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Panto season comes early to the Bernabeu
When Mark Twain wrote, “The poetry is all in the anticipation for there is none in reality” he could easily have been talking about last Wednesday’s Clasico encounter at the Bernebeu.
According to the Times Chief Sports Correspondent Matt Dickinson “ Soaring beauty triumphed over ugliness through the dazzling feet of Lionel Messi.”
According to almost everyone I have talked to the little man’s undoubted genius was completely overshadowed by the cheating, diving and generally appalling behaviour of both sides that left the referee under an intolerable level of pressure and made his job almost untenable.
And so it was that a game that we all had been eagerly anticipating, a game that promised so much between two of the finest sides in the world, degenerated into little more than a pantomime party piece.
In 2005 Volker Roth, UEFA’s head of referees, labelled Jose Mourinho as an “Enemy of Football” and without a shadow of doubt Mourinho’s behaviour and subsequent comments after Wednesday’s game did nothing to challenge that statement.
However in my opinion the biggest enemies of football have to be the lawmakers themselves. Surely the likes of Michelle Platini and Seb Blatter must have been thoroughly ashamed to be associated with what they saw.
These people have the power to support referees through the use of technology both during and after games. They have the power to punish players retroactively for their attempts to “con” officials. They have the power yet they do nothing.
Hot on snoods, post goal celebrations and player’s under shorts but stone cold on the things that really matter. That’s FIFA for you.
On the FIFA website there is a section entitled “Football for hope.” At least they’ve got a sense of humour.
Returning to the real world it was a relief to get back to the EBB for the last home game of the season. It was my second sighting of Rotherham within the week and as on the previous occasion the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
As so often when playing against the Millers the difference was goal poacher supreme Adam Le Fondre. According to many Rotherham fans he is a lazy player who is only worth his place when he’s scoring goals.
According to shots fans (given that our top League goal scorer is mid fielder Luke Guttridge with 6) let’s just say that we might beg to differ.
Yet again we have been well and truly “Alfed” but hey ho! Considering where we were when Deano arrived, life’s still pretty good.
Without any shadow of doubt the next few weeks will be difficult for many of the players. With money tight, hard decisions, not always on footballing grounds, will have to be made and when the retained list is announced there will certainly be one or two surprises.
However, if we can mange to keep the bulk of our squad and if we are able to find even a pale imitation of Adam Le Fondre who knows?
Whatever happens one thing is for sure. Unlike FIFA there will be no “Abandon hope all ye who enter here” sign on the Shots website.
Well not yet a while at least!
Posted by Aldershot fan Old Timer
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