Derby Day Approaches!

It has finally arrived upon us, the Manchester Derby, Red Vs Blue, Big Brother Vs Little Brother. In recent years the derby hasn't meant much to United or in fact United fans. City were not a force and the result was rarely in doubt, and even if City did manage to win it was nothing according to the Red Side of Manchester. But times have changed, the little weak brother is no longer so, the noisy neighbors now pose a threat and if you ask the Blue side, this game will be the changing of the guard and the start of a new era.

All factors point to City being successful in the Premier League and in fact most competitions, however it's still painfully clear that United are every one's favorites for the Premiership and rightly so, they have the second  if not the best manager in the world in Sir Alex Ferguson. A good mix of the zeal of the young and wisdom of the old and world class striker who is in good form when he is not being shown red. But most of all they have trophies, lots of them, they have done it before where as City haven't.

As a City supporter I have been waiting for this day since the Community Shield where everyone knows the cruel fate City endured. I'm packed to the brim with pride and excitement, now is the time for us to prove our worth and fire back. However there is a small sector of fear within, knowing that if City do indeed fall short the banter will be endless. The repetitive news line "money can't this money can't that" will echo through the media for days. (For me that is the most frustrating line, of course they haven't done much yet they have only been building for 2 and a half to three years, you don't win trophies overnight.).

Manchester United will enter this encounter favorites, which, bias a side I find an unfair statement. After both sides have played 8 games Manchester City find themselves ahead by 2 points only drawing one game against Fulham where they surrendered a 2 goal lead at Craven Cottage. Now one point in favour of  Manchester United is they have played Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal (which I don't think counts) but they haven't been impressive in their last 3 outings. They have drawn with stoke, they beat Nowrich 2-0 despite Nowrich dominating and having the best two chances of the game and they escaped with a draw against Liverpool scoring in the 80's. Where as City have won their last three by 9 goals accumulated. Another factor which plays into the hands of United is that the game is indeed at Old Trafford but so was the Community Shield which saw City again squander a 2 goal lead with United pinching the win in the 91st through a freak accident which will not happen again. City were also without Aguero and Nasri for that fixture, so I I'm not sure United deserve their favorites tag for this game.

Another reason I feel united are 'favorites' is because of the stigma City have received. City has come across some wealth in the last few years and has bought big in the transfer market and as a result has seen some success. As you would imagine this is to the discomfort of other clubs who are not as financially blessed and so supporters of other clubs who are indeed jealous have started ridiculing them for spending the money. These other supporters are acting as if they would not spend the money if it was available is absurd and childish. However all of this probably plays into City's hands as all they have known is the underdog tag, no one expects them to win and it's safe to say only the blue side wants them to win. So I say this the pressure is on YOU Manchester United players and fans, YOUR the great mighty club put us in OUR place. As you may have guessed I'm backing City in this one to win 2-1 and silence the critics and naysayers. Well at least I hope. CTID.

Fair play, that's Sepp's game

It would be safe to say football is loved around the globe, some may call it the 'beautiful game' and on the outside it is. However the inside has a putrid stench, the stench of decay and the disease at the center is Sepp Blatter, the president of international football's governing body FIFA. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 13 years of his reign, you would be well aware of the foul play that he dabbles in on a regular basis, if not, then you're about to find out. With a rap sheet any crime boss would be proud of, somehow the footballing world has let him get away with crimes against the game, most of which I will dissect for you.


From the very start of Blatter's endeavours to become the top dog of world football, it was blatantly apparent that this man was not one of integrity, with two members of FIFA claiming bribery attempts from the slippery Swiss. Both Farra Ado, vice-president of the Confederation of African Football and the president of the Somali Football Federation have claimed to have been offered up to $100,000 to vote for Blatter in 1998 in addition to the 2002 accusations of 'financial irregularities and backroom dealings'.


After catching wind of the allegations, FIFA's secretary-general, Blatter's deputy and once 'apprentice' Michel Zen-Ruffinen, composed a 30 page dossier summarizing the corruption within FIFA. The dossier claimed that the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL, had headed losses of up to $100 million, strangely enough no one knows where this outrageous amount of money had got to, some say he donated it to charity, some say it was an innocent mistake but most would presume it funded his yacht. As a result of the allegations being backed by numerous other members, the dossier was handed on to the Swiss police. However Sepp, being the innocent soul he is, was cleared of any wrong doing and FIFA had to pay all the costs. After this Mr Blatter also halted an internal inquiry of FIFA because members of it 'broke confidentiality' agreements. Needless to say Michel Zen-Ruffinen was removed from office, immediately. 


Let me lay the scene for you, it's December 2nd 2010, Sepp Blatter is about to announce the successful candidates to host the 2018 and 2022 world cups to a packed crowd in Zurich. After last ditch attempts to win votes from Prince William, David Beckham, Morgan Freman and Bill Clinton, Sepp's squad of 24 (which was cut down to 22 by the way for trying to sell their vote's to undercover journalists) had indeed come to their decisions.  Drum roll please... and your winners are Russia and Qatar! Release the streamers, balloons and go-go dancers.


 As the verdict came out the arena fell silent and then a small groan of 'Umm what?' echoed through Zurich. The  camera panned across the crowd, there was a sea of confused faces, scratching their heads and a small contingent of celebrating Russians and some dancing Qatari oil merchants. Days prior to the vote, there were rumours floating around that it was going to be fixed with reports two members demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars for their votes. They claimed to build a Youth Academy in Auckland, New Zealand and four artificial fields in Nigeria but they requested the money be given to them, personally. It was the world's biggest underdog story, little Qatar, which 84 percent of the population hadn't heard of before, has beaten the United States, England and Australia, despite their far superior fan bases, better facilities and superior playing conditions (the heat in Qatar had already been cited by FIFA and deemed to be too hot. Thus it would not be safe for players, officials and spectators). 


Not only had little old Qatar beaten the big three, they had obliterated them, with Australia and the United States earning one vote each and England who had the best poised bid recieving two. It has been publicly noted that Qatar had bought the World Cup and the speculation bubbled over when an overly happy Blatter commented after the decision, 'I'm a very happy President!'. This year there was another FIFA president election, with the incumbent Blatter set to run for his fourth consecutive term in charge. Conveniently the only other candidate was the Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam who for 'personal reasons' dropped out of the race, oh and did I mention he is from Qatar and backed Blatter in 1998 and 2002, but that's normal... isn't it?


So if you knew about Sepp before this, I have just hardened your stance on his dictatorship, if you didn't, I hope to have opened your eyes. I have told you what is wrong with FIFA but I cannot provide the fix, that's because there isn't one that I can see. Blatter is far too rich and has planted his poisonous roots way down into FIFA's core. The only thing we can do is sit back and watch what was lost among all of this rubbish, the football.

The Ugly Side Of The Beautiful Game.

As time has gone, generations passed and knowledge extended, racism be it still ever present it has slowed in the general community. We would all agree that racism has no place in the community or on any front be it in the street, shops, the work place or at sporting events. Still yet players and in fact people must put up with and turn a blind eye to the populous who persist in being vulgar and hurtful.


But this being a football column we will focus on events in football. Racism isn't just targeted at the players, it is against managers, officials, supporters and even as far as family members of the listed. Below some of these events are listed: 

• • Zola Matumona left FC Brussels after accusations that club Chairman Johan Vermeersch was quoted to say "Think about other things than trees and bananas."
  • In 1994 now mega star shot stopper Julio Cesar was denied entry to a German Nightclub during his stay at Borussia Dortmund for the complexion of his skin.
  • In March 2006 in a match between FC Sachen Leipzig and Hallescher FC Liepzig's Nigerian player Adebowale Ogunbure was spat at and called a 'Nigger' and an 'ape' by opposition supporters. In retaliation he put two fingers to his lips and saluted the crowd, a well known Adolf Hitler gesture. Ogunbure was arrested after the game as Nazi gestures are illegal in Germany.
  • February 2011 Roberto Carlos received a pass from his goalkeeper and just as he was about to pass it off a Banana was thrown on the pitch and landed by him, he picked it up and tossed it over the sideline and walked off the pitch before the final whistle raising two fingers indicating this is the second time it has happened.
  • Felix Dja Ettien played for Levante and claimed racial abuse through out his stay at the Spanish club. He was ignored by his coach because of his inability to speak Spanish and whenever he was sick was accused of having ' AIDS' or ' Malaria'
  • In 2005 while star striker Samuel Eto'o was playing for Barcelona he was a subject to racial abuse in an away game against Real Zaragoza. The Real fans would make monkey noises every time Eto'o gained possession of the ball and threw peanuts onto the pitch. Eto'o went to leave the ground mid game but was calmed down by fellow players and match officials. After the Game the referee said there was nothing to report during the game and the treatment was normal. The following year he was greeted by the same jeering and Eto'o protested and walked to the sideline and has been seen quoting ' No Mas ' (No More) Eto'o now refuses to take his children to games due to the abuse.
  • In 2004 Ron Atkinson a famous Football pundit was caught red-faced and handed live on air making a remark when he thought the microphone was off about the African orientated player Marcel Desailly. Atkinson was caught saying ' he [Desailly] is what is known in some schools as a lazy thick nigger '
  • Following Israeli Manger Avram Grant appointment to West ham in 2007 Grant has been the subject of anti-Semitic taunts from some Chelsea supporters. Grant's father was a Polish survivor of the German Nazi Holocaust. It's well noted that Grant has also received death threats and anti-Semitic post.
  • Mario Balotelli was also racially abused by Juventus and ironically Intermilan supporters during his stint at Intermilan. A well documented incident is after Intermilan racially abused Balotelli he scored the match winning goal and put his fingers to his lips indicating for the crowd to hush. As he left the pitch he took off his Intermilan jersey and left it on the pitch in protest.
  • In 2011 a section of Arsenal support mocked the killing of three members of the Togo camp during the African Cup of Nations last January, which Adebayor survived in Arsenals 2-1 defeat to rivals Tottenham. 

Rangers Players Promoting Awareness

But it's not all bad, there are things in practice to make football a more hospitable place with the  ' Show Racism The Red Card ' charity which was established in England in 1996. The charity produces educational resources such as DVDs, education packs, magazines, and posters. There are also notable members such as - Sol Campbell, Robbie Earle, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Shay Given, Thierry Henry and Shaka Hislop.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous incidents and problems still going on today in society and football and clearly it is unwanted. But there are practices in play to make the football experience and society in regards to racism a better place. Hopefully one day we can appreciate the beautiful game with out so much background noise.

The New Prince.

Neymar Celebrates A Well Taken Goal.

Be it his flamboyant hair styles, his audacious tricks or his future, there are plenty of reasons to get excited about Neymar. The 5'9" nineteen year old hailing from São Paulo has exploded onto the world stage and has caught the eye of football lovers all around the globe.


Neymar joined Brazilian side Santos at the tender age of eleven in 2003 and was nurtured for six years until he made his first team debut in 2009. In his debut season in 2009 Neymar amassed an impressive record notching up 49 appearances, scoring 14 goals and crafting 7 on his own in all competitions. In that year he also received The ‘Best Young Player’ of the Campeonato Paulista award.


In 2010 the form continued proving that this was no fluke. Neymar went on to have a stellar year playing 69 games, scoring 43 goals and setting up 21 of his own in all competitions including a six goal haul against Guarani in the round of 16 of the Brazilian Cup in a 8-1 demolition job. He also received his first International call up playing two games for Brazil where he scored a single goal against USA. To go with his impressive year he also received a haul of accolades individually including - The Best Forward of Campeonato Paulista, The Best player of Campeonato Paulista, Golden Boot: 2010 – Most goals in all competition in Brazil, Copa do Brazil Top scorer : 2010. On a team basis he was instrumental in Santos winning the Copa do Brazil and the Campeonato Paulista in 2010.


And as you may have guessed the form continued to rocket skyward in 2011. So far this year Neymar has played 39 Games, scored 15 and set up 9. Not to mention his 11 Brazilian appearances with 6 goals and 1 assist. So far in 2011 he has added more accolades to his belt by retaining his two awards from 2010 The Best Forward of Campeonato Paulista and The Best player of Campeonato Paulista, and adding The South American Youth Championship Top scorer to his mantle piece. In 2011 Santos also went onto achieve back to back Campeonato Paulista titles and won the Copa Libertadores.


Without saying Neymar's achievements in such little time have been matched by few and have earned him comparisons to the great Pele. He has also been head hunted by numerous world class teams such as Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Internazionale, all of which Santos have been quick to squash. It is said that Neymar's market value now is a staggering $30 Million dollars and it's sure to rise in the future. There has been plenty of speculation of a move to Real Madrid but nothing has come about yet as Santos re-signed the young prodigy until December 2014 which I'm sure is on the calendars of many big clubs to be ready with cheque book in hand. But amongst all this Neymar has seemed loyal to Santos claiming he wants to stay at the club though contrary to his agent's comments saying that Neymar does not want to stay in his home country Brazil for much longer.


But as with any young footballer there has been his fair share of negative attention with a grapevine of incidents that include. 

• • Apparently Neymar should keep away from penalties as in February in 2010 where he used the " Paradinha " which FIFA didn't take to kindly and outlawed the Penalty trick shot which can be seen to the right.
  • In September last year he hit the headlines for an explosive attack on Santos boss Dorival Junior after he told another player to take a penalty rather than Neymar who had missed his last three penalty attempts. For the rest of the game it seemed Neymar second thought about passing his team mates the ball.
  • Last August Santos were awarded a penalty against them in a match against Vitoria, where after the game Neymar went on to tweet " This ref will leave in a police van ". But Neymar claimed his account was hacked and it was accepted by the Brazilian FA.
  • He was also sent off for an excessive celebration against Colo-Colo. After having already been booked he scored an amazing solo goal and celebrated by picking up a mask of his own face that was on the ground by the sideline. The referee didn't appreciate this and gave him his marching orders with a second yellow.
  • There has also been rumours around that Neymar is a repeated simulation offender after A match in the Copa Libertadores against Club America earlier this year where he was stretchered off in tears after it appeared his hand was trod on by an opponent. But seemed to recover by the time he got to the sideline and went back on and played the rest of the match unhampered. It is also well documented he dove numerous times in an International against the Netherlands.
  • He was also the subject of a thrown Banana in a friendly against Scotland after he scored, Neymar claimed it was racial abuse.
  • And most recently and finally, during an ugly melee between Santos and Penarol in the Copa Libertadores he was seen to be seemingly stomping on an opponent who was lying on the ground. 

Love or hate Neymar it seems that he will be a big part of footballs future, let's hope he can keep his head and excite us on the pitch rather than disappointing us in the tabloids.

Munich March On

Gomez Celebrates His Second Goal Against Manchester City

One can be forgiven for jumping on the Bayern Munich band wagon after recent performances in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. With them on top of the Bundesliga with an impressive record of six wins one draw and one loss. And of course their Champions League start which has seen them defeat Villareal away from home and then Manchester City at home leaving them on top of the hardest group in the tournament.

So what does this mean and what has been the key? I still don’t believe Bayern Munich or any other team for that matter are the quality of Barcelona, but they will certainly be around that ‘ final 4 ‘ mark assuming they don’t run into the Barcelona steam train early. The key to their recent success has not been their big names. Yes they have scored goals but Bayern’s defensive record is something to be noticed. They’ve had one goal against them this year in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League, which came in the first game and only loss for them in the opening round of the Bundesliga.


With the quiet achievers like Daniel Van Buyten, Jerome Boateng, Rafinha & Hulger Badstuber playing out their skin plus the brilliant Philip Lahm it seems that Jupp Heynckes has found the perfect formula. Add in Manuel Neur as your shot stopper it’s easy to see how the success has come about. But it’s not all the back line. A few key Bayern players have been in good form such as Mario Gomez with 8 Bundesliga goals and a brace against Champions League new boys Manchester City has seen him start in the perfect fashion. His natural sense for goal is something to behold. If he gets a sniff you can be quite safe to presume it will be in the back of the net. And lets not forget the usual suspects Franck Ribery (4) Thomas Muller (3) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (2) crafting nine goals between them and Thomas Muller scoring two himself. Another very impressive attribute with Bayern Munich is the team’s ability to methodically break down and destroy other teams. Their patience is key in their style of play which involves technically breaking down the opposition and frustrating them into submission. It is brutal, calculated and effective. In light of these recent events things are looking ominous for the chasing Bundesliga teams and indeed the rest of Group A in the Champions League.