Euro 2012 Day 3

Diana Ross was not required

Well 6 games in and we're yet to see a goalless draw so that can't be bad, and it was also a decent and relatively brief opening ceremony. Game of the tournament so far surely came today as Spain drew 1-1 with Italy. Spain were not on top form but came up against a spirited and tactically proficient Italian team in a game either side could have won in the closing moments. 

Fabregas slams in the equaliser

Ireland suffered a hammer blow as they lost 1-3 to Croatia. From the kick-off the team looked nervy in possession and when Croatia went 3-1 up I feared they could be on the end of a real thumping, but in fairness although the damage had been done they had opportunities to reduce the deficit near the end. I can't see any way through for Trappatoni's men, bearing in mind their poor defensive performance, inability to keep the ball and the fact that World champions Spain are next!

So, an exciting day tomorrow. I start a new job and of course it's France vs England at 5.00pm. I predict we may see our first 0-0 of the tournament as in 1992. That wouldn't be the worst result in the world.

England take on France at the impressive Donblass Arena

Euro 2012 Day 1

Here we are again folks, another tournament and we're all a bit older and perhaps wiser, no one is tipping England (unless they win against France and then the media machine will go into overdrive), and we can look forward to 3 weeks of football festivities. Or can we? 
Today's worrying news about some members of the Dutch squad being subjected to 'monkey chants' at the open training session in Krakow, Poland has only intensified the calls for UEFA to properly tackle this problem swiftly and effectively, it will not be easy. Michel Platini was asked by a BBC reporter whether he felt his position as UEFA president would be under pressure if there were further outbursts of racism, his response, correctly I believe, was "are you joking?". It is down to the police (who by some accounts have been apathetic in the past to such incidents) to deal with such crimes, as that is what they are. Let us hope that the tournament can be a success for both countries involved and we don't see an escalation of this unacceptable behaviour. 


It will have not escaped your attention that England have once again had major problems in the build-up to this tournament. Hodgson has performed admirably so far both on and off the pitch and has had to deal with several withdrawals and of course the Rio Ferdinand saga which the press have handled like a dog with a bone. For my money Hodgson has made his decision on the squad and has stood by it. Ferdinand has accepted the decision with all the good grace you'd expect from the serial tweeter and his response to being left out sums up perhaps one of the reasons why he has been omitted.

Rio - Not very clever and clearly very 'bovered'

Anyway, as David Bernstein has rightly said, it's about the players who are in the England squad, not any players that have been left at home, so for the sake of sanity I think it's time for the media to forget about Ferdinand and move on.

New Shirts, New Hope?

Oldham Athletic have unveiled new home and away kits for next season and a very pleasant surprise they are as well. Aside from the new badge, which is reluctantly growing on me out of necessity (you can't carry around a grudge forever!), the new Fila kits are pretty smart in my opinion. Now all we need is that 4th stand building and a decent team. Come Dickov we know you can do it. (Build a team that is, not the stand).

Tangerine Army!

Lovely Stuff

                                                          

                      

Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in South Wales, the natives are sharpening their axes as news spreads today of Cardiff City's astonishing move from blue shirts to red, and a 'brand' new badge to boot, and I thought we had it bad! Apparently 100M of Malaysian investment will ease through this small transition and quite a lot of the fans seem to be going for it looking at the Cardiff Forums. It's the old tactic, divide and conquer. Now we will see whether Cardiff fans can muster enough strength to defend 100 years of tradition, or whether the lure of the Premier League will produce much 'Granny-mongering' in an effort to reach 'the promised land'. The official website adopts a low-key approach to breaking this news 'Today we unveil the stylish new Cardiff City home and away kits for the 2012/13 season as designed and supplied by Puma', so far so good, anything else? 'As per the official statement launched today, from the start of the 2012/12 season, Cardiff City's primary home colour has been changed to red' WTF????? 'Cardiff City will also be changing their name to Wales FC' I made that bit up obviously but it's not hard to see what's going on here. 

It's Wales isn't it?

Red - Confident, Blue - Unsure!

Imagine if Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United decided to change colours in return for investment? What about a nice new sky blue kit for United or perhaps Newcastle would prefer to play in red and white stripes in return for the promise of Champions League football? One poster on the forums used the old argument about football being a business, which pretty much means as long as someone has the money someone will always be prepared to bend over and take it.