Monday, November 28, 2011

Gary Speed!

For many, Gary Speed was the ideal professional. A man whose career, and a glittering one at that was rooted to the back pages of the paper. No controversy, no animosity, just a very talented, humble Welshman playing football.

With this in mind, the news of his suicide yesterday hit many as a sharp, numbing shock, leading many into a state of stunned silence. Ex-teammates, managers and those amongst his Welsh squad mourned and grieved, with Robbie Savage and Shay Given finding it all a step too much, both visually showing tear-filled eyes during the day.

For Speed, who was capped 85 times for Wales, 2nd all time, his untimely demise coincided with him guiding the national team to their most successful spell since the days of Mark Hughes, and the near misses of 2004, a team Speed captained.

With clichés aplenty, and tributes more, the “football doesn’t matter at this time” quote was on offer more than DFS furniture. A statement that really aggrieves me, as football, Speed’s profession, now funds his wife, and 2 sons days, given them financial security for the foreseeable future, a silver lining if there was to be one.

Speed started his career at Leeds, where he spent the longest spell of his playing days, then a short stint at Everton preceded a spell up in Tyneside with Newcastle, for whom he made over 250 appearances for in a 6 year stint. He would than move onto Bolton Wanderers before ending his career at Sheffield United in 2008.

As a player Speed was the first to play 500 Premier League games, he now sits third on the all time list. He won the league championship in 1992 with Leeds United, and holds a proud record of scoring in every Premier League season he participated in.

Moving on into management, a coaching stint under Kevin Blackwell, who referred to him, Speed and Sam Ellis as “the three musketeers" led to Speed becoming the Blades’ manager after Blackwell’s dismissal. The managerial debut was short lived, as the lure and drive to manager his country was one Speed, a proud Welshman couldn’t pass on.

Under Speed, Wales reformed and repackaged themselves as a young team with hunger passion, characteristics the manager displayed, and one the players followed. His captain Aaron Ramsey tweeted how “the world lost a great football manager, but more sadly, a great man”. This, a sentiment echoed by many around the football world, with Alan Shearer saying he had the ability “to light up a room”.

Whatever the reason for Speed’s passing, whatever mental fragility he had, whatever demons he was facing, he put on a brave face, a smile and was always a professional, ambassador of not just Welsh football, but football as a whole.

A man who will never be forgotten.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Jim Harbaugh - The man who turned water into wine.

When the San Francisco 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh as their coach this summer, the inevitable questions of how a coach could transfer their collegiate success into the deeper ruins of the NFL.

Harbaugh, whose outstanding results at the University at Stanford provoked several organisations to enquire about the 47 year old. Staying in California seemed like the logical choice for him, and for the 49ers the gamble on an inexperienced coach seemed like gamble worth taking in an attempt to lift the team from the doldrums.

In a season where expectations weren’t overly high and the team were pencilled in to be also-rans, the team has propelled themselves into the NFL’s elite. With 7th year Quarterback Alex Smith taking the snaps and miraculously making the previous 6 years of mediocre throws and a subpar mentality all but evaporate with every throw.

With a 74.8 QB rating and a TD-INT ratio of 58-54, Smith has dismantled the record books, upping his levels of play into the upper-echelons of Quarterbacks. Smith this season has upped his QB rating by over 20 points (97.8) and has a 10-2 TD-Int ratio. A remarkable uprising in numbers co-incidentally entwine with Harbaugh, an ex-Quarterback’s rookie season as head coach.

Harbaugh, whose passionate, yet somewhat reserved personality has split opinion on around the league, this was demonstrated none more so than in Detroit after the 49ers win last month.

After the 49ers cemented their place among the pantheon of Nfl teams in Michigan, Harbaugh, exuberant after a beating a fellow contender, was somewhat over-zealous in shaking the hand of Lions’ coach Jim Schwartz, provoking a scuffle between the two coaches.

With a Chris Jericho demeanour in press conferences, and a ruthless streak similar to Michael Corleone, except without the mass murder and drug trafficking. Harbaugh, who openly admits that brother John, coach of the Baltimore Ravens is his only friend in the league.
When asked about his coach, defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois just said “he’s comfortable with the way he is”. Comfortable, a word that is often used in describing Harbaugh, as a key asset of his is the ability to remain calm, or if anything become more confident in high-pressure situations.

With his conservative approach in the passing game, letting Alex Smith play the game simply, and let MVP candidate Frank Gore consistently put up video game numbers. “The inconvenient truth” is playing up to his new contract, putting up over 100 yards a game on the ground and adding an extra threat in the passing game, becoming a weapon on every play.

With a smart offence, an all-pro running back and an elite defence, where superstar Patrick Willis has been partnered with budding sensation Navarro Bowman helping him combine the best linebacker tandem in the league.

Add the effervescent Justin Smith in with newly acquired Donte Whitner and Carlos Rogers, and the defence holds up with the rest of the league.
And as the old saying goes. “Defence wins championships”.

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Sharp truth

"A touching tribute"
For a sport where it’s players’ are often criticised, the fans’ are heavily castigated and the managers are given P45’s more often than coffee, a rare shining line shone bright this past week.


Doncaster Rovers striker Billy Sharp, who had just undergone the most turbulent week any person could have. For in the space of two days he celebrated the birth of his son Luey, then sadly commiserated and grieved the death of his aforementioned son.

Yet in the midst of grief, dealing with the worst possible feeling any man, parent or person could feel, Sharp donned the red and white striped jersey of Doncaster and skippered the side in their Npower Championship match against Middlesbrough.

Sharp who was “honoured” to captain the side, didn’t stop his remarkable act of bravery at playing, playing wasn’t enough. Fourteen minutes in, an elegant, exquisite volley looped over ‘Boro goalie Jason Steele, nestling in the goal, provoking pandemonium at the Keepmoat Stadium, where Doncaster fans rejoiced, and showed their support for their striker.

Wheeling away, celebrating the audacious finish, the grief-stricken Sharp removed his shirt, revealing a t-shirt where the words “That’s for you Son” lit up the stadium like an oncoming headlight, touching hearts of football fans across the county.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoZG7ftG1kQ

Not only Sharp came away shining in adulation, as referee Darren Deadman took the commonsensical approach to football officiating, a rarity in itself and neglected the rules, not cautioning Sharp.

The story didn’t end there, Sharp who tweeted the goal as “the most important of his career”, continued the form at Portman Road this past Saturday. Scoring Doncaster’s second goal, the entire stadium, Ipswich fans included leapt to their feet and greeted Sharp with a resounding, rapturous applause. A feat seldom seen, yet, like Sharp should be revered.

With Sharp’s attitude and love of football, using it as a tool to heal his pain, it puts into context the arrogance, petulance and sheer ignorance of Carlos Tevez and his refusal to play at Bayern Munich.

Tevez, a man who pockets in excess of 200,000 pounds per week exercised perhaps the biggest crime in football, bar a pink away kit with his antics in Germany. This break of unwritten football conduct has only been exacerbated after we all witnessed the suffering the Sharp’s have endured, and the attitude and love for the game Billy Sharp demonstrated.

Then we see the England team, where the captain’s a racist…allegedly, his centre back partner has a history of drug offences. Three-quarters of the team have adulterous, mischevious pasts, then Ashley Cole who cheats on his wife, treats football clubs with the upmost disrespect, and shoots work experience kids with a gun. These people, these role models, the men children are supposed to admire. A worrying thought.

Although Sharp has hit form and won on the football pitch. It’s not close to what he’s lost off it. Although Sharp can take solace in the way he’s carried himself, the maturity and brave face he’s possessed through this ordeal has been nothing short of heroic. A real role model.

If only they could behave like this the division above.