Crowd Behaviours - Inspiring and Intimidating

My latest rant comes in the wake of England fans booing Ashley Cole in Wembley on Saturday. I am forced to write about crowd behaviours that I have come across in the past. Personally I don't give a toss when England play. I was a huge fan of England till the 2006 FIFA World Cup. I was not up for any more heartbreaks with a team of world class players that wouldn't play as a world class team. Coming back to the point, I did not see the England game.

This morning I read in the papers that England fans booed Ashley Cole after he bottled a pass and "Borat" scored the equaliser to make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan. Yes, I agree, fans pay to watch and if their team does not perform it is a gut-wrenching feeling, first of all, because it is your national team and most importantly because you've paid a heavy price for the ticket(trust me ticket prices in England are stupidly high, that's why I don't watch games in the stadium).

However do any of these reasons justify your act of booing some one who is wearing your national colours and acting as an ambassador for your country and all it represents. Do you as an England supporter want to portray yourself as an irresponsible, inebriated, imbecile, who will thwart and intimidate his national team so much that they're scared to play on home turf?

Certainly qualifies as intimidating.

Being an Indian, it is blasphemous not to follow cricket. As a teenager I used to follow the sport with a certain degree of interest. The highlight of it all was the 1996 cricket World Cup where we made it to the semi finals. Yes the match that is the issue of debate here.

The game was played in Kolkata, which believe it or not, is the football capital of India. India won the toss and chose to field and had the Lankans tattering with the early dismissals of Jayasurya and Kaluwitharana. Then came D'Silva who guided the Lankans to a safe total.

When India came to bat, the wicket was turning big time and soon we were looking like a bunch of archaelogists, buried in ruins, when the first artefact landed on the field. A bottle thrown by an angry "football fan" who accidentally was watching a cricket match. This was followed by a few more missiles forcing the match referee to hand the game over to Sri Lanka, who went on to be World Champions.

Crowd behaviour - Appaling.

Of all cricket rivalries I've seen, India against Pakistan stands out for a lot of reasons that I'll not get into. In 1999 Pakistan were on a two test tour of India. The second test in Chennai was a closely fought one and Tendulkar took India to the point where we needed under 20 runs with 3-4 wickets in hand.

Needless to say we lost! However what I remember most about that game was aound 50,000 cricket followers in Chennai, bonafide Indians giving Pakistan a standing ovation for a job well done! I've never come across such a response from an opposing crowd during any game!

Crowd behaviour - Examplary!!!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait...But Sorry Mate.

I am not a beer drinker. However, I do appreciate the punchlines that define the major beer brands. The Guinness punchline "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait" has more than a touch of philosophy embedded in it. It is a one-line advice to impatient, spoilt, haughty, rich owners of Newcastle United. Greame Souness, Glenn Roeder, Sam Allardyce and now Kevin Keegan. Four managers in what? A little over two seasons? In a normal office job, that would be the probation period for a manager, after which his skills would be analysed, targets set and performance monitored. But the hiring and firing policy adopted my Mike Ashley would make Sir Alan Sugar and Donald Trump swell with pride, but no son, this is not how you run a football club. When a team loses, its the manager who gets bollocked. Then why not give the manager, the desired freedom to do his job? Money can buy you players, but it cannot win the hearts of supporters.

When Sir Alex Ferguson took over United, he had to wait for four years before tasting any success, in the form of an FA Cup win against Palace. Then in 1991, United defeated Barcelona in the Cup Winners' Cup but the title still evaded Sir Alex, till The Premiership was born. So it took 7 seasons for the first title to arrive at Old Trafford. We have 22 years at the helm and 10 titles, 5 FA Cups and 2 European Cups. Not to mention the numerous bits and bobs.

Arsene Wenger took over as Arsenal manager in 1996 and tasted instant success in 1997-98 when Arsenal overcame a 12 point deficit to snatch the crown away from United. After that his reign was barren till The Gunners won it again in 2000-01 and in 2003-04 their most successful season ever, in which they were unbeaten throughout. So thats 12 years as manager with 3 titles and 4 cup wins amongst the less significant trophies like Charity/Community Shield.

These are two prime examples of managers who have moulded teams and made champions out of ordinary players. It was Alex Ferguson who took a bunch of "children" and contrary to Alan Hanson's remarks, won the double in 1996-97. The board gave them enough time and was patient enough to get results. Thats why Arsenal and United have won 41 trophies between them under the reign of Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex, respectively.

What has changed today? Nothing much apart from the fact that a few filthy rich, spoilt brats who want to show off their wealths and make a statement that money can do anything for them have started to own football clubs. One of the earliest victims of this generation of arrogant, irresponsible owners was Claudio Ranieri, the former Chelsea manager. He was sacked in the second year of the "Roman empire" after he successfully managed to mould Chelsea into a formidable side. Ranieri brought in players like Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, Makelele ,Lampard, Zenden, Gallas and was responsible for development of youth talent like John Terry. After he built a good team, he was sacked in just four years for Jose Mourinho. This is one reason why my sympathies are always with Ranieri and I've grown to dislike Mourinho.

Coming back to my question of what has changed today? Nothing at all. Well people argue that there is so much more competition these days. Hang on, what competition are we excatly talking about? In sixteen seasons of its existence, four clubs have won The Premiership. Manchester United a whopping 10 times, which is 62.5%. Next come Arsenal with 3 titles, 18.75%, Chelsea with 2 titles, 12.5% and Blackburn Rovers once, 6.25%. So what about the other 16 teams? What does the fact that Manchester United have won it 10 times under one manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, over the "changing times" from early 90s to late 2000s tell you? What kind of competition are we talking about? I do not understand, someone please put these figures before the other owners, maybe, just maybe it will give them some sense.

I would like to end my arguement on the relatively happy note that the 1-1 draw against Chelsea was a lot better than the 2-1 loss at Anfield. With this we have completed two of the three toughest away games and retrieved a solitary point. This should be the start of United's season and truly Glory Glory Glory Man United and I hope the Reds go marching up up up!

A Night of Missed Opportunities

I cannot think of a better way to sum up United's opening match of their title defence. At home to Villareal, the same team that took home the solitary point back in 2005 and went on to the semi finals. As a hardcore United fan, I had hoped that after the agonising defeat at Anfield, the lads would bounce back and give Villareal a walloping in front of the home fans. There were moments of brilliance, great overlapping play and even a few screamers, but there was no real penetration from United. They did not look as sharp as they should have. I hope this night is not a template for the rest of the season.

To be fair United have usually had miserable starts to their season in the past and then gone on to win silverware. This season looks like another one of those, well we've made a hopeless start at least. I hope we capitalise on it, in the months to come. I am not sure how true it is, but I do believe that pre-season does set the mood for the days ahead. This has been one of the most uncertain and unpredictable pre-seasons I've ever witnessed, in which all that did not happen gained more publicity than what did.

Ronnie did not go to Madrid, nor did Ronaldinho arrive at Man City. Robinho spurned Chelsea for Man City and Ronaldinho went to Milan. United reported Real Madrid to FIFA, Spurs reported United to The FA and Real Madrid reported Chelsea. Anil Ambani did not buy Newcastle, and then the Toon saga, that still drags after Mike Ashley made a mess of his club.

Nevertheless we thought pre-season was over and the real action will prove United to be a formidable force. Ah aah...not to be. The number of shots-on-target United got against Villareal were phenomenal but the only real chance came off Tevez, deep into the second half but Villareal's resolute defending did enough to protect the goal. On the other end, we saw some magic that reminded me of Argentina's goal against Serbia and Montenegro, scored by Esteban Cambiasso.

The night was, however ruined by some of the worst refereeing in recent times. Fouls overlooked, cards not shown when needed and we witnessed a level of mediocrity in which the officials seemed to revel. On the positive side, Ronaldo got a great welcome from the Mancunian crowds and hopefully our fortunes should improve against Chelsea. Oh let me not get started on the John Terry saga and how his ban was overturned, as I am planning to have a peaceful sleep tonight and looking forward to a busy day at work tomorro. This is me signing off with a promise that I shall try to be more regular in the days to come, cos I love my sport!

Germany vs Austria: How To Waste 90 Minutes of Your Life (If you did not see France vs Romania)

As usual I start with a little insight into how my day was and what I did. Makes me more involved in what I am writing. I go out of work early, after a difficult day. Anyways thats my worry for tomorrow. After venting my frustration on the treadmill and the machines, cooked my dinner and it was waiting to be devoured. Now where's the remote? Ahh there it is!

Right, just in time for the national anthems but, still no Schweinsteiger in the staring line up. Why? That gave me a hint, that the Germans were out for a draw, nothing much, as they wanted to preserve their energy and tactics for the Portuguese. If they were to get a win, they wouldn't mind it. We kick off with the hosts in possession and five minutes into the game, Gomes bottles a sitter. Question time again: Why did Klose cross, instead of shooting? He had a good angle and gained a fraction of a second. Four more minutes later, Fritz sends one from the right, after beating Pogatetz. Now another question: Where are Klose and Gomes? There was no one to poach it. Half way into the first half, Ballack passes to Podolski and the shot is parried by the goal keeper. Half an hour into the game, Gomes wins another corner. Four minutes later, another corner, Klose miscues.

Towards the last ten or so minutes of the first half, Austria looked more lively, more creative and looked more likely to score and even one a corner. The first piece of drama, both managers sent off by the officials. End of the first half and a dull performance by the Germans, for which mediocrity would be a compliment.

At this point, a little philosophy, after four successive tournaments: Never trust the pre tournament favourites.

2002 World Cup - Argentina
Euro 2004 - France, Holland
2006 World Cup - England
Euro 2008 - Germany?

Well in fact, I should correct myself and say, never trust the pre-tournament to win.

Four minutes into the second half and Ballack roars to life. A screamer from the German captain, the Micheal Ballack of Bayern Munich! Looks like another Captain's day out! Yesterday it was sensational Nihat, today its rejuvnated Ballack! What next? Now it looks like someone has injected a tank of red bull into the game. Suddenly we see action at both ends, Germany trying to double their advantage, Austrians, to neutralise it! Game on!

Well at least that is what we thought. There were no more mentionable chances and by the time Oliver Neuville missed his, we were well into stoppage time and Germany had managed to limp through to face Portugal. Since I did not have the misfortune of watching France and Romania's ninety minute friendly, for me this is the dullest game Ive seen in the tournament so far.

However thinking from Joachim Lowe's perspective, the mission was simple. To qualify for the quarter-finals. They did it. Mission accomplished. Thats what matters, end of ninety minutes.

Scripted BY Hitchcock, Played To Perfection!

By far this is the most intriguing and edge-of-the-seat game of the European Championships until now. This game had the possibility of history eing created, because if the game were drawn, we'd head to a shootout to decide the winner. The first twist or rather thrill in the plot came when Jan Koller stamped his authority on the game with a superd header, just after half an hour. The game did not have much until Plasil made a steaming run and popped a peach to double the Czech's advantage, around the hour mark.

This is when the Turks came to life. Suddenly we could see movement on the right flank, with Colin Kazim-Richards making those incisive runs with Tuncay, Aurelio and Altintop and the transformation was a treat to the eye. Here comes the first twist in the tale. Turkey pulled one back with Arda Turan and Cech can do nothing about it. The timing of this was what got me stunned. Only moments before this goal did we hear the Turkish fans go silent, losing all hopes.

Well there's more to it. What should have been a routine punch was messed up by Cezh as he tried to catch a slippery ball from Altintop's cross and Nihat pounced on that little mistake to draw Turkey level, three minutes before time. The situation was similar to the way we started. Turkey and Czech Republic were level on goals scored, conceded and goal difference and also level on points. This meant that if the game ended this way we would see a shootout to decide the winner. Suited me just fine as I'd just prepared another cuppa tea.

The fourth official indicates a minimum of four minutes added time. Twist in the plot again. Turkey break loose, Tuncay to Nihat and he surls the ball past Czech and into the back of the net! Turkey 3, Czech Republic 2! The drama is not over yet. The Czechs come to life again and the Turks somehow get the ball away after a mix up between Volcan and Servet. And then, Volcan gets sent off, for pushing Koller to the ground. Replays confirmed the decision and we will have Rustu Recber in the QF clash with Croatia, looks like it. Now Tuncay dons the gloves as Turkey have used up all their substitutions. However there are no more chills, thrills or spills in this game and Turkey romp home to a memorable win. As far as thrill and excitement go, this ranks 1 for me in the Championships so far.

I'd like to go back earlier in the game to recollect Koller and Polak's misses and I cant help thinking how significant they proved to be! As of now, I am off to catch a good night's sleep after a fantastic match that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud any day, as I have a long week ahead.

Ciao!

Poles and Germans - What a Weekend !

Just over twenty four hours after Lewis Hamilton snatched a spectacular pole from Robert Kubica, the Pole took full advantage of Hamilton's shunt into Raikkonen by not only gathering the first win of his so far impressive career, but also going ahead in the drivers' championship.

The circuit has not been Ferrari's favourite in recent times going by their impressive record. In the last ten seasons, 1999-2008, they've managed pole only thrice, in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and have won only four times, in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. So statistically the odds were heavily stacked up against them to qualify or to win. Also none of these qualifying or race results has been with the new regulations. This Saturday was no different from the recent past for the prancing horses. They could only manage third and sixth after we witnessed Robert Kubica taking pole from Hamilton who stole it again in the dying moments of qualifying. Another variable in the equation this time was the track, which has started to break and give way especially at the hairpin. Drivers were given firm instructions to watch it at the apex of the hairpin. On race day Bernie Ecclestone's response was on the lines of it's the same for all drivers like rain or fog. No driver has any advantage. Fair enough, it was time for red lights to go out again.

Hamilton got off to a fantastic start with Kubica hot on his trail, but the biggest beneficiary of the start was Nico Rosberg, who surged ahead at the expense of Alonso. As the race began to unfold, Adrian Sutil, the most unfortunate driver of the season so far had to bring his car to a standstill after what looked like brake discs overheating, (later revealed as loss of gears). Safety car came in and tossed Hamilton's advantage out of the window. Pitlane was closed and uncertainty prevailed everywhere. How much fuel does each one have? When will they pit? Now? Next lap? Three laps from now? There were questions cropping up all over the place. Once the safety car exitted, the pitlane became a hub of activtity as the top three, Hamilton, Kubica and Raikkonen came in. Now what happened here changed the whole course of the race. Kubica and Raikkonen got out of their respective bay and accelerated towards the pitlane exit, coming to a stop waiting for the red light to go green. But Hamilton bolted out of his bay seconds later and ploughed straight into Raikkonen's back, taking himself and the World Champion out of the race. Rightly to his name "Iceman" Raikkonen calmly pointed the redlights(now green) to Hamilton.

For the first time in more than three seasons we now find Rubens Barrichello in the lead! He should have however taken a comfortable fourth but for his spin on lap 59. Adding to his worries however was fantastic Felipe, who did a double overtaking on him and Kovalainen to take fifth. Further ahead, another veteran, David Coulthard took his maiden podium in I cant remember how many seasons. A good result for him, on his one stop strategy. Now before I proceed further about this race, I'd like to post a few lines from my season preview posted before the season even began. Here goes...

BMW Sauber is one team that has been consistent all along in recent years. They’ve been oscillating between fourth and sixth till they came second in 2007, courtesy of Mclaren being stripped off all their points. In Dr. Mario Thiessen, they have a veteran engineer, who has the technical and managerial mindset to guide them to the top. I like the resilience and consistency they’ve shown season after season and that too without any glitz or glamour. You don’t notice them coming till they’ve arrived. My personal favourite to take the fight to Ferrari and Mclaren this season.

It was a year ago, when Robert Kubica had his horrific accident, that almost threatened his career. Who would have thought that a year on, he would redeem himself in such a memorable fashion. A strong qualifying put him on the front row of the grid. When asked about a maiden win, he coolly played down his chances. But with a little red intervention, he was able to score his first career victory, take the lead in the drivers' championship and also lead a BMW Sauber 1-2. Dr Mario Thiessen earlier had mentioned that his aim for this season was to score their maiden win. But to score a 1-2 and have his leader at the top of drivers title and team only three points adrift of top spot in the constructors' title was something he could have never imagined. Wishing Dr. Thiessen and the entire BMW Sauber team a hearty congratulations(anyone hearing) and all the best!

If on one of my favourite sports, a Pole driving for a German-Swiss team had made it a memorable day for them, in another of my favourite sport, a Polish born young man scored 2 goals for Germany against his country of birth in a tournament cohosted by Switzerland. Now that's what I call coincidence.

Lukas Podolski, assisted by fello Polish born Miroslav Klose gave Germany an early lead, in a match dominated by them as Joachim Low's team had a great outing. He followed it with a second after Klose's mis-hit shot and climbed into the leaderboard for goals scored in Euro 2008. The worrying concern for me was Germany's defence. Except Philip Lahm and later Thomas Hitzlsperger, the defence lacked substance. More about it and the Italy Netherlands game, when I am in the mood to write. Time to get some sleep now, long day at office tomorro. Ciao!

Vivid, Vague Memories Of A Time Gone By

FC Porto winning the UEFA Champions League in May 2004 was thought to be the perfect prelude to football's biggest international event in the continent, surpassed only by the magnitude of the FIFA World Cup. Right, this epic event brings back a lot of memories, good and bad, surprising and obvious, tearful and cheerful to name a few. Work commitments meant I missed the opening ceremony. However I promptly booked holidays for the first few games, at least.

My first and foremost memory of the tournament is Portugal's shock defeat at the hands of minnos Greece, who took defensive football to a whole new dimension, giving the Italians a run for their money. Ronaldo's extra time goal could not save the hosts from an embarrassing defeat in front of their people as Greece had popped two goals long before, thanks to Georgious Karagounis and Angelos Basinas. So for me personally the tournament started with a shock! I mean who, in their wildest dreams could have imagined Greece?

Moving on to the first biggest clash, one of those this-should-have-been-the-finals kind of matches, yes; England against France. What a mouth-watering prospect. India, by the way does not have a national football team to compete against the giants of football, as we are a country plagued by cricket. Hence we Indians are left with no choice but support other countries. My favourite team had always been England. Simply because of my love for Manchester United. Right, the stage was set and so was I. The game was pretty much ordinary until Beckham produced a trademark free kick, clinically disposed of by the prolific scoring Frank Lampard. This was the only strike and we England supporters were hysterical until it happened. Penalty for England!!! The hysteria rose!!! Up stepped captain David Beckham. Only to be denied by a diving Barthez. We could breath a sigh of relief as the clock ticked into injury time. Just about, when France got a free kick at the edge of the area. Zidane steps up. Big moments, big players. A phrase tailor made for this occasion. He curls this shot past the wall and past David James, 1-1! Back to the center. We've dropped 2 points think England fans. Now Stevie Gerrard of all people misplaces a pass and the ball lands at Henry's feet, who gets fouled by David James. Penalty!!! We're not short of drama are we? Zidane at the spot. Ball at the back of the net. 2-1 to France and so it stays till the final whistle. That's when I felt sympathetic towards Bayern Munich fans after Manchester United completed their treble in Barcelona in May 1999. Second memory for me- Tearful!

Italy, the home of Ferrari, my favourite Formula One team did not lose a single match in this tournament! Still they got out in the first round. Pathetic display of football combined with Totti's controversy and the allegations on Sweden and Denmark that they did not want Italy to progress summed up a disastrous campaign for the Italians who were led by Fabio Cannavaro for the first time in a major tournament, following Paolo Maldini's retirement.

In 1998, during the world cup in France, we saw the emergence of a new, young England striker called Micheal Owen. His pace and ability made him England's latest football sensation back then. Six years on we were to witness history repeat itself. Come Euro 2004, he shot into the limelight with two goals each against Switzerland and Croatia. Wayne Rooney he is called. He was England's class act in the tournament. He was mesmerising and his temperament was exceptional for a 17 year old. Another one of those nice memories of Euro 2004, Wayne Rooney.

However the most important memory of all happened while the final was being played between Portugal and Greece. Greece were already leading 1-0 thanks to a goal by Angelos Charisteas. A Portuguese fan runs onto the pitch and throws a Barcelona flag on Luis Figo's face and runs off. This is something I will always remember whenever someone mentions Euro 2004 to me.

Overall I was happy that Greece won the championship, but I was not happy about the way they did the job. I would have liked to see a more attacking and free-flowing football, like the way France played. I hope to see some good end-to-end action this time around. However the most fitting thing to have happened to the sporting fraternity of the world was Greece winning the championship as a prelude to the 2004 Athens Olympics. Thats wat sports is all about, the kind of coincidences and the kind of ordinary men who rise to the occasion and become heroes at the end of it all. Long live sports, long life sportsmen.

Nostalgia !!!

The big European giants clash again. Ok some history now. The last time United played in Nou Camp, they won the European Cup in the last minutes of the 1998-99 season. A miracle from Sheringham and Solksjaer's golden touch gave United the coveted European crown and enabling them to complete the famous treble. However the last time United played Barcelona in Nou Camp, the game ended in a 3-3 draw, in the group stages of the treble season. Group D also contained Bayern Munich, who lost to United in the finals and Brondby. In fact both the clashes between United and Barcelona ended 3-3.

The last time Barcelona won the cup was two seasons ago in Paris, when they defeated an Arsenal side captained by Thierry Henry. 2-1 was the result and the star of that season was Ronaldinho. United did not even get past the group stages that season. They finished bottom of the group.

Now what really surprises me is despite the glorious history of both the clubs, despite tremendous domestic success and employing some of the greatest names in the sport over the decades, they only have four European titles amongst them. United won it in 1969 (when it was the European Cup) and again 30 years on in 1999. Barcelona won the title in 1992 and then in 2006.

No matter who wins, this is going to be an epic clash, something I will look forward to and I need to talk to the admin people and see if season tickets are available. I dun wanna see it on TV do I, when I can see it at Old Trafford?

Season Defining Weekend

Easter weekend 2008 will be a season defining one for many, especially if they follow football and in particular the English Premier League. Sunday has an exciting menu on the football pitch. Manchester United, the league leaders entertain fourth placed Liverpool while Arsenal go South across town to face Chelsea at the bridge. Chelsea and Arsenal are the only two teams who are yet to lose a home game this season. Whilst both of them have conceded 22 goals so far this season, Arsenal have scored 5 more than Chelsea's tally of 53. Also Arsenal's away record this season has been pretty dismal compared to the other big three. The gunners, along with Liverpool have won 7 out of 14 games, which is a 50% win rate against United's 9/15 at 60%, Chelsea's 10/16 at 62.5%. It will be worth waiting to see what happens to the United-Liverpool game early on as it is likely to have an impact on the starting eleven of both sides.

When Liverpool travel to Old Trafford, they will have their task cut out; secure three points! Now how difficult is that? Old Trafford has never been an easy venue when you are visiting. Packed to capacity with 70,000 passionate United supporters with an inbred dissent towards Liverpool, Old Trafford will witness once again the fortunes of another season being manipulated. Clashes between United and Liverpool have always been ugly and it will be nasty, brutal, highly physical and volatile, end-to-end football. Goal or no goal, this is one clash I am looking forward to. Benitez has already shown his disapproval of Sir Alex's psychotrics and mind games. The all important question that we need to ask is how will the referees react to the Scot's demands of protecting Ronaldo. There is already a lot that has been said about it and Ronaldo is also has the reputation of being a diver.

Now for the possible outcomes and how the top four will look.

United win and Arsenal win
1. United with 73 points
2. Arsenal with 70 points
3. Chelsea with 65 points
4. Liverpool with 59 points

United win and Arsenal lose
1. United with 73 points
2. Chelsea with 68 points
3. Arsenal with 67 points
4. Liverpool with 59 points

United win and a draw
1. United with 73 points
2. Arsenal with 68 points
3. Chelsea with 66 points
4. Liverpool with 59 points

United lose and Arsenal lose
1. United with 70 points
2. Chelsea with 68 points
3. Arsenal with 67 points
4. Liverpool with 62 points

United lose and Arsenal win
1. United with 70 points
2. Arsenal with 70 points
3. Chelsea with 65 points
4. Liverpool with 62 points

United lose and draw
1.United with 70 points
2. Arsenal with 68 points
3. Chelsea with 66 points
4. Liverpool with 62 points

Draw and Arsenal win
1. United with 71 points
2. Arsenal with 70 points
3. Chelsea with 65 points
4. Liverpool with 60 points

Draw and Arsenal lose
1. United with 71 points
2. Chelsea with 68 points
3. Arsenal with 67 points
4. Liverpool with 60 points

Draw and draw
1. United with 71 points
2. Arsenal with 68 points
3. Chelsea with 66 points
4. Liverpool with 60 points

Now the only result that will change the top four positions is a victory for Chelsea. If United win, result of the Arsenal Chelsea game will not matter because, either way United will be five points clear. Now having said this, the outcome of Sunday's game will not remove United from top spot, but it will do enough to make their position precarious. Why? This is why.

After Easter's fixtures, United host Villa, travel to Middlesborough, host Arsenal, travel to Blackburn and Chelsea and host West Ham before finishing the season at Wigan. I can easily see three defeats if they get complacent. Yes, Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham have the potential and the hammers did it twice last season! In recent times, this is by far, the closest season I have witnessed in the premiership.

What Was That!!!

Saturday did not start as well as I had expected it to start. One look at the timesheets and I knew Albert Park is down the drain even before the lights went out. No traction control, no launch control and see what we got. Only seven cars finished the race, of course not all cars crashed due to absence of electronics. Ferrari for a long long time did not have either car finishing. The last time this happened ironically was on this very circuit, two years ago, when Schumacher and Massa got out due to accidents. Now the last time we did not see either Ferrari finish due to reliability was way back at Nurburgring in Luxemburg, circa 1997. Eleven years! Phew, thats something! Anyways with Sepang practice starting on Good Friday, our men in red have their task cut out. Occupy the front row on Saturday and take eighteen points on Sunday. As simple as that... easier said than done!

Now moving on to football, United did not make mince-meat of Derby, but instead scraped through 1-0 to the top of the table on goal difference, as elsewhere Arsenal could only manage a draw against Middlesborough. Statistically United have been the best attacking and the best defending team this season, scoring 59 goals and letting in only 15. The squad depth is certainly paying off this season as we have seen Sir Alex shuffle and rotate players quite frequently.

RBS Six Nations came to a fantastic climax at Cardiff later in the day with Wales completing the grand slam in style. They devoured the French 29-12, as Shane Williams, according to my prediction in an earlier post scored a crucial try and sent the Millennium berserk! England finished a distant second with their 33-10 mauling of Ireland with new number 10 Danny Cipriani taking the lead.

Triple Bill Weekend

For a man who follows Formula One, Football and Rugby Union, this weekend comes as a Christmas gift, albeit a few months late.

First up the 2008 Formula One season has been flagged off with Friday's practice sessions at Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia. From highlights on the ITV website, the absence of traction control could be seen, heard and felt as almost everyone took a walk in the park. What I will be looking forward to, tomorrow during the qualifying is the time sheets. I am predicting the cars to be around a few tenths of a second slower than last season with the absence of electronic aids, because the drivers will want to exercise a lot of caution whilst cornering and taking off. It will also be interesting to see them start off after pitting. Contrary to my preview, Red Bull, in the form of Mark Webber seemed to be amongst the front runners, which came as a surprise. Also Giancarlo Fisichella's time sheets showed that Force India mean business.

The top eight in practice 1 read as follows:
Raikkonen, Hamilton, Massa, Kovalainen, Webber, Alonso, Kubica and Glock. In terms of teams it reads Ferrari, Mclaren, Ferrari, Mclaren, Red Bull, Renault, BMW and Toyota.
Practice 2, however said a slightly different story, with Hamilton leading the pack from Webber, Massa, Kovalainen, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Trulli and Rosberg. This translates into Mclaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mclaren Red Bull, Ferrari, Toyota and Williams. However we still do not know who was carrying how much load.

Traditionally the Australian GP sees the top teams running a two stop strategy with the first stop occuring between laps 17 and 23 and the second stop occuring between 35 and 41 unless the teams have done something drastic and decide to go for a 3 stop strategy like Ferrari did way back in 2004. It will be hard to determine who is more likely to spring a surprise. Will it be Renault? Will it be the ever conservative Mclaren? Or will it be the volatile, but efficient strategists at Ferrari? I cant wait for the five red lights to go off!

Elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, we will get to see if Manchester United are able to overtake Arsenal once again this season as they face Derby County at Pride Park Stadium, while Liverpool host Reading, Roy Keane's Black Cats entertain Chelsea and the team to beat this season, Arsenal host Middlesborough.

The draws for Champions League quarter finals have been made and we will not see all four English clubs in the semi finals yet. The draw reignites some old rivalries, albeit with some new fervour:
Arsenal (England) v/s Liverpool (England)
Manchester United (England) v/s AS Roma (Italy)
Schalke o4 (Germany) v/s Barcelona (Spain)
Chelsea (England) v/s Fenerbahce(Turkey).

Now if Chelsea win, they will meet either Arsenal or Liverpool in the semi finals. This is will be a repeat of sorts for them as they defeated Arsenal in the quarter finals way back in 2004. They also lost to Liverpool in the semi finals, the next year, when Liverpool went all the way in Istanbul. If Liverpool defeat Arsenal, it will be the third time they will face Chelsea in the semi finals of the competition, provided Chelsea too win.

The Other interesting quarter final draw is the one between Manchester United and AS Roma. What surprises me is that excatly like last year, United travel to Roma first and then host Roma eight days later. It was a memorable tie last season, when United lost 1-0 at Rome and then hammered Roma 7-1, with Carrick's superb volley from outside the box initiating the annihilation. If United go through, they are likely to face Barcelona, with whom they played out two 3-3 draws in 1998-99 group stages. However if Schalke 04 win against Barcelona, United face the prospect of squaring off against a German side in the semi finals. The last time this happened, they lost to Bayern Leverkusen, who lost to eventual champions Real Madrid in the 2001-2002 season at Hampden Park in Glasgow.


The RBS 6 Nations reaches its final match-day this weekend, with England playing Ireland and Italy playing Scotland in games that are nothing but formalities. England coach Brian Ashton has taken a brave move of dropping hitman flyhalf Johnny Wilkinson in favour of young blood Danny Cipriani after last weekend's debacle at Murrayfield, when England lost to Scotland, 15-9, thus handing Scotland their only win of the competition so far.

The clash that everyone is waiting for, however is between Wales and France. After winning the triple crown last weekend, Wales are well on their course to the Grand Slam. The men to watch will be Lee Byrne and Shane Williams for Wales and Vincent Clerk for France.

All in all, an explosive weekend on tap!

The League Of Champions

Right, we are now down to the business end of the event. Only eight teams left out of thirty two hopefuls. Fifty percent of those teams are from a country that has not even qualified for the Euro 2008. How ironic can it get? Four out of the eight teams are English. Needless to say who they are. But just in case you are wondering, they are Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and a couple of minutes back, Liverpool. Now they are joined by Roma, Barcelona, Fenerbahce and Porto. Familiar names like nine times champions Real Madrid and seven time winners AC Milan are not around. So are Bayern Munich, who were never in the competition this season. This has so far been a season where records have been created, most important of them all being, AC Milan's first defeat at San Siro to an English club and Fenerbahce's maiden European QF appearance. If the draws are favourable we also have the potential to see four English clubs make it to the Semi Finals. That would be fantastic! But that would also be boring. I mean who wants to see four English clubs play out the Semi Finals of Europe's premier club competition? Personally, I wouldn't. My club has always been Man United. Right now coming back to business.

Of these eight clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Roma and Fenerbahce are yet to win the cup. Porto have won it twice, the first time in 1986-87 and more recently in 2003-04. Liverpool have won it five times in 1976-77,1977-78, 1980-81, 1983-84 and 2004-05. Barcelona lifted the trophy in 1991-92 and 2005-06. Manchester United of course won it in 1968-69 and excatly thirty years later in 1998-99, their famous treble season.

After tonight's game against Inter Milan, Liverpool along with Arsenal look like strong contenders to claim top honours in Moscow, in a little over two months' time. At the moment my main priority is the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals draw that takes place on Friday. Who lands who, we shall see in three days' time.

2008 - The Season Preview

What you see above are the logos of the oldest and the newst teams in Formula One. All else lies between them, circa 2008...

The last season was a very exciting season for a lot of reasons. For the first time we would not be seeing Michael Schumacher on the track in fifteen years. Britain had a new hope in the form of Lewis Hamilton. This meant that the feeder series, The GP2 was proving to be a success. The first GP2 champion, Nico Rosberg found a place in Williams F1 in the 2006 season. Ferrari, for the first time in a decade was without Schumacher or Ross Brawn. They also had a new driver line-up, in the form of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. World Champion Fernando Alonso, who had seen off Schumacher in the past two seasons, was with Mclaren, giving the team a lot of hope and confidence to forge a multiple-championship winning outfit once again. However the drama that would unfold over the eight months was not even close to what many of us had predicted. For starters, it was Hamilton who produced the fireworks and not Alonso. Midway through the season, the sport showed its dirty face. The spy row defamed the sport and cost Mclaren all their constructor’s points, thereby handing over the constructors’ title to Ferrari. Alonso was shooting off his mouth again, complaining that a British team was helping a British driver to win the title. Well he hoped to get preferential treatment, but Hamilton’s scorching performances were too much to take for the Spaniard and he had made his decision. The final race only needed Hamilton to secure three points to become a rookie World Champion, but it was the Iceman Kimi Raikkonen who came from nowhere and clinched the drivers’ title by a single point, thus securing the double.

As winter testing went underway, a lot of changes were seen. Alonso returned to his mentor, agent and former boss, Flavio Briatore and Renault, the very team he accused of not helping him in his title quest as he would take the number 1 car with him to Mclaren. Elsewhere, GP2 was proving to be something of a phenomenon, 2007 champion Timo Glock of Germany secured a driving spot for Toyota and Ralf Schumacher lost his drive. India was the latest country to crop up on Bernie Ecclestone’s radar for expanding the sport. A deal apparently had been done with the Indian Olympic Association and India, it was announced would host a race starting from 2010 in the capital New Delhi. A proud moment for me and my fellow Indians. A long, long time ago, Eddie Jordan’s ill fated Jordan team was bought by Midland and eventually sold to supercar manufacturer Spyker. Now the team was up for grabs once again and none other than Indian billionaire businessman Dr. Vijay Mallya scooped the team up and rechristened it as Force India Formula One Team. Another proud moment for us Indians! Following the controversy in the 2007 season, most top teams chose to have a low profile launch. The one team that went for a flashy, glamourous launch was Formula 1’s newest fledglings, Force India.

Technically we will see a lot of changes this season too. The most important of them all being the absence of traction control, launch control and braking control. This effectively means that the driver is in total control of the car. FIA have made it mandatory to use electronic equipment made by a single manufacturer. This has been done to ensure a level playing field and also as a cost cutting measure. Several other itsy bitsy rule changes have also been implemented.

So far testing says that the front runners will lead the pack like any other season. But then this is testing and not race day. Testing is usually an iterative process. Getting the right set up for the car is like solving a polynomial equation with a lot of variables. So how does one go about pre season testing? Let’s say we need to test the aerodynamics, tyres, handling and dynamics, engine performance under different loading conditions and so forth. The general method used to go about achieving this objective is simple. Keep all terms of the equation constant except for one. In simple terms, take the overall setup of the previous season’s car and run it with the new season’s aerodynamic package. Once this is optimised, retain this and then run the car with this season’s dynamics set-up. When this process is repeated with different packages, the car will finally have an all new setup. Now will be the time to fine tune each component to make it work effectively and reliably, because reliability is the key to a successful season. Championship winning teams need not have the best equipment, but what they need to have is the ability to get the best out of equipment and personnel that they have. Going forward from here, we will now look at the contenders, all the eleven teams, their drivers, their strengths, weaknesses; their last year performances and what will be a realistic achievement for them this season.

I will start with the reigning Champions and my love of twelve seasons, Ferrari. Underdogs to undisputed World Champions. That’s how the season went for Ferrari. After regaining the top spot, they will look forward to consolidating their position once again this season over the course of eighteen races, including the night race in Singapore. If you ask what’s easier; winning the title or successfully defending it, there is no team better equipped than Ferrari in this decade to answer that. Over the recent years they’ve proven time and again that they are the quickest to master any new circuit that hosts a race in Formula One.

Ferrari’s key strengths have always been unflinching reliability, excellent strategy, fantastic driver co-ordination, mastery of new tracks and blistering race-pace. This season they will look forward to enhancing their superiority over the grid as not just the oldest, but also the most successful team in Formula One.

Mclaren Racing have come a long way since Ron Dennis’s company Project 4 merged with Bruce McLaren’s team in 1981. Over the last twenty odd years, the team has seen a lot of ups and downs and some great driver line up, the most famous of them all being Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. They started the last season with World Champ Fernando Alonso and GP2 Champion, Briton Lewis Hamilton. Things got to a great start as Hamilton quickly got the status of number one driver with his blazing time sheets and chilled demeanour. This did not go down well with Alonso, the wimp. However, what could have been their best season in recent times went all wrong, thanks to the big controversy midway into the season. The team lost all constructors’ points and Ron Dennis had to pay up a £50 million fine. The drivers’ title however should have been effortlessly taken by Lewis Hamilton, but his rookieness did not help him and he crumbled under pressure, handing the crown to Raikkonen.

This season Mclaren look good in testing and could be back with a resounding bang. They have roped in the Finn, Heikki Kovalainen as a replacement for Alonso who has gone back weeping and whining to Flavio Briatore and Renault. The last time Mclaren had a Finn British driver combination, they did not so bad. They won two drivers’ titles back to back and one constructors’ crown. Last season their biggest strength was Alonso and his championship winning experience that would be supported by rookie hopeful, Hamilton. What they ideally should be looking for this season is to forget last season’s debacles and start with a fresh mindset and approach.

Honda; a team with championship wins in the past as an engine supplier still have a lot to prove as a constructor. They only have one win so far. Their driver pairing is one of the most experienced on the grid today with Reubens Barrichello having 253 starts and Jenson Button having 137 race starts totalling 390 race starts, which is nearly double that of Raikkonen and Massa put together at 210 starts and more than eleven times that of Hamilton and Kovalainen 34 starts. They certainly have the experience, but do they have the results to go with it? Lets see. Barrichello has 9 wins to his credit and Jenson Button the sole win in Hungary 2006. Ten wins out of 390 starts. They have won 2.56% of the races they’ve started. Raikkonen and Massa together have 20 wins out of 210 starts. That’s 9.5%. Just for the records, Schumacher won 36.4% of the races he started in. So going by this what can we realistically expect from them? Barrichello will be reunited with Ross Brawn this season, the architect and technical wizard behind 88 out of Michael Schumacher’s 91 wins, the three that Brawn did not play a role in were in 1996 when Schumacher had moved to Ferrari, where Brawn would join him in 1997. Its time they translated their experience into results and started looking at becoming title-chasers instead of languishing in midfield. They should hope to consolidate on their 2006 performance, start 2008 as if 2007 never happened and try to get more podium finishes, if not wins.

Renault have been under the sharp and strategic leadership of Flavio Briatore for 20 years, this year being the 20^th. They have produced two back to back World Champions, Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995 under Benetton and Fernando Alonso, who ironically dethroned Michael Schumacher in 2005 and held on to his crown in 2006. Alonso’s departure at the end of 2006 did neither party any good. Where Alonso lost the title by a point and a race win, Renault managed only one podium finish in 2007 and scored a lot lesser than they did in 2006. However things look bright for them again. Alonso is back with his agent and former boss, Briatore and they have a budding talent Nelson Piquet Jr, son of former World Champ, Nelson Piquet. However I hope Alonso has woken up from his rookie nightmare of 2007 and helps Renault consolidate their position before they become title chasers again, maybe in 2009.

If there is one team on the grid I dislike, that is Toyota. They entered Formula One in 2002 as the world’s largest automotive manufacturer, pioneers of quality management, Kaizen, JIT, Kan Ban and such innovative lean manufacturing techniques. I don’t know what went wrong but they clearly are a shadow of their automotive history. Their best standing so far has been fourth in 2005. Apart from that they’ve been in the midfield. I cannot understand what’s wrong with them. They’ve changed driver line-up, technical staff, management staff, they don’t lack a big budget and still they are exactly where they were when they started. They do have Timo Glock, the reigning GP2 Champion, who will have to live under the shadows of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton if the does not perform. I am not quite sure if teams like Honda, Toyota and Super Aguri are doing Japanese reputation any good. If I tell today’s children that Toyota are the pioneers in automotive manufacturing I am pretty confident that I will be laughed at, given their Formula One performance. As far as Super Aguri are concerned, the lesser I talk, the better.

I am not overly going into Red Bull or Toro Rosso as I do not see them going anywhere from where they are. What concerns me though is that Williams have not been able to register a win since Brazil in 2004. That’s more than three years now. Their last title win came in 1997, under heavily controversial circumstances when Jacques Villeneuve was crowned champion after the infamous incident at Jerez, following which Schumacher was stripped off all his points for that season. Williams have a long way to go, with Toyota powering their cars and two youthful drivers who have a lot to prove themselves. Nico Rosberg, the first ever GP2 Champion, is the son of former World Champion Keke Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima is the son of retired Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima. I hope that Williams rise to the occasion and put up a good fight this season. BMW Sauber is one team that has been consistent all along in recent years. They’ve been oscillating between fourth and sixth till they came second in 2007, courtesy of Mclaren being stripped off all their points. In Dr. Mario Thiessen, they have a veteran engineer, who has the technical and managerial mindset to guide them to the top. I like the resilience and consistency they’ve shown season after season and that too without any glitz or glamour. You don’t notice them coming till they’ve arrived. My personal favourite to take the fight to Ferrari and Mclaren this season.

Force India, Formula One’s fledglings are too new to be judged yet. However the experience of Fisichella and the money of Mallya should result in a period of renaissance and we will certainly see them qualifying out of the last four positions and eventually towards the end of the season, we could see them in a top six finish. However, knowing the F1 circus very well, I am keeping my hopes down. All will be revealed on 16^th March in Melbourne at the season opener. I am looking forward to hearing the engines roar once again in five days time.