Sunday 26 February 2017

Claudio Ranieri: Title Winner, Tinkerman and The Calmest Manager Of All-Time



Late on Thursday 23rd February, Leicester City announced that they'd parted ways with manager Claudio Ranieri.



The Footballing World was shocked at the announcement. Not due to the Foxes being one point above the relegation zone but because nine months ago, the Italian did the impossible and won the Premier League with a team tipped for relegation.



The most liked manager in all of Football bows out of the Premier League as a title winner but it wasn't always like that.

Back in July 2015 when Ranieri was appointed manager at the King Power stadium, many questioned the decision to put a man who had once lost to the Faroe Islands, when he was manager of Greece, in charge of a Premier League club.

Then 10 months later, the guy who had been nicknamed 'Tinkerman' due to his continuous team changes won Leicester their first-ever top flight title win and fantastically defeating the 5000/1 odds that the bookies had set for Leicester winning the league at the start of the 2015/16 season.

Reality then creeped back in.

With N'Golo Kante gone to Chelsea for £32 million, Leicester lost their drive and determination to put in a decent defence of their title. They were never going to win back-to-back titles but they were expected to at leaset finish in the top half of the table.

This never happened and the brilliant memories of last season have been tainted by a sense of sheer disappointment of the players that were heroes last May.


Gone are the memories of Jamie Vardy breaking Rudd Van Nistelrooy's record of scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League games, gone are the memories of Mahrez running riot at the Etihad and gone is the commitment to keep a clean sheet in order to get a pizza.


So was it right that Ranieri was dismissed? If you take away the fact that he won the Premier League last season, then it makes sense.

The champions slipped into the relegation zone yesterday after Crystal Palace bear Middlesbrough 1-0. They haven't scored in the league in 2017 and have only won one in their last 10 league matches.

What is so hard for fans and journalists alike is that the club wouldn't stick with a man that did the impossible and made the thought of relegation reserved for the Nigel Pearson era.




Maybe Ranieri should have retired once he won the league because it wouldn't have gotten any better.

However, you can't blame the 65 year old staying to manage in the Champions League against teams such as Club Brugge, Copenhagen, Porto and Sevilla after the up and down career that he's had.

Another factor in all of this is the felling that this is an example of corporations taking the sentiment out of Football and widening the gap between what the majority of fans want and what owners want.







It's mad to think Leicester City are a 1-0 win away from the Champions League quarter-finals and yet the man who made them household names has been shown the door.

There were rumours that some players told the chairman that what Ranieri was doing wasn't working and regardless of whether it's true or not, how can Leicester be doing so well in one competition (Champions League) and doing horrendous in another (Premier League)?.






The transition from last season when the neutrals were rooting for them to win the league to now were many want them to get relegated is unreal.

The whole situation has left a bad taste in everyone's mouths and it's a shame that Ranieri, a man who said for months last season that he was taking it as it came, said that his dream had died on Thursday.




As Leicester start the post Ranieri era against Liverpool tomorrow at the King Power stadium, the players have 13 games to retain their Premier League status.

They'll already become the worst title defenders in English top flight history, after Chelsea's embarrassing 10th finish last season, but will they retain their top-flight status? Will they avoid the drop for the second time in three years? It doesn't seem likely...








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Sunday 12 February 2017

UFC 208 Review



DISCLAIMER: This article is looking at the co and main event of the main card.

As UFC 208 drew to a close at the Barclays Centre in New York, the crowd went home annoyed, confused and frustrated. The co and main event fights, which both went to decision, left media and fans stretching their at the judges' scorecards and the official decisions that followed. With that in mind, let's look at the co and main event of an underwhelming PPV.



Anderson Silva beats Derek Brunson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 and 30-26)

Anderson 'The Spider' Silva picked up a unanimous decision win over Derek Brunson in the co main event. 

However, many had Brunson (now 16-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) winning the fight with him taking the first and third round. Silva (now 34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC), in the post-fight press conference, stated that he felt he had won the fight.

Brunson massively disagreed and has made a string of tweets of his disappointment of the loss, whilst still showing respect to one of his favourite fighters, Anderson Silva.

For Silva, it looks likely that he'll continue until he gets a rematch against Michael Bisping, regardless of whether or not the Brit is the Middleweight champion. This was Silva's first win since knocking out Stephen Bonnar at UFC 153 back in October 2012, after his unanimous decision victory at UFC 183 over Nick Diaz was overturned to a no contest after both tested positive for banned substances.

 Silva said “I am so happy,” “I am so happy because I worked very hard for this fight. I wanted to give my best for my fans and for New York. New York is a very special place to me. It makes me feel like I’m at home. I’m just so happy." 

 "I am sorry for being so emotional, but it is just because I am happy to be here. Next, I just want to go home and look at what will be the next challenge for me. I am very thankful to New York and to my fans.”

 Brunson was left extremely furious and said “Everyone is telling me that I won,” “I feel terrible. It’s not Anderson’s fault or the UFC’s fault. 

 "I took this fight on short notice and to have this happen is just crazy to me. I take this seriously. This is my job. I put everything into this and I got robbed. It sucks.”






Germaine de Randamie beats Holly Holm via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47 and 48-47) and 
becomes the first-ever UFC Women's Featherweight Champion

 Germanie de Randamie (now 7-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) became the first-ever Women's Featherweight Champion after beating Holly Holm (now 10-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) via unanimous decision.

This didn't sit well with many watching, as de Randamie twice (at the end of the second and third round) hit Holm after the horn and referee Todd Anderson warned the former Dutch kickboxing Champion but didn't take any points.

This turned out to be crucial with the three judges scoring 48-47 in de Randamie's favour.

Regarding the illegal punches, de Randamie said “It was in the heat of the moment,” “I apologised. The referee, the first time, told me it was at the buzzer. It wasn’t meant for me to hit her after the bell. I apologize. I’m not like that.”

 Holm said in the post-fight press conference that she thought the illegal punches from de Randamie were intentional. 

 “A lot of times, the first one they give a warning, that’s kind of normal,” “I wouldn’t expect them to take a point after the first one, even though it was intentional. The second time, at that point you think they’d do something.”

 “It wasn’t like the last punch of a combination after the bell rang,” “It was intentional and it was after the bell. What can you do?”

 In her Octagon interview, de Randamie didn't call out Cris Cyborg, who was in attendance for the historic main event, but said that she would have surgery on her hand after suffering damaged ligaments to it during her fight with Larissa Pacheco at UFC 185. 

 Through this, the New York crowd booed the main event as the lacklustre fight was capped off without a star being made. Holm has now lost three in a row and de Randamie said she was going away for a while and didn't set up a future fight with Cyborg.

Heading out of UFC 208, the event was certainly underwhelming and I agree with Dana White that it was a forgettable night for a number of reasons.














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Friday 10 February 2017

UFC 208 Preview



DISCLAIMER: This post is covering the co main event and main event of the main card.

 UFC 208 will take place from the Barclays Centre on February 11th and the co and main event fights are very interesting.

In the co main event, a young Middleweight (Derek Brunson) looks to prove himself as a serious contender against one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Anderson Silva. The first Women's Featherweight champion will be crowned in the main event when former Bantamweight champion Holly Holm faces off against the former Dutch kickboxer Germaine de Randamie.  

In this post, I will be previewing these two fights and giving my prediction.

Anderson Silva vs Derek Brunson (Middleweight bout)

Anderson Silva is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time.

Oldest active fighter in the Middleweight division at 41.

Longest Championship reign in UFC history (2,457 days, 14th October 2006 - 6th June 2013).

Most main event appearances in UFC history (19).

You just can't argue with that.

The Brazilian (33-8 MMA, 16-4 UFC, 1 No Contest) made the most title defences in the UFC (10) when he was the Middleweight champion and defeated very notable opponents such as Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen (twice).

Although the Spider has had mixed results in recent fights, he has continued to fight for the fun of it and his next opponent is hungry to prove himself against the future UFC Hall of Famer.

Derek Brunson (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was on a roll before losing to Robert Whittaker in November 2016. The North Carolina native had won his last five fights inside the Octagon, with four first-round knockouts, and is one of the many prospects in the Middleweight division.

He's been given the opportunity to fight arguably the greatest Middleweight of all-time and with a win, he will have a serious claim for a title fight later this year.

In terms of how the fight will go, I think that Brunson will look to finish the fight within the first or second round not only based off his last six fights but if he knocks out Anderson Silva early on, a star will surely be made.

 However, the experience and selective striking of Silva will prevail over Brunson but Brunson will come out of the fight looking good that he hold his own against a legend.

 PREDICTION: Silva wins via third-round knockout.


Holly Holm vs Germaine de Randamie (For the Inaugural Women's Featherweight Championship)

 The first Women's Featherweight champion will be crowned in the first-ever Women's Featherweight fight in the UFC between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie.

It feels as if the UFC has made this fight without considering the depth of the future Women's Featherweight division, with many Bantamweight fighters having to move up 10 pounds to be considered in the rankings.

This fight was also announced before the inclusion of Anderson Silva in the co main event and thus shows how many would see the UFC as rushing this new Women's division onto a PPV.

Anyway, Holm (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will look to become the first Woman fighter in the UFC to have held multiple titles and cement herself as more than the girl who ended Ronda Rousey's undefeated streak.

Her opponent, de Randamie (6-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC), is a fierce striker and a former kickboxer with a prefect record of 37 fights, 14 via KO.

Both have a mass collection of striking skills, with Holm having a boxing record of 33-2-3, so naturally you'd think there will be a finish in this main event but I'm going to go against the grain and predict a unanimous decision victory for de Randamie.

The reason for this is that despite the vast striking skills of both fighters, a large part of he fight will go to the ground where I'm confident neither will get a successful submission.

PREDICTION: de Randamie wins via unanimous decision.











Holly Holm and Germanie de Randamie stare-off before their historic fight.
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Tuesday 7 February 2017

Why Politics Matters In Sport



Recently, many Sportsmen and women have been commenting on the current political situation in which United States President Donald Trump has banned the entry of people to the USA from Iran, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia.



U.S President Donald Trump defends his controversial 'Muslim ban.' 


The response to this has been mixed within the realms of Sport, with some fans congratulating some of Sport's most-known names for speaking up against the ban.

Others however haven't been too pleased with this, with one person tweeting to former England Footballer Gary Lineker the following:


Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion (as long as it's in line with the popular Twitter one right?) but it's interesting that many don't want the line between Politics and Sport to be blurred too much.

It's seems that it needs to happen though.

Look, I'm not saying that we need to have debates on which political party to join on Match of the Day or that we need a political columnist in the back-pages of every newspaper, informing us of how we're all supporting capitalism by attending Sporting events.

The thing is that even before the 'Muslim Ban' sparked a mass of verified Twitter accounts to comment on this huge political decision, politics has crossed over into Sport many a time.

As far back as 1936, at the Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany, Jesse Owens embarrassed Adolf Hitler's ideological claim that black people were inferior in every way when the American won four gold medals (100 and 200 metres, long jump and 4x100 metre relay).

 


Another example of when politics collided with Sport, funnily enough again in Munich and again at the Summer Olympics (1972), was when Arab group Black September killed all 11 members of Israel's Olympic team in the Olympic village.

The World was shocked to think that an Arab group would go to that extent to express their ideology but unfortunately they were wrong.

A recent of example of politics invading Sport is the ever-growing influence of the Chinese Super League in the Football transfer market.

It's seen Oscar move for over £60 million, Carlos Tevez become the highest-paid Footballer in the World (on £615,000 a week!) and Real Madrid offered a world record bid of €250 million with the 2016 Ballon d'Or winner being offered £80 million a year. How did this all come about? From their President, Xi Jinping.

The leader of the World's largest nation (approximately 1.3 billion) has stated his intent for China to win the World Cup in 15 years, by creating 20,000 training facilities, 70,000 pitches and having around 50 million people planing the beautiful game by 2020.

Huang Bowen (C) of China celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Qatar on March 29, 2016

Another Government that has gotten involved in their country's Sport recently, not to the same extent, is Britain.

MPs are set to question the British Cycling coach Simon Cope over the mystery package that was given to five-time Olympic Gold medal winner Bradley Wiggins, which Wiggins received a day before the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine.

Cope travelled from Manchester to Geneva on 12th June 2011 to hand a parcel to the Team Sky doctor Freeman on the final day of the Criterium and claimed he didn't know what it contained.

 It's amazing to think that MPs are questioning a cycling coach over a package that was delivered six years ago after claims of Wiggins doping. 

 Suppose if you make enough allegations, they will eventually raise some eyebrows.

 There are various recent examples of the crossover of politics and Sport, such as Syrian Football under-19's captain Mohammed Jaddou having to flee to Germany due to the civil war between President Asma al-Assad and the rebels (which you can watch below by Copa90) but there is one example that perfectly summaries why politics should matter in Sport.





Just under a week ago, Sean Walsh wrote a blog post of his experience of homophobia at grassroots Football.


Like with everything on social media, the response was mixed, with some questioning why he wrote it and others supporting his article and his fight for uncovering homophobia.



This perfectly illustrates my point in that these topics need to become more prominent in our Sporting discussions if we're to advance not only an as audience but as fans and supporters of whatever Sport we follow.

We will only go backwards if this doesn't materialise.

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