1. England & Scotland Play A Classic Home International
England
& Scotland played what was a very competitive match that England won 3-2
after a goal from Ricky Lambert who was winning his first cap. What was the
most remarkable thing about this game, was that not only were Scotland
deserving of their 2 goals, but they played fantastically well and took England
all the way.
The
reason I mention this, is if you listen to the “British” press, you would get
the impression that England should be embarrassed to concede two goals against
Scotland. I am slightly biased as I lived in Glasgow for 6 happy years, but I’m
finding this attitude completely disrespectful. England played well, possibly
not their best, but I do think Gordon Strachan got his tactics spot on and
Scotland put in a performance that they have been threatening for a while. I
just feel they deserve a lot more credit than they are getting.
The
Scottish fans were as always, very excitable. They decided to make Trafalgar
Square their base for the day and boy did they show why they are possibly the
best travelling support in world football. The highlight of their banter was
putting washing up liquid in the fountain, they know how to enjoy themselves.
On a
quick side note, just to toot my horn a bit, I said in this very blog last week
that Ricky Lambert would do well for England, and I was right, toot, toot.
In
other international news, Wales drew 0-0 with the Republic Of Ireland in by all
accounts was a dire match. Special note goes to Northern Ireland who won their
first game in 2 years by beating Russia 1-0. When I read that they hadn’t won a
match in 2 years I was shocked, they have some really good players, let’s just
hope they can kick on from here.
2. David Moyes = Alex Ferguson v2.0?
In what
I thought was the most pointless rant and complete of the week, was David Moyes
complaining about the fixture lists. By all accounts, he is angry that his
Manchester United team are being forced to play Liverpool, Chelsea and
Manchester City all within the first 6 or 7 games of their season.
I’m
sorry, but at some point during the season you are going to have a run of
fixtures that don’t seem particularly fair. Hell, Cardiff City are playing
Sunderland away on the one Saturday, and Newcastle away the following Saturday,
meaning a 1,500 mile trip in a 7 day period. It happens, and to be fair, if you
are going to have a run of difficult fixtures, I would imagine it would be
easier to have them at the start of the season, as opposed to say the last 6
games. I don’t know, maybe he has sat down with Fergie and learnt the art of
moaning for the sake of moaning.
In
other Man Utd news, if you listen to the press, they are being linked with
every person who has ever laced a pair of boots. There are unconfirmed reports
that myself, @itsbiznews and @leegormley of Outside The Box have been offered £20
and a free milkshake to join the United squad. But in all seriousness, with
money burning a hole in David Moyes’s back pocket, it’s only a matter of time
before he makes a big money signing. The question is going to be will it be the
right signing or will it be a panic buy? Only time will tell.
3. The Premier League Returns
The
first Saturday of the Premier League season has been and gone, and despite the “difficult”
start Manchester United have got, they recorded an impressive 4-1 win against
Swansea. There was also wins for Southampton, Liverpool, Fulham & West Ham.
In
perhaps the biggest shock of the weekend so far, last season’s relegation
threatened Aston Villa beat Arsenal at the Emirates. The turning point in the
game came when Koscielny was penalised for what I believe was a perfectly good
tackle. I’ll be writing soon about the differences between the Premier League
in its first season and now, and tackling is definitely something that has gone
out of the game.
On
Sunday, we have the two newly promoted clubs in Crystal Palace & Hull City
taking on Spurs and Chelsea respectively, not the easiest of starts to say the
least! Good luck to them both.
4. Falcao On The Move Already?
In some
interesting news from the last couple of days, some of the more respected
newspapers have made claims that Radamel Falcao may be on the move Monaco only
2 games after his £51 million from Athletico Madrid last month.
Now,
what I find fascinating is the reasoning for this, and it’s something that is
obvious but I never thought about it before. Monaco is a tax free state, so
they can go out and offer higher wages than anybody else, especially their
competitors in the French league. This is obviously unfair and the French
footballing authorities are threatening to fine them £75 million to try and
re-address the balance.
I
completely and totally agree with the French authorities. For whatever
political and economical reason, Monaco is a tax free state, which is great for
the people who are wealthy enough to live there, but when you throw in sport
and the competitive nature of it, you can’t have one side playing with one set
of rules and a different set of rules for everyone else.
I know
I’m over simplifying this, but when it comes down to it, as a player you get
offered £200k a week tax free from Monaco, or £200k a week from PSG, but a % of
that goes to the tax man, you are obviously going to choose the best financial
option, and with tax issues and you are PSG you just simply can’t compete.
It
could be a whole lot of nothing, but it could be an interesting story to keep
an eye on.
5. Nick Collins Stood On A Wall, Nick Collins Had A Great Fall
In some
light hearted news from this week, head of football reporting for Sky Sport
News Nick Collins, was reporting outside Wembley before the England/Scotland
game when the ladder or temporary wall, whatever was holding him up, collapsed
live on telly.
The
clips are out there on YouTube, and if you haven’t seen it go and watch it now,
it is brilliant, not only for the actual fall but for Jim White’s reaction when
they go back to studio.
I haven’t
read anywhere that Nick Collins hurt anything but his pride, but I wish him and
his dignity a speedy recovery to health.
By @haydngleed
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