Football and video technology.

The burning question of the moment is, should football introduce video technology? My thoughts on the subject along with the billion or so other fans, are irrevlevant, but is it time FIFA took notice of what the fans want? Yes has to be the resounding answer to this question.

Before anything is done regarding video technology, FIFA has to address more urgent matters i.e. cheating. Instead of condoning it, FIFA seems to encourage it, as it has been going on for so long and nothing has been done to erradicate it. The punishment for these crimes against football are laughable, when you consider what the “cheats” gain if they are not spotted at the time. Within the context of cheating I include players encouraging the referee to either book or dismiss an opponent. Players who do this are the lowest of the low and should be banned from the game completely. The “divers” have been allowed to get away with conning the refs for so long, they have it off to a fine art, so much so that the officials 9/10 times are completely oblivious to what is going on.

This video, whilst amusing, is a sad indictment of how pathetic some of these so called world class players are and the lengths they will go  to gain an unfair advantage. The idiots that are in charge at FIFA should watch this and when they stop laughing, might (but I doubt it very much) realise that it is they who have encouraged this type of behaviour and only they can stop it.

Arts and farces? More like tarts and asses!

World Cup football … what a joke. I have never witnessed such a load of rubbish, produced by players who earn more in a couple of months than I will in my life time.

You can accept the crap on display when the players actually break sweat, but when they are more concerned about getting their fellow professionals sent off and how their hair looks on the stadium screen, than producing a spectacle worthy of the big stage and big salaries they are paid (notice I didn´t say earn), then for me you can get rid of the competition.

FIFA´s gin swilling dodderers should be hung drawn and quartered for ruining our beautiful game. It used to be a sport, where gentlemanly conduct was common place and sportsmanship came before anything else. Now the non-contact business that is rammed down our throats ever four years, leaves a very nasty taste in mine and I should think many other mouths.

Just as in England with the FA, FIFA is just a drain on resources that would be better spent on football at grass roots level, rather than feeding that fat faces of the rich and infamous. Michel Plattini, once one of the world´s most gifted footballers is now a top dog at FIFA, but even he seems to have been brainwashed by money and the inane ramblings of decrepit old men who seem to have lost the idea of what football is all about. I suspect that they are rarely “compus mentus” and hearing them on TV interviews, they only seem intent on helping the rich become richer and the poor going to the wall.

Compare my club with Manchester United. Only geographically 13 miles apart yet in the football world it may as well be a million miles. Rochdale AFC are solvent, but ManUre are over 500 million pounds in debt and that debt is growing daily. Why should United be paid several million without even kicking a ball, while “Dale” are given the paultry sum of just over £100,000 to survive. United use the money to service their debt, while the little clubs use it to stay solvent. Sour grapes you might think, no … just the stark reality of todays dog eat dog business gone mad. Players like Rooney receive in the region of £100,000 a week yet when it comes to the world stage he can´t kick a ball in the direction of a team mate, never mind the opposition goalposts. A wage cap and a ban on foriegn ownership would go a long way to alleviating some of the problems, which if not remedied, will be the death of football as we know it. You might think this is codswallop, but time will tell and I will be very reluctant to say I told you so, but it will happen just as sure as night follows day.

Time to call time?

It has gone on long enough. An insect which has long been known for its sting has now evolved into a blood-sucking parasite. The Hornet(s) (aka Rochdale Hornets Eggchasing RFLC or sommat)  needs to be swatted with a copy of the Rochdale Observer and the remains dropped into the anals of Rugby League history. Long suffering fans of Rochdale AFC know only too well that since their co-hosts entered into the binding marriage and screwed the football club, the result was the birth of the Stadium Company (otherwise known as Norburt). This marriage has caused no end of problems for Dale (the football club) as it seems to be totally one sided, with Dale doing all of the housework and bringing home the bacon, while Cruella (nuff said) just sits at the table waiting to be fed.

Now you would expect that when a marriage of convenience is entered into, there would always be a way out, when one of the marriage starts “playing around”. Cruella has done nothing but “play around” and all seemingly with the blessing of the chairman of Norburt, a Mr Rush, who beknown to me is nothing better than  the lowlife pictured above and likes to come across as a “big time charlie”. He does not have the best interests of Dale at heart, as he openly admitted one night in the Spread Eagle pub (in front of witnesses) when I questioned his and Cruella´s morality.

Now it seems that Cruella has gone one step further down the ladder of morality by conning innocent companies into parting with their hard earned money and promising things that are fundamentally impossible because they have no control over what they are promising. Cruella is also using an advertising agency to sell advertising space around the stadium. Nothing wrong with that you might think. But the monies that are obtained are thus going straight into Cruella´s purse, before she bleats she is broke. I imagine that Cruella’s board of directors know what underhand tactics her commercial staff are using, I am pretty sure that the directors of Dale do not.

Overall it is a sad indictment of the age we live in, when organisations who beg, borrow (without repaying) and steal from companies willing to support a towns sports teams, without thought to the consequences.

Of course Dale is not totally blameless, as he is employing failed business people and has been known to employ ex-convicts. Now the club shop department, which at one time could boast ¼ million pound profits on gates of less than 2000 fans, is now losing money hand over fist, because certain people who don´t know their arse from their elbow, are given job titles for which they have neither the ability nor experience to fulfill. These people were brought in by directors who are no longer on board (thank god) and unfortunately none of the present board has cottoned on to “Little Hitler” and his antics. But they will do soon enough. Anyone desperate enough to vote on a poll from a dozen or so different computers, has to be found out eventually. It is just a shame it will be too late as the club has been haemorrhaging money via the club shop for too long now and it cannot support itself. Stock is old and unsaleable and there is no money for the new stock or shirts for the clubs first appearance outside the bottom division in 36 years. Amazing that some people manage to stay employed when they fail to do their job even slightly well and are more intent on slandering and manipulating others. Don´t worry, I am not the slightest bit worried about being sued, as every word is true and “Little Hitler” knows it.