Roy Keane’s Worst Judgment
Tony Cascarino in The Times says this under the heading of Worst Judgment.
When he was Ipswich Town manager, Roy Keane sounded as if he could not wait to sell Jonathan Walters. The Stoke City striker scored against Arsenal yesterday and has developed into an excellent buy. He causes so many problems with his sheer desire to score.
I would agree. Good luck to Jonathan.
Paul Gascoigne
I’m just listening to Gazza’s teammates talking about the footballer and winning the cup in 1991.
Someone texted in a quote of Aristotle.
No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.
Let’s hope he overcomes his problems, as he still has a lot to offer.
One of his teammates, Justin Edinburgh, said that after they’d finished training at Spurs, Gazza would often take the youth teams and train with them for another ninety minutes. If he can pass on his enthusiasm and a few of his skills, he might yet make a substantial positive contribution to football.
An aside for Liz: he talked about how the twelve steps had been a great help to him.
Ipswich Town Supporters in London
I’ve just set up a web site for Ipswich Town supporters, who live and/or work in London.
I have used WordPress to set it up and it can be viewed at ipswichtownlondon.wordpress.com.
In some ways it is showing how you can use WordPress to create a Blog-Based Small Business. Although this isn’t a business, we’re trying to attract Ipswich Town supporters and create a source of useful information.
That Wasn’t a Goal
The Chelsea equaliser I’ve just seen against Tottenham wasn’t a goal. The ball appeared not to cross the line and the referee was unsighted. So Spurs should have been given the benefit of the doubt.
So I may be biased, but then if there was goal line technology we would have known for certain.
Rangers Get Off Lightly
Rangers have been given a suspended fine and some fairly weak sanctions, after they were accused of sectarian chanting in the matches against PSV Eindhoven. This is the report from the Guardian. But Rangers are unrepentant and blaming others for their problems.
But Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, still aimed his fire towards the Football Against Racism in Europe group (Fare), which he feels was heavily influential in this affair after it provided evidence to Uefa. Bain said: “We have had serious concerns about the integrity of the evidence compiled by the Fare organisation and that remains the case.
“We are also of the opinion that Fare has been influenced by people who make it their business to damage our club in any way they can. We are committed to the eradication of sectarianism and believe it would have been more constructive for Fare to work with our club rather than against it. Instead, they submitted evidence to Uefa with a clear objective in mind and have shown a complete lack of transparency or accountability when asked for clarification on various aspects of that evidence.”
English football had its problems in the past, and it was only cured by draconian action by the authorities, in both the UK and Europe.
Someone has got to take the lead to stop the sectarian songs, the drinking and the violence. Without strong action, nothing will get any better.
The Liberty Stadium
The Liberty Stadium is only a few years old and in my opinion it is one of the better smaller stadia I’ve visited.
Approaching the Liberty Stadium
It is just perhaps a pity that they didn’t build a station to serve the stadium. Especially, as the railway between London and Cardiff to Swansea passes close to the ground.
Outside the Liberty Stadium
You can just see the viaduct carrying the railway behind the stadium.
Inside the stadium looks very similar to the other new stadia like St. Mary’s in Southampton, Leicester City, Doncaster and Coventry.
Inside the Liberty Stadium
But in some ways, the design is better. I did like the fact that disabled supporters were placed on a balcony that extended all round the stadium, with level access to the outside.
Surely this arrangement gives a better view and would be much better in the case of any emergency.
Or is this all just a process of continual developent in our design of new stadia?
Signposting in Swansea
None of the signs in the City Centre pointed me towards the Liberty Stadium.
Comprehensive Signposting in Swansea
But at least they are comprehensive.
I did like this sign though.
Mixed Up Signage in Swansea
Wouldn’t it be so much simpler if all distances and heights were in metric units, rather than both metric and Imperial? I’m assuming that the abbreviation for metres in Welsh is the same as in English, French, German and Italian. As it’s an international standard, I would assume it is.
If ever a sign is going to lead to a truck getting stuck under a bridge it is this one!
High Speed Train to Swansea
I said that I was going to see Ipswich in Swansea yesterday. I had bought a Standard Class ticket out and a First Class back at a total cost of £45.20. I had actually booked six days in advance, so these good prices weren’t the result of very early booking.
The trip takes three hours and is probably one of the longest trips you can do from London easily in a day in a High Speed Train or IC125 both ways. I got six and three quarter hours in Swansea, which was enough time for a wander round the city, have some lunch and see the match.
As to the latter, I’ll not be talking about that!
According to the guy who served me coffee in the buffet, the train out had just been refurbished. It was certainly in very good condition and completely clean. I think it might have been the same train set on return, as it was in an equally pristine state.
So how did Standard and First Clases compare?
According to Ian Walmsley ‘s excellent article in Modern Railways a couple of months ago, he scored 82.1% for First Class and 76.2% for Standard for the IC125.
I’m not going to argue with those figures, although, I actually found the more upright Standard Class seat slightly more comfortable. But then my spine doesn’t curl under correctly and I’ve always found that too soft chairs are less uncomfortable than hard ones. When I used to drive, I found some cars particularly difficult.
My one complaint is that the tray in Standard Class is not big enough to lay the paper out, so I could do the Sudoku.
Small Seatback Tray on an IC125
However, I did get two seats to myself going out, so I could spread sideways a bit.
Perhaps I need a Working Class coach. This would be Standard Class but everybody would get a proper table, just like you originally got, when the trains were built.
I know the new layouts get more people on the trains, but have we really progressed?
As to progress, I did walk through several carriages to get to the buffet. The train was rather busy and there were several of those trolley cases, I hate so much, in the aisles. Despite this, I didn’t have any problems getting to the buffet and getting back carrying the coffee. Compare that with the problems I had on the Pendolino. But then I was running yesterday at 125 mph on a railway built for 60 mph in the Victorian era, in a forty year old train.
If I had the choice, I’d take a High Speed Train or failing that a Mark 3 Carriage anytime I could! When I travel to Ipswich, I always book one of the Norwich trains, as these are made up of Mark 3’s.
When booking on-line, you should be told the type of train you would normally be getting.
Getting to the Liberty Stadium in Swansea
I hope there’s better information, when I get off my train in Swansea, but everyone assumes you’re going by car to Swansea.
But what do you expect?
Very few places have had good information on how to get from the train station to the football ground. In some cases, you can use the method you do at Ipswich; the Mark 1 Eyeball. But in others, it’s impossible.
Football Shirt Sponsorship
Years ago, many of the top football clubs had shirts that were sponsored by drinks companies.
I’m just watching Manchester United and Everton on the television. United are sponsored by Aon, who are an insurance company, although they are a lot more than that! Everton on the other hand are sponsored by Chang, which is a beer company. To me, a brewer is someone who makes real ale, and I doubt that the Thai company who makes it observe the same principles as say Adnams or the Germans. I don’t think that you would call Chang a significant player in the UK drinks market. It’s certainly something that I as a coeliac couldn’t drink safely. The tie-up between Everton and Chang also has some interesting links to post-tsunami projects, so it could be seen as being benficial to both partners. It certainly doesn’t promote excessive drinking.
So are any other clubs in the English Premier League sponored by drinks companies. Carlsberg used to sponasor Liverpool and in fact the Premier League, but I don’t think they do anymore. Obviously, advertising at football in England doesn’t make sense to them now.
So who sponsor the shirts of the other teams? The complete list is here.
- Arsenal – Emirates – airline
- Aston Villa – FxPro – financial trading
- Birmingham – F & C Investments – finance
- Blackburn Rovers – Crown Paints – paint
- Blackpool – Wonga – finance
- Bolton – 188Bet – gambling
- Chelsea – Samsung – electronics
- Everton – Chang – alcoholic beverages
- Fulham – FxPro – financial trading
- Liverpool – Standard Chartered – finance
- Manchester City – Etihad – airline
- Manchester United – AON – finance
- Newcastle United – Northern Rock – finance
- Stoke City – Britannia Building Society – finance
- Sunderland – Tombola – gambling
- Tottenham Hotspur – Autonomy – technology and Investec – finance
- West Bromwich Albion – Homeserve – emergency repair experts
- West Ham – SBOBET – gambling
- Wigan Athletic – 188Bet – gambling
- Wolverhampton Wanderers – Sportingbet – gambling
If you look at many of these companies, it is unlikely I would ever deal with them. Perhaps the only ones I might use are the airlines and perhaps one or two of the finance companies. As to the betting companies, I wouldn’t use any as if I have a bet it’s on Betfair. But the only company, which anyone could possibly have any serious objection to is Wonga, which is a very high interest rate lender, that I would never touch with a bargepole. Unless of course, they were to pay me serious money for consultancy, which is unlikely.
With the exception of Everton and their deal with Chang, there are no sponsorships from alcoholic beverage companies. I think this is a good thing.
Surely though, the sponsorship of Stoke City by the Britannia Building Society is the most interesting, in that no-one can have objection to a well-run building society can they? Especially, as it is one of the longest running deals in English football.
When it comes to the nPower Championship, I can’t remember seeing a drinks company on a shirt this season.
So what about the Scottish Premier League
- Aberdeen – Team Recruitment – recruitment
- Celtic – Tennents – alcoholic beverages
- Dundee United – Calor – energy
- Hamilto – Reid Furniture – furniture
- Hearts – UKIO – finance
- Hibernian – Crabbie’s – alcoholic beverages
- Inverness – Orion Group – recruitment
- Kilmarknock – Verve – motor dealer
- Motherwell – Commsworld – communications
- Rangers – Tennetts – alcoholic beverages
- St. Johnstone – Taylor Wimpey – house builder
- St. Mirren – Carbrini – sportswear
One or two of these might have changed, but two stand out. Both Glasgow teams are sponsored by the same alcohol company.
Surely with their history of alcohol-fuelled violence at the matches and domestic violence afterwards, this is a very good idea.
Especially, as alcohol can’t be advertised on television and all Old Firm matches are televised.
In fact, I would support a total ban of the shirt sponsorship by alcohol companies throughout Europe.
The Anonymous Widower 