 |
Pauly's Page |
Paul Nicholas is a bank manager who is best known on this site for his frequent missives to the press - usually pulling them up on one point or another.
Like many Swans fans, Paul caught the fever in the First Division 70's and after a prolonged spell with no symptoms, thought he was cured.
But then along came Molby and the disease resurfaced.
In his own words ... "and now I got it bad again doctor."
Thursday 4th July 2002It's all over, including the shouting, and the four-week football festival ended in a 'come on take me to the Mardi Gras' invitation almost world wide. The tournament was well organised, seemingly trouble free, entertaining, controversial in parts - as covered by Mr Pessimism - and for long periods great for the underdogs (and consequently the non partisans in Japan, Korea and in most homes), but in the end, despite all the scares, maybes and what ifs through the qualifying groups and pre tournament friendly matches, the final was contested by the two most consistent countries in World Cup history. It may have been the first time they had met in the competition, but between them, they have now featured in 13 of the 17 finals that have taken place since the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Even more impressive is the fact that since 1950, only one final (1978) has not involved either of these sides. Following on a little from the recent debate on World Rankings, there is little doubt in my mind that we in the UK (and I do not only refer to Wales here) weight success in friendly matches far too heavily, and seem content to take any victory over an international team, as significant progress. I think that this is delusion, and the Welsh win over Germany recently is not enhanced by this year's World Cup success of that nation, but merely put into perspective. Warm up games to other countries are just that, an opportunity to experiment with different blends of players and different styles, and they do not consider the result as the only measure of the encounter. Wales, of all the UK sides, due to their total lack of progression in any competition for many decades, do not have this approach, and a win against any side is viewed as a step forward. We have to be realistic if we have any ambition to match the likes of Scotland and Ireland, who have had relative successes in several of the more recent World Cups. Unfortunately, we have a little of the 'as long as we beat the English' mentality that has, and still does haunt the Welsh national rugby sides. Not to put too fine a point on it, England themselves are also suffering from flashes of delusion, helped along considerably by President Tony Blair who considers a quarterfinal exit worthy of a lavish Downing Street reception, reserved usually only for his open necked rock star gang. I shudder to think what would have faced them had they won the thing, or what the next Honours List would have looked like. The pleasure that many of us felt knowing that we have been saved the trauma of the media gushing at the ultimate World Cup success by England in Golden Jubilee Year is unfortunately heavily tempered by the sad fact that we will now have to suffer at least a further four years of reference to the one little star in English Football history from 36 years ago. Even in the final countdown to this year's tournament, when those two giants, Pele and Beckenbauer were greeting players of both sides with enthusiasm, John Motson couldn't resist reminding us that Beckenbauer did of course also receive a German runner's up medal once – in 1966. How could we forget? Just minutes earlier, we could hear the relief from the English commentary team when Ronaldo was substituted and denied the chance of a third goal, thereby protecting their 'Sir Geoff's unique hat-trick record' quotes for future regurgitation. Other major footballing countries do not have this to contend with, as inevitably their successes have not been limited to ONE. Returning to the World Rankings debate, our position is probably fairly accurate and I agree with those who think that we would have struggled against most if not all of the sides in Japan and Korea this summer. We should simply accept that fact for now, and steadily climb our way up the ladder. However, the only measures that we should seriously consider are our performances in European and World competitions, and not friendlies against the likes of Germany or Argentina, however good they are to watch. Games like that have their place, but not in securing higher World status as a football team; that must be left to the intensity of a major competition. Euro 2004 should be a good barometer of how far we have progressed. It would be a fine sight to see a Welsh team lining up in a World Cup, having qualified well from the initial group stages, and that has to be the ultimate goal. When might that be, is probably as debatable as whether our present position in the world is justified, and both will be resolved by only one means – our results. If anyone has any feedback to give me, I'd love to hear from you at pauly@scfc.co.uk You can comment on this article by visiting the guestbook Previous articles: #15 #14 #13 #12 #11 #10 #9 #8 #7 #6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1 Click here to go back to main page
|