Simon Barnes on Liverpool and Money in Sport
Simon Barnes is my favourite sports writers and his piece on Liverpool in today’s paper is one of his best. And that is praise indeed, as to beat his usual high standard takes doing.
This is the opening paragraph.
What’s the difference between Peter Ridsdale at Leeds United and the Tom Hicks-George Gillett Jr regime at Liverpool? Answer: Ridsdale tried to use money to acquire glory; Hicks and Gillett tried to use glory to acquire money.
As the two Americans are saying they’ll be suing RBS for $1.6billion, I suspect that some journalists, who have put the boot into the two, may well be up for feeling the long arm of the American Legal System.
At least though our judges will probably protect those that need to be protected.
Liverpool on the Brink
Of what I’m not sure! But it looks like now that the Texas Legal System has got involved, that things will get more uncertain for the club.
I can’t see what a Texas Court has got to do with a deal done in the UK involving a British Bank, two individuals and an English football club. On the other hand I can understand why RBS don’t want to go against the US Courts, as there have been some rather one-sided results in the past, like the NatWest Three.
I’ve Been Watching Wales in Preference to England
On;ly because it’s on Sky and England are on the dreadful ITV.
I suppose I will watch England, but the idiot who gave them the contract for England matches needs certifying.
Sky and of course the BBC do football so much better!
Bury Town 2 – Staines 2
I think that was the final score, but I left soon after half-time with Staines in the lead, as the match was a bit of a struggle for Bury and I needed to get the bus back to Newmarket.
Ram Meadow is a pleasant little ground that holds about 2,000.
It was interesting to see James Scowcroft enjoying himself and showing no mean skills. Players like him seem to continue playing, just because it’s such a good thing to do.
Will I follow the winner of this tie towards the final. I’m not sure, but I think I might go to Staines!
Ipswich Town Keep Another Clean Sheet Against the Azzuris
Well not really, but in the World cup, Italy failed to score against New Zealand and Tommy Smith and now last night, they did the same against Northern Ireland and Gareth McAuley! But they had been talking to each other according to this report.
The Start of a Very Long Journey
Today there is no football, either for Ipswich or on the television. I do hate these boring International weekends! Especially, now that they don’t play on a Saturday, but on a Friday night.
After reading about Bury and their football for a fiver, I tried to find them on the web and found my local team, Bury Town, who must surely be the only team with Town in their name, who play in a town with a cathedral. In fact how many towns with cathedrals are there, that are not cities.
Bury Town, are playing in the Third Round of the FA Cup today, I think I’ll go! Perhaps then, I’ll follow the team in the cup that beats them and see how far I can get! It will be a long and difficult journey!
I’ll go early, check out the museums for some of the paintings and then have a gluten-free lunch in the new Carluccio’s.
A Very Good Marketing Idea
There is no Premiership or Championship football this weekend, as it’s the International break.
They’ve just announced on Radio 5, that Bury Town will let anybody in for a fiver, if they present a season ticket for another club. It’s here on the web.
What a great idea!
A Spoonfull of Lord Sugar
In The times today, Lord Sugar states that the rules on football clubs going bust should be changed. He says, if they do, it should be goodbye and you start at the bottom of the pyramid again.
What sense! But then he does talk a bit more than most football chairmen or politicians.
Liverpool Fans are Making a Crisis Out of a Small Drama
They love crises in Liverpool and the drama over the ownership of Liverpool Football Club is typical of the city. They even wasted an hour or so, talking about this subject on Radio 5, yesterday morning.
Ipswich fans could complain about past messes that their club has got in, but to us, there are more inmportant things in life.
So perhaps Liverpool fans should get a life outside of football.
In truth these dramas will go on and on until the most successful clubs in the UK have some form of community ownership. I doubt it will be like that of Barcelona or Real Madrid, but then who’s to say what will happen?
Not Just an Obituary in The Times, but a Leader Too!
I wonder what a young Norman Wisdom would have said, if that many years later, when he died, he would not only have an obituary in The Times, but a leader inside the cover, praising his life and work. But then he was one of those small, tough men, who often come out on top despite what the world throws at them!
There have been so many memories on the TV and radio in the last day or so, about one of Britain’s most-loved comedians. I particularly liked the stories of such as Chris Hollins, who is far too young to have seen the films or the classic TV sketches of the 1950s and 1960s, but remembers him from the match when England played in Albania.
I think we always forget what a good actor he was. He won a Bafta for a start! But I do wonder what would have happened if the film he had written about Benny Lynch in the 1950s had ever been made. As someone who could box, Wisdom saw himself playing the great Scottish boxer, but then the film industry in those days of the 1950s, saw him as a comic and not a serious actor. Some years ago, I read about this part of his life in the sports pages of The Daily Telegraph. It was one of his regrets in life, that the film was never made. Perhaps it should be!
The Anonymous Widower 