And so the 2012/13 season has begun. After the excitement of last years Premier League climax, can it be topped this year? Somehow I don’t think it will get that close again, but you never know what can happen in this game. The transfer window is now closed until January and there have been some great signings this summer for a number of teams. More on that later. For now, I want to have a little rant about Match of the Day.
I am so, so, so tired of Gary Lineker and his cronies on this show. Gary is probably the most likeable of them to be honest, but then we have Mark Lawrensen, Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer. Its like watching the press conference of an England team announcement. They think that they are there because they know a thing or two, and yes they played the game, but this group has become something of a given and they expect just to be there all the time until the end of time now, like Steven Gerrard or John Terry in the England team. I’m sorry BBC, but it is time to update this tired and dull punditry once and for all. Lawrensen was doing the commentary for the Euro 2012 on the BBC and I don’t recall a single match that I watched where he didn’t seem bored, disinterested and down right insulting about the players on the pitch what whatever country. I found his remarks offensive and he just annoyed me all the time. Hansen continually slurs his speech and over the years has got worse, to the point now that its difficult to understand exactly what he’s saying and Shearer? well he just repeats the same things the other two have said or confirms Lineker’s leading questions to make it sound like he knows what he’s talking about. BORING, DULL and OUT OF DATE by about 20 years!
I think that next season the BBC that WE pay for by the way should really look hard at their format of football punditry and could really take a leaf out of the system that this same channel uses for their Formula 1 coverage. Its interesting, informative and the 3 guys Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan are a pleasure to watch on a Sunday afternoon. They are likeable, very knowledgeable and make the pre-amble to the actual race fun, and interesting rather than wishing they would just go away and wait for the start of the race as I always feel when watching MotD. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments here.
Anyway, now that I have had my rant about commentators, I’ll talk about some of the key transfers this summer. Starting with of course, Chelsea. The purchase of Eden Hazard has been brilliant and he has been a midfield driving force with huge creativity which was sorely needed. In addition, we picked up Brazilian Oscar who hasn’t shone yet, but will do I’m sure once he gets a run of games. Marin we haven’t seen yet through injury and I think he will provide good cover for the midfield. We also got a new right back in César Azpilicueta a natural right back was a must buy this year. There is definitely a younger, more technical feel to the squad this year and I have high hopes for the season.
Man Utd have signed midfielder Shinji Kagawa from Dortmund and he looks pretty handy in the highlights that have seen so far this season. The Manchester club’s signing of the year of course has to be Robin Van Persie from Arsenal who, if he can stay fit, could be the difference between winning and losing the title this season. Rooney will probably play more of a support role to Van Persie, but that should suit his game although it will have to wait until he returns from injury.
I think Everton’s signings have been interesting. They have strengthened up front with the signature of Kevin Mirallas for £6M and brought Pienaar back on a permanent deal from Tottenham for £4.5M. They have also balanced the books very well with the sale of Jack Rodwell to Manchester City for £12M to be a nice bench warmer for the big names. Oh and speaking of bench warmers, Scott Sinclair has to be the dumbest footballer in the Premier League. A reasonably big fish at Swansea with pretty much a guaranteed start every week and a good chance of scoring some goals, he has moved to Manchester City. This has got to be one of the stupidest moves. He will get (if he’s lucky) 6 starts this season and they will most likely be the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup games against the lesser teams. One word – “Idiot!”
Those for me have been the key moves this year and it will be interesting to see how they pan out. Chelsea have started very brightly in the league and although we lost heavily in the European Supercup, I think our form has been very good. I like the look of the side, young and vibrant. I just wish that Jon Obi Mikel would be sold on. He is simply NOT a holding midfielder, he makes too many mistakes and silly fouls in key positions that leave us vulnerable. He’s just not good enough for Chelsea in my opinion. Hopefully I shall have more time for Football Friday this season and hope that you will stop by and have a read.
Very nice read Dale
Totally agree with you on match of the day, I can’t stand Mark Lawrensen he never seems to have a good word to say
I have took to watching sky’s coverage on a Sunday morning all ways good and enjoyable especially Peter Reid. I also enjoy the football league show they have a fresh look at the football league.
Must say you never cover the Hammers much I thought you would have your say on Andy Carroll.
I shall cover more next week regarding the mess of Liverpool and other teams, I promise
I agree entirely. Over the last year or two I’ve grown increasingly bored with watching footie and it’s largely down to the commentators. Hanson always sounds like he’s been at the pub for the entire 24 hours before he goes on TV, Lawrensen is derogatory about everyone and everything, and Shearer always seems like he’d like to live so far up Linekar’s backside that there should be a microphone wire trailing from there so we can hear him talk. Linekar is still fine, but the rest are terrible.
F1 on the other hand, I’ve never been particularly bothered about watching the actual races (honestly, it’s so boring watching cars drive round and round and I’m afraid I don’t get excited about the accidents), but I actually rather enjoy the pre-amble, and Eddie Jourdan is my favourite of the three. That is a guy who could take the most unusual shirt and make it look great just by wearing it. The man suits everything and always looks smart!
I can’t say I’m excited about the football season at all, but at least it’ll be a little bit busier of an evening at work, as we always get a few more punters in the bookies during footie season than we do when it’s not!