Now there’s not many football players about that I really dislike, but I did take great pleasure in Craig Bellamy’s poor performance last night on his return to Coventry after leaving the club some nine years ago.
Despite only scoring 6 goals during his one season with us, I have no doubt about the ability of the Welsh front man. A top player I know that he is, and I was shocked when I seen him come down to the Championship. A man of his quality would have had no shortage of clubs from the Premiership willing to take him.
Ability apart though, the guy is nothing short of a trouble maker. He seems to fall out with the staff and players at pretty much any club that he has been at, including the ridiculous golf club incident with John Arne Riise at Liverpool. The reason for my dislike though, is because of his criticism of Coventry City Football Club, and the City itself when he left for Newcastle all those years ago.
I have to admit though, despite not doing anything all night, I was worried that he would pop up with the winning goal, to silence the boo boys in the Ricoh Arena. Cardiff manager Dave Jones said in a post match interview that the fans were scared of Bellamy. He was probably right, but he was far from the truth when he said that was the reason for the jeers.
As for the match, a penalty given in the fourth minute is an incident I would like to see again. From where I was sitting (half way up the stand behind the goal where it happened) it didn’t look like a penalty. Sure, Turner seemed to have hold of him, but if you’re going to start giving penalties for that, then you will be giving them all day long. Harsh I thought. In the end though, it was another former Coventry man that got the winning goal. Jay Bothroyd, another player that most of Coventry fans hate and abuse.
Our performances this season, I think, are beginning to get better. A win away at Ipswich and a narrow loss - albeit still a loss - against a good Cardiff side just 2 points off the top of the league are two not bad results. Last night we were fighting for the ball in midfield, going in for fifty-fifty balls whereas before we were bottling it. The one thing we are still missing though I feel, is a creative midfielder, someone that is going to make things happen, because with Marlon King in the side now, I think we have the goals in us.
20 Oct 2010
10 Oct 2010
"A noise we are dealing with"
What gets me, is why so many Liverpool fans are so eager for this proposed take over to be completed. Yes, Hicks and Gillett have done little good since taking over the club in 2007, and have run up debts of £300m in the process. But New England Sports Ventures (the people behind the bid) are an American company, with American investors. Do Liverpool fans really want another American consortium in charge of their club?
In my eyes there are 3 types of football club owner. First of all the regular owner, the sort of person who just looks to run a business, for the majority of the time because of their love for football or in some cases the club. Second is the mega rich owner, who sees the club as a play thing. Roman Abramovic, Sheikh Mansour. Lastly is the owner in the shape of the Glazers, Hicks/Gillett, and the New England Sports Venture (NESV). The foreign investor who is only in it to make money. Rarely do they care about the club, or anyone associated with it, all they are concerned with, is gaining a profit from the eventual sale of their “asset.” What makes anyone think that the NESV will have different intentions for Liverpool football club, and will actually look to do good for a club with so much history and tradition?
The fact that current chairman Michael Broughton was brought into the club with the sole purpose of finding a buyer for the current American owners, says it all about their initial intentions. Now that Broughton has found a buyer - and more importantly, an actual offer - the American pair are not happy. And why? Because if this deal goes through, the pair will stand to lose a total of around £140m. So with Broughton happy to sell - he has in fact accepted the £300m offer made by NESV - and the owners reluctance to at such a price, the matter will now be resolved in court. It is worth noting however that if the Royal Bank of Scotland don’t receive the £280m that they are owed by next Friday (15 October) then the club could be placed into administration. For everyone concerned with Liverpool football club, this could be catastrophic. Firstly, a 9 point deduction would be made by the Premier League, leaving them bottom of the table with -3 points going into the Merseyside derby next weekend. But even more problematic, would be the lack of interest in buying the club. With such debts and such a poor position in the league table, who would want to take over? As a fan of Liverpool myself, it is imperative that the club be taken over this week, although my concerns over NESV’s intentions are large.
And if it doesn’t go through, Hicks and Gillett had better stay away from Anfield. Not only would they have taken this massive club to the bottom of the English Premier League, not only would they have severely dented the reputation of one of the most famous clubs in the world, but above all, they have disrespected what is quite possibly the most loyal supporters in world football. Tom Hicks has been quoted as saying that Liverpool fans “are a noise we are dealing with.” What he means by this is anyone’s guess, but the club needs to be in the hands of someone else, and quick.
In my eyes there are 3 types of football club owner. First of all the regular owner, the sort of person who just looks to run a business, for the majority of the time because of their love for football or in some cases the club. Second is the mega rich owner, who sees the club as a play thing. Roman Abramovic, Sheikh Mansour. Lastly is the owner in the shape of the Glazers, Hicks/Gillett, and the New England Sports Venture (NESV). The foreign investor who is only in it to make money. Rarely do they care about the club, or anyone associated with it, all they are concerned with, is gaining a profit from the eventual sale of their “asset.” What makes anyone think that the NESV will have different intentions for Liverpool football club, and will actually look to do good for a club with so much history and tradition?
The fact that current chairman Michael Broughton was brought into the club with the sole purpose of finding a buyer for the current American owners, says it all about their initial intentions. Now that Broughton has found a buyer - and more importantly, an actual offer - the American pair are not happy. And why? Because if this deal goes through, the pair will stand to lose a total of around £140m. So with Broughton happy to sell - he has in fact accepted the £300m offer made by NESV - and the owners reluctance to at such a price, the matter will now be resolved in court. It is worth noting however that if the Royal Bank of Scotland don’t receive the £280m that they are owed by next Friday (15 October) then the club could be placed into administration. For everyone concerned with Liverpool football club, this could be catastrophic. Firstly, a 9 point deduction would be made by the Premier League, leaving them bottom of the table with -3 points going into the Merseyside derby next weekend. But even more problematic, would be the lack of interest in buying the club. With such debts and such a poor position in the league table, who would want to take over? As a fan of Liverpool myself, it is imperative that the club be taken over this week, although my concerns over NESV’s intentions are large.
And if it doesn’t go through, Hicks and Gillett had better stay away from Anfield. Not only would they have taken this massive club to the bottom of the English Premier League, not only would they have severely dented the reputation of one of the most famous clubs in the world, but above all, they have disrespected what is quite possibly the most loyal supporters in world football. Tom Hicks has been quoted as saying that Liverpool fans “are a noise we are dealing with.” What he means by this is anyone’s guess, but the club needs to be in the hands of someone else, and quick.
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