm sure pussycat Joey would tone 'Aggression: 17/20' right down. Surely no more than a '3'... I think it's more likely he'd change his personality traits rather than his playing attributes.<br />
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The realisation that this version of <i>Football Manager</i> uses a font as basic as Arial for its body text (thus opening up rich pickings for mediocre Photoshoppers who think they're mildly amusing - like me) meant it was fairly simple to create an imagined profile for Twitter's great Smiths-loving, Orwell-quoting philosopher of the people. The game's Joey Barton 'Information' page seemed to lend itself best to a little doctoring.<br />
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Naturally I took care to ensure I got the Place of Birth correct, but here's what else I came up with (click to enlarge). Or click <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TC5Ui-fvH9s/TwYa-M7o7kI/AAAAAAAAAJk/hsTfypFCoQA/s1600/joey+barton+fm12.jpg">here</a> if the text is too small to read!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TC5Ui-fvH9s/TwYa-M7o7kI/AAAAAAAAAJk/hsTfypFCoQA/s1600/joey+barton+fm12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TC5Ui-fvH9s/TwYa-M7o7kI/AAAAAAAAAJk/hsTfypFCoQA/s400/joey+barton+fm12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Anybody else with an idea for some <i>Football Manager</i> Photoshopping for the purposes of mild distraction and childish amusement might be interested to know that the font you need is simply Arial (11pt).<br />
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If anything, I like Joey Barton a little more for knowing he plays <i>Football Manager</i>. I like any footballer that plays <i>FM </i>over <i>FIFA</i> or <i>PES</i>. It shows a bit more nous. And if Barton should happen to read this blog himself, I imagine he'll take it in the spirit it was intended.<br />
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I'll leave the final word on this subject to a Twitter user with the excellent username @sexyactionsteve. He sums up most people's feelings rather nicely.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ww7bQ8TCBRU/TwYiVCY76HI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/cdeWD2mO_S8/s1600/sas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ww7bQ8TCBRU/TwYiVCY76HI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/cdeWD2mO_S8/s400/sas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h2 class='date-header'><span>Friday, 18 November 2011</span></h2>
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<a href='http://www.narrowtheangle.com/2011/11/commentators-and-context.html'>Commentators and "context"</a>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>A short rant about football commentary, match-day summarisers <br />
and the production values of modern-day football broadcasting</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCzdJEP-sWI/TsZOW7ND1wI/AAAAAAAAAJE/Hi5jTsHMMDw/s1600/Alan-Green-at-Wembley-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCzdJEP-sWI/TsZOW7ND1wI/AAAAAAAAAJE/Hi5jTsHMMDw/s1600/Alan-Green-at-Wembley-001.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td class="tr-caption"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Andy Hall</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Competitive sport makes for compelling television for lots of reasons. But ask a hundred sports fans why they enjoy watching live sport and not one of them will tell you they like it "because the commentators talk about things other than the actual sporting action". <br />
<br />
Over the summer the BBC was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14026985">forced to apologise</a> for their tennis commentators "over-talking" during the Wimbledon Championships, their excuse being that the commentary team were giving "context" to the matches they were describing.<br />
<br />
Context? Really? If people are tuning in for a quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick, I think it's a safe bet to assume that they know what they're watching and why this match is occurring. If they don't, they're clearly not very bright, so let them catch up as we go along rather than drag the entire viewing audience down to their level.<br />
<br />
Of course, the producer often exacerbates matters, with his constant cutaways to the players' wives, girlfriends, mothers, one-time lovers. A lingering shot of some woman in sunglasses tossing her hair about does rather force the commentator's hand. If he stays silent, it's just a needlessly long shot of a crowd member. Provide context he must. <br />
<br />
The problem is particularly bad in football. Football demands 45-minute periods of concentration from the viewer. That's quite a long time for the average person to concentrate solidly. So when you're trying to focus on the game, what could be less helpful that the commentator blathering on about the home team's chairman and his business interests, transfer speculation around the players involved, the big game coming up on that channel later that day, and so on. It's so bloody distracting.<br />
<br />
Football on the radio today is a nightmare. Decades ago radio commentators used to divide the pitch into eight squares, to provide quick and easy reference points for listeners trying to picture the game in their imaginations. (This, as you may know, is where the expression <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_square_one">"back to square one" </a>originates from.) But now, when you listen to a match on 5Live or wherever, not only do they spend half the time discussing other things (the centre back's hair, the away team's upcoming European fixture, all those empty seats in the director's box, the traffic they sat in on the way to the game), but they constantly go "around the grounds" getting updates from reporters at other games. These reporters, knowing they've only got 30 seconds to impress, speak so fast it makes your head hurt. They pepper their little vignettes with flowery adjectives, metaphors and a hearty dose of oomph. By the time the producer cuts back to the main game, you've forgotten what was happening, who was shooting which way and (sometimes) why you even cared in the first place.<br />
<br />
And how often they miss goals! Think how many times you've been listening to football on the radio and they cut away to Dave Bogbrush at the Reebok for an update on the Bolton game, and when they come back Alan Green, Mike Ingham or whoever has to sheepishly say: "And while you were away there's been an almighty goalmouth scramble, Everton having several chances to score and Villa continually getting bodies in the way. The ball eventually fell to Fellaini and he's nudged it home. So it's 1-0 now with 15 minutes to half-time and Villa have a free-kick..." <br />
<br />
I want to hear that happen *live*, you scoundrels! I want to hear the glorious chaos unfold blow by blow, not be given a bite-size summary of how it wasn't the prettiest goal the crowd will ever see. I understand we need to know what's happening in other big games, but can't somebody just slip the main commentator a piece of paper that says "Bolton goal, 28 min, Klasnic header, 1-0", rather than having to waste 30 seconds getting a full description of the goal? Save that for half-time, for goodness sake. <br />
<br />
Must we be so incessantly, constantly entertained? It's exhausting. If it's a rank bad game, let us glory in the fact. Let us laugh at ourselves for being foolhardy enough to tune in to Birmingham v Derby.<br />
<br />
It is virtually impossible to focus on a game if the commentators are wittering on about mooted moves to new stadiums, unrest in the boardroom, "Oh, and there's Lily Allen in the crowd... she's wearing a woolly hat and there <i>is</i> a bit of a chill in the air, can't say I blame her. Daughter of Keith Allen, of course, lovable rogue and a big football fan himself. No doubt she'll be straight on the phone to dad at full-time".<br />
<br />
Shut up, man! Darren Fletcher's about to take a throw-in. Now sodding tell me about it.<br />
<br />
<b>THREE EXAMPLES OF NO-NONSENSE COMMENTARY</b><br />
<ol><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FxSKczJprI">Barry Davies</a>, 1971, Coventry v Everton. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8g17gWh_MI">Brian Moore</a>, 1985, Man Utd v Liverpool.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2wpH09cOU4">John Motson</a>, 2001, England v Greece. </li>
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<h2 class='date-header'><span>Monday, 17 October 2011</span></h2>
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<div><i>Jamie Carragher and Ray Wilkins give their thoughts on why the England manager should be an Englishman. Carragher's argument is hard to argue with, but Wilkins' analysis reflects badly on the state of the English game</i></div><div><br />
</div><div>I had said previously that I'd report back on the talk about modern footballers at the Leaders In Football conference earlier in the month. In truth, I've been stalling on getting round to writing this blog since so much of what Jamie Carragher, Ray Wilkins and Fabio Cannavaro said on the day was reported by the media. Such is the life of a blogger who also has a full-time day job, getting round to writing up a blog on something you attended can be rendered a lot less worthwhile if somebody gives the press a few soundbites. </div><br />
The talk was less of an insight into the mindset of a modern footballer than billed, and proved to be more of a rambling discussion which leapt about quite a bit. As it turned out, the most interesting stuff was what Carragher and Wilkins had to say on the subject of the England manager. Their thoughts are not especially ones that I agree with, but were well argued nonetheless. <br />
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Carragher has strong feelings that the England manager should be an Englishmen: "Its not anything against foreign coaches coming to manage England, it’s just about what I think international football is. It’s our best against their best. Whether that’s the best keeper, best centre forward, wherever. If we’re short, then we have to improve.<br />
<br />
"Surely if you’re English and you go on a coaching course, the idea is for the England manager’s job to be what you aspire towards? For me, you shouldn’t have a foreign member of staff. The best doctor in the country should be the England doctor, or whatever. It should be your best against another country’s best," he said.<div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wilkins credits moving to Italy with turning him into a proper professional, yet still <br />
thinks the England manager should be an Englishman due to the players' mindsets</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Ray Wilkins was in vehement agreement with Carragher, saying: "I’d like to see an English manager. We’ve tried it and we haven’t gone that far in World Cups with foreign coaches. I had the fortune of going to Italy and playing. Their attitude to football is completely different to our attitude. When Fabio came in there were lots of changes, especially on the discipline side. Now, I’ve no problem with discipline at all, but the England player reacts slightly differently to the way the Italian player reacts. </div><div><br />
"I never became a professional footballer until I was 27 - the day I moved to Italy. That’s when I actually started to live the right way, which meant I was able to play for a long period after. Everything was so professional; the diet was kicking in then. I thought I was relatively professional until I went to Italy and realised I was unfit. The fitness coach took our fat counts, got the results and said 'We’ve got a fat guy in the room'. So of course I’m looking round thinking 'Where is he?'. But it was me. I was the fat guy. It gave me the routine I needed to live each day. Within a month I lost an inch and a half off my waist and I was flying."<br />
<br />
Isn't that depressing? Ray Wilkins has played and lived in Italy and completely immersed himself in the culture and the mindset, and credits the experience with broadening his horizons and turning him into a proper athlete. Yet he has so little faith in the England players of today that he thinks they wouldn't benefit from a foreign coach with advanced ideas telling them a few things they might want to change if they want to cease being a national embarrassment every time they go to a major tournament. <br />
<br />
We might be miles behind the Spanish and Germans in terms of technique, but we're even further behind when it comes to hunger. Our mollycoddled players just aren't prepared to put their faith in one man and work their backsides off. Unless perhaps if that man is an Englishman who'll "keep things simple" and constantly praise them to the hilt. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So in answer to my original question back in part one of this blog - Is Football All About The Players? - the answer would appear to be, in this country at least, yes. It's not a happy state of affairs, but one we're stuck with for the foreseeable. All part of football's general sickness at the highest level in England.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm off to flick through my 1986/87 Panini sticker album and see if I can spot some ambition and pride in the players' eyes. I can hardly wait for Euro 2012.</div>
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