The scorelines belong in
the 1930s but the coverage does not. Far from reading about the goalscoring
heroics of a centre forward or the bravery of a plucky goalkeeper (for he's a
jolly good fellow!) the back pages remain rooted in the drudgery of 2012.
There were 37 goals in
the fourth round of the League Cup, the highest number since 1964. This came
off the back of a Premier League weekend containing a pulsating Merseyside
derby and a top of the table clash, not to mention a 3-3 draw between Reading
and Fulham complete with four late goals.
You'd be forgiven for not
realising what an exciting week of football it has been. Handshakes, t-shirts,
Twitter and name-calling continue to take all the headlines. Why have we
allowed the 'beautiful game' to be dragged down to this level? I can't be the
only one to find the soap opera surrounding and engulfing the top level of
English football a big turn-off.
And no, I'm not trivialising
the race issue that has erupted from a few isolated albeit high-profile
incidents. We'd be foolish to think racism had ever been eradicated from football
in this country. It remains a part of wider society and as such will always
have an unwelcome presence in sport no matter how much work is done to kick it
out.
But let's not talk
ourselves into believing we have major issues. As a sporting fraternity and a
society we're not mired in the problems facing Serbia for example. In The Sun
newspaper Rob Beasley opens his piece on Chelsea's to-and-fro 5-4 extra-time
win over Manchester United with the following: 'It took only a matter of seconds for the racial abuse to break out at
Stamford Bridge'. What had he heard? United fans chanting "where's
your racist centre half?" towards suspended John Terry. That clearly does
not constitute racial abuse.
Isolated incidents of
racism become huge stories partly because they are so rare. The Luis Suarez
affair was handled appallingly by Liverpool FC and became a bigger story
because of it. John Terry and Anton Ferdinand's row was dragged out for months
because of the inexplicably long wait for the judicial process to run its
course and then the subsequent Football Association investigation.
In both cases the
choreographed nonsense surrounding matches exacerbated the problems. I don't
think I've spoken to another fan who thinks the pre-match 'fair play' handshake
does anyone any good. It disrupts the excitement which builds leading into a
game. What was wrong with two teams, led by their captains, running out of the
tunnel to opposite ends of the ground? After the game they can shake hands signalling an end to 90 minutes of competitive hostility.
The talk after a game
should be focused on footballing issues. Tactics, performances, managers and
naturally and unavoidably referees. We aren't short of talking points. Brendan
Rodgers, Martin O'Neill, Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini are all said to be
under varying degrees of pressure. The latter’s experiment with a back three is
an interesting tactical development. Last year’s two-horse race looks to have a
third runner while at the other end Southampton’s matches have seen goals
galore. Summer imports have had mixed fortunes. Michu and Hazard have impressed
but Anita and Lloris have struggled for game
time.
