Mihir Bose's Blog, page 71
March 27, 2012
It is fans, not players or owners, who get managers sacked
Boards rarely get thanked for making tough decisions
PlayUp
You can bet on one thing in the football merry go around – whenever a manager is sacked, someone will pipe up to say it is the players who got him the sack by not performing. It is a conclusion hard to resist after recent events at Chelsea, despite denials from the senior players led by John Terry.
Yet I wonder if we have not got this all wrong. It is fans, with their hunger for instant success and impatience at what looks like failure, that force boards to act. In the last week, we have even had Liverpool fans turning on Kenny Dalglish, the hero whose return to Anfield became such a clamour that it led to the sacking of Roy Hodgson last season.
PlayUp
You can bet on one thing in the football merry go around – whenever a manager is sacked, someone will pipe up to say it is the players who got him the sack by not performing. It is a conclusion hard to resist after recent events at Chelsea, despite denials from the senior players led by John Terry.
Yet I wonder if we have not got this all wrong. It is fans, with their hunger for instant success and impatience at what looks like failure, that force boards to act. In the last week, we have even had Liverpool fans turning on Kenny Dalglish, the hero whose return to Anfield became such a clamour that it led to the sacking of Roy Hodgson last season.
March 26, 2012
Crisis show revisited!
Spurs Show
It's the Spurs Show, a podcast dedicated entirely to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs diehards Phil Cornwell and Mike Leigh give their view from the Shelf Side in the only podcast that Tottenham fans around the world can't live without. Major moans, lots of laughs and tip top celebrity guests!
Mihir joins Phil and Mike to talk about how Tottenham is currently faring.
Click here to listen or download the podcast (Note: scroll down and select the episode entitled 'Crisis show revisited!')
It's the Spurs Show, a podcast dedicated entirely to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs diehards Phil Cornwell and Mike Leigh give their view from the Shelf Side in the only podcast that Tottenham fans around the world can't live without. Major moans, lots of laughs and tip top celebrity guests!
Mihir joins Phil and Mike to talk about how Tottenham is currently faring.
Click here to listen or download the podcast (Note: scroll down and select the episode entitled 'Crisis show revisited!')
March 24, 2012
Demonstrations of player power are nothing new in football
For Tevez and Terry, read Spurs' Danny Blanchflower
PlayUp
I wonder if we've ever had a better season to demonstrate the contrasting effects of player power than recent events at Chelsea and Manchester City.
Yet it would be wrong to see this as reflecting the fact that players are now super stars, and because of the money they earn, they have acquired power that players of previous generations did not have. That is moonshine. How modern players exercise the power may have changed, but players have always had powers, particularly players at the top of their profession.
The most potent example of this was of course Danny Blanchflower, the captain of the great Tottenham teams of the early 6os. Blanchflower will always be remembered for those classic lines that define the game, "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."
PlayUp
I wonder if we've ever had a better season to demonstrate the contrasting effects of player power than recent events at Chelsea and Manchester City.
Yet it would be wrong to see this as reflecting the fact that players are now super stars, and because of the money they earn, they have acquired power that players of previous generations did not have. That is moonshine. How modern players exercise the power may have changed, but players have always had powers, particularly players at the top of their profession.
The most potent example of this was of course Danny Blanchflower, the captain of the great Tottenham teams of the early 6os. Blanchflower will always be remembered for those classic lines that define the game, "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."
March 21, 2012
If FIFA is to reform can British privileges be defended?
Insideworldfootball.biz
British football's privileges are under threat. But don't blame Sir David Richards if Britain loses its unique status in world football. That will be the natural reaction after our Dave's extraordinary performance in Doha last week. But it will be wrong. Look to wider politics in the world body for the answer.
Not that the Premier League chairman covered himself with glory when he went to Qatar last week. His mission there was to tell the world what it can learn from the Premier League having become the most powerful League in the world. As has been well documented, he decided he would turn historian cum cultural commissar. And this was not helped by the fact that, having performed this curious, self-imposed role, he slipped and fell into an ornamental pool just as the assembled guests were sitting down for dinner. But that, it must be said, was not his fault. I was sitting a few feet away. There was no drink involved and it is the sort of accident that can happen to anyone.
British football's privileges are under threat. But don't blame Sir David Richards if Britain loses its unique status in world football. That will be the natural reaction after our Dave's extraordinary performance in Doha last week. But it will be wrong. Look to wider politics in the world body for the answer.
Not that the Premier League chairman covered himself with glory when he went to Qatar last week. His mission there was to tell the world what it can learn from the Premier League having become the most powerful League in the world. As has been well documented, he decided he would turn historian cum cultural commissar. And this was not helped by the fact that, having performed this curious, self-imposed role, he slipped and fell into an ornamental pool just as the assembled guests were sitting down for dinner. But that, it must be said, was not his fault. I was sitting a few feet away. There was no drink involved and it is the sort of accident that can happen to anyone.
March 20, 2012
Why pride has come after the fall for former RFU boss
Official's 10 months at Twickenham ended in chaos but he claims changes on his watch have helped revival of the national team.
Evening Standard
John Steele has not set foot inside Twickenham since he was sacked as chief executive of the Rugby Football Union last June.
"I've had a few invitations to go back and will in due course," he says. "I thought I should leave a healthy time for the dust to settle."
Given that his departure resulted in recriminations and resignations, it may be quite a while before Steele returns. Martyn Thomas, the RFU chairman who sacked Steele and took over as acting chief executive, himself fell on his sword following England's disastrous World Cup and a series of reviews which revealed the chaotic state of English rugby.
Evening Standard
John Steele has not set foot inside Twickenham since he was sacked as chief executive of the Rugby Football Union last June.
"I've had a few invitations to go back and will in due course," he says. "I thought I should leave a healthy time for the dust to settle."
Given that his departure resulted in recriminations and resignations, it may be quite a while before Steele returns. Martyn Thomas, the RFU chairman who sacked Steele and took over as acting chief executive, himself fell on his sword following England's disastrous World Cup and a series of reviews which revealed the chaotic state of English rugby.
March 19, 2012
Tragedy reveals that football does have a soul
Outpouring of grief and support for Muamba provides a crumb of comfort
PlayUp
What has happened to the Bolton player, Fabrice Muamba, puts football and all sports in perspective. We can only join his family in hoping he will make a full recovery. But the way the world of football has responded since the tragedy unfolded at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon provides some comfort in this dark moment. It shows that the beautiful game has not quite lost its soul as many feared it was in grave danger of doing.
That such a conclusion was being drawn was hardly surprising. The past few months has not shown the game in the best of light, what with the never ending corruption problem and gross mismanagement of the game by those entrusted with its administration. Add to it charges of racism and the inept manner some in football reacted to them. All this has not been helped by the behaviour of the fans and, in particular, what is presented as singing in English football grounds, but which are in fact hate filled diatribes of the type that no decent human being should want to be associated with.
PlayUp
What has happened to the Bolton player, Fabrice Muamba, puts football and all sports in perspective. We can only join his family in hoping he will make a full recovery. But the way the world of football has responded since the tragedy unfolded at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon provides some comfort in this dark moment. It shows that the beautiful game has not quite lost its soul as many feared it was in grave danger of doing.
That such a conclusion was being drawn was hardly surprising. The past few months has not shown the game in the best of light, what with the never ending corruption problem and gross mismanagement of the game by those entrusted with its administration. Add to it charges of racism and the inept manner some in football reacted to them. All this has not been helped by the behaviour of the fans and, in particular, what is presented as singing in English football grounds, but which are in fact hate filled diatribes of the type that no decent human being should want to be associated with.
March 18, 2012
Desert storm flares up over alcohol and a fall from grace
Mihir Bose reports first hand on Dave Richards' embarrassment in Qatar
The Independent
It takes a special kind of talent to whip up a desert storm and then turn it into Whitehall Farce, but veteran Premier League administrator Sir Dave Richards managed that unlikely double in Qatar this week.
By the end of an extraordinary day, which saw him deliver a series of crass remarks before falling into a fountain, his name was pinging round the news wires while grainy footage of his tumble lit up YouTube.
The Independent
It takes a special kind of talent to whip up a desert storm and then turn it into Whitehall Farce, but veteran Premier League administrator Sir Dave Richards managed that unlikely double in Qatar this week.
By the end of an extraordinary day, which saw him deliver a series of crass remarks before falling into a fountain, his name was pinging round the news wires while grainy footage of his tumble lit up YouTube.
March 16, 2012
Can there ever be a 'best ever' sporting achievement?
BBC Newshour
16/03/2012 (2100GMT)
Highlights from the Sony Award winning global news and current affairs programme. On air twice a day, every day of the year.
Julian Marshall and Mihir Bose discuss if there can ever be a 'best ever' sporting achievement. Other topics covered by the programme include Karzai: US uncooperative over massacre and who should lead the Anglicans?
Click here to listen to the programme (Note: the section with Mihir starts at 14:00)
16/03/2012 (2100GMT)
Highlights from the Sony Award winning global news and current affairs programme. On air twice a day, every day of the year.
Julian Marshall and Mihir Bose discuss if there can ever be a 'best ever' sporting achievement. Other topics covered by the programme include Karzai: US uncooperative over massacre and who should lead the Anglicans?
Click here to listen to the programme (Note: the section with Mihir starts at 14:00)
March 13, 2012
Robert Waley-Cohen: I don't care what critics say, my son deserves to ride in the Gold Cup
Racecourse chief can't wait for week's blue riband event and rejects talk it is wrong to stick with family partnership which won last year
Evening Standard
Robert Waley-Cohen is chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse but, on Friday, he will not be presiding when the Princess Royal presents the most coveted prize in jump racing.
His horse, Long Run, is the favourite for the Gold Cup and will be ridden by his son, Sam. "If we win I don't think I can stand here with a microphone in my hand saying we'd like to welcome to the podium the winning owner," says Waley-Cohen Snr. "That's obviously nonsense. If I lose, I'm not sure I have a big enough heart to smile broadly while somebody else is given the award."
Evening Standard
Robert Waley-Cohen is chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse but, on Friday, he will not be presiding when the Princess Royal presents the most coveted prize in jump racing.
His horse, Long Run, is the favourite for the Gold Cup and will be ridden by his son, Sam. "If we win I don't think I can stand here with a microphone in my hand saying we'd like to welcome to the podium the winning owner," says Waley-Cohen Snr. "That's obviously nonsense. If I lose, I'm not sure I have a big enough heart to smile broadly while somebody else is given the award."
March 9, 2012
The bookie who's still at the races after 40 years
As the Cheltenham Festival kicks off next week, the gambling boss explains that football is fun but racing remains tops at his firm
Evening Standard
Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill, is able to do what we would all love to do: dress up sporting jaunts as work. A visit to the Cheltenham Festival next week could be counted as work, as could a trip to the European football championships in Poland and Ukraine in the summer. But, says Topping, "I don't like jaunts. Somebody at work said, 'Ralph doesn't work 24/7, he works 26/9.' I turned down invitations to see two semi-finals at the World Cup in South Africa because it would have meant practically a week away from work. As a Presbyterian Scot, I get guilty if I'm not working."
We have just sat down for lunch at the Ivy and the man who runs the country's largest bookmakers with 2300 shops has encouraged me to order haggis.
Evening Standard
Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill, is able to do what we would all love to do: dress up sporting jaunts as work. A visit to the Cheltenham Festival next week could be counted as work, as could a trip to the European football championships in Poland and Ukraine in the summer. But, says Topping, "I don't like jaunts. Somebody at work said, 'Ralph doesn't work 24/7, he works 26/9.' I turned down invitations to see two semi-finals at the World Cup in South Africa because it would have meant practically a week away from work. As a Presbyterian Scot, I get guilty if I'm not working."
We have just sat down for lunch at the Ivy and the man who runs the country's largest bookmakers with 2300 shops has encouraged me to order haggis.
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