Mihir Bose's Blog, page 72
March 8, 2012
Abramovich is like a child with a shiny new train set and he certainly doesn't want to share
Insideworldfootball.biz
The easiest way to understand Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, is to appreciate that he is like a child with a new toy train set. The child knows his shiny new train set is better than anything possessed by the other kids, and while he wants to show off, he does not want to share his toys with anyone else. All he wants is to show how clever and superior he is in possessing this set.
Indeed, Abramovich's behaviour since he took over Chelsea has been quite extraordinary and this extends beyond getting rid of seven managers in his eight years in charge. So Abramovich has never accepted the convention that when Chelsea play away, he, as the owner, should accept the hospitality offered by the directors of the home team. This is a very old tradition in English football.
The easiest way to understand Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, is to appreciate that he is like a child with a new toy train set. The child knows his shiny new train set is better than anything possessed by the other kids, and while he wants to show off, he does not want to share his toys with anyone else. All he wants is to show how clever and superior he is in possessing this set.
Indeed, Abramovich's behaviour since he took over Chelsea has been quite extraordinary and this extends beyond getting rid of seven managers in his eight years in charge. So Abramovich has never accepted the convention that when Chelsea play away, he, as the owner, should accept the hospitality offered by the directors of the home team. This is a very old tradition in English football.
March 6, 2012
Andy Gray: 'I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about killing myself'
Former star of Sky Sports talks for the first time about the despair he felt after being sacked over sexist comments and how 'some of the joy' has gone out of his life in the wake of the row
Evening Standard
Until a year ago, Andy Gray was always sure he was in control of his life. "I'd always thought nothing would faze me."
But, caught on camera making sexist remarks and sacked by Sky for what the channel described as "unacceptable and offensive behaviour", Gray was overwhelmed with doubt. "I was on the floor. I've never been like that in my life."
Evening Standard
Until a year ago, Andy Gray was always sure he was in control of his life. "I'd always thought nothing would faze me."
But, caught on camera making sexist remarks and sacked by Sky for what the channel described as "unacceptable and offensive behaviour", Gray was overwhelmed with doubt. "I was on the floor. I've never been like that in my life."
March 2, 2012
Keys & Gray Radio Show
talkSPORT
Richard Keys and Andy Gray bring you unmissable debate and exclusive interviews from the biggest names in sport.
Click here to listen again (Note: Interview with Mihir is in sections 12:00 - 12:30 and 12:30 - 13:00)
Richard Keys and Andy Gray bring you unmissable debate and exclusive interviews from the biggest names in sport.
Click here to listen again (Note: Interview with Mihir is in sections 12:00 - 12:30 and 12:30 - 13:00)
We've got that negative feeling – and that is just fine
Why Poland/Ukraine could be a repeat of Italia 90 for England
PlayUp
In all the moaning after England's defeat by Holland, let me begin with a bit of cheery news. It is that Holland, the team we all loved during the 70s and 80s, may at last be shaking off that horrible image they presented to the world during the South African World Cup. The 2010 World Cup final will always be the remembered as the occasion where the Dutch did immense damage to their great football traditions.
This is the country whose football has long captivated the world, the one most of us neutrals wanted to win the 1974 and 1978 finals as a fitting tribute to the footballing nation of Johan Cruyff. But on that dreadful night in Johannesburg, they went, as one Dutch critic said, from advocates of total football, to that of total thuggery. How, we wondered, can a nation that can play such breathtaking football, and whose fans with their demeanour and songs make you feel this is indeed the beautiful game, be quite so false to everything they have stood for?
PlayUp
In all the moaning after England's defeat by Holland, let me begin with a bit of cheery news. It is that Holland, the team we all loved during the 70s and 80s, may at last be shaking off that horrible image they presented to the world during the South African World Cup. The 2010 World Cup final will always be the remembered as the occasion where the Dutch did immense damage to their great football traditions.
This is the country whose football has long captivated the world, the one most of us neutrals wanted to win the 1974 and 1978 finals as a fitting tribute to the footballing nation of Johan Cruyff. But on that dreadful night in Johannesburg, they went, as one Dutch critic said, from advocates of total football, to that of total thuggery. How, we wondered, can a nation that can play such breathtaking football, and whose fans with their demeanour and songs make you feel this is indeed the beautiful game, be quite so false to everything they have stood for?
February 28, 2012
Al Jazeera ready to bid for the Premier League
Evening Standard
Al Jazeera could be a sensational new bidder to show Premier League football, according to ESPN boss Ross Hair.
The current three-season TV deal which saw Sky and ESPN pay a total of £1.78billion to screen 138 top-flight live games per year ends in May 2013.
The fight for the next three-year contract is due to start in the spring and will be tougher than ever with the Qatar-owned TV channel said to be weighing up a move. Al Jazeera has already entered the French market. It screens Ligue 1 games and from next season it will also show the majority of Champions League matches on TV in France.
Al Jazeera could be a sensational new bidder to show Premier League football, according to ESPN boss Ross Hair.
The current three-season TV deal which saw Sky and ESPN pay a total of £1.78billion to screen 138 top-flight live games per year ends in May 2013.
The fight for the next three-year contract is due to start in the spring and will be tougher than ever with the Qatar-owned TV channel said to be weighing up a move. Al Jazeera has already entered the French market. It screens Ligue 1 games and from next season it will also show the majority of Champions League matches on TV in France.
Ross Hair: 'We won't risk it all to keep the premier TV contract'
Evening Standard
Sky and the Premier League is such a partnership - it has lasted longer than most marriages - that talk of a rival seems absurd.
Yet Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned television channel, is now seen as a serious contender to Rupert Murdoch's prize possession. The bidding for the next set of rights, which will run from August 2013 for three seasons, is expected to start in the spring and the man talking of an Arab bid is Ross Hair, the boss of ESPN in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Hair has a vested interest as he seeks to hold on to his channel's existing package of live matches.
Sky and the Premier League is such a partnership - it has lasted longer than most marriages - that talk of a rival seems absurd.
Yet Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned television channel, is now seen as a serious contender to Rupert Murdoch's prize possession. The bidding for the next set of rights, which will run from August 2013 for three seasons, is expected to start in the spring and the man talking of an Arab bid is Ross Hair, the boss of ESPN in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Hair has a vested interest as he seeks to hold on to his channel's existing package of live matches.
Wenger can learn a thing or two from Fergie
When it comes to averting a crisis, the Frenchman need only look at his great rival
PlayUp
Arsenal's match with Tottenham may have been a prelude to the Oscars, but it could have more far reaching consequences than any movie. History does not always repeat itself, not in exact details, but Arsenal's demolition of Tottenham did take me back to the 2001-2002 season. I believe it has lessons for us.
Then, everyone was convinced Manchester United's great run under Sir Alex Ferguson had come to an end. For a start, he had said he was going at the end of the season. The season had barely got underway when, on 28 August, Sir Alex Ferguson sold Jaap Stam to Lazio for £15.3m. It came a week after Stam's book Head to Head was sensationally serialised in the Daily Mirror. He described how Ferguson had tapped him up when he was at PSV and also advised players to dive for penalties.
PlayUp
Arsenal's match with Tottenham may have been a prelude to the Oscars, but it could have more far reaching consequences than any movie. History does not always repeat itself, not in exact details, but Arsenal's demolition of Tottenham did take me back to the 2001-2002 season. I believe it has lessons for us.
Then, everyone was convinced Manchester United's great run under Sir Alex Ferguson had come to an end. For a start, he had said he was going at the end of the season. The season had barely got underway when, on 28 August, Sir Alex Ferguson sold Jaap Stam to Lazio for £15.3m. It came a week after Stam's book Head to Head was sensationally serialised in the Daily Mirror. He described how Ferguson had tapped him up when he was at PSV and also advised players to dive for penalties.
Despite the turmoil, the racism debate might spark some good progress in English football
Insideworldfootball.biz
Good can sometimes come out of evil, and the debate on racism that the game is going through could well lead to English football going down the road of America and adopting the Rooney rule. This rule, named for Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and chairman of the league's diversity committee, was introduced in 2003 so that minority coaches, especially African Americans, were at least considered for high-level coaching positions.
It basically states that, for a position of general manager or head coach, a minority candidate must be interviewed. Not necessarily given the job, but part of the selection process. Americans emphasise that this is not a quota system. It is a means of making the system fairer and reflecting the world of American football. The acceptance of the rule has seen several NFL franchises hire African American head coaches, and now eight of the 32 teams have black coaches. This, in a league where 67 per cent of the players are black, is not an unreasonable proportion.
Good can sometimes come out of evil, and the debate on racism that the game is going through could well lead to English football going down the road of America and adopting the Rooney rule. This rule, named for Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and chairman of the league's diversity committee, was introduced in 2003 so that minority coaches, especially African Americans, were at least considered for high-level coaching positions.
It basically states that, for a position of general manager or head coach, a minority candidate must be interviewed. Not necessarily given the job, but part of the selection process. Americans emphasise that this is not a quota system. It is a means of making the system fairer and reflecting the world of American football. The acceptance of the rule has seen several NFL franchises hire African American head coaches, and now eight of the 32 teams have black coaches. This, in a league where 67 per cent of the players are black, is not an unreasonable proportion.
February 25, 2012
Cafe Calcio IV: The Spirit Of The Game
Cafe Calcio
- Season IV, Episode 1
Cafe Calcio is a football fanzine radio show broadcast out of London on Resonance 104.4 FM and resonancefm.com/listen every Thursday at 19:00, and repeated on Saturday at 11:00
We're back, and we launched the new series with a guest, the caliber of which being equal to anyone we've had on before at the very least. On Thursday night, we welcomed the behemoth of sporting knowledge and all round thoroughly nice chap that is Mihir Bose to the Resonance studios to talk about football and sport in the wider context of his new book: 'The Spirit Of The Game: How Sport Changed The Modern World'. In the show we discussed the origins of fair play and its power as a civilising force, the cult of Horst Dassler and we also touched a little on the mess that is FIFA in current times. These things and much more are covered in the pages of his book, and I can genuinely recommend it to you all.
Cafe Calcio is a football fanzine radio show broadcast out of London on Resonance 104.4 FM and resonancefm.com/listen every Thursday at 19:00, and repeated on Saturday at 11:00
We're back, and we launched the new series with a guest, the caliber of which being equal to anyone we've had on before at the very least. On Thursday night, we welcomed the behemoth of sporting knowledge and all round thoroughly nice chap that is Mihir Bose to the Resonance studios to talk about football and sport in the wider context of his new book: 'The Spirit Of The Game: How Sport Changed The Modern World'. In the show we discussed the origins of fair play and its power as a civilising force, the cult of Horst Dassler and we also touched a little on the mess that is FIFA in current times. These things and much more are covered in the pages of his book, and I can genuinely recommend it to you all.
February 23, 2012
Respect in the game needs a shake-up
Beckenbauer and co's insistence on pre-match ritual is admirable, but misplaced
PlayUp
Nobody can quarrel with Franz Beckenbauer when he says that, "Honour has to be more than just a word," on the field of play. As chairman of the FIFA task force 2014 rules he is keen to launch a FIFA-backed global campaign to reinforce the Fair Play Code saying, "We want to harness the power of football in a campaign focusing on fair play and make an active contribution to school life by founding our actions on the values of discipline."
But I am not sure the Kaiser is right when he thinks that the way to do this is for players to meet their opponents at the centre of the field of play and shake hands. The handshake in football has become a ceremonial show piece that means nothing. As for influencing schoolchildren I doubt if it can play any part. More so as they see on television the perfunctory way the players go about it. It is so evident they treat it as a ritual devoid of any value.
PlayUp
Nobody can quarrel with Franz Beckenbauer when he says that, "Honour has to be more than just a word," on the field of play. As chairman of the FIFA task force 2014 rules he is keen to launch a FIFA-backed global campaign to reinforce the Fair Play Code saying, "We want to harness the power of football in a campaign focusing on fair play and make an active contribution to school life by founding our actions on the values of discipline."
But I am not sure the Kaiser is right when he thinks that the way to do this is for players to meet their opponents at the centre of the field of play and shake hands. The handshake in football has become a ceremonial show piece that means nothing. As for influencing schoolchildren I doubt if it can play any part. More so as they see on television the perfunctory way the players go about it. It is so evident they treat it as a ritual devoid of any value.
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