Thursday 23 May 2013

Yesterday, the UK watched in horror as the storey unfolded of the brutal murder in broad daylight, of a young soldier.
Initial reports claimed the assailants were of “Muslim appearance”.
The attackers unusually, did not flee the scene but in a chilling twist stayed and encouraged witnesses to take photographs of the body and of them. ITV broadcast the pictures and scenes of one of the attackers calmly apologising for women having to witness his attack.
The fall out was unfortunately quite predictable.
The vile hatred of ignorant, narrow minded, racist idiots spewed out all over social networking sights like face book and Twitter. There were reports of mosques being set fire to and angry mobs gathering in areas of London and other cities.
I saw one post saying the only way to stop these tragedies is to kill all Muslims and send them home.
If the attacker was a a small fat balding Catholic, would we have reacted in the same way? I very much doubt that Catholic churches would have been attacked or all men fitting that description would be accused of being the same.
Were Doctors surgeries set alight when Harol Shipman went on a killing spree? Of course not.
While many many Muslims and community leaders condemned the actions of these two attackers, I was ashamed (again) to be British.
There were reports on TV that some young Muslims had celebrated the attack, but the majority of honest decent human beings would not rejoice at the savage killing of fellow human being.

If I put myself in the shoes of a Muslim man or woman living in this country, working and paying my way, contributing to society – how would I feel at the wide spread assault on me and my family and friends by the country I have adopted as my home?
I would probably feel threatened and alienated. I would probably think people in this country were narrow minded yobs who judge people at face value and make incorrect dangerous assumptions.

It is interesting that this has happened when all the major political parties, revved up and egged on by the UKIP surge in popularity, are talking about immigration. I don’t think it is helpful to breed a culture where people are not welcome in our country. We are told constantly that immigrants will come here rape our women and take our houses while living on handouts from our already buckling welfare state. While I welcome responsible debate, surely it needs to a balanced one by people who are not extremists or bigots or thugs.
As they say “The pen is mightier than sword”, however, if the pen cuts a large portion of the country to ribbons and accuses its residents of being guilty by association every time a lunatic acts badly then the sword will prosper and and we will all suffer the consequences.

Friday 3 May 2013


2012/13 season. Any surprises? Not really..

With the 2012/13 football season enjoying its final breaths, all but a few of the ups and downs are decided.

In August, I predicted Robin Van Persie would prove the difference and secure the title for Manchester United. I was right. With 25 goals so far, Van Persie helped United stroll to the title with a couple of weeks to spare.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez finished the season in disgrace on 23 before being banned for 10 games after biting a Chelsea player. Many an argument ensued, with some Reds’ faithful claiming the Uruguayan was harshly treated and that biting was no worse than a bad a tackle. As tackling is an integral part of the game and biting ones opponent is the savage action of animals, I disagree with these claims and hope sincerely that the Merseyside club has the integrity to sell him off at the end of the season. The Premier league and his club would undoubtedly miss his talent, but it is time a message was sent out to players that they are role models to millions of kids, and as such must display exemplary behaviour on the field or face the same consequences that any other employee would face – the sack. However, I suspect Suarez, who was banned last season for racism, will still be at Anfield next season, because sadly money is all that talks in the game these days.

A disappointing season for United’s neighbours City, at least by last season’s standards, sees them look set for the runners up spot.

Considering that in 2003 a successful season saw City finish sixteenth again highlights the absolute importance of money. The millions they have spent have bought expectation and success, much like rivals Chelsea.

The London club have dominated the top 3 for the last decade since Roman Abramovich rode into the capital with his billions. They will be hoping to finish 3rd again despite my tip for top scorer Fernando Torres, again failing to find the form he enjoyed at Liverpool. With only 7 goals this season, he has hit the net 3 times less than relegated Reading’s super sub Adam Le fondre. Torres’ lack of prowess in front of goal may have contributed to Blues legend Roberto Di Matteo losing his job as manager after just eight months, despite guiding the club to Champions league victory.

Arsenal and Spurs are fighting to the bitter end for fourth spot after double pfa player of the year winner Gareth Bale inspired a remarkable season for Andre Villas-Boas’ men. 23 year old came in for criticism early in the season for falling down too easily and too often but proved his critics wrong by winning the prestigious football writers player of the year award.

The Gunners meanwhile had a poor start to the season, with many calling for Wenger to be relieved of the manager’s job he has held since 1996. A good run of results and the introduction of Santi Cazorla and the impressive form of England winger Theo Walcott, has seen them salvage the season.

At the other end of the table, I like many tipped Reading for an immediate return to the championship. With less than half a dozen wins all season they didn’t surprise many dropping straight back down. Joining them are big spending QPR, who after losing faith with Mark Hughes appointed Harry Redknapp to keep the dream alive. On lone exile Joey Barton described the highly paid Rangers failures as maggots after they dropped into second tier, while he enjoyed a season in France.

The last relegation spot will be decided on the final day with perennial strugglers Wigan looking favourite to fall. Former European champions Aston Villa, will be lucky to stay up though after another poor season while Paul Lambert rebuilds.

The other teams in the mix, North east rivals Newcastle and Sunderland have had a terrible season, with the Toon dropping like a brick since last season’s success and Sunderland turning to Paulo Di Canio to save their season. Di Canio was welcomed with a fanfare of controversy after the media attacked him for being a fascist, though oddly that never mattered when he was Manager of Swindon Town.

Next seasons debutants in the Premier league will be Cardiff City, after they romped to the Championship title. Hull should join them but my tip for promotion Sheffield Wednesday could still be relegated on the final day. With only a point separating the Owls, Barnsley and Peterborough tomorrow promises to give some late twists and turns. Already down are Bristol City, who were widely tipped to struggle. Perhaps the biggest shock of the Championship season is the once mighty Wolves, relegated from the Premier league last season, they sit second from bottom, three points behind Barnsley and Peterborough.

With the premier league dominated by bad behaviour and a long summer of no football, we are in desperate need of some change by next season. There will undoubtedly be an influx of foreign stars at the top clubs, blowing massive amounts of cash, and there is also of course the rumour the special one could return to the bridge. It will be interesting to see who gets the most headlines next season with the mouth-watering prospect of Mourinio and Di Canio clashing horns.