Their arguments are hard to follow though, especially in light of the fact that Germany “stole” Mesut Özil, their mid-field star, from the Turks. I can well remember how german manager Jogi Löw pounced on the youngster, who is the son of turkish immigrants, and gave him a game in the national team after hearing reports that the Turks wanted him to play for Turkey.

However, this story will undoubtedly give the German Bild and the British Sun the chance to go for each others throats (hasn’t it been quiet since the arguments about towels on deckchairs), but I do see a problem the way that things are developing in national football teams.

Let’s have a look at the players who are currently playing for Germany. This could, to be honest, be any number of teams, but as I am familiar with this team, my choice has fallen.

Lucas Podolski (Poland), Miroslav Klose (Poland), Gerald Asamoah (Ghana), Kakau (Brazil), Sami Khedira (Tunisia),  Mesut Özil & Serdar Tasci (Turkey) all have their roots in countries outside of Germany. Looking at this line-up, I don’t see any reason at all for the tears of the “Bild”

Ballack was reported as saying that the German team deserved more after qualifying for the World Cup Finals next year in the last match against Russia a few days before.

What Ballack obviously fails to realise is that the public payed up to 80 Euros for a ticket for this match and rightly expect every man to do his best. When all is said and done, these people have turned him into a multi-millionaire.

One could be forgiven for thinking that a good many football stars have forgotten where they came from …

Michael Ballack pic by EnglishHorn73, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0

Rugby League is my favorite sport, and one reason I regret ever having left my country in the first place. It is more authentic than soccer and more dynamic than Football (speaking american now lol). American Football is alright, but it is too static in my eyes. Now, Rugby  League, this is a sport for real men.

In the following video (sorry, its without sound) one thing you have to know, but dont see. The chap kicking the ball at the beginning is obviously “taken out” after the ball was kicked. This means he was illegally tackled when he wasn’t in possession,  possibly it was a high tackle (i.e. above the shoulders), maybe with the opponents elbow.

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Creative Commons photo credit: Kiwi Flickr

The above photo from Flicker is not from a Batley match, but it might well be. It sort of illustrates the plight that my home town are in as far as rugby league is concerned.

Halifax 72 Batley 0.

The scoreline above is from the match last week, and even considering the fact that Halifax are really on a roll, and Batley are hit by injury, there is really no excuse for this scoreline.

Of course it only adds fuel to the fire of the critics who are baying for the head of coach Gary Thornton after Batley have had a run of poor seasons where they have barely avoided relegation. But amazingly there are still people defending the club and the present state of affairs.

Now, I have been on the Batley Forum for a good many years, but I usually just follow the conversations and rarely post. Living so far away, I obviously don’t see any matches and thus I don’t think that I am in a position to join in certain discussions. However, I am rather shocked at the attitude of a lot of Batley supporters. How can you be satisfied with the present situation? Arguments like “We are a poor club”  are not helping anyone…

The problem is, I see no concepts for the future; no signs that things might improve…

Creative Commons photo credit: Nathan Dainty