Olympics

"American Dana Vollmer set a new women's 100m butterfly swimming world record, taking gold in the process, while Britain's Ellen Gandy had to settle for last place in the Olympic final."

Above is an extract taken from Eurosport! I am sorry, but Ellen Gandy had to settle for last place?!?! What?!?! Did she have a coffee with the other swimmers and discuss placings? Fair play for reaching the final, that is an achievement, but I very much doubt she settled for last place Eurosport!!

Olympics!

Hello all,

Sorry if anyone has looked at my blog recently and seen no updates. I am actually on holiday in turkey, so once I get back next week, I will be doing a full round up of the past few weeks news! Still, I know the football has kicked off in the Olympics, but sitting in a Turkish bar at 950pm, I felt the need to blog as I have just found out the archery has been on, and it has been won by a south Korean, who is legally blind!!!!! How embarrassed must the rest of the field be?!?!

Anyway, I am back in a few days, so will catch up with you soon!!

Sheri Ichinose!

This is Sheri Ichinose, girlfriend of Man Utd's new signing Shinji Kagawa - she just happens to be a Japanese porn star, and whilst that may put a smile on many a man's face, you just have to chuckle to think that Ryan Giggs is thinking all his Christmas's have come at once....lol.....You have been warned Shinji!!

Check out wagsaway.blogspot.co.uk

FIFA Vs UEFA

Seriously boys, work together!!! It's bad enough that goal line technology is being introduced by FIFA, only after England benefitted from a decsions, but what is Platini on?? I can't say it any simpler, but how can a man who was a genius footballer turn into a complete knob when it comes to running football! Leave the game alone Platini, the reason you were so good is that people allowed you to do your job on the pitch!

What I can't understand is that if FIFA approve goal line technology, as they are the world governing body of football, how can UEFA reject it? Did you not watch the England Ukarine game Mr Platini, your 45th extra assistant ref was stood next to the goal and he still missed it, so is extra officials still going to work??

I guess Mr Platini's brown envelope isn't worth accepting just yet! Sepp Blatter is bad enough, but please god, do not ever let Mr Platini become FIFA president!!

Pompey - A club in crisis

With Rangers dropping to Div 3 yesterday, today my attention turns to Portsmouth FC, a club close to my heart! To be honest, this subject gets me so frustrated, this post will either short, or I will get on my soap box!!

I cannot believe that the League have once again sanctioned a 10 point penalty!! It is quite obvious, regardless of who wants to buy the club, that Trevor Birch has been working hard to save the future of the club, the club are down to 8 professionals, and 3 of them in the shape of Varney and Norris are on the verge of moves. Hopefully those 2 will follow Mullins' example of how to leave a club! Take note, former King Kanu and Tal Ban Haim!! Pre-season has been started with a bunch of kids, talented as some of them may be, this could ruin their careers as well if they aren't developed properly.

The argument of player contracts will always continue, and yes, if they signed a 3 year contract, then they are entitled to their earnings. However, I cannot go with the argument from us normal everyday people who compare it to our jobs - we don't get from £30,000 a week, so please tell me why they need a pay off? It's not like most players would be short of offers from other clubs around the world. If they, like most of us, were earning a few hundred quid a month, then fine, I could understand their argument.

I can understand Ben Haim's stance, but what has shocked me more is Kanu's stance, for someone who has played top flight football his entire career, with some world class clubs, he has had a great career, and probably earnt a bob or two! He was also loved at Pompey, the problem is that is now 'was loved', he could only be less liked if he turned out for a certain club down the road! Sort it out Kanu, is £300,000 really going to make such a difference to your life?

So, in the essence of fair play, and all things being equal, the League have decided that a club who could still be liquidated, and who have just 8 professionals, soon to be 6, is to start to the season on minus 10 points!! Best fair play decision I have seen for a while, not! 

Also, are the league not going to take any responsibility? Yes, I know Portsmouth have had some shocking owners, but don't each of them have to pass a due diligence test to prove they are capable of running a club! People might say that sounds like sour grapes, but I can understand one owner slipping through the net, but not 3 or 4 bad ones!!

All I know is Portsmouth will never die, and I don't care who wears the shirt, when I can get to a came up north, I will be there! See you in Carlisle!!

End of Scottish football???

And so the decision of where to put Rangers Newco has been decided!! Div 3 it is, and possibly the end of Scottish football?? Now, my dad is a Rangers fan, and I too, also follow Pompey, so I think we are well versed when it comes to talking about clubs in Crisis!!

I have no doubt that if you fall foul of the rules, that you have to be punished, and it is always going to be difficult when it comes to a football club, as fans (whoever you support) are not to blame. We pay week in week out, buying tickets, merchandise etc, and ultimately it is us who pays!

I will get onto Pompey soon enough, but as for Rangers, what does this decision really mean for Scottish football? I know we all joke about there only being 2 teams in Scotland, but now we are down to one!! I know there has to be a level of consistency in football, as Livingstone were relegated to Div 3 a few years back, and I am sure they wouldn't be happy if Rangers were just relegated to Div 1, but there is a bigger picture to consider here!

Recently a number of teams have said they can only sign players, or keep players on the back of games against Celtic and Rangers, and the gate receipts and revenue it brings in - also included in that is possible tv money. Straight away, that income is halved.

I cannot imagine Sky Sports, or any other TV company rushing to cover Scottish football anymore, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sky aren't currently going through their contract with a fine tooth comb to see if they can exit the deal. Remember Granada Thursday night football, and how that deal has helped ruin many a club who borrowed against future income! Well welcome to the Scottish version!

I am sure one or two diehard Celtic fans will be chuckling with the news, but am sure as well, there will be an awful lot who realise how bad this is going to be for Scottish football. With all due respect, there will be no competition for Celtic now, and the league may well be over by Christmas. The only way clubs can compete with Celtic is that in the coming years, players won't want to join Celtic, despite their history and size, because their will simply be NO competition. I can see Celtic being a place where players go to get a final payday and a trophy!

It may have been a  drastic decision, but I feel the whole league system could have done with a shake up. Instead of a premier league of 12 teams, and then 3 leagues of 10 teams, why not just have 2 divisions of 21 teams? Surely, that would make it more competitive?

I just think there are too many chairman out there who thought this was a way to get their club up the league, and for their sake, I hope it's not a decision that comes back to haunt them, more so for financial reasons, as I hear one or two of them are on the brink of administration, and whilst Rangers can survive, we all remember what happened to Gretna!

So, Rangers will play on in Div 3, personally, with their fan base, and loyal young players, I don't think it will take long to rise again - the only problem is will there be anything to return to? Good luck to them, and the 5 clubs who were knowledgeable enough to vote to keep Rangers in the higher divisions!

5 a side - WED - Pathetico Madrid

Well, 2 games into our season, and we are most definitely living up to the first half our team name!! What was a close defeat last week, was just an embarrassing one this week, as we went down 9-7 to Jager Bombers!

To be fair, Jager Bombers scored 206 goals in just 14 league games last week, in the division below, but seriously, there must be some shocking teams in that league! I say we didn't turn up, I almost wished we hadn't!! All barring the last 5 mins when we had a go, it was dreadful!

We slowed the game down too much, were sloppy in our passing, and every shot seemed to be aimed at the keeper. I have to be honest, I am looking forward to the reverse fixture against these because if we do decide to turn up, then it will be a completely different game!

Next up is Ajax Treesdown, but not for me, after Sunday's game, I am away sunning it for 2 weeks!! Good luck lads!!

I have embarrassed myself by putting the league table up!!

Team Name

Plyd

GD

Pts

1	Jager Bombers	2	10	6
2	Ajax Treesdown (Wed)	2	8	4
3	Preston Accys	2	8	4
4	Lid FC (Wed)	2	8	4
5	Bowker FC	2	3	4
6	New City Utd	2	4	3
7	Young Gunz	2	-5	3
8	Pathetico Madrid	2	-4	0
9	Vacancy WC1	2	-16	0
10	Vacancy WC2	2	-16	0

5 a side - SUN - Predators

Sitting 2nd in the league, we were up against Jaydens 5, who to be honest are probably the most athletic team we will play in this league. We played them a few weeks ago in a rearranged match and lost 16-8, so I knew we would be up against it!

We started ok, and I pulled off a couple of decent saves to keep us in the game, but that was about as good as it got! We never got out of first gear, and whilst the game never really got away from us in the first half, we continued to lose shape, and ended up losing 17-10. As a result, Jaydens 5 have leapt above us in the league, and next up, it's top of the table Billy Sastards, who are not frightend of putting their foot in!! Thye aren't frightened of scoring either, they played one of my friend's teams a few weeks back, and beat them 43-1!!!! I am expecting a busy night!

Team Name

Plyd

GD

Pts

1	Billy Sastards	8	86	24
2	Jaydens Five (Sun)	8	15	15
3	Predators	8	-3	15
4	Borders FC	8	2	11
5	Lech Preston	8	-7	11
6	Boca Seniors	8	-11	10
7	Presto	8	-34	4
8	Bad Newz	8	-48	3

5aside - WED - Pathetico Madrid

And so to Wed night 5 a side, we finished 4th last season, just missing out on Promotion. However, with one or two teams dropping out, the leagues have restructured from 4 leagues of 8 to 3 leagues of 10! So, technically we have won promotion, and find ourselves in the Championship! It's going to be a fun season, and competitive!

It was the first game of the new season last night, and we were up against Young Gunz, who we played last season, which we won one and lost one against them. Young Gunz are made up a young lads who have just been released by PNE, so if anything, there are young and never stop running!

We didn't play that well to be honest, but were never out of it. I don't know why, but we always have a mad 5 mins in both halves, when all shape goes out of the window, and things go pear shaped. That happened last night, and it cost us the game. We lost 12-10! I will put the league table up once a few more games have been played!

I pulled off a few saves last night, but with one of them, even I still don't know how I got there, as I was already on the floor when the shot was taken! I can only put it down to natural instinct...lol. Next up are the Jaegar Bombs, who won League 2 last year (div below us), scoring a healthy 206 goals in just 14 games! I have a feeling, I might be busy next week.

5aside - SUN - PREDATORS

Sundays night are going very well for 5 a side. Last Sunday, I earnt another Man of the Match award as 5 a side went International and we played Polish team Lech Preston and won 11-8. I enjoyed the game, and never one for shirking an injury, a diving save after just 2 mins of the game left me literally spitting blood! I say splitting, it was more of a steady stream! My most memorable save was a double save right at the end. To be honest, when I was 4 stones heavier last year, there was no way I would have got to it...lol.. Anyway, for this interested, here is the league table!

1	Billy Sastards	6	62	18
2	Predators	7	4	15
3	Jaydens Five (Sun)	7	8	12
4	Lech Preston	7	0	11
5	Boca Seniors	7	-3	10
6	Borders FC	6	11	8
7	Presto	7	-26	4
8	Bad Newz	7	-56	0

Euro 2012 Final

So, 4 days after the final, I finally get to review the final! It has been a shocking week at work, I know this is incredibly unfootball related, but isn't it amazing how quick you can go from liking your job, to absolutely hating it! Although to be fair, it's not the job, it's the lack of line management!! Anyway, soap box moment over!

I mentioned briefly on my iphone blog on Sunday just after Spain were crowned champions, how anyone can call this team boring is beyond me. Andres Iniesta during this tournament has outpassed the entire England team!! Mind you, it wasn't that difficult!

For all the alleged boring, or negative play, or however you term it as a team plays with no forward, on Sunday night, it all came to fruition with a stunning 4-0 win! You have to take your hat off to this era of Spanish football, as that is not only 3 major finals on a trot, but 3 WINS!! Absolute quality!

For me, Spain are the only team from Europe who could do something in the heat of the Brazil 2014 World Cup, and here is a scary fact, look at the ages of the Spanish team!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_national_football_team

Euro 2012 final!

Spain are the champions, and deservedly so! What a quality performance. Whoever says this is a boring team really needs a reality check! Anyway, I will report more tomorrow as this is coming from my iPhone! Great tournament!