BBC Blog Network

User Profile

Unbiased_Pundit

Listed below are comments made by Unbiased_Pundit between Wednesday, 11th March 2009 and Monday, 20th July 2009.

«Newer
Older»

Flintoff - England's gladiator supreme 6:45pm on 20 Jul 2009 Flintoff is an average player and Australia will win this series 3-1 despite the outrageous luck in the first Test and the despicable cheating in the Second. Poor England, can't even beat Australia when the Antipodeans have their weakest team in about 100 years.
Cech gives Chelsea final hope 09:49am on 29 Apr 2009 An absolute joke everyone coming out the woodwork claiming it was men against boys, having a go at them for not going after Barca etc. Barca arguably are Europe's most in-form side at the moment and had in excess of 90,000 fans supporting them whereas Chelsea's were restricted to a distant corner.

Chelsea managed to stop Barca scoring at Camp Nou, which is something no other side has managed this season. Anyone who thinks that Barca will be able to control the game at Stamford Bridge just as effectively as they did at Camp Nou either has either got carried away by recent results or has never watched football.
Pitch imperfect 7:20pm on 20 Apr 2009 What annoyed me was Ferguson's way of implying that the poor pitch affected him more than Moyes by claiming that he was forced to play a bunch of kids, whereas Everton played the best team they had available (save injury). But then he went on to say that United jumped at the chance to give their youngsters a chance, as has been their policy over the years. Well if you're so geared towards helping out the youngsters, Fergie, why are you so willing to risk them all on a supposedly atrocious pitch?

It seems pretty clear to me that playing a bunch of kids had nothing whatsoever to do with the pitch, and a lot more to do with the league threat of a resurgent Liverpool. Although I can understand him not admitting to resting his first-teamers, he could at least not lie about his reasons and try to belittle Everton's achievement into the bargain.
Survival of the fittest 2:20pm on 10 Apr 2009 Gavin

Haven't commented on your blog before because I felt the positive comments that had come through covered my feelings on it - but folowing some negative feedback this week I thought I'd throw my two cents in: Perhaps your blog isn't as eloquent or well-structured as an experienced journalist's might be - but there is no other journalist who gives such a unique and honest take on football from a player's perspective. For whatever reason you touch subjects that no other journalists do - and I'm sure most of the posters will agree this makes it much easier to empathise with you.

I certainly don't agree that your blog is unsubstantial - I feel it's just that you prefer to talk about what you know and don't always aim to write about the most popular topic, and that's the 'substance' that people may be after.

Anyway to sum up, I thoroughly enjoy your blogs (even if some of the stuff about lower-league clubs doesn't ring any bells!) and hope your journalistic career continues. Perhaps later on you'll be writing blogs from a manager's perspective ;)
Shearer gets taste of reality 12:11pm on 05 Apr 2009 "Shearer gets taste of reality"

What a predictable article. Everyone knew Newcastle weren't going to win despite Shearer's return, so it's not like our world's come crashing down after the result.

----------------------------------------------------------

He might have guessed that Newcastle were unlikely to get anything from the game but probably had hope that his arrival would give the team enough confidence to avoid basic defensive errors. Until you're there managing the team you really don't know what to expect, simple as that. If you're so clever, why don't you tell Mr. McNulty what the title should have been? Prat.
The Gospel According To St James Park (Pt III) 3:52pm on 04 Apr 2009 I must say I don't understand why this would be offensive to Christians - the author is not trying to mock Christianity, or the bible, merely parody it. In my opinion anyone who would declare themselves offended by this is basically attention-seeking. Would there have been a backlash if he had written this article in the style of the Koran? Perhaps. Would I agree with such a backlash? No I wouldn't. It's a mark of the overly PC society we live in today.
Rooney and Gerrard make Fabio smile 9:08pm on 31 Mar 2009 angelthejam

You'll get no argument from me that the England side that failed to qualify for Euro 2008 would not have a hope of making a significant impression on the world cup - but it's not only the results under Capello that have convinced me England are now a serious force in world football, it's the fluidity of their play on the pitch and the way they're dominating games. I stand by my assessment that there are only three teams who have a 'sum of their parts' better than England, based on the sort of performances our players churn out for their clubs in the league and champions league. I've always been convinced of this, and under Capello the team is starting to produce the kind of performances that reflect the amount of individual talent England has to call upon.

Actually I didn't mention England's friendly victory over Germany, Germany were poor and it was a friendly, as you say. I dismiss your idea that the 4-1 victory over Croatia in their own backyard doesn't mean much in terms of the world cup though - a competitive game is a competitive game, all the players would have been up for it and it's not as if Croatia were uncharacteristically poor, England were just very good. As for matchwinners, all the players I mentioned may not have proven themselves matchwinners in big internationals, but they have for their clubs in games equally as significant and Capello has effectively translated their mentalities to the national stage.

My opinion is not based on any media article by the way, it's based on watching games. Any numpty can see the number of good players England has by watching them for their clubs and more recently for their country, instead of only taking England's results under Maclaren/Sven into account. Don't accuse me of being biased just because what I think doesn't fit with your pessimistic assessment.
Rooney and Gerrard make Fabio smile 10:15am on 31 Mar 2009 Honestly it seems someone can't praise a team's players without hundreds of people coming out the woodwork bemoaning the media hype and expectation. The performance was good, Rooney and Gerrard in particular played very well. At the moment there are only three teams in the world who can boast more individual talent than England - Spain, Brazil and Argentina. The Spain result showed that England are not at that level yet - but hardly any teams are. Our better results have shown how many matchwinners we have in the team - Walcott, Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Beckham as ever is a huge threat from free kicks and when fit, we have seen what Owen is capable of. If Germany can get to a Euro final with one top-class player, there's no reason why England can't be considered challengers with the flowing football they are producing under Capello. The semi-finals are a realistic aim and I would not be happy with any less than the quarters.
Capello's balancing act 6:43pm on 27 Mar 2009 I am a Liverpool fan but am more than happy to observe the quality that Wayen Rooney possesses. Liverpool trounced a poor United at OT recently but they had one saving grace, and that was Rooney. The lad has bags of quality (vision, control, aggression etc.) but unfortunately he is a hothead and needs to learn how to stop himself going off on one.

If you watch United play though you can see he's not going to learn that lesson playing for his club - watching the 'spinning round with disbelief' and crowding the referee maneouvres that Ferdinand, Fletcher, Carrick, Vidic etc. are guilty of whenever a decision doesn't go there way along with Ferguson's regular unfair berating of referees shows that sort of petulant reaction is encouraged at the club.

Rant over, but despite Rooney's hotheadedness I firmly believe he should be part of any England side. Perhaps he's not worthy of the sort of star status bestowed on him in the past, but he is without doubt in the top three english players.
Benitez deserves Euro respect 10:22am on 11 Mar 2009 Real were poor in defence and gave the ball away too often in midfield, but this had a lot to do with the relentless pressure put on them by Liverpool. Those who say Real 'gave up' after going 3-0 down urgently need a reality check: one look at sergio ramos bombing up and down the flanks puts paid to that theory, and the second half was the only time Real posed any sort of a threat! If Liverpool hadn't taken their foot of the gas at 3-0 it could easily have ended at 6-0. Anyone who suggests this is anything other than a top notch European performance just doesn't like Liverpool. I didn't see Bayern's mauling of Lisbon, but this is certainly one of the best champions league performances this season.

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

Unbiased_Pundit