Back to the "football in Olympics" discussion, I think it should be an U21 or even an U18 tournament. Forget the overage players; just stick to one of the age groups above.
It is how you lose that is important. Over the last few days I have seen athletes sick with exhaustion having given every thing thay have and yet still show grit and determination. Last night none of our footballers showed those qualities. As for being fickle you had better not once make a desparaging remark about SFC or any of our players this season as you will be as fickle as those who are angry about the GB mens football team not giving their best and showing no desire or passion.
I wasn't, until the BBC clumsily cut to the penalty shoot-out after witnessing the superhuman efforts of the athletes. Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous and from a party to a funeral. Sums it up that for a while, the media starting to portray Craig Bellamy as a hero. Craig Bellamy FFS!!! A horrible little spoilt git. Absolutely delighted that we won't have anymore attention on the Team GB football team.
Having watched most of the matches I must admit that the whole team seemed lacklustre and there seemed to be no creativity or idea how to string together moves. I thought that the Team GB was a poor advertisement for football in the UK and there was little passion or will to win despite some large and partisan crowds. I'm not a fan of athletics but the whole country has been swept up with euthoria for these olympics and it is impossible not to get wrapped up in the excitement. You really feel that the everyone has climbed onboard and embraced this event. for me, it was a shame that we didn't perform better last night and give the fans what they would have liked. Compared to the other sports, the football looked like an afterthought with no real strategy for winning a medal. They would have done better to have picked an England Under 18 / youth side four years ago and stick with them for the duration solely with the idea of developing a team ethoas an getting a goal. Our preparation was shambolic and not taken with the same degree of seriousness as the other sports. Propery thought through, Olympic football tournament could have served as a psringboard to bring talent youngesters through into the full scotland, NI,England and Wales squad. The fact that two countries also chose not to partake was also a huge let down. Not surprising that Scottish football is in such a state and has repeatedly failed to bring through a generation of talented players since the 70's / 80's where a Scottish contingent usually attributed to the success of the "big" clubs. In my opinion, th Olymoic football was a shambles for this country and we didn't deserve to get through to a tie against Brazil - shame as the public would have LOVED that spectacle.
You could have switched over at any point. And you clearly don't know much about Bellamy, he's had his problems with his temper but he's more determined and professional than 99% of players and does a lot of work in Sierra Leone with his foundation to improve the fortunes of people who have had their lives devastated by war. If you think that's spoilt then I'd like to hear about what you do with your free time.
Well that's fine, because I never do. As I've already said, Olympic football just isn't that important. For the other athletes, this Olympics is the pinnacle of their careers. For footballers, that's the World Cup. They have a Premier League season starting in two weeks, which to them is far more important than winning a gold medal. As for disparaging remarks, Godders, what are you always saying about De Ridder?
The athletes try harder because an Olympic gold is the top, there's nothing better. In football, an Olympic gold isn't a World Cup, Champions League, Euro Championship etc.
I bet the footballers enjoyed the Olympic experience though...a chance to mix with people outside their closed off world.
Not true. There is also the World atheltic championship and the Commonwealth games to name two events. Don't see why the Olympic football event shouldn't be used to bring on younger talent as I stated above. I think we miscalculated spectacularly with the football and a gold opportunity was missed.
The world athletic championship and Commonwealth games aren't nearly as important as the Olympics. That's like comparing the League Cup to the Champions League.
Football Fan's point was that there's no bigger achievement in athletics than Olympic gold. Are the World Athletics Championships or Commonwealth Games held in as high regard as the Olympics? No, obviously. Why would you even bother trying to argue otherwise?
A bit of an anti-climax in the end, but at least we don't have the worry of Corky picking up a pre-season injury, we are going to need him for sure.
