Is there a thing in existence as fickle as the furore surrounding the England football team?
England's national team's fortunes and decisions are apparently based on what a guy with the intelligence of a pork-pie may or may not have have said. Racism is very serious, but even the wildest imagination would struggle to understand how an incident at Loftus Road, which is apparently being dealt with, could, according to some, have a potential effect on the chances of the national team in the next competition. We're supposedly dumbfounded as to why the team 'under-perform' at major competitions, but the sense of self-importance and desperation from all quarters will mean that it is unlikely that any sort of achievement is ever possible.
What is this English obsession with the captaincy anyway? As it stands, the majority of confirmed England regulars have such massively inflated egos, they could play without a captain and probably be more effective than they otherwise would have been. The position is a fallacy, designed to appeal to the notion of nationalistic pride. The antiquated idea of the strong and noble England captain leading the team to do battle against opposing nations. The reality is much more like an Under-14s game, where players whinge under their breaths how; 'That's not fair, how come John got to be captain when he's suspended from school?'
What the players say and think is reported on the news as though we should be scrutinising their comments with the tenacity we would have of tackling great thinkers and philosophers. Bizzare when you consider the nature of the comments in question seem to follow along the lines of Wazza7Rooney - 'Capello great manager. Want manager to be Englandish next time. Redknapp please,' like some Neanderthal. Yet TV anchormen furrow their brows and host a ten minute analysis as to whether 'Wazza' should be making such comments.
The whole sorry affair would simply not happen anywhere else. If an investigation of this nature was pending on the captain of most national teams, they would consider it rather obvious that individual would perhaps not in the best position or frame of mind to be the captain, particularly in a team with such ethnic diversity. The matter would hardly be considered as an after-thought in the actual story, which is one of alleged racism. The player would be dropped.
Whatever did happen should be far removed from football anyway. If people really want the campaign to 'kick it out' to be successful, perhaps the best way to go about this would be to treat anyone found guilty with utter disdain and public ridicule. A Newcastle United fan recently apologised for making racist remarks on Twitter. A Liverpool fan was seen apparently making 'monkey gestures' at Patrice Evra. No event of this nature has been reported on for years in the game. Proof that if you give these stories of racism on the pitch an elevated sense of importance and scandal, sections of a fickle public will react in a damaging way.
Perhaps the next England manager should adopt a policy of dropping any player from the team who is in the media for any other reason other than their ability to play football. When will people realise that the celebrity culture is damaging any chance of success for the team? There are good young players who have not yet had enough of a career to become celebrities. Let them play. Goodbye to Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Rooney even. Perhaps that will actually give them a fighting chance.
