Delusions of grandeur

Newcastle defender Habib Beye has come out and summed up everything that is about the club and everyone associated with it.

"We are one of the biggest clubs in England and we cannot drop into the Championship"

Give. Me. A. Break.

Full story here

My foray into sports journalism

I've started writing some articles for www.sportingo.com. I don't get paid for it, I'm only doing it for fun.

Keep track of what I'm saying!

http://www.sportingo.com/authors/jamie-white

The Premier League is a crock of shit

I'll keep this short. But after hearing that Ryan Giggs has won the PFA award for Player of the Year, any remaining respect I had for the Premier League has gone out of the window.

It's like a completely different league in a world of its own up there, and I for one can only hope that the rest of the Football League does not end up like this, dominated by money and fame and giving out awards based on sentiment rather than genuine ability.

It is obviously the dream of every football fan to see their team reach the Premier League - but for what?! Promoted teams either come straight back down or languish mid-table for a few years - before eventually coming back down and being in a worse position than when they went up. Once you're in the Premier League, there is realistically nothing you can aim for. Your chances of winning the title are non-existent, qualifying for Europe just as unlikely. The only thing that teams can hope for is to survive and play out meaningless season after meaningless season before catching a bit of luck and maybe, just maybe getting together a side that could push for 6th or 7th place (see Fulham this season).

Give me League One nail-biting uncertainty any day of the week thankyou very much.

It all sounds very impressive, but...

When a journal article opens with the line

"After 40 years the scrupulous debate the contours of the marketing domain remain nebulous."

You just know it's gonna be a delightful read.

PFA Player of the Decade

This has gone too far. Now Alex Ferguson has come out in full support of Ryan Giggs to win the PFA Player of the Year award. This is a player who has only appeared 24 times this season, scoring just 3 goals. He has NOT been the best player in the Premier League this season, not by a long shot.

Obviously the reason why he has been nominated for the award is because he has never won it in his career, and the PFA are worried that he will retire at the end of the season and hence never pick up the award. However, this is not grounds to even nominate someone for the award, never name announce them the winner. I'm not doubting Giggs' contribution throughout his career, having won 10 Premier League medals, scored in every season of the league and is about to make his 800th Manchester United appearance. However, surely it would be better to give him some kind of "Outstanding Contribution" award rather than deny players like Vidic, Van der Sar and Gerrard (my vote) the chance to win the PFA award. These three have been class all season and are much more worthy winners than Giggs.

It seems that everyone I've spoken to feels the same, so why are the PFA seemingly oblivious to the reality of the footballing world?!

A tasty discovery

If you chew chewing gum until it loses its mintiness, then have a piece of chocolate, you get the effect of eating mint-chocolate without having to buy mint-chocolate.

Changing tastes

I have recently become accustomed to sour cream.