England: Aha, Sleeping Pills And Sloppy Play

I had wanted to write this post earlier, but anytime is okay now.

Star Sport  19 Oct 2012

It seems that England players had been given sleeping pills the night
before their World Cup qualifying match with Poland which they drew 1-1
with. The clash had earlier been postponed for a day following rain and
a water-logged pitch.

Are we to take that as an excuse for England's sloppy or what some say dozy
display against Poland?

Haha, great essay.

But did the English FA need to use drugs to help players
sleep and better recover before a match? This is the first time I have heard
of such a use! Granted, I am not an expert, but if the result is a dozy one you tell
me what the hell?!

Is future English football going to be dizzy dozy and I don't mean a 'dizzling' one
like as in fantastic?

After England's 5-0 victory over football minnows San Marino earlier, I had cautioned against 
against England gloating over the win. For goodness's sake, San Marino is the
LOWEST ranked football team in the word, even lower placed than the
Bolehland (Malaysia) team!

But you had Roy Hodgson coming out after the 5-0 win praising his young Turks
as fearless heroes and the saviours of English football!

Football is not about fearlessness. It is about skills, strategy,
tactics and team work.

Did Hogson not know this?

I did not watch the telecast of that England-Poland match and I do not intend to.

I have no confidence in the present England squad, with or without Rooney,
much less in Hodgson now.

And England should stop focusing on one player for heroics. The sooner England
is weaned from focusing on Rooney, the better it will be for the team as a whole.
A man does not a team make.

England may or may not eventually qualify for the finals in Brasil; I do hope they not
qualify anyway. The present England squad do not deserve to qualify.

And if England do qualify, at the rate and the way they are going, I don't see
them going beyond the second round.

Sleeping pills, anyone?  

Should England Gloat?

Should England gloat over their 5-0 victory over San Marino?

Against a country whose population is a mere 32,404 and whose team is ranked way down at 207 in Fifa world ranking, England struggled for some 34 mins before opening score, and that too via a penalty kick.

Had there not been a penalty awarded, who knew what the final outcome might have been?

And it was not as if the rest of the goals came from English brillance as from San Marino comedy.

And what was that with Roy Hodgson vis-a-vis Theo Walcott?

Having not started with Walcott in the qualifers since taking over from Capello, why did Hodgson do it  when it should have been a snap against minnows San Marino even without Walcott?

And Walcott duly rewarded Hodgson's stupidity by getting injured. Now Wenger would just love to give Hodgson a well deserved tongue lashing.

And perhaps too, Fifa should stop insulting football fans by allowing teams (like San Marino) that can't play football, to play in the World Cup qualifiers.

A sure way to kill fans' interest is to have a mismatch made in hell.

Wonked With Wonga?

Newcastle or, rather, Newcastle's Muslim players are in trouble with Wonga's sponsorship of the cash-strapped club.

Star Sport 11 Oct 2012

They have been cautioned that wearing the club's jersey with the Wonga logo could infringe syariah law.

So who or what is Wonga?

Yesterday's Star Sport had this to say of Wonga

Launched in 2007 as an online provider of short-term loans Wonga.com provides amounts of up to no less than £1000 for a maximum of a month. 

Its Annual Percentage Rate (APR), the interest rate for a whole year on a loan, is 4,214%. That astonishing figure is a little misleading as Wonga only offers loans for up to 30 days, with a rate of around 36% interest, but this can still mean eye-watering final payments.

If Wonga loaned a borrower £6mil - the figure they will give annually to Newcastle - the repayment after 12 months at that APR would be £250mil.

If a Newcastle supporter took out a Wonga loan to pay for a £49.99 home jersey it would cost £71.92 in 30 days' time. If it were possible to pay back a Wonga loan in a year, that same shirt would cost £2,107  

Wow, if true, that would sound quite familiar to Malaysians.

Malaysia's loan sharks or Ah Longs have built up a reputation that Wonga would be proud of themselves if the above is true!