Walking in a Desert Wonderland

Football

International

Visualise sitting down by the open log fire finishing off the last of the chocolates you found in the bottom of your stocking, then switching over from the Royal Family Christmas Special to England against Germany in the World Cup final. (Yes the final.. it's only imagination!!) But with the ongoing speculation over Qatar's controversial winning bid to host the World Cup in 2022 were still set to believe sports biggest event in a desert wonderland is very much reality.

Now rather than waffle on about the issue of money may or may not having changed hands to ensure the Arab nation the 2022 World Cup, whose own nation is FIFA ranked 96^th in the World, I want to raise the 'pros' and 'cons' of a winter World Cup.

Pros

# If you wished Santa to bring England a 2^nd World Cup then there's the off chance he may deliver if your not on the naughty list.. or if England actually qualify.

Cons

# Virtually all major football teams in Europe's leagues and across the globe will be effecting in one way or another whether they suspend playing over winter or lose numerous star players to the tournament.

# Billions will be spent on state-of-the-art stadiums built with cooling devices to help players cope with the high temperatures but what use will they have after the tournament finishes in a nation not known for it's passion for sport.

# Will the fans flock to Qatar?! I'm sure numbers will be high up in the thousands but will probably take a dramatic dip compared to World Cups gone by. Qatar may be a very wealthy economically strong country but it's not a hotspot for tourists and with it's several strict rules and regulations on alcohol etc it may stop any Englishmen gracing their soil.

8 years is along way ahead of us but whatever happens in the build up to the show-piece event and the World Cup itself; it's promised to be eventful.

And hey, if smaller nations are being given the chance to take a bite of the apple then who knows what nation could step into the spotlight.. football mad Kyrgyzstan, soccer loving Vatican or maybe, just maybe England.

National

Another round of what is now known as the Capital One Cup has passed and another round of dispute over it's existence is once again the hot topic. Ask most Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool fans and they'll say scrap it, there's one cup already and when you throw in European competitions it's just too much and a waste of time. Go four leagues down and ask fans of Morecambe, Mansfield or Newport and you'll get the opposite response. They'll tell you stories of when they took on the big boys and how they made the day of it when they followed their team into the fortresses of Premier League sides.

Yes the FA Cup provides all that excitement and magic atmosphere; maybe even more than the Capital One Cup as it includes hundreds of teams outside the Football League but tell that to a Shrewsbury Town fan or employee who have a mouth watering home draw against Chelsea in the next round.

Chelsea will play a squad with several youngsters and it's already a game with one eye on the next round but for Shrewsbury Town it'll be an occasion that'll create long lasting memories no matter what the result is and that's the core principle of the Cup and why it should live on. I say good luck to all the lower league teams and if the bigger squads play weaker sides, make them pay for it! Everyone wants a trip to Wembley and if Fulham can overcome Derby County in the next round then I may be well on my way!

Golf

Another historic win for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup with amazing atmosphere filling Gleneagles. It seems every biennial event gets louder and more passionate and it's a great platform for enticing people of all ages to take up the sport.

But with 90% of the tournament being a success, Team USA provided a negative ending to their campaign. No one likes losing and it's always a bitter pill to take but in the raw moment of facing defeat you have to accept it like a professional. What I’m referring to is Team USA's Phil Mickelson publicly speaking out about his doubts on his captain Tom Watson leading the team.

Captains, coaches and management across all sport are spoke about behind their back where decisions are put into place on their future. Never in any sport is it acceptable to question your captain publicly to the media, you may disagree and not have the healthiest of relationship with your captain but while he/she is in charge you follow and respect him/her to the utmost.

Watson didn't deserve those comments and Mickelson should have known better but all in all a fantastic Ryder Cup victory for a world class Team Europe.

Cottage Pied

Football

National

What an absolute shambles the last year has been for Fulham. I'm sorry but as a passionate fan of the West Londoners I finally have an excuse to vent my frustration over the clubs decisions with the most recent sacking of Felix Magath. Walking down Stevenage Road alongside the Thames you find fans asking “where did it all go wrong?” and “what's next?”, well no one knows the right answer to these questions as theirs so many.

I wasn't at the game, but watching Fulham beat Juventus 4-1 (5-4 aggregate) in the knock out stages of the Europa League on the box was one of the proudest moments of a Fulham fans life. That year we went onto the final in Hamburg and missed out on European silverware with just 4 minutes of extra time to spare against the current La Liga champions, Atletico Madrid.

That was 4 years ago.

Were now nestled in at the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship manger-less with one point from seven games.

Back in those distant memories we were a constant threat to breaking into the top 8 of the Premier League, packed full of experienced international stars and had the current England manager leading the helm, making Craven Cottage a fortress.

As time went on though we found ourselves with a well aged squad struggling to keep pace with a lot of the younger teams in the Premier League and that's where we needed to make a slight change to steady the ship.

I must admit I laughed at Sky Sports pundit Phil Thomson's prediction that Fulham would get relegated last season but the bloke could now be considered a genius as no one else could foresee what was to come.

The man who took us from what is now known as League 1 to the dizzying heights of the Premier League in the space of four years parted ways with the club leaving the current owner on his way to taking Fulham back down to League 1 in three years!!

Jol, Meulensteen and Magath have been shown the door along with virtually the whole squad being ripped out and replaced by youngsters. This is where I have a problem. The club was/is spiralling into turmoil so to have a foreigner who has no experience of English football rid of all the experience we had to play youngsters in a division known for it's physicality is beyond unjustifiable.

Something needed to change, there was too much change and now the club is free falling. Even I don't know what needs to be done to deploy the parachute. SOS.

Cricket

Local

Nothing but respect for the boys from New Road. Promotion from Division 2 with virtually both hands on the title, they deserve nothing less.

An experienced Surrey side heading to New Road with promotion still in sight was always going to be a long ride. Surrey needed 217 for a comfortable win but Jack Shantry had other plans taking 10-131 and scoring a century which were both career bests and enough to seal a 27 run promotion win for the Pears.

I'm proud to be a Worcestershire fan as we do things the right way with the tight budget were on compared to other Counties. We nurture the youngsters in the academy very well and they've proved how far they've come all having a successful season in the first team and getting given extended contracts.

As Northampton and Lancashire look set to face the drop after one season in the top flight, Worcestershire will be favourites to follow suit next term but if our hungry youth can relish the opportunity and we once again pick quality overseas players (hopefully Ajmal will get is bowling action sorted out and come back to us!) we can give the big boys a run for their money.

Golf

History has been made this week. 260 years of history to be precise. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews has voted to allow female members for the first time. 2,400 global members were in favour of female members with 85% voting for change.

I personally think this is a positive and needed decision as we now live in a world where equality in sport is fundamental. It's a great step forward for women’s participation in golf and is yet another reminder to the world of sport that they have to coincide with the modern times.

Perfect Swiss Timing

Football

International

A couple of months have passed since I was sat in a bar high up in the Swiss Alps watching a stalemate knock-out round go into extra time with only a touch of magic from a special Messi to break Swiss hearts.

At the same time it's still very raw memories of England's win-less campaign in Rio.

I don't think there were a lot of England fans that were eager for this game and the start of the road to France, myself included. With Roy hot under the collar after an unconvincing friendly against Norway and still no fixed starting 11, a win in Basel against our strongest group rivals looked bleak.

But Arsenal’s new £16 million signing showed us were still a decent squad and positivity is the way forward. Danny scored both goals on the night that should dare I say it.. march us onto staying top of the group table.

If anything, last night proved to be the final curtain call of World Cup woes and the start of an exciting experimental England squad looking towards 2016.

National Football League – NFL

Get your BBQ pulled pork rolls out and head down to the tailgate because the NFL is back!!

There were several surprises in week 1 of Americas game with one of the shock results coming from my team the Buffalo Bills turning over a solid Chicago Bears away at Soldier Field. We've never won the Super Bowl, our long-time owner Ralph Wilson has recently passed away and our future isn't secure but WHAT a start to what hopefully could be a successful campaign. I could waffle on all night about New York States finest but there was a bigger surprise this weekend.

I noticed through US friends on social media sharing reports of the Jacksonville Jaguars game - who by the way share the same owner as my beloved Fulham – that the team have been described as “London's Team”. Not just in a few local papers but all over national sport websites.

What does this tell us?

Well the facts are fairly simple.. Jacksonville are one of the most underachieving teams in the NFL at the moment with one of the smallest fan-bases while on the other end of the spectrum, interest of the game in the UK is at an all time high with the NFL's directors having no choice but to notice and fulfill our growing fan-base needs by rewarding us with two games being annually held at Wembley. Throw in the fact the Jaguars play a 'home' game per season for the next two years in London and that the owner Shahid Khan has a strong connection between the NFL and London with owning Fulham also and you've got to see the potential of a British team on the horizon.

It's not uncommon for NFL franchises to pack up and move hundreds of miles to other locations but crossing the pond is something that is becoming a bit more of a rumour and lets be honest, who would reject the chance to see a British team beat the Yanks at their own game..

Tennis

US Open 2014 Champion Marin Cilic had his triumph in the Grand Slam over Kei Nishikori dubbed as the 'changing of the old guard'.

For years the sport has been dominated by the big four of Murray, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic who have played some of the best quality tennis between them and given us thriller encounters but maybe this final highlights more youngsters breaking into the elite.

I personally believe all four of the above have still got a lot to give and will remain powerful for the years to come in the sport but who can deny the game is becoming more competitive and exciting with plenty of upcoming stars proving their worth. 

That's the way Cookie crumbles

Cricket

International

It's a fast and cruel world on the international stage, you don't have to look any further than Alastair Cook to realise that.

Unfortunately I had to witness the winter to forget down under but since then England have ruffled their feathers to build on this summer with Perter Moores trusting Cookie to lead the side onto better fortunes.

Well.. summer is nearly over and what have we seen?? Other than the impressive turn around in the recent test series against India we haven’t really had anything to shout about. But lets focus on the ODI series, there's no hiding the fact the one day format resembles T20 rather than test cricket so why on earth do we have to watch Cook go in and play test shots as the overs wind away?! It baffles me how he and others defend his position in the team when were throwing games away. Granted the poor results aren't solely Cook's fault but when your playing against quality sides with quality bowlers you have just 50 overs to get the runs on the board and Cook just crumbles. As I write this now England are being picked apart by India (India will win the series if they triumph today) with Cook making just 9 runs.. it's not good enough, I'm not saying step down or give the captaincy away, just move down the order and give the youngsters a shot.

Local

Despite a slight stumble towards the end of the season in all formats, Worcestershire deserve to take a bow with their hard fought efforts when most pundits had them down to do diddly squat back in April.

Quarter finalists in the T20, falling just shy of qualification in the Royal London One-Day Cup and running away with the second division which they should go onto win has the three pears flag flying high.

Moeen Ali turning heads to then go onto making his name on the international scene, captain Daryl Mitchell having without doubt the best season of his career and a successful spell for the overseas players will hopefully see silverware return to New Road this month.

Rugby

International

Can England win the World Cup next year?? Of course they can. Yes you'll have the usual suspects left as the numbers dwindle but you always do and if there's any team that looks exciting and dangerous surely it'd have to be the hosts.

In my opinion we threw away the last two six nations and even the series in New Zealand after two close first games. We've come along way in the last two years and if we can stay injury free there is no doubt we can make Twickenham a fortress.

Local

Not long now until the new season starts and there is just as mush expectation as there is excitement at Sixways. I respect Dean Ryan for the drastic changes he has made since relegation from the top flight last season. With one eye on the future he has assembled a squad full of youngsters bursting with potential. Their hungry for success and that's what the club and especially the fans will want to see on the pitch. Credit to the fans staying loyal to their side with such woeful performances last season but although we ALL expect the Warriors to be the bulldozers of the Greene King IPA Championship, the play-offs will have the last say.

We all expected Bristol to return to the Premiership last season but were pipped to the post by a ruthless London Welsh side who quite frankly deserved it. Worcester had a slight scare last time they were in that position with Bedford and when they find themselves their next spring after a long hopefully impressive campaign, they have to give 100% until the whistle blows for the last time as Bristol, Leeds and Co won't go away easily.

Football

National

The last roll of the dice took place at 11pm last night as the frantic transfer deadline day came to an end. Hats off to the news teams up and down the country who kept us in check until the clock struck 11. As exciting and dramatic deadline day was, I found the most dumbfound remark from Brendan Rogers the main talking point.

Rogers stated when your not in the Champion's league big names won't be on your team sheet. The stars of the show will want to play in Europe's biggest competition and they won't miss that opportunity to play domestic football all season. While that may be true.. money talks. But forget the obvious money factor, just look at Liverpool and United this Summer, one has overachieved and will be making their return to the Champions League this season while the other is slumping and desperate to quickly steady the ship. So Brendan you'll be playing the holders Real Madrid next month and you have the summer signings of Lallana and Lambert to put the fear factor into the Galacticos while on the flip side with virtually only the Premier League to play for, United will have Di Maria and Falcao strolling out the Old Trafford dugout week in week out.

Well said Brendan..

Local

Finally something for Worcester City to shout about! 3 points on the board against a strong North Ferriby side is just what Carl Heeley needed. With a little luck this result will be the injection of life into the squad to get their Vanarama Conference North campaign off the ground.

While on the matter of Worcester City I'd just like to have a little rant over the clubs current home being – dare I say it – Aggbrough. It's mainly Worcester City's fault they ended up in this mess after plans on a new ground at Nunnery Way falling through but to be playing their home games at rivals Kidderminster is completely ludicrous. It might be a good little ground and it's keeping Worcester from being homeless but the sooner we get out of Kidderminster the better. Worcester City FC is a proud and historic club with endless loyal supporters. Lets bring the boys back.

Rant over.