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Monday 22 August 2011

Harry is back - rejoice!

Harry Kewell is back to play in Australia, in the A-League and I like most other football fans are delighted.

Sure on Twitter, The Australian's Ray Gatt and surprisingly The Age's Mick Lynch, have been defending the so-called "opinion piece" from Sydney Morning Herald writer and Fox Sports Commentator Mike Cockerill on Harry's return - oh how Mike despises Harry. Didn't he miss the mood of football in Australia today?

The defence of "he's entitled to his opinion" has been tweeted by fellow journos. Hard to believe they would resort to that line for an SMH/Fox Sports journo!

For me Craig Foster speaks for football, for football fans, about this special moment for the game. Read his article on the World Game today.

We all know Harry's injuries, but we also all know he took the game to Uruguay, scored against Croatia and nearly won the Asian Cup for us in January.

Mike seems to think he has some real insight into Kewell that we miss. He doesn't.

We're a tad better educated about football than he thinks - unarguably better than Mike. Who else thought that Richard Porta should have lead us to the last World Cup etc etc?

Cadell Evans gave the nation great excitement in the Tour De France recently. And for many followers of the round ball Harry's goal at Arsenal, his mesmerising displays for Leeds were of similar merit, achievements, on a World Stage.

What footballer would want to walk off in a Champions League Final after the injuries he'd had - the disappointments - that Kewell has worked to remain in the game and return is to his credit. Pity Mike Cockerill can't see beyond his own narrow view of Kewell. Maybe Mike is too close.

Harry could have played more for the Socceroos -

He played for the Socceroos when he felt like it
scorns Cockerill.

What the five World Cup campaigns and two Asia Cups weren't enough?

Mike in reality the friendlies and OFC games he may have missed might have disappointed you but name any game he really missed of any importance?

And the game in the UK is a tad more complex for young players than your simple assertions might suggest.

Injuries, club pressures, the state of Aussie football, demand of the Premier League and pressure for places may all have contributed. Why not judge the guy on the games he did play?

But of course that doesn't sit with your continued line of attack does it. The World Cup is over Mike - was the handball his fault - get over it !

And if Harry gets injured this time around, makes a bad pass, will we have to read your "I told you so" moments.

How different yours will be to Johnny Warrens!

Really this is a good news story for football - one we've been waiting for, for a long time.

And you'd think Mike C - the so-called most experienced football writer in the country, disputed by Ray Gatt - would have a different focus for his article today.

Mike so missed the mood of football in Australia on this one - and he forgot to get stuck into Socceroo Captain Lucas Neill and Mark Bresciano who have both headed to the Middle East rather than the A-League in recent days.

But that it seems is hardly worthy of any comment!

Harry Kewell is back - football is the winnner - and Mike no doubt will get much more air and media opportunities as a result of Harry's return.

Now that's a negative! And that's my opinion and I'm "entitled to it."



1 comment:

Brendan said...

i interviewed harry at north sydney oval in 2007 for a suburban newspaper - the federal mp joe hockey and metro media were waiting to speak to him but harry still gave me 20 minutes first - he seemed to prefer talking football to a fellow advocate of the game - a class act - maybe cockerill was one of those left waiting.