NoBlog number 11 - Jim Lovetoy Reflects on the Aftermath of Thierry Henry´s Cheating, Foreign Hand...
26th November 2009
NoBlog
Media personality Jim Lovetoy writes exclusively for The Football Ramble. “This is no blog, it’s a column. It’s credible. Proper journalism that has an influence...”
Over a week has passed and the fury at Thierry Henry’s blatant cheating in Ireland’s World Cup play off game with France is still raging furiously, and unless people stop bringing it up it isn’t going to go away. As we all know, Ireland were one up and seemingly on their way to South Africa despite the huge disadvantage of having to play the game on French soil. Enter Henry’s hand, William Gallas’ odd shaped head and a penalty shoot out and the Irish were on their way home. I must confess I didn’t actually see the penalties, though the Republic’s players all play in the Premier League and if England are anything to judge Ireland by I can imagine what the standard was like! I missed the end of the game as I had to leave the local gastro to turn the heating up for my pug, Sheva. I’m regretting that now! The name not the dog, he’s very smart, the vet says his brain is growing all the time. He says I need to do something about it but I’m happy to have a brainy dog thanks, I might even enter him at Crufts.
Of course it’s all Thierry Henry’s fault but the Irish have only themselves to blame. Roy Keane has said that they failed to exact the most basic defending and I agree. They should have been prepared for a Frenchman cheating. It was always going to happen. Cheating is as French as baguettes, pretentious films and black and white stripy tops. Even their bees are black and white and they probably cheat as well. I bet they steal honey from supermarkets.
Let’s look at this sensibly. The Irish were punching above their weight even being in a play off in the first place. Ireland doesn’t even have a professional league, how can they possibly expect to qualify? It’s not like they’ve ever been in a World Cup before. Perhaps now they can build on this experience as England did, by clearing out the deadwood and bringing in a vastly experienced foreign manager to take them forward.
So what of Henry? Anyone who saw his performances for Barcelona last season can see that he’s past his best and he’s now being vilified as a cheat. So, overrated and a cheat. I can’t think of a better club for him to be at. That other famous handball merchant, Diego Maradona, should have played for them. He’d have fit right in. For some reason the idea that Barcelona are actually a decent side persists, so believing their own hype I imagine they’ll probably ship Henry off to somewhere like Bolton or Blackburn in January. Incidentally, it bothers me that foreign players always wait until January to move. They do this because in foreign leagues they get a break at Christmas, so they sit around for a couple of weeks instead of joining up with their new teams and getting stuck in. It’s downright lazy.
The main debate that has resurfaced after this controversy is whether or not it’s time for video replays to be introduced. I’ve shared my thoughts on this before but nobody from FIFA listened. In my view it’s absolutely time to bring it in. I know this, you know this, even Sheva and his massively inflamed brain knows this. However, there seems to be a lot of opposition from the fuddy duddys at the FA who are probably scared of it because they don’t understand how to use a camcorder. With this in mind I suggest a compromise, one that will hopefully be listened to this time: video replays should be brought in, but only for really important games. That way peoples’ lives won’t be wasted watching replays from the FA Cup or international games featuring the likes of Slovenia or Algeria. Ireland would have benefited from this as their game was against a side as important as France so they’d have had replays, and had it been in place then maybe, just maybe, they would have got that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Chelsea, Chelsea!
Jim Lovetoy
Do you think it’s time for technology to be introduced? Is Roy Keane right in his assessment of the situation? Should Jim be allowed to keep an animal?
« Return to blogs
Robert Ralphs
:::2009-11-26 21:57:44
Is tim just joking about the league and manager in Ireland??
´Coz we do hav a professional league its just everyones shit init and all the clubs are full of debt(well derry and cork are and im sure theirs others lol)
And what does he mean about never being in a World Cup????
I would like 2 see tim Doing better against the Italians in usa94 and the germans in 2002!!!!!
I thought tim had an alright football head but now i can see why everyone laughs in his face at the lack of football knowledge he has! no wonder soccer am saacked him!!
yours angerly dj rob
hhhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Josh McJeffries
:::2009-11-26 23:19:33
DJ Rob, mate, you mean ´yours angrily´ not ´yours angerly´ - that doesn´t make sense.
It´s definitely time to bring in video replays! I for one am sick of controversy in football! (Don´t get me wrong, a bit of controversy is fine but there´s got to be a limit.)
´Back in the day´ it was fine! They had far fewer camera angles to choose from and didn´t have the replay technology we have today; so if, for instance there was a handball in the box, or a cheaky punch thrown behind the ref´s back, then the fans could ´swear they saw it´ but at the end of the day, would have no way of proving it.
Nowadays we all sit down on a saturday night and watch horrendous fouls, offsides, goals that didn´t cross the line but were given, goals that DID cross the line but weren´t given! And these incidents make headlines in the papers, people talk about them for days but somehow...the referee missed them all!!! I´d rather NOT know that Henchoz saved Henry´s shot with his hand in the FA cup final than see the replay over and over again but nothing be done about it! It´s just painful for the fans to see people getting away with that kind of thing, if the ref can´t see it then they should have a quick whisper in a microphone and get video assistance, like in Rugby. They don´t have to make a song and dance of it like they do in Cricket where the whole crowd waits for the verdict (i´ve nothing against this by the way, Cricket´s great and this kind of suspense only livens up an otherwise boring-as-hell sport) but the ref´s need help! Finally, this kind of technology would protect today´s refs from the consistent abuse from that TWAT - Alex Ferguson. How many times is that man going to get away with abusing ref´s week-in, week-out?!?!?!
It is time.
Sampson
:::2009-11-27 10:41:11
Robert Ralphs I do hope that´s misplaced sarcasm!
Ben
:::2009-11-27 19:52:37
Ironically the "real" Jim was in this week´s Metro-meets-Nuts free magazine ShortList, saying exactly the opposite about video refs. They´d slow down the quick-paced game, apparently. Because after Gallas scored, the Irish players grabbed the ball and ran to the centre circle, restarting the game within ten seconds, right?
David Cooper
:::2009-12-08 16:05:28
"That way peoples’ lives won’t be wasted watching replays from the FA Cup or international games featuring the likes of Slovenia or Algeria."
Rather prescient of a certain team´s World Cup opponents this, no?
JamesorJim
:::2009-12-08 16:33:39
That is genuinely very odd. I fear Lovetoy may know his stuff after all.
« Return to blogs
'Surreal brilliance.' - FourFourTwo Magazine
Catch up on the latest Ramble by clicking below. You can stream through our media player or subscribe through iTunes.
Catch up on the latest Ramble by clicking below. You can stream through our media player or subscribe through iTunes.
