A conspiracy theory or a fact?

[Oneeyedvic]

Every time that we approach an important football tournament, it seems that the press (headed by Murdoch) comes up with something against our national football team.

Currently, the John Terry saga is continuing through the papers and the captain of our national side has been sacked a few months before the tournament.

Yes, he had an affair, but there are also lots of allegations regarding some reporters approaching him to rent out his box at Wembley etc.

Last World Cup we had the News of the World Fake Sheik saga.

Now I don't particularly follow football or scandal, but it irritates me that we have the press in this country who seem to want our country to fail at its national sport.

Am I being paranoid? Or is one of Murdoch's goons going to come round to my house tonight? Or will this question get pulled from AB?

[MarkRae]

> but it irritates me that we have the press in this country who seem to want our country
> to fail at its national sport.

It's not just football, but football is so popular in this country that it pervades almost everything. And the members of the fourth estate prey upon the fact that the majority of the British public want to read about gossip and scandal. Why this might be, of course, is a completely different argument. But they do - the Germans call it 'schadenfreude' i.e. taking pleasure in other people's misfortune. Even more so when this misfortune involves something sexual.

So, the England captain is discovered to have tried to gag the press with a super-injunction which would have prevented their publishing the story of his (alleged) adulterous affair with a woman who used to be the girlfriend of one of his England team-mates, though she no longer was at the the of the (alleged) affair.

The judge in question did not uphold Terry's request, so the press pounced.

If none of us had this pathetic fascination with other people's sex lives, we wouldn't buy papers which carried such headlines. It's not the fault of the press for exploiting our ignorance to make money...

[Sqad]

Oneeyed...no you are not being paranoid.........not sure that you should put all the blame on Murdoch, as all the newspapers have run with the story.

Greece, Italy, Spain and France....would have been "no big deal" but us English always dash for the high moral ground.

[Quizmonster]

Let's not forget that if - when? - England fail to reach the very final stages of the competition, this will be one of the excuses offered, so it's a two-edged sword.

[ludwig]

...you can tell there's a world cup approaching when Quizmonster pops his head up like a little Meerkat up to have a dig at England. To be fair though, he is right.

[another-view]

As long as they can kick a ball about, I don't care who they are sleeping with.

[Quizmonster]

How kind of you, Ludwig...I generally am, you know!
The ready-made excuses and insane optimism of English sports-fans is a source of endless amusement to me. When does the chorus of "It's coming home...it's coming home!" start, so that I can reply, "No it isn't...no it isn't!"?

[ludwig]

yes QM, ..it's a source of endless amusement to me how excited you get at the prospect that England are in a competition which they probably won't win, especially as you always claim not to be bothered about it one way or the other.
That's why I mentioned it. I'm glad you didn't let me down though. This Terry thing's been around for a while and this is the first comment I've seen you make - I thought my watch had stopped or you were ill or something.

Vic, there's no conspiracy here, just the press being the press.

[fredpuli47]

But QM is a Scot, if I remember aright ! He's entitled to be amused by the antics of England's players. There were a couple of Scots who got banned from their national team for something or other (telling the truth about it perhaps; you know how the governing bodies call criticism 'bringing the game into disrepute' ) That was news in Murdoch's Scottish editions and all other papers there, no doubt

[Quizmonster]

Aw, now you've gone and spoiled it, Ludwig. You don't SOUND very amused.

I just wish English football fans could have the same sort of epiphany as Scottish ones did many years ago...namely, the realisation that their team just isn't very good in world terms. Remember how Jocks used to be detested for their violence around the footballing world, in the days when they believed - for no rational reason whatever - that their team were world-beaters? Look at 'em now...on the rare occasions when they're abroad, there they are with their bagpipes, ginger wigs and tartan bunnets dancing with the local girls in the city's fountains! They KNOW they're going home soon.

All I suggest is that you lot try it, too; Well, something similar at least...Morris dancing, perhaps? I don't give a good goldarn WHO wins the World Cup...even England; it's the English FANS who are hilarious.

[ludwig]

//But QM is a Scot, if I remember aright ! He's entitled to be amused by the antics of England's players. //

Of course he is, but what's funny is that it's the only time he makes an appearance in the news section, every 4 years to say ...
"I'm not a foorball fan and I don't care who wins or that Scotland aren't in it or anything but England are rubbish and they're going to lose - why don't they go and do some Morris dancing or something. Not that I care either way, not being a football fan or anything."

[Quizmonster]

You seem to have a very short memory, Ludwig, given your claim that I appear here only once every four years. I have already contributed to the News category a couple of dozen times THIS YEAR; indeed, I seem to recall that some of these responses formed a discussion specifically between you and me!
Apart from that, you seem to have got things right...I'm NOT a football fan, I DON'T care who wins and so forth. But - this year as every World Cup year - I find myself yet again surrounded by English fans in the pub and elsewhere who are convinced their team will win. I keep telling them that the last half-century of footballing history suggests otherwise, but they don't get it.
Nevertheless, they are slowly amassing the excuses...John Terry etc... they'll use when or if necessary. How are Beckham's toes these days?

[ludwig]

QM, I'm surprised you didn't spot the slightly tongue in cheek nature of the 'once every 4 years' remark. It wasn't actually meant literally, so don't go off counting posts or anything.

Look, I'll take you at your word and assume you're an entirely objective observer who is amused and puzzled by the relentless optimism of English football fan, and not some slightly bitter Scot who can't stand being surrounded by all the ballyhoo and 1966 talk every four years. ( I wouldn't blame you though, I'm English and it gets on my nerves ).

On that assumption I'll give you a serious reply and then I'll leave it at that.

First of all, the insane optimism of which you speak is part and parcel of being a sports fan - any fan, any country. You will not often hear the chant on the terraces.....
"We're going to go out on penalties after the the group stage! - We're going to go out on penalties after the group stage! - Eee I Addio - we're going to go out on penalties after the group stage!".
Neither will you hear "We're going home after a dissappointingly short campaign!! clap clap clapclapclap clap clapclapclap - clap! clap!".
But you will hear insane optimism such as 'we're gonna win the cup / football's coming home etc etc". It's just what you do.

Secondly, in England's case it's not actually 'insane' is it. This year their FIFA ranking has varied from 6th - 9th this year, so just on that basis logic dictates you should reasonably expect to reach the quarter finals. ANY team that gets through to the knockout stages then has a chance, because of the nature of a knockout comp.

.....

[ludwig]

continued.....

Thirdly, there aren't any excuses made when the team fails. On the contrary, there is usually a ridiculous witch hunt, in which the manager's head gets superimposed on a turnip. Again, this happens everywhere.

So there you are. Anyways I'll leave it at that and look forward to your 'I told you they were rubbish! (not that I care)' post later in the summer.

[Quizmonster]

(You've puzzled me, Ludwig. I can't see which exact word/s in your last response were the ones which suggested it was spoken/written tongue in cheek and which you believe I failed to "spot". "Only" has a very specific meaning to me.)

And this will be MY swansong, too, on this thread...

Since they won the World Cup in 1966, England have only once got into the last four in that competition, in Italy in 1990, and came fourth! Countries which have reached that stage more than twice in the same time-period are Germany 6, Brazil 6, Italy 6, France 4, Argentina 3, Netherlands 3 and Poland 2.
The best England can claim overall since 1966, therefore, is to be eighth-best-equal alongside Turkey, Croatia, Uruguay, Belgium, Bulgaria, Sweden, Portugal and South Korea. Accordingly, a long-term FIFA rating of 8 - 16 might have been more accurate than a one-year rating of 6 - 9.

As already stated, I just wish English fans would grasp the plain fact that South Koreans have just as much right to actually BELIEVE - rather than just HOPE and CHANT - "Its coming home!" as they have.
Try telling a group of them that next time you overhear a World Cup discussion in the pub! Just step across and say, "England are about as good as Belgium." Go on!