Confessions of a Wino

I was thinking of writing a thoughtful and considered post tonight but I am starting to slip into Gary Lineker mode already.

McCLAREN OUT!  McCLAREN OUT!  I’ve been completely consistent on this.  Even after five 3-0 wins on the trot (to weak opposition) I still opined that Steve McClaren should resign with (not much) dignity.

The first mistake was made by the FA in the early Sven days when McClaren was appointed assistant with the openly stated aim that he was being groomed for next England manager, the only visible qualification being that he was English.  Then, when Sven was deposed, the FA, in their infinite wisdom, approached “Fil” Scolari and only when he turned the FA down did they grovel to McClaren and pretend it was his job all along.

Oh, how we now long for the Sven-Goran Eriksson days.  He was accused of being the “quarter final” man.  I’d rather have a “quarter final” man than one who can’t even qualify from possibly the easiest European group imaginable.  The last time England failed to qualify for a major tournament was when Graham “Turnip Head” Taylor failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.

To be honest, although I am bitterly disappointed that England have not qualified for Europe, one has to look for silver linings at desperate times like these.  The most obvious of which would be to hear of Steve McClaren’s immediate resignation, and if he doesn’t resign by midnight then the FA will lose 1% credibility for every minute after midnight tonight that they don’t sack him.  So they lose my support at 0140h on 22 November 2007 in such circumstance.

In the interim, please appoint Terry Venables as a temporary manager while we wait for someone worthwhile to become available (Martin O’Neill?, despite not being English).  El Tel will at least be capable of winning a few friendlies, and who knows, maybe one day Sven will throw his hat back into the ring???!!!

Talking of Sven that brings me to Man City and in the photo below I wonder if Georgios Samaras will ever play another game for my glorious team.  While I ponder, I sip away at Château de Cor Bugeaud 2005 to see if that will lift my spirits.

The aroma of peach melba and leather was smooth, but the taste turned out to be a bit sharp, like McClaren’s false teeth.  Salted roasted parsnips did gave way to some soft fruit – peach/apricot.  It was quite nice but a bit like over-salting your chips (french fries).  Which, in turn, is a bit like appointing the wrong manager and then complaining that the pitch was poor and the rain was too wet, and the injuries too severe.

In fact, that’s another thing.  McClaren was forced, by injury, to play an unexpected team earlier in the campaign.  This brought in Emile Heskey (who played quite brilliantly).  McClaren took the credit for the decision (reportedly made by Michael Owen).  I hope he doesn’t now use injuries as an excuse for this most abhorrent of results. Maybe I should give up football and stick to wine.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 11:27 pm and is filed under bordeaux, football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.