Beyond Jeff Stirling and Chris Kamara...

Don't exactly jump out off the screen do they...

As the opening weekend of the Premier League season draws to a close, many fans both club-biased and neutral will enter Monday morning with a tinge of disappointment, after the majority of footballing displays on offer from this weekends Premier League schedule were generally quite lacklustre. In fact, if it wasn't Owen Coyle's Bolton ripping apart QPR 4-0 on the Londoners induction to the top tier, and the ever controversial Joey Barton and  debutant Gervinho seeing red (literally) in the Newcastle versus Arsenal match,  it would probably be safe to say that from a footballing point of view, this weekend has been one to forget.

Even as a 'sports' fan, I struggle to
appreciate any aspect of Cricket.

 For many sports fans, during the Sunday evening after a satisfying Sunday roast, the weekend's sporting events get a quick mental overview,and im certainly no exception. Unfortunately, due to the lacklustre football in the Premier League this weekend, it was more of an arithmetic session rather for me personally, in terms of football. So then I moved on to other sport events I'd watched this weekend: England's loss against Wales in Rugby Union was pretty bleak, the US PGA Championship had yet to get into it's stride, and despite the dominant performance against India in the Cricket, the match had been unable to personally penetrate my disliking for the game as a whole. How about the other second tier of English Football? Well Leicester lost 2-0 before my very eyes, so as a pretty disgruntled fan, that instantly put pay to that option. The excitement in the sport this weekend, actually lay with two wheel action...

Flying/Riding with the flag: Cavendish is the real deal

 Yes, as im sure any Sky Sports News viewer will be in the knowledge of, Mark Cavendish recorded yet another fantastic victory in his field of expertise aboard his road bike, in the London 2012 test road race in preparation for next years Olympic cycling  event. Cavendish, who is still without a 'trade team' in which riders compete within throughout the cycling season, is widely regarded as one of the finest British Sportsman of the current generation,  and widely tipped to be a frontrunner for an illusive gold medal in next years' Olympic road racing.

Moto 2 is the place for unrivalled two wheeled action/drama.

  However, despite another Cavendish special being dished up around the streets of London/Surrey, my highlight from this weekends sport lay in the Czech Republic, at the Brno Autodromo race circuit, where the Moto GP circus has been performing. It always amazes me how little sports fans generally know about Moto GP, it would seem that it is somewhat still in the shadow of Formula One in terms of exposure and popularity in the Motorsport world, which is a shame, seeing as the sport features three top class, fantastically exciting race categories with the top riders in the world. This weekend was no exception, with the second tier race category, 'Moto 2' , providing the main bulk of the action. Victory in the race eventually fell to Italian rider Andrea Iannone, after what can only be described as a mesmerising race full of incident, breathtaking overtakes, and a whole host of 'leather on leather' racing. The series' is basically packed full of the next generation 'Moto GP' riders, ready to replace household names such as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo at the very summit of the Motorcycling world. Because of this, the races are without fail, brimming with action, excitement,and above all, havoc.With riders placing death defying overtakes on one another, pushing their respective machinery to it's very limit, fighting for points, wins, and most importantly recognition that secures the future their fledging careers. It's a joy to watch, or in some cases forces you not to, as a rider sticks a manoeuvre up the inside of the guy in front at 200+ kph...
 It's that gutsy determination and steely interior that the riders project out on the racetrack that makes the category such a brilliant watch for any sports fan.This along side the constant development race going on behind the scenes regarding the intricate,deadly fast machinery on which the riders board, really does make the Moto 2 race series' a 'must watch' event on any Sunday morning on which the event is in action.

Famous Culprit: Lazy Berba

 This 'determination' that makes Moto 2 so good, brings me neatly back to the subject of the Premier League, where such 'determination' is only really apparent with a minority of players, often from teams fighting for survival, nearing a seasons' conclusion. This is a great shame; not only is it visually apparent to paying fans at the matches, but it also blunts the football game itself, with no great sense of urgency or hunger for the three points that come along with a win. Once again, the situation regarding ridiculously large wage fee's comes into the limelight, with players seemingly sorted for life in terms of finance, maybe it's a simple case of the money going to their heads.
   So to sum up, after a disappointing weekend, with no great entertainment being offered from the Premier League, even on opening day, take time to find this weekends brilliant Moto 2 race, aswell as the 125cc race and Moto GP race itself, on Eurosport during the week or elsewhere, and im hopeful you'd find my elation and positive feedback above well and truly justified.

Feel free to leave comments below.

Buy or Bust: Football's ugly truth

Oh the memories: Filbert Street.

Every one remembers going to their first football match right? I've been a Leicester City fans for nigh on ten years now, and as much as I can remember last weekends opening game win against Coventry City, I can also remember  my first ever game watching the foxes: weeping in the stands at City's old stomping ground Filbert Street, on the back of a 3-1 loss.  In-between these two largely contrasting games, I've experienced  Leicester's roller-coaster journey throughout the last 10 years, from the dizzying heights of the Premier League Summit, right down to the depths of England's third tier level of football, League One. It struck me whilst awaiting kick-off at the weekend, that I had very rarely looked back on my time as a Leicester City fan, and with this I remembered all sorts of controversy and magical moments, yes that's right, even at Leicester...

Big Build, Big fee, little goals.

  After a while I got thinking about the various players to have been in and out of the club, the likes of goal machines such as the international superstar Emile Heskey and Adi Akinbiyi (hope my readers appreciate sarcasm), alongside players that went on to become established Premier League Stalwarts such as Wolverhampton Wolves'  defender Richard Stearman, and the ever 'popular' Robbie Savage, whether it be for Blackburn  Rovers or Birmingham City. Then there's the famous arrivals at Leicester City, whether it be the arrival of established Premier League striker Yakubu during last years Championship campaign, or the arrival of at the time, Derby County's team captain Matt Oakley, halfway through the Ram's ill fated Premier League season and the Foxes's similarly ill fated  Championship campaign under Ian Holloway  in the 2007/08 season. With all these various arrivals and departures exiting and entering the glass doors at  Leicester's King Power Stadium (formerly the Walkers Stadium), comes the influence of money on such moves. After the foxes' big spending during this seasons summer build-up, and with the large amounts of money regularly mentioned in and around transfers on a day to day basis in the media, anyone would be forgiven for quite frankly taking the fee's involved for granted. However, it hit me square the face the other day that the money in football, is quite simply ridiculous.

Children literally in Need,
overlooked by footballs greed.

  In order to get your head around it, it takes some sort of comparison to money in the world outside of football. So lets take a figure well documented year in,year out: The Children In Need fundraiser total. Last year, the charity managed to accumulate a brilliant £18 Million pounds thanks to donations and charity events; an impressive figure by any means. As is well known, that money is spent on helping to provide health and infrastructure to those in need living in third world countries, pre dominantly in Africa. Now back to the world of football: Leicester City's owners have so far pumped over £20 million pounds into their newly acquired club, with £15 million being spent purely on transfers (and that's without even considering wage fee's agreed when bringing big name players in...). Quite frankly, it acts a perfect example to the morally wrong and politically crazy society we live in. Despite this, the money side of football is generally ignored in terms of being outrageous, something I've recently come to realise as being nothing other than outrageous...

Adiós: Cesc close to departing the Gunners

  Lets take it up another notch: In today's news, the main headlines have obviously been dominated by the on-going public disorder surrounding cities and towns throughout the nation. In the Sport press however, the transfer saga regarding Arsenal's influential captain Cesc Fabregas has once again gained stranglehold of the top story slot, with a deal thought to be have been agreed between Arsenal and Barcelona in the region of £30 million, with up to £6 million pounds extra being given in performance add-ons.  Should this deal go through, the grand total of expenditure in this summers transfer market will pass the staggering, £300 million pound mark. This struck me as significant in relation to the devastating riots happening across the country right now, but specifically to one quote I heard on BBC News last night when keeping up to date with the nationwide destruction: "The damage caused by the riots could cost the tax payer up to £100 million". This figure stands at a third of the grand total that has been spent solely on bringing new sets of legs to clubs around the continent. When put into perspective like this, the issue escalates from  being 'outrageous' to quite simply disgusting. Oh, and guess what the second headline was on tonight's news unless you already know? The 'worldwide economic crisis'. How ironic.

  Money has spiralled out of control in the modern game to a point now where fans no longer consider it as 'money'. It's seen primarily as a figure used to describe a players ability and quality. Football as a sport is tainted beyond belief, to a point where its rotten, yet the media and in fact even the government choose to ignore the quite frankly crazy situation.

  So whilst families and businesses are destroyed on the streets of North London and elsewhere in the nation, you can bet your last penny that as we wake up to tomorrows inevitably shocking news headlines, Mr.Moneybags at the King Power Stadium and his fellow smug  rich friends at the helm of other clubs will be creating other headlines,funding a bid for one or two more humans, instead of helping save the lives and lively hoods of thousands.

Feel free to leave a comment below.

Welcome To The Championship

This weekend marked the return of the eagerly anticipated Championship season; arguably the most competitive and toughest league in Britain, with a clear group of 7+ sides all going to toe to toe at the bookies for promotion this year. With the ever present quality of the past Play-Off bound teams such as Cardiff and Nottingham Forest,    and teams such as Hull City and my own Leicester City with there radical pre-season team chopping and changing, the league looked set to be to be a somewhat free-for-all. In fact, even now that the first games week has passed, I still struggle to describe it as anything different to that.

Centre of attention: McCleish's move to Villa

 One of the interesting points this year even more so than other years; is the instatement and in some cases, reinstatement of clubs entering the Championship. From the heights of the Barclays Premier League, fell the household name teams of League Cup winners Birmingham City, the ever popular Ian Hollaway's Blackpool team, and the the team relegated under the most unpopular potentially in the nation, West Ham United. All three of these clubs have been in the limelight pre-season, perhaps most noticeably with Birmingham, as their previous manager Alex McLeish made a well publicised local-suicide attempt in moving to cross-city rivals, Aston Villa. Perhaps more significant than McLeish's resignation and Chris Hughton's appointment, were the developments at Upton Park, with the replacement for Avram Grant being confirmed as the proven manager of Sam Allardyce.

Parker: Heart of the Hammers wasn't beating

     All these changes therefore, make it ever more surprising that both teams, despite new managers and a raft of player additions, were both defeated by Championship regulars, Derby County and Cardiff City over the weekend. Okay, so in West Hams case, it may have been desperately unlucky to have hit the post and had  a goal line clearance go against them prior to a 90th minute goal by Kenny Miller. But still, the Hammers surprise defeat and Birmingham's low rate performance against a newly revamped Derby, have come somewhat as a surprise to me, as well im sure as many other Championship pundits and fans. The demise of these two teams weekend, therefore brings me to the team so desperately unlucky to succumb to relegation last year: Blackpool. Despite a well oiled performance by Nigel Peasons Hull City at their KC stadium, the tangerines style of passive, fluent player and ball movement ensured that Hollaway's men got off to a winning start upon their return to the Championship, courtesy of a fantastic strike by, in my opinion a highly under-rated striker, Gary Taylor-Fletcher.
   Okay, so bare with me here, I am going somewhere with this; more surprising then the defeats of Birmingham and West Ham, maybe the fortunes of the newly instated teams from last years League One: Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton, and Peterborough United. All three teams recorded opening day victories, going against expectation in many cases, and causing cause for concern for managers throughout the league. So we'll start with Brighton: a team I personally tip for making the Play-Off's this year thanks to the momentum carried forward from their domination of last years League One campaign and the signing of 30 goal a season striker Craig Mackail-Smith, They had gave there new home at the AMEX Stadium a fitting fighting first win victory, thanks to  two late strikes from Brighton's Will Buckley.
  Despite losing Mackail-Smith to Brighton over the Summer, Peterborough also got off to a winning start against  Crystal Palace, with Darren Ferguson's men similarly coming from behind like the Seagulls to win 2-1. After conceding to a 33rd minute strike from Palace winger Sean Scannell, Posh  replied in the Second half with goals from Grant McCann and David Ball securing victory for the Championship returnees.

Both vocally and physically, Gradel was powerless

 Team of weekend without a doubt had to be Southampton, beating a Leeds United team who are regarded by many as favourites  for Automatic Promotion this year, by a convincing score line of 3-1. The goals were equally as impressive: Dean Hammond's long range finish being shortly followed by a just as impressive finish from Adam Lallana, all before half time. After the break, Southampton added to their tally courtesy of a neat finish from David Connolly, who  made it 3-0 to a team who looked calm, cool and collective in each third of the pitch throughout the match. Maxi Gradel's consistent moaning throughout the game eventually earned them a late penalty, which the Ivory Coast winger converted to make it 3-1, and that's how the game concluded.
 It maybe extremely earlier in this years Championship, with little to be taken away from the opening weekend of football, but one thing that I realised whilst watching a dull spell during Sunday's game at Upton Park, was the shear difference in the English football League ladder: during the past three seasons, promotion winners from League One have been able to at least feature in the Play-Off's of the Championship the year after, with Norwich going one better and gaining Automatic Promotion last year, at the first attempt. So what about teams being relegated from the Premier League? Remember Burnley? How about Portsmouth? Oh, and then there was Hull; all demoted from big shots in the worlds largest league, down to nothing more second rate Championship clubs. Middlesbrough also follow this trend; in fact the only team that comes to memory would be West Brom: the nations number one Yo-Yo team in terms crossing the bridge from Championship to Premier League, and visa versa.
 So, all thats left to say is: Good luck Blackpool, West Ham, And Birmingham. You'll need it.

Feel free to leave any comments below

Lord of the Ring eager and Hungary

On the back of a suberb victory last time out in Germany, Lewis Hamilton arrived in Hungary brimming with confidence, claiming that this weekends Hungaroring Grand Prix 'can't come soon enough'.However, by looking at a few facts and figures from previous years, Hamilton's new found enthusiasm may be short lived.

After such an action packed dramatic German Grand Prix last Sunday, some may be forgiven for forgetting that the Hungaroring may well be titled the 'Red Bull Ring' on the back of the teams success at the circuit last year. It was mearly a year ago when the Red Bull team were more than a second quicker than its relentless rivals from Woking and Maranello, with Mark Webber eventually taking victory for the first time in his career in Hungary. Such was the Red Bulls pace, that after a safety car stint caused by on track debris, he was able to pull out a gap over second place man Fernando Alonso, that would see the Australlian rejoin after his eventual pit stop still ahead of the Spaniards Ferrari.

It seems fitting that Webber's teammate and current Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, should return to a track he 'cracked' at last year, at a period of time where the Germans mental state is again being questioned a year on. Step back a matter of months, and any notions of Vettel being mentally weak would be instantly dismissed, with Red Bulls World Champion being touted as the 'perfect driver' by many experts and paddock stalwarts. However, Vettel's recent run of questionable performances have prompted many people to eat the words of praise that have swooned the German all season long; the Germans home race last Sunday proved that the untouchable nature of his previous performances, had gone. With just this weekends race inbetween him and the sports summer break, the timing couldn't be more perfect for the man with the entire F1's circus' weight pressing down on his shoulder.
In complete contrast, the summer break following this weekends Grand Prix couldnt come at a worse time for the Vettel's rivals, most namely Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and last sundays victor Lewis Hamilton. With Vettels mistakes and a wave of seemingly effective updates being introduced to both the McLaren and the Ferrari over the past few races, the momentum really does lie with the two bitter rivals, both of which metaphorically are working in twine to bring down the collosal lead that has been built up in the Championship ladder by Vettel. Hungary may bring back bad memories for the two however, with the circuit being the scene of Alonso and Hamilton's very public on track fallout on 2008, in which the Spainard deliberately held up Hamilton in order to deprive the Brit of a second run in the Q3 session. It would be safe to say that with Alonso's clear 'number 1' driver status within his current team ,and Hamilton's well documented harmoneous partnership with current teammate Jenson Button, neither of the two aces need have any doubts in the clarity of their corrosponding teammates this time out.
The big question on the worlds lips aswell as those in the F1 Paddock in Hungary, is undoubtebly which of the top three teams package is quickest over the course of the weekend. By looking at the teams individually, the chances of Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mclaren become much more apparent:

Red Bull:On paper, Red Bull should walk it this weekend, with a car that one year ago was over a second ahead of the opposition, and a car that argueably still is the fastest package this season, the Milton-Keynes based team would have to look hard and dig deep for a valid excuse that suggest otherwise. Add to this a driver line up consisting of the current Championship leader and a currently 'on form' experienced Australlian in Mark Webber, and it would take a brave man to bet against Red Bull in Hungary.
Ferrari: Stefano Domenicali left last weekends German Grand Prix claiming that the cold conditions experienced at the Nurburgring were "the worst it could be" for Ferrari. Even so, his driver Fernando Alonso came a home in a valent second behind Lewis Hamilton and ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, to make it 3 out of 3 in terms of finishing on the podium. Felipe Massa, Ferrari's forgotten man, returns to the scene of his horrifc accident three years ago, in an accident that bid farewell to his 2009 season, and also the Brazilians previously explosive pace in the Ferrari. Coult this weekend become full-circle for Massa? With the pressure being submitted on his place in the team, for his sake it had better be.
McLaren: Prior to last weeks Qualifying session 3, McLaren had been dismissed as potential winners of the event. However, as team boss Martin Whitmarsh will happily tell you, the lack of pace wasnt seen; infact it was empathatically replaced by a Qualifying lap time within 2 tenths of Mark Webbers Red Bull pole lap, and even more impressively, a hard fought victory for his driver, Lewis Hamilton. Any cynical minded critics (are there any other kind?) will point out that due to the rainy,cold conditions surrounding the German race, the race pace was considerably slow compared to what many team insiders may have been expected. However,with arguably the best driver line up on the grid, and a car that has already claimed three victories out of ten this season, McLaren are most certainly going to be in the hunt for back to back victories this weekend.

 With the last two races having thrown up two action packed ,drama filled events, the Hungaroring this weekend has much to live up to. With the intense scrutiny and eager build up being placed on this weekends event by fans, teams and drivers alike, anything other than an Hungarain Grand Prix classic will be considered nothing short of a let down.

WTCC: A pleasant suprise

   Rounds 13 and 14 of the World Touring Car Championship were held at Donington Park over the weekend, for the first time in the circuits illusive history.

  In an event that was heavily promoted by the Venues owner Kevin Wheatcroft and his PR team, the WTCC round really was a chance for Donington Park to once again cement its place at the the very top of British Motorsport. Having already hosted internationally popular events such as rounds of the British Tourning Car Championship and World Superbikes this season, the WTCC event last weekend had a lot to live up to.

   As a 'local' to Donington Park, and having never been to a World Touring Car event, I really didn't know what to expect on Sunday; infact to a certain degree the idea of another Touring Car Championship other than the fantasitcally exciting and popular British series' was unnerving. This, teamed with the seemingly lack of general interest in T.V viewing being an issue for the World Series in the U.K. However, even with the typical British summer weather rearing its ugly head, Race Day had attracted a sizeable crowd that very respectfully attempted to fill up the majority of the tracks limited viewing points (large part of infield viewing area still being restored).

  Away from the visualy apprent construction work in and around the track, the set-up of the events' paddock and the on-track action were both well worthy of an entry ticket. The machinery was extremely diverse, ranging from the immensely powerful V8 equipped Auto GP cars, down to the modest presence of Leyland Mini Coopers competing in the national single make series. The variety of cars and the impressive displays on show from the Polestart Run Volvo Team and the Masarati stand made for an 'easy on the eye' view around the paddock, with autogragh signing sessions held for fans to meet the WTCC drivers only adding to the 'behind the scenes' feel of the experience.
 
 
As for the on-track antics, the days main events, the two World Touring car races and an Auto GP race, were more than exciting in terms of action and appeal. Admittably, it hadnt dawned on me up until that first of the WTCC races what a star packed field the championship has; Yvan Muller, Alain Menu, Robert Dahlgren, Gabriele Tarquini, Colin Turkington... All previous Touring Car Champions in their own right, and even previous Formula One stars such as the Portugese driver, Tiego Monterio. Its names such as these, mixed with the more, lesser expeireicned and prestigous drivers throughout the grid that makes the WTCC a much more exciting Championship then it is sometimes perceived. After watching Yvan Muller clinch two victories for Team Chevrolet in front of home hero Rob Huff ahead of an excting mix of drivers and battles throughout the field, it can be considered a crime that the WTCC programme isnt proving as much of a hit as in hindsight, it probably should.
   
So why is it that the Series isn't proving such a hit with the U.K fans? Its definetely got appeal; Sunday's sizable crowd at Donington acts as solid evidence of that, and with Guernseyman Andy Priaulx having won three of the five WTCC championships held since its reincarnation in 2005, it really does continue to begger belief just why us Brits havn't taken it to heart. Even when crunching viewing figures, it's hard to put a finger on the issue; a report released late last year from the Series' organisers, Eurosport Events, stated that the viewinng figures for the 2010 season compared to the previous 2009 season were up by a staggering 40 million viewers worldwide, with 65% of the audience watching from Europe. With numbers such as this, and the heavy involvement from Italy and Germnany in the series, it would seem that the U.K is seemingly being froze out, or quite simpily not taking an interest in the touring car catagories leading championship. Based on what I saw on Sunday at Donington Park, that would seem nothing short of a great shame.