The Best UK Football Team Ever
The BBC are having a bit of fun here, naming the best UK side ever in front of the Olympics. These are all players, that I’ve seen play live, so those whose careers ended nefore about 1958 are out.
What surprises me, is the number of times Danny Blanchflower is mentioned in proposed teams, probably in many cases by people, who never saw him play. To my mind, he was the best I ever saw and would be made captain of my side.
The goalkeeper picks himself and there is no-one to rival another Ulsterman, Pat Jennings.
The right-back is a difficult one with Viv Anderson, George Cohen, Jimmy Armfield, Chris Lawler and Gary Neville. I will choose George, as we don’t win tournaments without a Cohen in the side.
One centre-back, Bobby Moore, picks himself and you can choose anyone from Billy Wright, Jack Charlton, Tony Adams, Billy McNeill and Terry Butcher. I was going to put Joleon Lescott in the list, until I saw the mistake he made this afternoon against QPR. I never saw Duncan Edwards play. So it has to be Terry Butcher, if only for his England performance against Sweden in qualifying for the World Cup.
The left-backs must include Ray Wilson, Stuart Pearce, Ashley Cole and Kenny Samson. I think I’ll take Ashley Cole.
I would choose the best midfield three I ever saw in it’s entirety; Blanchflower, John White and Dave Mackay. I saw that midfield many times and even some of the great sides we’ve seen in the last few years, could not have coped with the skill and intelligence of Blanchflower and White and the power of Mackay. They also weren’t short in the goal-scoring department.
I’ve always liked a speedy players to open up defenses and I’ve seen three of the best; Gareth Bale, Ryan Giggs and Cliff Jones. It’s not funny they’re all Welsh, as there have been large numbers of Welsh sprinters in athletics. In football, Leighton James was another fast left winger. Perhaps, the Welsh are just looking for the next world-beating successor to J J Williams et al. Incidentally, I believe Cliff Jones used to play some amateur rugby after he retired from football. Any one will do in truth, but I would take Gareth Bale.
That leaves me with two to play up front. They often go best in pairs, like John Toshack and Kevin Keegan, Alan Gilzean and Jimmy Greaves or currently Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck. On the other hand you have those like George Best and Gary Lineker, who very much worked indepoendently of the rest of the team. A lot of strikers too have problems and of course some are very selfish. I think that I’d put Rooney and Greaves up front. It would be an interesting experiment.
Obviously, you can disagree with my choice, but Blanchflower must stay as captain.
Greek Travel Costs
I found this article, entitled Is it cheaper to put Greek train passengers in taxis? on the BBC’s web site.
They come up with figures that show if there are more than two passengers, the taxi is cheaper.
And these figures ignore the fact that Greek Railways have borrowed €9 billion, which is all guaranteed by the Greek government.
Everybody Wants a Corgi
And not just any corgi, but a Pembrokeshire, like the Queen.
This is a statistic from the Kennel Club and it’s probably all down to the Diamond Jubilee.
Saving Fish With Flies
A large amount of the fish caught in the sea ends up as animal feed. The Sunday Times reports how in South Africa, a process has been developed to create chicken feed from maggots fed on blood from abattoirs. Sounds gruesome!
But if it means we take less fish from the sea to feed animals, it’s surely better.
Germany v Greece
If things work out right, Germany will play Greece on June 22nd in Euro 2012 in the midst of a Greek General Election.
What fun?
Greece Eight Weeks Away From Euro Exit
This headline was in the Sunday Times today.
So don’t book a holiday in Greece in the middle of July!
The Anonymous Widower 