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markyrobs

Listed below are comments made by markyrobs between Thursday, 9th April 2009 and Thursday, 22nd October 2009.

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The day Lee Dixon took the tube to Highbury 10:07am on 22 Oct 2009 I remember the last game at Highbury - my father who's been a season ticket holder since 1948 shed a few tears when we left the ground and although our walk to the Emirates takes us past the top of Avenell Road, he doesn't want to go and see the new flats - for him, Highbury will remain a football ground. For me who only had 25 years at Highbury, it still seems strange to be able to look at the ground and know football won't ever be played there again.
As for Arsene, what is the definition of greatness? Transforming a club into one of the world greats, unburdened by massive debt (yes, I know about the property debts, but they're nothing compared to United's or Liverpool's) with state of the art facilities. Or is it creating a team that the whole world wants to watch play, a position shared only with Barca; or is it winning the Champions League? To Wenger, I'm sure it's the latter, but for me and I suspect the rest of the Arsenal fans, he could walk away today and we would always regard him as the greatest of them all - perhaps a one-eyed blinkered view, but mine nonetheless!
Trophy ends in blazer of glory 11:53am on 06 Oct 2009 "I still cannot believe that we beat them to win the Ashes. We got lucky and no mistake."

Yes and we were incredibly lucky that our best batsman was injured for most of the series....

Now, in 2005, we were increidbly lucky that McGrath trod on a ball, but that's a different story!
Stately Perez defends big spending 5:39pm on 06 Aug 2009 Oh yes - bet the moderators are pleased as well - you must have created more work for them than all the other bloggers on the BBC!
Stately Perez defends big spending 5:38pm on 06 Aug 2009 Mihir - just heard the news - Best laugh I've heard all week! See ya!
Indian cricket resists drug code 11:50am on 05 Aug 2009 Surcha - Firstly, much as I love cricket, Sachin isn't a "world"-wide sports figure - sure he's loved in India and the cricket playing nations of the world, but show his picture in China, the US and the majority of the world, they won't have a clue who is his - Tiger, Federer etc are truly global. It's a bit like suggesting SRK is bigger than Brad Pitt - In the Indian diaspora, he may be, but not in the world.
As for not knowing your next 6 months schedule - of course you do if you're a professional cricketer! You might not know exacly what hotel you'll be in, but you know which tournament or series you'll be playing in and your governing body will fill in the blanks. When you're not playing you'll either be at home or on holiday - bear in mind the WADA code allows changes to schedule as long as you let them know.
Indian cricket resists drug code 11:24am on 05 Aug 2009 Couple of points - cricket is now becoming a power sport - Yuvraj, KP, Gayle etc are power cricketers whose skill is allied to massive power to launch the ball 100 metres back - so the argument that drugs shouldn't be an issue in the sport is wrong. As for the Indian issue, well, sorry, but India is a country dominated by cricket and wealth generated by the game. So, yes, India needs to be held up to better standards - that's the reality. Lets not forget the match-fixing problems of 10 years ago - when it broke, it nearly destroyed the game in India as millions of people who loved the game became heart-broken by it's corruptness. Imagine the outcry and shame if a top Indian player was revealed to be a drugs cheat - what suspicion would it put on the other players and the game in general. At a time when cricket in India is facing competition from other sports such as football, F1 etc, it needs to be as honest as possible. But, tragically, it won't be long before a player is found guilty of drug-taking and if he's Indian and they don't have a drugs code the outcry will be massive. And with the rewards on offer through 20/20 it won't be long before some players decide to shortcut the hardwork.

As for the argument that it's impossible for some players not to be able to or willing to supply their daily whereabouts - cobblers! Most of the time these guys are with their national team, so that's easy - when they're not it's not difficult to work out where they're going to be. As for the security of Sachin etc, I'd imagine his home address in Mumbai is easily findable, so if someone wanted to bring harm to him, they probably could without using WADA!
So what's the solution - simple, the ICC need to show some leadership and insist that all associations sign up to the code and if they don't they'll be banned from competitions and tests and not entitled to hold sanctioned competitions, including the IPL - the BCCI will fall into line pretty quickly
On the Blair trail 2:49pm on 13 Jul 2009 What's this story about? Did Mihir actually talk to him about anything and if so what was discussed and if he didn't talk to him, why has this blog been posted?
Hiddink sets high standard for Ancelotti 12:39pm on 08 May 2009 Mihir - on the 13th Jan, in your blog entitled "A new Scolari emerges", you suggested that your "special" inside sources at Chelsea had assured you that sacking Scolari was not going to happen -

"The club also recognises that it cannot just keep on changing managers. Getting rid of Scolari would mean three managers going in the space of about 18 months. He has not matched Mourinho's success on the field, not as yet anyway. But the talk at the Bridge is the club needs to be in contention for major honours at the end of the season. If that happens that would be acceptable, even if Scolari does not land an honour by the season's end."

Less than a month later, he was gone - by this logic, can we read that Chelsea do the exact opposite of what they tell you and Hiddink will be staying?
It's all up in the air 09:37am on 15 Apr 2009 Oh come on politeboobie - so Jake's not a plane-spotter - oh well, in that case he can't present any sports on the BBC - logical!!
Great blog Jake - this is what a blog should be about!
On the coverage by the Beeb, I think it's excellent all round - but it would be nice to have a little bit more technical explanation for those of us who aren't experts!
Also, am I the only person who thinks Martin Brundle's still expecting ad breaks - his summary commentary half the time seems to be heading towards that!
Bullish Bell starts the long walk back 2:56pm on 09 Apr 2009 Alb1on - curious comments those - why exactly does playing for Middlesex automatically get you selected? Other than Strauss, the only other Middlesex player in the England team is Shah who's waited rather a long time for selection and is likely to be dropped anyway come the summer. Ed Joyce and Jamie Dalrymple actually moved from Middlesex to enhance their chances of getting selected! I suspect there's some anti-London nias in your comment!
As for Strauss commenting on Bell, fair enough - it was a hardly a slagging - it was making a point as he did with Harmison. Sometimes players need to be made aware of their responsibilities. Bell was coasting and had been for some time - I bet he was shocked by what Strauss said and is now even more determined to make him eat his words. If he does, job done.

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