BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

Turning the tables on Mr Murray

Phil Gordos
29 Jun 08, 07:10 PM

Vienna

It's only right and proper that I hand over one of my final posts to Mr Graham Taylor, a man who brought me a lot of joy back in the late Eighties during his time as Aston Villa manager.

Despite his standing in the game, he has suffered some terrible and unnecessary ribbing - some would say abuse - at the hands of his radio colleague John Murray during Euro 2008.

Now it's time to redress the balance, so over to you, Graham...

Thanks, Phil. Well, you can imagine my surprise and concern when John Murray, a man I have great respect for, informs me he is writing a blog about his Euro 2008 experiences - a kind of warts and all account of his travels through Austria and Switzerland.

But that's not all. He only tells me after he has already published several private and revealing details about me.

Not only do I find he has told everyone about my injured foot - I'd have hoped something as personal as that might have stayed secret - but he has also accused me of cheating at table football. You have no idea how I felt about that. Talk about kicking a man when he is down.

The great Euro 2008 table football row

Mr Murray - I used to call him John but not anymore - has not so much crossed the line as obliterated it. Naturally, I have demanded a right of reply and intend to address the hurtful accusations he has made against me.

Let's discuss his claims of cheating.

Now, he can't help but notice during the first few days of our travels that I was struggling with my foot and should have been resting up with a nice cup of tea whenever I had the opportunity. However, my welfare was clearly of little concern to him.

His main concern was challenging me to a game of table football. Ever the gentleman, I gave in to his demands because I could tell it was a big deal for him. As for me, well, as a former professional player who has managed to a pretty decent level, you can imagine my thoughts. I wasn't interested, to be brutally honest.

When we finally settled down to play, Mr Murray quickly went 2-0 up. He was full of it. Modest? I don't think he knows the meaning of the word. I just wanted the game over, so I scored two own goals. I scored a couple in the right end, too, just to show him I could play, but I had no intention of making a game of it.

The score soon became 5-2, then 6-2. Mr Murray was jumping around as though it was the World Cup final. I'd had enough, so I decided to spin, which seemed to really upset him. Then I lifted the table. That really got him going. I didn't view it as cheating. I was doing it to help him. I wasn't bothered about winning.

Well, when he scored the 10th and winning goal, I'd never seen anyone so happy. It was though his life had finally been fulfilled.

Now, I used to like Mr Murray and I'm sure we can be friends again. But if that's going to happen and we are going to work together next season, he needs to apologise.

I don't want him to grovel, just say sorry. If that doesn't happen, our friendship and working relationship is over. There will also be a letter from my solicitors landing on his doorstep sharpish.

Now I've got that off my chest, I like to share a couple of my favourite Euro 2008 memories with you.

The first is the shooting of the Russian defender Denis Kolodin, Boy, could he let fly when he wanted to. It didn't matter if he was 45 yards from goal, you could see what he was going to do whenever he had the ball at his feet and there was a bit of space in front of him.

Casillas was in fine form against Russia

The second is a save made by Iker Casillas in Spain's semi-final win over Russia. The score was 0-0 at the time, so it was a crucial point in the game. Roman Pavlyuchenko tried to bend the ball into the corner of the net but Casillas just managed to get his fingers to it. The referee didn't even give a corner, but it was a fantastic save nonetheless. Who knows what would have happened if that had gone in.

Finally, there was one big disappointment for me - and that was Cristiano Ronaldo. Great players make great tournaments, and I had hoped he would shine brightly after a wonderful season for Manchester United. But it just didn't happen. Instead, the whole Real Madrid saga followed him wherever he went. A shame.

Still, it has been a fantastic tournament, one of the best I can remember. Hopefully the final will be just as memorable...

Phil Gordos is a senior broadcast journalist at BBC Sport Interactive. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

Permalink

CommentsSign in

You need to sign in to contribute to this page. If you're new to BBC Blogs, creating your membership is quick and easy.

1. At 10:04pm on 29 Jun 2008, 10jr11 wrote:
I am so glad Spain just won Euro 2008 and I love Martin O'Neill - he's a real copmedian as we would say in Nortern Ireland - at times I'm not sure the others know how to takle his comments but he's the man .

Complain about this comment
2. At 10:11pm on 29 Jun 2008, 10jr11 wrote:
It's 10jr11 again - just read my comment on the blog and I realise I 've had one G and T too many - to celebrate the victory for Spain and my spelling is dreadful - but well done Spain

Complain about this comment
3. At 11:12pm on 29 Jun 2008, Mike Martin wrote:
If only O'Neill weren't Aston Villa manager, he'd be the best pundit on Match of the Day week in week out.

Complain about this comment
4. At 11:37pm on 29 Jun 2008, Deku the Evil Clown
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
5. At 11:55pm on 29 Jun 2008, bobbyfletch85 wrote:

Yes Martin O'Neill has been fantastic again this tournament, as he was in Germany.

I'm not so sure about Alan Shearer though these days... all his observations/comments seem to end in "and that about sums them up" or "that about sums up their day". He should remember Le Saux - his say-what-you-see tactics are the antithesis of Martin O'Neill and Hansen. C'mon Shearer, up your game lad!

Overall, a fantastic Euro 2008! England would have brought down the standard a mile. We were spared being embarrassed by most the teams in the tournament.

Complain about this comment
6. At 00:02am on 30 Jun 2008, bobbyfletch85 wrote:
Also, just to add - I think the commentary personal were really well selected all-round, not just the brilliant O'Neill. Everyone was cast perfectly. For example, It was a masterstroke by whoever put him pitch-side. When he's been in the studio, he's been too loud and animated (and on occasion, sweaty!) but on the ground, his passion and energy come through really well. I really like his use of english too, it's unconventional yet quite inventive... His half-time thoughts were way off the mark though tonight!

Complain about this comment
7. At 00:03am on 30 Jun 2008, bobbyfletch85 wrote:
Damn, you should be allowed to edit - I'm talking about Marcel Desailly in the post above!

Complain about this comment
8. At 00:08am on 30 Jun 2008, Deku the Evil Clown wrote:
Why did my post get removed because I said it was sad to see the BBC post a blog about people squibbling over a table top football game? Not only squibling but in fact, threats to call solicitors were made.

So i'm not actually allowed to give my opinions on the blog(and my comments dealt with an issue that represents the vast majority of this blog) unless it agress with the blogger?

Complain about this comment
9. At 00:12am on 30 Jun 2008, Deku the Evil Clown wrote:
I've read through the house rules and the only possible one I could have broken would be this-

1.Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others

If this is the case then this blog should also be removed as I'm sure by the same definition it would be considered to provoke and offend John Murray. In fact there even contains a threat towards him in it.

Complain about this comment
10. At 00:19am on 30 Jun 2008, Deku the Evil Clown wrote:
"The BBC welcomes feedback, both positive and negative, about our programmes and services"

This is a blatant Lie.

Saying this is a poor blog because it dealt with silly squibbles over a table top football game falls into the negative feedback bracket. So why would it get deleted when you claim to welcome such feedback.

As a person who pays for a tv license I don't expect much from the bbc but this cencorship has seriously irritated me.

Complain about this comment
11. At 02:36am on 30 Jun 2008, Phil G - BBC Sport wrote:
#4, 8, 9 and 10
I saw the original post before it was removed. I was quite happy with it and didn't think it broke house rules. I'll try to find out why it got pulled.

Complain about this comment
12. At 02:59am on 30 Jun 2008, Deku the Evil Clown wrote:
Thank you for the reply. After some time though i've cooled down and not so bothered anymore.

I still don't think this is an issue worthy of a a blog though. It just seems too confrontational also. My reading of John Murrays blog was that it was done in a light-hearted way and not meant as a slight on Graham Taylor at all. A man I respect for the way he conducts himself, especially in the face of unfair critiscism, but this is just a silly issue. I lost a little bit of respect for him on this.

Complain about this comment
13. At 11:39am on 30 Jun 2008, Alex Trickett - BBC Sport wrote:
By way of a footnote, it's probably worth pointing out that this blog was just a bit of fun. I wasn't at the fabled table football match, but I believe Taylor and Murray are still on good terms!

Complain about this comment
14. At 3:27pm on 30 Jun 2008, perceptiveStriker wrote:
I can't work out if this is satire or not. If it is then I'd say stick to the day job Graham. If not then I despair...

Complain about this comment