Archive for June, 2012
Thursday, June 28th, 2012
There’s so much sport this summer I’m finding it hard to keep up so I thought I’d do a little review of where we’re at, as a reminder for me if nothing else.
Euro 2012
England are, of course, out but there are still two potentially decent games of football to play – Germany v Italy in a semi-final tonight and the winner of that goes on to meet Spain in the final this Sunday. I listened to the Spain v Portugal semi final on the radio while I was tidying up the studio and it sounded like a pretty boring game of football, compared to some of the others we’ve had. Spain didn’t seem to be bothered about attacking until the second half of extra time, when it was too late. Anyway, my Portugal v Germany final prediction is obviously out of the window now (surprise surprise) so I’m going with Germany still and (as much as it pains me to say this) I hope they beat Spain in the final. Spain suffocate the game too much for me and it’s not enjoyable to watch.
Wimbledon
I’ve been watching Andy Murray this afternoon a little. That’s the benefit of being your own boss I guess – I had a little television on in the editing room while a singer was doing some recording. I’m not sure Murray can win it this year but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got to the final. I predict Nadal will win this year though.
Olympic football
It was announced today that David Beckham didn’t make the Team GB football squad. There are a lot of people saying it’s a disgrace but I’m not sure. He is a great ambassador for the game and for the London 2012 Olympics but is he really still the best we’ve got? If you look at the three players over 23 years old that did get picked – Micah Richards, Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy – you’ve got to say they’re much more solid choices. They’re still playing top level Premier League football, while Beckham’s sunning himself in LA.
Tour de France
A mate got me into cycling a few years ago and I always watch the Tour now – once you know a bit about the tactics and what it takes to win it’s a fascinating sport to watch. We’ve got a British hope going for the overall win this year as well – Bradley Wiggins. It’s our first chance in a long time to take the yellow jersey so it’s going to be an interesting race.
Tags: Andy Murray, Bradley Wiggins, David Beckham, Euro 2012, London 2012, Team GB, Tour de France, Wimbledon
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Tuesday, June 26th, 2012
If I was to say I’m surprised about England’s Euro 2012 performance, I’d be lying. I didn’t even feel particularly angry or disappointed watching them lose to Italy on penalties either. We’re just not good enough, it really is as simple as that at the moment and if we’re being honest, we were a little lucky to get through the group stages. I think Sweden were a more worthy team to qualify, but there you go – we did win the group and I suppose you can’t argue with that.
It is frustrating to watch these players, who we see every week in the Premier League, going from confident, skilful footballers to people who don’t seem to have any sense about them on the pitch at all – how many times did Rooney and Young give the ball away in the quarter final against Italy? At times I thought they would have been better with me on the pitch and that’s saying something. Still, like Roy Hodgson says, at least we can take a positive away from the tournament – namely that our fans are loyal and make a lot of noise.
Needless to say that most of my quarter final predictions were way out. I was quite impressed with my call on Germany v Greece though – I said 4-2 to Germany and they won 4-1. Maybe I am getting better. I suppose one good thing about England losing is that we can now watch the remaining three games for pure enjoyment and I might as well lay down some predictions for them too. Here are my Euro 2012 semi final predictions. We’re still on for that Germany v Portugal final I predicted last time – you never know,. I might get something right.
- Portugal 2 Spain 1
- Germany 4 Italy 3
Tags: England, Euro 2012, Football, Football predictions, Premier League, Roy Hodgson, Wayne Rooney
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Thursday, June 21st, 2012
Since I started making predictions on the football, particularly with Euro 2012, I’ve noticed two things – firstly, I never get them right and secondly, more importantly, England seem to be getting better. I’m not particularly superstitious but I think the two might actually be related so I’ve decided to keep going. The Quarter Finals of Euro 2012 start tonight with Czech Republic playing Portugal and this is when the competition really gets going.
The group stages saw half the teams get knocked out so you could say we’re in the top half already but as England seem to keep improving, the more the expectation on them grows. That’s natural I guess but I still think people are generally a little hesitant to get fully behind them – not because they don’t want to support their country but more likely because they simply don’t want to get their hopes up too much, only to have them crushed – again.
So here we go, leading into a very exciting weekend of football, here are my predictions for the Euro 2012 Quarter Finals. If I was you, I wouldn’t place a bet on any of these outcomes.
- Thursday 21 June – Czech Republic 2 Portugal 3
- Friday 22 June – Germany 4 Greece 1
- Saturday 23 June – Spain 2 France 3
- Sunday 24 June – England 1 Italy 2 (after extra time)
Going by those, I’d have Germany and Portugal in the final, with Germany (unfortunately) winning it. We’ll see though – I’ll report back next week once we know what actually happened.
Tags: England, England v Italy, Euro 2012, Football, Football predictions, Portugal v Czech Republic, Quarter finals
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Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
I’ve given up pretending that I’m not going to watch much of the football – these final group games have been really exciting and it’s all building up to tonight, with England playing Ukraine at the same time as France play Sweden. It’s been a strange atmosphere here in Manchester, with most people seemingly a little nonplussed by the whole thing. I remember during the World Cup two years ago there were England flags everywhere and there was a real mood of confidence and excitement about the football but that just doesn’t seem to be here this time. Maybe we’ve all been worn out a bit by the Jubilee and everything else. Or maybe we’re finally becoming realistic about our expectations.
Either way I will still, of course, be supporting England tonight and hoping that we can get a good win to go into the quarter finals. If we do go through we’ll play either Spain or Italy, depending on where we come in our group. I watched Spain last night, expecting to see some amazing football, but it felt a little flat if I’m honest. There’s no doubt they’ve got a lot of skill but they seem to just want to walk it into the goal all the time. If you stick to your plan with them and stay really solid at the back, looking to capitalise on a breakaway, you’ve got a chance of beating them – just like Chelsea did over Barcelona in the Champions League.
Anyway, we’ll see. I don’t mind who we play in the quarter finals – I’d just be happy to get through and see some improvement in our overall game. We need a win or a draw with Ukraine to get through, then it just depends on what France do. I’m expecting them to win so if we do get a result we will probably be playing Italy in the next round. Let’s hope Rooney’s return inspires us like everyone is saying it will.
Oh, and for what it’s worth (which isn’t a lot) here are my predictions for tonight’s games:
- England 2 – Ukraine 2
- Sweden 1 – France 3
Tags: Champions League, England, Euro 2012, Football, Football predictions, Quarter finals, Wayne Rooney
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Thursday, June 14th, 2012
It probably won’t surprise you that after saying I wasn’t going to watch too much football this week, I’ve done exactly that – it’s just too addictive. I did have a fairly productive couple of a days, going to look at some used cars and doing some recording in the studio. The band got their England song down and are busy making a video, trying to get it out before our game against Sweden tomorrow. They don’t know about this blog so I think I’m fairly safe in saying that it isn’t actually a very good song so I don’t think it will really go anywhere, but they had fun writing and recording it so I guess that’s all that counts. I will keep an eye on it though, just in case it does become massive.
Apart from that my evenings have been spent watching the five o’clock game ‘by accident’ – and when I say that I mean I’ve totally been keeping an eye on the clock and making sure I make my afternoon cup of tea for 5pm, so I can watch the football. When that’s finished it’s only an hour until the second game at 7.45pm – just enough time to cook dinner. I do feel a bit guilty for spending so much time watching football but then again, I enjoy it and it won’t last forever so why not.
I thought Portugal were a little lucky yesterday and I would have liked to see Denmark win it in the end. The last half an hour was really exciting and the Germany v The Netherlands game afterwards was a very similar match. I wanted The Netherlands to win that one too but that group is still all to play for – even The Netherlands, at the bottom on zero points, could still qualify. Exciting stuff for the weekend.
Anyway, I’m sticking with my prediction for the games tomorrow and I’ll definitely be watching both of them, without feeling guilty in the slightest.
Tags: Buying a used car, England, Euro 2012, Football, Football predictions, Music recording, Recording studio
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Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
My football predictions may not be up to much but it’s possible I might be a bit of a talisman for the British Formula One drivers. I mention that I thought the season was looking interesting and that I was keen to see how the British lot would be getting on and what do you know, Hamilton clocks his first win of the season. Admittedly I would have preferred it to be Jenson Button but you can’t have everything.
The other big news is that Euro 2012 has finally started. I hadn’t intended on watching many of the other matches, apart from England, but after seeing most of the very first match, between Greece and Poland, I’ll admit that I’ve been pretty caught up in it all. I haven’t watched every minute but I’ve watched half an hour here and there and have definitely been keeping up with the results. That’s the thing about a big tournament I guess – you think you’re just going to be interested in your own team but you get seduced by all the drama. Not much drama in our 1-1 draw with France last night but I guess that’s a good thing – I thought it was a fair result.
I’m going to try and not watch too much this week because I’ve got a lot to do – going to a garage that sells used Peugeot cars with my mate tomorrow morning, just for a look around, and a fairly busy time in the studio this week. There’s a local band coming in on Wednesday to record a last-minute England song that they’re hoping to go viral with – should be interesting. Then I’m gearing up for Friday and I’ll definitely be watching the two matches then – Ukraine v France and Sweden v England. I had thought we were playing in the 5pm slot but it looks like I got it wrong, or they’ve changed things, so here are the revised times for the upcoming England fixtures:
- Friday 15 June, 7.45pm – Sweden v England
- Tuesday 19 June, 7.45pm – England v Ukraine
My predictions for this Friday are France 3 Ukraine 2 and Sweden 1 England 2. I wouldn’t listen to me though – I’m never right.
Tags: Buying a used car, England, Euro 2012, Football predictions, Formula One, Lewis Hamilton, Music recording
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Thursday, June 7th, 2012
You wouldn’t have to be a genius to realise that football is my sport of choice. If it’s not Manchester United it’s England – and if it’s not England it’ll be Team GB later this year in the London 2012 Olympics – but I do follow a few other sports and I realised today that I’ve not really talked about the current Formula One season, which is shaping up to be a really interesting one. I don’t tend to watch it in great detail at the start of the season, maybe just the highlights, but as it progresses and the battles between the drivers start to heat up I get really into it.
It has been interesting this year because the first six races have all had a different winner, which is something that has never happened before. This week’s race, the Canadian Grand Prix, will be the seventh in a season of twenty, so the remaining fourteen races have the potential to be really exciting. Unlike football, however, I’ve never really supported a particular team or driver too adamantly. I do keep an eye on the British drivers of course, Hamilton and Button, as well as the new Scot Paul Di Resta. Button would be my favourite of the three I guess – I’ve never thought much of Hamilton really. He’s good but he’s also volatile and has too much attitude for me.
Anyway, as I say I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on it as the season progresses. I don’t mind who wins particularly. Having Jenson Button as world champion again would be good but as long as it’s not a Ferrari driver or Sebastian Vettel I’ll be happy.
Tags: England, Football, Formula One, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, London Olympics, Man United, Team GB
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Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
I had a cracking Jubilee weekend in the end and even felt like a bit of a royalist on occasions, which is quite unlike me normally. You can’t deny it was an impressive and unique occasion though and I’m not ashamed to say that I did get caught up in the celebrations. A mate invited me to his street party in Didsbury, where they had a band, hog roast and all sorts of stuff going on for the kids. It was nice to be at a good old fashioned party and I even had a kick around with some of the children, showing off my old football skills.
I’m glad it’s a short week because I think I’m still recovering a bit – it definitely takes longer as you get older. Euro 2012 starts this Friday and I’m obviously really looking forward to that. I might watch a few games during the group stages, just to keep up with how the other teams are playing, but I’m not going to watch them all. I don’t have that much interest in who wins between Poland and Greece in the first game, for example.
Otherwise I’ve got some sorting out in the studio to do this week before a band come in for the whole of next week and I’m off to look at a used Honda tomorrow as well, so there’s plenty to keep my mind off the big game next Monday night. It’s a tough opening fixture against France but I have faith and I think we can win it. 2-1 to England is my prediction, with Ashley Young scoring at least one of the goals. I might even put some money on that.
Tags: Ashley Young, Buying a used car, England, Euro 2012, Euro 2012 group stage, Football, Music recording
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