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Ok, I admit that I've failed somewhere before. But anyway welcome. Just a brief intro on what you should expect here:
1. Football. Not gonna post much of that any soon since season is over. :S
2. Anime, Games, etc. Just abt anything conceivable under the Japanese radar barring anything and everything Rule 34. Now that's illegal. Period. -.-;
3. Music. Everything to do with it is listed under the tab.
5. Unacceptable humour: Anything and everything is fair game here. As long as I don't get rounded up by the ISA. -.-'

6.
The Known World=Fantasy world building in process. I: Used to be glossary, now devoted to random rambling; II: Character Concepts; III: Lore.
7. der Wolf=my Fictionpress account under the moniker Tsumujikaze no Soujutsu. A Ranger's Tale is hosted under this page. :)
8. New section now upped. Maybe I should also gun for upping A Ranger's Tale here since I do have this funny feeling that traffic coming to here is way more than whatever I'll get in FP.

Statement of intent: Everything said here is a figment of personal opinion, be it me or anybody commenting. I try to be responsible, but my parents=/=parents of the world.

@Druid of Luhn: Crap. Should have remembered far earlier to give you the credit for your CSS text box code. :(

A/N: But sadly, it seems that your CSS text box code has now been halved efficiency wise. :(

That most important note I should have added: Any images posted in this blog are NOT my own stuff. I got them from Google image search, I don't earn any shit by being a thief and liar. Those responsible for the pictures, rest assured that you all are great artists in your own regards. Sadly, we all know what limited space means in terms of posting.

Latest Note: Changed alignment for my page widgets due to my worry that I can't centre align the thing.

Note on A Ranger's Tale: In case any complaining fella wants to have a legal case with me, let this be known that A Ranger's Tale is rated M by default. I've upped the swearing and somewhat a bit on the dark/gritty factor. You all have been warned, let no little boy and girl enter the forbidden realm.

Latest on ART: A Ranger's Tale now starting to kick back in gear. But I really hate the insanely fluctuating climate here in S'pore.

P.S: Oh, and one more thing. Vid below is yet another ideal OP for A Ranger's Tale.

Monday 2 July 2012

England, here's why you suck...

"The bottom line is that we just don’t produce enough players who are ­technically and tactically good enough to compete at an elite level."
 
The inquests have started. Just like they do every two years, after England have gone out of a major international tournament.
The bottom line is that we just don’t produce enough players who are ­technically and tactically good enough to compete at an elite level.
There’s a multitude of reasons as to why that’s the case – but unless we address the growing inequalities in our game, then my worry is that things are going to get an awful lot worse.
I spoke out a couple of weeks ago to tell the people who live in that ivory tower we call the Premier League that they have a duty to use a chunk of the £3billion generated by the new ­television deal to develop the game in this country from grassroots level.
Hell will freeze over first.
But let me give you an example of the kind of quandary a Championship manager like myself finds himself in, that also illustrates just why the talent is not coming through.
Last season, I took a promising ­player on loan from Liverpool.
He has played for England at every level, from Under-16 to Under-21, but after arriving at Anfield has found his first-team opportunities limited.
A year on, he is just the kind of ­player I need to help my Blackpool team go one step better after heartbreak in the ­Championship play-off final.
The only problem is that, even if I could ­persuade my ­chairman to pay a couple of ­million quid to tempt Liverpool into selling, there’s absolutely no way he would sanction the kind of salary that would make the move acceptable to the player himself.
Conversely, I also know that the ­financial problems in Spain has meant a number of excellent young players have not been paid by their clubs and are available on free transfers.
They would also accept a wage that’s just fraction of what the player at ­Liverpool is earning.
It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?
And so a young Spaniard gets the benefit of continuing his footballing education in the Championship, while the Englishman stays in the reserves of a Premier League club.
I would love to produce young ­English players at Blackpool.
But the cost of putting an Academy in place at a club like ours is ­prohibitive, given the facilities and staffing levels we have to provide.
And if the dice weren’t already loaded in favour of the top-flight clubs, Premier League bosses threatened to withdraw funding for youth ­development completely if the ­Football League didn’t accept the Elite Player Performance Plan.
It is estimated that funding an Academy, under the new rules, will cost a ­minimum of £2.5million-a-year.
Yet the system also ­allows the biggest clubs to take the best youngsters from poorer clubs for a small fee that will barely cover the costs associated with that player’s development.
In essence, that means Manchester United could spot two 16-year-olds called Ian Holloway and Wayne ­Rooney playing in the junior team of another club and snatch them away for the same fee.
It is absolute madness.[1]
Premier League clubs will now ­basically stack and rack the best young players. The talent that will go to waste doesn’t bear thinking about.
It’s a system that tells youngsters there is only one route into the ­England team and the days of Ian Wright reaching the top, after starting with Dulwich Hamlet, or David Platt scoring at the World Cup, after ­developing under Dario Gradi at Crewe, are now over.
Dario has produced dozens of ­players at Gresty Road, with Nick ­Powell the latest to graduate to bigger and better things, following his £4m move to Manchester United.
But how can Crewe afford to keep their talent trek going if they are forced to sell their best youngsters for a fraction of their real worth?
I would love to establish a ­youth-development system at Blackpool but the cost of doing so is impossible to justify now more than ever.
We are looking to introduce an Elite Development Squad for an 19-21 age group, aimed at the players who do stay on after coming through our School of Excellence and I hope to ­appoint a dedicated coach this week.
But only a few days ago the ­goalkeeper for our Under-12 team decided to join Manchester City.
In two years’ time after the World Cup, when questions are being asked about why England don’t produce enough top footballers, I’ll probably wonder how he’s getting on.[2]


[1]: If you think this is a stupid analogy, you're dumber than a hamster. For whatever reasons, I don't care.

1 comment:

  1. I see. So that's why England sucks internationally, despite having the best football league in the world. Well, supposedly anyway. I actually like Ian Holloway, he's an awesome manager and his team plays awesome attacking football unlike Sam Allardyce's boring defensive football. I wish it was Blackpool who made it to the Premiership, not West Ham. Damn it, just damn it! ARGH! NOOOOOO!

    By the way, Sasuke didn't defeat Kabuto. Itachi did. Itachi was the one who defeated Kabuto and forced him to call off the Edo Tensei (or whatever you call that technique). In case you're still wondering, since I saw that question up there.

    Hope you're doing fine. And by the way, Spain won Euro 2012. They crushed Italy 4-0. Fernando Torres is the top scorer for the competition. Yay.

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