Maybe, you can never be sure. There’ll be a knock. *knocks* Ring. *rings* Letters through your dooooooooor!
You don’t write much, you lot, but when you do, it’s always worth printing. And thus we have duly printed. If you’d like to feature on the letters page, and remember that we’ll always link to your blog*, email [email protected].
* – Unless we read your blog and discover that you’re an absolute horror shop. If that happens, we’ll just back away nervously.
IT’S TIME TIMINGS CHANGED
Dear Sir,
I was inspired to write by Neil Atkinson’s excellent piece on the rose-tinted tyranny of 3 o’clock Saturday kick-offs. Not only is he right, but history is on his side. The romanticism of 3pm kick offs has nothing to do with the time of the game, but the fact that universal 3pms hark back to a time when other elements of the game were different, or better if you like. Terraces, players not earning the GDP of a small nation for sitting on the bench, tickets costing less than a family saloon et cetera. The Saturday 3pm kick off is the last strand of the modern game which is still attached to the game of the past, and people are loathe to let it go. In reality, it’s a dinosaur, and as Neil writes so well, it’s about the worst of all worlds. Times have changed. It’s time timings changed too.
Best wishes and keep up the good work,
IS THERE A FIRE DRILL?
Going to completely unashamedly admit that earlier this season as Sunderland season ticket holders, me and my friend left the Arsenal match with them leading 1-0 after about 70 minutes so we could be back in time to catch the Real Madrid/Barcelona match. Obviously when we got back perfectly on time for kick off we realised due to the media blackout we wouldn’t get to see the first half an hour, and could have stayed for the full match anyway.
POOR PUNDITRY
I’m not one to spend my one hour lunch writing a response to any article but your feature on Armchair Scouts hit a chord with me and I couldn’t help myself but to write in.
A perfect example of armchair scouts would be an article Jamie Redknapp wrote for Sky Sports regarding his predictions on relegation contenders for the 13/14 Premier League Season. He mentioned that Norwich were doomed, despite them signing Van Wolfswinkel and co. The comments that appeared were “Redknapp has lost it”, “He doesn’t have a clue about these players, Norwich will competing for the top 4”. Anyone with a copy of Football Manager (I think 12 or 13) knew Van Wolfswinkel was a goal machine and the comments to the article reflected this opinion, but, we all know what happened to Norwich that season and in particular, Van Wolfswinkel.
I do agree that “it’s okay not to know everything about every current footballer,” but when it comes to the pundits, like Alan Shearer, who are paid to give their expert views about a current player or a potential player and not have an inkling of them, it’s beyond me!
The players constantly linked with the Premier League are, 9 times out of 10, players that are well known within their respective country and if you invest a little bit of your time in the major European leagues it doesn’t take long to get to know certain players. So, for a pundit, whose one and only job is to comment on and watch football to not know these players is embarrassing. These guys are getting paid for this! It is insulting to fans of these lower league clubs to have to listen to them give us all incorrect information.
Right, my soup is getting cold but please pass this onto Alan Shearer and Co.
Many Thanks!
ED’S NOTE: Poor Alan. We actually think he’s been quite good recently.
RED SQUIRREL CONTROVERSY
Dear Sirs,
