Murray Mountain

A new year, another grand slam final passes, but yet another effort that came a little short for Britain’s Andy Murray in the Australian Open final. Murray’s latest disappointment came by the hands of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, with the number three seed winning their encounter 6-4 6-2 6-3.

Going into the tournament Murray arguably seemed to possess the most difficult of minefields, in navigating a course to the final. However with likely opponents to be faced en-route to the final in  the form of Robin Soderling, Marcos Baghdatis, and Rafael Nadal exiting early in their respective matches, this latest opportunity presented Murray with his best chance to date to finally record a maiden Grand Slam win. A fact underlined particularly with no Roger Federer to contend with in the final. A mammoth situation that Murray had faced in his previous two Grand Slam final appearances, so this time round the odds certainly were more equally balanced than ever before for Murray.

But with this loss in the Rod Laver Arena, the doomsayers would eagerly depict the gloomy picture that Murray is simply not good enough, and mentally not tough enough to finally end Britain’s long 74-year wait for a male Grand Slam winner. Personally I do not buy into this notion and do feel that unlike some of his more recent British predecessors, Andy Murray possess more than enough talent at the elite level principally to finally end his and Britain’s long drought.

Surely if you are good enough, ones talent should prevail. With Murray consistently knocking on the door and contesting these major finals, you think at some stage in his career that lady luck would certainly be in Murray’s favour. You only have to look at past tennis greats such as Ivan Lendl, Goran Ivanisevic and Andre Agassi who appeared in multiple finals in search of their first major win before they finally reached tennis’ zenith.

However at a sprightly 23 years of age, in tennis terms, recent history has dictated that Murray is at a juncture where a player’s abilities should be coming to the boil and should be recording Grand Slam victories at the very highest level. We only have to look at his peers to see that Rafael Nadal had already posted seven of his current nine Grand Slam wins before tuning 24, and Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro at 20 years of age had already won the US Open back in 2009. The great Roger Federer had amassed five Slam wins at this stage in his career, and with Novak Djokovic’s latest win over Murray in Melbourne, the 23 year old Serb who is a week younger than Murray has now posted two victories in the major championships.

I’m not saying all is lost Andy Murray and his career should already be confined to the scrapheap, but with each occasion that passes, his task becomes more difficult.  For the most part, with the natural evolution the sport holds with its participants, the next big crop of talent to burst on the scene can suddenly just occur at such a tender age. Thus making Murray’s annual challenges in the Slams that much more complex in trying to accomplish and achieve. Nevertheless we must put this into context.

Battling against arguably the two greatest of all time in Federer and Nadal for some of the game’s major honours is no mean feat. For this, I for one feel Murray must be commended for even being on par with such a stellar cast list to clash with, when competing for some of the game biggest titles. But this should not be the justification that withholds Murray from fulfilling his capable promise.

Time will indeed tell when or if Andy Murray does ever win a Grand Slam, but either way it will gripping and compelling viewing to see him try. On a personal note, if Andy Murray does ever win a Slam, I do wish he could do this when Roger Federer is long gone from the tennis scene.

University Challenged???

 

Happy New Year All!!! Yes I know 2011 is already 3 weeks old, and I also realise that I am kind of late with the New Year cheer. But nevertheless, I would like to send my best wishes to you all, and hope you have a prosperous 2011. With that said I apologise for being a bit AWOL since my last personal post, but it has been a hectic last month or so which FBJ had developments to oversee. Plus with the festive season just passing the break seemed suitable. But have no fears, FBJ is back with his Frankly Speaking column alive and kicking!!! With a New Year will come new features and segments being added to the site so stay tuned, Frankly Speaking will be looking to push the boundaries even more. So keep an eye out for that!!!!

Right lets begin, I want to talk about an article I read this week and if you are London-based, many of you maybe familiar with this media source when you are on the London Underground. That aside the title read, ‘Students: The lost generation’, and claimed that over 200,000 people missed out on the opportunity of being granted a university place in Britain last year. A staggering figure when seen in bold ink, but in stark contrast the number of overseas students being accepted at universities had risen.

With almost 6,000 more spaces being made available last year to university applicants compared to 2009, most of these slots were taken to accommodate more overseas students, who some cynics may claim present a more lucrative proposition to universities up and down the land. This is a claim that is somewhat shared by NUS (National Students Union) who for those not in the know, is a voluntary membership organisation who by their own admission try to champion a voice of university students studying in Britain.    

The growing and accepted perspective is that many universities are making an allowance for limiting the numbers of British students, to capitalize on their generated income by targeting prospective international undergraduates who pay all their tuition fees. With the figures being presented of rejected candidates, it is pretty hard to argue that this actively being enforced now and been going on for some time.  

Perhaps I am biased as I am a former university student myself, but I can call upon my time as having one of the best experiences of my relatively young adult life. I feel that university study not only enriches the mind but it enhances one’s social and cultural perspectives that can be looked upon when being exposed to ‘the big wide world’. University is not the end-all and be-all; however I am a firm believer that education and experiences should not be based on economics and international location. Everybody should have at least have option if wanted, to learn both academically and in terms of personal development, and this should be made available to all if availed.

I should make it clear that my argument is not against overseas students attending British university, but fully on the speculative selection process that seems to be apparent. A practise  that seems to be based on the capricious existence that we as a society place on finance instead of firm and lasting qualities of knowledge.

With the UK Government now pushing through the increase of university tuition fees to just under £10,000 that British students will have to pay, this will only detract aspiring students from attending. An aspect I referred to in some of my past posts and will hardly facilitate the Government in lowering the level of unemployment in Britain. This process of financial elimination further more isolates this current generation and future generations from hopeful prospects, should this be the way?

LIVERPOOL UNITED?

                                          Written By Robert Amanze

Am I the only person who is starting to think that Liverpool are slowly becoming a poor imitation of Newcastle United? Hear me out:

·         A club overly-romantic about past glory.

·         Fanatical supporters who believe they’re entitled to success.

·         A succession of beleaguered managers that have failed to win the title.

·         Fandom overriding rational logic.

·         Disgruntled players who see their future elsewhere.

·         A belief that a messiah in the form of an ex-player/manager will come and save the day.

You see, not such a far-fetched comparison is it? Some similarities are uncanny. The only thing missing is a fat, meddling, buffoon from London! Hold on, isn’t Roy Hodgson from Croydon? (ok, that was a little harsh). As a Liverpool fan I’ve been perturbed and a little surprised about all the column inches Liverpool FC have been consuming over the last few days. There seems to be genuine hysteria emanating from the club.

It was embarrassing to hear cries of “Hodgson for England” and “Dalglish” from the fans during the recent home defeat to Wolves. Alright yes, Roy Hodgson hasn’t done a good job as Liverpool manager. Actually in truth, he hasn’t even done an average one but the level of hostility towards the man is becoming unacceptable. Every interview he has conducted has been brutally assassinated and taken out of context. Even something as banal as Hodgson rubbing his face is now up for discussion on the LFC internet forums. Ex-players who in the summer were praising his appointment have now trickled out of the woodwork to publicly damn him.

Hodgson isn’t the only one to have fallen foul of the Liverpool fans of late. Paul Konchesky, a limited but willing player has become a target of the boo boys in the last few weeks. It would appear that a few disparaging remarks made by Konchesky’s mum about the city of Liverpool and its fans on Facebook (I know.... Facebook???) has done a lot of damage. Didn’t she have anything better to do, like change her profile picture or send a friend request???

Liverpool fans are supposed to be the most knowledge football fans around (truly a self-proclaimed notion). Therefore, can they not see that the club as a whole is going through a rebuilding process and need some patience? A magic wand will not be waved and everything will be rosy again. 

No plaster or band-aid can cover over the mistakes made in the last 18 months. The new owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG or formerly known as NESV) will need time to evaluate the structure and long-term planning of the club. Changes will be made, I’m certain. These changes however, need to be the correct ones for the club. No quick-fixes here please! Whilst I admire and greatly respect Kenny Dalglish (affectionately known as ‘the King’ be many). He is a man who has not managed a football club for 11 years!

I watch with baited breath to see how Liverpool football club conducts itself over the next two transfer windows. Most importantly the current one, which is already four days old. New players are a priority and prudence as well as conscientiousness will have to be exhausted. The question is, will the board back Hodgson and give him the money he desperately needs? It will seem inevitable that there will a parting of the ways between the club and manager at some point in the near future. My only wish is that it’s done at the end of the season in an amicable way. That will allow Hodgson to leave with some dignity instead of with his tail tucked between his legs. The words “You’ll Never Walk Alone” are paramount to the club. Enough of the witch-hunts and agenda’s. It’s time to be united.