Can't we all just get along?

When I first started to regularly attend football matches at the young age of 13, the kind of racism and violence that dragged the game into the gutter during the 70’s and 80’s were a thing of the past - almost anecdotal in the same way one might reminisce about dodgy perms, Panini sticker albums and hitchhiking to the game. They were remembered, in some bizarre cases fondly, but they were assumed to be a thing of the past. Football fans around the country would pat themselves on the back for how civilised we’d all become. However, allow yourself to think hard about what it's been like since those ‘dark days of football’, and then ask yourself the question, how much have we genuinely moved on?

Sure, anybody who stands up in a ground and leisurely tosses a banana at a black player, or a supporter who runs onto the pitch to confront the referee, will be dealt with swiftly and severely but those are obvious cases. It’s easy to hide behind improvements without ever discussing what more can be done.

This season questions have been raised once again about supporters, their behaviour and where a line of common human decency should be drawn. Up and down the country fans are debating the difference between harmless banter and sub-human bile and, whilst I’m happy that these things are now being discussed out in the open, I am still constantly amazed by how far some supporters will go ‘for their club’.

Manchester City supporters for years called their red counterparts ‘Munichs’, an obvious attempt to deflect attention from the massive gulf in quality between the two teams for what seems like forever, ‘If you can wind us up about winning trophies, we’ll wind you up about people dying in a plane crash!’  Hmm.

United for their part haven’t exactly been compassionate themselves as they regularly sing songs about the Hillsborough disaster when 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death before and during a live televised FA Cup semi-final.

Liverpool fans in turn are also happy to jump onto the Munich bandwagon with vile chants that wouldn’t be accepted anywhere but in a football stadium.

And so the vicious circle goes on and on and on.

Screaming ferociously about tragedies the likes of which we hope are never repeated all in the name of team pride is tenuous at best. Are we to be believed that the Manchester City players become more motivated when they hear that Carlos Tevez ‘hates Munichs’? I really think not. In fact perhaps the opposite can be argued. In the run up to the derby played on the anniversary of the Munich air disaster the media was in frenzy speculating on what the response of the City fans would be. To me, as a blue, that’s insulting, but you really can’t blame them. As it happens, the fans were described after the game as being ‘impeccable’ and Man City were cheered to victory - their first win at Old Trafford in over 30 years. High praise for not acting like a low-life seems gratuitous, but nevertheless I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of my club or their fans.

That was then and this is now. The Munich taunt has crept back into the fold, albeit for far fewer supporters. That famous derby day now seems like an anomaly and what a shame that is. A City supporter on fan forum, Bluemoon, defended the return to the contemptible taunts, by saying that he was happy to respect the minutes silence on the anniversary because the club had asked him to. I wonder if after the game he received a personal phone call from City’s then manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, saying, ‘Thanks for being a sport today… feel free to continue being an arsehole again!’

It’s not just tragedies that are subjected to mockery now either, it’s individuals too. Tottenham fans will tell anyone who listens that Arsene Wenger is a paedophile, an accusation that Wenger has been forced to deny. He actually had to tell the world that he doesn’t molest children. Even as I type it, I still can’t believe it. And what about the likes of John O’Shea or Ashley Cole or many others who are constantly taunted about their sexuality? As if a) it matters or b) it’s anybody’s business. In fact homophobia seems the last refuge for the small minded football fan. A football fan is quite rightly thrown out for racist language but call a player a ‘queer’ and all you'll get are a few giggles, maybe even from the police – as if there is any difference. I genuinely long for the day when a professional player has the courage to come out openly as a gay man, though I can tell you right now, I wouldn’t have the bottle to do it.

And so this is what I'm preaching: go to football, enjoy yourself, sing some songs, have a drink and by all means bait the opposition. There’s nothing wrong with that and it is part of the reason football is the most popular sport in the world. But before you join in mindlessly with your fella supporters, question what is you’re singing and why? If it’s in support of your team, sing your heart out… if it’s uncivilised bigotry or mocking the dead, well, maybe it’s time to change seats.

Rafa on borrowed time?

There is little doubt that the pinnacle of European club football is the hallowed Champions League trophy and winning this is, for some, the be all and end all.  Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and even AC Milan all relish this competition with increasing vigour and it would be fair to suggest that one day these new and passionate continental rivalries might eclipse those being fought on English soil.  But we're not there yet.

Even Alex Ferguson, who we all know places the Champions League above all else, realises that the Premier League is still his bread and butter.  It's still the competition that you contest on a weekly basis and the one that brings in the vast majority of supporters and consequently the bumper gate receipts.  It's also the competition that actually allows you entry into the elite Champions League.  Ignore the domestic league at your peril.

These should be sentiments being passed on to Liverpool's hapless manager, Rafael 'Rafa' Benitez, by the clubs hierarchy.  Rafa has been with the club for five years and in what was quite an acheievement (only matched at Liverpool by Joe Fagan) impressively picked up the Champions League title in his first full season.  But is the shine of that famous night in Istanbul beginning to dull?  Well, after four topsy turvy years, I should think so.

Liverpool are the most decorated English club of all time, and they demand success.  Even the most hardened Kopites must be a little embarrassed to hold up five fingers to their Manchester United rivals (a gesture that highlights Liverpool's superior record in Europe's top competition), when it is clear for everyone to see that United have been far superior to Liverpool for many many years.  It's like Todd Hamilton taunting Tiger Woods because he won The 2004 Open... I can't see Tiger losing too much sleep over it, can you?

Don't get me wrong, it would be hard to argue that Rafa has taken the club backwards, but in a league with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Everton and of course, Manchester United, to stand still is to go backwards.  Teams have to constantly update and improve in order to keep up with their rivals and this is what Liverpool have dramatically failed to do. 

Rafa was the driving force in Liverpool signing one of the best strikers in the world, the immensely talented Fernando Torres, and for this he should be commended.  But what happens when he and the home grown stalwart, Steven Gerrard pick up knocks, as they are both prone to doing?  I'll tell you what happens, Liverpool trot out a side that is barely an improvement on a run of the mill, mid-table Premier League outfit - with repsect, a Fulham or a Sunderland or a Wigan.  Not only do they not look like Champions League contenders, they don't look like they could qualify for the nuisance that is the UEFA Cup.

Rafa Benitez must be made accountable.  He can point the finger at his American owners all he wants but his poor signings and, at times, his tactical failings are there for all to see.  The once fiercely loyal Liverpool supporters are suddenly starting to ask serious questions of their leader and one can certainly not accuse them of jumping the gun.  Apart from the Champions League trophy, Liverpool have only won one other competition during Rafa's reign - the 2006 FA Cup.  This is a stark return for a club who sees itself as one of the biggest in the world.

If Liverpool manage to keep Gerrard and Torres injury free then I have no doubt they will be in the Champions League spots come next May - the two of them are just that good.  However, if they continue to pick up niggling injuries that keep them off the park, then Liverpool will struggle to keep up with the top four, whoever that may be.  A lack of depth and a squad of bit-part players won't win you the English Premier League and this season it won't win them the Champions League either.

It's only October and I'm already willing to stake my reputation on them not winning either and I think Liverpool have to ask themselves - is that good enough?

Backing England's Bid

England join Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar*, Russia, South Korea*, and the United States as individual nations bidding for the rights to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup Finals. Belgium and the Netherlands and Portugal and Spain have also entered joint bids where the games would be played in selected stadia from both countries.

Having not had the tournament since 1966 and being the self-proclaimed 'home of football', you would be justified in thinking that England would be considerable favourites to take home the rights for the first tournament, with only an outside chance for the joint bids from the other European countries and possibly Australia, as another FIFA exercise in spreading the appeal of football beyond its traditional base.

I wouldn't bank on it, boys and girls.

There is a stinking anglophobic element widespread through football's two major organisation, FIFA and UEFA, and there will be many people pulling every string possible to make sure that England aren't given a clear run for their bid.

Sepp Blatter, the swollen Dictator, er, I mean President of FIFA, who's leadership is already marching into its eleventh year, has made no secret of his distaste for British football and in particular the commercial behemoth that is the English Premier League.  Perhaps this stems from England's investigative media, which tarred his first two bids for FIFA leadership with direct allegations of corruption, backroom deals and politicking the likes of which Peter Mandelson would be proud.  Not only is this untrustworthy egomaniac a figurehead for this great sport, but he's also the number one man where policy and rule changes are concerned.  This is a man with such bright ideas as requesting that women wear tighter shorts when playing football, to achieve, in his ridiculous view, '...a more female aesthetic'.  We may as well let Prince Phillip run the show.  The fact that England's bid lies in the hand of a committee, rather than just one man, may well be their saving grace but I'd fully expect Blatter to be rallying his cronies to vote for anyone but.

Another serious problem for England comes from within the European football organisation, UEFA, in the form of its President, the utterly out of touch, Michael Platini.  Platini was a sublime footballer in his day, but his time now seems to be mostly taken up by finding ways to stop the flow of money into the English game.  He seems so blinkered by his contempt for the cash-rich Premier League that he has never stopped to realise that it is the biggest jewel in his own crown.  Sure, the Bundesliga holds it own, Serie A is impressive if a little tedious at times, and the French league produces some incredible home-grown talent (if Africa is considered part of France, that is), but the English Premier League is simply a world-wide phenomenon.  The EPL is followed in over 200 countries and that figure continues to grow almost monthly.  And you'd better believe there's a good reason for that; incredible talent, at times mind-boggling entertainment and the financial backing to really push football to corners of the world not traditionally concerned with the beautiful game.  Platini and Blatter should be full of nothing but praise for what has been achieved in England.

But I digress... oh yes, the bid.  The problem England face is if Platini pushes any of the other European bids.  FIFA's current policy is that the last two tournament host confederations are ineligible to bid for the next.  So, if the joints bids of Spain and Portugal and the Netherlands and Belgium are successful for 2018, England are automatically out of the running for 2022 and 2026, and vice versa.  Will FIFA want to disqualify four other nations for the next 16 years simply to give the nod to a country toward which it displays such contempt?  I suppose we shall see.

Objectively, England are a no-brainer for me.  They have the infrastructure, security (unless you're a Brazilian tourist in a puffa jacket), the stadia and the financial clout to put on an amazing tournament and if FIFA don't want the 'will it/won't it be ready?' jitters that seem to accompany most tournaments in recent times, it will give the England bid its due consideration.  Second choice, and perhaps less objectively, would be Australia... if for nothing else than to see another opening ceremony that includes a washing line.

* Qatar and South Korea are only bidding on the 2022 tournament.