Monday 24 November 2014

Lewis Hamilton F1 World Champion 2014

What a year for Lewis Hamilton, eleven victories, world champion and elevated to legend status. Well that is my opinion and I won't apologise for it because I think Lewis has truly earned it. 

We all thought at the begining of the year during testing that Mercedes just may have car that could win the championship as a constructor however what we did expect was the domination. Red Bull and Renault missed the boat producing machinery that could not match the might of Mercedes. It was expected that Red Bull would come good later in the season but this only happened when Mercedes missed a beat and Ricciardo grabbed the opportuinty with both hands.  Before this happened it looked like Hamilton's season was going to be punctuated by bad luck, poor reliability and loss of emotional control. It be came clear at Silverstone that this was going to be a Lewis's year. The determination and drive he demonstrated at his home GP convinced me that Lewis would make it happen bad luck or not.



It was noticable throughout the season that the pundits were not going to pick a winner because of Rosberg's reliability and the double points at the end of the season. Even although Lewis was racking up the wins Rosberg was still there, just  ahead or just behind but always in touch. The complexities of the scoring system also meant that Daniel Ricciardo was also in touch highlighting the most surprising and unexpected outcome of the season - the failure of Sebastian Vetel to mount any sort of challenge to the Mercedes paring.

Lewis without doubt this season has attained the status of legend, not by winning his second championship alone. He has done it with a combination of achievements. Championships with two different teams, most GP wins by a Britain and most importantly his development into one of the most respected drivers on the grid and the most exciting and talented. He is now able to control his emotions a lot better and is an asset that I am sure Mecedes will do everything they can to ensure they keep him in contract. 



With all this mind I think Lewis will be the hot favourite for the BBC Sports Personaity of the Year followed closely by Rory McIllroy both worthy successors to Andy Murray.

Monday 14 July 2014

World Cup 2014 Brazil - Full time Report

Germany the deserved victors in the World Cup final, which delivered possibly the best goal of the tournament from Gotze. Was it the best World Cup ever, possibly. It was certainly the most watched final with over an estimated billion viewers worldwide. Did we see the best football possible, possbily not. Messi Neymar and Ronaldo are as ever, only one man in a team and cannot expect to be at their best without the support of their team mates with comparable skills.

This World Cup will be remembered for a few things:-

Quick exit of some of the favourites and former winners - Italy, Spain and of course England. England yes we expected to go out but not Itsly or defending champions Spain.

Surprise performances from Costa Rica and Columbia brought the tournament alive. These teams showed that the small teams must now be considered as real competitors. The USA also turned in some good performances and woke up their home audience with record TV numbers.

Dramatic penalty deciders, in particular Netherlands v Columbia. Van Gal's decision to substitute his goalkeeper at the last minute was sheer genius or total luck.

The Suarez incident, where after producing killer goals against England he falls into old eating habits and tries a bit of Italian and gets a record transfer to Barcelona. It seems that you only have to be totally unprofessional in football to succeed.

Without a doubt the most memorable part of the last four weeks was the total disintegration of the Brazil team going down 7 - 1 to Germany and then 3 - 0 to the Netherlands shortly afterwards. You cannot lay all of this on Neymar as he like Messi or Ronaldo is only one player in a team of eleven.

Two last things that must be mentioned. 
1 The introduction of the spray foam for the referees to control free kicks was a winner and cut out vast amounts of time wasting.
 2 Against all expectations the hosts Brazil produced an excellent tournament. There may have been a few elements not complete but who really noticed, the football won through. This ultimately gives Russia the next hosts a big "follow that" . They will have to overcome the exactly the same problems as Brazil - corruption, building delays, security and the size of the country. If they achieve the same level of success then we will have the prospect of another great tournament.

Saturday 5 July 2014

Messi - an example to all footballers

 Lionel Messi we all know his skills and have been impressed by his performance so far in Brazil. What is not always publicised is the way he plays. What do I mean? The example he is setting is for all footballers who when touched ever so slightly in tackle or just brushing past dive to the ground via a double somersault with twist and holding of an uninjured body part.
 
Tonights game against Belgium was a perfect example, attacking he had four or five Belgians take a hack at him but he continued to display fantastic football skills, it was only after one last hack he went down. This guy is a true professional footballer who has never been to drama school. Almost single handed he has guided Argentina to the World Cup semis without complaint and without argument. What is even more remarkable is that he is a target more than anyone else because of his skills and is often hacked out of a game but still his complaint are minimal and certainly you never see a dive. All footballers note, this is the star to copy. This is the image young footballers should aspire to not the Suarez one. Unfortunately with the money / business now involved in football what are the chances of this happening?

Thursday 26 June 2014

World Cup 2014 Brazil - Half Time Report

With the group stages of the World Cup  coming to a conclusion we have some big headlines and food for thought. The overall impression is a very positive one, some very good football and underdogs like Costa Rica going through. It bodes well for the knock out stages with more good football.

Ready or not ?

I think there was genuine worries about the readiness of the stadiums and the supporting infrastructure however normally you would get horror stories. Well they have been few and far between or I have been reading the wrong reports. The only one I have seen showed a video of a temporary staircase that looked very unsafe however the game started and finished without any reported dramas. All the stadiums have looked good and the playing surface up to standard with only one looking bare and one other cutting up a little. Overall I think Brazil have done well against all odds.

Manaus jungle game for England

Englands opening game in Manaus was hyped beyond belief - high temperature, high humidity, bad pitch, middle of nowhere and any other combo of excuses you can think of. As always the opponents have the same conditions and it all seemed to be a bit of a non event and England poor against a poor Italy.

England - Oh England

Whilst talking about England I will get it over now. Poor performances from all round from our so called highly paid stars. The team knew what they  were facing with Uruguay, we had at least four Liverpool players on the field and yet Suarez still scored two great goals. Were players not following Roy Hodgson's instructions or did he omit to tell them that Suarez was playing albiet slightly unfit. 

Champions Exit

Like England, Italy as former champions exit at the group stage but what was really surprising was the very early exit of the current champions Spain. Widely favoured to do well in their defence of the title, they were humiliated by the Netherlands and Chile. The other former champions are all through Brazil, Germany, Uruguay and France.

Star Teams

Two teams for me have stood out, because they are doing the unexpected. Netherlands having a dream start with victory over defending champions Spain. The Dutch shining with Robben and Van Persie. The USA have got through with Germany in a very tough group. What is more remarkable is the home support the team, it is reported that TV audiences have broken all records for football in the USA and even challenging the established sports of baseball and basketball. If they can get another result it will do wonders for football or soccer in the States.

Star Players

Who are the stars of the tournament, well for me that is easy Messi. He just exudes class that no other player displays. From his technical ability to the way he rides tackles and if downed he is straight up again back in play. He does not a drama star like some of the others who are playing - outstanding. He has also scored some of the best goals of the tournament so far along with Neymar, Mueller, Jones of the USA and the Dutchmen Robben and van Persie. I should also mention Miroslav Klose of Germany as he has now equalled Brazil's Ronaldo at 15 goals in World Cup finals.

Suarez Banned for 4 Months

We must have all seen it know now, football fan or not you cannot escape the Suarez biting during the Uruguay v Italy match. Loosing out on a tackle he immediately started to knaw at Chiellini's shoulder in front of the world. Then after being thrown off he checks his teeth - what is wrong with this man. It is all very sad as he is a very talented player but this cannot be excused for any reason. Interesting stat is that he has now been banned for over 40 matches, but none as a result of a red card. Not the kind of record a player wants on his CV. The losers here are Liverpool who will start the season without him and may even have to make a brave decision and get rid of him, it all goes against the Liverpool image. The man in all likelihood could suffer financial and career ruin as sponsers start to pullout. In case you did not know this the third time he has done this so deserves all the penalties he gets as a result.

Well half time over what can we expect in the second half. I hope for more goals and exciting skillful play. What will happen to Uruguay - disappear without trace with no Suarez? I think you will choose the champion from Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and possibliy France. I think it will be good. End note - Well done Brazil, it's all going extremely well.


Saturday 26 April 2014

Fergie Time Runs Out For David Moyes

I am watching Ryan Giggs first game in charge since the sacking of David Moyes as manager of Manchester United and trying to work out how fair was his dismissal. First thing that crosses my mind is how hard Ferguson has fought to keep him there as he was his choice in the first place. The second thing is whether there has been any dicussion between the two either before or after the dismissal. It would be nice to know that Ferguson gave Moyes a heads up that this was a possibility, providing some advice along the way. It would also be nice to know that Ferguson was apologetic and sympathetic to Moyes privately afterwards, but I guess we will never get to know this until Ferguson writes his next bio.

It is one of the major downsides of being a manager of a top club, is that deserved or not you take the can for things going wrong not the players. The players I believe are responsible for David Moyes's demise. They are largely the same group of overpaid, underperforming individuals that won the Premier League for Alex Ferguson. So what has happened to turn in such a shocking performance by Man Utd standards as this. For me it is clear that the players did not like change and did not like David Moyes. But why? he was Ferguson's choice. You would think that if receptive to anything, the players would be receptive to Ferguson's choice and show some respect and effort for the new manager. No it was all a fairy tale for David Moyes ending unhappily ever after.

Could things have been different, yes of course they could have. The big miss was during the January transfer window where he had the chance to sell of Rooney and get two or three other to bolster the team in the weak areas. Instead I think the money squadered on Juan Matta has weighed heavily on the MU board's mind and probably tipped the balance as result failed to come.
 In this type of scenario no amount of lobbying by Fergie would overcome the business of making money. Remember Manchester United are under different ownership to that when Ferguson was hired. There is no chance in todays football for the honeymoon period he was given. We will never know if Moyes would have eventually got it together. I hope he gets another chance at top club and proves them wrong by getting a basketful of silverware.

I touched on Moyes precarious position earlier in the year in the following posts.


Thursday 27 March 2014

The Premier League Champions Are?

With only seven or nine matches left for the leaders, it is time for everyone to make their prediction of who will ultimately replace Manchester United as champions. It is clear that even with the unexpected happening that Manchester United cannot win, as cannot Tottenham Hotspur or Everton. The title will go to one of the top four who are separated by only six points.




Arsenal in fourth will be the underdogs, as their form has taken a dip as the climax of the season draws closer. It seems that, like other seasons when they have mounted a challenge early in the season they run out of steam. The momentum just seems to run out, unlike others they have not really suffered from any injury issues. Their fate was really sealed when beaten comprehensively 6 - 0 by Chelsea on Arsene Wenger's 1000th game - what a disaster.

Manchester City are probably favourites even although they are in third. With two games in hand they don't have the points in the bag, but with good form and great scorelines it is difficult to overlook them. The goal difference they have built up could see off Chelsea in the end, but not Liverpool, this could be decided when they meet at Anfield on Sunday 13th April. The run in for Manchester City is probably viewed as the least problematic except for the number of matches.

The peoples choice of champions is for me Liverpool in second behind Chelsea. Their match on Sunday 27th April could be the season decider and if a draw, it is in Liverpools favour with their far superior goal difference. A draw however is unlikely, Liverpool is currently on great form pulling defences apart, Chelsea will be more difficult but possible. You can also be sure the support for Liverpool will be a big advantage.

Chelsea are in the lead, points in the bag and playing well but will their style of play have edge to hold on. They have an excellent defensive record as they hold back letting the other side attack. Once they have exhausted all their attacking ideas Chelsea pounce and get the winner. Mourhino's unbeaten record at the Bridge is testement to his defensive tactics. Not as exciting as Liverpool or Manchester City but effective.

Now my prediction - 

Heart - Liverpool
Points - Chelsea
Potential - Manchester City
Excitement - Liverpool

What is your prediction?

No matter who wins it will have been one of the best Premiership seasons ever.

Friday 21 February 2014

Rooney new deal - Manchester United

Over 15 million per year, for five years for Rooney's services, they are having a laugh. The record sum that Manchester United are reported to have agreed with Wayne Rooney is madness. Not only is he not worth it, it is going to be the ruin of Man Utd. The club missed the boat in January when they could have sold him to Chelsea and made good money and reduce their players costs in one move. In addition the profits from the sale could have allowed some good new blood to be added to the squad and resolve some of David Moyes's problems.




The record sum dwarfs bankers bonus, and I would wager that Rooney has no performance criteria included in his contract. Even if he does not play he will be still paid, I suspect that only if he commits gross misconduct will he be penalised with a fine, a mere fraction of his salary ( it will probably be tax deductible). I would not mind to much but I am also sure that tax specialist will have worked some way in which Rooney will never pay anywhere never the 50 percent tax rate he should.

This all points to the fact we should do something now to control player costs to stop clubs making these fatal errors of judgement. I know there some small controls in place to minimise wrong doing within football club finances, but I think it should go much further and set caps on salaries. Many will think this will restrict the business side of football, but I believe the money can be better spent on the development of the youth programmes and bringing through new home grown players. Let's face it we don't have many Rooneys in the country.

Sunday 16 February 2014

Winter Olympics Snowboard Cross

Snowboard Cross - now we are talking exciting exhilarating sport, pure racing like athletics, first past the post but with all the thrills and spills of downhill skiing. I have just watched the quarter final through to final races for women's snowboard cross, and was amazed at how exciting this sport is. It is like BMX on snow, the six boarders start form a gate and head down the course of jumps, kicks, knuckles and drop offs and the winner is the first past the post.


None of this judging on style and technique, you have just got to get to the end in one piece. As our competior Zoe Gillings found out what you must do is finish. In her semi final race she just missed out qualifying for the final by a board tip finishing fourth, she was third until the last jump where the Italian overtook her. The amazing part was she had a slow start, and was lying a distant fifth, but with a few mistakes by other boarders, a missed edge, a poor line etc, she moved up to third and had a great chance of making the final. This unpredictability of the outcome makes this the most exciting racing I have seen so far in the Olympics. 

The only negative of this racing is poor TV direction. Unfortunately the Russian TV production was not up to it. Poor camera positions and direction that followed the leaders missing all the action further up the hill. Only three finish where are the other three you ask, yes they fell but were missed by the TV crew, we got good slow mo's of the winners last jump though.

Friday 14 February 2014

Winter Olympics Sochi 2014

I have just sat down to watch Lizzy Yarnold in her skeleton bob event at the Sochi games. Is this indicative of the importance of the Winter Olympics in our minds with only a small team of less than hopefuls to watch. We have this habit of only watching / supporting our own rather than watch the sport. I have limited my viewing to those sports where you win with a better score or time rather than be judged. My watch list includes curling, downhill and skeleton bob. I am also sure I will watch some ice hockey as the final gets close. 

This of course is not a dig at the athletes but a question of why do we participate in sports where we have no facilites and no snow? If you are fortunate enough to have loads of cash then you can travel to the cold spots and train, but I think it is all over rated and really think the funds could be better directed at traditional sports, where kids can take part in at an early age and still have the opportunity to do it later in life. If you think about the the 30 billion dollars spent by Russia to stage these games it brings into persepctive how good London 2012 was. The Russians have presented great facilities and appear to have organised everything very well but surely the price is too high. I am not sure there will be a legacy for winter sports here once the games have gone. The chances are better with the World Cup and F1 track coming up in the next few years.

I hate to be a kill joy but I think the Olympics for these sports is too much, they already have their own world championships and world cups. It is a bit like football at the Olympics, it is a joke, everyone wants to watch the top pros and not the Tuvalu team.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

F1 Season 2014 - Testing in Jerez

You would think that the majority of discussion on the first days of testing for the new season would be about the engines and turbo etc. No its all about noses and how pretty or ugly the cars are. Looks are important however if you are going to win races it is performance and reliablity that counts. My vote for the best looking goes to the Mercedes, uglist to the Caterham, and the most inventive look goes to the Lotus which will not test until the next session in February.

Lewis%20Hamilton%20in%20the%20new%20Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton in the new Mercedes

Still before performance and reliabilty is the noise or sound of the new engines. Fans are concerned that without the high reving V8 engines the atmosphere will be downgraded. From what I have heard on Skys coverage I don't think there is anytihng to worry about. The sound is still loud but less of a scream, the exhaust popping is gone but the turbo noise ( I think it must be the turbo) adds a new sound. We will only really be able to tell when a race gets underway with all twenty cars on the grid.

With all the build to the season increasing I personally cannot wait for that first outing in March. Only two days of testing complete my bets for the season are as follows:-

Mercedes - Hamilton
Ferrari - Alonso
Vettel - Red Bull
Mclaren, Lotus, Force India and Williams follow in the bunch.

I will probably be proved wrong but heres hoping.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Murray exits Australian Open

I don't think Andy Murray could have done any better than he did in defeat to Roger Federer in the quarter finals of the Australian Open. After a slow start Andy started to fight back but it became apparent that Roger Federer is a new man and is playing a new style with which he was master of their net battle. It was after a titantic game early on in the fourth set which Andy won, you could easily see he was not able to keep up with Federer, either not totally match fit or still suffering from his back operation. His mobility seemed to be impared, the opposite of Roger who appeared to have gained some speed and agility over the close season. I think it is also safe to say that Stefan Edberg his new coach has also made its mark.

Overall I think Andy must be congratulated for an excellent performance in the tournament as he has shown a lot of progress from his first matches he played after the operation. Perhaps he has a long way to go to get totally match fit but can take inspiration from  Roger Federer who has been rejuvenated and Rafa Nadal who has had an outstanding return from injury over the last twelve months. The next few tournaments will be used for training to get match fit and ready for defence of Wimbledon.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Manchester United End of Season

Today's defeat by Chelsea must surely signal the end of Manchester United's domestic season. The only thing David Moyes has left to aim for is the Champions League ? This is the only way that he can ease the pressure from all the interested parties. If he can get his star players Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney playing again then I suspect he may stand a chance, without them it will go the same way as the domestic season.

I sincerely hope he gets the support of the board and is allowed to beef up the squad this month. Getting rid of old timers and failed newbies is essential. If Rooney wants to go to Chelsea then sell him and reinvest in someone who is interested in playing, making a profit at the same time. I know it is highly unlikely but we can still hope they ( David Moyes and the MU board) take a risk. They can still set up for next season in the summer break if this fails. No risk no gain.

Saturday 18 January 2014

Moyes Under Pressure

Sunday is going to be effectively the end of the domestic season for Manchester United. Never before in recent years has everything has dissappeared from view this early in the season. He will still retain the support of the board but David Moyes through no fault of his own, will be under even more pressure if they lose against Chelsea. The players around him are not doing the job and changes are required as prescribed in my last post.


With Rooney and van Persie missing from the line up, the result seems a foregone conclusion, yet David Moyes is still showing a positive face, claiming it is still possible to get a result at Stamford Bridge. On top of that Jose Mourhino is adding to the pressure with his comments. It doesn't matter that he apologises the damage is already done.

Mourhino is still adamant that Rooney will be moving to Chelsea at the end of the season. He doesn't beleive he is just dreaming. If I were Moyes / MU Board I would take the money for Rooney now, and start the rebuild of the team as soon as possible. For me Rooney is good in flashes but will never get back to his best, like when he was playing with Ronaldo. Let him go and they can waste more money, like they did with Fernando Torres, still a good player but his skills are still not exploited by the team.

Manchester United still have the champions league, and this is where I think David Moyes will put all his efforts, winning it or

Friday 10 January 2014

Man Utd Savaged




Man Utd need to make some serious changes during the transfer period according to Robbie Savage. With three home defeats who could argue?  I agree with Robbie on many of his suggestions and his statistical support is compelling. First question is, will Moyes get the support ? - I will get to that later

Ferdinand is too old and cannot keep up anymore, if the defence is to be solid he must go. Ferguson if he was still in charge would also have to make this change, one of the reasons he decided to retire. Another reason is the mistakes in Fergusons hire of some the youngsters who are not performing up to their billing or price, Smalling, Buttner and Cleverley should be changed. I also include Anderson who never plays regularly and is expensive.

Why is Nani on another 5 year deal, he is not worth it as is Evra who might have experience, but is slipping in defence. Everyone loves Giggs, he is a proven match winner but should not be counted as team regular. Will Rooney be around, it seems that every time the transfer window opens his name is banded around. I would take the money and convert it to players Moyes needs. I talked about this earlier in the year.


Is Moyes up to same standard as Ferguson? No, he is not the same genius but Robbie believes he is still the right person to rebuild the team. Everyone is now beginning to doubt and even Ferguson is getting the blame by being in the stand. A problem totally discounted by Moyes. Will he get the support of the Man Utd board? Yes he will for the time being but not a large pot. If he wants more Rooney will have to go.

We will all have to wait and see if Moyes can survive and deliver some silver. For the moment he is heading in same direction as McKay and Allerdyce (will happen soon, as we all know what full support of the board means).

What did Robbie actually write, check full story here



Saturday 4 January 2014

FA Cup

The Aston Villa's manager Paul Lambert's comments on the FA Cup has been debated in the media to the extent of who cares anymore. What is important is the competition is now underway with the big boys involved.

I think Lambert's comments were borne out of intense pressure for Villa to survive in the Premier League. In terms of a business staying in the top league is essential and Lambert without any real spending power does want to expend any players on the FA Cup that may keep him in a job.

With all that said, I firmly believe the dream of the a junior team having an opportunity to compete against the bigger teams, is what keeps the game going in the lower leagues. You must be able to test your players against superior opposition for them to progress. The FA Cup also acts as a reward programme for the owners and supporters of the lower teams that experience the later rounds.

The Premier League of course is reason for all of the discussion, everyone loves the football but are not so happy with the deterioration of our home talent. When was the last time a Premier team played a 100 percent home grown team? ( If you know please post a comment). It is time some restriction is made on imported players to preserve and encourage our home players ( see previous blog). This would not only improve the balance, but help our national teams. Look at the top teams in Spain - a lot of Spaniards and they play for the national team.

My prediction for the FA Cup is an Everton and Arsenal final, only time will tell.