Mike Cockerill got his FFA Award this week, and fair play to him. You do the time, 30 years - you
get an award.
I'm no fan of Mike's football analysis, he knows that - his tactical and player movements on and
around the park leave a lot to be desired for this football fan. I grew up in the UK!
The 2010 NSW Premier League has reached its halfway point, and perhaps the only surprise is that
Marconi, last season's losing grand finalists, are two points clear at the top of the table. Behind
them is a pack of three, all of whom were considered likely to thrive this year, with the rest of
the field trailing by a considerable distance.
Harry Kewell is back to play in Australia, in the A-League and I like most other football fans are
delighted.
Sure on Twitter, The Australian's Ray Gatt and surprisingly The Age's Mick Lynch, have been
defending the so-called "opinion piece" from Sydney Morning Herald writer and Fox Sports
Commentator Mike Cockerill on Harry's return - oh how Mike despises Harry.
Cop this, Jesse Fink, SBS Leading football writer, get's stuck into Mike Cockerill SMH@s leading
football writer for Mike's piece on Frank Lowy.
What makes me laugh is that Jesse and Mike have both written to me, Jesse somewhat abusively, Mike
somewhat aggressively telling me to desist in criticism of them both and what they write.
Anyone else notice Harry Kewell smiling just a little more in Qatar....hmmn than say at the World
Cup.
With Robbie Slater sent to watch Central Coast Mariners, (is that in Qatar?) and Mike Cockerill yet
to send a report for the SMH (is he commentating?) I'm beginning to wonder if Harry has bigger
powers than we thought or the Mike and Robbie are running for cover!
1. Australia, FFA or Government has given $5 million to the AFC, no problems from me, but it hasn't
been trumpeted loud and proud by anyone from either group. Weird?
And the Aussie media, the football media, are so limited in their analysis of the game and the
issues surrounding it that they haven't even asked a question.
This is getting silly! And who better than me to contribute when things are silly!
Robbie keeps writing and talking about the Harry thing. Boring Robbie.
Harry, in between dazzling runs, keeps replying. Boring Harry but keep up the dazzling runs.
Bernie Mandic, what is he on! Does Harry really need a minder to speak for him, he seemed to speak
for himself quite well on Fox the other night.
Sydney Morning Herald are giving away free Socceroos flags today at your local newsgents. So as a
buyer of the SMH, in Canberra, I dutifully asked for mine.
"Can I have my flag?!
"How many do you want?"
Never one to miss a trick, "How many you got?"
"450!"
Now Canberrans can read but even I knew 450 people weren't going to walk into the shop and ask for
a Socceroos flag.
So unless 12-year-olds read this blog, we all know that WWE (or WWF for all those hardcore
"attitude" fans) is fake. Fake as Pamela Anderson's 'assets'.
So it was weird to see that some of the Australian media taking the Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair press
conference a bit too seriously.
Nationally we cover Fozzie on the Young Socceroos, A-League, crowds, Danny Tiatto, Robbie Kruse,how
did that Ref miss the Perf goal, Alex Brosque, Chris Grossman, why the Celtic crowd are louder
thanBordeaux, even Liverpool but it was The Cove who took Paddy's breadth away, W-League, quiz
questions and more and Lucy Zelic thinks Melbourne will beat Sydney FC.
So this time last week the Matildas were just about to get their hands on Australia's first ever
Asian Cup, and since then they've been able to soak-up a little of the spotlight. Here is my
round-up of the best stories that appeared in the last week.
One of my all-time favourite writers Greg Baum, tackles the entire issue of Matildas and other
women's media with perfect prose.
Robbie Fowler is sometimes called God by SMH journo Mike Cockerill but most of us just know him as
an ex-Liverpool player who had basically completed his work by age 24!
For ten years he lived on his memories of his significant achievements at Liverpool and then he
came to Australia. We wondered if Mr Fatty would pass the mark and he, surprisingly to us cynics,
did.
The best PR in the A-League this season is that Sydney are playing with style. Every week they win
Mike Cockerill and others are telling us they are flying....and when the lose it's always they are
playing well at home....oh yeah like when?
Dream on Mike, and dream on Sydney..and for that matter dream on Fozzie oozing over the latest
overseas coach earlier in the season.
Although Sydney FC thoroughly deserved their victory over the Central Coast Mariners this
afternoon, the entire press box was in agreement that the man of the match played on the losing
side. As the SMH's Sebastian Hassett justly observed, "about the seven next-best" were
clad in sky blue, but the star of the day was Michael McGlinchey.
Robbie Slater said on Fox Sports last night prior to the Socceroos game that he "hated that
column."
Did he mean the particular piece on Harry Kewell - he wrote in the Telly some weeks ago - or does
he mean he actually hates writing the weekly piece which seems to be giving him some grief.
Not bad, not bad. Australia's only national football fanzine has clearly met the need of the
sporting public.
Football fans love something a bit more irreverant, maybe better written, more opinionated than you
find in the normal Aussie media. SBS, SMH have constraints of space and etiquette I guess.
In a world where any publicity is good publicity it's fantastic to see football, yes women's
football on the front page of the SMH.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/spectacular-own-goal-as-star-forced-to-choose-codes-20120529-1zhh2.html#utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tweetbutton
Not an alcohol fueled article or a wife bashing court case - no a stoush between a Coach Jitka
Klimkova who simply wants her players to train full-on and be available for all games, including
semi-finals and finals and a talented dual international, Ellyse Perry.
Diego Maradona was among the thousands of Argentine citizens who paid their respect to fallen
former President Nestor Kirchner on Thursday. Kirchner's body was laid to rest at Argentina's
presidential palace in a service yesterday morning and Maradona was at the ceremony andÂ
embraced Kirchner's widow, Argentina's current President Cristina Fernandez, and the former World
Cup star and national team coach also placed his hand on Kirchner's flag-draped coffin to pay
tribute to the fallen former leader.
The best caption for what Nigel de Jong did to Xabi Alonso.According to CaptainArsenal " I think I
heard DeJong yell "This... Is... Sparta!!!" as he kung fu kicked Alonso on that last foul. Smh,
that's a red"
The acquisition of Kevin Sheedy as coach of the AFL's new western Sydney franchise has set plenty
of tongues wagging, and keyboards clicking. The presence of one of the sport's most charismatic
figures in enemy territory is good copy...especially for rugby league scribes defending the
bastions.
Greg Prichard has given Penrith's Mark Geyer a free kick (or should that be a scrum feed?
So you wake up in the Professional Football forsaken city of Canberra.
Do the 2 degree dash to get the paper, Canberra Times and Sydney Morning Herald.
Straight to the sport. I'm a guy. Okay the A-League season is almost 10 whole days away, and in
Canberra there are 20,000 players running out to play this weekend and in Sydney over 120,000.
