The Trouble With Popular Sports

Just before the Wimbledon mens final started I turned on the BBC to see what was going on, and as usual the BBC were interviewing celebrities for no apparent reason. Cue Matt Smith, the current Dr Who, so a prime candidate for an interview, and the first thing he says is "This is the first time he has ever been to tennis at Wimbledon". Now he is a fine actor on stage and TV, but clearly needs someone to write his lines in real life for him as well. If ever there is a way to alienate yourself from the crowds you are with, making crass comments like that is a damn good place to start.

Surely saying it was a privilege to be there, or even pretending to have a passing interest in tennis would be a better idea than rubbing the TV audiences noses in it as to how easy it is to decide to go to the Mens Final, with a British man in the final.. Next up was David Beckham, another "lucky winner" in the ballot to get tickets for Wimbledon held each year. Add into this all the sponsors and hangers on and it is a surprise that any actual fans get in at all. Clearly not unique to Wimbledon, at every major sporting event there seem to be more celebs than real fans there now, and being able to afford the black market tickets obviously has something to do with it. 

Like the Chancellor George Osborne being at the Champions League Final, I am pretty sure he is not a Chelsea fan, and doubt he is a regular attendee at any football match, but a sponsor somewhere would have arranged tickets no doubt for him to be in the "box". There are many "celebrities" who do go to sporting events on a regular basis, the pub I drink at before Spurs games has more than a smattering of famous faces drinking out of cans like the rest of us, and pretty much fit in with the rest of the people there. They have season tickets, they go because they enjoy it, not because it is a status symbol to be there.

Similar to the list of celebs who have carried the Olympic Torch, Will.i.Am, Chris Moyles, Jamie Oliver and so on... In Oxford 20 slots were taken by people who work for Coca Cola instead of the locals, it seems that the "ordinary" people are getting sidelined more and more now. Each year there is outcry among football fans as to the small percentage of tickets that each competing club gets for the FA Cup final, and I am pretty sure the ratio of celebs to ballot winners at the Led Zeppelin one off reunion gig was hardly a fair allocation, unless famous people are actually lucky at ballots?

So what is the answer?

With all the sponsorship money in sport these days, and with celebs seemingly willing to pay whatever the going rate is to get into the top events, why isn't it far cheaper for the rest of us to go to the earlier rounds or less glamourous matches? I am sure many people would accept they couldn't go to the final if the earlier days at Wimbledon were half price, or football fans wouldn't mind as much when games are on TV if those who have tickets got half their money back when entering the ground.

This is where the big myth comes in about advertising and sponsorship in the top flight. Those brands are only doing it to make you buy their products, no more, no less. I doubt the board at Investec or Autonomy had much heartache when Chelsea won the Champions League, probably saved them a few quid. Pretty sure that Gatorade were also more than happy with Serena Williams tweeting them after winning Wimbledon Ladies Final - but none of that helps you or me does it.

The thing is that all sport starts at school or in local activities, where people invest their own time and money in something that they enjoy, and want to pass on to their children and others. Regardless of what McDonalds or Pepsi tell you they do it is a drop in the ocean compared to what all the people running childrens football or tennis every weekend all over the country. Despite what the media would let on, there are tennis tournaments all year round in the UK, and football matches on council pitches that are not all about "top 4" finishes, and that is where the actual support for sport is.

Whether it is football looking for the replacement celebration from 1966 or wondering where the "next Andy Murray" will come from, the one thing to remember is that it will be in spite of the celeb elite and corporate sponsors, not because of them.

Send your CV to N17

If you thought debates about the Royal Jubilee were extreme, or politics could split people you really need to see the discussions about Harry Redknapp and Spurs parting company. Never before (well, probably not never, but lets' have some hyperbole) has a single issue split a group so cleanly into sections, it makes the Judean Peoples Front and the Peoples Front of Judea look like brothers in arms.

The rights and wrongs of his departure are filling more blogs and papers than the death of Diana with very little middle ground. He was either the best manager Spurs have had in generations, or a hated wheeler dealer that failed to deliver. I sit somewhere in the middle, he did get us Champions League football and some cracking games and memories, he also failed in two FA Cup semi finals, badly, and let a huge points lead disappear in the last season meaning that Champions League was not going to visit the Lane next year. It is the manager who claims success and accolades for winning things, and therefore has to be accountable for failing, and ultimately his tenure was not one that will fill football history books.

I made the comment last night that he was not a successful manager as he has no trophy in his time at Spurs, and this again shows the difference in what people class as success these days. Record books will show who won trophies, not who finished 4th. Very few people alive now will be able to accurately remember or comment on how Spurs played in 1921, but the records show that the FA Cup was won - so we know it was a good year. In 90 years will Harry Redknapp be known for anything at Spurs, like it or not the answer is no apart from Spurs specific books, there will be little mention of us on Sky Sports flashback shows then.

It comes back to what I often comment on, what do you want from your club?

Many laugh at Arsenal for not winning a trophy in 7 years, but they are classed as successful by many - for me, I would rather win a trophy every few years and play some good football than just be in some competitions with no real chance of winning. Claiming that Spurs have had the best seasons in living memory by finishing 4th, 5th and 4th makes no sense at all to me.

As for Harry, if anyone is bored enough to go back through the Spurs Show podcasts when he was given the job, you will hear my emails being read out where I said he was not a long term option and was the wrong choice. I stand by that. In a really perverse way the worst thing he did was to finish 4th - he set himself a target that was not then backed by the board and the end was always going to happen in this way.

Now we wait to see who takes over the helm, and there will be support and dislike for whoever it is instantly - it is never dull supporting Spurs.

And the losing side is...

In a game Spurs didn't even play in, the footballing gods decided that the outcome would mean no Champions League football next season, the holy grail of finishing 4th best club not enough on its own to qualify. Much grinding of teeth and blaming various events through the season, far too much focus on referee decisions against us for my liking - I am sure we must have had some bad decisions in our favour over the past season.

Quite simply Spurs should have been a completely safe third at least in the league, and to lose a 10 point lead and on the last day of the season to still have a possibility of finishing 5th was the end of a disastrous second half to the season. But those are the breaks, we have to pick up and carry on now, plan and look forward to next season and a lot more Sunday games and Europa League games that are already written off by many as not even worth bothering with. 

One hope is that the club are honest long in advance of which games the players and management will be concentrating on so we know not to bother looking at dates of the Carling Cup final or the second stage of the Europa League. Clearly the ticket prices will be the clue, and even the useless infrastructure of Ticketmaster will be able to cope with applications for a Thursday night game against Cefn Druids from Wales or KS Flamutari Vlorë of Albania.. If we are not going to try in one or two of the competitions, just be honest and set expectations.

There are the splits between fans as to whether 4th place means more than a cup (it doesn't) and far too many conversations about how good the balance sheet is at the club. Keeping hold of some players and replacing others is going to be a summer long task for Spurs, as for most other clubs without bottomless pits of money, and that is without what could still turn into a merry go round of managers. As usual the In The Know community will keep us informed by making up rumours, and agents & players alike will be making all sorts of cryptic comments which all translate to "Pay me more money". What happens remains to be seen, and with at least 3 league games before the transfer window closes at the end of August we can only hope the deals are all done in advance of the season starting.

As for the Champions League final itself, not a great game, and Chelsea won, something that was always going to happen one day. A few odd bits and pieces to note though - the PM David Cameron celebrating at a G8 meeting in a very contrived way, more so as he claims to be an Aston Villa fan, and also the Chancellor George Osborne being in the executive box at the ground. I can only assume / hope he was discussing how much tax the Chelsea owner would be paying in the UK this year?

And the oddest of the odd, in what actually strikes as rampant delusion, the images of John Terry on the pitch in full kit celebrating the win, after a game he was banned from playing in. The pic shows the celebrations in full swing, raising the question does he think he actually played in the game?

It also raises the biggest risk for him to be included in the England squad for the European Championships - should England do the unthinkable and win, while he isn't captain he will be in all the pictures like this. Not a problem you think, but the week after the final he is in court and if found guilty of racial abuse, how will that taint the win. 

In real terms it is lucky we don't have a chance.

How long is long enough?

Without the multi-million pound redundancy payments and the virtual guarantee of being employed again, who would want to be a football manager?

Only a few short weeks, if that, since Roy Hodgson was given the job of England manager, when almost everyone said “Let’s give him a fair chance” and he names his first squad and the instant reaction on line appeared to be that he has used up his one and only lifeline. Long before his team kick a ball he is set for failure with pundits pointing out how he has got it wrong and who he should have picked. For me the main issue he made was picking John Terry, but that is old ground now – I still retain a “meh” attitude to the England team, and it will take a while for that to change, if it ever does. The Euro 2012 tournament will come and go, and if England fail to get out of the group, the Sun and Sky will ensure he is sacked in time to go back to his old job….

Other managerial news is the sacking of Kenny Dalglish, we can only assume for poor performance, why else would you sack a manager? This comes on the heels of Aston Villa sacking their manager, potentially the start of a managerial merry go round over the summer with many candidates being spoken of moving to bigger clubs, and other managers reaching the end of their allotted time.

For me the odd thing is that Liverpool won a cup, and were in another cup final, so although having a poor league finish to me that is a pretty damn successful season. Contrast this with Harry Redknapp at Spurs, who won nothing (again) but is constantly referred to as the best manager we have had in generations. One fact that is being trotted out all too often is that this is the best 3 league positions Spurs have achieved in a row in 47 years. Now, without recourse to google, can any fan of any club say where they finished in the league 47, 48 and 49 years ago? If you can, and you weren’t champions or relegated that is a bit of a worry really J

I have spoken to many Liverpool & Spurs fans and there is a distinct split in both camps as to if either manager has been successful this year or not. For my view, Dalglish was the most successful, and in 20 years time when someone is revising for Mastermind the facts they will learn will be who won the cups, not who finished 4^th. It is a funny old game indeed if winning a trophy is seen as a failure worthy of a sacking and yet throwing away two cups (three if you count Spurs non-performance in the FA Cup semi-final) and finishing 4^th in the league is seen as a huge achievement.

Times have changed, modern football, money – I know that, but as a fan would you rather have had a trip to Wembley and won a cup than just played in the Champions League?

I genuinely cannot understand those fans who just want to be in the Champions League, very few ever reference or express a desire to win it, just being in it is now seen as the mark of a successful team. Having seen the UEFA Cup and Carling Cup lifted “in the flesh” I can assure you that just seeing a game against Barcelona doesn’t compare.

Football won’t go back, I know that, but when someone has to use the Rothmans Yearbook to try and find a justification of success of a manager, I would put it to you that is not a great success. If Spurs’ owners are serious about progression, a change is needed, and I think that the sacking of Dalglish will start that process for Spurs and a few other clubs, it is going to be a busy few weeks for football club owners.

The Worst Job In England?

Although it is hard to call a job with a multi-million pound salary and an expense account that would dwarf most salaries "the worst", maybe the most thankless job would be a better title.

In a move that seemed to have sidestepped leaks and media guesswork the FA appointed Roy Hodgson as England Manager, and also confirmed that they hadn't spoken to anyone else about the decision. This did not go down well with much of the tabloid press, especially the red tops. The Sun front page based on schoolboy humour, much the same from an article on the Mirrors website, seeming to say that a man who can't pronounce the letter R very well can't be a decent manager. His record and multi-lingual abilities not taking centre stage for them. I am also pretty sure that the Sun used to support the campaign for Anti Bullying Week in schools - hopefully the younger readers of the paper will remember not to bully anyone today..

It was no surprise that the Sun and Sky News (and Sky Sports News) were quite anti the appointment, as Harry Redknapp "writes" for the Sun and he and his son have lucrative contracts with Sky, and are far more media friendly than Roy is, there will be no unlimited access to the England camp with Roy as there would probably have been under Harry. But, the decision is made, lets hope that Roy isn't crucified by the press after the first goal is conceded by England - sadly he will be, and I am pretty sure Harry & Jamie will be providing punditry on all England games from now on, if they can tear themselves away from the Wii.

The press conference showed that in many eyes Roy has been written off before he even starts. As many questions and references to Harry as to the players and the future, and it is that area that will define his management era.

He has a 4 year contract, which is for the next three tournaments, and to my mind he should focus on having the best performance in Euro 2016. Use the imminent tournament as a starting point to build a team that will be together for at least the next four years, which means making the cut of what remains of much of the "Golden Generation". Players such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steve Gerrard and more should now be told their international careers are over, and a younger group of players are introduced. For me and many it is the players and their attitudes more than the recent manager that have turned us away from worrying or even caring about international football - Roy, the FA and the players have a lot of work to do.

Most important thing to remember, England are generally ranked around 6th in the FIFA world rankings, this means a 1/4 final place is the aim, a semi final is over performing, and to win in unlikely. If the press could remember that we may get some realistic levels of support in the summer.