The Queen's Baton Relay

As well as the World Cup this summer we also have the Commonwealth Games taking place. This is taking place much closer to home in Glasgow and as a prelude to the games there is a baton relay that tours the world in a similar manner to the Olympic torch relay which passed through our town two years ago. In the case of the Queens Baton Relay the switch-over between runners took place right outside our house.

The road was not quite as packed this time but in part that was because they chose the route to pass right in front of the schools rather than have every school child in the area line one street. As ever with these type of things they are gone in a few minutes but the police did close the road to traffic for the duration of the procession which was a blessed relief.

As it turned out, it was people nominated from the local community that did the running and not the Queen herself. I thought she might be up for it after parachuting out of a helicopter during the Olympic opening ceremony but apparently the 88 year old monarch was not up for it!

 It all made for a welcome distraction from the World Cup finals. I’ve really been enjoying that even with the disappointment of England’s early exit but with the Commonwealth Games I should be able to go along and see some of the free events – probably the road cycling on the final Sunday. Until then there is another 3 weeks of football to look forward to.

World Cup 2014: You Cannot Be Serious!

We are now near the end of the first batch of World Cup games so what do I think so far? Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s a definite improvement on the 2010 tournament when we were desperately waiting for the games to burst into life. From a pure entertainment point of view it has been good from the start and, with the exception of the dull Iran vs Nigeria fixture, all the games have produced plenty of attacking play and a decent number of goals.

On the downside, the refereeing has often been poor – particularly in the opening fixture in which Croatia were well and truly mugged by the home-blowing ref. We have seen, however, the first positive use of goal-line technology when France were rightly awarded a goal that was really too hard to detect for any official – let alone the awkward position of the official on the day. I think this proves the worth of such technology but couldn’t it be used for other contentious decisions?

The use of technology is now common in many sports. Cricket and Rugby have both benefitted from it. Whilst these are both notoriously difficult to judge they are also very much gentlemen’s sports in which a certain respect for one’s opponents is a given. This is also largely true of tennis but the game under the watchful gaze of Hawkeye is the picture of sporting respect and a world away from the apoplectic rage that John McEnroe used to display at single duff line calls.

Would such technology improve football? I certainly think it would. Whilst penalty and offside decisions would benefit from this it would strongly discourage those who try it on as they would inevitably be found out and punished accordingly. The argument is always that querying decisions would hold the game up but it is rare for a penalty to be resolved in under a minute and with three substitutes per game would three referrals to the electronic umpire really make that much difference? Actually, I think it would : by producing a better spectacle.

World Cup 2014: The Inevitable Dodgy Predictions

It’s almost World Cup time – it all kicks off on Thursday night with Brazil vs Croatia and I have been sent a link from my colleague at work who runs the result prediction game. It’s £3 a shot this time and, whilst I’m not a fan of gambling, I do like to have a go at this one just to prove to myself what a lousy pundit I am. In fact my predictions at Euro 2012 weren’t too bad and I finished in a respectable mid-table position. My predictions for the previous World Cup in South Africa were so bad that some wag renamed my team from “The Stenhousemuir XI” to “Stenhousemuir Nil”. The programmer for the prediction game has amended the game so that the predictions for the group stages will feed through to the later knockout stages. I think it’s the same chap that does the fixture list for the FA so he must know what he’s doing! Anyway – here’s my group-by-group analysis:

Group A. There are two major predictors to doing well at the World Cup. They are playing at home and being Brazil. On that basis I think Brazil will walk Group A. That leaves the runner up spot. I suppose the smart money should go on Mexico. I can’t see Croatia progressing (after all, Scotland have turned them over twice recently) and whilst I have a soft spot for Cameroon I can see them failing to end most games with all 11 players on the pitch: as fun as they are to watch they would make the early 70s Leeds United side look like a bunch of wimps. So I’ll go for Brazil and Mexico.

Group B. The second group looks trickier to predict – with the exception of Australia who I think would do well to go home with a point. I think Spain will win this group although I can see their opening tie with the Netherlands ending as a draw. Chile have the advantage of playing on their home continent but I think the Netherlands and Spain will progress. After winning the last 3 major tournaments it would be easy to say that Spain are past their peak but it is such a high peak and they are so hard to beat I think they will still do well.

Group C. Of all the groups, Group C looks the least attractive to me. Then again it features Japan who have always entertained me (particularly their under-23 side at Hampden Park during the Olympics). The Ivory Coast look like a decent side with Greece and Columbia making up the other two teams. I don’t really know enough about these teams’ form to make a solid prediction but I suspect that Columbia and the Ivory Coast will progress.

Group D. This group really raised a smile around the office when it was drawn out. There always seems to be a “Group of Death” and there is always one team that the others are expected to beat and six months ago that looked like being England. Having seen a few of the teams play I think Costa Rica will be the potential whipping boys (and by definition the team most likely to cause an upset.) Looking through the fixtures I can see this group being very tight and with three former winners it will be guaranteed to throw out a potential “big name”. My prediction comes through with Italy and Uruguay progressing – but only just. If it comes down (as I suspect) to goal difference it could be that Costa Rica are the deciding factor - either by their margin of victory or defeat.

Group E. I think France will win Group E – as long as they don’t self-destruct again. I think French football is now on the rebound but with Franck Ribéry out injured and young players still progressing I don’t think they will progress too far in the knock-out stages. Of the other teams, I have seen both Honduras and Ecuador play recently and was unimpressed with them both. I can see second spot coming down to goal difference again but I predict that Switzerland will progress.

Group F. Argentina look like a shoe-in for this group. They were one of the most entertaining teams at the last World Cup and now having a coach with some technical nous to add to their obvious world-class talents they will be a force to reckon with. Of the other teams, I think Iran will be doing well if they can score but out of the remainder, I can see Bosnia-Herzegovina progressing at the expense of Nigeria. As the Nigerians play Argentina last I think they may just have a slightly easier time than the others but Bosnia have a few world class names in front of goal.

Group G. I think Germany and Portugal will progress from this group but my prediction gives Portugal the edge on goal difference. I don’t think the Germans have had the best preparation with a pointless star-free game against Poland and some other mixed performances filling the time between sponsorship obligations. However, the Germans do have the knack of peaking for tournaments at the right time. Portugal are an odd one in that they can play brilliant team football or end up as a support project for a couple of talented individuals. When they play as a team they are unstoppable. This is actually a very strong group as both the USA and Ghana have the potential to win on their day but I don’t think they will manage this and I will go with progression for the European nations.

Group H. There is often a dark horse team that doesn’t appear at the top of anyone’s list but does well. Uruguay fitted that  profile in 2010 although looking over their team list would make anyone wonder why they weren’t favourites. Belgium fit that profile for 2014 and a glance through their squad, whilst picking out few household names, doesn’t highlight any passengers. I would expect Russia to join Belgium in the next round but I don’t see the Koreans or Algerians being a pushover.

My predictions for the knock-out stages are, no doubt, equally haphazard but I end up with a prediction of a Brazil vs Spain final which the Brazilians will win. That’s probably just following the form guide rather than any great insight but after my last few lousy predictions for the likes of Germany, Czech Republic or the Netherlands to win a major trophy it is probably more realistic.

I’ll be trying to watch as many games as possible but with many matches starting nearer to midnight than midday I suspect a few will be skipped (or more likely inadvertently slept through). I’m assuming that Germany and England will get the official support in our house but scanning through for the “Diddy” nation to act as a surrogate Scotland team I would have to pick Bosnia and Herzegovina – they are slightly smaller than Scotland both in area and population, they actually qualified as winners from their group and even have world class stars in the likes of Edin Džeko. There – that’s cursed it! Sorry, Bosnia.

So we are all set. The TV is set up and I now have a bigger one for the bedroom (late night matches and all that). The beer is in the fridge and the half time nibbles are lined up. I’ve even managed to find a decent wall chart. I wasn’t too impressed with the ones in the newspapers and the local newsagent didn’t stock the Observer (which was meant to be half decent.) So I’ve gone for a Sikh flavoured wallchart which is rather cool. I wonder who they will be supporting in India?

Goodbye Wobbly Bridge

I had a wander down to the Dorrator Bridge across the River Carron on Saturday. The bridge is being replaced as the old one has seen better days in its 121 year history. Locally, the bridge is known as the “Swing Bridge” which is odd as it is actually a suspension bridge. However the name refers not so much to its construction and rather to its stability - I’ve come across less nerve inducing ventures on a Scout camp. My children know it more by the name of “The Wobbly Bridge”.

I took the dogs with me for their walk but I now have to carry Eddie on to the bridge as he regards the thing as a death trap. I think this is because he has fallen off the steps on more than one occasion. Sam will climb the steps of his own volition but he does look rather worried when he is walking across it. Then again, he looks rather worried most of the time.


The new bridge is quite a substantial looking thing in florescent bright green. It also loses the steps in favour of a long ramp so it should be more immune to the river flooding. It also makes the bridge far more accessible by bicycle. In addition, the way down to Camelon cemetery has been improved with a stone path and the steps leading up to the cemetery are being replaced with a ramp.

The only thing they need to do now is to improve the path that leads back to Larbert as this ends up flooded and muddy for much of the year. The old bridge is to be removed once the new one officially opens but there is meant to be some permanent reminder to it. It would be nice if they could leave the iron uprights in place – although isn’t it odd that a foundry town imported these from Aberdeen?