Lionesses and King sized cock-ups at home
Brilliant. Well done again to the Lionesses. What a group they are. I’ll have more to say on the subject in a moment. But first - a few bits and pieces.
Man United? Well - a few more people are coming round to my way of thinking it seems. Ten Hag’s teachers pens - the blue/black/red combo pens that were popular when even I was a school (have a look - the entire coaching staff have one) - are not helping much are they? Small margins. Detail. Coloured pens. iPad presentations. 🤷♂️.
At least it wasn’t the players ignoring the ‘game plan’ this week - it was the ‘three quick bookings that interrupted our rhythm’. said ten Hag. What? Are you sure Erik?
And as for the captain complaining that they should’ve had a pen? Agreed It was a nailed on pen. Handball. No arguments. But so Wolves should’ve had on Monday when Fernandes said ‘it’s the way the referee sees it’. What a hypocrite. Oh. And Spurs should’ve had a pen when Martinez cleaned Romero out. He got nowhere near the ball.
It was good to hear Ivan Toney talking so openly on the YouTube channel, Diary of a CEO, about his addiction issues. Good - but sad. Addiction of any kind is an unbearable illness for the victim and his/her family. I’ve said this before. Punishment is not the answer. Yes - there has to be a deterrent, but Toney needed help - not a total ban from football. And the FA should’ve concluded the whole affair more quickly. These are things I said months ago.
What will they do with Harry Tofolo? What about the allegations surrounding Lucas Paqueta? How long will they sit on these cases? Perhaps they’re in a pile buried under the charges laid against *City? Still nothing on that subject either.
I’ll say this again. Is it little wonder that we have a problem with gambling? Did anyone else read the recent report in The Guardian business section recently revealing that betting company logos appear 3500 times in any televised football match? The average game features a gambling logo every 16 seconds. It’s everywhere. In-game. Around the game. On the shirts. On the sleeves. There are official gambling companies. Unofficial gambling companies. You name it.
Whilst football refuses to do something about this or accept that huge damage is done because the game is ‘owned’ by gambling companies, we’ll continue to have these issues.
That’s two weeks now and we’ve had a litany of errors from both our refs and VAR. In brief - no pen at Anfield. There was no contact. And it wasn’t a red. Mac Allister was reckless. It should’ve been a yellow.
We've mentioned the decisions at Spurs. They were a joke, but not as comical as the penalty award for Brentford at Fulham. Bad enough that it was given - not identified as a clear and obvious error - but adding insult to injury, it lead to Tim Ream being sent-off. Fulham can’t appeal because it was a second yellow. The incident in question wasn’t even a foul let alone a pen.
Chelsea’s pen should’ve been retaken. Soucek has his boot on the line as the kick is taken. He’s then first to the ball. It was encroachment. All this on the back of a shocking opening weekend.
So much for the extra training the guys are supposed to have had.
Come on Howard. This isn’t good enough. Get a grip. Forget about trying to be a tv star - get back to basics and be a ref. We all backed you - but we’re losing faith.
Everton? What is there to say about the Toffees? Well - nothing about the team. And for those Evertonians that don’t read as widely as I do and got upset when I mentioned that all is not well at Bramley Dock, let me steer you to the following.
AND…..https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/31/new-everton-stadium-months-behind-schedule-guardian-analysis-suggests
Now. The Lionesses. Ok. They lost a football match. A big football match. But they won a whole lot more admirers. They won me over during the Euros and I make no apologies for underlining my admiration.
This is the last time I’m going to say this. I was wrong to make fun of women in football. My remarks weren’t ‘banter’. They were hurtful and damaging. They were as clumsy as Parky’s interview with a young Helen Mirren which he always said ‘was of its time’. He never said sorry. He should’ve done and now sadly it’s too late.
My remarks were ‘of their time’ - and look even worse at this time. I’ve done a lot to redress the harm that they caused. I’m not going into that. I’ve mentioned it before. But let’s move on now eh?
It’s a shame the Lionesses didn’t get the job over the line - but Spain were better. Much better. And I hope Sarina Wiegman realises she picked the wrong team? Lauren James should’ve started. Andy made this point during our show on Sunday. Never mind being loyal to the team that made it to the final. James is one of - perhaps the best player England have. She should’ve started.
I also hope Prince William realises his decision to stay at home was a disgrace. Hiding behind his daughter while he made that cringeworthy video apologising for not going was poor.
His supporters argue he’d have been breaking royal protocols by visiting Australia before his dad. Bollocks. What nonsense. Charles could easily have said it was ok. William could also have travelled in his capacity as president of the FA. And on that subject - Gareth Southgate should’ve been there as well.
But let’s not allow that to spoil the achievement. As my 6-year-old niece said to me Sunday morning ‘I’ll be watching if you are’. She did. She plays. I get it.