The State of English Football!

So, what can be said about Steve MclAren's reign and the way it ended on Wednesday night? Whatever I say about it usually involves a few expletives!

We can all look to Wednesday night's game against Croatia at Wembley and say we lost that and that's why we aren't going to Austria and Switzerland next year, but in truth that's not it at all! The whole campaign has been rather shit. Drawing to teams have of England haven't even heard of, let alone know where they are! The main problem we've had is not scoring goals when we need them most.

Before we lost 2-3 to Croatia, we'd only let in four goals in the whole Qualifying Campaign! Not bad. My Rockbeare Rangers side would have been proud of a record like that! So it certainly wasn't defensively we've struggled... with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand at the back we have one of the best centre back pairings in the world (obviously Kolo and Willy Gallas are better!). With Micah Richards coming through and other able deputies proving they can move up to the next level, like Nicky Shorey at left back, English defending has rarely looked stronger...

...until Wednesday night!
Back then, when you shove a 22 year old goalie between the sticks for his competitive debut in a MUST-NOT-LOSE game, that's a helluva lot of pressure! And fucking up the first thing he had to do probably didn't help. Was Scott Carson to blame? Not in my opinion... it's McLaren's fault for gambling in such a crunch tie. David James wouldn't have let any of those goals in.

On a plus note, I loved Crouch's volley. I was calling for Becks to come on (I love him, in a completely heterosexual way) and he did what he does, pings a superb cross in. And ol' Lanky did the rest.


Everyone now is going to blame the decline on English football, as they usually do, on foreign players at English clubs. Bollocks. If we had good English players coming through, and if the prices for home grown talent weren't so extortionately high (how much for Gareth Bale?!) then Mr. Wenger, who usually gets the brunt of the stick, wouldn't have to nick half of Barca's youth team!

Trying to limit the amount of foreigners that can play for a club is against everything the E.U. stands for these days and is never gonna happen. If bloody Exeter can fill up with bloody Poles who run off owing you £400 (that's another story), then Arsenal can have a few French blokes and Chelsea can have all the nationalities under the sun. Of course, Man Utd should never have been allowed that diving, crying, whining little fuck.

The English CLUB game is the best in the world. Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are amongst the elite clubs. We have overtaken Italy and Spain as the club footballing world superpower and Arsenal's football in particular is a joy to watch!


So fuck it. England's national team and McLaren himself got what they deserved. Nothing. We'll go on the come third in a home nations cup next year (behind Scotland and Northern Ireland!) and I'll carry on watching Rockbeare Rangers steam up the local leagues...!

Heroes. No, not the TV Show!

For years, I have not really thought myself as having a hero. I preferred to live my life how I saw fit. I did not need a role model and not want to copy anyone else's way of living. And, in a way, I still believe that.

I think most people have others they aspire to. If I were honest, I'd like to be a top footballer in the Francesco Totti or David Beckham mould. I'd love to be in a position to help others, something I think Mr. Beckham in particular takes seriously. It's never gonna happen, and I'm quite happy playing for the lesser known Rockbeare Rangers. My time at Arsenal will never materialise!


But I DO have a hero. I do have someone who I look at and think, "that's how I want to live my life". That person is Tim Waterfield, my brother.

You never see him unhappy. He always has a smile on his face, and is only to happy to share it! The room lights up when he enters and he commands people attention, which he loves receiving. I've never heard anyone say a bad thing about him and he seems to know the whole world!

I know, as my brother, he should be the first one to come to my aid but in that he has never let me down. I am a depressive, as many of you know, and he's always there when things are getting me down. Not that that is much of a problem at the moment, as I have Sophie keeping me happy!

He has been devoted (almost entirely) to one girl, his wife Julia. He loves kids and I'd be happy if I'm anywhere near as good with my own children (when we have them) than he is with any child he meets! He loves nature although that has gotten him into trouble (and as a result I'm now petrified of wasps!)... it's a wonder his house isn't full of animals like our Dad's is!


So if I aspire to be like anybody, it isn't a footballer, a musician, an actor. It's a white van man from Sidmouth who just happens to have a great big brother!

Long Distance Relationships: Can They Work?

It's been said, that long distance relationships do not work. That view may be changing though, due to the rise of instant messengers and social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.

I feel that I, more than most, can comment on this as I've had both good and bad long distance relationships. A lot depends on how you both feel, whether you are both willing to make the extra effort needed...


My current relationship started online. On occasion, usually late at night when I'm bored and am finding any excuse not to sleep, I frequent a chat site - lovingly referred to by it's users as shit-web. I would usually just sit there, offering random shards of wisdom and watching the roleplayers fight in their Final Fantasy kind of way! But I got talking to a girl who was already in a long distance relationship with a bloke she'd only ever met online. Her screenname I forget (she uses Phee mostly these days) and her name, as most of you know, is Sophie.

After a few months of sporadic chats, we exchanged MSN addresses and talked to each other on an almost daily basis. We would talk about how our days had been, what we enjoyed doing and, increasingly other more intimate subjects. This lead to the exchanging of mobile phone numbers and our daily instant messages became daily (nightly) phone calls. You can get to know someone fairly well without having met them... if they're being honest.

There is a growing trend on news sites and bulletins on TV whereby they constantly warn of the hazards of chat rooms and other internet based services. True, people must be vigilant as there are some strange people out there and bad things DO happen. But you never hear about the good things that can happen if done in a safe manner.

Just before the winter holidays, Sophie came down to Devon (from her home in a village just outside Hull) to stay with me for christmas. A lot of people thought it was strange/dangerous and, to an extent, there was an amount of risk attached to it. But it was worth it.

Since then we have spent six of the nine months we've been together with no less than 100 miles between us, as she has now started a university course in Surrey. Yet our relationship is far stronger than most others I know. We both love each other a great deal. We make sure the time we do spend together is spent wisely, doing things we both enjoy. We appreciate each other more!


So yes... they can work and they are becoming more common. With more and more of our lives being lived online, soon it'll be the only way to have a relationship!

First Blog.

So, my loyal fans (do I even have any? I'd like to think so!)... this is my shiny new blog. It is taking over from my myspace blog which, to be fair, isn't really used with the takeover of facebook! Search for Carl Waterfield on there, by the way, if you haven't added me already!

I shall not write about anything specific on here right now, but in the future I shall do my best to keep it to one topic per post. It makes it easier that way. I shall also tr to give my opinion, should anyone care, on more than just my life!

Please feel free to leave nice (or nasty if you must) comments. I enjoy reading other people's opinions too! Especially if they are different to mine!

So for now, take care. I shall be speaking to you soon!