Monday 25 August 2014

Mercedes at war

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The 2014 Formula One World Championship took another dramatic twist as the two title contenders from the same team collided at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg tried to overtake Britain’s Lewis Hamilton on the second circuit of the 44-lap race, but touched the back of his teammate (pictured below), puncturing a tyre on Hamilton’s car and forcing him to retire. Rosberg went on to finish second and extend his championship lead to a healthy 29 points, with seven races remaining.
The damage is done and Lewis Hamilton thinks this was done on purpose by Nico Rosberg
What followed was even more gobsmacking. Hamilton has since told the media that Rosberg admitted to deliberately crashing into him on purpose. So, with this story set to rumble on for the next fortnight, here is my take on the dire situation that has pushed the Mercedes team to war.

The build-up to the incident
Tension has been bubbling underneath the surface between Hamilton and Rosberg this season, with some barbed comments in the media and a few tense, but thrilling battles on-track. Hamilton often prevailed in these, leaving Rosberg behind in the wheel-to-wheel racing. His lead has been built on strong consistency, whilst Hamilton hasn’t had huge amounts of luck with car failures at the Australian and Canadian Grand Prix, along with two qualifying nightmares recently that have seen him at the back of the field on raceday.

In Hungary last time out, Hamilton ignored a team order to allow Rosberg through. It was an unnecessary instruction given out by the team, as they were on different strategies at the time. Rosberg was unimpressed by the handling of it and Hamilton’s refusal to work with the team. You sensed something was brewing before the summer break. As they arrived back in Spa, it became clear that body language was becoming strained and the previous friendship had all but been shattered.

Rosberg grabbed pole position in qualifying, but bogged down at the start on Sunday, handing the lead to his championship rival. What happened next was inevitable. On the second lap, Rosberg got into Hamilton’s slipstream and tried to pass around the outside of the Les Combes chicane. Hamilton gave him space, but was clearly ahead on turn-in. Rosberg had a chance to back out of the move, but didn’t. He left his front wing in the danger zone and clipped Hamilton, puncturing a tyre immediately on his rival. Despite needing a new nosecone at his first stop, Rosberg benefited hugely from it by still finishing second, but it has opened up the biggest story of the 2014 season.

Did he do it on purpose?
Looking at the onboard footage and the live action at the time and I don’t think you can say that Rosberg did what he did on purpose. If he did, then he did it extremely cleverly, so no-one would know. It wasn’t as clear-cut as when Nelson Piquet binned his car deliberately into the wall at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. You would expect Rosberg to be precise and not make things obvious.

If it is true that he did admit to crashing into Hamilton to prove a point, then it is unprofessional and totally unsporting. Effectively, he is cheating his way to the championship and if he wants it so badly, he can have it. However, we can only go from Hamilton’s version of what was said. It came in a post-race debrief when obviously tensions were high and emotions still pretty raw on the surface.

It is the kind of behaviour that we don’t want to see. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher have both deliberately tried to take opposition out of an event to try and win championships. In Schumacher’s case (1997), he failed and his creditability took a battering for it.

I would say looking at the various angles and agree with many observers that it was a clumsy and unnecessary overtaking attempt, especially so early on by the championship leader but would put it down as a racing incident. If he did it on purpose, the book should be thrown at him, meaning severe penalties or even removal of his FIA super license because you can’t do that. Unfortunately, only Rosberg knows what he did and I don’t think he will be telling us in a hurry.

Hamilton is no saint
Hamilton is no saint either though. He hasn’t forgiven Rosberg for screwing him up in qualifying in Monaco, when Rosberg went down the escape road and caused yellow flags in the dying stages of Q3, preventing Hamilton from taking pole position. It is time he got over that and he admitted to the BBC yesterday that “Monaco was worse than this.”

He drove back to the pits like an absolute lunatic. I don’t know what speed he was trying to do through the flat-out Blanchimont corner on three wheels but it wrecked the bodywork and cause more damage to his aerodynamics. That made the car even more difficult to drive and led to inevitable retirement in the closing stages. If he had taken greater care in getting back to the pits, less damage would have been caused and he might have recovered to rescue some points.

From lap 20 onwards though, he was constantly moaning on the team radio about the need to save engine mileage and they should stop the car. Mercedes showed no leadership in this situation and should have told him to be quiet and just drive. For Hamilton to mentally show no heart in racing before half-distance and basically give up though lacks class. We want British sportsman to go down fighting, even if they come up short. He failed that test and you don’t see Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel say or do that, when you consider the limited machinery they have been given this season for all their talent.

Hamilton should take stock of the situation. Of course, he was unlucky in this scenario but react better to it all. By provoking reactions with what he said afterwards, he should have kept things in-house. Still, at least he hasn’t attacked his teammate on social media yet…free telemetry anyone!

He has a supporting family, a gorgeous girlfriend, a championship-winning racing car and earns millions of pounds through driving and various sponsorship endorsements, yet he still at times acts like a spoilt kid. Lewis turns 30 next year, and these tantrums should be long out of his system.

What happens now?
With seven races left, it will take a miracle for a Mercedes driver not to win the championship, although if they keep fighting amongst themselves, Daniel Ricciardo has the ability to sneak in and shock them, just like Kimi Raikkonen did to Hamilton and Alonso when they fell out as McLaren teammates in 2007.

It is important for racing to be the focus, and therefore, Mercedes need to try and regain some form of control. Getting their drivers to say absolutely nothing in the next nine days before the paddock reconvenes in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix would help for starters.

Then, they need to get their warring drivers to call an uneasy truce in the short-term, because if they carry on like they are and throw away this championship, you can be sure that someone will pay the price from the racing team. The board in Stuttgart should be concerned with what they witnessed.

After that, one of the drivers has to move on and with Rosberg tied down to a multi-year contract; Hamilton will probably have to leave. It is clear that he can’t work together with Rosberg. The relationship has broken down past repair on a long-term basis. With a new partnership about to start with Honda and Ron Dennis back at the helm, could a return back home to McLaren be looming? Do not rule that thought out...

Formula One in 2014 has been a quiet season in all forms. As only a casual viewer nowadays, what happened in Belgium yesterday though makes it box office material between now and the unpopular Abu Dhabi double points finale in November. 

What happened to the Today newspaper?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The newspaper industry has been through a rough time in the past three years and most of it is down to failures of simple practices. Struggles to match the demand for online content, combined with the phone-hacking scandal of 2011 has seen sales drop and the appeal to win people’s attention decrease. Indeed, in my case now, I am only likely to buy a newspaper when I’m on holiday out of the UK. The market just doesn’t seem to be there anymore, which is perhaps a good thing, considering the behaviour of some journalists and newspaper editors in recent times.

Phone-hacking came back into the public sphere in the summer when former news editor of the News of the World, Andy Coulson was jailed for his role in hacking the phones of celebrities. Another chief news editor of the defunct newspaper, Rebekah Brooks, was cleared on all charges. The News of the World isn’t the only paper though that has ceased to exist.

In fact, British newspapers do come and go. Whilst the red-top tabloids still dominate circulation figures, broadsheets are still around and provide a more accurate approach in comparison to some of the sensationalized reporting you’d often find in the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star. One paper that did revolutionise the British newspaper industry was Today.

It didn’t last a decade, but made its mark. So, whatever happened to the Today newspaper (logo pictured below)?
The Today newspaper made a short impact on journalism in the 1980s
Early struggles
Launching on 4th March 1986, Today was seen as the honest tabloid, a newspaper that was a balance in the middle between left-wing and right-wing competitors. Seen as competing in the same market as the Daily Express and the Daily Mail, Today pioneered newspaper technology in the mid-1980s, by becoming the UK’s first complete colour newspaper. It was a time where computer photo-typesetting was still a new technology and many other papers stuck to the tried and trusted Linotype machines.

Eddy Shah was the original owner of the paper. A Manchester-based businessman, Shah believed he could take on the might of Rupert Murdoch and Robert Maxwell, the two most dominating media moguls of the 1980s. It wasn’t long though before Today ran into financial difficulties.

Shah, who also owned six local newspapers, took on the trade unions well before the launch of Today. He was the first person to take on Margaret Thatcher’s anti-union laws and anyone who did that to the prime minister would often lose in those days. Within two years of setting up Today, he was gone, selling his empire and moving off into television production instead.

The paper changed ownership twice in its early inception. Tiny Rowland’s Lonrho bought the paper in the summer of 1986 and in 1987; it was eventually sold to Murdoch’s powerful News International brand. Once in Murdoch’s hands, he could control it and despite Today’s change in the way newspapers were printed, there were already signs that it was the beginning of the end.

Cancellations
Alongside the weekday version, a Sunday Today edition was launched but didn’t last long. It was closed early in 1987 as a cost-saving measure. At the same time, Today began an unsuccessful sponsorship of the English Football League. A three-year deal signed at the start of the 1986/87 season lasted just one campaign. For the record, Everton were the only winners of Today Football League Division One!

Murdoch kept Today going, but channelled most of his efforts into his other newspapers, including The Times and the new BSkyB venture, as he tried to turn Sky News into a creditable source of television news journalism. Despite years of decline, the paper survived until 1995 when it ceased publication. Murdoch was concerned that more intelligent people were still interested in the reporting in Today than in the other newspapers he owned.

A sour ending
Today’s most embarrassing story came in its final year. On 19th April 1995, 168 people were killed in a domestic terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In the aftermath, Today made a huge blunder.

The front page of the paper the next day showed a picture of a fireman carrying the body of a young girl with the headline printed “IN THE NAME OF ALLAH”. The editor, Richard Stott and his team believed Muslim terrorists were behind this atrocity. It later turned out that the perpetrators were American survivalists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. It left the senior executives quite red-faced.

Today became the first long-running daily newspaper in the UK to close down since the Daily Sketch fell in 1971. The final headline on Friday, 17 November 1995 was “GOODBYE, IT’S BEEN GREAT TO KNOW YOU.”

Today made a short impact and changed the way newspapers were printed in the 1980s. It had its audience, but too many changes in editors and owners meant it wasn’t to become a sustainable threat. 

Friday 15 August 2014

Premier League Preview

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Just over a month has passed since the conclusion of the World Cup finals in Brazil and now the domestic season is about to begin for the top flight teams. The Barclays Premier League returns for its 23rd campaign this weekend, as the elite prepare to do battle over the next nine months. And whether the club you support is likely to be in the mix for the title or the desperate scramble to survive, it is bound to provide plenty of drama and tension along the way.

The Premier League returns this weekend and the competition will be fierce
Here, I preview the 20 clubs taking part in the 2014/2015 season and rate their chances with a final finishing position.

ARSENAL
Prediction: 2nd (Runners-Up)

Arsenal topped the table for a large portion of last season, but fell away in the final third of the campaign and crumbled spectacularly on away trips to Anfield and Stamford Bridge last season. However, Arsene Wenger did manage to end the silverware drought with an extra time win over Hull City in the FA Cup final. Now Community Shield holders too, the Gunners team looks a happy and settled camp. Alexis Sanchez adds to their firepower and is a quality signing whilst Calum Chambers’ time might come sooner than expected following the departure of skipper Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona. With Theo Walcott due back soon and Mesut Ozil bound to improve on a sticky first season on these shores, Arsenal look well placed for a strong title challenge. The squad looks still a bit short to fight on four fronts but I reckon they will end up as plucky and very close runners-up.

ASTON VILLA
Prediction: 18th (Relegated)

For many years now, Aston Villa have hugely underachieved and last season was another underwhelming campaign for the Villa Park faithful. Great wins away at Arsenal and at home to Chelsea were cancelled out by a string of appalling performances at the end of the season that saw them only finish 15th for the second successive campaign. Roy Keane has joined the coaching staff and Randy Lerner wants to sell the club, but can’t find a prospective buyer and no wonder. Whoever scouted Philippe Senderos and told Paul Lambert he was a worthwhile signing should also be down the job centre; as Senderos is a car crash of a defender just waiting to happen. With star striker Christian Benteke out injured until October, it will be a tough start and the manager will do well to survive it. However, their Premier League ever-present status will be consigned to the history books by next May.

BURNLEY
Prediction: 20th (Relegated)

Sean Dyche has done an incredible job and is one of the brightest young managers in the game. On a tight wage bill, he managed to achieve the improbable and get Burnley promoted back to the big time after a four-year absence. It is likely though that the Clarets will find the going extremely tough. Last season’s wonders have stayed together and whilst Matt Taylor and Steven Reid add valuable Premier League experience, you’d be hard pushed to see Burnley staying afloat. More signings are required and I know the manager will be working on strengthening the ranks. It will be a brave and valiant battle against the drop, but Burnley’s stay back in the top flight is expected to be just a one season wonder again.

CHELSEA
Prediction: 1st (Champions)

Having not won any silverware in two years as a manager, Jose Mourinho has gone through a lean patch in his previously controversial but hugely successful career. Last season was about him redeeming himself after a tainted final year at Real Madrid. Now, he needs trophies because that is what owner Roman Abramovich is expecting. Goals were a struggle last season; although whether Diego Costa is the answer remains to be seen. Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have gone but another club icon has returned in Didier Drogba and the acquisition of Cesc Fabregas is the best bit of business done this summer. If Costa can get 20 goals minimum and be still aided by the likes of Andre Schurrle, Drogba, Eden Hazard and Oscar to name a few, the ribbons on the trophy should be blue again next Spring.

CRYSTAL PALACE
Prediction: 17th

Crystal Palace survived last season but start the new campaign in turmoil after LMA Manager of the Year, Tony Pulis, walked out on the club by mutual consent just 48 hours before the season begins. A frustrating summer transfer window for the Eagles has seen the Welshman call time on his fantastic short time in the Selhurst Park dugout. Brede Hangeland, Frazier Campbell and Martin Kelly have all joined and there is enough depth in the squad for them to stay afloat this time. Appointing the right man though is priority no.1 and Malky Mackay would be a wise choice, compared to other mentioned names, like Chris Hughton and David Moyes.

EVERTON
Prediction: 6th

With a Premier League points record for the club and now, breaking their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku on a permanent basis, things are good if you are an Evertonian. Roberto Martinez has taken on the work that Moyes started onto a new level and the Toffees are one of the league’s most exciting teams to watch. Whilst they still lack a bit of squad depth, their starting XI is among the league’s best. Dealing with the Europa League will be a challenge but they should be able to handle it. Again, I think Martinez’s men will just fall short of a top four finish but another top six placing in the table will be seen as a strong season for the blue half of Merseyside.

HULL CITY
Prediction: 12th

For Steve Bruce, last season was a year of redemption. After his profile took a battering with his disastrous spell as Sunderland manager, Bruce reminded everyone that he is a great managerial talent. Survival and an FA Cup final was great and it gives the fans the excitement of European football arriving at the KC Stadium for the first time in the club’s history. Losing Shane Long is a blow, but the £12m transfer fee should give Bruce enough time to find a strong replacement, whilst the midfield is full of quality – added by the arrivals of Tom Ince and Robert Snodgrass. If they enjoy the Europe experience and get out of it by Christmas, a strong lower mid-table finish is on the cards for the Tigers.

LEICESTER CITY
Prediction: 16th

After a gap of 10 years outside the Premier League with even a year spent in the third tier as recently as 2009, Leicester City have finally returned back to the big time as champions of the Championship. There are high hopes to make the Foxes a stable member of the elite but it is all about survival this season for Nigel Pearson. He has added Leonardo Ulloa for a club record fee of £8m from Brighton but they have been noticeably quiet in the transfer market so far. It’s great to see them back and I think they will achieve their aims and stay up – although home form must be very strong for them to achieve it.

LIVERPOOL FC
Prediction: 8th

Liverpool FC came so close, yet so far. The Premier League title that looked theirs for the taking after beating Manchester City in mid-April, slipped away almost quite literally in the final furlong. Top goalscorer Luis Suarez has got his dream move to Barcelona and whilst he will be missed by LFC fans, another bite on a professional footballer at the World Cup meant it was a step too far for the board at Anfield. Active in the transfer market, but Dejan Lovren aside – no player looks like they will make a big impact. Steven Gerrard is on the decline and question marks remain over a leaky backline. Some fans think the title is on but realistically, Brendan Rodgers’ side will get a wake-up call. I hope I’m wrong with my fears but mid-table mediocrity beckons.

MANCHESTER CITY
Prediction: 3rd

It was a hugely successful debut season in England for Manuel Pellegrini. He guided Manchester City to a League Cup victory and that was backed up by a second Premier League title in three years, playing some of the best football seen in years in England. City did break Financial Fair Play rules, so they have had to be careful with their transfer business but added Porto pair Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando, along with a short-term loan move for Frank Lampard. Much will depend on whether Yaya Toure can regain his deadly form from last season and if Sergio Aguero can have a full campaign without injury disruption. I expect them to go further in Europe this time, but slip into a third-place finish in the league as the challenge from the capital grows.

MANCHESTER UNITED
Prediction: 4th

So, ‘The Chosen One’ was ‘The Wrong One.’ After the failed David Moyes experiment, step forward Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman might have       questionable man-management style but he is a character and a born winner. His CV speaks for itself with domestic titles in Holland, Spain and Germany along with the Champions League with Ajax all the way back in 1995. Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera aside, last season’s average players are back for another go – although it will be interesting to see how the youngsters step up now that Ryan Giggs, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand have departed the playing staff. It will be a much better campaign for the Red Devils. I think Van Gaal will make winning the Capital One Cup a priority and if he achieves some silverware and a top-four finish, then it is a successful first season. Winning the league isn’t impossible but I do think there are three sides with better squads than what Manchester United have at their disposal.

NEWCASTLE UNITED
Prediction: 9th

After 18 months of virtually no transfer activity, Alan Pardew has added eight players to the squad at St James’ Park. Last season was a story of two halves. Fighting for European qualification and in the top six on Christmas Day, the Magpies collapsed spectacularly in the second half of the season – winning just five of their last 19 matches. The manager also attracted bad headlines for his crazy head-butt into Hull’s David Meyler in March. Siem de Jong looks the pick of their signings but it will be another mediocre season for the Geordie faithful. 9th place though would be a minor improvement and hopefully, a quieter year out of the spotlight on and off the pitch.

QPR
Prediction: 14th

It is welcome back to Harry Redknapp and he will claim there is unfinished business in his managerial career. The man who likes being interviewed out of car windows might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he does attract headlines and often gets the best out of his teams. Redknapp has managed to attract Rio Ferdinand to Loftus Road whilst Steven Caulker and Jordon Mutch are very good additions. Loic Remy has stayed…for now at least and if he does, he’ll get the goals to keep QPR well clear of any relegation danger.

SOUTHAMPTON
Prediction: 15th

Southampton have had a nightmare summer. Five key players have departed, their manager resigned for the Tottenham job and a star midfielder has told the club he wants to leave and is in no mental condition to play football! It is fair to say that Ronald Koeman seems to have a poisoned chalice on his hands. Saints have added Shane Long to their ranks, whilst Dusan Tadic could be one of the surprises of the season if he matches what he did at FC Twente last season. A drop down the table is anticipated and it is sad to see what has happened on the south coast this summer. They should have enough though to survive.

STOKE CITY
Prediction: 7th

Having been as low as 17th in late January, Stoke City went on an impressive run afterwards to finish in ninth place – their best in their Premier League history. Mark Hughes has shown that his QPR mere was just a blip in a fairly strong managerial career to date. The Potters have a tremendous wealth of striking options. Bojan and Mame Diouf join Peter Odemwingie, Peter Crouch and Marko Arnautovic and with a competitive midfield and a strong defensive unit that doesn’t concede many – it could be even better this time around. The fans at the Britannia can expect another strong campaign. Stoke are my dark horse tip.

SUNDERLAND
Prediction: 11th

Gus Poyet worked miracles last season to keep Sunderland among the elite. They were bottom on Christmas Day and seven points adrift after a 5-1 defeat to Tottenham on 9th April, yet still survived with unexpected wins over Manchester United and Chelsea helping them achieve the improbable. Poyet has ended Jack Rodwell’s rotten two years at Manchester City and added him to a talented midfield. They still lack a 10-15 goal machine in attack but that is all they need to challenge Newcastle to be top dogs in the Tyne & Wear battle over 38 games.

SWANSEA CITY
Prediction: 10th

After steering Swansea clear of danger, Garry Monk has earned a full-time promotion to the manager’s hotseat. He has had a difficult summer with Jonathan de Guzman returning to Villarreal, Michu moving to Napoli on loan and Chico Flores, Ben Davies and Michel Vorm all moving onto pastures new too. Wilfried Bony has stayed on and if they start September with the Ivorian still in their ranks, Bony’s goals will keep Swansea well away from trouble. With no European distraction either, it should be a return to the top half for the Swans this time around.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Prediction: 5th

Tottenham’s plan to buy a whole new team for Gareth Bale backfired. Christian Eriksen aside, none of the newcomers made much of an impact in a turbulent campaign that saw Andre Villas-Boas finished as a Premier League manager before Tim Sherwood’s colourful six months in charge. Now, the calm Mauricio Pochettino (who now speaks English with the media!) takes the helm with the aim of bringing Champions League football back to White Hart Lane. I don’t honestly know what to make of Tottenham if I’m being honest. It could be a season where they beat many of the top teams, then drop silly points to the lesser-quality teams. Fifth place will be the final position but is that enough for owner Daniel Levy? It probably won’t be if previous history goes to form.

WEST BROM
Prediction: 19th (Relegated)

West Brom’s decision to hire Alan Irvine as manager in June was a big surprise. Having tried and failed with the Pepe Mel experiment, the Baggies look like a strange case of wanting more when it was unrealistic. I wonder how Steve Clarke is feeling now after his harsh and undeserving sacking before Christmas last season. Irvine deserves a chance to at this level but it will be an extremely tough challenge. I don’t think there is enough quality in the squad to survive. Albion used to be the yo-yo club between Premier League and Championship. I’d have to agree with many media outlets that have WBA down as a relegation favourite.

WEST HAM UNITED
Prediction: 13th

Sam Allardyce kept his job after receiving the dreaded vote of confidence from the owners. David Sullivan and David Gold like Big Sam – even if the fans are growing tired of his fairly sterile tactics. The joint-chairman have insisted that Sam plays a more attacking brand of football but if pre-season formations are anything to go by; this is unlikely. Allardyce has his ways and it keeps teams afloat in the Premier League but it doesn’t fulfil huge progress. Much of the same for West Ham but it is imperative they stay in the Premier League. It would be a tragedy for their great fans to welcome the move to the Olympic Stadium in two years’ time without Premier League football to go with it.


So that’s what I think. Good luck to all 20 teams competing. It is bound to be a nail-biting and enjoyable season ahead.