The Miracle of Sanchez

Alejandro Sanchez Lopez, recognise the name?

No. Neither did I until the weekends football had come to a close and I caught up on the action across Europe. Namely England, Spain and Italy but I also check Germany, Holland etc.

Anyway I digress.

This past weekend at approximately 17:30 at the Mestalla Stadium, Valencia, the home side were defeating Real Zaragoza 3-1.

A normal occurence you might add.

It was until the aforementioned Alejandro Sanchez Lopez took to the field of play. Commonly known as Alex Sanchez (pictured below), the 20-year-old Zaragoza born striker had been rewarded by his manager Marcelino after scoring 12 goals in 10 reserve team appearances so far this season.

In making this substitution Marcelino was aiming to change the course of the match. By adding a striker to the field of play he wanted to win a football match or at least get back into a losing battle but by introducing Sanchez the move made history.

He became the first disabled footballer to play top-flight football in the Spanish League a year after becoming the first disabled player to play in the second tier of the Spanish League.

Alex Sanchez was born without a right hand and he may hold the title of the first disabled footballer to play at the top-level in a league in Europe if not the World.

This shouldn’t be deemed an issue, it should be seen as a normal occurence but until now it hasn’t happened. Obviously it goes without saying that a disability should not be considered when wanting to ply your trade as a professional footballer, but admittedly it could hamper the level you aspire to reach.

Thankfully Alex has set the benchmark for disabled individuals to aim for the top as this proves the goal can be achievable.

He is only 20-years-old and from the footage I have seen, Alex seems to have many of the attributes required to make the grade at the top as a striker.

Pace, confidence, and strength immediately spring to mind.

This shouldn’t be major news but hopefully it can bridge a gap in a sport that less than 30 years ago felt women couldn’t play the sport.

The times are changing and long may it continue for the greater good of all involved and all who aspire to achieve success.

Never give up the dreams can be achieved.

Thanks for reading and hope you keep reading my blogs.

Cheers.

Gaffers.

P.s. Check out the Spanish television footage they compiled of Sanchez. Hope he can keep up his progress and continue to develop into a quality footballer.

The Contenders Do Battle

This weekend see’s the second battle this season between the top two teams in the Premier League after a feisty encounter (pictured above) in the FA Community Shield back in August of this year.

Chelsea won on penalties (4-1) and the signs back then indicated that these two clubs looked the strongest going into the season and as it stands with a mere two points separating the sides going into this clash.

So who will you be following when the whistle blows to kick the match off on Sunday just after 4pm?

For what it is worth I’m going for Chelsea!

Couple of reasons back this up; I am a fan of Carlo Ancelotti he seems to have settled into the role with considerable ease. The team has remained settled over the summer and they appear to have a close-knit squad for the first time since the Jose Mourinho days.

The big name players are performing very well namely Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, and this comes after both have had an indifferent year to eighteen months. The return of players from injury has obviously helped but when these players are Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho, then these will grace many a team with their presence.

I also backed Chelsea at the beginning of the season and I am keeping my prediction on them winning the league but with what I have seen from them this season they seem prolific especially at Stamford Bridge and in a league that maybe at its poorest in terms of quality players in many a year they have them in abundance.

Manchester United cannot be easily discarded from this match or the title race but this is not a patch on the Manchester United we have seen over the past two decades and is arguably Sir Alex’s worst squad in years.

They look vulnerable at the back, lack goals from the middle of the park and except for the ever impressive Wayne Rooney they are blunt in-goal scoring department, how they would love a Didier Drogba to liven up their squad.

People and possibly many United fans will defend their team and that is admirable but from an impartial viewpoint and what seems to be the viewpoint of many a pundit, journalist and football fan this is a United team lacking quality in the final third and other than Edwin Van Der Sar at a mere 39 years young they lack a commanding presence at the back.

It remains to be seen if this team can match Chelsea on the day let alone over the course of the season but in my opinion if you sat down and made a starting XI from the two squads it may only include Wayne Rooney (pictured below) from the Manchester United team based on current form.

Then if feeling nostalgic how many other Manchester United players could make that starting XI?

Evra? Vidic? Giggs?

Surely not many more. It is amazing how much different they are without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and I have a feeling deep down Sir Alex would love to have one of them if not both of them back at his disposal.

Ok so as I mentioned earlier I am going for Chelsea to win this game and to then go on and win the Premier League title next May. I hope it is a lively and entertaining game just like the Community Shield fixture.

The odds for this match are; Chelsea 11/10; draw 11/5; Manchester United 2/1; which if you are a betting person or even a United fan who wants to argue my points, then put your money were your mouth is.

I’m going to back Chelsea!!

Plus if you have an opinion on the title race then the title odds are; Chelsea 5/4; Manchester United 9/4; it is slightly unfair to not mention others in the title odds at this early stage of this season but I feel other than Arsenal none are really strong enough to contend.

Enjoy the match this weekend, I hope we are talking about a classic and not a poor refereeing decision or a match-winner coming from an error.

Cheers for reading as usual and I welcome your comments.

Gaffers

Leo’s Resurgence!!

After it was announced today the David Beckham would be returning to Milan in January it seems that the regime under Leonardo has gained full momentum!

The season had begun in a post Kaka and Carlo Ancelotti hangover with the club struggling to gain any form despite winning the opening fixture of the campaign.

Fans had become impatient and on the back of two draws in Serie A (Italian domestic top flight), fans followed this up by questioning the appointment of a former Rossoneri legend, Leonardo (pictured below).

It went from bad to worse as only 4 minutes into the vital home fixture against AS Roma at the San Siro when Milan trailed to a well worked fourth minute opener, the crowd at the game had seen enough and begun to vent their anger verbally.

What happened at half-time must have included several inspiring words from Leonardo as Milan came back to win the game 2-1 with Ronaldinho showing glimpses of his former self.

Surely this was the start of good things to come?

The problem was Milan had to face arguably the most difficult fixture of the season so far next. Away in the Champions League to the expensively assembled Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu (Madrid’s stadium) and when Dida decided to gift Madrid an early lead the result against AS Roma was looking slightly flash in the pan.

Yet again the half-time break showed a resurgent Rossoneri (Milan’s nickname) and Milan stormed the second half and played some attack minded flowing football to boot with Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo and Alex Pato a joy to watch. (Though surprisingly it seemed Jamie Redknapp had never seen Pato play before)

Milan were on a roll and have since added a Alessandro Nesta late show double win against Chievo and should have taken all three points away to Napoli after holding a 2-0 lead heading into injury time.

You had to watch it to believe it!

An easy stroll against newly promoted Parma with a Marco Borriello double has seen Milan move up to fourth in Serie A and hopefully this could be the return of the european giant under the stewardship of Leonardo.

The addition in January of next year of Beckham (pictured below) will hopefully have the same impact as his arrival last year to the team and as the team slowly adjust to playing 4-3-3 after several years under Ancelotti playing the 4-4-2 diamond formation he now employs at Chelsea, the return to the trophy winning years could be just around the corner for the Rossoneri.

Time as I always say will tell but many positive signs are backing up the return to the good times. The squad have the utmost respect for Leonardo and have now adapted to his methods.

Several key players namely Ronaldinho, Seedorf and Pirlo are beginning to pull the strings and will only get better as the season goes on plus the return from injury of Reno Gattuso will help any major team.

Some tough fixtures face Milan in the coming weeks including the return fixture in the Champions League group stages against Madrid and a tough away fixture against SS Lazio this coming weekend.

But Leonardo has his troops focused and this next couple of weeks could really define a trophy expectant season for a club who only a month ago faced the prospect of an extremely tough and long season of failure.

Good luck Leonardo and hopefully he can guide the Rossoneri to success.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Gaffers

When Is The Right Time To Change?

It is a tricky old game that football malarkey isn’t it?

Especially when you take the helm as a manager of a football club and also the running of a football club must be extremely difficult. Even more so when it comes to the arguably the most difficult decision of them all – When is the right time to change your manager?

There surely cannot be a correct answer obviously but there have to be times when it is less appropriate and times when it seems blatantly more appropriate and necessary to change the man at the top.

This week saw Middlesbrough (my team) relieve Gareth Southgate (pictured below) of his position as Manager making him the 13th managerial dismissal this season, compared with 7 at the same stage last season.

The timing of Southgate’s dismissal was bizarrely decided several weeks ago and executed after a mid-week home win against Derby County. Though many a Middlesbrough fan seems happy that the dismissal had come the decision hadn’t proved easy for chairman, Steve Gibson to follow through.

My personal opinion is – friction had developed between club, manager and fans and this always proves a difficult situation to resolve and this was the only solution plus I believe we needed a more experienced man at the helm, hopefully this will be proven right.

A study four years ago showed that between the inauguration of the Premier League in August 1992 and January 2004 there were no fewer than 678 managerial changes in English professional football, averaging at 41 per season and an astonishing 536 of those changes were actually sackings.

When looking at several clubs namely Manchester United and Arsenal it is clearly proven that continuity breeds success whereas the ever changing incumbent of hot seats at clubs such as Crystal Palace and Newcastle United to name but two, leads to inconsistent nothingness.

Several managers as I write are under increasing pressure namely Roy Keane (pictured below), Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers are amongst those feeling the pressure at the moment.

But surely pressure is part and parcel of the job they choose to fill. It has to be part of the so-called buzz these guys get from managing a football club. This will be finely balanced with the joyous feeling of success as and when it happens.

The pressure will be lifted should a win or two come for those mentioned clubs.

Take two clubs, one very close to my heart (Middlesbrough) and the local rivals we love to hate (Newcastle United). In a period from the start of the Premier League both clubs have experienced european football, cup finals, regular top flight finishes, big name signings and Middlesbrough in that time won a major trophy (The Carling Cup).

During that period Newcastle have had 11 managers (including caretakers), yet Middlesbrough have only had four managers, it will be five once a new manager is announced in the coming week.

Both clubs find themselves in the same division having suffered relegation last season and they are only separated by one point.

What does this prove?

There will always be a right time to change your manager, getting it right is the hardest part of a chairman’s job description but changing your manager on a regular basis has shown to not be the sole reason a club struggles or succeeds.

Take Chelsea in this argument – 4 managers since Jose Mourinho departed yet still successful.

Finally we the fans always speak from the heart and sometimes this can cloud the judgement we have those running the club and the team, but if we trust them to do this it will work.

Take that advice from a Middlesbrough fan who in my opinion have the best chairman in the business, but at times even I doubt his motives, something I shouldn’t be doing.

Thanks for reading as usual, it is appreciated.

Cheers.

Gaffers

P.s. A massive well done to Jenson Button on winning the Formula One World Championship last weekend by finishing fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Also a huge well done to all at Brawn GP on their amazing first season in the sport.

A Viewing Delight

Whilst narrow-minded fans who are only interested in football, football and oh yeah I forgot football, were either complaining that the ‘dead rubber’ between England and Ukraine wasn’t available on television or frantically looking for an illegal venue to watch the game in, I took in my own advice.

In a previous blog I aired my views that this was a good decision as it would allow fans to broaden their horizons and enjoy the other sports viewings available.

How many listened? Probably not many.

They missed a showpiece final with both Leeds Rhinos and St. Helen’s playing high-tempo Rugby and both aiming to win the final, something seldom seen it major finals in the modern era as teams in most sports are too afraid to lose rather than aiming to win.

The atmosphere within Old Trafford, Manchester was electric with a crowd of 63,259 in attendance despite alleged transport issues in the Manchester area on the day of the game.

I, as previously mentioned, am a keen follower of the Huddersfield Giants and have always taken a keen interest in Rugby League, far more so than the more brutal and less entertaining code of the sport.

I settled down and watched arguably one of the most thoroughly entertaining, atmospheric and incident packed games I have ever had the pleasure to watch.

Leeds Rhinos and St. Helen’s are currently the ‘big two’ in Rugby League’s top elite having contested the previous two grand finals in the sport, but this is a sport that is far from been monopolised, it is just their turn at the top.

Both teams were packed with big name players in the sport and for several of them it was their last match representing their current colours, namely Sean Long, Lee Smith and Lee Gilmour (the latter is joining my team).

With Leeds aiming to win a third grand final in a row, there were so many reasons to watch this final over any of the other sports on offer at the same time and I must admit I was far from disappointed.

Both sides went for the jugular and despite St. Helen’s taking an 8-0 lead, Leeds pegged them back to 8-8 at half time. Although the scores from the second half may suggest to the untrained eye a more one-sided affair in was evenly matched throughout though Leeds Rhino’s ran out winners 18-10 in the end.

Several other aspects impressed me during this final. Firstly Sky Sports excellent coverage, with fantastic use of the video referee by the match official, Steve Ganson but the use of Touch-Line commentators by Sky Sports was fantastic, adding a dimension to the live viewing and offering an expert opinion in a critical area of the field.

Well done Sky Sports and it isn’t often many people are heard saying that!

The other aspect that impressed me was that I always like to find a talent I admit I know little about who is going to be a start in their sport for years to come, but along with William Sharman (110m hurdler who recently impressed me at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin), Kyle Eastmond (pictured below), St. Helen’s half back fits easily into that category.

He was my man of the match despite been on the losing side, scoring Saints only try and kicking the rest of their points at the tender age of 20, the future looks bright for this outstanding talent and I cannot wait to see him perform in the up-coming four nations tournament.

Overall it was a fantastic final, the best team won to complete their hat-trick and the sport of Rugby League will be richer for a final of this quality.

The only concern is how many people could have watched this, but chose not to! Shame really.

Thanks for reading as usual.

Cheers.

Gaffers

P.s. Check out one of the finest finishes I think I have ever seen in a football match. This was scored by Martin Palermo, an Argentine international who recently returned to International football (after 9 years exile) to help them qualify for next years World Cup.

Enjoy! It is superb.

Are Rio Ferdinand’s England Days Numbered?

With continued debate over the future of Rio Ferdinand with high profile mistakes in the Manchester derby and recent England internationals amd continued injury problems, what do you think?

If he was to be dropped then who should start alongside John Terry at centre half?

Guest Blog – James Donnelly

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Time for another in the great line of guest blogs for your perusal. Can I introduce you to James Donnelly a friend from my University days. James is 28 and originates from Rochdale. He is an avid Manchester United fan and a keen follower of Boxing and Snooker.

Take it away James….

Execution v Entertainment; your choice!

As a fan and spectator, I love Manchester United, however, for me, as with rugby and cricket, there is something missing in football……individual, selfish achievement.  Teams are great to be involved in, mostly for me, the after game drink is a big pull, but, in terms of sporting achievement, individual sports and individual winning are what I like. 

Having the opportunity to say “I won it” or, “I beat him” is what makes sport such a big part of my life.  I know that some footballers think that they do it all and act on and off the pitch as though they are god’s, but lets face it, how many goals did Ronaldo save at United?  Football is and always will be a team game. 

The two sports which spring to mind for me, taking into account the above are snooker and boxing; both of which I’ve followed, partaken in, competed in, won at, and, lost at. 

Despite the loud fans and corner boys, a boxing ring is the loneliest place in the world, closely followed by a lone snooker table, in a dark room, surrounded by spectators, all sat in silence; half hoping that you make that shot, pot that ball and win the frame and the other half praying that you screw it up and make a fool of yourself. 

My attempts at boxing were quite short lived; I had 8 armature bouts; I won 6 (3 by technical knockout) and lost two, my last two and both to the same fighter; basically, I was taught a lesson. 

My snooker attempts have been far less painful; yes, I’ve played in more games and yes, I’ve been absolutely hammered, but my health has never been jepodised, and so, I carry on, ever striving for that big break.  Incidentally, the biggest break I’ve ever achieved is a 72 clearance. 

Great sport requires two camps; firstly, the natural winners; the people who show little emotion, they just turn up, get focused and do a job; Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry spring to mind. 

And secondly, the crowd favorites; the people who go through every emotion known to man in their pursuit of success; the Jimmy Whites and Alex Higgins of this world. 

Currently, I’m sure you’re aware that both boxing and snooker are lacking in the department of crowd pleasers and money spinners.  When I was growing up, I remember watching Frank Bruno, Mike Tyson, Nigel Ben, Chris Eubank, Steve Collins, Barry McGuigan, Naseem Hamid, Lennox Lewis……all of the same era and all characters of the sport. 

Snooker is much in the same state and I fear that unless things change, these two great sports could struggle in the future.  A balance is required or natural winners and crowd favorite, underdogs! 

As a boxer, I know which I’d rather be, the natural winner, the Lennox Lewis as opposed to the Frank Bruno or even, despite his early successes, the Mike Tyson.  However, as a snooker player, despite my respect for the machines of the games, I’ll always have a soft spot for and a desire to be the Rocket, the Whirlwind or the Hurricane. 

James Donnelly

Sports fan and avid blog reader

Thanks to James for this and check his excellent entry to the sporting hero’s room @ http://gafferssportsblog.wordpress.com/gaffers-sports-blog-sporting-heros/

Dawn Of A New Era

When the England squads for the forth-coming cricket tour of South Africa were announced yesterday I for one breathed a sigh of relief followed by a renewed optimism ahead of the tour.

Although the tour does not commence for another month or so and the all important test series not beginning until mid-December as a cricket fan I have more optimism than usual.

The selectors appear to have finally gone for a new selection policy in some aspects with the selection of players who have been in form over the course of the past 12 months and finally having a ruthless streak with several under performing players.

The obvious joy of Kevin Pietersen (pictured above) returning to the test arena offers comfort and much needed steel to a very vulnerable middle order, which against Australia performed to an embarrassing low.

Looking at the other notable selections, it shows a squad of players who are hungry to produce, offer the team more than one dimension and many have been rewarded for continued international performances or on the back of an excellent domestic season or two.

It is also really pleasing to see several of the old guard dispensed with and told to go away and perform to the level of the players included and for the next tour you maybe considered.

Will the likes of Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar. Steve Harmison and Tim Ambrose be able to get back into this squad? My only hope is no and for the very good reason that this selected squad produces the goods in South Africa.

Of those only Monty Panesar has shown any hunger in the past week with his decision to join Highveld Loins (South African franchise) for the pending winter months. The rest need to follow suit.

I am extremely excited to see the career of Jonathan Trott (pictured below) develop on this tour as in his test debut it was easy to see this is the level of cricket he was meant to be playing at. I only hope he excels in his homeland.

The mood within the camp will be positive following the ashes success and the semi-final appearance at the Champions Trophy as well as several players wanting to justify their inclusions.

Time will tell as the tour unfolds but it is sure to be a fantastic tour against the number one test side in the world and to beat them in their own back garden as we did in the 2004/05 series would prove England are a test team on the up.

Also the one-day squad needs to continue from the relative success in the Champions Trophy recently and look to remove the memory of the recent 6-1 drubbing by the Australians.

The tour dates are below for your perusal and why not bookmark my blog to keep them close at hand.

November

1st England squad arrives in South Africa

6th v President’s XI, 50-over tour match, Bloemfontein

8th v President’s XI, 50-over tour match, Kimberley

10th v South Africa A, 20-over tour match, Bloemfontein (d/n). Play starts 1230 GMT

13th 1st Twenty20 international, Wanderers, Johannesburg (d/n). Play starts 1600 GMT

15th 2nd Twenty20 international, Centurion. Play starts 1230 GMT

17th v South Africa A, 50-over tour match, Potchefstroom (d/n). Play starts 1230 GMT

20th 1st one-day international, Wanderers (pictured below), Johannesburg (d/n). Play starts 1230 GMT

22nd 2nd one-day international, Centurion. Play starts 0800 GMT

27th 3rd one-day international, Newlands, Cape Town (d/n). Play starts 1230 GMT

29th 4th one-day international, St George’s, Port Elizabeth. Play starts 0800 GMT

December

4th 5th one-day international, Kingsmead, Durban (d/n). Play starts 1230 GMT

9th-10th v SA Airways Challenge XI, East London. Play starts 0800 GMT

11th-12th v SA Airways Challenge XI, East London. Play starts 0800 GMT

16th-20th 1st Test, Centurion. Play starts 0830 GMT

26th-30th 2nd Test, Kingsmead, Durban. Play starts 0830 GMT

January

3rd-7th 3rd Test, (pictured below), Cape Town. Play starts 0830 GMT

14th-18th 4th Test, Wanderers, Johannesburg. Play starts 0830 GMT

I have also included the squads that will travel to South Africa below for you should your heart so desire to go into cricket overload!

Test squad:Andrew Strauss (Middlesex – captain), Alastair Cook (Essex – vice captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Steven Davies (Surrey), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex)

One-day squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex – captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Joe Denly (Kent), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex)

Cheers for reading as usual and all comments are welcome.

Gaffers

P.s. I am rather pleased the England versus Ukraine match is not live on television this weekend for several reasons.

Kentaro (internet providers screening the match) are well within their rights to screen the match and to experiment with the technology at their disposal.

But the main reason I am pleased is, it may open narrow-minded sports fans up to other football matches this weekend and the many other live sporting events been aired this weekend, namely the Super League Grand Final and Somerset’s appearance in the Twenty20 Cricket Champions League.

Check out all the live sport your heart desires at http://www.livesportontv.com/ it is the equivalent of a sports fanatics bible!

The Demise Of Argentina

The memories, the jinking runs of Maradona or Messi, a world cup winning pedigree, the greats of the game.

This list could go on but the past is to be admired and the present for the blue and white of Argentina paints a completely different picture. How the Argentine fans long for yester year!

I recently took in arguably the biggest game in world football, the eagerly anticipated game between Argentina versus Brazil and fought off sleep to stay up until 2am and I must say I am glad I did, for all the wrong reasons.

Two teams, who I had witnessed during Italia ‘90 compete so closely in the second round fixture in Turin (Argentina won 1-0), have grown apart dramatically during the intervening years.

Brazil have become compact, defensively sound yet remain skillfully elegant whilst Argentina are showing nothing but major cracks right across the pitch.

The blame surely has to lay at the feet of the football association in Argentina but also at their choice of coach, none other than Diego Armando Maradona. Whom despite been a great of the game is a untried coach, especially at such a demanding and stressful level.

He took over in a blaze of publicity and during his first fixture against Scotland in November 2008 the signs looked ominous. The team looked disorganised, disinterested and low on confidence, yet Maradona was loving the media attention focused purely on him.

His well documented health problems have recently surfaced again as Diego has visited Italy to have an operation to help with his escalating waistline whilst at the same time having the Italian authorities after him for a reported $37 million tax fraud.

By the way he refuses to pay them and he would only give them his ear rings worth a reported $5,000 due to a ruling allowing them to take anything in visual sight of notable value.

Anyway I digress. Whilst this is happening Carlos Bilardo (former Argentina legend and once national coach) has taken temporary charge of the upcoming friendly international against Ghana including selecting the squad and team.

Bizarre! Would Fabio Capello do this? I think not!

El Diego will return in time for the crunch World Cup qualifying double header in October against Peru and Uruguay respectively. The truth of the situation is that they need to win both games to guarantee at least a play-off place in the qualifying group.

Lose one or draw one and it could lead to one of the greatest team names in world sport missing out on the upcoming World Cup in South Africa with the games current greatest player, Lionel Messi, not entertaining on the stage we want to see him perform on.

Why has this happened I hear you ask. Many reasons can contribute and it could be coincidence that Maradona has purely taken over at a low point in Argentine football and the quality of player chosen.

Though many factors can add to the argument that he is to blame. His decisions to not select certain players is at the detriment of the team including Gonzalo Higuain and Juan Roman Riquelme, with the latter omission resulting in a fall out between Maradona and his beloved Boca Juniors supporters.

His adamant approach to include players deemed to be beyond their best or untested players for the big name games has left many a fan scratching their heads in amazement.

Ill preparations have also been blamed, namely for the 6-1 reversal against Bolivia, a match played at altitude without the preparations for such conditions.

Finally it was reported the light-hearted Lionel Messi returned from the recent international fixtures feeling depressed. This shows that all is not well in the camp and I wonder when it will end.

I hope they do qualify. I hope Diego can transform the fortunes of this ailing team. The question remains can he do it?

The signs aren’t good but it is said that a team shows its true colours when their backs are against the walls, I hope we see the true genius of the blue and whites in World Cup 2010.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers.

Gaffers

P.s. I want to say a huge well done to Wigan Athletic for defeating Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend. I t shows that the big teams can be defeated you just need to get amongst them and hope for a little bit of luck.

Durham’s Invincibles!!

It can be argued that county cricket is not up to the standard that it should be, but set the bench mark at winning the ashes and it is of a reasonable and acceptable level to say the least.

So to go through the domestic league season unbeaten shouldn’t be quaffed at as a minor achievement neither should winning back to back county championships (2008 and 2009).

This is the remarkable achievement of Durham in the domestic county scene over the past two seasons, coupled with the Friends Provident Trophy win in the limited over tournament back in 2007 shows for a county which has come far in recent years.

Think back to 1992, what were you doing? I was in secondary school and developing a love of cricket. Durham were preparing for their first season in first-class cricket since been granted first class status in 1991.

It hasn’t been an easy ride for the county and as an ardent Yorkshire fan I was rather pleased to be honest. But I have to admit that my dislike has turned into admiration for the county who are dominating the domestic scene.

In the following decade after inception the county struggled despite many high profile signings aimed at boosting the profile of cricket within the county. Sir Ian Botham, David Boon, Dean Jones and Shoaib Akhtar to name but four came to play but only minor progress was made.

In 2004 rock bottom of the county scene things could only look up. The county had to attract cricketers who had a thing or two prove and not just make a quick pound or two.

Mike Hussey arrived and once his county success resulted in Australian recognition, Dale Benkenstein took his place and prospects began to improve, promotions to the domestic four-day and one-day scene significantly helped the club prosper.

The rest they say is history and Durham are firmly established as the county to beat after the recent successes of the county both on and off (test status granted in 2003, three tests played so far).

Although initial success was achieved with pessimism in the county game this season it has been gained with the utmost respect.

The club have gone from strength to strength with first team players including Shiv Chanderpaul, Ian Blackwell (pictured below), Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions this list could go on and on!

The future is bleak for other counties as Durham are set to dominate after a phenomenal season which has seen 8 victories and 8 draws in their 16 county championship matches. They have a fantastic and strong batting line up and a bowling attack which could easily line up in international cricket for England (Plunkett, Harmison, Onions, Blackwell), how do the others match this?

Having the finances and the broad area for attracting local talent are readily available to many counties. The key is turning this into a playing staff who are hungry for success and Durham have this playing staff in abundance.

My only hope is that Yorkshire can regain pride and challenge with Durham for the 2010 championship, time will tell as I always say but well done to Durham and all behind the scenes including coach Geoff Cook to make them the ideal model for county cricket success.

Cheers for reading.

Gaffers

P.s. I want to say a huge well done to my friend Andrew Vile who on friday swam the English Channel for charity in a time of 15.5 hours.

His designated charities are:

UK: http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Vile/

Australia: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/andrew_vile

Make a donation if you have the funds and time available, well done again Andy! Respect is due!