More Random Thoughts

Chalk and Cheese

What an enjoyable experience viewing the Fulham / Hamburg game turned out to be. There’ll be plenty of plaudits heading Roy Hodgson’s way, all deserved. I was particularly struck by the huge gulf between how the game was played, by both teams, in comparison to the previous night’s Inter / Barca game. No ‘hands to face’ cheating, no theatrics, just twenty two players playing football to win. Even a bunch of Germans ( Sir Alex must have been pleased ). Superb. I’m not sure where the ref found three minutes to add on at the end, it seems to be the default digit given to avoid getting a roasting from either manager after the match.

Acting

Mourinho polarises opinion. I’ve generally been in the ‘pro’ camp, but also appreciate Barca’s flair, so began the match with an open mind. Yet I spent 70 minutes willing Inter home to victory. I applauded the time wasting, I cheered each clearance from Lucia and Samuel. Why? I dislike the gamesmanship, I enjoy seeing attacking football, so shouldn’t I have been supporting the Catalans? Simply, I detest one particular element of the European game – feigning injury. Sergio Busquets took a soft palm against the underside of his jaw. His reaction caused a red card. He wasn’t shot between the eyes with a starting pistol, yet his actions suggested he had been. It’s sad that the higher up the hierarchy of European football you delve, the worse the play-acting becomes. If any team, whether it be Barca, Inter, Real Madrid or United, wish to be seen as the iconic team of world football, wouldn’t it be great if their standards of behaviour were as high as their levels of talent? Maybe it’s just the first sign I’m getting old – harking back to times past.

Red and Average

I’ve had a few digs at Liverpool before, so I’ve little to add following tonight’s game. A two-man team with only 0.5 playing is always unlikely to succeed. I only wish the two Europa league semi-finals had been played consecutively, to allow the viewer fair comparison between the two English teams. I’m guessing that Fulham would have won on the counts of team spirit, organisation, heart and determination to win. A new broom at Anfield come summer time, me thinks.

Manipulation

Gambling’s a dangerous pastime sometimes. It doesn’t surprise me that it wrecks lives. I’m pretty level-headed, relaxed and averagely educated. I’ve been betting for a number of years. Yet the stress of losing still occasionally plays with my head. However much I strain to avoid chasing a loss, it’s often not until the next day that my ‘unlucky’ bets can be seen as flawed by a calm head, even if I had convinced myself at the time that I wasn’t chasing. A great example yesterday, as I blew away my horse racing profit for the month in one supposedly ‘researched’ lay. I ended up placing a 16.0 lay ( Sweet Clementine ), right at the top of my price range. The error? Yes the odds were too risky, but I’ll live with that. My major indiscretion was to abandon a simple rule I’ve had for months. That’s the manipulation that goes on in your head – ‘oh, I can ignore that rule just this one time’. Then, whack, kick in the nuts. A week of disciplined progress in tatters.

The rule? Don’t lay Jim Crowley at Kempton.

Bigotry

I’ve avoided spending more than token time following the election coverage, I’m way past the age where I can be swayed by soundbites. But one thought occurred to me that’s not been mentioned regarding Mr Brown’s celebrated faux pas yesterday. Senior politicians spend so much time in London, I think that all the party leaders are a million miles away in ideology from people living in towns like Burnley and Rochdale ( sorry Mully ). As someone living close to an urban metropolis in Birmingham, I would suggest that anyone local to me having a dig at Eastern Europeans probably is a bigot. Without their influx, our local economy would grind to a halt. London’s no doubt the same. But Mr Brown clearly has no idea of what living in many northern towns is like. When skilled manufacturing jobs have been bulldozed over many years, then there is a real fear from ordinary people that immigrants will take away job opportunities from local people. It’s not bigotry, but genuine concern.

Oh, before anyone takes my comment the wrong way, I’ll admit to being pro-european, and idealogically well to the left of any of our major parties. A festival hippy, I suppose.

Which brings me to music. It’s the Camden Crawl this weekend, so I’ll be heading south tomorrow evening for two nights. Hopefully, I’ll sneak a spare hour on Betfair at some point tomorrow to ensure that I end the month in profit – it’s tight at the moment.

Enjoy your extended weekend.