Sheriff Kimbo's Thursday Thoughts #14

So my first post of 2010 finds me in reflective mood regarding 2009. From the madness of Manchester City and Real Madrid, Newcastle getting relegated, the States getting us all a bit worried that they might actually be getting a very good side together in the Confederation Cup, England qualifying for the World Cup with ease - and being rewarded a very group, and THAT handball from Thierry Henry.

Ryan Giggs rather bafflingly won the PFA Player of the Year and Sports Personality of the year, in what appeared to be more like lifetime tribute awards; Lionel Messi won just about everything in sight (anyone who has seen him play and still thinks Ronaldo is the best player in the world should be shot; not killed, just knee-capped or something) and on a personal note, one of the highlights was my beloved Aston Villa actually breaking that ridiculous hoodoo against Manchester United!

The saddest moment of 2009 was undoubtedly the death of Bobby Robson. I honestly can not think of a man more universally liked in football. Honestly; think of all the great players and managers that you can come up with. Now, you may respect them all, you personally may even like them all, but how many can you say that you have never heard anyone say anything bad about? Well Sir Bobby Robson fell into that category, and I have absolutely no shame in saying that I had a tear in my eye when he was on the pitch for the charity match in his honour.

One of the most annoying things about 2009 - in fact the past decade - has been Sky. Of course there are many good things to Sky; the amount of games we can see, the option of Football First, even the fact that there are no problems with coverage when games go into extra-time. Plus of course, Jeff Stelling! But the hype and nonsense that comes out of the mouths of the pundits and the commentators is absolutely nonsensical! The worst of all is the face of it all - Richard Keys. What a vile, grubby little man he is. A couple of things he come out with last month really annoyed me, such as suggesting the James Milner goal in Villa’s 3-0 win over Hull was bad sportsmanship. But what really summed up him and his company was this comment...

On the subject of Liverpool crashing out of the Champions League he said:

"This competition and the people of England need Liverpool to be doing well in the Champions League."

Word for word that might not be 100% accurate but it is very, very close. First of all - no competition NEEDS anyone to be doing well; teams get knocked out, teams progress, and ultimately teams usually end up about where they deserve to. Secondly, why the hell should anyone in England - or anywhere else for that matter - who is not a Liverpool fan need Liverpool to be doing anything? This type of narrow-minded, elitist attitude is responsible for a lot of what is wrong with English football.

I tell you what, love or hate Roy Keane, when he went on a rant about Keys and the rest of his cronies he was absolutely spot on with everything that he said.

On a more random note...if you mixed Jimmy Bullard and Steve Bruce, do you think you would basically get Rocky Dennis?

Anyway, that’s enough from me. Happy New Year to you all, and have a great 2010.