Monday, January 12, 2004
Ferguson: we tried to sign Larsson
Well This might clear a few things up.
Alex Ferguson, revered by the Irish press even more than the British, has come out and said that he did, indeed, try to lure Henrik Larsson away from Celtic Park towards the end of his last contract.
Larsson, for those not inthe know, is a now-legendary Swedish striker who won the European Golden Boot (top scorer) award in 2001 when he scored 53 goals in one season.
Celtic fans have long been convinced of his world-class standing, however those flat eathers who believe the English Premiership is the best league in the world remained unconvinced.
Perhaps, you would argue, the fact that he scored more in the last World CUp (in less games) than Michael Owen and the fact that he is the highest scoring player for a British club in European football ever would have made a difference?
No, of course not. For when it comes to judging a player, those who sit with a Guinness in one hand and a packet of peanuts in the other, wiping a drop of kebab sauce off their ManU/Arsenal/Liverpool jersey are second to none.
Alex Ferguson, revered by the Irish press even more than the British, has come out and said that he did, indeed, try to lure Henrik Larsson away from Celtic Park towards the end of his last contract.
Larsson, for those not inthe know, is a now-legendary Swedish striker who won the European Golden Boot (top scorer) award in 2001 when he scored 53 goals in one season.
Celtic fans have long been convinced of his world-class standing, however those flat eathers who believe the English Premiership is the best league in the world remained unconvinced.
Perhaps, you would argue, the fact that he scored more in the last World CUp (in less games) than Michael Owen and the fact that he is the highest scoring player for a British club in European football ever would have made a difference?
No, of course not. For when it comes to judging a player, those who sit with a Guinness in one hand and a packet of peanuts in the other, wiping a drop of kebab sauce off their ManU/Arsenal/Liverpool jersey are second to none.
Saturday, January 10, 2004
If you want accurate, unbiased reporting...
Stay away from the Irish independent.
Ok they might not have known all about the deal to take MIller away from Celtic Park, but they didn't have to swallow everything the agent told them, which as you would expect, is tilted one way.
In yesterday's Indo it is claimed that Miller was offered 'only' 11k a week by Celtic and that Miller would earn 20 times his current deal when he signed for Manchester United.
Now if this wan't in the Indo I'd let it go, but following Dion Fanning's ignorant anti-Celtic tirade last Sunday it's not that easy.
Of course, Miller WILL earn 20 times his current deal when he moves to Manchester, BUT He was also offered the same fom Celtic.Such a shame that end the beloved west-brit theory taht Celtic don't look after their players.
I wonder if The Indo will go back over their inaccurate rambling and pandering to United.... Nah i doubt it too.
INDEPENDENT:
IAM MILLER will join Manchester United on July 1 after signing a pre-contract agreement with the Premiership club yesterday.
He is set to earn 20 times his current Celtic salary when he joins Manchester United this summer but his agent said last night that money was not a factor in his decision to leave Parkhead.
"The only club Liam was going to leave Celtic for was Manchester United," said Fintan Drury of Drury Sports.
"People who know Liam will know that he has not made this decision on financial grounds. He sees this as an opportunity to improve himself as a player."
Indeed, Miller is understood to have turned down the opportunity to talk to several other Premiership clubs because of his reluctance to leave Celtic for anybody other than United, a club he has always supported.
Miller spent the last three days in Manchester meeting Alex Ferguson and members of the United squad as Drury and his colleague Eamonn McLoughlin hammered out a long term deal worth £1m per year. That's a far cry from the £1,000 per week he has been earning this season at Celtic despite making 29 first team appearances including ten in the Champions League where he has scored three goals.
Celtic moved quickly yesterday to deflect criticism of their inability to keep Miller by issuing a statement suggesting they had done everything they could to persuade him to stay.
"We have had no confirmation from Manchester United of any pre-contract agreement. We've made an extremely generous offer to Liam Miller, the biggest salary deal ever put on the table for a young Celtic player who has come up through the ranks.
"This offer was made following detailed consideration of Liam's contribution to the team to date during his 16 starting appearances as well as his evident potential. It is a salary package which would make him one of the very best paid players in Scottish football history."
The statement is somewhat disingenuous to Miller, who could hardly be described as a young player given he celebrates his 23rd birthday next month.
Also, it is understood that Celtic were only prepared to offer him around £11,000 a week, which would hardly have made a ripple on the table of Scottish football's best paid players.
Ok they might not have known all about the deal to take MIller away from Celtic Park, but they didn't have to swallow everything the agent told them, which as you would expect, is tilted one way.
In yesterday's Indo it is claimed that Miller was offered 'only' 11k a week by Celtic and that Miller would earn 20 times his current deal when he signed for Manchester United.
Now if this wan't in the Indo I'd let it go, but following Dion Fanning's ignorant anti-Celtic tirade last Sunday it's not that easy.
Of course, Miller WILL earn 20 times his current deal when he moves to Manchester, BUT He was also offered the same fom Celtic.Such a shame that end the beloved west-brit theory taht Celtic don't look after their players.
I wonder if The Indo will go back over their inaccurate rambling and pandering to United.... Nah i doubt it too.
INDEPENDENT:
IAM MILLER will join Manchester United on July 1 after signing a pre-contract agreement with the Premiership club yesterday.
He is set to earn 20 times his current Celtic salary when he joins Manchester United this summer but his agent said last night that money was not a factor in his decision to leave Parkhead.
"The only club Liam was going to leave Celtic for was Manchester United," said Fintan Drury of Drury Sports.
"People who know Liam will know that he has not made this decision on financial grounds. He sees this as an opportunity to improve himself as a player."
Indeed, Miller is understood to have turned down the opportunity to talk to several other Premiership clubs because of his reluctance to leave Celtic for anybody other than United, a club he has always supported.
Miller spent the last three days in Manchester meeting Alex Ferguson and members of the United squad as Drury and his colleague Eamonn McLoughlin hammered out a long term deal worth £1m per year. That's a far cry from the £1,000 per week he has been earning this season at Celtic despite making 29 first team appearances including ten in the Champions League where he has scored three goals.
Celtic moved quickly yesterday to deflect criticism of their inability to keep Miller by issuing a statement suggesting they had done everything they could to persuade him to stay.
"We have had no confirmation from Manchester United of any pre-contract agreement. We've made an extremely generous offer to Liam Miller, the biggest salary deal ever put on the table for a young Celtic player who has come up through the ranks.
"This offer was made following detailed consideration of Liam's contribution to the team to date during his 16 starting appearances as well as his evident potential. It is a salary package which would make him one of the very best paid players in Scottish football history."
The statement is somewhat disingenuous to Miller, who could hardly be described as a young player given he celebrates his 23rd birthday next month.
Also, it is understood that Celtic were only prepared to offer him around £11,000 a week, which would hardly have made a ripple on the table of Scottish football's best paid players.
MIller time will not be easy
Here in an article from the Glasgow Evening Times Ronnie Cully sums up the feeling of Celtic fans i relation to the Miller transfer.
He hits the nail on the head, shaming former Celtic star and fellow mercenary Charlie Nicholas in the process, who as usual blamed the club SHOCK!!
He hits the nail on the head, shaming former Celtic star and fellow mercenary Charlie Nicholas in the process, who as usual blamed the club SHOCK!!
Miller time is over
A star in 16 games, and he has thrown it all back in Celtic's face. Well blow me over with a whistle.
I can't help but display my disgust at the actions of another son of Cork in relation to a team Irish fans claim as their own.
not, of course that the nationality should really matter, but when you bleat on about it being the club you want to sign for, that you love and that you always supported, then you deserve the stick.
Miller spoke to United (thru his greasy agent Drury no doubt) while leading Martin O Neill and the Celtic board a merry dance. The club offered him 20k a week, YES 20k for a player who made 29 appearances in 6 years, and who had maybe 4 outstanding performances this season.
Celtic fans have been united against Miller like never before in recent memory and it is unlikely that his remaining 6 months before his deal with Manchester United starts, will be anything but hell.
Ive had to write a column for the Sunday Mirror about this issue, here's an early preview:
A few years ago I sat in a Yorkshire pub with an Irish underage international and asked him if he, a Celtic fan, would ever sign for Rangers?
"No way?," was the swift response, "not a hope". What if they offered you £30,000 a week?, I pushed. "If they were to offer me that then surely I;d be good enough for Celtic," he said.
It wasn't Liam Miller, of course.
This week has shown how little fans and the clubs now mean to some players. Of course Miller has not signed for Rangers, but the point about moving for money from a club you are said to 'support' is relevant.
On Wednesday Motherwell's Scottish International Stephen Pearson moved to his boyhood heroes Celtic, and the next day it emerged the young Cork star, who has yet to be capped, signed up to be a bench warmer in Manchester.
Pearson, who proved himself a quality performer in an average side over the last 12 months, demanded to move in January so his old club could at least reap some financial reward for the time invested in him.
Miller, meanwhile, snubbed a huge contract offer from Celtic, and will undoubtedly pick up a hefty signing-on fee from the Reds given that he arrives on a Bosman free transfer.
He paid lip-service, as the best Cork footballers do, to Celtic and how he only wanted to play in Glasgow, but said when he signed for United that he always supported ?only two clubs?. Would you ever have heard the likes of it from Alan Shearer?
The patronising Irish players who proclaim a love of Celtic, only to shove it in the Hoops fans faces, yes Mr Keane, can now forget about the easy tesitmonial money they used to dream of.
While Miller displayed great potential and skill in the early months of this season including two goals in the Champions League, he has been in the Celtic first team for less than 30 games and has started only 16 of those.
His lack of loyalty to Celtic is all the more galling considering his 18 months spent out through injury that has led to him making his first senior start this season at 22.
I know loyalty is almost a bad word in football these days, especially when agents are involved, but surely he could have at least earned his club a fee, like Pearson did formotherlyl.
Following Roy Keane?s selfishness in Saipan two years ago, it seems another Cork man is to be struck from a lot of Irish soccer fans Christmas card list. Apart from the usual Man United couch potates, that is.
I can't help but display my disgust at the actions of another son of Cork in relation to a team Irish fans claim as their own.
not, of course that the nationality should really matter, but when you bleat on about it being the club you want to sign for, that you love and that you always supported, then you deserve the stick.
Miller spoke to United (thru his greasy agent Drury no doubt) while leading Martin O Neill and the Celtic board a merry dance. The club offered him 20k a week, YES 20k for a player who made 29 appearances in 6 years, and who had maybe 4 outstanding performances this season.
Celtic fans have been united against Miller like never before in recent memory and it is unlikely that his remaining 6 months before his deal with Manchester United starts, will be anything but hell.
Ive had to write a column for the Sunday Mirror about this issue, here's an early preview:
A few years ago I sat in a Yorkshire pub with an Irish underage international and asked him if he, a Celtic fan, would ever sign for Rangers?
"No way?," was the swift response, "not a hope". What if they offered you £30,000 a week?, I pushed. "If they were to offer me that then surely I;d be good enough for Celtic," he said.
It wasn't Liam Miller, of course.
This week has shown how little fans and the clubs now mean to some players. Of course Miller has not signed for Rangers, but the point about moving for money from a club you are said to 'support' is relevant.
On Wednesday Motherwell's Scottish International Stephen Pearson moved to his boyhood heroes Celtic, and the next day it emerged the young Cork star, who has yet to be capped, signed up to be a bench warmer in Manchester.
Pearson, who proved himself a quality performer in an average side over the last 12 months, demanded to move in January so his old club could at least reap some financial reward for the time invested in him.
Miller, meanwhile, snubbed a huge contract offer from Celtic, and will undoubtedly pick up a hefty signing-on fee from the Reds given that he arrives on a Bosman free transfer.
He paid lip-service, as the best Cork footballers do, to Celtic and how he only wanted to play in Glasgow, but said when he signed for United that he always supported ?only two clubs?. Would you ever have heard the likes of it from Alan Shearer?
The patronising Irish players who proclaim a love of Celtic, only to shove it in the Hoops fans faces, yes Mr Keane, can now forget about the easy tesitmonial money they used to dream of.
While Miller displayed great potential and skill in the early months of this season including two goals in the Champions League, he has been in the Celtic first team for less than 30 games and has started only 16 of those.
His lack of loyalty to Celtic is all the more galling considering his 18 months spent out through injury that has led to him making his first senior start this season at 22.
I know loyalty is almost a bad word in football these days, especially when agents are involved, but surely he could have at least earned his club a fee, like Pearson did formotherlyl.
Following Roy Keane?s selfishness in Saipan two years ago, it seems another Cork man is to be struck from a lot of Irish soccer fans Christmas card list. Apart from the usual Man United couch potates, that is.
Monday, December 22, 2003
Intro of the YEar!!
For those of you interested in the sporting press, which you probably are if you find yourself here, then here is a choice example of Broadsheet overkill.
Ok, not completely, but it does have a certain aura of self-indulgence, ironic given the tone of attack in the article.
Anyhow, I had to post the intro to this piece as a masterpiece of analogy, fantasy and pure imagination.
The Rio Ferdinand drug-test failure case has seen many forests downed to fulfill the comments pages of papers but no amoutn of inches will compare with this nugget...
Simon Barnes is the author... enjoy.
United in their vile arrogance
ON July 14, 1789, Louis XVI wrote in his diary a single word: "Rien." No doubt on September 23, 2003, Alex Ferguson wrote the word "nothing" in his own diary. On the first of those dates, the Parisians stormed the Bastille, started the French Revolution and set in process the events that took Louis to the guillotine.
On the second, Rio Ferdinand failed to take a drugs test. What the two events have in common is that neither of the two nothing-men had the remotest idea that such events could affect them. They were above such things. They could not be touched. They were of such eminence that the doings of these futile little beings were nothing to them. Not so much beneath contempt as beneath consideration.
"Do you imagine that the envenomed spittle of five hundred little gentlemen of your type, heaped upon another, would succeed in slobbering so much as the tips of my august toes?" As the Baron de Charlus rages at the Narrator in Proust, so Ferguson and the rest of the inhabitants of the Faubourg Old Trafford are now raging at the rest of the world.
Le Rio de France ( free registration)
Ok, not completely, but it does have a certain aura of self-indulgence, ironic given the tone of attack in the article.
Anyhow, I had to post the intro to this piece as a masterpiece of analogy, fantasy and pure imagination.
The Rio Ferdinand drug-test failure case has seen many forests downed to fulfill the comments pages of papers but no amoutn of inches will compare with this nugget...
Simon Barnes is the author... enjoy.
United in their vile arrogance
ON July 14, 1789, Louis XVI wrote in his diary a single word: "Rien." No doubt on September 23, 2003, Alex Ferguson wrote the word "nothing" in his own diary. On the first of those dates, the Parisians stormed the Bastille, started the French Revolution and set in process the events that took Louis to the guillotine.
On the second, Rio Ferdinand failed to take a drugs test. What the two events have in common is that neither of the two nothing-men had the remotest idea that such events could affect them. They were above such things. They could not be touched. They were of such eminence that the doings of these futile little beings were nothing to them. Not so much beneath contempt as beneath consideration.
"Do you imagine that the envenomed spittle of five hundred little gentlemen of your type, heaped upon another, would succeed in slobbering so much as the tips of my august toes?" As the Baron de Charlus rages at the Narrator in Proust, so Ferguson and the rest of the inhabitants of the Faubourg Old Trafford are now raging at the rest of the world.
Le Rio de France ( free registration)
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
oy Keane Interview: Exclusive Hold the Phone
Sorry I Can't complete my touchdown pass, I'm on the phone!
America has been going a little sports crazy in the past few days. Footballers have been making the headlines in a big way, but many are not happy about it - including their managers and fellow players.
The reason? - Post-touchdown celebrations.
Being a fan of European soccer, where a new celebration is seen and celebrated almosty every weekend, this is a little bizarre, but the NFL and it's ultra-strict coaches have no intention of letting up.
fines between $5,000 - $15,000 are common and even on-field punishments in the shape of a 15-yard bonus to the opposition are common.
THe latest big deal surrounds the celebration of another NFL star, who, after scoring, grabbed a hidden mobile Phone from the padded goal post - to the ire of his manager and opposition teammates.
Imagine the uproar were Robbie Fowler's 'snorting' celebration to be perpetrated along a pristine NFL astroturf pitchline!
Celebrate good goals come on!
America has been going a little sports crazy in the past few days. Footballers have been making the headlines in a big way, but many are not happy about it - including their managers and fellow players.
The reason? - Post-touchdown celebrations.
Being a fan of European soccer, where a new celebration is seen and celebrated almosty every weekend, this is a little bizarre, but the NFL and it's ultra-strict coaches have no intention of letting up.
fines between $5,000 - $15,000 are common and even on-field punishments in the shape of a 15-yard bonus to the opposition are common.
THe latest big deal surrounds the celebration of another NFL star, who, after scoring, grabbed a hidden mobile Phone from the padded goal post - to the ire of his manager and opposition teammates.
Imagine the uproar were Robbie Fowler's 'snorting' celebration to be perpetrated along a pristine NFL astroturf pitchline!
Celebrate good goals come on!
Thursday, December 04, 2003
Sun in geographical correctness shocker!
I can;t belibve they finally get it right! but they did so i must commend Shaun Custis for the one time it is correct ..
Ireland can face England, Scotland, Wales and the bastard state in the upcoming WC qulaifying campaign and the SUn have correclty left Ireland out of the clichéd 'Home nations' tag for once..
Home nations AND!!
Ireland can face England, Scotland, Wales and the bastard state in the upcoming WC qulaifying campaign and the SUn have correclty left Ireland out of the clichéd 'Home nations' tag for once..
Home nations AND!!
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Scotcha!
Well, what can be said about Scotland's victory that hasn't already been written in the 45 page special in Monday's Scottish Daily Record?
An incredible result, it equalled Ireland's fantastic victory over the same spolied Dutch stars in 2001, but unfortunately not with the same timing as the Irish.
The problem is that, while Ireland beat Holland after drawing 2-2 in Amsterdam, the Dutch did not have a chance of revenge four days later as they do on this occasion.
Sure Lee Wilkie pulled off one of his once in a blue moon blue chip performances to keep RVN off the scoresheet, and Christian Dailly had a stormer in an unusual midfield role.
Darren Fletcher and James MCFadden also gave the Hampden crowd some genuine cheer for the first time in years, BUt there has to be a but.
Cna anyone, Even the scots, see RVN going 180 minutes against Douglas, Wilkie, Pressley et al without scoring??
I honestly can't and one man that agrees with me is Douglas' team mate Neil Lennon.
Having been in his company on SAturday while the irish team had lunch in Portmarnock Links hotel in Dublin, we both watched Rab mess up a cross and Lenny said 'there's Rab up to his old tricks!" - as he flapped his hands over his head...
Unfortunately I fear Rab will flap a little too often , Wilkie wil have a more usual nose bleed, McFadden will be taken out of the game, and RVN and Davids will run the show.
I also expect Rafael Van De Vaart to steal the show, if and when given the chance, in his home ground.
An incredible result, it equalled Ireland's fantastic victory over the same spolied Dutch stars in 2001, but unfortunately not with the same timing as the Irish.
The problem is that, while Ireland beat Holland after drawing 2-2 in Amsterdam, the Dutch did not have a chance of revenge four days later as they do on this occasion.
Sure Lee Wilkie pulled off one of his once in a blue moon blue chip performances to keep RVN off the scoresheet, and Christian Dailly had a stormer in an unusual midfield role.
Darren Fletcher and James MCFadden also gave the Hampden crowd some genuine cheer for the first time in years, BUt there has to be a but.
Cna anyone, Even the scots, see RVN going 180 minutes against Douglas, Wilkie, Pressley et al without scoring??
I honestly can't and one man that agrees with me is Douglas' team mate Neil Lennon.
Having been in his company on SAturday while the irish team had lunch in Portmarnock Links hotel in Dublin, we both watched Rab mess up a cross and Lenny said 'there's Rab up to his old tricks!" - as he flapped his hands over his head...
Unfortunately I fear Rab will flap a little too often , Wilkie wil have a more usual nose bleed, McFadden will be taken out of the game, and RVN and Davids will run the show.
I also expect Rafael Van De Vaart to steal the show, if and when given the chance, in his home ground.
BOH-NO
well as most of you (who give a shit) will know, Bohemians were beaten by Shelbourne last Friday, (1-0).
However, last night they drew 1-1 with Longford Town to all but end their chances of retaining the league title for the first time in their history.
With Shelbourne beating Drogheda 2-0 at home in a comfortable game for the Champs elect, it mean that the gao between the pair is now an almost unassailable 4 points, with 3 games left.
This explains perhaps why Stephen Kenny, Bohemians manager, was seen holding his head in his hand at the final whistle, having been informed by a fan that Shels had indeed won.
The game ended 1-1. with graham Gartland the nemesis on this occasion.
Ordinarily I'd be happy for Graham as he is a friend of mine who i met while in University in leeds, while he was playing for Barnsley.
He soon left there for Dundee United and then came back to Ireland, as many Irish youngsters these days do.
He has since signed for Longford and won an FAI Cup medal but only on Sunday night i spoke to him and asked him to throw the game with BOhs...jokingly of course..
he almost agreed but lo and behold, of course he pops up with a headed goal on 5 minutes to put Bohs on the back foot.
Bohs best player,and captain, Kevin Hunt, gets himself sent off on 37 and its all uphill from then..
Robbie Doyle did equalise eventually but it was too little too late..
shame.
However, last night they drew 1-1 with Longford Town to all but end their chances of retaining the league title for the first time in their history.
With Shelbourne beating Drogheda 2-0 at home in a comfortable game for the Champs elect, it mean that the gao between the pair is now an almost unassailable 4 points, with 3 games left.
This explains perhaps why Stephen Kenny, Bohemians manager, was seen holding his head in his hand at the final whistle, having been informed by a fan that Shels had indeed won.
The game ended 1-1. with graham Gartland the nemesis on this occasion.
Ordinarily I'd be happy for Graham as he is a friend of mine who i met while in University in leeds, while he was playing for Barnsley.
He soon left there for Dundee United and then came back to Ireland, as many Irish youngsters these days do.
He has since signed for Longford and won an FAI Cup medal but only on Sunday night i spoke to him and asked him to throw the game with BOhs...jokingly of course..
he almost agreed but lo and behold, of course he pops up with a headed goal on 5 minutes to put Bohs on the back foot.
Bohs best player,and captain, Kevin Hunt, gets himself sent off on 37 and its all uphill from then..
Robbie Doyle did equalise eventually but it was too little too late..
shame.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Bohemian Rhapsody?
Tomorrow night (Friday) is make or break time for the eicom League Premier Division title.
Bohemians, reigning champions and league leaders by one point, face second plaed Shelbourne in a televised clash at Dalymount Park.
Bohs are hoping to become the first side in their history to retain the title while Shels are hoping to make it the third time that the pair have hand the trophy to each other in the last 6 years with both side dominating the competition.
The pair are 12 points ahead of third place,with 4 league games remaining for most teams.
The mere fact that Bohs have any chance of winning this title speaks volumes for their players and manager, who were 16 points behind Shels at one point, following European involvement.
Both sides are the most professional set ups in the country and it is unlikley any side will split them in the next two to three years, however the league is still no getting the recognition/media coverage it proabably deserves.
This is the first year of summer soccer (april - november calendar) and the product has markedly improved.
The epic FAI Cup semi-final between St Patrick's Athletic and Bohemians attracted a larger audience than the English Premiership highlights package ( a la Match of the Day) the week before.
RTE will show tomorrow's game live and one can only hope it lives up to the hype.
Failing that COME ON BOHEMIANS! :)
TOP TWO CLASH
Bohemians, reigning champions and league leaders by one point, face second plaed Shelbourne in a televised clash at Dalymount Park.
Bohs are hoping to become the first side in their history to retain the title while Shels are hoping to make it the third time that the pair have hand the trophy to each other in the last 6 years with both side dominating the competition.
The pair are 12 points ahead of third place,with 4 league games remaining for most teams.
The mere fact that Bohs have any chance of winning this title speaks volumes for their players and manager, who were 16 points behind Shels at one point, following European involvement.
Both sides are the most professional set ups in the country and it is unlikley any side will split them in the next two to three years, however the league is still no getting the recognition/media coverage it proabably deserves.
This is the first year of summer soccer (april - november calendar) and the product has markedly improved.
The epic FAI Cup semi-final between St Patrick's Athletic and Bohemians attracted a larger audience than the English Premiership highlights package ( a la Match of the Day) the week before.
RTE will show tomorrow's game live and one can only hope it lives up to the hype.
Failing that COME ON BOHEMIANS! :)
TOP TWO CLASH
Will Kobe trial be emulated in England?
Will all eyes at Newcastle's training ground in the next few months be looking at LA?
If they;re not, they should be.
LA LAkers star Kobe Bryant's rape trial is about to begin there after a six month delay and it's already looking like it will outstrip O.J's as the "trial of the century".
Kobe (an american Beckham) is accused of raping a 19-yr old Spa employee in June; a woman who has since been named by American media sources, including the huge tabloid The Globe.
Disgracefully the Globe showed a 3 year old picture of her with a thigh high garter on display in it, with the tag "Did she really say no?"
Some Americans have backed this splash as the 'freedom of the press', but it's highly likley that this will be an unfortunate precedent.
This trial will unfortunately be overtaken by the questions of media power, celebrity and sports-star responsibility.
This, of course is what has already happened in England but with Bryant, a $40m a year superstar and an all-star defence likely to be backing him up, is a fair trial going to ensue?
The only chance the small town prosecutor (who must sense some chance of victory) has is to strip Kobe of his Kobe-worth.
the brand of Kobe is what the jurors will see but the fame, the glamour, the race will have to be blotted out.
Michael Wolff of the NY Metro takes over :
Take as good an athlete as has arguably ever existed and make him expendable.
Which, of course, is not possible.
The likely strategy, then, is that the prosecutors will just ignore Kobe. Or ignore his Kobe-ness. They’ll pretend he’s other than who he is. They’ll pretend that this is something other than a media trial. Even if a prosecutor has stars in his eyes—which you can count on—he’ll keep trying to limit his and the jury’s field of vision.
That’s what we’ll see. A shambling, clueless government against an all-powerful, savvy pop culture.
"The alternative might be to wage a dialectical trial, too, to try to put the culture (the low culture, anyway) on trial: celebrity, sports, media itself, a culture that deifies dumbed-down men, lavishly rewards them for physical aggressiveness, grants them carte blanche entitlement for whatever they want when they want it, and excuses them from normal social restraints. Sports culture and sports business and sports media really are what this is about. Who doesn’t believe that versions of what Kobe Bryant did to a concierge at that Eagle County hotel take place in hotels wherever athletes stay?"
If they;re not, they should be.
LA LAkers star Kobe Bryant's rape trial is about to begin there after a six month delay and it's already looking like it will outstrip O.J's as the "trial of the century".
Kobe (an american Beckham) is accused of raping a 19-yr old Spa employee in June; a woman who has since been named by American media sources, including the huge tabloid The Globe.
Disgracefully the Globe showed a 3 year old picture of her with a thigh high garter on display in it, with the tag "Did she really say no?"
Some Americans have backed this splash as the 'freedom of the press', but it's highly likley that this will be an unfortunate precedent.
This trial will unfortunately be overtaken by the questions of media power, celebrity and sports-star responsibility.
This, of course is what has already happened in England but with Bryant, a $40m a year superstar and an all-star defence likely to be backing him up, is a fair trial going to ensue?
The only chance the small town prosecutor (who must sense some chance of victory) has is to strip Kobe of his Kobe-worth.
the brand of Kobe is what the jurors will see but the fame, the glamour, the race will have to be blotted out.
Michael Wolff of the NY Metro takes over :
Take as good an athlete as has arguably ever existed and make him expendable.
Which, of course, is not possible.
The likely strategy, then, is that the prosecutors will just ignore Kobe. Or ignore his Kobe-ness. They’ll pretend he’s other than who he is. They’ll pretend that this is something other than a media trial. Even if a prosecutor has stars in his eyes—which you can count on—he’ll keep trying to limit his and the jury’s field of vision.
That’s what we’ll see. A shambling, clueless government against an all-powerful, savvy pop culture.
"The alternative might be to wage a dialectical trial, too, to try to put the culture (the low culture, anyway) on trial: celebrity, sports, media itself, a culture that deifies dumbed-down men, lavishly rewards them for physical aggressiveness, grants them carte blanche entitlement for whatever they want when they want it, and excuses them from normal social restraints. Sports culture and sports business and sports media really are what this is about. Who doesn’t believe that versions of what Kobe Bryant did to a concierge at that Eagle County hotel take place in hotels wherever athletes stay?"
