While Lincoln City fans are currently happy, their style of play will need to be adapted.

Owen Sears believes that Lincoln City the style of play is positive but needs to change in League One next season if they want to be successful.

Whilst I accept that many fans argue the fact that Lincoln’s style of play is horrible, dull and the old fashioned saying ‘hoof ball’, the Cowley brothers believe that their style works efficiently and maximises the teams potential. They have a point. After all, they are top of the league, scoring goals and conceding very few.

Firstly I would like to state that there is a vast amount of fans (45%) that are moaning and arguing about the fact that the style of play is dull and hoof ball because they are building the team around John Akinde. Many fans feel this because they hoof the ball up to Akinde and don’t try and play pretty football to play into to his feet.

But why should they do that? He’s the perfect striker to fit the Cowleys’ style of play and it works because The Imps are coasting at the top of league. This style of play works because they are winning and hardly concede any goals. The environment is exciting and positive around Sincil Bank and the man mountain John Akinde has scored 10 crucial league goals for The Imps already.

As a result of this I believe that the Cowleys style of play is positive and the environment of the club is buzzing but as a negative, I believe when they are playing in League 1 they need to adapt to a better style of play, fast and a footballing side.

Furthermore there are a handful of fans blaming The Imps gaffer Danny Cowley for not playing youth players and instead of playing them and playing amazing fast sharp football they still play the “lazy lump”.

I believe that he needs to make the young players feel welcome and his attitude needs to change to them so the fans can stop getting on at Cowley to change the way we play.

In conclusion I believe that the club is on the up and the style of play works for now. Also that Akinde is the perfect striker to fit this team. Yet I think that The Imps need to develop an evolution in playing style, especially when progressing to League 1 and playing better teams and footballing sides.

Is Messi really magic?

Nathan Faherty believes that for Lionel Messi to be magical and the best footballer he needs to take Argentina to the world cup or Copa America which Messi has come very close to many times.

As a huge football fan I watch a lot of football everyday. The magician is one of a kind player who we are lucky to witness on the football pitch.

If you haven’t watched Messi it is almost like a criminal offence as he is a wonderful player on and off the ball. If the god isn’t scoring, he is assisting if he isn’t doing any of those things, he is taking five players on with ease. The unplayable genius has won more than enough trophies and awards to show he is the best in the world, winning five Ballon Do’rs, being the top scorer in La Liga 16 times for Barcelona and winning the champions league four times with them.

Messi is revered in Europe by Barcelona fans but not so in Argentina due to his patchy form for the country. This is due to the pressure the Argentine fans put onto Messi because of his form in club football.

The Argentinian is referred to as the one of the best players in the world, as is the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been the Portugal number-one for and Real Madrid’s number one for some time and is the savour for club and country. Lionel Messi for Argentina has never won any significant trophy for them but has been close many times, unlike Ronaldo who won the Euros for Portugal in 2017.

Although Lionel Messi is truly one of the godliest players of our time, to prove fully that he is the most complete player I think he needs to take Argentina to a World Cup win or Copa America to showing his leadership as Ronaldo has done.

What’s wrong with gambling?

Louis Clark believes gambling has always been a part of football and society alike – and will continue to be so.

Whilst I accept that gambling can become an addiction and people lose a lot of money from it however on balance I believe that this isn’t a bigger problem as everyone thinks and is definitely not a problem in football.

Firstly gambling within football is a massive part of the game and the entertainment of the game, this adds a feature to the game that makes it more exciting for those who are betting on the game, although I do except that gambling can become an addiction an people can lose a bit of money but that is nothing these people betting just need to be responsible like the majority  are ,and as an addiction is an addiction that the gamblers enjoy and love and if they are responsible with money then there is really no problem with it.

Gambling as a whole is a massive thing with approximately 1.6 billion people gamble during any given year with over 4.2 billion having gambled at one time or another. With this amount of people gambling I understand that they will be a small percentage that become addicted and will take massive financial losses. However it is short sited to think that just because of this small percentage of people being irresponsible you should think that gambling is a bad thing, that is like saying alcohol as a whole should be banned because a small minority abuses it. Is that really a good enough reason to ban it? As well as this it is found that The likelihood of developing a gambling addiction increases 23-fold for people affected by alcohol use disorders, showing that gambling addiction is coming from the abuse of other substances or other issues that are irrelevant to gambling itself.

I accept that there is an increase in younger people gambling with As many as 750,000 young people, ages 14 to 21 are gambling and that some will have an addiction to it, but still like I have said before these addictions are proven and will be due to other problems such as depression and alcohol addiction meaning the addiction Is coming from other negative factors. Not gambling itself that’s not the issue. The issue is abuse of drugs and alcohol and mental illness that are leading to this gambling addiction people are getting.

Gambling is a part of what we do it almost like a tradition throughout the ages. With the ancient times, the Romans were passionate gamblers Interestingly all classes participated in gambling, from slaves to emperors; everyone from handicrafts workers to Senator, tried their luck while playing the games, they would bet on different games they played and gladiators on who will win, this is no different to football and how we in this day and age bet on football. As a whole gambling since ancient times has given us thrill, excitement and pleasure.

Gambling may cause problems for some people but I have explained the reasons and they are not related to gambling itself, gambling is part of society and a massive part of sports, and is here to stay.

Betting… culture or addiction?

Lewis Walker believes that the ugly truth of betting will ruin the beautiful game.

As a football fan, I’m surrounded by stories of people winning huge sums of money on luck; yet the darker side of betting is never truly revealed… Addiction.

The NHS reports that the amount of gamblers associated with addiction linked to football has risen by 27% over the last two years. The finger tends to be pointed at the huge sponsorship deals that linger and lure over clubs. In truth, fans couldn’t avoid the betting advertisements if they tried.

Notts County defender Matt Tootle recently came out and said that he was pressured by betting companies not to revile his addiction problems.

It’s called problem gambling but actually the only problem are the companies that promote it.

However it’s not as simple as that. Betting is written into football folklore as being something naturally done on match day. It’s not just that it’s part of football culture; it’s part of English culture in general.

In fact sponsorships can give the clubs money that can help them live another day. However it could be said that clubs shouldn’t have to rely on money from betting companies to survive. It could be said that these companies have the teams eating the palm out of their hand.

In conclusion, online betting and non-stop talk of “accas” only fuels the inescapable fire that is addiction.                  

Gambling is just as bad online-why is football promoting this?

Harry Payne believes that football clubs like West Ham, Stoke City, Crystal Palace, and many more should not accept sponsorship from online gambling sites.

I personally believe that betting sponsorship in football is a poor image for our younger generation, as it promotes cheap ways of getting money, and may feed a growing gambling addiction.

Of course this is the most extreme outcome but it is still very possible. It can also have an effect of reviving deceased addictions that people have struggled to get rid of. This could be very catastrophic for the wellbeing of families across the nation, as it could potentially destroy their happiness as all their income is being thrown away on a whim.

There is so much sponsorship in football that the players look more like walking billboards telling people to go to their company, than what they do actual football players. This ideology of clubs caring more about the profits than the game itself is taking football away from being the beautiful sport that it is. People can no longer enjoy the game without having flashy casinos and online gambling companies thrown at their face. On the other hand this sponsorship allows the club to greater improve their team, and bring more wold class players like Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín to the English league for our viewing.

I accept that sponsorship can be very beneficial for the club, however there are far better things to be sponsored by than online gambling and casinos. For example Real Madrid are sponsored by Emirates, an airline company that offers luxury flights all across the world. It is far better to promote a harmless airline company with no harmful connotations than to associate your club with the likes of dirty gambling sites. However we can see that the majority of clubs in England would rather take the money than turn down the sponsorship deal, as 60% of English clubs are sponsored by online gambling sites. This shows the truly awful state of the English football league and how football is no longer the game it used to be.

It’s understandable that things change over time, but these changes shouldn’t take the sport and change it into some commercial propaganda.

Football will never be the same again; we must come to terms with that, but we can change this and make it something better than ever before. If clubs started promoting things that are positive, like charity organisations, the clubs would be promoting something positive and the sport wouldn’t seem like a live advertisement anymore.

These are all the reasons why I believe that gambling needs to be eradicated from football once and for all.

 

Is Ole Gunnar Solskjær the right man for the job?

Ben Hall believes that Solskjær won’t be a successful appointment in the long term.

Whilst I accept that the baby-faced assassin is producing great things at Manchester United, I believe that in the long term he won’t be successful.

Admittedly, Solskjær is making progress at Manchester United. He has managed to win eight games out of eight. Under Solskjær Paul Pogba is starting to show his worth and is reproducing the form that he showed when winning the World Cup with France.

However in terms of the permanent job, he has had little managerial experience in top leagues. When he was manager at Cardiff City in the Premier League, he only managed to win three games out of 20.

Solskjær has been lucky with the easy run of games because he has only had to play two big teams. His only real expectation was to get Manchester United playing the football we used to love when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge. On the other hand we need to see how he does against the top six and also how far he can take Manchester United in the Champions league.

Although Solskjær has achieved an unbeaten run of eight games, in the long term I believe that he doesn’t have enough experience for managing such a huge club like Manchester United. 

 

Mechanical mayhem – humans left surplus to requirement.

Ashley Taylor believes that robots and machinery are demolishing careers  

Employment – everyone needs it but not many people have it. This is becoming a rising issue due to the automation of jobs such as long distance delivery drivers, production line workers and health care assistance. Therefore leading to a greater rise in benefit claims with a huge strain on our governments.

According to experts 10 million jobs in Britain alone could be lost in the next 15 years, forcing families to claim government money. It is almost as though humans are surplus to requirements.

Admittedly the automation of certain jobs can improve the quality of life we have by speeding up tasks such as self-service checkouts in supermarkets. However it seems to be short sighted to believe that this warrants replacing humans with machines. After all people are not commodities.

Inevitably one in five jobs will be affected by automation, scary thought right? It is like living through a science fiction movie where no one can control the machines. Just like self-service checkouts in Tesco when they have a mind of their own and decide that the bagging area scales have an issue.

Enough is enough humans must fight back and secure a place in the future for the younger generation.

Football tickets are overpriced – this is awry and should be changed.

Arminas Narkevicius believes that ticket prices of Premier League is a joke as fans are looking away from supporting their team in games.

Firstly I think that football clubs like Premier League clubs Chelsea and Manchester  United should reduce their ticket price from £66m pound a year to half the amount. This would increase the number of fans going to the club and actually participating in the match. This would also make the club more money.

Clubs make £162m pound from broadcasting and £140m from commercial activities. This is more than enough for the club to be capable to run.

However some might say that it’s a one off thing to see the club and be part of it and to experience the atmosphere and the fans around you. It seems short sighted to believe that you are still paying to see a game for only 90 minutes which will cost you over £100 and is not worth it.

Furthermore we can see improvements being made over the years as the prices have started to drop. Prices should be made the same as all other three Leagues and World Cup games prices high as it only really happens once every four years which is a long time period.

On the other hand people could say that football is a big thing in the world – one of the most supported sports economically and physically which is why the tickets are so high in price. Football has now came to a point where it is even pay per view which makes it more terrifying to choose whether watching on a television or the atmosphere as it is now practically the same price watching on television.

Admittedly football clubs could change this to adding a gift to the price like promotion codes for the next match or physical gifts like shirts and signatures from the player’s to make the money more worth it for what you pay. They could also make the fans support the team in the stadium more often.

 

 

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjær deserves the chance to become the new manager of Manchester United

Alfie Smith believes with a successful eight out of nine wins under Solskjær it would be a joke not to appoint him the manager.

Firstly I strongly believe that Ole Gunnar Solskjær should be the next manager of Manchester United. He has a strong link with the club history and the expectations of the fans as once he was a player called “baby faced assassin”.

What a manager he had and he would know how SIR Alex Ferguson managed the team. He has all the rights to become the next manager as the performance we have seen recently have been excellent. Every game we see the passion he has given the players.

Admittedly he may have drawn against Burnley on Tuesday 29^th January but the impact Solskjær had to drive his players back later in the game to get that draw. This just shows what he can do from losing two goals down. The fans and players have seen a massive difference in the teams and the chief executive of Manchester United (Ed Woodward) would be kicking himself if he doesn’t appoint him as the manager

Furthermore we have seen a massive impact on players such as Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and also Marcus Rashford. The amount of gaols scored under Solskjær has increased with a total of 17. This compares favourably to Jose Mourino’s time as manager. Under the Portuguese man, United scored only 14 goals and didn’t achieve as many wins as under Solskjær which is a big improvement.  All the players recently have done so much better and shown more enthusiasm.

The Red Devils may not win the league now but they have certainly seen a massive improvement; I believe if Solskjær appointed the manger they will improve even more next season.

 

Coloured in Red like Blood from Hell

words: Kai Green

The journey starts here. The road ahead stretches out before me like a walk down death row. I see two unknown men in front of me walking down the tenebrous, dark, narrow tunnel. The painted clock to the left of me is coloured in red like blood from hell. I see a faint light ahead of the never-ending tunnel.

Armed riot police stand like a wall of soldiers. I start to sweat. I feel nervous as I glance over at one of the policemen; he stares straight at me with sympathy in his eyes, I feel my heart beating fast like a formula one car.

Briefly I look up and catch a fleeting glimpse of the outside world. Through the barricades I see sunlight, green grass. I hear a roar from the crowd like they’re free. I feel fear in every part of my body as the roar gets louder and louder. It is time.

After light comes darkness. I feel like I’m going down into the bowls of hell; my legs start to quiver in terror as I get closer into the void. I feel lost.

I come up for air. Feet. As I walk up out of hell into the heavenly light, it floods my eyes. My journey is almost complete as I hear the whispers of the walls persuading me to come back; I don’t want to go back.

Finally I am free. The sun warms my face as the rain is cleansing me of the horrors inside the tunnel as the atmosphere around me is overwhelming the consternation that is inside my body.

My journey is complete.