Our National Team...... cannot be seen!

The British National teams live matches are rarely shown on BBC or ITV but sold to the highest bidder. Sky TV wins and the average person who cannot afford the monthly fee, looses out. This is a sign of the times that our National Teams live matches are hardly shown on non pay-to-view TV! The government should step in and allow all citizens to see our sportsmen and women perform for Britian free and not have to pay.

Come on Mr Brown, give us back our right to watch Sport for the licence fee we pay.

Consistency in sport!

There's never such a thing as a "sure thing", especially when sport is concerned. Upsets, shocks, teams upping their game, disgrunted and delighted players & bosses. These are all used to sometimes describe a match or situation, which all add up to a piece of controvacy or someone complaining that there was no consitancy with a decision. This can wind people up and makes sport a spicy affair! A few examples below:-

Rugby Union - Wales v Ireland 9/3/2008. Scrum-half Mike Phillips of Wales decided to drop his a knee into the ribs of the prone Marcus Horan (Ireland), as the prop refused to release the ball. He was correctly sin binned but why was Horan not also peanolised for preventing a feee kick being taken quickly? Conclusion - One rule for one player and another for the other.

Football - Man Utd v Portsmouth. Was the referee really that bad on the day?

Or was it sour grapes by the Manchester club because they did not beat a Portsmouth on the day? There is no doubt on chances made that the south coast side should have lost, but that's the way it goes. Why not just say that we (Man Utd) were beaten on the day. Conclusion - Calm down and focus on winning matches not moaning to the media!

Cricket - The national side at the moment either good or abismal! They have good players as shown against India & Pakistan but have not done so well against the black caps (at the moment) Conclusion - Concentrate on the basics and things will be ok.

Athletics - Drug cheat Dwain Chambers has won silver at the World Indoor Athletics Championships - an event British athletics bosses did not want him to take part in. Strange situation. Conclusion - It's possible to... take a banned drug, get caught, serve your ban, run again for your country, win a silver medal.... very odd?

"To be or not to be" a Football Manager

What gets a man to hold their hand up and say "Yes I will be a professional football manager in England?", it cannot be for the security, so it must be the love of the game with all its pressures, up's and downs, from 'hero to zero' in a matter of months!

Question - Who's lasted the test of time?
Answer - Longest is Dario Gradi (pictured left) of Crewe Alexandra (League 1). He has been with his club for nearly 25 years. This is a remarkable fact in this day and age of hiring and firing managers due to the pressure that owners and directors of clubs put on the management.

Most managers do not last very long at all. In fact, out of the 92 clubs there are only 22 managers who have lasted for more than 2 years. Hardly good for your career or heart for that matter!

A few Premier League Manager facts below:-

1. Half of the Premier League Managers are English (10 of the 20 teams)


2. Four current managers played a total of 1046 games for Man Utd as players! Perhaps it's a good base as a player at the Manchester club in being groomed as a manager?


3. Alex Ferguson has been with the reds for over 24 years.


4. Arsene Wenger has been a Gunner boss for over 11 years


5. Whilst David Moyes has been the manager of Everton for over 5 years.


6. No English manager has won the Premier League: the four managers to have won the title comprise two Scots: Ferguson with Man Utd & Dalglish with Blackburn. A Frenchman, Wenger (Arsenal) and the Portugusese Mourinho with Chelsea.