Mello Yello 2,281 Posted November 24, 2007 They think it''s all over.. Who cares? Paul Routledge 23/11/2007 Related Articles More Paul Routledge What a huge relief that England''s footballers have failed to qualify for the thingummybob in Europe next year. Once the savage inquest has been held, the manager sacked and the nation has mourned briefly, we can all get on with life as usual. No endless months of speculation about our chances of beating obscure foreign countries. Bliss! This is an opportunity to take an axe to the false gods of the pseudo-religion that football has become. Advertisement You may say I''m not qualified to talk about football, having watched only one match in 64 years. On the contrary, that makes me an impartial observer. So let''s kick off. Soccer has a useful role to play as a competitive game between schools, and for men of a certain age in the park on a Sunday morning. And that''s about it. But football isn''t a game any more. It''s a very big, very corrupt business run by very rich men. Rupert Murdoch exploits football for political power. Club loyalty amounts almost to clinical obsession. Woe betide a supporter who goes into the "wrong" pub, or gets mixed up in the wrong section of the crowd. That''s a recipe for grievous bodily harm. Beautiful game? Forget it. There is nothing uglier than a mob of socalled fans on the rampage, like the gang who destroyed a double-decker bus in Leeds recently. And there are few sights more ridiculous than grown men walking down the street in a replica shirt, bearing the name and number of their favourite gum-chewing, spitting, foul-mouthed player. Unless it is a woman doing the same thing. The utility of this pathetic but expensive garb may be judged by the fact that they never turn up in charity shops. They are useless, like the people who wear them. If this obsession with soccer were a private thing, it wouldn''t be so bad. But it''s a national mania. The English are not very good at the game they invented, yet we are in torment about the next manager. The last one, Sven the Quiet, never lifted a single trophy. He was better at raising the duvet. Sex-god Sven''s private life was never out of the newspapers. And that goes too for the players, most of whom haven''t got two brain cells and think culture is a fight outside a nightclub. Their Wags are even more empty-headed. It''s time we got this pastime into perspective: not a matter of life and death, but a minority spectator hobby. Well, that just about does it. Is there cricket on the box? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Feathers 0 Posted November 24, 2007 he doesn''t ''get'' it, obviously, but he has a point for sure. However I think he concentrates on the ugly, negative side of the game and not the positive.I agree though, to a point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YankeeCanary 0 Posted November 24, 2007 [quote user="Feathers"]he doesn''t ''get'' it, obviously, but he has a point for sure. However I think he concentrates on the ugly, negative side of the game and not the positive.I agree though, to a point.[/quote]Feathers, I have to say that your viewpoint makes an art of sitting on the fence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Feathers 0 Posted November 24, 2007 Hahaha.I wouldn''t agree with him completely would I? I like football and he does not. However I think the points he makes should be taken on board. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
In Dubious Battle 0 Posted November 25, 2007 i''m not interested in the opinions of anybody who calls the beautiful game soccer! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
