Right. It's been about a year since Flog was launched and it's going.... well, it's going. Updates are less regular than when Flog first started up but the pieces are more thought out and less likely to contain references to the health of Newcastle managers, especially now Chris 'Clipboard Chris' Hughton is in charge. I do things like research now. Mental.
I've just had a look at my 'Blogger' stats, and its quite encouraging as my more recent posts have seen more traffic. Not being technically minded, I presume this is good, considering the more recent posts have been among the better ones. Also, my activity map shows that the UK is where Flog is most read, then the USA and Canada, so thank you. Germay is next, so danke. Then it's Denmark. I don't know what the Danish is for thanks, so I'll just do what every English person does when faced with a foreign language barrier by shouting anything I think do know: THOMAS GRAVESEN, DENMARK. THOMAS GRAVESEN ALOT.
I'm continuing the writing but the videos may come later than first anticipated. Apparently, and who knew, you need money to do that sort of thing. MONEY! I bearly summon the energy to breathe let alone earn.
So that's where Flog is at. Thanks for all the support, it has come in various forms and from various people (and countries, Thomas Gravesen again) and it has been encouragement enough for me to continue. Plus, I kind of like calling Martin Keown a murderer every other week.
16 September 2010
12 September 2010
Flog - Fergie, Bob Marley and the angriest of all the kiwi fruit
If what the papers are saying is true regarding Everton fans’ prepared re-working of a Bob Marley classic into ‘No woman, no Kai’ then it is even more of a shame that Wayne Rooney did not take to the Goodison pitch on Saturday. That sort of wit rarely has the opportunity to rear its head in football. Fergie has denied us.
The fact that there potentially could have been thirty odd thousand Evertonians directing these lyrics at the striker makes a mockery of those who are bemoaning Rooney and his personal life’s status as genuine news. The snob in me agrees- there are far more important people in the world who are doing the same, and certainly worse- but the football fan in me knows that if it was my team playing Manchester United next, I would have joined in had a chorus started. For one it makes a nice change from ‘your support is fucking shit’, though that too makes it into my top 5, but mainly because it is quite simply brilliant.
Fergie’s decision to leave him out of the squad was not so brilliant, reasoning that the hot reception would be a ‘nightmare’... well has he not met Rooney? He has thrived on it his whole career and it would appear almost scientific fact that he plays better when being goaded from the stands, turning him into a raging bull with an angry kiwi fruit for a head. As a still relatively volatile youngster he had returned to Everton and excelled both in physical and mental strength and it seems the animosity between the two parties has even cooled in recent years. Surely a bit of ribbing, which even England tea-mate Phil Jagielka said he expected and might ‘give a bit’ of himself, though definitely more hostile than he might have got at, say, Fulham or West Brom, would have brought the best out of him as it always has done.
In fairness the result was somewhat of a freak after being 3-1 up on ninety minutes and then completely collapsing. The mentality of their defence was staggering; by the end they were defending so deep Johnny Evans got the bends, but you still might not bet against them going another decade without letting a two goal lead slip. That’s not saying it wasn’t deserved by Everton, but for long spells United didn’t miss Rooney, though it would be stupid not to question whether the game would have been put to bed had he been on the field. Fergie is no stranger to his players being the subject of hate mobs- recent history suggests he has managed some of the most talented yet controversial figures in the game- but it is the first time he has deemed the pressure too much. Beckham and Ronaldo in their times of strife held equal value to United as Rooney does right now.
Even more of a worry for United’s fanbase is that Fergie claimed to be able to call on such a ‘fantastic squad’ in this sort of situation. Though it cannot be denied it is better than most, it is not one of his best, and it certainly isn’t ‘fantastic’. The days of Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs were fantastic, as were the more recent Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez, and to refer his current crop in this manner suggests a rare yet very possible lack of judgement. Something about this United team doesn’t instil the same fear as those in the past. The intensity is not there, it all seems laboured when it was once full of pace and power. Industry has replaced entertainment, and though it can wield the same results, in short United look beatable. And now I’ve said that, watch them go and win the bloody Premiership.
The fact that there potentially could have been thirty odd thousand Evertonians directing these lyrics at the striker makes a mockery of those who are bemoaning Rooney and his personal life’s status as genuine news. The snob in me agrees- there are far more important people in the world who are doing the same, and certainly worse- but the football fan in me knows that if it was my team playing Manchester United next, I would have joined in had a chorus started. For one it makes a nice change from ‘your support is fucking shit’, though that too makes it into my top 5, but mainly because it is quite simply brilliant.
Fergie’s decision to leave him out of the squad was not so brilliant, reasoning that the hot reception would be a ‘nightmare’... well has he not met Rooney? He has thrived on it his whole career and it would appear almost scientific fact that he plays better when being goaded from the stands, turning him into a raging bull with an angry kiwi fruit for a head. As a still relatively volatile youngster he had returned to Everton and excelled both in physical and mental strength and it seems the animosity between the two parties has even cooled in recent years. Surely a bit of ribbing, which even England tea-mate Phil Jagielka said he expected and might ‘give a bit’ of himself, though definitely more hostile than he might have got at, say, Fulham or West Brom, would have brought the best out of him as it always has done.
In fairness the result was somewhat of a freak after being 3-1 up on ninety minutes and then completely collapsing. The mentality of their defence was staggering; by the end they were defending so deep Johnny Evans got the bends, but you still might not bet against them going another decade without letting a two goal lead slip. That’s not saying it wasn’t deserved by Everton, but for long spells United didn’t miss Rooney, though it would be stupid not to question whether the game would have been put to bed had he been on the field. Fergie is no stranger to his players being the subject of hate mobs- recent history suggests he has managed some of the most talented yet controversial figures in the game- but it is the first time he has deemed the pressure too much. Beckham and Ronaldo in their times of strife held equal value to United as Rooney does right now.
Even more of a worry for United’s fanbase is that Fergie claimed to be able to call on such a ‘fantastic squad’ in this sort of situation. Though it cannot be denied it is better than most, it is not one of his best, and it certainly isn’t ‘fantastic’. The days of Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs were fantastic, as were the more recent Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez, and to refer his current crop in this manner suggests a rare yet very possible lack of judgement. Something about this United team doesn’t instil the same fear as those in the past. The intensity is not there, it all seems laboured when it was once full of pace and power. Industry has replaced entertainment, and though it can wield the same results, in short United look beatable. And now I’ve said that, watch them go and win the bloody Premiership.
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