I Intend To Escape ......................And Come Back

Support The Roma 4

With United playing in Rome again tonight, it is timely to remember that four United fans have still not made it back from the last time we played in Rome.

You can read about the Roma 4 here.

Can Anyone Explain The Point of Garth Crooks To Me?

The quotes below come from today's Telegraph:

"The evidence is overwhelming. In the past the industry has been appalling at encouraging black players to make the transition into coaching and management," said Garth Crooks, an FA Cup winner with Tottenham and advisor to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

"Everybody in football is trying very hard to address the perception from grassroots that the industry might be perceived as institutionally racist."

One area that is not, presumably 'institutionally racist' is the media, where Crooks has made a very good living since his retirement, despite his monotone style, hangdog appearance and inability to interest the listener in his views. If it has never occurred to you Garth that you have the career you do largely because of your colour, let me assure you it has occurred to plenty of other people.

The biggest change I have seen in football in the 30 odd years I have been going to games is the decline of casual racism. As I have never been in any football boardrooms (unlike Garth Crooks) I don't know if the people who run the game at the highest level are racist or not. I do know however that if Frank Rijkaard leaves Barcelona this summer, a fair few English clubs will be begging him to come to the UK. Oh, and it won't be too long before Paul Ince is naming his price either.

The Magic Of The FA Cup!

It's still there!

Yesterday was pretty much a perfect day for Manchester United fans. Arsenal and Arsene Whinger put firmly in their place, and Liverpool dumped out of the Cup by Barnsley.

That is what football is all about!

Munich - 50 Years On

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, when Manchester United players and officials returning from the European Cup quarter final in Belgrade, crashed at Munich airport.

To Mancunians of my age and older, it is a central part of our identity. Those who mock the disaster, or United's desire to commemorate it, are attacking far more than a rival football club. They attack our history and our personal identity.

In 2005 I visited the Red Star Belgrade club museum. In there they have a picture of the United team taken prior to kick off, and a priceless card signed by all the players prior to the game.

I think United should have marked the anniversary by playing a charity game in Belgrade, with proceeds divided between Munich survivors (who were not always well treated by the club) and charities working for reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia. Finding time for such a match in the fixture schedule would not have been easy, but United did find time last month to visit one of the most oppressive countries in the world, Saudi Arabia.

Still, I am hoping Sunday's match versus City will be a fitting tribute.

There are various Munich tribute sites. One of the best is the Munich 58 website.

Taken To Thaksin

I was recently posted The Sunday Times Magazine for 9 December 2007, which had possibly the clearest article yet on the case against former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

It is interesting that Liverpool fans reacted with horror when it was suggested Thaksin might buy their club - in particular due to the thousands of extra-judicial killings committed in Thailand during Thaksin's time as Prime Minister. Oddly enough Manchester City fans appeared to have no qualms about Thaksin at all.

Read his human rights record, and they would............

Supporting The Roma 4

Before the United v Spurs cup game yesterday, I met two guys leafleting supporters about the 4 United fans currently in jail in Italy.

Michael Burke, Kyle Dillon, Nicolas Lukacs and Richard Wimmer have all been sentenced to over 2 and a half years in jail, following the Roma v Manchester United game last December.

You can view the blog to support their case here. To make a donation towards their appeal costs, visit this site.

The Rehabilitation of Ashley Cole

Living in Hackney, I don't have to travel far to hear opinions on Ashley Cole.

It is fair to say that to most of my Arsenal loving neighbours, he is about as low on the evolutionary scale as Sol Campbell is to Tottenham fans. (People outside London may wish to note that in neither case is the man's colour an issue - Spurs fans hate Sol Campbell because he is Sol Campbell, Gooners hate Ashley Cole because he is Ashley Cole).

I am convinced however that Mr Cole has employed some top PR experts to ensure his rehabilitation throughout N1 and N5. How else can you explain this quote, on the front page of this evening's London Paper, discussing his fling with Aimee Walton.

"We started having sex then he just rolled over and vomited all over the cream carpet, it was disgusting. He had some mouthwash and we started having sex again".

Get in there my son!

Collective Delusion Descends Upon An Entire City

How else can you describe Newcastle United's decision to appoint Kevin Keegan as manager?
This is after all a man who is yet to win a major trophy in football management, and whom both England and Manchester City fans were glad to see the back of in his last two positions. The initial response of Newcastle fans has, perhaps predictably, been ecstatic. The defensive frailties, blunders, tears and tantrums of his first period at Newcastle are forgotten - once again the Geordie 'nation' puts passion before anything else.

When I see Newcastle fans cheering Keegan's appointment, or indeed when you listened to them calling for Alan Shearer to be appointed (a man who has never even managed a Sunday pub side) I was reminded of the crowds who will cheer any member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in India, or for that matter the Bhutto dynasty in Pakistan. It does not matter their failings, people want to buy into the myth, and against their better judgement, do.

Perhaps louder than the cheers in the North East, will be the cheers in the North West. In case anyone forgets why, here's how Manchester United fans will always remember 'King' Kev:

Revealed - The Source of Manchester United's Profits

Manchester United are rolling in money.

Despite this, the hot water was turned off in the gents at Saturdays game against Newcastle - at least in the North Stand. Oddly enough I have experienced this at each home game this season. Could it be the Glazer's are that desperate to pay off their loans, they have to switch the water off at kick off time?

How To Deal With Sledging Aussies

If only Harbajan Singh had remembered the example of Zimbabwe's Eddo Brandes.

When facing Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, Brandes bowled a bouncer of his own:

McGrath: "Hey, how come you're so fat?"

Brandes instantly replied: "Because every time I make love to your wife, she gives me a biscuit."