Graceless Powell
After winning his 109th cap, David Beckham revealed that after securing cap number 108, he received a letter from the family of Bobby Moore, the man whose outfield record he had just equalled, congratulating him on his feat.' The note, from Moore’s widow Stephanie, said that ‘Bobby would have been so proud.’ What a shame that others cannot be so gracious. At the weekend, Jeff Powell of the Daily Mail, a friend of the late, great defender, once again stepped on to his soapbox and delivered another dose of vitriol in Beckham’s direction. The England player was accused of ‘prancing out on to the field’ (he didn’t) as ‘the proudest moment in our football history and the memory of its most commanding player were sold out to the spurious cult of celebrity’ (it wasn’t). Of course, the majority of Beckham’s most recent caps have been won from the subs bench but what’s the bloke supposed to do when asked to get stripped off? Refuse? Powell and his cronies would love that wouldn’t they? And are we really to believe that Fabio Capello, the man who refuses to call up Michael Owen, is only indulging Beckham because of his celebrity status? Beckham may not be the best England player ever nor as good as Moore, but demeaning his achievement simply on that basis just isn’t on.
Superfly
Yes, I know I work for them but congratulations should go to the Footy Boots team for highlighting the ‘ripping’ problem of the Nike Superfly football boot. Equally, Nike should be commended for their rapid response. Too often, the views of the consumer are dismissed as irrelevant by large multinationals. In this case, Nike listened to what was said, spoke to the players highlighted in the Footy Boots article and then vowed to sort out the problem as quickly as possible. That’s a win – win for all concerned.
England kit
Thoughts on the new England home kit look to be split pretty evenly. Some think the retro kit is a great idea, other suggest paying £50 for what is essentially a plain polo shirt is asking too much. Personally, I’m warming to it. My problem is the frequency at which these kits come out. Wouldn’t it be great if Umbro and the FA, in these treacherous economic times, could guarantee fans that the current kit won’t change for say, the next 5 years? That way any parents who need to save up before buying their kids a £50 shirt each, will know that they won’t have fork out another week’s wages in a few months time.
Lamps
On the subject of young players getting far too much too quickly, here’s quote for you. “The lads are forgetting the hard work that needs to be done to earn this sort of lifestyle. Not enough of them have the same dedication and it’s something I feel very strongly about. They think they have made it already.” Who said it? Not a manager, coach or administrator but England midfielder Frank Lampard. How refreshing. Lampard is advocating a return to the ‘old ways’ where younger players cleaned the boots of senior professionals. Lampard himself used to clean the boots of Julian Dicks at West Ham and was also made to clean the dressing room showers and toilets. And it wasn’t just him. A host of past and current England players started off in the same way. It’s a great idea that football should reinstate immediately.
Good point about Becks. It’s amazing how blinkered some people (Jeff Powell) can be. Personally, I think his pieces are often filled with opinion which is stated as fact. Can’t believe the Mail let him get away with it.
And good job on the Superfly. One up for Footy Boots.
Yeah, I’m a little sick of all the Becks-bashing that goes on.
I’ve got nothing but respect for Bobby Moore, but really? There’s better healthcare available, it takes a quarter of the time for the players of today in comparison to the old guard.
I mean a Cruciate ligament injury forced Brian Clough to hang up his boots but Cisse can still play top-flight football after two broken legs!
Of course today’s stars can now play longer and thus accrue more caps!
Rant over!
Good shout for Lamps on that as well, instill the work ethic BEFORE you make money an incentive.
The lampard part was funny. I guess going back to basics would be good for some upcoming stars egoes..
For the beck, I say leave him. His performances on milan have been impressive. Yeah he’s not the best anymore but that’s why he’s a substitute.
Superflys are a waist. Less then an ounce is not goin to make u play like C. Ronaldo.
Your a bloody moron for thinking tht..
The england kit is awesome. Im going to order mine today when I get paid.
Great job footy boots. Keep up the good work..
Beckham is a great player, if he wasn’t a great player then he would have nowhere near as many caps as he does. There is no debate. Forget about all the shit outside of football. The anti-Beckham movement is getting so old.
yah really, i never saw why people bashed on beckham so much. he never really seemed like he was super full of himself or really conceited or a bad guy, and it cant be denied he was/is a quality player.
granted, i feel with ANYTHING that garners much mainstream attention, people will start deeming it ‘overrated’.
ive had the same discussion about many different things on many different message boards, whether it was a popular boot or daft punk or a concert venue or a new restaurant lol…if tons of people are hyping it, there will be naysayers out there quick to be the devil’s advocate and call whatever it is overrated.
true, beckham has tons of hype surrounding him…but i think hype surrounds things for a reason. hype wouldn’t have been created if there wasn’t something excellent about it, whether its beckham, or a new boot, or daft punk, or the new restaurant downtown. perhaps its hype’s tendency to over-exaggerate those positive qualities that attracts naysayers…
lol im not sure if im making sense haha
superfly: wouldnt it be awesome if you walloped the ball full force on a volley to score a winning goal and subsequently your boot exploded into a hundred pieces? how epic would that be? The next Goal movie, im looking at you ;p
england kit: how can you say that doesn’t look classy on the players? i think its lack of visual gimmicks is very understated and upscale. besides, it seems from all those videos the main point of the kit is its tailoring (how it fits on the body) rather than stripes or geometric shapes or hoops or whatever. of course, mines in the mail so I can only surmise that it fits quite well on the human form ;p
well that was a rant and a half, sorry in advance, feel free to ignore me lol