Who is the England 'rat'?
When the English press, or at least some of them, got a hint of an incident they threw a grenade or two at it! The most annoying thing about it is it was supposed to be a night of triumph, which it was, yet the headlines were marred by 'a racist story' by the England Manager. The story was about as close to the truth as Australia is to England!
You only get a chance to qualify once every four years and the competition is strong; it shows as it went to the final games in the qualifying tournament before we found out who had progressed. .
Football is a game adored the world over but as the beautiful game started in England the media seem to want the national side to fail. The simple question has to be why?
I can go back to the Graham Taylor days when the Manager, doing his dream job, was called a 'Turnip', now how in the hell is that going to help?
When will they figure out that a positive press reverberates around the fans and it should in turn get through to the players, all singing from the same hymn sheets.
It was on the cards that Roy Hodgson would be asked to issue a grovelling apology after the Poland game.
It’s just that most expected his response to go like this, after a turgid draw put England into the play-offs: “I’ve done my job to the best of my ability and if that upsets Gary Lineker and all the Twitterers, then tough.”
Had someone predicted he would be forced to beg forgiveness for cracking a half-time gag about space monkeys, you would have guessed that the someone was Harry Hill and TV Burp was back. In reality it was more Russ Abbot’s Madhouse.
This trumped-up space monkey furore epitomises the current paranoia that engulfs football and makes a mockery of freedom of expression.
John Barnes, who as an England player was on the end of real racist abuse, dissected it with his usual honesty and intelligence: “The most important thing is the element of intention. Does the person mean to say something that could be prejudicial, racist or discriminatory and would the person it is directed at be offended? No one can possibly be offended by these comments. They weren’t racist.”
Yet offended they were. Nick Clegg said Hodgson must be “more careful with his choice of words.” This from a man who told voters before the last election there would be no increase in tuition fees. Then increased them.
The anti-racism group Kick It Out called for an “investigation” despite surely knowing race played no part in Hodgson’s attempt to show players through humour why they needed to get the ball quickly to Andros Townsend.
The biggest shame in all of this is an England player (disgruntled possibly?) chose to start a race row that could have had serious repercussions for a very decent man. Hodgson is deep-thinking, learned and compassionate and detests all forms of bigotry.
The second biggest shame is this decent man apologised. Because when you have nothing to apologise for, giving one demeans the act.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/roy-hodgson-monkey-joke-row-2467045#ixzz2iixevc5Z
The 'monkey story' is a worry; I don't mean that the press got hold of it, it's more where did it come from?
Both Andros Townsend and Roy Hodgson confirmed the story was true, but they only confirmed after the story was already out; so there's a 'rat in the camp!'
If I were the FA or the England Manager I'd be worried; trusting your team and the coaching staff is all part of the team spirit.
It’s not known if it’s a player or a member of the coaching staff but it really doesn't matter: information is getting out!
The only logical explanation for the 'rat to have told' is money; with that in mind you'd have to exclude the players. What other reason could there be?
I'd hate to think it’s a member of the back team staff who has some sort of problem with Hodgson; might be a way of getting the boss's attention.
Then of course Roy might know who the 'rat' is but won't expose them for fear of retribution from fans and players alike!
The 'rat' needs to be found and soon. England have qualified for the World Cup; a great success story that both the fans and the press should enjoy.
Can they win the World Cup? That's another article altogether!
Written by Paul Moore, a football fan.