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 Thursday
15 December 2005 By Archie Brand  I'm
the kind person who needs to be kept occupied. I generally do crosswords
while Im watching TV, or those new fangled "Sudoku" things. I
asked our local Cinema if they could install reading lamps. They,
in return, asked me to leave. I'm writing this while watching the Benfica Vs Man Utd Champions League game, and 2 things are apparent. First of all - Ferguson knows sod-all about football, otherwise he would never play Rooney so deep, or move Smith so far back. That's him told! I'm sure we'll find a place for Rooney in the England Team, but there will too much competition for Smith, who, lets face it, is a novice in that position. Secondly - European football is different from the Premiership. OK - not exactly a revelation there, but let me go on. Yes the pace and style are different, but that just makes for an interesting game. What is also different is the style of refereeing. OK not so much the style as the actual rules. You may well argue that the rules are the same, its just the interpretation that differs. At this point I may well say bollocks. If it's OK in the Premiership, but it's a foul in Europe, then the rules are different. If there is one thing we can definitely look forward to in Germany 2006, it's "different" refereeing. Champions League games are showing us this. European teams try it on a lot more. And it seems to be accepted. Rolling around on the ground should be another of those annoying statistics that they keep flashing up from time to time. "Simulation" they call it. We have another name for it. Referees will be a lot stricter on the physical aspects of the game. Late, heavy or crunching tackles will be severly dealt with. Anything resembling a tackle from behind will result in a hearty "pheep!" from the official, and another name in his little black book. I think most European referees are ex-Netball refs, and as such are determined to keep the physical side of the game at a level they are used to. So where am I going with this. Oh yes, Parker. Taylor and Ramage - can we ever say enough about the impression these youngsters have made. Emre - can play well, but can also be a bit hot and cold. Owen, get him into the box, get the ball to him, and we're in with a chance. He's breathed life into a team that should have had a tag on its toe months ago. However, without a doubt, the one player who has turned up and delivered the goods week in and week out, from the start, no excuses, has been Scott Parker. He's doing so well that there are people touting him for a place on the England squad for Germany. As a Newcastle fan, I have to say that he has definitely earned a place in that squad, As an England fan I can only say, for England's sake Sven, DON'T PICK HIM! Put Parker on to the pitch with one of those mincing continental Netball refs and within 3 tackles his name will be in the book. Another 5 tackles and he'll be back on the bench. There is no way that these officials will interpret what he does as "the Beautiful Game". They'll be applying their Health and Safety Guidelines and making sure no-one gets taken to court for industrial injury. We have to accept that our Premiership game is different from the rest of the world. It's not a bad thing. Look at the foreign players who are trying to get work permits these days. We must be doing something right. It's the fact that the game has been allowed to go off in a direction all by itself that is where the problem lies. How did we end up singing from a different Hymnbook to the rest of the world? Isn't it criminal that the powers that be have allowed us to develop players of Parker's class, operating within the rules of our game, who, when thrown into the mix in Europe, would immediately be legislated off the park? The aspects of Parker's game that make him the cornerstone of the Newcastle midfield would not be allowed in the continental version of this game known as "Football", and that can only be described as a disgrace. How difficult can it be to have officials from different countries follow the same directives and guidelines, and interpret them in the same way? I'm sure we could do it if we made the effort. However, it seems that we want to be different - at the expense of the likes of Parker - because it makes ours a more competitive league. OK, so once every 4 years we battle our way through the qualifiers, and almost make it to the finals. As a Nation, we're not a bad team really. Wouldn't that be a bit easier though, if we were actually playing the same game as everyone else? Oh well - the point I was making is that Parker is a star in an otherwise cloudy Newcastle sky (though it's beginning to look like it's clearing a bit) , with an energy that will ensure that he continues to shine. The fact that you can actually see anything in the Newcastle sky at this time of year is nothing short of a miracle. If you want someone to give 110% for 90 minutes and then some, and go into every tackle as if the life of his team mates depended on it, then Scott Parker is the man for the job. However, put him in the England World Cup Team and ask him to play Netball, and you've wasted a seat on the bus. He's much better than that. Archie Brand, Bahrain © Archie Brand
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Scott Parker For England?
