Can We Learn From Team Gb?

[Pedrowe]

After the buzz of the Olympics… I have to say I am starting to lose the love for football (well slightly…)

Whilst the rebranding of Cardiff to the Red Dragons is hilarious, you do really have to question the sporting integrity of the decision and where exactly football is heading in the UK.

Also, in terms of the players, you have to look at the countless embarrassments in football in recent years (Terry/Ferdinand, Suarez, Terry/Bridge, Ryan Giggs to name a few) in comparison to the way the Team GB athletes conducted themselves… no comparison! (The England Rugby Team also should not escape criticism!)

Mo Farah moved himself, and his family, from the UK to the US to train for a gold medal. Whilst the decision ultimately paid off, it must have been a hard choice to make with no guarantee of a financial gain… Quite inspirational!

I cannot see many youngest in football making these hard decisions which are needed to be able push them on to be the very best that they can. There are players like Michael Johnson at Man City who had such a great talent but then threw it all away through gambling and drink… I suppose you have to ask is this actually the players fault, or, alternatively, the culture that we introduce our youngsters into?

Perhaps, if we bred a similar culture and level of commitment into our youngsters then we would not have such a woeful national side?

I just hope that the FA can learn something from Team GB…

[Barrs Court Red]

The difference is, football kids "make it" when they get a contract at 17, and are then surrounded by a plethora of yes men and hangers on, growing ever larger the higher up the chain you go.

Kids get into athletics with little promise of game or fortune, it's all about being the best ou can be. In football it's all about the money

[Mighty Squirrel Kingdom]

Cardiff? Who gives a Donald Duck about them?

Team GB got shedloads of stealth tax money raised via the National Lottery so they could basically indulge themselves in their hobbies. Farah 'endorses' BUPA, Lucozade and Nike Sport so he wasn't short of a few quid before winning two gold medals.

Next please.

[MarcusX]

After the buzz of the Olympics… I have to say I am starting to lose the love for football (well slightly…)

Whilst the rebranding of Cardiff to the Red Dragons is hilarious, you do really have to question the sporting integrity of the decision and where exactly football is heading in the UK.

Also, in terms of the players, you have to look at the countless embarrassments in football in recent years (Terry/Ferdinand, Suarez, Terry/Bridge, Ryan Giggs to name a few) in comparison to the way the Team GB athletes conducted themselves… no comparison! (The England Rugby Team also should not escape criticism!)

Mo Farah moved himself, and his family, from the UK to the US to train for a gold medal. Whilst the decision ultimately paid off, it must have been a hard choice to make with no guarantee of a financial gain… Quite inspirational!

I cannot see many youngest in football making these hard decisions which are needed to be able push them on to be the very best that they can. There are players like Michael Johnson at Man City who had such a great talent but then threw it all away through gambling and drink… I suppose you have to ask is this actually the players fault, or, alternatively, the culture that we introduce our youngsters into?

Perhaps, if we bred a similar culture and level of commitment into our youngsters then we would not have such a woeful national side?

I just hope that the FA can learn something from Team GB…

Besides the obvious rascism, youve mentioned personal (off the field) incidents, e.g. I assume Giggs cheating on his Mrs and the Terry / Bridge affair. How do you know what these atheletes get up to? 90% of teamgb were relative nobodys before the games, for all you know they could be just as bad, they just arent in the media / world spotlight 24 hours a day.

[Redhyde]

I thought we'd get this. I had a moment of this myself after flicking between mountain bike riders breaking bones on that scary hazard ridden course to the Hazard at Chelsea throwing himself to the floor in the community shield. But then i thought about it.

But did you really watch the Olympics? Did you not see the shouting at the referee in the Volleyball? Did you not see the guys in the distance running trying to trip each other up? In the open water swimming competitors would slap and punch and try to rip each others goggles off. I've never seen a more incident ridden cheat fest as Water Polo. I can go on and on and on. Hockey, Basketball, Handball. The badminton players trying to lose matches to affect the match draws. Taekwondo players appealing for hits they didn't make all the time. The Dutch and Danish sailors claiming Ainslie hit a mark and him claiming he didn't!

Dwayne Chambers!

Bauge in the road race for crying out loud so he could switch to the track. Rene Enders entered in the mountain biking. I would have loved to have seen the tree thighed Enders go up those hills I tell you! But those are evil foreigners who sneak and bend the rules not like us Brits? Our very own Phillip Hines deliberately crashing to earn a restart in the mens cycling team sprint. God was I inspired by that! None of these things were against the rules, but fair play goes out the window when medals are on the line.

In a lot of sports at the Olympics it's really hard to cheat. Apart from drugs how do you cheat at Javelin or Long Jump or running or swimming? That's why they appear honourable. Because if there was a way to cheat or use the rules to win non footballers take it just as much as footballers do. There is absolutely something to say for the purity of competition where the outcome is based entirely on ability. Where a sport is so black and white as to avoid cheating. Where video replays can show you everything and are looked at leisurely so it means there is no possibility of cheating.

Football is not like this. Team sports are not like this. TeamGB good, football bad is brain dead thinking. To hold these athletes up as paragons of virtue is naive at best. In the sports they can act like footballers they do act like them.

If we want to look at personal lives is Usain Bolt going out mid tournament with the Swedish handball team ok? What if I dunno Joe Hart did that in the Euros? Is Jason Kenny getting off with Laura Trott who used to date another cyclist in the team GB squad cool? I remember John Terry getting weeks of bad news for the same thing with Wayne Bridge. Kenny's 24 and already got a kid from a previous relationship too! People are people, but noone cares about these cyclists private lives just as we shouldn't care about footballers. We absolutely should be bright enough to separate sporting performance from personal choice.

We just signed Cunningham from Man City. He left Ireland to come here to play football and develop. There's no difference between what he did and Mo Farrah. But he doesn't have a gold medal, so who cares right?There are good footballers, there are bad athletes and obviously vice versa.

[Rob k]

Fed up of this constant football bashing now, if your that fed up then don't turn up, it's a very simple choice!

It makes me laugh how people think all these athletes are perfect angels without knowing a thing about them.

I can remember more athletes banned for taking drugs than footballers

[Bryans Left Peg]

I thought we'd get this. I had a moment of this myself after flicking between mountain bike riders breaking bones on that scary hazard ridden course to the Hazard at Chelsea throwing himself to the floor in the community shield. But then i thought about it.

But did you really watch the Olympics? Did you not see the shouting at the referee in the Volleyball? Did you not see the guys in the distance running trying to trip each other up? In the open water swimming competitors would slap and punch and try to rip each others goggles off. I've never seen a more incident ridden cheat fest as Water Polo. I can go on and on and on. Hockey, Basketball, Handball. The badminton players trying to lose matches to affect the match draws. Taekwondo players appealing for hits they didn't make all the time. The Dutch and Danish sailors claiming Ainslie hit a mark and him claiming he didn't!

Dwayne Chambers!

Bauge in the road race for crying out loud so he could switch to the track. Rene Enders entered in the mountain biking. I would have loved to have seen the tree thighed Enders go up those hills I tell you! But those are evil foreigners who sneak and bend the rules not like us Brits? Our very own Phillip Hines deliberately crashing to earn a restart in the mens cycling team sprint. God was I inspired by that! None of these things were against the rules, but fair play goes out the window when medals are on the line.

In a lot of sports at the Olympics it's really hard to cheat. Apart from drugs how do you cheat at Javelin or Long Jump or running or swimming? That's why they appear honourable. Because if there was a way to cheat or use the rules to win non footballers take it just as much as footballers do. There is absolutely something to say for the purity of competition where the outcome is based entirely on ability. Where a sport is so black and white as to avoid cheating. Where video replays can show you everything and are looked at leisurely so it means there is no possibility of cheating.

Football is not like this. Team sports are not like this. TeamGB good, football bad is brain dead thinking. To hold these athletes up as paragons of virtue is naive at best. In the sports they can act like footballers they do act like them.

If we want to look at personal lives is Usain Bolt going out mid tournament with the Swedish handball team ok? What if I dunno Joe Hart did that in the Euros? Is Jason Kenny getting off with Laura Trott who used to date another cyclist in the team GB squad cool? I remember John Terry getting weeks of bad news for the same thing with Wayne Bridge. Kenny's 24 and already got a kid from a previous relationship too! People are people, but noone cares about these cyclists private lives just as we shouldn't care about footballers. We absolutely should be bright enough to separate sporting performance from personal choice.

We just signed Cunningham from Man City. He left Ireland to come here to play football and develop. There's no difference between what he did and Mo Farrah. But he doesn't have a gold medal, so who cares right?There are good footballers, there are bad athletes and obviously vice versa.

Good post

[Mad Cyril]

Redhyde - quality post brilliantly put together and of journalistic quality.

I have just been lucky enough to have spent two weeks supporting the games at the Olympic park. You may have just burst my bubble.

[MarcusX]

I thought we'd get this. I had a moment of this myself after flicking between mountain bike riders breaking bones on that scary hazard ridden course to the Hazard at Chelsea throwing himself to the floor in the community shield. But then i thought about it.

But did you really watch the Olympics? Did you not see the shouting at the referee in the Volleyball? Did you not see the guys in the distance running trying to trip each other up? In the open water swimming competitors would slap and punch and try to rip each others goggles off. I've never seen a more incident ridden cheat fest as Water Polo. I can go on and on and on. Hockey, Basketball, Handball. The badminton players trying to lose matches to affect the match draws. Taekwondo players appealing for hits they didn't make all the time. The Dutch and Danish sailors claiming Ainslie hit a mark and him claiming he didn't!

Dwayne Chambers!

Bauge in the road race for crying out loud so he could switch to the track. Rene Enders entered in the mountain biking. I would have loved to have seen the tree thighed Enders go up those hills I tell you! But those are evil foreigners who sneak and bend the rules not like us Brits? Our very own Phillip Hines deliberately crashing to earn a restart in the mens cycling team sprint. God was I inspired by that! None of these things were against the rules, but fair play goes out the window when medals are on the line.

In a lot of sports at the Olympics it's really hard to cheat. Apart from drugs how do you cheat at Javelin or Long Jump or running or swimming? That's why they appear honourable. Because if there was a way to cheat or use the rules to win non footballers take it just as much as footballers do. There is absolutely something to say for the purity of competition where the outcome is based entirely on ability. Where a sport is so black and white as to avoid cheating. Where video replays can show you everything and are looked at leisurely so it means there is no possibility of cheating.

Football is not like this. Team sports are not like this. TeamGB good, football bad is brain dead thinking. To hold these athletes up as paragons of virtue is naive at best. In the sports they can act like footballers they do act like them.

If we want to look at personal lives is Usain Bolt going out mid tournament with the Swedish handball team ok? What if I dunno Joe Hart did that in the Euros? Is Jason Kenny getting off with Laura Trott who used to date another cyclist in the team GB squad cool? I remember John Terry getting weeks of bad news for the same thing with Wayne Bridge. Kenny's 24 and already got a kid from a previous relationship too! People are people, but noone cares about these cyclists private lives just as we shouldn't care about footballers. We absolutely should be bright enough to separate sporting performance from personal choice.

We just signed Cunningham from Man City. He left Ireland to come here to play football and develop. There's no difference between what he did and Mo Farrah. But he doesn't have a gold medal, so who cares right?There are good footballers, there are bad athletes and obviously vice versa.

One of the best posts ever made on this forum. Sort of what I hinted at about not knowing the ins and outs of the athletes, except with clear knowledge.

Unfortunately your right, there are some good footballers and some bad athletes. Even Usain Bolt slowing down before the finish line is massively disrespectful to his opposition, but hes seen as some sort of "legend" for doing it. It was an arrogant p*ss take.

[bearded_red]

I thought we'd get this. I had a moment of this myself after flicking between mountain bike riders breaking bones on that scary hazard ridden course to the Hazard at Chelsea throwing himself to the floor in the community shield. But then i thought about it.

But did you really watch the Olympics? Did you not see the shouting at the referee in the Volleyball? Did you not see the guys in the distance running trying to trip each other up? In the open water swimming competitors would slap and punch and try to rip each others goggles off. I've never seen a more incident ridden cheat fest as Water Polo. I can go on and on and on. Hockey, Basketball, Handball. The badminton players trying to lose matches to affect the match draws. Taekwondo players appealing for hits they didn't make all the time. The Dutch and Danish sailors claiming Ainslie hit a mark and him claiming he didn't!

Dwayne Chambers!

Bauge in the road race for crying out loud so he could switch to the track. Rene Enders entered in the mountain biking. I would have loved to have seen the tree thighed Enders go up those hills I tell you! But those are evil foreigners who sneak and bend the rules not like us Brits? Our very own Phillip Hines deliberately crashing to earn a restart in the mens cycling team sprint. God was I inspired by that! None of these things were against the rules, but fair play goes out the window when medals are on the line.

In a lot of sports at the Olympics it's really hard to cheat. Apart from drugs how do you cheat at Javelin or Long Jump or running or swimming? That's why they appear honourable. Because if there was a way to cheat or use the rules to win non footballers take it just as much as footballers do. There is absolutely something to say for the purity of competition where the outcome is based entirely on ability. Where a sport is so black and white as to avoid cheating. Where video replays can show you everything and are looked at leisurely so it means there is no possibility of cheating.

Football is not like this. Team sports are not like this. TeamGB good, football bad is brain dead thinking. To hold these athletes up as paragons of virtue is naive at best. In the sports they can act like footballers they do act like them.

If we want to look at personal lives is Usain Bolt going out mid tournament with the Swedish handball team ok? What if I dunno Joe Hart did that in the Euros? Is Jason Kenny getting off with Laura Trott who used to date another cyclist in the team GB squad cool? I remember John Terry getting weeks of bad news for the same thing with Wayne Bridge. Kenny's 24 and already got a kid from a previous relationship too! People are people, but noone cares about these cyclists private lives just as we shouldn't care about footballers. We absolutely should be bright enough to separate sporting performance from personal choice.

We just signed Cunningham from Man City. He left Ireland to come here to play football and develop. There's no difference between what he did and Mo Farrah. But he doesn't have a gold medal, so who cares right?There are good footballers, there are bad athletes and obviously vice versa.

Well said. I find it extremely irritating why for some reason in this country we simply cannot celebrate success in other sports. We always have to use it as a stick to beat the football players with.

And as you have quite rightly said, if journalists spent their lives trying to find dirt on athletes in any sport, in the way they do with footballers, they would find their fair share.

[Guest Cliftonville]

Sky have secured the rights to televise the Premier League again at the cost of billions of pounds. How much money will go to coaching kids at grassroots level? Not even 1%.

The UK was dominant at some sports at the olympics. At the European championships England looked technically inept. The Olympics have shown how a long term strategy at governing level in sports away from football creates success. The European championships showed up football in this Country for how myopic it is.

[Super]

Not sure what people expect. How sick does it make you feel that players earn 100k a week and want even more money. The average person earns that in 4 years in this country. You watch them in tournaments and do they care NO, that is obvious. It was great for 2 weeks to watch people that aren't obsessed with money do the country proud. The rowing guy who won silver and cried and said he let the country down that is what this country is about.

[Redhyde]

Redhyde - quality post brilliantly put together and of journalistic quality.

I have just been lucky enough to have spent two weeks supporting the games at the Olympic park. You may have just burst my bubble.

I'm really proud of the Olympics. I took time off to watch it and I'm not regretting the decision. The conduct of team GB isn't the reason I'm proud because as I listed sport is defined by it's rules and human nature is what it is and will always try to push those rules and boundaries. The drama level is the same wherever the games are held so my interest isn't higher like so many people. Just because the circus is outside my door it makes me no more inclined to visit it.

What I'm proud of, is the crowd and the volunteers. In the opening ceremony during the speeches there were two high spots in cheering. One was for the first mention of the volunteers, and the other for there finally being female representatives and female participation from all countries and in all sports. That made me proud of the crowd. What I loved about the opening ceremony was the one thing we do differently to every other country. The ability to laugh at ourselves. I've never seen a country in the worlds sight be prepared to laugh at itself. And I've never seen so many people supporting everything. It's fine to be able to put out crowds for the major sports. Only 30000 of the 80 on the night involving the mens 100m final were British but we sold out heat mornings at the swimming and if people didn't watch the mens marathon you really should.

“I’ve never raced in front of this many people in my life, but it’s a crazy experience and I’ll remember it forever.” Brook Crain (American womens BMX 7th place in the final)

I'm proud that we were able to deliver that experience for people. I just don't think people should bag footballers just because they're involved in a rich sport. No kid I've ever met started playing football for the money. Money is a bi-product of its popularity.

What can football take from the Olympics? Well us as supporters can certainly be nicer when other teams beat us right? We can celebrate the drama of sport and not be so concerned about who wins and loses. And wouldn't it be great if the police and stewards, ticket collectors, cleaners and workers who are getting paid were half as nice as the volunteers were at the Olympics. When you step off a train somewhere in the north of England and you're met by the police who ask you if you need help getting to the ground and hope you enjoy the day rather than meeting you with truncheons drawn.

Sky have secured the rights to televise the Premier League again at the cost of billions of pounds. How much money will go to coaching kids at grassroots level? Not even 1%.

The UK was dominant at some sports at the olympics. At the European championships England looked technically inept. The Olympics have shown how a long term strategy at governing level in sports away from football creates success. The European championships showed up football in this Country for how myopic it is.

Not sure what people expect. How sick does it make you feel that players earn 100k a week and want even more money. The average person earns that in 4 years in this country. You watch them in tournaments and do they care NO, that is obvious. It was great for 2 weeks to watch people that aren't obsessed with money do the country proud. The rowing guy who won silver and cried and said he let the country down that is what this country is about.

This is the stuff that annoys me. You just seem to lack context. If a sport is worth Billions to a company to broadcast, and to broadcast JUST to one country do you not think the players who are after all the ones who make the product watchable deserve a slice of that? And a rather large slice too. That's not even all of the income, there's the merchandising, tickets, sponsorship etc etc.

If I'm doing the same job as someone else I'd expect to be paid the same. So if fullback A earns double what fullback B does why shouldn't fullback B even if he's on 60k p/w ask for more? You don't have to give in to the demands. And if full back B can get more elsewhere it's his right to try to get that. I wouldn't be happy if the bloke on the next desk earned double what i did for the same amount of work. There's plenty of players who have cried when England failed at tournaments. The arch Beelzebub Ashley Cole even looked miserable when we went out this time.

I watched the 800m final with David Rudisha winning in spectacular fashion. There was a Brit in that Andrew Osagie and here's his interview.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19203021

Why he laughing? He came 8th. Last in a final. He was lumbering around, completely off the pace. You've had the funding you've had the coaching, just run quicker..try harder..he earns more than I do in a year.. I do not get why people want to judge footballers differently. And it is WANTING to.

Just enjoy the sport for what it is and ignore the hype bullshit around it. We live in a society where there's maybe too much information. But you don't have to listen to all of it. I think what a lot of people like about the Olympics is it's pretty much, just sport. Try viewing football like that and maybe you'll have more fun.

[everreddy]

What we can learn from Team GB: lots!!!

For starters:

• putting energy into our own performance - as participants and fans - rather than foul mouthed "put downs" to the opposition;
  
• celebrate success, but recognise when the opposition is better than us;
  
• applaud skill and commitment;
  
• be generous in defeat, proud in performance;
  
• accept decisions - even when they go against us;
  
• show energy and dedication to the team effort;
  
• learn how to express ourselves positively, avoiding unacceptable language;
  
• recognise responsibilties as adults and role models to young people...
  

I could go on...

The attitude of the Olympians was like a breath of fresh air, after the crass, unsportsmanlike behaviour of many of our "top" footballers!

[Guest Cliftonville]

Redhyde I was putting things into context.

I enjoyed the Olympics and I expected GB's success because it was earnt via hardwork and collective planning. That long term stratedy is not present in football.

More context. There are far less coaches in England V France, Germany and Spain. Kids in the UK will get a inferior grouding in the game. The richest football league in the world with a revenue of billions is not putting even a tiny 1% slice of that into country wide coaching for the future.

Coaching for kids in the UK in football is piss poor too often. No excuse for that apart from too many on the take at the top level.

[everreddy]

If people feel that strongly how bad footballers r I suggest keep your money in your pocket instead of adding to there wealth and there arrogance they moan about it but still go watch it strange if I didn't like the way someone acted I wouldn't want to b or pay to see these people . Don't believe everything u read in the papers .

Football is a beautiful game. Pity its so badly tainted by a few, but vociferous morons among those who play and watch the game...

That's not a reason to give up on a sport that's provided so many with pleasure, at grass roots as well as top professional levels - as participants and spectators...

All the more reason to work together to translate the Olympic spirit, making our sport even better, and football stadia places where families and children can admire the skills of positive role models...without being surrounded by mindless, foul-mouthed chanting....

[Topsham Red]

A tad harsh on Andrew Osagie there Redhype! he hardly lumbered about - he ran his socks off, ran a PB and i think a GB record, and if he had ran that time in Bejing would have won gold!

[Redhyde]

A tad harsh on Andrew Osagie there Redhype! he hardly lumbered about - he ran his socks off, ran a PB and i think a GB record, and if he had ran that time in Bejing would have won gold!

I was just judging him like a football team. I was just making the point that we treat "failures" by different athletes in different sports differently. Why is it ok for Andrew Osagie to be 8th and happy when England football teams go out in the top 8 and are slaughtered. It's ridiculous.

[Super]

I was just judging him like a football team. I was just making the point that we treat "failures" by different athletes in different sports differently. Why is it ok for Andrew Osagie to be 8th and happy when England football teams go out in the top 8 and are slaughtered. It's ridiculous.

perhaps that he set a personal best? his was certianly not a failure.

[Redhyde]

perhaps that he set a personal best? his was certianly not a failure.

Well the current crop of English footballers equaled their personal best and in many cases set theirs by reaching the last eight of a major tournament but they're failures and he's not.

[Super]

Well the current crop of English footballers equaled their personal best and in many cases set theirs by reaching the last eight of a major tournament but they're failures and he's not.

If you think getting outclassed by Italy and not being able to put 3 passes together is getting better then good luck to you.

[Redhyde]

Redhyde I was putting things into context.

I enjoyed the Olympics and I expected GB's success because it was earnt via hardwork and collective planning. That long term stratedy is not present in football.

More context. There are far less coaches in England V France, Germany and Spain. Kids in the UK will get a inferior grouding in the game. The richest football league in the world with a revenue of billions is not putting even a tiny 1% slice of that into country wide coaching for the future.

Coaching for kids in the UK in football is piss poor too often. No excuse for that apart from too many on the take at the top level.

But you're confused about what the Premier league is there for. The Premier league isn't there to support the National football team. It's there to sustain itself and make a profit for its members. And it's doing a magnificent job of this. Why should it invest in grass roots football if it's of no benefit to itself?You want to be having a go at the FA, whose job it actually is to produce and sustain grass roots players and coaching and a successful national team. All your points are totally valid and I've made them myself about football coaching etc.Team GB isn't a sport. It's a collection of individual sports run utterly differently and with vast differences in success. An many Olympic sports can be dominated by individuals who gloss over a nations failings whereas a ridiculously popular team sport can't. Is British distance running good or bad? Mo Farrah totally skews it. You can't fudge football results by only producing center halves and right midfielders. But you can mess a medal table up by producing cyclists, rowers and sailors while being rubbish at swimming and shooting and running quickly.

[Redhyde]

If you think getting outclassed by Italy and not being able to put 3 passes together is getting better then good luck to you.

They equaled or bettered their personal and collective tournament performance. Do you have a better way of measuring a footballing teams personal best?Osagie was outclassed by two Kenyans someone from Botswana two Americans an Ethiopian and a Sudanese.My point is what's the difference? Why apply one rule for one and not the other? They both put in top 8 performances. They both got outclassed. They both improved on previous performances. I'm not hating on Osagie, I just don't think he should be held up in this celebration of all things Team GB against a football team with a pretty much equal performance.

[Super]

They equaled or bettered their personal and collective tournament performance. Do you have a better way of measuring a footballing teams personal best?Osagie was outclassed by two Kenyans someone from Botswana two Americans an Ethiopian and a Sudanese.My point is what's the difference? Why apply one rule for one and not the other? They both put in top 8 performances. They both got outclassed. They both improved on previous performances. I'm not hating on Osagie, I just don't think he should be held up in this celebration of all things Team GB against a football team with a pretty much equal performance.

Osage ran a time that would of got gold in the previous 3 Olympics, to compare him to our useless football team is insane. He performed to best of his ability, nobody can say that about the England football team.

[One Team In Keynsham]

Not sure what people expect. How sick does it make you feel that players earn 100k a week and want even more money. The average person earns that in 4 years in this country. You watch them in tournaments and do they care NO, that is obvious. It was great for 2 weeks to watch people that aren't obsessed with money do the country proud. The rowing guy who won silver and cried and said he let the country down that is what this country is about.

Is it just footballers who make you sick with their wage demands? How about sportsmen from other disciplines, film stars, musicians or TV celebrities earning millions, do any of those things make you queasy also?

[Robbored]

Football, particularly in this country is its own worse enemy which stems from the repeated disrespect for the officials. Its been an inherent problem for simply decades but has got worse since the massive TV coverage started 20+ years ago. Its not just the players who are to blame but TV pundits with slow mo and strong, often critical views about the standard of refereeing.

I posted on another thread that footballs attitude will not change unless FIFA introduce yellow cards for any dissent and adopt the same approach as rugby do. Only the captain can speak to the referee. It wouldn't take long to catch on. A few yellow cards and sending offs and even the thickest player will soon learn.

FIFA are a weak bunch and won't consider anything controversial so sadly nothing will change.

[Red-Robbo]

Football, particularly in this country is its own worse enemy which stems from the repeated disrespect for the officials.

Part of the trouble there, evil twin, is that the officials so often aren't fit to officiate. We've seen some shockers in recent seasons at AG - not just the 'partially sighted' or inconsistent but officials who genuinely don't appear to know the laws of the game. I'm sure every set of supporters could say the same. And if we get frustrated with them from the stands, it's unsurprising the players do from time-to-time.

Reffing is a very tough and demanding job. Those who do it deserve plenty of kudos. But please, let's have a system that genuinely scrutinises crap decisions rather than the shrug of the shoulders and "that's part of the game". I know awful refs can be 'demoted' but I think too often the 4th official's report paints rather too cosy a picture of many games. Retrospective cards/a decent system of appeals against cards would help.

[Guest Cliftonville]

But you're confused about what the Premier league is there for. The Premier league isn't there to support the National football team. It's there to sustain itself and make a profit for its members. And it's doing a magnificent job of this. Why should it invest in grass roots football if it's of no benefit to itself?You want to be having a go at the FA, whose job it actually is to produce and sustain grass roots players and coaching and a successful national team. All your points are totally valid and I've made them myself about football coaching etc.Team GB isn't a sport. It's a collection of individual sports run utterly differently and with vast differences in success. An many Olympic sports can be dominated by individuals who gloss over a nations failings whereas a ridiculously popular team sport can't. Is British distance running good or bad? Mo Farrah totally skews it. You can't fudge football results by only producing center halves and right midfielders. But you can mess a medal table up by producing cyclists, rowers and sailors while being rubbish at swimming and shooting and running quickly.

I understand that the Premier League exists due to simple noble greed. I understand that due to its self interest it will exert a negative influence on youth development i.e EPPP. The FA are impotent v the Premier league. Nothing learned from the Olympics can be relevent unless that greed is tackled.Team GB's performance was superb. The medal table did not lie as it was case of excellence across sports add boxing, gymnastics and more to that list. The 800 metre runner you had pop was the only athlete from europe in his final.

[Rob k]

I understand that the Premier League exists due to simple noble greed. I understand that due to its self interest it will exert a negative influence on youth development i.e EPPP. The FA are impotent v the Premier league. Nothing learned from the Olympics can be relevent unless that greed is tackled.Team GB's performance was superb. The medal table did not lie as it was case of excellence across sports add boxing, gymnastics and more to that list. The 800 metre runner you had pop was the only athlete from europe in his final.

Your not getting his point, that 800m runner did his best and came 8th and everybody is congratulating him for his performance, That sqaud of footballers have done exactly the same at the Euros and they get slated for it?

As already said the blame lies with the FA not the players for not being good enough to compete past the 1/4 finals, before the tournament nobody expected us to get out the group remember.

[Super]

Your not getting his point, that 800m runner did his best and came 8th and everybody is congratulating him for his performance, That sqaud of footballers have done exactly the same at the Euros and they get slated for it?

As already said the blame lies with the FA not the players for not being good enough to compete past the 1/4 finals, before the tournament nobody expected us to get out the group remember.

Don't be ridiculous. Did the footballers perform to the best of there ability NO. Completely different.

[screech]

But you're confused about what the Premier league is there for. The Premier league isn't there to support the National football team. It's there to sustain itself and make a profit for its members.

The Premier Leagues initial concept was for it to be set up and designed to enhance the National Side of this country, you are wrong on that score.

[Redhyde]

Don't be ridiculous. Did the footballers perform to the best of there ability NO. Completely different.

Where have this set of players performed better than a quarter finals? It's equaled or matched their personal best.

The Premier Leagues initial concept was for it to be set up and designed to enhance the National Side of this country, you are wrong on that score.

And Shell's aim is to meet the energy needs of society, in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally viable, now and in the future.

Seriously the EPPP is designed to

Increase the number and quality of Home Grown Players gaining professional contracts in the clubs and playing first-team football at the highest level

Create more time for players to play and be coached

Improve coaching provision

Implement a system of effective measurement and quality assurance

Positively influence strategic investment into the Academy System, demonstrating value for money

Seek to implement significant gains in every aspect of player development

but what it actually means is that a category-A academy can go to any other training ground to watch a player (giving 48 hours notice) and effectively buy the player for a fixed fee starting from £3,000

Are people really naive enough to believe mission statements... guess there's always one. Made my points that were worth making on this thread /done with it.

[Guest Cliftonville]

Your not getting his point, that 800m runner did his best and came 8th and everybody is congratulating him for his performance, That sqaud of footballers have done exactly the same at the Euros and they get slated for it?

As already said the blame lies with the FA not the players for not being good enough to compete past the 1/4 finals, before the tournament nobody expected us to get out the group remember.

I don't think the analogy is comparable. The athlete was the best in his field from europe and he did himself more than justice. England have stagnated over years, that is understating it. Britains athletes clearly have not. Some sports have over performed e.g boxing, cycling and rowing. That success is based on a long term view beyond greed is good. Football and its "stars" in the UK looks rancid to Joe public and for good reason.

[Cunnyfunt]

I thought we'd get this. I had a moment of this myself after flicking between mountain bike riders breaking bones on that scary hazard ridden course to the Hazard at Chelsea throwing himself to the floor in the community shield. But then i thought about it.

But did you really watch the Olympics? Did you not see the shouting at the referee in the Volleyball? Did you not see the guys in the distance running trying to trip each other up? In the open water swimming competitors would slap and punch and try to rip each others goggles off. I've never seen a more incident ridden cheat fest as Water Polo. I can go on and on and on. Hockey, Basketball, Handball. The badminton players trying to lose matches to affect the match draws. Taekwondo players appealing for hits they didn't make all the time. The Dutch and Danish sailors claiming Ainslie hit a mark and him claiming he didn't!

Dwayne Chambers!

Bauge in the road race for crying out loud so he could switch to the track. Rene Enders entered in the mountain biking. I would have loved to have seen the tree thighed Enders go up those hills I tell you! But those are evil foreigners who sneak and bend the rules not like us Brits? Our very own Phillip Hines deliberately crashing to earn a restart in the mens cycling team sprint. God was I inspired by that! None of these things were against the rules, but fair play goes out the window when medals are on the line.

In a lot of sports at the Olympics it's really hard to cheat. Apart from drugs how do you cheat at Javelin or Long Jump or running or swimming? That's why they appear honourable. Because if there was a way to cheat or use the rules to win non footballers take it just as much as footballers do. There is absolutely something to say for the purity of competition where the outcome is based entirely on ability. Where a sport is so black and white as to avoid cheating. Where video replays can show you everything and are looked at leisurely so it means there is no possibility of cheating.

Football is not like this. Team sports are not like this. TeamGB good, football bad is brain dead thinking. To hold these athletes up as paragons of virtue is naive at best. In the sports they can act like footballers they do act like them.

If we want to look at personal lives is Usain Bolt going out mid tournament with the Swedish handball team ok? What if I dunno Joe Hart did that in the Euros? Is Jason Kenny getting off with Laura Trott who used to date another cyclist in the team GB squad cool? I remember John Terry getting weeks of bad news for the same thing with Wayne Bridge. Kenny's 24 and already got a kid from a previous relationship too! People are people, but noone cares about these cyclists private lives just as we shouldn't care about footballers. We absolutely should be bright enough to separate sporting performance from personal choice.

We just signed Cunningham from Man City. He left Ireland to come here to play football and develop. There's no difference between what he did and Mo Farrah. But he doesn't have a gold medal, so who cares right?There are good footballers, there are bad athletes and obviously vice versa.

Brilliant read.

[MarcusX]

Don't be ridiculous. Did the footballers perform to the best of there ability NO. Completely different.

Who is to say they didn't? Who is anyone to judge that those players didn't give 100%. Sometimes you can give your all and just not be good enough, that is what happened at the Euros

[One Team In Keynsham]

I don't think the analogy is comparable. The athlete was the best in his field from europe and he did himself more than justice. England have stagnated over years, that is understating it. Britains athletes clearly have not. Some sports have over performed e.g boxing, cycling and rowing. That success is based on a long term view beyond greed is good. Football and its "stars" in the UK looks rancid to Joe public and for good reason.

And yet the sport continues to attract high attendances, high viewing figures on TV, and large sums of money being handed over from Joe Public.

[screech]

Are people really naive enough to believe mission statements... guess there's always one. Made my points that were worth making on this thread /done with it.

Whether you choose to accept it or not, it was designed to improve our national side originally, i'm not denying it was a big con either. Don't be so shitty about it.

[Sixtyseconds]

Football has nothing to learn from the olympics.

Look at John Terry fine figure of sportmanship and led his country to failure before getting stripped of his captaincy or was that after that other business?

Forget about the super injunction look at Ryan Giggs who fought back in the face of adversity and led team GB to failure.

Add more aspirational football heros and inspirations such as Rooney and Cole.

Ennis, Farah and all the other lot need to shape up.

[Frank Reynolds]

Some of you people just do not get it.