Daily Musings — 26th February 2017
Three musings with no mention of football would be too much.
Manchester United have won the English League Cup. Ibrahimovic has once again proven his ability in the top games. Except Southampton deserved the victory. Manolo Gabbiadini had a perfectly legitimate goal ruled and So’ton were on top for much of the early stages. They came back from two down but sadly it was not enough. That decision has cost the Saints a major trophy.
And as for Gabbiadini, imagine if we had gone for him in the summer or January like it’d been rumoured. If he was playing for us as well as he is for his current team, I think we’d be firmly challenging Everton for 7th spot in the table.
Secondly, I’ve had an idea for a feature. A good one, though I do need to find a new example. Part of it has involved me emailing supporter groups for interviews. This has included Genç Fenerbahçeliler (Young Fenerbahçe Supporters) and Kalbinde Fenerbahçeyi Yaşatanlar (also known as Kill For You or KFY).
I have developed a soft spot for Fenerbahçe over 2016. I am playing the medieval warfare simulation game, Europa Universalis IV (EU4). I am on a long campaign, nearly finished — have to deal with some uprisings in West Africa and secure holdings in Western Europe — with the Ottomans. As such I have developed a strong interest in Ottoman History and the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. After reading about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, I firmly believe he is one of the greatest politicians, and human beings in general, the world has ever seen. He was so far ahead of his time and much of Turkey’s current growth is down to him. A lot of countries around the world today could use someone like him to help rebuild them. He was a Fener supporter, so I can’t help but have a soft spot for them.
Anyway, from what I have seen, Fener supporters exhibit more of a party atmosphere than their cross city rivals, Galatasary, who seem more aggressive. Either way, Turkish football matches are kind of intense. The fans are incredibly passionate. You can read the story of ultra legend Rambo here. And on top of that, my successes on Football Manager with Ankara’s Gençlerbirliği have resulted in Turkish football being on my bucket list. Who knows one day you might see an Instagram of me from the 19 Mayis or Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadiums.
Lastly, I’ve had discussions recently amongst friends and on forums, about the voting system in this country. I still believe First Past The Post is the the best system for the House of Commons. Firstly, 40 UKIP MPs, seriously? The same people who attack FPTP more often than not are the same who so vehemently dislike UKIP from the discussions I had. Secondly, it would be almost impossible to form a majority government, such is the diversity of political parties in the United Kingdom. I do however believe that should the House of Lords be made into an elected chamber, which I believe it should for the interests of democracy, it would serve best the interests of this country to have its’ make up based on Proportional Representation. The body keeping legislation in check being made up of a diverse group of people, proportionally representing the British public.
Also, let’s not forget in 2011, a referendum on the matter was held. Hardly anyone turned up and it was defeated.