Been a while

With the January transfer window approaching, Jermaine Beckford is once again fuelling the proverbial rumour mill. The latest link is with Newcastle United (again), as well as various other clubs whose followers have nothing better to dream up.

For me, the rumours are absolute nonsense. Jermaine’s contract expires at the end of the season, so any club willing to pay the reported £3,000,000 price tag Leeds have put on him would be totally insane. Newcastle never have been the cleverest of clubs when it comes to finance – much like the past regimes at Elland Road – but surely even they can see this is insanity. If they are willing to cough up, he can go. He seems to have no intention of signing his contract anyway.

Millwall face further FA charges

Seems the lovely supporters down at Millwall have managed to land their team in trouble once more. This time, the FA are investigating the sickening chants aimed at our supporters in reference to the incident in Turkey a few years back and the objects being thrown from both sets of fans.

It would be hypocritical of me to critisise the idiots at Millwall, when we house so many of them ourselves. Chants like ‘Always look on the runway for ice’  aren’t exactly uncommon at Elland Road. The objects being thrown were coming from both sets of fans too in what was a pretty hairy afternoon.

millwall-idiot

Idiot in Galatasaray shirt (and equally idiotic friend)

The wind-ups coming from both sets of fans are hardly suprising, it’s part of the game I guess, but the Turkish ones are below the belt – as are some of the ones we use ourselves. I think there’s a line that many clubs cross far too often in the one-up-manship battles that go on across the country every weekend and it needs to end. The line had totally disappeared from view for the idiot who came in a Galatasaray shirt and those waving Turkish flags.

Millwall have promised a no-tolerance approach to the incident and will be taking action. The FA will no doubt issuee the club with a fine too, not that it’ll make any difference. The FA needs to be much tougher than they previously have been. Bans are good, but all too often impossible to enforce. Why not deduct the team points – I have no doubts it’d be considered if it was us in the wrong!

The Collymore footballing utopia

Pretty amusing post from Stan Collymore in the Mirror who thinks relegation and promotion should be abolished and the only teams in the Premier League should be those that have contributed the most to it over the past century.

In Collymore’s idealistic football heaven, the Wigan’s, Hull’s and Reading’s of this world would be left to battle it out with every other team deemed too small for the Premier League, whilst Leeds and Newcastle would be restored to the top flight and in no danger of relegation.

The system he’s suggesting is similar to what Rugby League is bringing in, which mimics that of the NFL in America. Although it sounds totally deranged – and perhaps is – I can see some logic to his argument. Having spent time in America and attended an NFL game, the sport is massive. There’s big, big matches every week that thousands upon thousands turn out to see.

Whilst the Premier League has it’s big matches every so often – when the top four meet or there’s a big derby – very few Arsenal fans could care less about facing Hull or Stoke. The idea is that the only teams in the EPL would be the biggest in the country and battles like Manchester United v Leeds, and Newcastle v Sunderland would be a weekly event.

It’d be absolutely impossible to bring in and is never going to happen, but probably would leave a more interesting league. However, where do the fairytale stories like Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest fit into all this?