A Step in the Right Direction

The news that Lazio will be made to play two games behind closed doors suggests that football's top table may finally be catching up with the rest of us, when it comes to dealing with racism.

Following the fourth incident this season of racism by their fans, UEFA have ordered the Italian club to play their next two competitive European games behind closed doors. (As well as a €40,000 fine, which is pretty much irrelevant in this case.) The first game will be their Europa League last-16 tie against Stuttgart on March 14.

As we know, this wasn't the first time or a solitary incident involving a handful of people. There had been three previous occasions where supporters actions had drawn negative attention to the club. There were issues both home and away against Tottenham, as well as when they hosted Maribor in the group stages. The straw that broke the camels back came against Borussia Monchengladbach when around 300 fans were observed making Nazi salutes.

I'm not going to suggest this is a racist club because many clubs - including those in England - have bigots posing as fans. But the fact that there were that many problems in such a short space of time, must raise questions for those at the helm of the club. This is not a new problem or a first offence, which suggests whatever has been tried to stop it and them hasn't worked.

So for Claudio Lotito to call the punishment 'abnormal and absured'; is frankly naive and well, absurd.

UEFA have a responsibility to all of us, not the feelings of any individual club. And for once, they appear to be acting on behalf of the 'us'.

The two lost match day's will lose the club millions, a significant amount for a top flight club in today's economic climate.

As owner/president Lotito told RaiSport: "It will seriously damage the club economically and stop the fans from participating in the event.

"We cannot as a club be penalised for the mistakes of a small minority."

But that where he's wrong, the authorities can and they have too. Because it is the only way the idiots will learn, by being restricted and prevented from doing what they want.

Of course it's unfortunate for the thousands of decent fans. But if it's the only way to ensure a club deals with the scum, then the end will justify the means.

The club already had a suspended sentence hanging over their head, so in their continual fight to regain some credibility UEFA had to act. And rightly did.

Hopefully this will be the precedent for club's being punished. It may take time, but it can only help and encourage club's to rid their stadiums of racists and racist action.

Which is why they've hit Lazio where all businesses feel it most, in their pocket.

The club had already been warned, which means their fans had already been warned. Yet the latter chose to continue with their behaviour, so rightly the club has now been punished for that.

In his interview with RaiSport, the owner adds: "Everyone knows how much we did to prevent this sort of thing from happening."

Well, whatever you did Mr Lotito, it wasn't enough. Maybe now everyone will do a little bit more.

So Natasha Says: The Podcast

A few quick thoughts on some of this weekend's games in the Premier League.  Feel free to share, follow and comment.

I did a podcast!

Check out this episode on my podcast "It's North London Derby time!": http://podOmatic.com/r/tkYIe

The Foul Mouth of the North London Derby

North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have come together with the aim of capturing those involved in offensive chanting, during last weekend's North London derby.

There has been much press coverage of the chants; some aimed at Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor were in relation to the gun attack on the Togo national team bus on the way to last years' African Cup of Nations.

Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna was rumoured to have been spat on by the home fans as he waited to be stretchered off the pitch following a collision with the advertising boards, that resulted in a fractured fibula. Along with the usual bile that is aimed at the both managers from the rival fans.

The clubs have now released a joint statement condemning the actions and encouraging others to 'shop a moron' if they know someone who was involved. If the information is confirmed with video footage the clubs will take action that may involve the person being banned for life from both clubs' the stadium.

This is not the first time this season, fans chants have been in the spotlight. Fans of Leeds and Manchester United were also caught on camera singing songs about the Istanbul and Munich tragedies respectively, in the Carling Cup last month.

Oh! Is it okay to strike then?

Tottenham Hotspur must hate the last two weeks of August.

This is the second time in three years that they have seen a player left out of the squad because 'their head isn't right', just after the start of the season. I mean, what kind of stupidness is that?

You are a healthy young man; living the life you always dreamed of and earning million of pounds. But you can't play for 90 minutes because some other club likes the look of you. Luka Modric is just another example of players' having this mad level of power in the game.

It is disrespectful to your teammates + your manager, the club and the fans. You are still employed by them, the least you can do is your job. While they are still paying you, it takes nothing to have a little respect.

I could, have been talking about Samir Nasri as his transfer saga with Manchester City continues. But the Frenchmen did himself a few favours with the Gooner faithful with a spirited performance against Liverpool. After all the club has done for him, the least he can do is see out his notice. Without Arsenal and Mr Wenger, Nasri would not have built the career he has.

Apparently Nasri's deal is on hold because his agent doesn't feel he is getting a good enough payment. You just couldn't make it up! But it will be interesting to see if he does play against Udinese if he is still at the club come Wednesday.

Berbatov did the same, un-right-head excuse before his move to Manchester United went through. When did it become so commonplace to feign 'mental illness' and refuse to get on the pitch?

The club may have decided to sell you but instead of doing things properly, the player takes the decision out of the clubs hands. It must leave a bitter taste in the mouth of all involved. And what about the new club, they know that player will jump as soon as the next big pay day comes along.

Going on strike, courting other clubs in the press and airing your views in the media. It just seems to be increasing by the week.

Football just feels like it's getting messier and more dirty these days. If it's not players' personal scandals, it's the air of corrupt that resides above FIFA and Uefa. And to be honest, I really don't like it.

Champions Leage: Match Day 3 Review

UEFA Champions League Review: Match Day Three

At the halfway point of the group stages the top teams continue to show their mettle. Free-scoring Arsenal and Raul broke records and some new faces made their mark in the Champions League.


Group A – FC Twente; Inter Milan; Tottenham Hotspur; Werder Bremen
Never has a game been so aptly described as 'a game of two halves'. The first belonged to Inter as they were 4-0 up at half-time. But ten-man Spurs owe their comeback to Gareth Bale who put in another performance to attract the plaudits, while becoming only the sixth British player* to score a hat-trick in Europe.

Twente drew at home to Bremen to leave both teams on two points and fighting for the chance to take the consolation prize of playing in Europe's second string competition.

Group B – Benfica; Hapoel Tel-Aviv; Lyon; Schalke 04
Raul showed that form is temporary, but class is permanent as he scored two goals to help Schalke to a 3-1 home win against Hapoel. Now, Europe's top scorer, he shows no signs of slowly down and it could well be his genius that inspires his new team to qualify from the group.

To read on go here

Champions Leage: Match Day 3 Preview

Champions League Preview: Match Day Three; 19-20 October 2010

Following an eventful domestic weekend, players minds will now be back on the Champions League. Didier Drogba makes his return to the competition, two footballing giants meet in Group G and a friendly face return to the Emirates.

Group A – FC Twente; Inter Milan; Tottenham Hotspur & Werder Bremen
Tottenham face their first real test when they travel to the San Siro and to play the might of Inter Milan. Harry Redknapp is familiar with their boss, Rafa Benitez and will enjoy pitting his wits against the former Liverpool man.

FC Twente will be looking for revenge against the side that knocked them out of last years competition. Like Werder Bremen they only have one point and will be aiming to secure the third spot and possible Europa League participation.

Group B – Benfica; Hapoel Tel-Aviv; Lyon & Schalke 04
If Michel Bastos can continue scoring in the CL, Benfica will cement their first-placed position at the top of the group. Although they won't expect an easy trip to seasoned French team, Lyon.


To read the rest of this article go here

6-4-0

So, it's been a good week for English football in the Champions League, for once for all the right reasons.
No prostitutes, no affairs, no violence; unless you count Arsenal's assault on SG Braga.

As an Arsenal fan, you can imagine I was glad to see our captain, Cesc Fabragas getting back to his top form. Scoring two and making two goals. Of course he was voted Man of the Match. For me though, more impressive were Samir Nasri and Jack Wilshere. A lot of the hard work Nasri did on Wednesday seems to have been ignored by the pundits and the press. But for me, he deserves a big round of applause. As a natural winger, he was going against his natural instincts to do some sterling defending for the team. Ad like other forwards I won't mention - ginger guy, plays for ManU - he can actually tackle.

But my happiness moment was how easily lil Jack sees to be fitting into the team. He doesn't appear to have the confidence issues that at times blight Theo Walcott and he can stand up quite admirably to a challenge. Mr Wenger's decision to send him to Bolton on loan looks to have paid dividends.

As for the others...

The less said about the bore-draw in Manchester the better. For all Sir Alex's bravado he can't be happy to see Wayne Rooney looking far from his combative best. Maybe it would have been better to play him at Goodison, I mean it's not as if he's not going to get abuse anywhere else this season. And compared to the abuse Sol Campbell and Frank Lampard get at Tottenham and West Ham respectively, it's not exactly the end of the world is it.

Chelsea have continued their scoring run and it was nice to see young star Daniel Sturridge getting his first start in Europe and first goal. And looking at how Michael Essien has started the season, you have to wonder how many points they could have won the Premier League by if he had been fit last season.

Oh yeah, and Tottenham drew!

The fat lady has sung - Part One

So, it's the end of the Premier League 09/10 and it's been the best one in quite a while. I don't remember a season with so much drama. The league changed hands twenty-four times this year. Chelsea's 103 goals scored was also a new record. We also had the first PL team going to administration, the revolving door of the boardroom at Fratton Park, not to mention the saga that has become of Rafa's tenure at Anfield. We'll remember this years league for a lot of reasons and not all of them being good.

Congratulations to Chelsea who were merely the best of a bad bunch. Although, they jumped rather than eased over the line with their eight goals at Stamford Bridge. No team before has lost so many games and won the league. Even though they did the double over the other members of the 'supposed' big four, they still only won the title by one solitary point.

As an Arsenal fan, I'm glad we finished third. Though there were some who thought that was out of our grasp, back in August. Thankfully for my sanity, they were wrong. We were even in with a chance of winning it there, before the two worst goalkeeping displays of the season. The least said about that, the better I'm sure you'll agree.

We also had the implosion of Michael Owen's career and the disappointment of Dimitar Berbatov up at Old Trafford. Who knows where they would have been if someone other than Rooney had scored more than five goals this season. Poor showing from the supporting cast.

Though that can't be said about the two sets of noisy neighbours who have secured fourth and fifth place. Who knows where they will finish next season? With the support Daniel Levy has shown Harry and the bottomless pit of money available to Mr Mancini, things could become even more interesting depending on who catches their eyes at the World Cup.

The nerves are kicking in.

So there's about 25 minutes until the final game of the season. And with all this talk of Spurs taking our third spot, I am full of nerves. Yes, it is possible but I'm hoping it won't happen. I'd never live it down for a start. You know how those Spurs fan love to gloat about the smallest achievement. Fair play to Harry Redknapp though, he's managed what several before him couldn't do. Get Spurs to play well as a team and consistantly, which is something they have struggled with for many years.

Still feeling a little disappointed for Lewis Hamilton, dropping out on the last lap. What a crock!

Surely my day can only get better...