The Pain of Underachievement

Playing against Deportivo la Coruna with a depleted squad is always a tall order and so it proved. On Thursday, the Magpies battled manfully to escape with a creditable 2-1 defeat at the Riazor Stadium. As the game was not telecast, I could only second guess how well the team performed. Seems like they were on the rack for most of the first half when the Spanish side scored early on. After Bowyer scored a belter of a goal early in the second half, the Magpies pressed on but were dealt a sucker punch by a superb individual goal from one of Souness’ targets, Jose Andrade. His goal was perhaps made easier by our renowned defending…
Having said this, a narrow defeat seems comforting with an away goal to show for it. Hopefully we can finish the business at home, but knowing the porous defence, we will concede. But as Kevin Keegan used to say, if the opponents score, we will just score more than them. Simple.
Howay the lads.

Given the spate of pre-season tours to various parts of the world, I cannot help but feel that all these trips really do nothing else but rip the locals off BIG TIME. Asia, or should I say China, is one of the biggest untapped markets for soccer in the world and it’s of little surprise why Man U and Real Madrid are flocking there in droves. Apparently a report in the papers wrote that Real earned some 40 million dollars on their China trip alone and in a friendly in Japan, Beckham gave that word a totally new meaning when he tried to whack an opponent whom he said spat at him. I still remember the day when Man U and Liverpool came to Singapore and put out second string teams. That arrogant piece of Manure even put Fabien the Clown Barthez as an outfield player for 5 minutes to rub salt into wounds. Crap! I really think it’s time to stop taking us for a ride…

When the going gets tough, you can always count on the old warrior to deliver the goods. At the end of the second leg tie against ZTS Dubnica at St. James’ Park last Saturday, Alan Shearer delivered two textbook headers to help the Magpies to an aggregate 5-1 victory over the Slovakian side. That took his tally for the Toon to 194 goals, 6 short of Milburn’s magical 200 for the club.
While there was cause to celebrate the goals which came fairly late in the game, victory was pyrrhic in a sense with Jenas lasting only 45 minutes and Chopra colliding with the opposing goalkeeper and getting himself dazed. Onward now to Deportivo on Wednesday. I would be happy with a draw to take back to St. James. Hopefully our European adventure doesn’t come to a premature end.

It’s incredulous how a club can offer a player who has more ‘adventures’ off the pitch than on it, and with a contract worth 80 000 pounds a week. How astronomical have players’ wages become. But in this case, the player in question hardly justifies this outlay. His playboy lifestyle and constant injuries make him more a liability than an asset. Frankly, over the last few seasons, he has not done anything substantial to justify him wearing the black and white shirt.
And now… he’s injured his hamstring AGAIN, ruling himself out of the Intertoto Cup. What a complete waste.

Just two days ago, I was rubbing my eyeballs in disbelief when I read that our dear leader Souey is going for one of the grouchiest characters in club football, the Gallic brat Nicolas Anelka. Out goes Bellamy and in comes another potential troublemaker. Why are doing this to ourselves?
Anelka is one of the best players and a good goalscorer but his attitude, at Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG. Manchester City and Fenerbahce sucks big time. Unless we can work out a way to deal with characters like this, just steer clear of them and give the fans peace.

NUFC embarked on their tentative but important step towards European competition after the abject failure of last season by taking on ZTS Dubnica on Sunday. On paper, it looked as if Premiership class would make this a target practice of sorts. For the first 10 minutes, it seemed as if it was going according to script with Michael Chopra claiming his first senior goal and Shearer heading in a N’Zogbia cross at the post. However, as NUFC sat back to defend their lead, ZTS got back into the game and bossed the midfield. Butt and Faye found it quite heavy going. Granted the lads barely returned to full training about a week ago and some were struggling to keep pace with the nifty Slovakian outfit.
The second half started in the same vein as the last ten minutes of the earlier half, with the Slovaks having forced a goal back. They were threatening to equalise but James Milner sealed his game of the match performance by lobbing the ball into an empty net from 35 yards. That goal was worth my staying up at 2 am Singapore to watch the match.
All said, the match ended 3-1 to NUFC with the return leg at St. James this coming Saturday. The Slovaks will be put to the sword as the team negotiates its way to stronger opposition, most possibly the La Liga outfit Deportivo la Coruna, which also suffered a spectacular collapse last season. For two of Europe’s illustrious teams, the Intertoto Cup offers one last chance at redemption. Let’s not throw it away…

Today’s headlines in the Straits Times carried the news of T.T. Durai’s resignation, along with members of the board. Mrs Goh has also stepped down as the patron of the NKF. Over 6800 individuals have cancelled their monthly contributions, over 30 000 people have signed an online petition demanding Durai’s resignation and the facade of NKF’s HQ was vandalised with ‘LIAR’ sprayed in red paint. Although the Health Minister said it was sad to end on this note, clearly some measure of moral justice was served. At the very least, whoever takes charge of the NKF will have to exercise greater transparency in its operations and be accountable to those who donate money to the organisation. For now, let’s lay the ghost to rest and move on.

Today marks a special day in the history of NUFC with the unveiling of our first ever Turkish player Emre who has signed from Inter Milan. Let’s hope he can live up to the hype surrounding him and solve our left-midfield or even striking problems, should Souness decide to play a 4-3-3 formation. Howay the lad.

I think NUFC is really jinxed. Just days before our Intertoto campaign, ‘Calamity’ Titus got injured in a training session and crocked his elbow… three months on the sidelines. GREAT! We now have a defence that reads - Boumsong, Taylor, Ramage… and who else?
What can I say?

I can’t help but pen my thoughts on the NKF saga which played itself out in the courtroom over the last two days. Only when the CEO threatened proceedings against SPH did the full extent of the NKF’s workings come to light. A CEO who earns a $25 000 monthly salary, gets 12 months’ bonus, flies first class, has access to the organisation’s fleet of luxury cars, gets his personal car’s maintenance and road taxes paid by the organisation, installs taps costing over $900 in his personal bathroom, works in a building costing millions to build, outsources calling services to an ex-employee, sits as a director on various company boards, misrepresents the numbers of patients needing help, and claiming he’s done no wrong. If this is the person who represents one of Singapore’s most eminent charities, I cannot feel anything but disgust. This is the same organisation which holds two to three fundraising shows each year, getting anything up to $ 5 million each time. Imagine how much of the money raised actually goes to the patients when the CEO has earned $1.8 million over the last 3 years.
I think Singaporeans are no fools, they know when they have been had. Over 2000 individuals have terminated their monthly donations, a petition has been circulated calling for the CEO’s head. It’s times like this when I still feel that we, as a society, still has a conscience and people are willing to take action against what they perceive to be extreme injustice.
I believe everyone has a charitable side but when one’s kindness and compassion are exploited and manipulated, it just leaves a bad aftertaste. Charities are meant to help others in need, but when the sense of mission is corrupted and perverted, one cannot help but lament the fact that these organisations are run like business corporations, where the dollar reigns supreme.