Der Ball ist rund.....

OK, football. It would seem appropriate to comment given all the coverage this weekend, so deep breath and here goes.

Firstly, the whole Bridge/Terry issue. I applaud Bridge for sticking to his guns and not shaking John Terry's hand at the game, why should he at the end of the day? If only half the speculation is true then clearly Bridge has been wronged and is within his rights to refuse to shake hands before the game. That being said, I sincerely hope the whole matter can now be forgotten, or as near to as possible with the British press. The only thing that should really matter in my opinion is the England team and the World Cup in summer. If Bridge says he cant play in the same team, then so be it. Decision made, move on.

Talking of England, I can't help but be a bit pessimistic, and that is nothing to do with our hopeless record in the last 40 odd years, but more to do with our lack of a decent first 11.
Hypothetical as it may be, imagine the tournament starts tomorrow.....

Who is the keeper?
Defence - Johnson (injured), Ferdinand (injured), Terry, Cole (injured)
Midfield - Lennon (injured) Barry (out of form), Lampard, Gerrard
Strikers - Rooney, Heskey (really?)

So we have half a team, and of those only Rooney is really playing well. Look to the bench then, who is second choice right back? stand in centre half? left back? right wing? I could keep going.
Thankfully, the tournament doesn't start tomorrow, but still, hardly bodes well now does it.

The other big football story is the plight of Portsmouth and their now confirmed administration.
Somehow the world of football seems to think that it is exempt from the rules of business, and moreover, the rules of capitalism. Indeed the very rules that helped football as an "industry" to grow into a multi-billion pound business in this country.
The rules I am referring to are simple - spend more than your bring in, and you will soon be in trouble. Portsmouth have done just that, to the tune of around £70 million apparently. Hardly surprising that the administrators have been called in. Yet what is surprising is that due to the rules of the Premier League, in such circumstances, the first people to get the money owed to them are the players. Not the tax man, or the banks, or the guy who runs the bar in the stadium, or washes the kit, or drives the coach - no the multi-millionaire players. In any other industry the workforce are among the last to get what is owed to them, and even then they are unlikely to get the full amount. If a construction company goes under owing a supplier £150k that supplier will be lucky to get 10p in the £1 as payment, if at all. I know, because it just happened to me. yet in the cartoon world of professional football things are different. But they shouldn't be, if football wants to be a business and attract the billions it craves, then it has to play by the same rules as everyone else. More on this another day.....that is a rant in itself.

Right, that's me for today...more soon.