this stinks all the way to the top

As a long suffering Interista, I must admit I am bit confused by the news coming from Italy. On one hand, the vindication is deep and powerful - unlike any other 'I told you so' I have ever felt in my life. On the other hand, how will this all play out? Will they relegate the teams involved to a lower level? Will they strip them of their titles? If so, how will they re-allocate them? Too many questions have yet to be answered for me to even know how I feel about it.

Since the mushroom cloud is still growing, I will reserve final judgement until the fall-out has settled.

But to all you fans of the the old whore and silvio's bitches, fuck you. And I told you that you were all a bunch of cheating bastards....

Heading Back Home

We came out of yesterday's game in Port of Spain with a 1-1 draw. I didn't actually see the match (thanks to it not being available on any european satellite channels) so after a mad scramble trying to figure something out- we'd been working on it for two weeks, but still no joy- we finally settled for watching a crap video feed online from the Kuwaiti sports channel KTV3.

It was mostly audio, since the video was either choppy or of unwatchable quality.. so you can imagine the tension rising along with the commentator's voice pitch. Reading the (somewhat limited, unfortunately) post-game reports online today it seems that we put in a decent performance and more than matched the T&T team. We would've taken a positive draw had it been handed to us before the game with much satisfaction, since scoring that away goal ensures that the trinis are gonna come flying at us in Bahrain. This perfectly suits our counterattacking game, and our defence showed last night that we can cope with the deadly trio of Yorke-Latapy-John and limit their influence on the events of play.

I must say however that I'm VERY satisfied that their goal was a spectacular effort rather than a lapse in concentration. A half-volley from 25 meters? I'd let them take that shot every single time. We went out and played a tactically smart 90 minutes, stuck to our gameplan and got the precious away goal. Our defence was solid and neutralized a few of the most famous soccer names to come out of the Carribbean. The only reason they're on the scoresheet is because of a slice of luck from an Englishman who just recently discovered that his mother is Trinidadian*.

You know what, it's looking really good. I can't wait until Wedensday.

*Correction: I just found out that his mother was BORN in Trinidad, and isn't Trini as I originally stated. He had never set foot in the country previous to his debut in May.

Kids Come Good

Man Utd 1 - 0 Chelsea

Now THAT was a performance. Each and every single player was magnificent. They chased, they harried, they passed and they got the all-important goal. This is what this side is capable of, and that's what we the fans expect every single game. I hope this kickstarts our season and we go on to put a nice run together.

Old Trafford should be renamed from the "Theatre of Dreams" to "Graveyard of Unbeaten Runs"..

GO ON UNITED!!

Disrespectful Children

I'm guessing all of you have read about the apparent gagging of Roy Keane following the Middlesbrough fiasco by cancelling his interview on MUTV. Well, the whole situation has been kept under wraps with no formal explanations or even acknowledgements from club officials.

A short article on Soccernet today roughly reveals the contents of the Keane interview that never was. In typical Keano fashion he has ripped into the players for such an insipid performance, and took it a step further by suggesting that instead of January purchases being made to rectify the situation, a club clear out is the real solution to Manchester United's ailments. One of the players he singled out from that game was Rio Ferdinand (and rightly so). Apparently Keane had said: "Just because you are paid £120,000 a week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar". He then followed by complaining about the lack of characters and leadership within the team.

What really hit home the most was his final statement in which he says: "I wasn't surprised by the result. I had been expecting one like this. I am sick of having to say it and they are sick of listening to me. They have let down the club, the manager and the fans".

Now that actually shocked me. When Roy Keane lambasts you for a poor performance you play your next game like a man possessed just to avoid getting on his bad side again. When our captain complains of having to harp on about the same issues constantly with the players not responding then it almost paints a picture of an adult lecturing a bunch of adolescents while they roll their eyes in annoyance. That pisses me off. When did the players ever lose fear and respect for the captain and the manager? Is Keane losing his potency as a leader because his injuries are limiting his abilities on the field? He is a prime model for the "leading by example" ethos, and his tireless work from box to box in his heyday would inspire all around him. When players that are 8, 9 or 10 years his junior start disregarding his criticism then you know there's a problem. Is it a problem that's inherent within the current generation of overpaid young premadonnas masquerading around as footballers? Are they really so full of themselves that they no longer care about the heirarchy of football, where the captain is your leader on the pitch, the manager the leader of your life and the fans the reason you're even there to begin with? Maybe they think that they're talented enough to go to any other club they choose if things go belly-up at this one.

I watched that game last Saturday and I can safely say that (bar Rooney) not one of those players out there exhibited the hunger for success required from a Manchester United player. If they don't re-examine their priorities and realize that winning (and not money) is what matters then I'd fully support Keane on his suggestion and kick every single one of them out the front door on a Bosman. Players like that aren't worth the dirt stuck to the bottom of their overpriced boots.

Two Games Away

Bahrain just drew with Uzbekistan 0-0 at the national stadium in Isa Town (not Manama, as all the worldwide news agencies would have you believe), meaning that our away goal in Tashkent on Wedensday has given us the edge over the Uzbeks. I tried streaming both games on the internet using some dodgy Chinese channels but had no joy. Ended up sitting in front of the Fifa.com website scoreboard and frantically hitting the refresh button every 30 seconds.

So we've qualified out of Asia! By tommorow morning we should know if we're going to be facing Trinidad & Tobago or Guatemala in another two-legged playoff in November.

Bahrain in the World Cup. So close you can almost touch it. Come on boys, get your act together over the next month. We've come (sprinting at first, crawling near the end) this far, we might as well do it. Although I've lost faith in the team since their performance levels dropped so steeply after the Asian Cup, I still hold a fragile belief that we can truly do this.

Just two more games between us and the biggest of world stages. Two more games.

Tedium

Now I know you were all looking forward to seeing if Qadam can go a whole month without any new posts or comments, the anticipation and excitement must've been quite captivating..

However, I'm sorry to have to rain on everyone's parade but I thought I'd share an article that caught my attention with you all.. its quite humorous, and I found it very enjoyable.

Q, I noticed you had a draft post saved discussing Chelsea's money and whether it was good or bad for the game.. maybe reading this will inspire you to share it with us at some point? I must say, I've been curious to read it for quite some time now..

This is linked to Soccernet.com, so although most of you will probably have clicked on it and read it, some people seem to prefer other football-fix-providing sites for obscure personal reasons (correct me if I'm wrong here, Bikeshed) and might've missed out on reading this..

Just to set the scene, Soccernet run a weekly section where the best players during the weekend are selected and reviewed.. this link leads you to the Premiership weekend spanning the 17th to the 19th of September.

Enjoy.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=343032&cc=5739

*Double Take*

I read this in the news following the Arsenal v. Chelsea game and I had to re-read it again to make sure I was seeing right..

Micheal Essien, Didier Drogba and Sean Wright-Phillips.. the three Chelsea substitutes during the second half of that game have a combined value of 70 million pounds.

That is more than the worth of the entire Arsenal squad, a team that's supposed to be competing with Chelsea for the title.

Roman, you've well and truly gone and fucked the world of football up.