Sponsored by
Alan Swann’s World of Sport: on the BDO Darts ‘world champion’, Thierry Henry’s return and the Manchester derby
World of Sport with Alan Swann.
EVERYTHING about the BDO World Championships smacks of small-time.
It really should be an offence under trade description laws to call Dutchman Christian Kist a ‘world champion’ after he saw off the plodders and pub throwers which make up the Lakeside competition.
The BDO suffers in every comparison with the PDC apart from the fact they have fewer revolting characters like Adrian Lewis and James Wade. It’s like comparing the Europa League with the European Champions League.
The PDC play their World Championships at the Alexandra Palace, the BDO’s Lakeside venue looks like the set from Phoenix Nights. The atmosphere at the Ally Pally is electric, but the Lakeside is a relative library.
The BBC show how little they now rate the event as they sent the world’s worst presenter Colin Murray to cover it. The dullest, Ray Stubbs, was on duty for ESPN, who interrupted their coverage of poker and Serie A, to show some tubby blokes throwing miniature missiles.
Even the BDO nicknames are naff. Kist is apparently known as ‘The Lipstick’. One of the other competitors is known as ‘The Electrician’, hardly scary stuff, and not even particularly funny or clever, unlike the genius who created ‘Darth Maple’ for Canadian PDC player John Part or ‘Frosty the Throwman’ for Mark Frost.
Incredibly the winner of the BDO event picks up £100,000, a great prize for anyone who puts chasing cash ahead of the true sporting glory you would get for taking down the PDC World title.
WELL the feelgood factor surrounding Thierry Henry’s return to Arsenal didn’t last long did it? Arsene Wenger’s snippy mood after they were outplayed by Swansea on Sunday is a direct result of him having to purchase a telescope just to catch Spurs disappearing into the horizon.
Wenger should spend less time bitching about referees and more time reflecting on his own position. The signing of Per Mertesacker, the Premier League’s Ben Futcher, was the act of a man who has overstayed his welcome.
Legends should know when it’s time to retire. That time is usually before their powers wane so dramatically, they provoke sympathy rather than respect or admiration.
Henry should have realised it rather than coming back and tainting his legacy. One goal against a pretty ordinary Leeds side was not worthy of the fawning and adulation that came his way from desperate Gunners.
Wenger should accept that he’s also a yesterday man. Arsenal have no chance of catching Spurs and very little chance of finishing in a European Champions League spot this season.
Admit it Arsene. You’ve overstayed your welcome and should get out before the club’s fans come to their senses and realise they are now just the third best team in London.
WELL that red card for Vincent Kompany in the Manchester derby sorted out the dangerous tackling in the Premier League.
There were a handful of equally bad or even worse tackles this weekend that provoked yellow cards or no cards at all.
Dirty Stoke were naturally involved with Jonathan Woodgate and Ryan Shawcross receiving soft treatment from the vastly over-rated Howard Webb, Norwich centre-back Daniel Ayala was treated leniently for an over-the-top lunge, while Shaun Derry (and how on earth did this nonentity find himself in the top flight) also escaped natural justice for his lunge on Yohan Cabaye.
The refereeing in this country is a mess and shows no sign of improving.
Posh had the misfortune to be landed with an up and coming sort in Andrew Madley on Saturday who made such a poor call on a penalty decision he can safely expect promotion sooner rather than later.
DIDN’T Mark Hughes leave Fulham because the club didn’t match his ambition? So why on earth has he turned up at the club of Shaun Derry, Paddy Kenny, Clint Hill and Tommy Smith, four players who belong in the Championship and may well end up there?
QPR must have a massive masterplan that escapes me. Either that or Hughes has lowered his own aims now that the Aston Villa job is no longer available.
IS Kenny Dalglish the most inept manager in the Premier League? He must be close to that tag now that Neil Warnock has gone.
There’s only one Premier League fixture when Andy Carroll won’t have the worst technique on the pitch and that’s the one against Stoke.
It would probably have been a decent marketing move as well as Stoke will probably be his next destination. They love an aggressive, fouling machine in the Potteries – pure footballing ability is irrelevant.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.