A gulf between the best and the rest

The gulf between the best and the rest was given another airing as man. city played Newcastle in the f.a cup. Adopting a defensive strategy was always the play for the magpies because in soccer no matter how superior you are you still must beat a goalkeeper to score. This contrasts with other field sports, for example rugby where you can win without ever getting within an asses roar of the goal line. We saw this in the recent World Cup final where SA beat England by basically kicking long range penalties. Similarly in limited overs cricket the game can be won without ever taking a wicket. The political equivalent is on view in the USA and UK where elections are won without  winning the popular vote. At least they are still holding elections in these countries but for how long more is anybody’s guess. Anyway getting back to the soccer match,like I say ,the result was a foregone conclusion so the interesting part was always going to be how lineker and shearer would handle the thorny issue of the controversial proposed Newcastle takeover by a consortium funded by Mr. Bonesaw. Y’all recall the horiffic case of the the journalist Khashoggi who was murdered in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul by a hit squad who arrived in two airplanes. Turkish intelligence has shared audio of the torture and dismemberment of the journo carried out by a forensic scientist who was there specially for the task. Anyway the tramp in the White House and the slum landlord Kushner are fully aware of what transpired but have chosen to turn a blind eye just as they have to American intelligence findings of the Russians paying the Taliban to kill u.s soldiers in Afghanistan. Given all this, Linekers apprehension bringing up the Newcastle sale issue was understandable as was Shearers non reply. They will have been warned by BBC executives not to dwell on this subject. The bosses need not have worried because Lineker hid behind the teams coming back on the pitch. On the other hand Newcastle might say that the bar is being set far higher for them than everyone else and here they would surely have a point. A cursory glance around the football league would show up some very dubious liaisons and ownerships indeed. For that matter who among us could hold up his hand and say that nothing he’s wearing was stitched up in a Bangladeshi sweatshop by a seven year old making a dollar a day? So nobody has a monopoly on virtue. Also it has to be said that the UK govt is unopposed to this takeover. Then again that lot are as morally bankrupt as their cousins across the Atlantic. We’re still awaiting the report on Russian interference in the Brexit vote. The practice of corrupt political regimes sponsoring foreign soccer clubs and indeed other sports now has its own name – sportswashing- and the sad part is how willing so many are to sell their souls. We saw all this back in the day when the rugby and cricket teams toured apartheid South Africa. You would think that the lessons from that disgrace would have been learned but that would be to fail to acknowledge the power of money. Meanwhile Gary and Alan who famously never fluffed their lines when presented with a goal opportunity got it right again yesterday by effectively saying nothing at all. No fear then that they will end up like their sky sports counterparts who fell foul of the executives and now ply their trade in the deserts of the Middle East to an audience of Bedouins.