Tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson

Manchester United fans love him. Everyone else especially Liverpool fans usually loathe him. But everyone respects Sir Alex Ferguson and what he has achieved in the game. And most people wouldn't dispute that he is the greatest football manager ever known, and probably even the greatest manager of a sports team ever.




25 years is a long time and it was a long time ago when Manchester United were a club struggling to reclaim former glories. Since the last triumph in 1967, the Red Devils had been relegated to the Second Division and then seen their bitter rivals, Liverpool win honour after honour at home and abroad while they languished in mid-table. Old Trafford was still one of the great arenas of the sport but despite the many stars that had come to play for them, the great stadium hadn't seen a team able to consistently challenge for honours.

Ron Atkinson and his then-record signing, Bryan Robson, got them close in the early 80s with wins in the FA Cup. But with the club facing relegation in 1986, Atkinson was dismissed.


Up stepped Fergie.

Ferguson had guided Aberdeen to European Cup Winner's Cup in 1983 and managed Scotland at the 1986 World Cup after the sudden passing of legendary manager, Jock Stein. He had job offers from the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur but eventually took the Manchester United job following the dismissal of Ron Atkinson.

Fergie guided United to 11th and instilled discipline amongst the likes of Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath and Bryan Robson. Manchester United continued to improve under Ferguson with the likes of Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes and Paul Ince signed for large sums.

Yet, they were still off the pace of their Merseyside rivals and lacked the consistency to push for the title; they still flirted with regulation as the 1980s drew to a close.

In 1992, the Premier League replaced the English First Division as the top league in England but Manchester United still lacked one final part in their quest to end their long title drought.

In came Cantona.

The enigmatic Frenchman was signed from Leeds United. Combining with Mark Hughes, Manchester United climbed up the table and eventually ended the long title drought by 10 points ahead of Aston Villa.

It was like a light switch had been flicked on.

The 1990s belonged firmly to Manchester United. They established themselves as England's no. 1 club and eventually one of the strongest clubs in Europe. At the same time, their success made them the world's most famous and followed football club.

It didn't matter that the likes of Cantona, Bruce, Pallister & Robson would be phased out and replaced by the likes of Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and the Neville brothers - those kids Mark Lawrenson claimed couldn't win the title in their first season. It didn't matter that those "kids" would be replaced by the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, etc. It also didn't matter that stars like Andy Cole, Yorke, Stam, Van Nistelrooy, Veron would also come and go.

United still kept winning consistently at home and even more so in Europe.

There were seasons when United weren't champions - 1994/95, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2009/10 when the likes of Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea interrupted United's championship runs. There was a barren period between 2003 and 2007 when Manchester United were definitely second best. The media speculated that Ferguson's time had come up then.

But to Ferguson's credit, he kept building teams with a mixture of established and upcoming stars, pulling them down when they weren't winning enough and then rebuilding them to achieve success for at least 2 seasons.

As a result, Manchester United are now statistically the most successful club in England with the most league titles, along with the most FA Cup titles. Europe is probably Ferguson's last frontier and conquering that great team called Barcelona led by one of the greatest players ever known, Lionel Messi, in a European Cup Final is now Ferguson's aim after firmly establishing themselves as champions of England.

Meanwhile, Old Trafford's North Stand was renamed the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand prior to Manchester United's league game at home to Sunderland. A fitting and thoroughly deserved tribute for Manchester United's greatest manager - even the late Sir Matt Busby would not dispute that fact. If there was one manager who deserved his name to be immortalised in some form, Ferguson would be the first name out of the blocks - a very rare accolade for a manager in any sport.

For non-Manchester United fans, the day Ferguson finally hangs up the boots will probably be a day to savour in some form; but I'd still imagine there would be plenty of tears shed for a truly glorious era and he would be dearly missed. Thankfully for United fans - and most football lovers - Ferguson seems set to carry on as long as his health allows him to.

Ferguson is a man who lives on seeing his "own" protege - football team or even horse of which he is keen on too - achieve success on the field. Success is his lifeline - he is so desperate for it that he oftens go overboard with referees and the media to achieve it. Even in his 70s, his hunger for success dwarfs that of his younger colleagues.

So here's to Sir Alex Ferguson. A true legend of the sport.      

Fergie's Greatest XI?
GK - Peter Schmeichel
DF - Denis Irwin, Steve Bruce, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville
MF - Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo
FW - Eric Cantona, Wayne Rooney
 





  

Were the Black Caps Bad or the Zimbabweans Good?

Watch the video highlights at 3 News here.

So the Black Caps have beaten Zimbabwe in the only test of their tour to the Southern African country but it was much closer than many had thought with Taylor's men only sealing their win by 34 runs late on the 5th day. For neutrals, this was an unexpectedly thrilling finish to a quite sedate and low quality test match.

The question is how bad were the Black Caps or rather how good were the Zimbabweans? Again it's been a bit of both combined with a wicket that was very batsman-friendly and made life difficult for the bowlers. Although I hazard to say that the Zimbabweans are a bit better than people thought despite their long exile from international cricket.




The Black Caps are also clearly a team in transition. This was Ross Taylor's first proper test as captain and he had a young bowler making his first test start in Doug Bracewell - who I actually thought acquitted himself very well in the test arena and hopefully could be a very good player for New Zealand for years to come. Ultimately, Daniel Vettori's experience came to play and he created that critical spark that pushed New Zealand to an unlikely win.

What about Brendan Taylor though? I've always noted him to be one to watch and he didn't disappoint. Now more experienced, he is in the peak of his powers and would be worthy of selection in any international side. A very fine batsman. He is Mr Zimbabwe and lifted the likes of Waller, Jarvis, Price & Sibanda to greater heights.

For the game of cricket, it's good to see a competitive Zimbabwe side and not one that is flogged by an innings and 200 runs in 3 days.

Well done New Zealand and well done Zimbabwe.

Ref Asks Crowd to Be Quiet At Game!

NFL ref asks Pontiac Superdome to pipe down as the offence can't hear their calls!!

Why Celtic and Rangers Should Be In The Premier League

Always plenty of tackles in every Old Firm derby.

They are two of the most famous football clubs in the world. Many north of Hadrian's Wall would say their rivalry is the greatest in the world, better than the El Clasico between Barca and Real Madrid in Spain or the Superclasico between Boca Juniors and River Plate in Argentina.

Rangers won 3-0 at Lyon in Champions League, 2007.

But with Scottish football not what it was before the fall of Communism, the fortunes of Celtic and Rangers Football Clubs have also declined. While the Glaswegian giants continue to dominate Scottish football and look set to until the end of time, their fortunes in Europe have shown a noticeable decline since Rangers made the UEFA Cup Final in 2008. They have struggled against teams from the "non big-4" ranked leagues in Europe, i.e. French, Dutch, Belgian, Portuguese, Swiss, Russian & Romanian leagues.

Braga send Celtic out of 2011 Champions League

They are no longer guaranteed a spot in the Champions League - both Celtic and Rangers were eliminated in the qualifying and play-off rounds earlier this season. They are even struggling to even stay in the running in the second tier Europa League - Celtic only just made it to the round robin stage because Sion were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player, Rangers aren't even competing.



The lack of European football means less revenue for Scottish football and less money to spend on players. Scottish football is already handicapped by the fact that the quality of football is far weaker than elsewhere in the continent - if you had David Silva's talent, who would you rather play week in/week out? St Johnstone or Liverpool? It's a no-brainer. 

2nd div Birmingham City matching Celtic in Europe, 2011

Dare I say it but a top Championship side like Southampton or West Ham would easily beat a Scottish Premier League side simply because they have more money and can afford better players - look at Birmingham City's performance in the Europa League this season too.

Dalglish - undoubtedly Scotland's greatest footballer ever

The topic of whether Scottish clubs should play in England's Premier League has been around since the advent of the Premier League in 1992. Traditionalists have always said that it would not be on having Celtic and Rangers play in another country's top flight.

But for the first time, I'm going to say that Scotland's two biggest clubs should be plying their trade in their southern neighbour and here's why.

Bertos - Phoenix/All Whites star

I have seen firsthand how having the Wellington Phoenix in the higher-grade A-League has definitely boosted New Zealand football tremendously. It allowed Ricki Herbert to hone his managerial and coaching skills in the rigours of weekly club football and take those lessons on board for the All Whites' heroic 2010 World Cup campaign. It also meant the likes of Ben Sigmund, Mark Paston, Tim Brown, Shane Smeltz, Leo Bertos could play together like they would for the All Whites.

How many All Whites were selected from New Zealand's own NZ Football Championship? James Dunn's lookalike Aaron Clapham? Clapham didn't start at the World Cup and doesn't have a full-time playing contract at the moment.  

Vancouver Whitecaps v Seattle Sounders, MLS 2011

The MLS in the USA has also been allowing Canadian clubs into its competition in the last few seasons. Toronto FC was the first and last season, the Vancouver Whitecaps entered the competition - both clubs did compete in Canada's own football competition but realised that the MLS was of a much higher standard and sent through their entry forms to USA Soccer.

In time, football in Canada will surely improve although its prospects of World Cup qualification are harder given it is in a much tougher confederation than New Zealand.

Wales' Ashley Williams has benefited from Swansea being in EP

Closer to Scotland, the likes of Wrexham, Swansea and Cardiff all compete in English competitions for the same reason the Phoenix, Toronto and the Whitecaps are based in leagues outside their home countries - the football is just damn better there.

My point is, how will the likes of Kris Commons, James Forrest, Steven Whitaker, Steven Naismith ever improve as footballers if they're stuck playing very average competition each weekend? How can they stand a chance of competing against the Bayern Munichs and Udineses of this world? It's a minor miracle that Scottish clubs can actually compete with the best of Europe given the dearth of quality in their leagues.

Charlie Adam pre-Liverpool/Blackpool days at Rangers

No wonder the likes of Charlie Adam, Barry Ferguson, Craig Mikhail-Smith & Darren Fletcher all ply their trade in England. There's a limit to how long you can stay motivated to play crap football each weekend. At the same time though, isn't it sad that Scotsmen aren't able to play for their country's most famous clubs just because they're big fish in a small pond?

Wouldn't the EPL like to play at Ibrox?

Finally, no disrespect to the likes of Wigan Athletic but Celtic and Rangers have far greater support bases and potential to expand support bases which is what a Premier League club needs. Celtic and Rangers definitely attract the greatest TV audience in Scotland for any domestic Scottish side. The Premier League would be delusional not to look to try and grab that audience for Celtic v Manchester United or Rangers v Everton.

30 Gloucester Pl, London - EPL HQ

Now, the question is how would they get in? Would they have to go through the English football pyramid like all the other clubs? They could but I see no neccesity in having to go through that.

The Premier League is actually run separately from the rest of the football pyramid, i.e. the Football League. Remember in 1992, the top flight clubs split from the rest of the Football League to form the Premier League. Celtic and Rangers could apply to join the Premier League corporation which oversees the league and not have to go through promotion through the English football tiers. And they shouldn't need to.

Sepp Blatter: old fart, like most footballing bosses.

I'm craving to see the day the Scots are a competitive force in most sports. Surely, it's time to blow away tradition that has stopped working and to come up with some radical if initially unpopular thinking to bring them back up. After all, it's the radical which has always helped the likes of Spain, Germany, France and the Netherlands be football powers in Europe.


Trouble is the SFA like FIFA and most footballing bodies of some age are really old farts who hate to break with tradition. That's why we still don't have goalline technology and video replays unlike most other sports.

Day of Shame for Pakistan Cricket

Proceedings against the 3 Pakistani cricketers involved in match fixing have concluded with all 3 players forced to spend time behind bars.

Former Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, will serve 30 months, the longest of the trio, Mohammad Asif, 12 months and Mohammad Amir, the youngest of the trio, will serve 6 months in jail. All 3 will serve their jail sentences in Britain where they were originally charged following Pakistan's test series in England in 2010.

It is another sad saga for cricket which has seen plenty of its fair share of controversy in its history especially in regards to match fixing, i.e. Hansie Cronje.

I guess when you do have some very rich and very corrupt power brokers not just in the Indian subcontinent but even in England involved, it is really quite inevitable.It seems a shame that Pakistan's name will sadly be forever linked with match-fixing. It's even sadder that the cricketers who represent this very poor and oppressed nation are often the highest wage earners there - at the same time, they become vulnerable to those who want to make a quick buck in a deviant manner.

Young Amir was really like a sitting duck. However at 19, he has time to make amends and still be the best fast bowler in the world that his early potential showed.