Football is a whole new ball game compared to when I started watching it in 1989, and I was beginning to lose interest in it. Football has lost its soul. The money-men rule the game now, to a much higher degree than they did then. We fans have always been at the bottom of their list of priorities, but at least the player, and therefore the matches, and therefore the results, were pure and honest. Ish.

Tevez to Man Utd? Manu Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Villa owned by Foreigners? Players poncing around, ruling the roost, diving, cheating, whinging? (Let me clarify this. I’, not against a passionate, heart-on-his-sleeve player bending laws to gain an advantage for the club he loves. But a lot of the biggest cheats and whingers are fly-by-nights who only cheat to guarantee their win bonus.) I fell in love with the game standing in a decrepit, crumbling ’stadium’, watched 10 idiots on £500 quid a week try to hoof the ball up to a brilliant, but overweight, Scouser. (Maybe I’m being harsh on some of the Newcastle players. Wayne Fereday could only have been on £350 a week.) It was awful, but at least we has a bond, an affinity with the 10 muppets and Fatty Balatty. That’s just not there any longer.

I’ve moved away from Newcastle, so I don’t get to see that much football ‘in the flesh’. Newcastle, although light years ahead of where we were in ‘89, are probably further away from winning the league now than we were then. So maybe it’s just me. Maybe everyone is still in to the game as much as when they first went. But I’ve asked other fans, and that’s not the case. The whole football experience is ’slicker’. The skill level is higher. The influx of foreign players has led to a more dynamic style of football. But in the ‘parlance’ of the moneymen the ‘product’ is not as satisfying. Our current fat Aussie centre forward maybe 10 times as good as our fat Scouser one from 19 years ago, but I know which one I’ll be nostalgic about in another 19 years.

But, all is not doom and gloom. Keegan has got me watching Newcastle again. And - lo and behold - I’ve even started taking an interest in ‘how the other half live’ - watching the title race and even the Champions League. The reason? Cristiano Ronaldo. I want to see what he is going to do next. To see just how good he can become.

So how good can he become? Some players; Zola, Law, Beardsley, Greaves were capable of scoring goals like the back heel against Villa. Some players ; Shearer, Ferdinand, Bryan Robson, scored goals like the header against Roma. Some players; Andy Cole, van Nistelrooy, Romario scored 35 - 40 goals in a season. Ronaldo is all of the above, and more. My Dad reckons the comparison with George Best are well justified.

So thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo, thank you. The money man have taken a lot out of football. You have reminded us that it’s still all about the magic that can be created by one man at the top of his game.

“Replays showed Malouda was throwing himself down before Finnan was anywhere near him.”

That’s simply not true, there was contact. Malouda jumped into Finnan, so obviously there was contact. No Chelsea player was appealing even though they have a “willingness to complain at anything and everything”.

Thomas even lowers himself to the idiot anti-Lampard jibe of Fat Frank by saying:

“Then Gerrard unleashed a first-time rocket that was certainly goalbound until it struck Lampard — although, to be fair, there is rather more of the Chelsea star than most midfielders.”

He’s just jumping on any anti-Chelsea slogan out there.

For some reason it seems that Liverpool are the knights in shining armor, come to rescue the League from the Chelsea billions. Apart from Liverpool’s heroic European Cup win they really have failed to deliver in recent years. All this talk of the great Liverpool and their amazing fans. This is club with the great fans that managed to get English clubs kicked out of Europe. Nice one!

Loads of refs have made bad decisions, and do they all get a call of apology from Referees’ chief Keith Hackett and the referee himself? I think not. I remember a few seasons back Dogba getting a second yellow for diving in the penalty area against Aston Villa only for the yellow card to be canceled after review. This obviously means he didn’t dive and was therefore fouled in the penalty area, so Chelsea miss out on a penalty and draw the match. Did the ref call Chelsea up? I don’t think so!

As for Torres. He scored a cracking goal, very nicely taken, but he is a diver of top quality. What is especially good with him is that he does it in such a clever way. However it is still cheating and is a bookable offense (simulation), he did it before being cautioned and carried on after he was cautioned. Thomas had this to say:

“And, most laughable of all, when Fernando Torres threw himself to the ground under a second-half Tal Ben Haim challenge, the ref was surrounded by men in Blue — brandishing imaginary cards.”

“Torres, it must be said, does not need too big a nudge to go down — although he is still miles away from winning a place in the West London School of Ballet. Sorry, make that the Chelsea side.”

Huh?! I look forward to reading more of his drivel in the feature, so to give me something to write about here!

That’s all for now.

Next Ronaldo - More amazing videos are a click away

Finger Tricks - More amazing videos are a click away

5 Goal Ronaldo - The best video clips are right here

Co-inciding with support from Dave Cameron, Alastair Campbell,
Sir Menzies Campbell, Mohammed Al Fayed and interest from Gordon Brown’s office, the campaign is rapidly reaching its apex and is featured in Channel 4’s documentary ‘The Million Pound Footballers’ Giveaway’, June 7th, 9pm.

“This is a very deserving campaign and I’m delighted that so many people involved in the game are supporting it,” says Steve McClaren. “We all rely on nurses throughout our lives and nobody should underestimate the great work they do. Alongside the players I will also be donating a days’ wages in support of them.”

In just 80 days, Noreena Hertz has travelled the length of the country, meeting footballers and managers, persuading them to support the campaign – with absolutely no prior knowledge of the game or its players. “It’s been quite a baptism of fire! Before this started, I knew nothing about football and had never met a footballer, let alone asked one for money.” Noreena says. “Every pound that the footballers have given will make a real difference to the lives of thousands of nurses in Britain who are currently struggling to make ends meet. Nurses who cannot afford the transport costs to get to work – or who are doing two or three jobs to support their families. Or the seven out of ten nurses who have newly qualified and yet do not have jobs to go to.”

“Getting the support of England’s players is a fantastic boost to the Mayday for Nurses campaign and couldn’t come at a better time,” adds Noreena. “As the campaign moves from the training grounds of Clubs to the corridors of Westminster, the support of the England will help ensure the long term solution to the nursing crisis that the campaign has always intended as its goal.”

Inspired by the “tireless support” she witnessed during the care of her terminally ill mother, the campaign has both personal and political gravity for Noreena. With more than £750,000 raised for the fund, she now intends to make sure that MPs face up to the need to address the nursing crisis and give carers a fair deal. Her maxim is simple - footballers understand the value of nurses, football fans understand the value of nurses and the public understand the value of nurses. Now, it’s the government’s turn.
There are now 30,000 registered supporters on the Mayday For Nurses website and 88 MPs from all parties have signed the Early Day Motion 1422 in support of the campaign.

Other supporters include: Aidy Boothroyd, Gareth Southgate, Terry Venables, Chris Coleman, Sir Alex Ferguson, Martin O’Neill, Sam Allardyce, Glenn Roeder, Gianluca Vialli, Freddy Shephard, Graeme le Saux, Jamie Redknapp, Andy Gray, Clive Tyldesley, Adrian Chiles, Geoff Shreeves, Tim Lovejoy and the Soccer AM Team, Ramon Vega, Terry Byrne, Alastair Campbell, Craig Cohon, Tony Finnigan, Tom Watt, Steve Walford, John Robertson, Mike Forde, and the agents Sky Andrews and Rob Segal.

The Million Pound Footballers’ Giveaway will be broadcast on Channel 4, June 7th at 9pm.

For more information visit: www.maydayfornurses.com

TFF say: Hats off to Dr Noreena Hertz, what a great thing she is doing. I am so surprised that more leading footballers (J. Terry, et al) did not get involved and help to sway others to do the same. Having read this very good article - Football’s big guns caught offside - in which Neill Ghosh discusses the poor form displayed by the top football clubs when giving to charity, it’s clear that footballers and the clubs they work for should be doing more in way of cash contribution for charities. Hopefully Dr Hertz’s efforts will help ease the footballers grip on their wallets, not just for the Nurses fund but also for other worth while courses.

Funny Football - Watch the best video clips here

A nice video featuring some stunning goals from England, Italy and more.

Fernando Torres - Atletico Madrid
Amantino Mancini - Roma
Giuseppe Rossi - Parma
Scott Sinclair - Plymouth
Peter Crouch - Liverpool
Juan Pablo Arenas - Chile
Shota Arveladze - AZ Alkmaar
Thierry Henry - Arsenal
Zaltan Ibrahimovic - Inter
Wayne Rooney - Manchester UTD
David Nugent - Preston North END
Pato - Brazil

Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Utd have today (Thursday) announced their support for the Mayday for Nurses campaign, with players from the first team squads donating a day’s pay for a hardship fund for nurses.

Their support, plus players from Charlton Athletic, Everton and Manchester City mean that 206 players have so far backed the campaign, launched by academic and campaigner Dr Noreena Hertz just 12 weeks ago.

Dr Hertz said:

“With just three days to go to the end of the Premiership season, it’s great to get so many more players coming on board. I’ve now got backing from almost all of the clubs in the Premiership, as well as players in the Scottish Premier league. And I hope that even more players will join in before the final whistle blows. Every player who is giving cash makes a real difference to the daily hardships nurses face.”

Off the pitch, support for the campaign is growing in the corridors of power – with MPs from the three main political parties all signing up to a Parliamentary Early Day Motion to support the campaign.

Tabled by the Labour MP and Reading fan Martin Salter, the motion has attracted the support of the Conservative and Lib Dem health spokesmen, Andrew Lansley MP and Norman Lamb MP, as well as a number of other senior MPs.

Dr Hertz added:

“Footballers have done a fantastic job in drawing attention to the difficulties being faced by nurses in the UK – but they cannot solve the long term problem. I am delighted to know that MPs are taking notice and are looking for a solution. I look forward to being able to work with them to find a way of giving nurses the recognition they deserve.”

To see if your club’s players are kind hearted, or to show some support yourself then please visit the website: http://www.maydayfornurses.co.uk/. So far there are only four clubs with NO players signing up, they are: Chelsea, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Newcastle.

Have a watch of the video and get involved.