England's Malaise!

The first Wimbledon in which no English male will compete began yesterday. Across the world in South Africa an even more shameful event for the English is underway. Steve Richards in The Independent today puts his finger on the problem very well. The article titled "I hope the Slovenians beat us" is linked here and the following two paragraphs carry the main message: It is possible to enjoy football while loathing the England team and the set-up that accompanies it. Together they represent the worst of the UK and as they are our most prominent representatives across the globe this is a matter of some significance. Millions from around the world must watch and sigh in bored bewilderment. What's going on over there, they must ask? We should ask too. The national team's failings tell us something about the state of the country as much as the collapse of our banks and the short-term, cost-cutting calculations from BP that led to an environmental crisis in the US. In all three cases there was a complacent assumption that lightly regulated markets work. We know about the banks. We are discovering more about how BP works in spite of being in a theoretically competitive market place, the risks it was willing to take to save money, the lack of internal accountability so that apparently its chief executive knew little of what was going on. Now we see the consequences in football. The top clubs do not bother investing in younger talent or the resources required to develop them. They take the short cut of buying in players from abroad. As a result, English players do not get much of a chance and those that play for top clubs look better than they really are. I blame the governments of Major, Blair and Brown...... We must hope that the Cameron Clegg Coalition reverses the direction taken by these sorry specimens by fearlessly confronting the economic mess they left in today's budget. The BBC this morning are suggesting the main spending cuts will be still in the air when Osborne resumes his seat on the front bench this afternoon..... They would, would they not? Let us hope the BBC are at the forefront of the necessary cuts to clearly begin the process of restoring England's worth!