In the Guardian yesterday, they had a little pullout all about Glastonbury. There was a feature by someone called Julie Bindel writing about her love of the Rap superstar Snoop Dogg who she went to see at Glastonbury this weekend.
It was entitled Top Dogg, you can read it here.
Apparently this Julie Bindel is a feminist who loves Snoop, despite his sexist lyrics. I thought I've got to read this.
I hadn't realised that Snoop was playing at Glastonbury but it seems he went down quite well.
Bindel claims that there are many feminists who love Snoop's music which sounds a huge contradiction when you listen to many of his lyrics.
When hearing Snoops records for the first time she writes:
'I hated the fact that so many were peppered with the "n" word, as well as the obligatory "bitch", "ho" and "mutherfucker" - but I chose to ignore the lyrics'
She's hit on a point here, as I can honestly admit I would never refer to women in those terms or use the "n" word, but having listened to Hip Hop for over 20 years, I've just become desensitised to it all and completely ignore it.
If a track has a good beat, bassline, and I like the flow of the rapper, then I can overlook the misogynistic and sexist lyrics. People can criticise me for this, but I think you have to listen to Hip Hop in that way.
Snoop has managed to have quite a long and successful career for a rapper, but he's managed to do that by playing on and parodying his gangster rap persona.
For me The original gangster rap era ended around 1995. Anything after that is really just a parody. The trouble is nobody ever acknowledges this, and calls almost all hip hop 'gangster rap' despite the wide variety of styles out there.
Classic gangster rap would be the likes NWA, Ice Cube, Ice T, Dr Dre's The Chronic album, and Snoop's first album Doggystyle. Classic gangster rap was always an odd mix of militant nihilistic black politics, tales of true crime, street life, and sex and violence.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, you'd never really heard stuff like that before, it felt 'real' as they say in hip hop. You could believe that the rappers lived the lives they ware talking about.
This isn't the case now. Once gangster rap started to sell records in its millions, that 'realness' soon disappeared, it became sanitised, the record companies were simply just selling a lifestyle and image to both white and black kids. It was all just a parody.
What I like about Snoop, is that I think he understands this. He's not a real gangster, he just representing a persona, telling stories that might be sexist and violent, but it's all just a fantasy.
Bindel spoke to other women who loved Snoop's music but thought he hated women. I don't think he hates women at all and neither do I, even though I'll happily listen to his lyrics.
On a sort of rational level it doesn't really make sense. One of the best examples of how I feel about Hip Hop comes from the American comedian Chris Rock.
Have a look at this clip of him talking about Rap music, in so many ways it sums up everything I feel about Hip Hop
Love Hip Hop tired of defending it!
Views, comments and analysis from me over the week's news headlines, and anything else that's caught my interest.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Monday, 28 June 2010
Germany 4 England 1
Not even the most pessimistic and cynical England fan could have predicted yesterday's result. It was total humiliation for England, with a performance that I never thought I'd see from an England team in a World Cup.
England got exactly what they deserved, and there's no point in pretending that Frank Lampard's goal that never was would have made a difference. It would only have papered over the cracks.
In some ways going out of a World Cup in such fashion is far easier to take then going out on penalties.
With yesterday's game you can't argue about being unlucky, or a refereeing decision making all the difference. England simply weren't good enough against a Germany team that I would describe as half decent but nothing exceptional.
This result exposed English football in a way not seen before. Behind all the Premier League hype, the celebrity culture, the over-inflated egos we found the 'Emperor's New clothing' reality of the English game.
There was really nothing there, no golden generation of players, no serious international football team, just England's embarrassment and humiliation.
This is a watershed moment for English football, we're at a crossroads. We can carry on doing what we always do, or we can look at making some real radical changes to way we coach and run English football.
The match itself
Returning back to the game, I've never seen such a shambolic England performance particularly against one the big footballing nations, it was embarrassing to watch. It many ways England played worse than they had against Algeria in the second group match.
Before Matthew Upson scored we could quite easily have been 4-0 down and apart from a ten minute spell either side of half time, we were second best in every department.
Should Capello stay or go?
In my opinion Capello should go. I don't believe England's performance is all down to him, but the fact he's on 6 million a year and has overseen the worst England performance in World Cup history tells me he has to go.
Capello is one of the game's most successful managers who's had almost no significant failure in his managerial career, yet managing England has put a big failure mark on his CV.
It seems some of the demands of managing an international side have been beyond him. Firstly having a limited number of players to choose from. England just don't have a big enough pool of talent to draw from.
Secondly, when it came to managing England during the qualifying campaign, Capello was only with the players for a couple of days at a time. In the tournament he and the players were together for over a month, it seems that close proximity perhaps didn't create the ideal atmosphere for the players.
The FA, The Premier League and English coaching
Capello could only work with the players available and the real issue is that we simply don't produce players good enough to compete at the highest level.
The Premier League is a real problem. I compare it to Wimbledon in the sense that it's a great competition, the envy of the world, huge amount of glamour and prestige, but when it comes to producing English talent it's totally irrelevant.
The Premier League is run in the interest of the clubs and not for the benefit of the national team. At the moment I don't really see this changing. English players who are brilliant at club level seem to be surrounded by foreign players who allow them to be the players that they are.
When they come to play for England it completely different and they don't seem to be able to adapt. Prime examples are Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard.
The FA really need to look at grass roots football and coaching in this country. We hardly have any good English coaches coming through who have the chance to manage in the Premier League.
Again yesteday's result highlighted the lack of technique and tactical awarness of England players, I'm so sick of seeing this, it's been spoken about for the last 25 years!
Football on the surface seems a simple and straightforward game, but at the highest level it's quite complex and we need to develop players who have both the technical and tactical nous to compete with the very best.
In this country we fail to produce players who fulfil the player maker role. For Germany yesterday they had Mesut Ozil playing just behind the front two, we don't produce that type of player. We never produce players like a Messi, Xavi, or a Pirlo who dictate how we play.
Another crucial position where we're lacking is the 'holding midfielder' role. Gareth Barry supposedly played this position, but if he'd played it correctly he would never have been out of position to for the third goal, where he lost possession on the edge of Germany's box, before they broke away to score their third goal.
The holding midfielder role is crucial in modern day football, we have to start producing this type of player.
The Future
This should really be the end of the international careers for a number of players. There's no need to keep many of them in the squad. The worrying thing is there's not really much coming through to replace many of them.
I'm thinking about those players in the mid 20s. You've got Rooney and James Milner, but there's not much else.
England may as well start drafting young players in their late teens early 20s, the likes of Joe Hart should be drafted as Goalkeeper and we should stick with him
It's going to take me a long time to ever really get excited about England again. I felt disillusioned in 2006, I never thought I'd look back and think 2006 was a decent campaign.
2010 has been a humiliating disaster, if anything good can come out of this, is that we must never let this happen again.
Read the thoughts of the BBC’s football pundits here
England got exactly what they deserved, and there's no point in pretending that Frank Lampard's goal that never was would have made a difference. It would only have papered over the cracks.
In some ways going out of a World Cup in such fashion is far easier to take then going out on penalties.
With yesterday's game you can't argue about being unlucky, or a refereeing decision making all the difference. England simply weren't good enough against a Germany team that I would describe as half decent but nothing exceptional.
This result exposed English football in a way not seen before. Behind all the Premier League hype, the celebrity culture, the over-inflated egos we found the 'Emperor's New clothing' reality of the English game.
There was really nothing there, no golden generation of players, no serious international football team, just England's embarrassment and humiliation.
This is a watershed moment for English football, we're at a crossroads. We can carry on doing what we always do, or we can look at making some real radical changes to way we coach and run English football.
The match itself
Returning back to the game, I've never seen such a shambolic England performance particularly against one the big footballing nations, it was embarrassing to watch. It many ways England played worse than they had against Algeria in the second group match.
Before Matthew Upson scored we could quite easily have been 4-0 down and apart from a ten minute spell either side of half time, we were second best in every department.
Should Capello stay or go?
In my opinion Capello should go. I don't believe England's performance is all down to him, but the fact he's on 6 million a year and has overseen the worst England performance in World Cup history tells me he has to go.
Capello is one of the game's most successful managers who's had almost no significant failure in his managerial career, yet managing England has put a big failure mark on his CV.
It seems some of the demands of managing an international side have been beyond him. Firstly having a limited number of players to choose from. England just don't have a big enough pool of talent to draw from.
Secondly, when it came to managing England during the qualifying campaign, Capello was only with the players for a couple of days at a time. In the tournament he and the players were together for over a month, it seems that close proximity perhaps didn't create the ideal atmosphere for the players.
The FA, The Premier League and English coaching
Capello could only work with the players available and the real issue is that we simply don't produce players good enough to compete at the highest level.
The Premier League is a real problem. I compare it to Wimbledon in the sense that it's a great competition, the envy of the world, huge amount of glamour and prestige, but when it comes to producing English talent it's totally irrelevant.
The Premier League is run in the interest of the clubs and not for the benefit of the national team. At the moment I don't really see this changing. English players who are brilliant at club level seem to be surrounded by foreign players who allow them to be the players that they are.
When they come to play for England it completely different and they don't seem to be able to adapt. Prime examples are Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard.
The FA really need to look at grass roots football and coaching in this country. We hardly have any good English coaches coming through who have the chance to manage in the Premier League.
Again yesteday's result highlighted the lack of technique and tactical awarness of England players, I'm so sick of seeing this, it's been spoken about for the last 25 years!
Football on the surface seems a simple and straightforward game, but at the highest level it's quite complex and we need to develop players who have both the technical and tactical nous to compete with the very best.
In this country we fail to produce players who fulfil the player maker role. For Germany yesterday they had Mesut Ozil playing just behind the front two, we don't produce that type of player. We never produce players like a Messi, Xavi, or a Pirlo who dictate how we play.
Another crucial position where we're lacking is the 'holding midfielder' role. Gareth Barry supposedly played this position, but if he'd played it correctly he would never have been out of position to for the third goal, where he lost possession on the edge of Germany's box, before they broke away to score their third goal.
The holding midfielder role is crucial in modern day football, we have to start producing this type of player.
The Future
This should really be the end of the international careers for a number of players. There's no need to keep many of them in the squad. The worrying thing is there's not really much coming through to replace many of them.
I'm thinking about those players in the mid 20s. You've got Rooney and James Milner, but there's not much else.
England may as well start drafting young players in their late teens early 20s, the likes of Joe Hart should be drafted as Goalkeeper and we should stick with him
It's going to take me a long time to ever really get excited about England again. I felt disillusioned in 2006, I never thought I'd look back and think 2006 was a decent campaign.
2010 has been a humiliating disaster, if anything good can come out of this, is that we must never let this happen again.
Read the thoughts of the BBC’s football pundits here
Saturday, 26 June 2010
World Cup 2010 - Day 16 thoughts
Glad I'm not Italian
Despite how poor Italy had been in their first two games of this World Cup, I still expected them to beat Slovakia. I predicted 2-1 to Italy, but instead it was one of the games of the tournament with Slovakia winning 3-2.
From what I saw of the game and reading reports it wasn't until the last 20 minutes that they really started to play.
This is so typical of Italian football. They're so conservative and withdrawn in their approach. They may have been unlucky with the goal that was disallowed for offside. That would have made it 2-2, but over the course of three games they didn't do enough, in a group which on paper was one of the least demanding for a seeded nation like Italy.
Italy seem to be having problems in finding the next generation of players to come through, and it's really significant the Italian national team don't have a single player in the squad from from Inter Milan.
Inter did the treble last season winning the both the League and Champions League. They did so with a squad almost entirely made up of overseas players!
In the long run this can't be good for Italian football.
Japan and South Korea
It's been slightly overlooked at just how well these two Asian countries have done so far. Both have made it to the Second round with South Korea narrowly losing out to Uruguay.
It's an important breakthrough as the only time either of them had made it out of the groups stages was when they held the World Cup jointly in 2002.
I was really impressed by Japan when they beat Denmark, I thought they'd be a little lightweight up front, but they posed a threat and played good football.
Even though South Korea are now out, Japan face Paraguay and they must have a decent shout of making it to the quarter finals.
Spain
Just when it was looking like history might repeat itself with Spain underachieving, they managed to beat a very useful Chile side last night and top Group H.
This is good for the tournament, they would have faced Brazil in the second round had they finished second, and that would have been too big a match for this stage of the competition. Brazil v Spain could quite easily be the final.
They do however have a tough game against Portugal which I'm looking forward to. It won't be easy for Spain, but I think they should have enough to come through.
Uruguay, USA or Ghana in the Semis
With England failing to claim top spot in Group C and France barely turning up as a footballing team, this side of the draw has really opened up. Uruguay beat South Korea today to make it to the quarter finals for the first time since 1970. They'll then face the winners of USA v Ghana.
This is a great opportunity for these countries, and I'm going to predict Uruguay to make it. I think the USA will win tonight against Ghana, who I just don't see scoring enough goals, and Uruguay will beat the USA as a result of their defence and Luis Suarez up front.
Disappointed with the African Nations
With this being the first World Cup staged on African soil, there's been a general consensus that it would be good to see the African nations do well and for one of them to progress quite far in the tournament.
As I type this, Ghana have made it to the second round but overall I've been disappointed with how African nations have done, and how they're generally progressing in world football.
South Africa
The hosts have acquitted themselves well and it was always asking a lot for them to qualify from the group stage. Had they not been hosting the tournament they would have got nowhere near the finals.
Nigeria and Cameroon
I think these two are the biggest disappointments in African football. Back in the 1990's Nigeria and Cameroon will trailblazers.
Cameroon could and maybe should have beaten England in Italia 90 to make it to the Semi finals. Nigeria lost narrowly in the second round to the Italians in USA 94 before winning the Olympic title in 1996. For me they've never really progressed from those promising starts.
Since these two first emerged other countries have started making an impression on the footballing world with Ghana and Ivory Coast now appearing in their second successive World Cup.
Back in the early 90s it was lazily said that African players and teams were 'tactically or defensively naive'. This soon became a tired cliche which you can't say now, as most top African players all play in Europe's best leagues winning titles with the biggest clubs.
What's happening is that Africa is producing the players but individual countries aren't bringing the players together to form successful teams.
The players being produced
Leading on from this, too many similar types of players are being produced. Watching Cameroon and Ghana all their players look identical to each other, all big and physically strong. It seems everyone wants to produce a 'Michael Essien' type midfield player.
I think Essien is a superb player but where is the African Messi or Iniesta? The skillful creative midfielder? And what about the strikers? Outside of Drogba and Samuel Eto I don't see many great African centre forwards.
To be a successful footballing nation you can't have players who are all the same. A lot of it comes down to coaching, an issue that was featured on the BBC this week in a short film report shown following the end of one match they were covering.
The report looked at the lack of African coaches coaching African teams and the barriers African coaches face in having the chance to coach their national sides.
Too many African countries look to bring in average or mediocre White European coaches in the belief that somehow they are technically superior. They need to give their own coaches a chance as I think it helps to create a homegrown footballing culture and identity which in the long run will be better for national success.
I look at Ivory Coast who individually have a very strong team, but didn't really make a great impression under Sven Goran Eriksson who impossed the same cautious negative approach on them as he did with England.
At the moment African football seems more about producing good indvidual players for the European club market without much thought for the success of their national teams.
Look at Japan and South Korea
I don't think it's a coincidence that Japan and South Korea are now using their own native managers after years of using foreign coaches. Both are having their best World Cups outside their own countries this time round.
I'm about to go and watch Ghana v USA* now, so perhaps Ghana may prove me wrong and make it to the Quarter finals.
It would be great to think that in the next World Cup there would be at least one African nation being managed by an African coach. This is something African countries need to start doing if they want to achieve international success.
*Second round - Ghana 2 USA 1 AET
Well done Ghana, you've become only the third African nation to make it to the Quarter finals of a World Cup.
Despite how poor Italy had been in their first two games of this World Cup, I still expected them to beat Slovakia. I predicted 2-1 to Italy, but instead it was one of the games of the tournament with Slovakia winning 3-2.
From what I saw of the game and reading reports it wasn't until the last 20 minutes that they really started to play.
This is so typical of Italian football. They're so conservative and withdrawn in their approach. They may have been unlucky with the goal that was disallowed for offside. That would have made it 2-2, but over the course of three games they didn't do enough, in a group which on paper was one of the least demanding for a seeded nation like Italy.
Italy seem to be having problems in finding the next generation of players to come through, and it's really significant the Italian national team don't have a single player in the squad from from Inter Milan.
Inter did the treble last season winning the both the League and Champions League. They did so with a squad almost entirely made up of overseas players!
In the long run this can't be good for Italian football.
Japan and South Korea
It's been slightly overlooked at just how well these two Asian countries have done so far. Both have made it to the Second round with South Korea narrowly losing out to Uruguay.
It's an important breakthrough as the only time either of them had made it out of the groups stages was when they held the World Cup jointly in 2002.
I was really impressed by Japan when they beat Denmark, I thought they'd be a little lightweight up front, but they posed a threat and played good football.
Even though South Korea are now out, Japan face Paraguay and they must have a decent shout of making it to the quarter finals.
Spain
Just when it was looking like history might repeat itself with Spain underachieving, they managed to beat a very useful Chile side last night and top Group H.
This is good for the tournament, they would have faced Brazil in the second round had they finished second, and that would have been too big a match for this stage of the competition. Brazil v Spain could quite easily be the final.
They do however have a tough game against Portugal which I'm looking forward to. It won't be easy for Spain, but I think they should have enough to come through.
Uruguay, USA or Ghana in the Semis
With England failing to claim top spot in Group C and France barely turning up as a footballing team, this side of the draw has really opened up. Uruguay beat South Korea today to make it to the quarter finals for the first time since 1970. They'll then face the winners of USA v Ghana.
This is a great opportunity for these countries, and I'm going to predict Uruguay to make it. I think the USA will win tonight against Ghana, who I just don't see scoring enough goals, and Uruguay will beat the USA as a result of their defence and Luis Suarez up front.
Disappointed with the African Nations
With this being the first World Cup staged on African soil, there's been a general consensus that it would be good to see the African nations do well and for one of them to progress quite far in the tournament.
As I type this, Ghana have made it to the second round but overall I've been disappointed with how African nations have done, and how they're generally progressing in world football.
South Africa
The hosts have acquitted themselves well and it was always asking a lot for them to qualify from the group stage. Had they not been hosting the tournament they would have got nowhere near the finals.
Nigeria and Cameroon
I think these two are the biggest disappointments in African football. Back in the 1990's Nigeria and Cameroon will trailblazers.
Cameroon could and maybe should have beaten England in Italia 90 to make it to the Semi finals. Nigeria lost narrowly in the second round to the Italians in USA 94 before winning the Olympic title in 1996. For me they've never really progressed from those promising starts.
Since these two first emerged other countries have started making an impression on the footballing world with Ghana and Ivory Coast now appearing in their second successive World Cup.
Back in the early 90s it was lazily said that African players and teams were 'tactically or defensively naive'. This soon became a tired cliche which you can't say now, as most top African players all play in Europe's best leagues winning titles with the biggest clubs.
What's happening is that Africa is producing the players but individual countries aren't bringing the players together to form successful teams.
The players being produced
Leading on from this, too many similar types of players are being produced. Watching Cameroon and Ghana all their players look identical to each other, all big and physically strong. It seems everyone wants to produce a 'Michael Essien' type midfield player.
I think Essien is a superb player but where is the African Messi or Iniesta? The skillful creative midfielder? And what about the strikers? Outside of Drogba and Samuel Eto I don't see many great African centre forwards.
To be a successful footballing nation you can't have players who are all the same. A lot of it comes down to coaching, an issue that was featured on the BBC this week in a short film report shown following the end of one match they were covering.
The report looked at the lack of African coaches coaching African teams and the barriers African coaches face in having the chance to coach their national sides.
Too many African countries look to bring in average or mediocre White European coaches in the belief that somehow they are technically superior. They need to give their own coaches a chance as I think it helps to create a homegrown footballing culture and identity which in the long run will be better for national success.
I look at Ivory Coast who individually have a very strong team, but didn't really make a great impression under Sven Goran Eriksson who impossed the same cautious negative approach on them as he did with England.
At the moment African football seems more about producing good indvidual players for the European club market without much thought for the success of their national teams.
Look at Japan and South Korea
I don't think it's a coincidence that Japan and South Korea are now using their own native managers after years of using foreign coaches. Both are having their best World Cups outside their own countries this time round.
I'm about to go and watch Ghana v USA* now, so perhaps Ghana may prove me wrong and make it to the Quarter finals.
It would be great to think that in the next World Cup there would be at least one African nation being managed by an African coach. This is something African countries need to start doing if they want to achieve international success.
*Second round - Ghana 2 USA 1 AET
Well done Ghana, you've become only the third African nation to make it to the Quarter finals of a World Cup.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Work till you drop!
It looks like we're all going to be working a lot longer than we thought, before we can claim for a state pension.
The government announced radical plans today to raise the retirement age from 65 to 66 for men by 2016. There's also a very real chance it could go up further to 70 at some future date.
I have to admit the thought of doing a full time job at the age of 70 really doesn't appeal to me and I never thought I'd ever have to work at that age.
None of the proposals surprise me, as we all need to be more honest and have this debate about pensions. We need to look at how the state can realistically afford to provide for so many older people.
I was reading some stats in today's Evening Standard which said 25% of boys born today will live to be 100 years old!
We already have over 10 million people over the age of 65 and this number will keep on growing.
When the retirement age of 65 was introduced in the 1920's those people that reached that age on average didn't live many years beyond it.
Nowadays 65 doesn't even seem to be old anymore, and for many people they could still have another 15 - 20 years ahead of them. When you take those sort of facts into consideration you have to ask how can we afford it?
The pension problem is one that's a serious issue for many Western European countries. They all have growing older populations but with decreasing work forces. You can't escape the fact that someone has to pay for all these things.
What needs to happen is that people need to have a new mindset when it comes to pensions and this needs to start from a very early age. Ideally as soon as people leave school or university.
In France today there were demonstrations in Paris against the French government’s proposals to increase their retirement age from 60 to 62.
For them being able to retire at 60 is like a human right, and challenges their way of life.
Although I respect the French for the way they have this very firm idea of what being French is all about, I can’t help but feel that they need to get real and accept that some of the old expectations no longer exist.
I've already got to the stage, where I except that when I reach retirement age, I can't realistically rely on the state to provide for me, and I have to start making provisions now. It probably means I will have to work beyond the age of 65.
The argument against rising the retirement age is that many poorer people will suffer as they will need to work longer just to survive.
For me it doesn’t matter what background you’re from or how much money you earn, you’ve got to start making some sort of provisions for yourself. There surely must be a limit to what the state can realistically spend on state pensions.
One group of people I do have sympathy for is young people. They could have huge problems in the next 20 – 30 years. For example, all those people who go to university and leave with thousands of pounds worth of debt from student loans. This will have to be paid back during their working lives.
There may not be the jobs out there for younger people, especially with older people continuing to remain in work, because they can’t afford to retire.
On top of that, there’s the pressure of buying property and getting on the property ladder, which is beyond so many people on average salaries.
Before you can buy a house you need to save for a deposit and on top of that financial experts will tell you that you need to build up a pot of savings for a rainy day and for your future retirement.
It's going to be impossible for so many people, both from working and middle class backgrounds to seriously save enough money for retirement whilst dealing with the financial demands of day-to-day life.
I’m quite glad this news story has come up as it is something we all need to think long and hard about.
We all need to start thinking differently about what the state can provide and what we as individuals need to do to provide for ourselves.
The old certainties of old age and retirement have gone, and they won’t be coming back.
The government announced radical plans today to raise the retirement age from 65 to 66 for men by 2016. There's also a very real chance it could go up further to 70 at some future date.
I have to admit the thought of doing a full time job at the age of 70 really doesn't appeal to me and I never thought I'd ever have to work at that age.
None of the proposals surprise me, as we all need to be more honest and have this debate about pensions. We need to look at how the state can realistically afford to provide for so many older people.
I was reading some stats in today's Evening Standard which said 25% of boys born today will live to be 100 years old!
We already have over 10 million people over the age of 65 and this number will keep on growing.
When the retirement age of 65 was introduced in the 1920's those people that reached that age on average didn't live many years beyond it.
Nowadays 65 doesn't even seem to be old anymore, and for many people they could still have another 15 - 20 years ahead of them. When you take those sort of facts into consideration you have to ask how can we afford it?
The pension problem is one that's a serious issue for many Western European countries. They all have growing older populations but with decreasing work forces. You can't escape the fact that someone has to pay for all these things.
What needs to happen is that people need to have a new mindset when it comes to pensions and this needs to start from a very early age. Ideally as soon as people leave school or university.
In France today there were demonstrations in Paris against the French government’s proposals to increase their retirement age from 60 to 62.
For them being able to retire at 60 is like a human right, and challenges their way of life.
Although I respect the French for the way they have this very firm idea of what being French is all about, I can’t help but feel that they need to get real and accept that some of the old expectations no longer exist.
I've already got to the stage, where I except that when I reach retirement age, I can't realistically rely on the state to provide for me, and I have to start making provisions now. It probably means I will have to work beyond the age of 65.
The argument against rising the retirement age is that many poorer people will suffer as they will need to work longer just to survive.
For me it doesn’t matter what background you’re from or how much money you earn, you’ve got to start making some sort of provisions for yourself. There surely must be a limit to what the state can realistically spend on state pensions.
One group of people I do have sympathy for is young people. They could have huge problems in the next 20 – 30 years. For example, all those people who go to university and leave with thousands of pounds worth of debt from student loans. This will have to be paid back during their working lives.
There may not be the jobs out there for younger people, especially with older people continuing to remain in work, because they can’t afford to retire.
On top of that, there’s the pressure of buying property and getting on the property ladder, which is beyond so many people on average salaries.
Before you can buy a house you need to save for a deposit and on top of that financial experts will tell you that you need to build up a pot of savings for a rainy day and for your future retirement.
It's going to be impossible for so many people, both from working and middle class backgrounds to seriously save enough money for retirement whilst dealing with the financial demands of day-to-day life.
I’m quite glad this news story has come up as it is something we all need to think long and hard about.
We all need to start thinking differently about what the state can provide and what we as individuals need to do to provide for ourselves.
The old certainties of old age and retirement have gone, and they won’t be coming back.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
World Cup thoughts - Day 13
England 1 Slovenia 0
We did it!
We beat Slovenia to make it to the next round - What a relief!
I took the day off from work to make sure that I could watch this game, and I know I made the right decision, although I have to say it was emotionally draining to watch.
In saying that England deserved to win, and should have won by more than one goal as we had a number of chances.
This was what I would call a 'proper' performance from England! You have to accept that England will never pass and move the ball in the way that the Spanish or Argentinians will, but we played to our own strengths.
We played at a high tempo, direct, quick, and accurate passing game. I enjoyed watching it as it made a great contrast to the way that teams such as Spain play the game.
It's amazing to think that I feel so relieved just to get out of the group stage! Reaching the second round now seems like an achievement in itself, but this is where the competition really gets going.
Because of Landon Donovan's last gasp winner for the USA against Algeria, we've now ended up finishing second in the group, which means a familiar old foe in the next round.
Germany in the next round
So it's Germany in round two. There's no doubting that England face what on paper appears to be a harder route to the final, but I don't think this is a bad thing.
If we played Ghana in the second round there would be this huge expectation for England to beat them.
By playing Germany there won't be the same level of expectancy and I think it could work in England's favour. Playing Germany will automatically raise England's game.
Germany look a decent side but there's nothing for England to fear, so I'm looking forward to a really good game and England have a very realistic chance of beating them.
Day 12
South Africa 2 France 1
Great result for South Africa, at one stage it was looking like they might pull off the miracle and make it to the second round, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
As for the French - total humiliation! I said last week, there's something absolutely rotten at the heart of the French squad. Many of the problems begin with the manager Raymond Domenech.
You also have to look at the French football federation. There were problems in the last World Cup between Domenech and the players. From all accounts it was senior players like Zindane and Lillian Thuram who seemed to inspire and take control of things and drag France into the World Cup final.
For some reason the French decided to stick with Domenech throughout the Euro 2008 campaign and the World Cup qualifiers.
They've only got themselves to blame for this debacle. In future, if any country wants a text book guide on how not to run a World Cup campaign, they need only to look at this French team of 2010.
Uruguay 1 Mexico 0
I've been impressed with Uruguay, I think I may adopt them as my second favourite team now. They played good football and Diego Forlan has been at the heart of everything.
They could, and there's still a very long way to go, be potential quarter final opponents for England, should England get to that stage!
Argentina 2 Greece 0
I was really looking forward to this game, and had £3 on Argentina to win 3-0 at 10/1. The game turned out to be dreadful, but that wasn't Argentina's fault, they tried to play football, it was all the fault of the Greeks
There was grudging respect for Greece when they won Euro 2004, but their football is still 'anti football'. It's horrible to watch.
They were trying to play for a draw which could have taken them into the next round, but what football fan would seriously want to see Greece progress?
I watched the game thinking, they're like a monster from a horror movie that can't quite be killed off, like a vampire!
They needed a stake through the heart, which finally came in the form of two goals late on in the second half.
Great to see the veteran Martin Palermo come off the bench and score the second. This is great story. First World Cup at the age of 36!
Hadn't played international football for 10 years, until Maradona recalled him, and he scored a crucial last gasp winner against Peru in the qualifiers to help Argentina get to these finals!
We did it!
We beat Slovenia to make it to the next round - What a relief!
I took the day off from work to make sure that I could watch this game, and I know I made the right decision, although I have to say it was emotionally draining to watch.
In saying that England deserved to win, and should have won by more than one goal as we had a number of chances.
This was what I would call a 'proper' performance from England! You have to accept that England will never pass and move the ball in the way that the Spanish or Argentinians will, but we played to our own strengths.
We played at a high tempo, direct, quick, and accurate passing game. I enjoyed watching it as it made a great contrast to the way that teams such as Spain play the game.
It's amazing to think that I feel so relieved just to get out of the group stage! Reaching the second round now seems like an achievement in itself, but this is where the competition really gets going.
Because of Landon Donovan's last gasp winner for the USA against Algeria, we've now ended up finishing second in the group, which means a familiar old foe in the next round.
Germany in the next round
So it's Germany in round two. There's no doubting that England face what on paper appears to be a harder route to the final, but I don't think this is a bad thing.
If we played Ghana in the second round there would be this huge expectation for England to beat them.
By playing Germany there won't be the same level of expectancy and I think it could work in England's favour. Playing Germany will automatically raise England's game.
Germany look a decent side but there's nothing for England to fear, so I'm looking forward to a really good game and England have a very realistic chance of beating them.
Day 12
South Africa 2 France 1
Great result for South Africa, at one stage it was looking like they might pull off the miracle and make it to the second round, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
As for the French - total humiliation! I said last week, there's something absolutely rotten at the heart of the French squad. Many of the problems begin with the manager Raymond Domenech.
You also have to look at the French football federation. There were problems in the last World Cup between Domenech and the players. From all accounts it was senior players like Zindane and Lillian Thuram who seemed to inspire and take control of things and drag France into the World Cup final.
For some reason the French decided to stick with Domenech throughout the Euro 2008 campaign and the World Cup qualifiers.
They've only got themselves to blame for this debacle. In future, if any country wants a text book guide on how not to run a World Cup campaign, they need only to look at this French team of 2010.
Uruguay 1 Mexico 0
I've been impressed with Uruguay, I think I may adopt them as my second favourite team now. They played good football and Diego Forlan has been at the heart of everything.
They could, and there's still a very long way to go, be potential quarter final opponents for England, should England get to that stage!
Argentina 2 Greece 0
I was really looking forward to this game, and had £3 on Argentina to win 3-0 at 10/1. The game turned out to be dreadful, but that wasn't Argentina's fault, they tried to play football, it was all the fault of the Greeks
There was grudging respect for Greece when they won Euro 2004, but their football is still 'anti football'. It's horrible to watch.
They were trying to play for a draw which could have taken them into the next round, but what football fan would seriously want to see Greece progress?
I watched the game thinking, they're like a monster from a horror movie that can't quite be killed off, like a vampire!
They needed a stake through the heart, which finally came in the form of two goals late on in the second half.
Great to see the veteran Martin Palermo come off the bench and score the second. This is great story. First World Cup at the age of 36!
Hadn't played international football for 10 years, until Maradona recalled him, and he scored a crucial last gasp winner against Peru in the qualifiers to help Argentina get to these finals!
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