The Thrill and Pain of following England

"2010 will be England's 1966!"...that's what the chant is once again. Its been 4 years and everyone (including me) who vowed never to put ourselves through watching England haplessly bow out of the WC again, are back to putting our money on its footballers. The reason?....well many, in fact...1) Its Fabio Capello who's in-charge, 2) EPL is the best league in the world and English clubs have been outstanding in the recent editions of UCL, 3) Can there be a more lethal stricker than Wazza at the moment?, 4) This time the Gerrard-Lampard partnership will kick for sure!...and every possible minutest reason to make ourselves believe that its not wrong to, once again, break our vow.

But I'd rather check myself here and remind all my fellow-supporters why we took the oath of not watching England play again in the first place after Germany'06. #1 They didn't have a worldclass goalkeeper in 2006, #2 Counting Rooney out, they had a very feeble attacking line-up, #3 The team was ageing with the likes of Sol Campbell, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, #4 They weren't good enough...period!

Let's see if things look better this year in South Africa. #1 The world still wonders who'll guard the English net...the 3 goalkeepers in the squad haven't played a single European match for their respective clubs, #2 Counting Rooney out, they still have quite an impotent attacking line-up, #3 The squad is the oldest among all the 32 in this WC with an average age of 28.7 years, #4 They have a soft core now since Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of the WC with an injury and the management can't put a finger on a suitable replacement, #5 Steven Gerrard will lead England for the first time in a competitive match, #6 After reigning supreme at their respective clubs, there are still doubts hovering over the Gerrard-Lampard partnership in the midfield, #7 Their record against the top-ranked sides in recent times has been abysmal. They have lost to Spain, Brazil and Netherlands, #8 The team management spends more time working harder on warding away the WAGs, press and paparazzi!, #9 The coach is still undecided on who will constitute his first XI, #10 They are still not good enough....period!

Yet, I can't help but plan a get-together on Saturday evening at my place when England play USA at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenberg. A part of me says that's there's every reason to believe that its going to end in tears for England again...but the football fanatic in me thinks that this year they will go beyond the last eight and prove their worth and get crowned as the world champions. Cummon, #1 its the master tactician and highly successful Fabio Capello who's in-charge, #2EPL isn't the best league in the world for nothing...the Rooneys , Terrys, Lampards and the Gareth Barrys make it the most watched league in the world, #3 Rooney has grown in maturity and he's made even the best defenders in the world sweat with his agility and power!#4 Gerrard-Lampard surely at par with Iniesta-Xavi...top class!

Wait a minute. Am I not repeating myself here??....that's the thrill despite knowing the probable pain. That's England for you. That's football! And this is the World Cup! 11 lions, 1 nation...England shall roar!

Doomsday at The Theatre of Dreams?

Doomsday at The Theatre of Dreams?

The recently played FA Cup match between Man Utd and the lowly Leed Utd can be seen as a rare blip from the Reds. One may not and should not read much into it. But with the recent news pouring in from the ManUtd boardroom about the seemingly insurmountable debt that ManUtd now owes, I can't help but think of the Leeds Utd that vied for the silverware one season and nose dived into the Championship the next. Can the same happen to United too?? Can the Premiership champions and last year's European beaten-finalists see themselves going down? Will we also have to watch ManUtd play against the Nottingham Forests and the Preston North Ends next season or the season after that? Right now, even thinking about this sounds highly incredulous. But, could one have imagined Leeds going down too when they were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Barcelonas and the Valencias of Europe? A side boasting of some highly skilled players viz., Viduka, Paul Robinson, Rio Ferdinand, Lee Bowyer, Harry Kewell, Jonathan Woodgate and many more was surely destined towards winning the silverware sooner or later. But, suddenly the financial rot growing within the club came to the fore one season and there you had the Yorkshire club relegated to the Championship! Some of the best players of the club became highly under-valued and were sold cheaply to other big clubs of England.

Last week it was announced that the club owners- the Glazers had created a debt pile of over 700 mn pounds!!! News has been rampant about what measures ManUtd might have to take to bring it down. The obvious one was to sell Rooney off for 94 mn Euros in the summer to Barca. A bizzare suggestion was to dispose off the club's Carrington training ground. The most absurd was the one that suggested to part with the 76,000-seater Old Trafford Stadium!! Absolutely ridiculous!

But what other options does the club have? How many more titles can this side win so as to ease off the financial burden? Many sceptics were against the Glazers' bid to takeover United. Clearly these people pointed out then that Glazers didn't have anough money to buy 100% stake in the club. Predictibly the Glazers resorted to leaveraging their purchase of the stake. Malcolm Glazer succeeded not only in gaining control of the club through his takeover vehicle, Red Football Ltd., but converting it into a completely private company. Soon the club was saddled with 660 mn pounds debt with an annual interest payment of 62 mn pounds! In July 2006 the club announced a refinancing package. The debt taken on by the Glazers to finance the club was split between the club and the family, approximately £256 million is secured against Manchester United's assets. Under the terms of Glazer's financing, in the event that Glazer is unable to repay bondholders, majority control of Manchester United will pass to three New York hedge funds in August 2010. With the current financial scenario at the club, the possibility of insolvency doesn't seem too distant.

I hate writing this. But there are so many factors that are indicative of end of United's dominance. 1) Sir Alex is seen as retiring within the next 2 years. Some of the foreign names in the side can be tempted to transfer to other big clubs of Europe. 2) The 'one-club' players such as Giggs, Scholes will retire soon. So which big player would want to come to United after 2 years, when Sir Alex's days come to an end. 3) Like most other clubs, I don't see one man fitting into the manager's role right away. Any new person who would come would be under tremendous pressure to win titles from day one...such is the legacy Sir Alex will leave behind. So I forsee tumultous years ahead as far as getting the right person to manage the club is concerned after Sir Alex leaves.

Slowly the club will start drifting down the table. And adding to this there will always be this debt which will make it impossible for anyone to purchase a 'big name player'. Recent past has shown, it took only one season for Newcastle and Leeds to get relegated if the clubs are not professionally managed in the boardroom. As I see it, the Club does not even have a strong and a settled line-up. With oil money coming into the Premiership, the competition for ManUtd is only getting stiffer by the day.

There is every reason for every ManUtd fan to worry. I hope good news pours in soon. The club is on the verge of signing a lucrative deal with with the American Insurance Co. AON- a deal rumoured to be worth 80 mn pounds for a period of 4 years. Also, it now becomes even more imperitive to win the premiership and the Champions' League this season.

All this seems like just another nightmare which I sincerely hope it would remain just a nightmare and nothing more.

Shaddup your Face

(Chelsea owner Roman Abrahmovich insists Jose Mourinho to pick Schevchenko as his forward, but Jose thinks otherwise...this is what Mourinho says....)


When I first arrived
This team was low
We more than just survived
We won two in a row
So you have to be blind
We're only 6 behind
you must be out of your mind (you must be crazy)

I'll tell you where to go
Telling me who to pick
Look at Shevchenko
He cant even get a kick (shut up)
You think it would be cool
To pick him for Liverpool
Aah Don't be a fool(Everybody do it)

Whatsa matter you (Hey!)
Gotta no respect (Hey!)
What do you think you do (Hey!)
You're only writing the cheque (Hey!)
Itsa not so bad (Hey!)
Chelsea a nice place (Hey!)
Aah shaddup your face(Makelele put your shirt on, put it on)

(Now I tell you)So be a good little guy
And open up the bank
Or we'll say goodbye
That's right I'm taking Frank
But if you won't get rid
25 million quid will go to Real Madrid (I will go, I will go, OK)

Whatsa matter you (Hey!)
Gotta no respect (Hey!)
What do you think you do? (Hey!)
You're only writing the cheque (Hey!)
Itsa not so bad (Hey!)
Chelsea a nice place
Oh Shaddup your face(Do it, shaddup)