I know I'm a bit late on this, but watching the rugby today made me think about Manuel Almunia, and his "hope" to play for England.
It all started with the cricket. Back in the 80's we had Allan Lamb and Robin Smith playing for England, even though they were both born and raised in South Africa. Even now, we've got Kevin Pieterson playing, and all English hopes seem to rest on him.
In athletics we had Zola Budd, again representing England, setting commonwealth and world records, and the adoration of the English press and public, even though she was South African.
Back to rugby, the All Blacks have been doing it for years. Taking the best of the Samoans, Fijians, and Pacific islanders and persuading them to represent New Zealand. Even England are not immune to this with Mike Catt, and now Lesley Vainikolo pulling on the white shirts of England.
Of course, in football, this has already happened. As we all remember, Jack Charlton used the parentage rule to great effect when manager of Ireland – Tony Cascarino, John Aldridge, Andy Townsend, the list goes on and on.
All apart from Vainikolo have used parentage to further their career. The cricketers could not represent South Africa because of the apartheid regime, similarly so did Budd. The All Blacks can use the lure of playing for the best rugby team in the world (in their, and the medias eyes anyway) rather than play for Fiji, and get no honours in the game. The Irish lads chose the Republic beacuse they knew they would never get into the England team.
Vainikolo is different. After coming over to Bradford from Australia in 2002, he has been able to apply for English citizenship under the 5 year residency rule – the same bit of legislation that Almunia is wanting to use. However, that is where the similarities end. Vainikolo is good enough to play for his home country of Tonga, would still walk into the All Blacks team because of parentage (in fact, while playing Rugby League, he played 12 times, scoring 14 tries) but he has chosen to play for England.
He’s a world class player. Almunia is not.
And that, and that alone, is why he should never play for England, not because he’s Spanish.
However, the precedent has been set, so how long will it really be until we get a “foreigner” playing for England at football? We’ve already had two foreign coaches - my guess is, not too long at all.
So at the moment, I've been banished to Chesterfield for work. Apart from the twisted spire, there's not a lot going for it. And to be honest, even that's not brilliant. So I hunted round last night to try and find a pub with Setanta Sports, so I could watch the game. Unfortunately, the only pub in town that had it, was showing the other, more important game - Chesterfield v Hereford. Yep, Skysports were live from Saltergate, and the whole town stayed in and watched it on the telly. Apart from a few of us - me included. And what a game it was - 4-0 to the Spireites! Managed to miss the first goal, as I was just sitting down when they scored in the 2nd minute. The weather really didn't help either. The rain ensured that when the ball landed, it stopped, rather than bounce, which caused no end of problems. Plus the Hereford keeper was awful. To be honest, I was a bit surprised at the support ehy had. A rainy Monday, on Sky, and the cheapest ticket £15, there was still over 2,500 people, including about 200 who had come from Hereford. And the mix of people was good too. Not just the old folk, who have always supported them, but all age ranges, who go to see football, not glory hunting. They could easily follow Man U or Chelsea, but they support their true local team. It makes you appreciate your own team a hell of a lot more when you come down the leagues. I know a few of us here also follow our loacl team (CT follows Cheltenham if I remember rightly). The willing was there last night, but the skill is always slightly missing. And talking about our lot - we did well, but why could we not have held out fior two more minutes. Never mind, a point at Anfield can't be sniffed at really, and are still level with them. Who'd have thought!
So I blogged yesterday, and it was the best blog in the whole world ever. Then the system crashed, and it all disappeared. Arse! But never mind. Basically, it bemoaned the lack of transfer activity, with us being a thrid of the way through the window already. And the players who are being linked are really no better than who we've got already. But then I guess we all know that. Who would have Defoe and Chimbonda for gods sake (apart, obviously, from Martin Jol, but he no longer has a job, so that kinda proves what I'm wittering on about!) It closed with the statement that no big deals are ever done in January because of the Europe effect - ie the big players we'd all like are not available because invariably they are playing in European competition, and peopel would be crazy to leave that. Just as the Anelka deal was announced, and pissed all over my arguement. £15m indeed! And now - non footie news. My missus has got herself a place in the Flora Loindon Marathon. She has a condition that affects her spine called Scoliosis, and when she was little she was told she would probably be in a wheelchair by her teens. However, one operation and a hell of a lot of healing later, she's going to be running 26.2 miles around the capital on behalf of the Lymphoma Society (a small cancer charity which we have got close to due to her stepmum having it) If you want to sponser her, then the link to her webpage is http://www.justgiving.com/charleybelham Spare pennies, spare pounds. It all counts!
Theme tune noise fades. Cut to close up shot of a front door - solid oak, heavily varnished. Slowly the door opens with a loud creek, and our eponimous hero peers around it. "Hellllloooooooo" he shouts, "Is anyone here?" It's been a long time since he visited this place, and the darkness that surrounds him is suffocating. From out of the darkness of the hallway, strange noises begin to sound.
And then the alarm goes off, and we're back in the real world. And how nice it is to be back too. I can't quite believe that it's been over a year since I was last on here. And amazingly, I was still on the front page in the updates column. I guess things just aren't like they used to be, when we would all gather almost daily to grumble about this and that. However, there is still a lot to put right. Behind the scenes, everything is beginning to come together to push the club forward again. But on the pitch, things haven't seemed to be all there recently. Sunday was a case in point I suppose. Bolton were bottom we should have baten them, yet it seemed to be the worst display of the season - 1st half especially. I guess the new manager factor had something to do with it, but we really should have beaten them. But never mind. No matter what happens, things have changed for the better, and that's all we have to focus on really. And I like it. Just wish I was closer! Mind you, with all the coverage on the telly this season, it really does feel like I've been able to keep up with the team quite well. Is this the most we've evr been on telly? I make it seven games now out of ten. Which is fantastic really, highlighting what a great team we are. The trouble is, everyone is now aware of the talent we've got. With Barry playing so well for club and country, it was inevitable that one of the big four would come sniffing. They've only just found out what we've been saying for years! And I'm guesing it won't be long before we start hearing rumours of clubs wanting other players as we roll up towards January. Well let them look, that's what I say. As long as you're not offended by a rather stern "Bugger off"!
But it doesn't matter. Copyright 2008 - Shortland Try out a site like this, for free.
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