Normally soccer free, the Close Season was usurped by the World Cup this summer. I had looked in advance and decided this month's update was to be after we won the FIFA World Cup, so I confidently set the update date to be 2006-07-10. But it was not to be.
I watched the games in pubs and at home, but some of the nights out were amusing and involved large amounts of alcohol. The Paraguay game was the most interesting as I got through 10 pints of cider and two blue WKDs that day, starting at 10:30 and finishing at 21:30. Strangely I didn't feel or appear that drunk, but then I don't seem to get very drunk these days.
To be honest, England coasted/scraped through the group phase and slipped by Equitable Life (Equador?) into the quarter finals for a juicy game against Portugal and Big Phil. This was billed as a big showdown between the current and next England managers on one side, and the "One that got away".
The game itself was a disappointment, with the best action conming following Rooney's dismissal. Yet again, an England player was dismissed due to his petulence, and yet again it is a Manchester United player. However, Manchester United are not the sole villains here. The English game is full of pandering to the egos of overpaid players, and they need to be brought back to earth. They are there to serve us, the fans, and their country. But let us not blame Rooney entirely for this defeat, for that would excuse Sven for his massive part in this. Poor squad selection and, at times, strange tactical decisions, tied with ineffective preparation. Those are the reasons why we failed to win the World Cup. And that is the crux of this - we should have won this competition! We had a squad of world beating players, but at times they were individuals, not a team.
Portugal were guilty of some underhand tactics, of course, but we have overcome teams doing that before. Ian Wright said during the coverage of the Jamaica game that it is right and just that England players should dive their way to victory. I disagree wholeheartedly. The British teams should show the rest of the world that honesty and fair play are enough, and that you can win the World Cup that way.
A group of us watched the game in Walkabout. On the whole this was an enjoyable occasion, but one group of lads behind us continually tried to intimidate and pick fights with us all afternoon, and rounded this off by throwing a pint glass at a TV when we were knocked out. Another bloke tried to either grab my sunglasses, or poke me in the eyes (not sure which) on my way to the toilet. Ah well, there are always a few idiots who try to spoil the day.
And now it is all over for another four years, and the cheap England merchandise has been disposed of.... Est tut mir leid. A great man once said that Association Football was more important than life and death, but it isn't, it is just a game, it is entertainment and it is a way of life. There is always the UEFA European Championships in 2008, another FIFA World Cup in 2010, and before then we have the IRB World Cup next year. Yes, I know, "egg chasers" - but I was one for many years, and I still love the game. So lift those hearts - life goes on.
Before we know it, the new season will be upon us.
Tier 3 is going to be tough for us, but hopefully a new manager and our close season squad strengthening will allow us to have a season of consolidation before pushing upward into Tier 2 the season after. And that is, I think, the key. We mustn't try to move up too quickly. Think again of Reading as our model here, moving upwards slowly and steadily.
On Thursday 2006-06-29 the club revealed our new manager as Neil McDonald, or was it Neil Cooper? There was confusion in our office at first. This prompted cries of "Who the hell is he?" and there followed many complaints and even calls for his departure before a ball has been kicked! I say give the new guy until Carlisle v Blackpool on Tuesday, 26 September 2006. If he can have us in a good position (top two thirds) in the league, playing good Association Football, and leads us to victory over the Tangerine Nightmares, then we should accept that he was a good choice. If not, then I'll agree that perhaps he was a bad choice.
I think it is time that we CUFC fans came up with a "uniform". How about one or more of the following, in CUFC colours:
As many of my regulars know, I am an ardent Cumbrian and so I've created a new section on my web site dedicated to Cumbria. One page shows my suggestions for a Cumbrian Flag. As you can see on that page, I am planning on bringing a new banner to games in the future, so if you see it, do feel free to come and say hello.
Yep, my website is 10 years old! The first issue of RIOA came along a month later, but heck, I'm celebrating now!! Kynson was originally hosted on Demon Internet. There had been rumours for a couple of months that they were to offer free web space, and so I had some web pages ready. I uploaded the pages on the day they made the announcement and started the service (1996-07-17). Some time later, I moved over to Freeserve as it was free, and at that same time I registered the kynson.org.uk domain and set up forwarding. I use the kynson identity all over the Internet, but it was about 5 years ago that I discovered that Kynson is also a Chinese name, so chances are that in years to come there will be a lot more on the 'net! Already, I've come across a few. But hey, as a Cumbrian called David Atkinson, I'm used to being common.
As part of the Birthday Celebrations, Mark Jackson has contributed an article about his big love for Preston North End.
| RIOA Index |
Editorials | Email the webmaster |