Mihir Bose's Blog, page 73
February 21, 2012
Wenger not quite the revolutionary we all thought after all
Frenchman heading the way of all great leaders - the scrap heap
PlayUp
I wonder if Arsène Wenger's problem is that, for all the changes he has brought to Arsenal and English football, he is not quite the revolutionary he has been made out to be. Indeed, his likely demise is due to the fact that he is more like a great politician who, having surrounded himself by a coterie of advisers, cannot fathom how the world round him has changed.
Whatever happens to Wenger, whether this proves his last season in England, he will always be remembered as one of the managers who shaped the Premiership. Figures will show Sir Alex Ferguson miles ahead, but Wenger changed a club: its ethos, its playing style and how it was perceived by the rest of football. Ferguson can be said to have continued in the tradition of Manchester United: if you score four, we will score five. Wenger took charge of a team that had often won, but its appeal did not extend beyond the faithful. Now, even in these barren years, they have played the best football seen in this country.
PlayUp
I wonder if Arsène Wenger's problem is that, for all the changes he has brought to Arsenal and English football, he is not quite the revolutionary he has been made out to be. Indeed, his likely demise is due to the fact that he is more like a great politician who, having surrounded himself by a coterie of advisers, cannot fathom how the world round him has changed.
Whatever happens to Wenger, whether this proves his last season in England, he will always be remembered as one of the managers who shaped the Premiership. Figures will show Sir Alex Ferguson miles ahead, but Wenger changed a club: its ethos, its playing style and how it was perceived by the rest of football. Ferguson can be said to have continued in the tradition of Manchester United: if you score four, we will score five. Wenger took charge of a team that had often won, but its appeal did not extend beyond the faithful. Now, even in these barren years, they have played the best football seen in this country.
Cliff Jones: This is best Spurs team since we did the Double
Evening Standard
It is just as he's seeing me to the door that Cliff Jones says: "I don't want Harry to take the England job. With him setting the benchmark for the club for the future, I can see us becoming one of the strongest clubs in Europe, alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. Harry's got to lead us into the promised land."
Tottenham supporters have been dreaming of that promised land since 1961. Then Bill Nicholson's team, of which Jones was one of the stars, scoring 19 goals in 29 games, became the first in the 20th century to do the Double.
It is just as he's seeing me to the door that Cliff Jones says: "I don't want Harry to take the England job. With him setting the benchmark for the club for the future, I can see us becoming one of the strongest clubs in Europe, alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. Harry's got to lead us into the promised land."
Tottenham supporters have been dreaming of that promised land since 1961. Then Bill Nicholson's team, of which Jones was one of the stars, scoring 19 goals in 29 games, became the first in the 20th century to do the Double.
February 17, 2012
Rangers situation a reality to check for football clubs
A look at German and American systems would serve British football well
PlayUp
So the Prime Minister goes to Scotland and in between trying to save the United Kingdom he has time to talk about Glasgow Rangers. If anything illustrates the power of modern sport, particularly football then this, surely, is it. But it also shows curious our football world is.
The most important question is: if football is so powerful how come our legislators have not taken steps to make sure we have proper rules for football clubs and a level playing field? The simple fact is we talk about the importance of football but allow it to be run like a cottage industry. Worse still an industry which is allowed to make its own absurd rules.
PlayUp
So the Prime Minister goes to Scotland and in between trying to save the United Kingdom he has time to talk about Glasgow Rangers. If anything illustrates the power of modern sport, particularly football then this, surely, is it. But it also shows curious our football world is.
The most important question is: if football is so powerful how come our legislators have not taken steps to make sure we have proper rules for football clubs and a level playing field? The simple fact is we talk about the importance of football but allow it to be run like a cottage industry. Worse still an industry which is allowed to make its own absurd rules.
Rangers entering administration shows how crazy football is
Insideworldfootball
Administrators being called into Glasgow Rangers is more than yet another football club living way beyond its means. This is one of those seminal moments when you feel the world has changed and may not be the same again. It illustrates the perils of football commercialism and how dangerous it can be.
No, it is not quite football's equivalent of the fall of the Berlin Wall; to suggest that would be going a touch too far.
Administrators being called into Glasgow Rangers is more than yet another football club living way beyond its means. This is one of those seminal moments when you feel the world has changed and may not be the same again. It illustrates the perils of football commercialism and how dangerous it can be.
No, it is not quite football's equivalent of the fall of the Berlin Wall; to suggest that would be going a touch too far.
February 14, 2012
McCarthy pays the price as frustration grows amongst fans
Quick-fix needed from new man if Wolves are to keep their Premier League status
PlayUp
Wolves have to come to terms with reality.
The old saying goes that when fans shout, "sack the manager", the board does nothing. But when they start shouting, "sack the board", the board sacks the manager.
The hierarchy at Molineux may deny that is the case. But that is undoubtedly what happened after the defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion at the weekend. There was a fan demonstration against the board and Mick McCarthy, manager for five and a half years, had to go. The Wolves denial on this must be taken with a large pinch of salt.
PlayUp
Wolves have to come to terms with reality.
The old saying goes that when fans shout, "sack the manager", the board does nothing. But when they start shouting, "sack the board", the board sacks the manager.
The hierarchy at Molineux may deny that is the case. But that is undoubtedly what happened after the defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion at the weekend. There was a fan demonstration against the board and Mick McCarthy, manager for five and a half years, had to go. The Wolves denial on this must be taken with a large pinch of salt.
PFA urged John Terry to quit England captaincy for European Championships
Evening Standard
John Terry refused a plea from the Professional Footballers' Association to step down as England captain until after his trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Standard Sport can reveal that the players' union approached the Chelsea skipper after his case was adjourned until July 9, eight days after the Euro 2012 Final.
The PFA made it clear to Terry - who denies the charge - that if he gave up the role they would issue a statement saying it was not an admission of guilt and that the defender was innocent until the court had reached a verdict.
John Terry refused a plea from the Professional Footballers' Association to step down as England captain until after his trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Standard Sport can reveal that the players' union approached the Chelsea skipper after his case was adjourned until July 9, eight days after the Euro 2012 Final.
The PFA made it clear to Terry - who denies the charge - that if he gave up the role they would issue a statement saying it was not an admission of guilt and that the defender was innocent until the court had reached a verdict.
Chris Powell: racist abuse between players was accepted in my day
Evening Standard
Chris Powell may measure his words carefully but the Charlton manager is not afraid to make it crystal clear that football has failed to handle the race issue.
We are in his office at the training ground where he has just accepted the manager-of-the-month award for the second time this season with his side top of League One.
I have just asked him whether the Football Association were right, two weeks ago, to strip John Terry of the England captaincy, the decision that triggered Fabio Capello's sudden departure as manager. The allegation - which Terry denies - surfaced four months ago when he was accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Chris Powell may measure his words carefully but the Charlton manager is not afraid to make it crystal clear that football has failed to handle the race issue.
We are in his office at the training ground where he has just accepted the manager-of-the-month award for the second time this season with his side top of League One.
I have just asked him whether the Football Association were right, two weeks ago, to strip John Terry of the England captaincy, the decision that triggered Fabio Capello's sudden departure as manager. The allegation - which Terry denies - surfaced four months ago when he was accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
February 12, 2012
The world has changed – now show us the books
The Independent on Sunday
Harry Redknapp's innocence was no surprise to his legal team, who had been saying for months the charges should never have been brought.
But while last week's not guilty verdict was an obvious relief to Redknapp, the evidence presented at Southwark Crown Court raises questions about how football is run. For despite all the money in the game, it is still more like a cottage industry whose practices most other businesses would find unacceptable.
Harry Redknapp's innocence was no surprise to his legal team, who had been saying for months the charges should never have been brought.
But while last week's not guilty verdict was an obvious relief to Redknapp, the evidence presented at Southwark Crown Court raises questions about how football is run. For despite all the money in the game, it is still more like a cottage industry whose practices most other businesses would find unacceptable.
The Spirit of the Game – The Observer review
The Observer
by David Goldblatt
A royal anniversary is, in any normal year, one of the biggest events in the British cultural calendar. But in 2012 it will face stiff competition. England are going to Poland and Ukraine for the European football championships – no doubt accompanied by the usual patriotic euphoria. But even this will look like small change once the Olympic machine begins to roll. The numbers are giddy: a real budget of more than £12bn (some 3bn over the official maximum); 302 gold medals; 10,000 athletes, and twice as many journalists; plus innumerable coaches and officials, sponsors and factotums. Almost every UK department of state, security agency and London local authority will be engaged for months with the process, and the power of the world's hyperactive and hyperconnected media systems will be concentrated in the British capital.
"How did we get to this?" is the question posed by Mihir Bose in The Spirit of the Game. How did sport become such an ethically and symbolically charged dimension of our global culture? How and why did the forces of money and power come to take it so seriously? I'm not sure that it was his intention, or if he knew quite what he was letting himself in for, but Bose has ended up trying to answer these questions by writing a global history of modern sport....Read the full article
Click here to find out more information about The Spirit of the Game
by David Goldblatt
A royal anniversary is, in any normal year, one of the biggest events in the British cultural calendar. But in 2012 it will face stiff competition. England are going to Poland and Ukraine for the European football championships – no doubt accompanied by the usual patriotic euphoria. But even this will look like small change once the Olympic machine begins to roll. The numbers are giddy: a real budget of more than £12bn (some 3bn over the official maximum); 302 gold medals; 10,000 athletes, and twice as many journalists; plus innumerable coaches and officials, sponsors and factotums. Almost every UK department of state, security agency and London local authority will be engaged for months with the process, and the power of the world's hyperactive and hyperconnected media systems will be concentrated in the British capital.
"How did we get to this?" is the question posed by Mihir Bose in The Spirit of the Game. How did sport become such an ethically and symbolically charged dimension of our global culture? How and why did the forces of money and power come to take it so seriously? I'm not sure that it was his intention, or if he knew quite what he was letting himself in for, but Bose has ended up trying to answer these questions by writing a global history of modern sport....Read the full article
Click here to find out more information about The Spirit of the Game
February 10, 2012
FA was right to blow doors off the Italian job
Financial Times
Fabio Capello's departure goes beyond the all too familiar story of an England football manager failing to satisfy the country's often unrealistic expectations of its national team. At the heart of this affair is the governance of the sport. Mr Capello, by publicly disagreeing with the Football Association's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy, was challenging the authority of his employers.
When Mr Capello went on television last Sunday to express his views, he might as well have said: "I govern English football, not the FA". His air was that of a chief executive who had been surprised by an unforeseen board decision. Mr Capello may have been paid £6m per year, several times the salary Stephen Hester receives to run Royal Bank of Scotland, but he has nothing like Mr Hester's powers. He was the head of the FA's most important production unit, not its CEO....Read the full article
Fabio Capello's departure goes beyond the all too familiar story of an England football manager failing to satisfy the country's often unrealistic expectations of its national team. At the heart of this affair is the governance of the sport. Mr Capello, by publicly disagreeing with the Football Association's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy, was challenging the authority of his employers.
When Mr Capello went on television last Sunday to express his views, he might as well have said: "I govern English football, not the FA". His air was that of a chief executive who had been surprised by an unforeseen board decision. Mr Capello may have been paid £6m per year, several times the salary Stephen Hester receives to run Royal Bank of Scotland, but he has nothing like Mr Hester's powers. He was the head of the FA's most important production unit, not its CEO....Read the full article
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