I’m not sure what comments I can make about the Australian election as I haven’t been keeping all that up to date with news. It does look like Rudd is going to win. I think there is certainly an element of a desire for change amongst the feelings of the Australian population. Howard has been in 10 years so it is just human nature for people to want change. Howard should really have gone out on top and handed the reigns over to Costello before this campaign. I think it has harmed his party that he says he will not complete the full term if re-elected. If that is the case then he shouldn’t have run as leader.
I think Rudd though has moved the Labor party further towards the centre. In a similar way to how Blair moved Labour over here towards the centre. There isn’t a great deal of difference now between the left and right parties over here, both of them hover around centre because that is the changing nature of the societies we live in. There is no longer a large distinction between socio-economic classes and little difference now between blue and white collar workers. As technology improves, so does the need for manual labour decrease. Everyone is middle class now and so the traditional classes of people that were represented by labor parties in the past, no longer exist. So political parties now have to fight over the middle ground. It would seem that Rudd has managed to move the party towards the centre and in a position to win this election.
Those are my comments based on my limited knowledge of the situation.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Ing-er-land Ing-er-land Ing-er-land
The mood in England today has been somewhat of disappointment. MacLaren has been sacked, but we were all expecting that. It’s just a shame you can’t sack the players who are clearly very poor indeed. I don’t feel anything particularly about the result though it will mean that there isn’t much interest in the tournament next summer which is a shame because there is always a good atmosphere in England when they are playing the world cup or Euro championships.
The goalkeeper Scott Carson who has played very well for Aston Villa this season, should have not however been picked. Paul Robinson has had a poor season for club and country so far; he has let in far too many goals and made far too many mistakes. But MacLaren stuck by him for England which is fair enough. England played a friendly last Friday against Austria where he gave Carson a chance, then decided to leave him in there for last night’s game. But why stick by Robinson as your number 1 for ages, only to drop him for the final and most important game of the year? Robinson is a far more experienced keeper and Maclaren really should have left him in the side.
I think England really need to get over themselves. The print media in this country are very antagonistic and I think they are to blame for the negative attitude that exists towards England, and the supposed ‘born to rule’ mentality that exists here. It certainly seems that when it comes to football, there is an attitude that England have a divine right to be amongst the best teams in the world. It is very much fuelled by the print media and I think many would agree it was a large part of their downfall in last year’s world cup.
What has really irked this year is that the media have continually referred to the event of England not qualifying for Euro 2008 as “the unthinkable.” Why should it be so unthinkable that England not qualify? It is indicative of the attitude here that England have a divine right to win everything. The England team are no where near as good as the country thinks they are and if they are to get any better, then they need to wake up and accept this fact; then they can work on getting better. It’s no good to think you’re the best and then blame the manager, or blame the goalkeeper for making a mistake that means you don’t win. If they were as good as the press say they are, then the goalkeeper could make mistakes like that and it wouldn’t matter because they’d be enough goals in front.
My colleague says he thinks it’s the best thing that could have happened to them so that hopefully they will wake up and sort themselves out. I think they need to accept that they’re actually a bit rubbish first; it’s simple psychology, you can’t get better if you keep denying the fact that you are ill!
The goalkeeper Scott Carson who has played very well for Aston Villa this season, should have not however been picked. Paul Robinson has had a poor season for club and country so far; he has let in far too many goals and made far too many mistakes. But MacLaren stuck by him for England which is fair enough. England played a friendly last Friday against Austria where he gave Carson a chance, then decided to leave him in there for last night’s game. But why stick by Robinson as your number 1 for ages, only to drop him for the final and most important game of the year? Robinson is a far more experienced keeper and Maclaren really should have left him in the side.
I think England really need to get over themselves. The print media in this country are very antagonistic and I think they are to blame for the negative attitude that exists towards England, and the supposed ‘born to rule’ mentality that exists here. It certainly seems that when it comes to football, there is an attitude that England have a divine right to be amongst the best teams in the world. It is very much fuelled by the print media and I think many would agree it was a large part of their downfall in last year’s world cup.
What has really irked this year is that the media have continually referred to the event of England not qualifying for Euro 2008 as “the unthinkable.” Why should it be so unthinkable that England not qualify? It is indicative of the attitude here that England have a divine right to win everything. The England team are no where near as good as the country thinks they are and if they are to get any better, then they need to wake up and accept this fact; then they can work on getting better. It’s no good to think you’re the best and then blame the manager, or blame the goalkeeper for making a mistake that means you don’t win. If they were as good as the press say they are, then the goalkeeper could make mistakes like that and it wouldn’t matter because they’d be enough goals in front.
My colleague says he thinks it’s the best thing that could have happened to them so that hopefully they will wake up and sort themselves out. I think they need to accept that they’re actually a bit rubbish first; it’s simple psychology, you can’t get better if you keep denying the fact that you are ill!
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