Britain’s Sporting Year: 2007

In short: We lost!

In long: We lost! In pretty much every discipline of every sport. No British team will compete in next year’s Euro 2008 Finals (although 3 of them must be pretty used to it, it is a relativly new experience for England and has caused a mass exodus from supporting the national team), and as for cricket, well, I would say something about it but I haven’t really been following it. Ricky Hatton lost, apparently this is bad news, but I have no idea, as I don’t follow boxing either.

It’s not all bad though. Despite press critisism, there have been some ups. Although they didn’t win the thing, who thought given England’s form they would be in the Rugby World Cup final? Really, we were never going to beat SA, but we beat the Aussies! Doesn’t that count for anything? Also- Lewis Hamilton. So what if he didn’t win the F1 championship in his first season? Who has? He seems to be one of the most exciting talents that has come into the sport since… Well, a while. No one has managed what he has in a rookie season (even giving the off the track politics), and yet, as he didn’t win the thing, they’re on his back! Why? Isn’t that enough for you? That he is not only British but also quite good? Just because 2nd isn’t best, it doesn’t mean he’s a loser, fair play to him for even competing in one of the highest levels of motor racing. There are other British drivers in F1 at the moment, worse drivers than Lewis, who never get any recognition for that precise reason. Good on him!

Also, I have to mention this, but 2007 is the year that Tim Henman retired. So what if he never won Wimbledon, he was a good tennis player who did won tournaments. Just not ones in England. Is Wimbledon the only one that matters? Well, it appears so.

I disagree with the argument that “We shoulden’t play up these losers (usually Henman) as it sets a bad example to our children. We want them to WIN!” Well yes, but this isn’t solving anything. If anything, these comments will put people off becoming sport stars. Becasuse there can only ever be one no. 1. And if that person isn’t you, no matter how good you are, this is what people will say of you.

I find it rather depressing.

Britain: We’re Not Going to Switzerland or Austria

Unless you’re Lewis Hamilton.

 Yes, no teams from Britain have made it to Euro 2008. This is certinly suprising for England, but also for Scotland, who seemed set to qualify for a major tournament for the first time in 10 years, despite their impossible group. McClaren has thusly, and rightfully, been fired for gross incompetance, and McLeish has resigned to take over at Birmingham City. Well done, Lawrie McSanchez (yes, I should support Sanchez as Fulham manager, but really, he could have done so much more. As indeed could McLeish).

Who will take over the reigns? Who knows. By reading any paper or website you’ll pick up mounds of useful nuggets that are impossible, implausible, or contridictory to whatever was published yesterday (Monday – ‘O’Neill: I won’t be England manager’, Tuesday – ‘O’Neill: Can he be tempted?’). Basically Mourinhio is first, followed by Coppela (yes, I do realise I should look up how to spell these names before starting), or O’Neill, depending on which paper you read, then comes the flock, including, for some reason, Alan Sherer, who has had no managerial experiance.

And Harry Redknapp, Portsmouth manager, has been arrested in connection to corruption. This means he won’t become the next England manager, so some good has come of it at least.

Euro 2008, thoughts on.

And so, after a month or so of inactivity, another post this way comes.

 Scotland were beaten by Italy tonight, bringing an end to their bid to progress to the Euro 2008 finals. This is a pity as this Scotland team are playing better than they have been for some time. It’s been 10 years since Scotland last advanced to a major tournament (World Cup France 98) and this team has deserved to progress more than any team for the intervening years, and perhaps even the team 10 years ago (mainly composed of ‘old guard’ who peaked in the early-mid ’90s, retired soon after, and were perhaps a genuinely good batch of players (who were Scottish? Heaven forbid)). This team has beaten the World Cup runners-up twice, but due to failing against World Cup Winners, Semi-Finalists, and, er, Georgia, they will not appear in Euro 2008. Probably a good thing, as to the best of my knowledge, Scotland has never passed the first round in a major tournament. But fair play to them, this was a very difficult group (unless you’re France or Italy).

 Moving on from Scotland, who may have average player, but compensate by having a good manager, good team work, and a good try, untill the finish, to qualify, to their fierce rivals (from Scotland’s point of view at least), England (to who Scotland are 3rd, after Germany and Argentina), a team who have excellent players, but also have a crap manager, teamwork, and have made an easy group intensley difficult. The fact that we’re relying on a game between footballing giants Israel and the unstoppable force that is, er,  Russia, to qualify is very poor. The result was good at least, the Israelis defeating the Russians 2-1, meaning a draw/win against Croatia  will put us (England) through to the finals (pending playoffs). Not that a draw/win is certain. Even without goal-scoring hero Gary Neville, Croatia has been the strongest team in the group, and defeated England already in the group. Despite Israel’s win, qualification still may not happen, even with the deciding game at New Wembley. For a start, we have no attackers. We have Peter Crouch, and, er, er, er… Steven Gerrard? He’s a striker now? Apparently, according to the Sky Sports News 24. Well, that fixes the midfield problem at least. Except Beckham. Who I still don’t belive has any right to be picked over Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steven Gerrard, Aaron Lennon, Charlie Chaplain or whoever Mad McClaren is playing this week. But I digress. To summerise, we’re screwed.

Football Manager 08

October 19th, the confirmed date for FM 08 to hit the shelves, estimated retail price £24.99.

Now I just have to find some money.

Took half a day to download the demo, mainly as I had problems getting onto their site. No doubt due to high traffic (seriously, would it kill you to release it from a mirror as well?), but it was worth it. They’ve added several new features, mainly media interaction, but also updated some aspects of the transfer window and match engine. Also you can select an official club captain, and your choice may make someone who thought they are a better captain angry. Some people say that the FM, and Championship Manager seiries have become far too indepth, and are no longer pick-up and play. I don’t care. I like my football management simulators to be as close to reality as possible. My first one was a copy of Championship Manager 2, which I bought 5 years late for £5. It was pretty basic, but I enjoyed it. Enough to buy the latest version. I still play it from time to time, and every time I am astounded by how much is different.

And I’m not just talking about the players.

Whenever I play it for nostalgia’s sake, I am always wondering why I can’t do x, and in the end I have to play the latest version, as I can do so much more.

And for that reason, I will continue to pay £30 a year for a game I already have, and never completed.

England through to Semis

I remember speaking to an Australian friend of mine, over msn, last week, where we discussed the upcoming England v Australia quatre final game. We both came to the agreement that it would be an all-southern hemisphere semi-final (Australia, NZ, SA, Argentina), with either Australia and NZ winning it (depending on who won thier semi final meeting).

Now we’re eating our words.

Not that I’m a huge rugby fan. I prefer our national passtime, football, and take only a passing interest in the sport. But this is very good, not only for the England Rugby Union team, as they have been playing awfully since…well, when did we last win the world cup? 4 years ago. Then-ish. Where we beat Australia.  By a similarly narrow margin. Anyway, this is very good for morale, especially considering our 36-0 whitewash against the Springboks (who, despite England’s good fortune, I think will probably win). It shows that we can still…well, play? It doesn’t matter that we only won it by 2 points, what matters is we won against one of the best teams in the world (although, as reigning champions, we ARE the best team in the world). Anyway, this is also a good day for english sport in general, as over the past year we have been through various stages of fail with our 3 national sports. Rugby has been in a decline since we won the World Cup, the Cricket World Cup was a shambles (almost as much as the investigation into Bob Woolmer’s death), and the less said McClaren’s team start to the year the better (although we have started to pick up now, through the happy coincidence of Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips playing in place of injured regular first team players (which is sort of the opposite of our Rugby Squad)).

 But of course it gets better, as we will not play NZ in the Semi Finals. They lost to France.

 And here I was thinking that of the 6 nations Scotland had the best chance of getting through to the semis. Not that I think they will.