Friday, March 30, 2007

Beckham & McClaren & Ferguson....&Stoke City FC

To his great credit David Beckham resisted any temptation to put the knife into England manager Steve McClaren.As he received a Sports Industry Award he had nothing to say about McClaren but praised the way in which the England team came through what in so many different ways was a difficult game against Andorra.

Alex Ferguson was critical of what he called the mocking culture which has taken root certainly in England.He has to be right that the treatment meeted out to the England manager and team from the earliest stages of the match on Wednesday night was seriously unhelpful if not potentially positively destructive.

Much is made of the fans right to demonstrate their feelings.All well and good after the match but as John Terry rightly remarked such behaviour isn't going to improve things, as players inevitably retreat into their shells in the face of it.

Which brings me round to Stoke.Could negativity from a small but vocal (at the matches and through the media) proportion of the fan base in some way have damaged Stoke's chances this season?

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