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They Are All Mad You Know!?

Back in 1972, times were hard you know, there were miners strikes, shortages of coal, and power cuts that crippled our nation, today 40 years on we face critical issues of a different nature, …. A popular film of the time was Carry on Abroad, like many carry on films it took the mickey of ourselves with this films theme being the British Abroad, as always things end in disaster and the film closes with  pro British flying of the flag and a light hearted comment of ” They’re all mad you know”

Now as we approach the first match since the arranged disposal of the last manager, many are  beating their drums of support for their favourite new England captain. Only in England where we are supposed to believe and support the right of innocent until proved guilty and completely ignore it when it suits our own agenda. Enough has been said on the JT situation, that is now very much water under the bridge so to speak. He’s not fit (he’s injured) and not available to be considered for the team, which is very convenient for everyone concerned, it takes away more difficult decisions.

So now up on the agenda is the name of the new captain. I can honestly say I really don’t care who, the situation surrounding our national side would rival a comedy from the Blackadder series. However I look at some of the claimed more respectable elements of our national press and still wonder if qualifications to be  a sport journalist these days must include a frontal lobotomy?

Mr McNulty of the BBC for example….. the BBC once the bastion of British fair play and still cling to a crumbling ethos of being impartial, with its gobbledegook of wording on passing out of information, it has learned, it has learnt, it believes and its understands…… infact I wonder what does it actually understand. Still back to Mr McNulty or is that Mr McNutty in this case, this is not at all an attack on respected sports writer, that is, is it possible to respect a sports writer?….. a doctor and nurse a policeman well yes….. a sports writer, well maybe.

The engine of the car had not even started which was to take Capello away from the England job at Soho Square, when the BBC’s chief sports writer was pushing the cause of Mr Gerrard as our next captain. Okay Okay I will agree that Mr Gerrard is captain of Liverpool, and a talented midfielder…. but England captain material again?

Was he not the captain of the ship England Titanic which sunk without a trace at the 2010 world cup, where was this inspirational leader then? How can the press claim in one hand that it was the worse England team display for years but the captain comes away without a scratch, or was the captain of this ship allowed to leave before it sank? Argue as much as you like but The FA in their desire to remove JT from the captain’s position because of certain matters that are to be dealt with in a civil court in July, and have publicly pushed the importance of a code of conduct for players that must be respected and used as a criteria on being able to represent ones country, now this new code of conduct must be applied to all and not selected individuals, which includes all players, managers, back room staff and even the FA members themselves, otherwise the FA have just opened a bigger can of worms.

This is in all truth a great step in the right direction, even if it could be argued that it’s maybe 40 years to late and our society as degenerated so much since it’s a pointless exercise? Anyway I fully support them with this brave new idea. We’ve had convicted speeding criminal leading our national team before, convicted drunks leading out team before, players that have been banned for missing drugs tests leading out the team before, so better later than never I guess in trying to clean up our national game.

However it is too much for some to stomach that philandering man can not lead out his national team, and that an innocent until proved guilty man can’t either, but them a certain person who is being bigged up again, has also a few shady marks on his personal cv, the alleged connection to a pregnant 16 year old and that tasty impression of a professional boxer in a bar brawl over a music machines remote control, whilst not convicted the judge did state this man did start the fight.

Anyway enough of the much raking….. the man in question is also at the twilight of his career, now more injury prone and whilst it can be argued he has done well at his club, if you call winning one tip pot in the last 5 years good and the said club not winning its national league for over 21 years…. it does appear to be a retrograde suggestion, why not now as the FA have been so keen to promote a new clean and fresh image…. bring forward a new style of captain! Who the hell that could be I really don’t know, but it must rule out a man from Merseyside as well as plenty of others.

In not wanting to seem too demanding on our now new righteous FA, I do believe I was reading and watching the press conference about the appointment of the new manager being needed to be done quickly, this was on the 8th of February. However today 29th February they claim not to have spoken to any candidate about it…… In what terms do we consider the action quick to mean? I would have thought that with such little time before a major competition that getting in the new man and planning a strategy to perform in a competition that starts in 100 days time should really have been done by now! Its most concerning that of our definition of quick is not the same as the FA’s

Today we are told it should not be a knee-jerk reaction, well there are plenty of people I’d like to see in front of a knee-jerk reaction, maybe a little rearranging of some crown jewels would aid to a better thinking process. What they mean is that they really don’t have a clue on who can do the job. I think at Soho sq, they are trying to cover their large posterior as much as possible with the next appointment, maybe the man they want can’t make up his mind, or won’t be released…. well at least without substantial compensation, which will look rather poor on publicity, given there is a high chance of England Titanic mark 2 being launch from these shores in June…… now the smoke and mirrors game has finished, reality can be a very cruel mistress.

On what appeared a few weeks ago to be an amazing piece of good fortune, now seems to be a problem without an ideal solution, with all the wonderful beating of chests and jingoistic out crying, the FA have backed themselves into a corner.  I’m sure Capello is laughing his socks off at the situation. The Danes in 1992 (20 years ago) were on the beach not having qualified for the tournament, but were re-instated just before the finals, there was no preparation or real plan, they were expected to turn up and make up the numbers and get UEFA out of a mess, but they won it…… can England do something similar?

Going back to that  Carry On film of 1972 I’d love to see the same sort of national support in these difficult times, I love my country, but its a self made laughing stock we act like a banana republic without the banana’s …… Win the UEFA Euro championships …… you must be joking ……

……“They Are All Mad You Know”

Posted by ‘Voltaire’

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