Football need to learn!

[Yellow Rider 0]

From that magnificent Ashes series! Look at the scenes in London - brilliant!

The whole series has been enthralling and so unbelievably tense. I know that is a FOOTBALL and NCFC board but our ''national game'' needs to respond if the public disenchantment with our overrated, overpaid and generally loutish antics is not to continue to grow. Yes the test ''stars'' certainly put pressure on the umpire with some often outrageous appeals but the key thing is that ONCE THE UMPIRE GIVES THE DECISION THEY ACCEPT IT!  None of this foul mouthed tirade of 4 letter words from Rooney or his United mate Keane, yet almost all football fans and journalists and tv pundits drool over these two as the ''greatest player(s) in the world'' etc. Do me a favour!! The vast majority of today''s footballers aren''t fit to lick the boots of the Engand or Aussie cricketers.

Are we any different at NCFC? I''d love to be able to say we are but when you see that moment of madness from Huckerby recently and the finger jabbing from Fleming whenever he contests a decision you realise that we are as guilty as anyone else. 

When was the last time you saw an opponent shake the hand of a player who has just gone off after scoring a hat trick? Yeah - precisely, it don''t happen. Why? Shane Warne did that to KP yesterday when the England player had singlehandedly won the Ashes by that 158. Does that make Warne any less of a competitor? Er, i think not!!

We had that wonderful post a week back about the obscene amount of money in football. Then we saw last Wednesday that disgraceful behaviour from Fat Boy (against his own captain for christ sake!). FOOTBALL NEEDS TO WAKE UP BIG TIME.     

[Gentleman Jim 0]

Exactly right Mellow,

I love my test cricket too, unfortunately football will never match either cricket''s player attitudes nor that of the supporters, who seem never appreciate an opponents skills or achievements in any way.

But one has to accept that although the two cultures are completely opposite, each has it''s own peculiar attractiveness  and so adjust attitudes to each as required when watching.

IMHO

[Kathy 733]

I couldnt agree more. I do the bar in the pavilion for Norfolk''s home games and have had the privilege of meeting a number of well known cricketers over the past few years. In minor counties cricket you occasionally get former first class players who have reached the end of their careers and step down a level usually to their nearest minor county. There is also the C&G trophy which can give you a home draw and the rare opportunity to see a first class team in Norfolk. I have always found these cricketers extremely courteous and modest, even household names like Devon Malcolm.

They seem completely different from the professional footballers I have met as NCISA secretary. A couple of seasons ago when Norfolk played Kent at Manor Park in the C&G, Kent fast bowler, former Norfolk seamer and at that time England player Martin Saggers came into the club house and asked me if it was all right if his mum and dad came in! I have also seen Matthew Fleming making himself a cup of tea so as not to be a nuisance and Aussie Andrew Symonds clearing glasses.

Can you imagine footballers especially the Chelsea and Man U version doing things like that? Although many of us on here love cricket too, I think there are a lot of cricket fans who wouldnt touch football with a barge pole because of these things.

[gazzathegreat 0]

[quote]From that magnificent Ashes series! Look at the scenes in London - brilliant! The whole series has been enthralling and so unbelievably tense. I know that is a FOOTBALL and NCFC board but our ''nation...[/quote]

completely agree Yellow Rider

I wept with pride and joy yesterday after a magnifient knock by KP and the togetherness and passion of our national cricket team should be an example to the football team - as you said, the obvious respect for the other side by both sets of players was great to see and I was thinking I just hope that plenty of footballers were watching it.

Yes, cricket is a vastly different game to football and I have grown up watching and loving both because of that, but the wonderful relaxed and happy atmosphere at all the test matches should be an example not only to the players but to us too.  Sometimes I cringe at some of the chants and songs sung to the opposing fans - you don''t seem to get that in cricket, despite the game lasting all day with copious amounts of beer available to drink! 

I know I will upset a lot of people on here, but I have given up on watching England playing football because of the points you have made YR - the attitude towards the ref and the opposition by the players and the unbelievable behaviour by so called England fans. It has turned me right off - so yesterday was very sweet and I will remember it for a long, long time. 

[ZLF 271]

[quote]From that magnificent Ashes series! Look at the scenes in London - brilliant! The whole series has been enthralling and so unbelievably tense. I know that is a FOOTBALL and NCFC board but our ''nation...[/quote]

Hear Hear YR - I can only endorse everything you have said.

OTBC

[Al Yellow 0]

Couldn''t agree more. If you missed it look at this thread:

http://new.pinkun.com/forums/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=63&MessageID=225712

Something is rotten at the heart of football. We need to be debating the big picture here:

• What can football learn from other sports?
• How has our national game been corrupted from sport into this pantomime of bad sportsmanship?
• Do we really want these superstar players and bad tempered managers as role models?

Can we not have this type of post pinned to the top of the board so everyone can make a serious contribution to a meaningful and important debate as opposed to the duplication of thread after thread on the same old subjects?

 

[Yellow Rider 0]

Thank you for your comments.

Cum on you others! Lets be ''avin u as she says!

Seriously though, we as ''society'' in general and fans in particular must share some of the blame. Why? Nowadays we have this appalling spectacle of standing ovations whenever one of our own players (and I''m talking football wide here, not NCFC specifically) gets sent off!!! Now, unless a player has honestly been mistakenly sent off on grounds of the ref. identifying the wrong man, then how can any fan APPLAUD a sending off of your own player??????? Yet when an opposition player gets sent packing we all jump up and jeer, shout abuse and god knows what - I''m certainly guilty of that but I would NEVER, EVER applaud a Norwich player for getting sent off. It''s absolutely crazy. 

No-one in professional football be it at manager or director level has EVER (to my knowledge) had the balls to stand up PUBLICLY and take ACTION against the thuggish behaviour we see. Take Keane. The guy may have been a very good player but that completely masks his moronic behaviour in the eyes of Ferguson, the United Board, media and fans alike. He is feted as some kind of God. Ask Alfe Inge Harlaand what he thinks of ''that tackle'' - sorry, it was actually a brutal, completely unprovoked assault that could easily have ended up with Keane being sent to jail had it happened outside in the street and if Keane hadn''t been a footballer of course! If memory serves me right, did Keane not just serve the mandatory suspension for a sending off? Also, when he PUBLICLY ADMITTED IT (in his book), was any action taken? Ferguson should have made damn sure he never, ever pulled on that red jersey in any shape or form ever again. If I had been in charge at Old Trafford I would have ripped up his contract there and then and to hell with any ''legal action''.       

Don''t get me wrong, many footballers sound as nice as pie on the radio or TV and they ''say all the right things'' but once on the pitch they completely lose it. Take our own beloved ''Gunny'', yes good old Uncle Bryan himself!  He got sent off at home once (against liverpool I think?) but kept arguing and arguing for ages with the ref. I remember screaming at him to just ''get off'' and got some pretty dark looks from some fans (and that was from the dead sheep in the old South Stand)!       

[Cosmic Twin 185]

Well said Yellow Rider!

Freddie Flintoff or Wayne Rooney? Absolutely no contest!