Category Archives: Features

Like walking into a football world of James Bond

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The FWA goes behind the scenes at Opta who have made statistics into an art form…

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

DID you know Queens Park Rangers striker Bobby Zamora was a more consistent finisher than Lionel Messi or Ronaldo?

True, you can prove just about anything with statistics, but there is not a stat worth knowing that Opta cannot produce within seconds. Their offices, a corner kick from Waterloo Station, are an anorak’s dream, like walking into a football world of James Bond. If you could enlist the help of any of the Opta team for a football quiz night it would be like having Usain Bolt as a ringer in the 4x100m relay.

Football writers love Opta because when Robin van Persie scores his next goal, chances are we are soon informed that it is the fifth consecutive game in which he has scored against the opposition from outside the penalty area with his left foot.

Each Barclays Premier League and Champions League game is analysed by three technicians, one for each team plus a checker who can change any mistakes during a match. Every time the ball is touched, an expert – and having seem them operate that is not too strong a word – logs it. There are around 120 different categories of ball-movement, with strict guidelines about each and it takes between two to three months to train someone to “cover” a game for Opta.

For example, a chip-pass is when the ball goes over head height while for an interception a player has to actively move towards the ball and intercept the pass. If the ball just hits a player it is not classed as an interception. As assist is the pass leading up to the goal, but not if a player wins a penalty. It is a pedant’s heaven.

Television broadcasts to the Opta computers are on a screen which effectively has the markings of a pitch on it. As soon as, say, Frank Lampard, passes the ball the analyst will click on “Lampard” and “completed pass” or whichever category it falls in to.

To become an Opta analyst you need not only an excellent knowledge of football, you must also be a keyboard wizard. Andrew Baruffati, who has worked for Opta for nine years, said: “For an average game I would input between 800 to 1,100 details for a team, though it depends on the side. Barcelona would have a lot more than that but it is not necessarily more difficult. While you are putting in a lot more events and you are busier, I prefer doing them because they are all clean passes. Covering a game involving Stoke or Bolton, there are more long balls with ricochets and tackles which can be harder to analyse.”

The intensity of Opta’s analysis during a match is such that Baruffati said: “At times I’ll ask someone what the score is and they won’t know.”

To guarantee accuracy, if an analyst is unsure about a movement he will flag it up and the checker will replay the move to ensure it is correctly logged. Each analyst’s inputting is checked to see how many changes had to be made to determine whether extra training may be needed. Opta are as foolproof and accurate as is possible.

The company cover football on a global basis and for overseas matches an analyst is usually given the same team to cover to help familiarity.

AT THE flick of a switch any team’s or player’s performances can be viewed on screen. Matt Furniss, the UK editor, showed me that after two games Tottenham had hit the woodwork more times – three – that anyone else in the Barclays Premier League. Despite the popular belief, Manchester United do not win the most penalties – over the last three seasons Chelsea hold that honour.

“Whatever happens during a game, we can go back to our database and check if it’s happened before,” said Furniss. Trying to find a positive note for Liverpool after their 3-0 defeat at West Bromwich it was discovered their passing accuracy at the Hawthorns was their highest in 10 years.

Unsurprisingly the pass masters are Barcelona, their 1,046 passes against Levante in the Primera Liga in May 2011 a record. The last time Barca’s opponents out-passed the Catalans was four and a half years ago.

Rather than assists for a goal, Opta, who also cover cricket and rugby in England, prefer chances created as a better reflection of a player’s ability to lay on opportunities for team-mates; it is not his fault is they are missed. Individual honours for 2011/12 in this respect go to Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil with 103 ahead of Lionel Messi on 92 while Xavi had 65. Michu, who looks the bargain buy of the summer for Swansea at £2 million from Real Vallecano, was not only Primera Liga’s leading scorer from midfield with 15 goals, he also created 64 chances, one fewer than Xavi, in 1,664 minutes.

Messi ended last season with 50 goals and 16 assists [for goals] in 37 Primera Liga games. “In any other period Ronaldo would be the greatest player in the world,” said Furniss. “He had a total of 46 goals and 12 assists in 38 matches.”

Of Messi’s goals, 44 were with his left foot, five with his right and one header. Ronaldo scored 33 with his right foot, six with his left and seven headers. Furniss said: “Over the past few years the most impressive player in this aspect is Zamora with almost an equal split between right, left and head. He is also one of only two people in the Barclays Premier League since 1998 to score a penalty with both feet, alongside Obafemi Martins”

Opta’s service is not used just by media outlets, many top clubs use their statistics as football moves more and more into the world of hi-tech. Furniss said: “If we were working for a club and they asked us for an analysis on their opponents, we could tell them how many goals they score from crosses, how many tackles they won in a certain area of the pitch…anything, really.”

The top clubs in England now have a dedicated team of analysts to pour through videos and Opta’s stats to point their scouts in the right direction. John Coulson, head of professional football, has collated details on around 6,000 players across Europe so if a club are looking for a particular type of player Opta’s stats can be a huge help in knowing who to watch.

Coulson said: “These people are there to support the coaches and managers. You wouldn’t expect a manager to have the time to go through videos and stats. Not just for scouting possible transfers, but also to show their own players details about their displays to help them improve even during a match. Clubs can take an Opta feed of the first-half and during the interval the details can help to improve a certain part of the performance, notably possession losses.”

Opta have a log of every penalty over the last nine years, illustrating which side the kicker placed the ball and which way the goalkeeper dived. “Both teams know what to expect now when a penalty is taken,” said Coulson.

IT IS for player recruitment that Opta are most focused on helping clubs. Tottenham had few doubts that Fulham’s Moussa Dembele was an excellent replacement for Luka Modric, but Opta’s details underline the Belgium international’s quality.

“We can see with things like ball recovery, duels won and key passes there has been a steady improvement over the past two years with Dembele,” said Coulson. On the other hand the dip in Nicola Anelka’s conversion rate between the ages of 27 and 31 dipped alarmingly so his departure from Chelsea caused little controversy.

Coulson’s database can be defined to help a club searching for a new player, for example a midfielder. Opta have 1,000 such players and that list can be redefined with aspects such as losing tackles or inaccurate passes and it will surprise few that Andrea Pirlo of Juventus came out top, the Italian followed by Spain’s Xabi Alonso of Real Madrid and Spain.

More fine tuning with passes only in the final third of the field with a minimum of 40 key passes which directly led to a shot on goal per game added still showed Pirlo leading the way from Xabi Alonso though Modric and Manchester City’s YaYa Toure were high on the list.

While these players are well known, Roberto Trashorras, an attacking midfielder with Rayo Vallecano, showed up well in terms of creativity.

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The mind games that saw Carlton Cole become a lion

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Sports psychologist DAN ABRAHAMS explains how he helped the West Ham and England striker…

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

THE BRITISH seem to have an inbuilt aversion to psychology. If we have a bad tooth, we go a dentist. An ingrowing toenail can be cured by a chirpodist. A few visits to an osteopath and that bad back becomes history. Yet if we have a problem in our mind, whatever it may be, too often the misguided response is: “sort yourself out.” To see a psychologist or a counsellor still carries a certain stigma, despite the ignorance of such views.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s mind games are acceptable, even fun, but to see someone about your mindset is looked upon differently.

Yet in sport the difference between success and failure, winning and losing, can be minimal…inches, a split second or just the confidence to do whatever it takes to win, in England’s case converting penalties.

Football is one of of many sports that has seen the performance level of participants rise because of psychologists. Dan Abrahams is a former professional golfer who holds a First Class Honors degree in psychology and a Master’s Degree in sports psychology. He has worked with numerous footballers in England and while he cannot turn anyone into the next Lionel Messi, he can look back with professional pride at players he has helped, West Ham striker Carlton Cole one of the most high profile.

“I’m not blind to the obvious fact that physicality, technical ability and tactical understanding are the hallmarks of elite football,” said Abrahams. “To me football is not just a physical challenge – it is a game of mindset.”

A manager does not have the time to devote hours to helping an individual player off the training pitch, but in many respects Abrahams’ ideas and beliefs can be transferred to anybody in any job. It is about improving self-belief and confidence, thinking positively and banishing automatic negative thoughts (or ANTs as Abrahams calls them). Cole was a youth team player at Chelsea and looked set to make a big name for himself, but Claudio Ranieri, the Blues’ manager at the time, said: “I watched Carlton play for the reserves and I saw two animals in him. One was a rabbit and the other a lion. I want to see that lion come out in him more often.”

After unsuccessful loan spells with Charlton, Wolves and Aston Villa, he joined West Ham in 2006. In training Cole would run the show, but on match day the lion did not show up.

“There is no hiding place then,” said Abrahams. “On match day you have to get it right, especially at first-team level. Carlton started to question his abiligty and his future. He forgot the dozens of goals he had scored for the youth team, he didn’t listen to Ranieri’s praise. His only vision became one of him failing. His only voice became one of ‘I can’t.’ Negatives drowned positives and his performances suffered.”

Abrahams worked “religiously” with Cole on attempting to squash the striker’s negative thoughts. “Your brain is brilliant at focusing on problems as you play,” said Abrahams. “Make a blunder in front of goal and your brain will do its best to bring your thoughts back to this moment time and time again.”

So how do we stop the infestation of ANTs?

“Simple. Just see a STOP sign in your mind., You see a STOP sign like the one you see on the side of a road. Or perhaps just say STOP to yourself. Even scream it in your mind, you need something that you can consciously see or say to snap you back into the present moment and instantly stop the ANTs from spreading.

“Once Carlton had become accustomed to spotting and stopping these negatives, I wanted him to take ownership of his inner voice as he played. I knew if he did he would be able to utilise the skill and vision we all saw in him when he was in training mode.

“Carlton became an England international because he committed to the process of improvement. We worked hard together but he also learnt greatly from his managers Alan Curbishley and Gianfranco Zola plus coaches such as Glyn Snodin and Steve Clarke. Above all, Carlton was enormously proactive with his inner voice on the pitch. He refused to allow ANTs to settle and destroy his performance mindset, When he won his first cap for England he stood on the side of the pitch squashing ANTs as he readied himself to come on against the European Champions Spain. When he ran on to the pitch as a second-half substitute he did so with a clear,confident mind. He was ready to play with focus and freedom.”

*Taken from Soccer Tough – Simple Football Psychology Techniques To Improve Your Game by Dan Abrahams (Bennion Kearny, £12.99; http://www.danabrahams.com)

FWA Q&A: Lee Clayton

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LEE CLAYTON, the Daily Mail head of sport, on a laptop swimming in Diet Coke…Bradley Wiggins’ sideburns…and trying to be Alvin Martin

Your first ever job in journalism?
I worked at The Sun 25 years ago, aged 16. One of my jobs was copytasting from the wires for the editor Kelvin Mackenzie. I had to learn fast. I worked with some excellent journalists, who taught me high standards and I was thrilled to be part of a team who expected to win every day. It was a good early lesson. In those days, The Sun was must-read. The first read. Nobody else could compete with it. I was a bit laid back, but they knocked it out of me.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
I was an outdoor clerk (briefly) for a firm of solicitors in Chancery Lane. I was good at the outdoor bit, but I wasn’t a very good clerk.

Most memorable match?
Can I say three? Manchester United versus Bayern Munich in the Nou Camp. Ribbons on the trophy, intro and match report written…and then Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer intervened. It was wonderful! England v Argentina in Marseille was another dramatic evening in the 1998 World Cup, but my favourite has to be England 4 Holland 1. I was Football Correspondent for the Daily Star and – along with Martin Samuel and Rob Shepherd – spent quite a lot of time following Terry Venables, the England coach, in the build-up to the match. Venables scouted the Dutch players obsessively (which mainly consisted of watching a lot of Ajax). I knew that stunning win wasn’t about one night’s good work, but months of preparation by Venables, studying the Dutch system and uncovering weaknesses. I learned a lot from watching, listening and talking to him. It was a privilege for a young journalist to be given such a football masterclass.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Ray Stewart’s penalty technique…and give it to every England player. Why are England so useless at penalties? When will they learn? Goalkeepers dived out of the way when Stewart hit the ball.

Best stadium?
Nou Camp. Made me think: “How lucky am I to be working here?” I like the charm of Villa Park and enjoyed the hostility of the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, where Fenerbahce play. They turned out the floodlights before Manchester United came out, plunging the ground into darkness. No health and safety there. I have a season ticket at West Ham, but I don’t see too many wins there. Newcastle is the best ground I visited last season – when they were flying. Reminded me of how the whole city comes alive on match day.

…and the worst?
Sorry if this is a bit romantic, but there’s never a bad ground in which to watch football as a fan. I went to Soham Town last season to watch Charlton’s U18’s win 9-0. I love watching games live. I don’t have to work in football grounds now, so it improves all of them! No reason to moan about facilities, cramped press boxes and poison hot dogs.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
A laptop swimming in Diet Coke is never a good idea. Mine happened as David Batty missed his penalty in the shootout between England and Argentina [at France 98]. I knocked over the can. Paul Hayward put his arm around me and said: “Are you ok, mate…you’ve gone as white as a ghost.” I felt sick. My ‘running’ match report had just got through to the office to make the first edition. The rewrite had no chance.

Biggest mistake?
Not working hard enough at school.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
No. But I was recently told I have had the same sideburns at Bradley Wiggins. They’ve gone now. And I don’t have a bike, either.

Most media friendly manager?
Terry Venables, Alan Pardew, Harry Redknapp have to be up there. I also like Mark Hughes, but he’s not very media-friendly! We have had a few discussions about it – and we might have a few more. I like him, though. He’s good company, he was a great volleyer and he absolutely has to win.

Best ever player?
Zinedine Zidane was decent. Messi can play. But can they really share an answer with Alvin Martin? Should have won more caps for England. I loved watching him play as a kid and then as a young reporter. Tony Gale used to complain that I would always give Alvin higher marks in my match reports. He was right. Sorry, Tony. Alvin was the centre half I always wanted to be. Anyone who saw me play will confirm that never happened.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Manchester United’s treble-winners. Watching and covering the football United played, with two wide players, pace and flair was a treat. I interviewed Eric Cantona on the pitch at Old Trafford once and he was huge. I really did enjoy his swagger. He made that Manchester United team and they made him. I was also invited to spend a little time with Sir Alex Ferguson, by Steve Curry. It was a treat talking football with him for a couple of hours. And Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t bad, either. I can’t think of anyone better than the current Spain team.

Favourite football writer?
Alex Montgomery was my chief football writer on The Sun and he wrote match reports that were about the football. It was a pleasure to sit next to him in press boxes and listen to him dictating live reports to copytakers with his soft Scottish voice. He taught a young and very raw junior a lot on those nights. He also had a dignity and a presence that all football correspondents should have (and many do). I do think there are some brilliant writers around now. And they all work for the Daily Mail. Well, most of them do. I’m very lucky to have an amazing team, who can write with intelligence, insight and authority. There is an art to good match reporting on tight deadlines.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
John Motson and Mike Ingham on football while Brendan Foster and Steve Cram called the Mo Farah 10,000 meters absolutely brilliantly. I grew up listening to radio commentaries on Radio Two and it’s the job I always wanted, but never got. Foster and Cram that night, in the Olympic Stadium, delivered a masterclass on BBC1. I do think radio commentary is much underrated. Five Live’s Olympic commentary was excellent too, such as Alan Green at the rowing.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Follow the example of Manchester City.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Olympic 10,000m with a British winner in London. Although that can never happen, can it? In the meantime, I’ve got my eye on a Lions Tour to South Africa and a Ashes series in Australia. Probably for when somebody tells me I can’t do my job any more. I hope that doesn’t happen soon.

Last book read?
I’m obsessed with James Patterson. I’ve read something like 30 of his books. They’re not the most challenging, but they are fast and punchy and he brings his characters, like Alex Cross, to life. He’s the Dragon Slayer and very, very cool. I usually read crime novels. I don’t like autobiographies, but read them when I have to. Steven Gerrard’s book with Henry Winter was among the best.

Favourite current TV programme?
I don’t get to watch much TV. I liked the BBC drama Line Of Duty and I especially liked the line from the character played by Lennie James. “Son, if you are going to shoot the king, don’t miss.” And I like Luther, with the brilliant Idris Elba. I can’t miss Match Of The Day, but it needs an overhaul. Maybe I do watch quite a bit of TV. Sky Plus is the answer.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I’ve kept most of my stories from The Sun, the Sunday Mirror, the Daily Star, the People and the Daily Mail. I’ve kept the good ones; it’s a small scrapbook.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Do it. It’s brilliant. If someone tells you no, don’t believe them. Find someone who believes in you and keep searching for that person. I’ve been very lucky. I found a lot of people who believed in me and they will all tell you that when I was told ‘no’, I wasn’t listening.

MEDIA SHOULD TAKE A MORE POSITIVE APPROACH TO FOOTBALLERS

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FWA chairman Andy Dunn on how the press can benefit from the Olympic Games…

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

THE GOODWILL factor from the London 2012 Olympic Games that keeps a smile on British faces will have an inevitable knock-on effect as the 2012/13 season gets under way. Comparisons between the manner in which our gold medallists conducted them and the stereotyped image of footballers will be made, with the anti-football brigade penning columns along the lines of “why can’t these overpaid Premier League stars behave like Olympians?”

It was not just the public who were swept along on a wave of Olympic fever. The media, perhaps sensing the mood of the country, took a softly-softly approach when Bradley Wiggins was photographed smoking and drinking on holiday. Wiggins was “enjoying himself” but had an England player been caught indulging in either of the nocturnal habits of the gold medal winner in the road time trial he would have been “boozing” or setting a bad example. Philip Hindes’ admission that he deliberately crashed after a slow start by his team in the men’s team sprint was almost brushed under Fleet Street’s carpet.

Andy Dunn, the Sunday Mirror columnist who succeeds Steve Bates as chairman of the Football Writers’ Association, believes comparisons between Team GB and footballers have little credibility, but admitted the way the media covers football could benefit from some Olympic spirit.

Dunn said: “Any comparisons are disingenuous because the demands on athletes and footballers are so different. Apart from Andy Murray, Bradley Wiggins is probably the highest profile of our Olympic winners, but the media pressures on him or all of our gold medallists are nothing like footballers experience.

“With respect to them, it’s once every four years they are in such a spotlight so they embrace the attention. They received an excellent press and it’s nice to be liked, but because it is so relentless for footballers they have a different attitude.

“What I would like to happen is for footballers to realise how good it is to have positive publicity. Footballers may need to look at themselves and the way they come across, but perhaps the Olympics will also give the media a chance to see how we cover football.

“Footballers would claim the reason they are not as open or forthcoming as those in the Olympics is because if they make one slight error of judgment, saying something that could be taken in a different way, then it will be treated negatively. They will argue the media will always pick on one slightly controversial point among 10 positive ones.

“We should look at that. The media highlight diving or when managers behave badly and we cannot gloss over such issues and cover things up. In the Olympics, Philip Hindes fell off his cycle deliberately to gain an advantage on his way to winning a gold medal and got off very lightly because the Olympics was all about good news.

“Footballers could turn to us during the season when they have been accused of something and quite rightly point out that when Hindes was guilty of blatant gamesmanship the newspapers let him off with a shrug of the shoulders.

“Perhaps we can look at the way we cover football from how we covered the Olympics, maybe placing more emphasis on positives rather than negatives.”

While London 2012 was hailed as the best Olympics most could remember, Dunn said English football and football writing is enjoying a similar golden era.

“These are exciting times to be a football writer, never mind chairman of the Football Writers’ Association,” he said. “The Premier League has signed the biggest television deal in its history which shows, however you want to compare it with the Olympics, that its appeal is unbelievable.

“Our sports writers are in the country whose football has the biggest global appeal of any league. To be chairman of the organisation whose members are writing about one of the most successful sporting leagues in the world is fantastic.”

Similarly, the FWA have never been in such a strong position “for several reasons,” according to Dunn. “Our members have different platforms because apart from writing for their newspapers, they are writing across the social media. Some of our members have a Twitter following that equates to minor celebrities. They can be read by more people on Twitter than they are in print.

“Football writers have never had such a high profile. People want to read about the Barclays Premier League and all the great players who perform in it. We have the opportunity to do this not only for a domestic audience, but world-wide.

“The two main FWA events, the Footballer of the Year dinner before the FA Cup final and the January Gala Tribute Evening have gone from strength to strength.

“Barclays remain the most supportive of sponsors while the FWA are also represented on Twitter and, of course, by the revamped web site.

“There has been a gradual improvement in facilities for the media in the Premier League and Football League, though there is still much work to be done. It’s important that we are in on the ground floor when new stadiums are built. We worked closely with Arsenal on the Emirates stadium and the Football Association for Wembley and everyone would agree these press facilities are superb.”

Dunn hopes to see more FWA Live evenings next season after the success of the inaugural question-and-answer session in London last May which featured FWA representatives Dunn, Henry Winter, Shaun Custis, Paul McCarthy and Matt Lawton plus Gary Lineker and Adrian Bevington, the managing director of Club England.

“We are talking to people about three or four FWA Live evenings around the country,” said Dunn. “They would feature FWA members plus a couple of personalities from football with the audience asking questions. We were fortunate with the first one because it was the day Kenny Dalglish was sacked.”

*The memorial service for Dennis Signy, a former chairman of the Football Writers’ Association, will be held at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street on September 13 (11:30) and afterwards at the Punch Tavern.

FWA launch Beat the Writers predictions app

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The Football Writers’ Association is celebrating the start of the 2012/13 Barclays Premier League season by launching a new football predictions iPhone app called Beat the Writers.

The game can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and gives football fans the chance to pit their predicting skills against nine of Britain’s top football writers, including Andy Dunn of the Sunday Mirror, Steve Bates of The People and Patrick Barclay of the London Evening Standard.

Each week, the writers will make their predictions for the ten biggest games of the forthcoming weekend and fans can browse their forecasts and make their own.

At the end of the weekend, the scores will be collated and players can see how they measure up to the writers. The app also offers the chance for players to see how they’ve fared across a month and the whole season.

Andy Dunn, chairman of the Football Writers’ Association, said: “The FWA are always looking out for new ways to connect with fans, and the Beat the Writers app is a great opportunity to do that.

“As football writers, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of the game, so it’ll be great fun putting that to the test against fans!”

For more information, including full Terms and Conditions, please read the Beat the Writers page.

WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP SHOULD BE THE PATH TO OLYMPIC GOLD

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Henry Winter has enjoyed covering the “easy” Olympic Games but for the future participation of Team GB the format must be changed

IN EVERY sense the cheery goodbye by a policeman was unexpected as Henry Winter left the City of Coventry stadium after Great Britain’s women had been knocked out of the London 2012 Olympic Games football tournament by Canada.

It is unusual, to say the least, for a police officer to bid a football writer farewell after his copy has been filed and his work is finished, but especially while he is grappling with a member of the public.

“I was leaving the stadium when a policeman said ‘goodnight sir,’” said Winter, the football correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. “What made this even more remarkable was that the policeman was trying to restrain someone who was all the worse for wear.”

The Olympic spirit, in this reveller’s case perhaps vodka, has shown itself in many ways, not least how Winter and other FWA members have been able to speak to whoever they want to in the mixed zone, the area where players walk through from the dressing room.

While some are happy to cooperate with the media, believing it is part of the job win, lose or draw, for others it is a them-and-us scenario. There are those who stroll past waiting reporters wearing dustbin lid-size headphones. Having a mobile phone pressed to an ear and pretending to be in the middle of a conversation is another ploy used to not to speak to the press though this can backfire.

“One player came unstuck when someone who had his number phoned the mobile on which he was supposedly having a conversation and it rang while he was ‘talking,’” said Winter. An own-goal for the England striker more famous for not scoring.

While he is bracing himself for a more business-as-usual mixed zone as the new season gets under way, covering the Olympic football tournament hit the right notes for Winter. “It’s been easy from a press perspective,” he said. “Everyone spoke. There was not a single refusal. So different from the European Championship or World Cup.”

Winter praised the way women’s coach Hope Powell and the squad who, like the men, were knocked out at the quarter-final stage, conducted themselves. Their girls’ lack of media training was a bonus and Winter said: “They were so natural. They were delighted to be in the spotlight, or as they said on the front pages, middle pages and back pages. Their sport had a great platform and what I thought was tremendous was to see the players signing autographs for fans for almost an hour after the match [against Brazil] at Wembley.”

However, having enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame before huge, appreciative crowds, Winter warned that women’s football must “brace itself for a dip” when the Olympic attention fades.

Match days apart, media interest has lacked the mass coverage and cutting edge of senior international football. “I went to one press conference in Cardiff and there were only a handful of journalists there. It was almost like having a private chat with Craig Bellamy.”

Reporting Olympic football will never match the intensity of the World Cup or European Championship while for the participants, at the Olympic Games football is A sport, not THE sport. Team GB wanted the gold medal, but failure is not likely to disappoint the players as it would losing an international tournament or defeat in the Champions League.

Winter has enjoyed the less pressurised atmosphere of the multi-sport Olympics which is reflected in the number of families attending matches. However, he feels winning gold should be the pinnacle of the sport’s achievement “which it clearly isn’t with football or tennis.” I told Winter that golf was joining the Olympic family in Rio de Janeiro 2016. “Really?” he replied, immediately adding golf to football and tennis as sports where an Olympic gold will not be the ultimate prize. Treasured as a gold medal is, it would not compete with the satisfaction of a World Cup winners’ medal, a Grand Slam or a Major.

Men’s football is not new to the Olympics, but this was Team GB’s first appearance for half a century. The next time Team GB are seen at an Olympics will almost certainly be when London is chosen as host again. The European qualification programme is decided through the UEFA Under-21 Championship and while the four Home nations enter this, Great Britain cannot as they are not members of FIFA or UEFA.

Politics can be a powerful opponent and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are against the Team GB concept. At the moment Olympic football is effectively an Under-23 tournament with three overage players. Winter’s idea to get round the politics and age format is food for thought. “Why don’t FIFA organise a World Under-21 Championship? There isn’t one at present. FIFA and the IOC should allow the Home countries to enter separately if they qualify.”

For all the criticism of football at London 2012, the fans have embraced the tournament which is set to break the Beijing 2008 record of 2.1 million spectators. With the finals and bronze medal matches to come, the combined total for the men’s and women’s tournaments should reach 2.2 million.

As England manager Roy Hodgson prepares England’s 2016 World Cup qualifying programme which begins next month and more immediately the friendly against Italy on August 15, Winter believes four of the younger members of Team GB have done themselves a power of good, enough to become regulars in the senior squad: Tom Cleverley, Daniel Sturridge, Steven Caulker and Jack Butland.

He said: “Cleverley has been called up by England but has yet to play. He showed what he can do with Manchester United before his injury last season. Sturridge [who has two caps] did well at the Olympics as did and Caulker.”

It is Birmingham City goalkeeper Butland, 19, who particularly impresses Winter. Unable to dislodge Boaz Myhill or even win a place on the subs’ bench ahead of Colin Doyle, Butland played 12 games on loan with League Two’s Cheltenham Town last season, registering seven clean sheets. Butland has represented England at all levels up to the Under-21’s and was called into the Euro 2012 squad to replace the injured John Ruddy.

“Jack Butland is now England’s number two goalkeeper,” said Winter. “I speak to [England goalkeeping coaches] Ray Clemence and Dave Watson and they have been raving about Jack for some time. They know what they are talking about. He did well for England at the Under-20 World Championship in Colombia last year. Jack will be number two to Joe Hart.”

THERE’S A RAT IN MY BEDROOM WHAT AM I GONNA DO?

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(call the Albanian police, of course)

Tony Incenzo on a less than magical mystery tour to Tirana

A REPORTING trip to the mystery land of Albania brought the worst experience of my life. A surreal nightmare where I played the starring role.

It was back in 1993 when I was working for Capital Radio. I arrived in the capital city Tirana forewarned of the primitive conditions.

So I brought my own mini-survival kit…bottled drinking water, biscuits, chocolate and plenty of toilet rolls. Enough to last for the two days in Albania while I covered a World Cup Qualifying match against the Republic of Ireland.

I made my way to the Hotel Tirana and initial impressions were favourable. Smartly dressed businessmen exchanged snappy handshakes in the modern foyer, the restaurant was spotless and the Irish national team were staying there in the lap of luxury. It seemed too good to be true.

But my problems started at the front desk.

“Mr Incenzo?” said the receptionist. “Oh yes, I’m terribly sorry sir, but this hotel is full. So we have booked you in at another hotel just down the road.”

They arranged a courtesy taxi to take me to the other building (which will remain nameless). I checked in and was told that my room was on the fifth floor.

Unfortunately, the elevator was out of action. So I had to hump my suitcase, hand luggage and tape recorder up five flights of stairs in 85 degrees of evening humidity.

I arrived at my room breathless and exhausted. The first thing I noticed was that the shower was permanently switched on and was flooding on to the floor. I spent half an hour trying to rectify the problem but to no avail.

Things got worse. The taps on the sink wouldn’t work, the main light was out of action, the toilet wouldn’t flush and a starlight window wouldn’t close – allowing an exotic variety of winged insects easy access to my bedroom.

“Well, this is Albania,” I said to myself, trying to make the best of a bad lot.

So I paddled through the murky water on the floor, brushed my teeth with my bottled water and got undressed for bed.

“At least I’m only here for two nights,” I thought, trying to savour the cultural experience.

But as I walked back across the room, I was greeted by a terrifying sight…a twelve inch long, black furry rat was sitting on its haunches beside my bed, staring me straight in the eye.

I felt my stomach wrench upwards and I let out a reflex cry of alarm. This startled the rat and it began to scurry around the room in concentric circles. I scurried out the door.

Down in the foyer, I complained to the hotel manager about my uninvited room guest. But to no avail.

“That’s very nice for you sir,” he grinned smugly. “Rats are really friendly. I wish I had one down here to keep me company.”

I urged him to take me seriously and demanded to be switched to another room.

“That’s not possible,” he smirked. “The hotel is full.”

I told him I would call the police but he chuckled again because the telephones were out of order. I insisted that I would find the police station but he just kept laughing in my face.

Infuriated, I stormed out on to the street and luckily spotted a passing police van. I called for help and it screeched to a halt. Unfortunately the driver couldn’t speak a word of English.

He decided to take me to the local cop shop, where I was I was surrounded by inquisitive Albanian police. It was past midnight and I was at the end of my tether. I sat there for two hours before they could find anyone who could speak English.

Finally, I managed to make myself understood. The officer in charge subsequently sent me back to my hotel accompanied by a van load of hefty riot police who yielded sturdy truncheons and lethal pistols.

I arrived back in the foyer elated with my impressive entourage. And the hotel manager changed his tune dramatically.

His flippant fit of chuckles gave way to a patronising flood of apologies. But there was still nothing he could do – the hotel was full and the rat was not his problem.

The policemen talked amongst themselves before pointing to the stairs. They gestured to me that they were prepared to kill the rat.

So it was up to the fifth floor again. I was accompanied by this meaty posse of musclemen, who limbered up by practising Kung Fu and Karate kicks as we turned the corners on the stairs.

When we reached my room, everything was quiet. The policemen seemed to fill the space with their stature and presence.

And there was no sign of the rat. Had I imagined it? Had I caused all that fuss for nothing?

The largest policeman – who was nearly seven feet tall – lifted up the bed with one hand. Without warning, the rat came charging out and started to dance around the room.

Like a scene from the Keystone Kops, the policemen lunged forward en masse with their truncheons. But the rodent managed to escape through a huge hole in the skirting board.

An amazing scenario followed. The coppers turned and proceeded to demolish the wardrobe with a series of frenetic Karate kicks. Then they rammed this timber into the skirting board to block the hole.

Triumphantly, they turned to me like actors taking their curtain call.

“There is no problem for you now sir,” said the one with the best English.

“Thank you, thank you,” I gushed. “You’ve saved my night. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

Then I remembered the chocolate bars. These would be a real luxury for Albanians. I went to my suitcase and produced a bar for each of my heroes.

The policemen accepted the chocolate but looked at me strangely.

“Me Stefano,” said one.

“Me Eric,” said another.

“Me Rico,” said the one with the biggest truncheon.

“Yes, I’m Tony,” I said confused. “And I’m very grateful.”

But I wondered why they weren’t leaving.

The policeman with the best English stepped forward.

“Rico would like to sleep with you,” he grinned.

“W-what?” I said, stepping back in fear and amazement.

“Yes, he would like to sleep with you. In the bed. You can say thank you to him personally. We will watch and then join in.”

“No…No thank you. I think the chocolate is enough,” I said and I gestured them towards the door.

The policemen left quietly. Back down in the foyer, they gave the hotel manager a verbal roasting before they departed.

I decided to book a morning alarm call. The manager took my details before whispering sweetly: “I am so sorry about the rat sir. As a form of apology, perhaps you would like me to sleep with you tonight?”

I declined his offer, rushed back to the fifth floor and firmly locked my door before retiring for the night.

ends

FWA Spotlight: Busby’s other ‘Babes’ did Britain proud

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MATT BUSBY stroked his chin, took a puff of his trademark pipe and delivered his verdict. “Most of the players were strangers to each other,” he said. “My first task was to shake hands all round and try to remember some of the names. I wondered what I’d taken on. I realised right from the start that many hectic weeks of hard graft lay ahead.”

Ten years later the Scot was to build the Manchester United side nicknamed the Busby Babes who were set to dominate Europe before the Munich Air Disaster saw eight members of the squad perish in the plane crash.

Busby will forever be linked with United but in 1948 he accepted the job of managing the Great Britain football team at the London Olympics. Instead of players who had become household names in Britain, Busby had David Kelleher, a Northern Irishman whose daring getaway from a PoW camp near Bremen influenced the movie The Great Escape; Eric Fright, who overcame infant paralysis to play with leading amateur side Bromley; and an 18-year-old Scottish goalkeeper called Ronnie Simpson who had made his Queens Park debut against Clyde at Hampden Park aged 14 years and eight months.

As was the tradition in those days, Busby did not select the squad which was recruited by a committee who had forgotten about Cyril Martin, a nippy winger who had helped Olympique Marseille win that season’s French League title.

While Stuart Pearce’s Team GB squad have the best training and hotel facilities as they prepared for London 2012, things were more spartan in 1948. The Great Britain training base was a country mansion near Sunningdale golf course where the players found some racquets and started to play tennis. They then kicked a ball over the net, having to make the most of what was there. With rationing still in force special rations, including tinned fruit from New Zealand, were brought in to build the players up. This provided some compensation for missing work – all the players were left out of pocket as they had to take their annual holiday entitlement to coincide with the Olympics.

“I handled them as I would professionals,” said Busby. “I worked them like slaves and not once did I hear a word of complaint. It was a pleasure to work with such men.”

Three warm-up games had been arranged. The first was a defeat by Holland in Amsterdam, next stop was Basel where the players were amazed by the goods available in Swiss shops. One player, Angus Carmichael, said: “There was nothing in our shops like the watches they had there. When I got engaged I couldn’t even get my wife Anne an engagement ring.”

After the match the squad were offered watches at knock-down prices, some players buying a dozen. When the squad ambled into the entrance hall at the airport, Busby took the customs guard to one side and explained that as his charges were poor footballers they had nothing to declare. No questions were asked.

The last game was, according to Football Association records, a 2-1 win for GB. Busby recalled the match finishing as a draw while newspaper reports suggest a 3-2 win for GB.

And so to the opening ceremony on July 29 at Wembley stadium, Busby’s gentlemen leading the entire GB squad out. The war was over three years ago but danger from the skies remained, albeit of a milder kind. “There was this American, not an athlete, walking around the ceremony with a trilby asking all the athletes for a dollar,” said Carmichael. “He said ‘whoever was hit by the most pigeon shit gets what’s in the hat.'”

Great Britain started with a 4-3 extra-time win over Holland when Bromley’s Tommy Hopper, his face covered in blood after an over-pyhsical challenge from a Dutch opponent, carried on regardless. It was later discovered he had played almost the entire match with a fractured cheek-bone.

France were next after they had beaten India who arrived with only two pairs of boots; the other nine players had to do with bandages and plasters on their feet, a 2-1 loss respectable under the circumstances. The French were not much better organised, forgetting to bring a ball which made training interesting. A Bob Hardisty goal at Craven Cottage saw GB reach the semi-final at Wembley where 40,000 fans watched Yugoslavia triumph 3-1.

GB lost the bronze medal play-off 5-3 to Denmark but Busby was full of praise for his squad’s efforts. “As manager of the British team I did a job of work which I shall always regard as one of my best,” he said. “Steering Manchester United to the championship of the Football League first division was child’s play beside the problems of sorting out a winning team from 26 spare-time footballers drawn from four different countries.”

When Busby’s players had left their Uxbridge headquarters the manager told them to keep their official track-suits. Shortly afterwards the Football Association wrote to all the Olympians, who had give up a month without pay, asking them to stump up £5 or return their track-suits.

Adapted from GB United? by Styeve Menary (Pitch Publishing £15.99)

FWA Spotlight: Tahiti – It’s a family affair as minnows prepare to take on world’s elite

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THEY WILL be the ultimate minnows, the Tom Thumb of international football, David v Goliath to a new dimension but next summer Tahiti will be rubbing shoulders with football’s elite in the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Yes Tahiti, the deluxe honeymoon destination comprising 118 islands eight and a half hours from Los Angeles. Tahiti, the locale for Mutiny on the Bounty, originally starring Errol Flynn with Marlon Brando heading the cast for a remake. Whatever your image of Tahiti, a hotbed of football is unlikely.

With 146 clubs and 11,201 registered players, football is the most popular sport among the 245,405 inhabitants. Marama Vahirua is Tahiti’s most famous footballer having made a name for himself in France with Nantes but thanks to the goal by Steevy Chong Hue as the Iron Warriors defeated New Caledonia, Eddy Etaeta’s side became the first team other than Australia (no longer part of OFC) and New Zealand to be crowned Oceania champions.

The win saw Tahiti rise 41 places to 138th in the latest FIFA rankings but they are not so much a national team as a family side. Lorenzo, Alvin, Teaonui and Jonathon Tehua are regulars for Tahiti, which is believed to be a world record. The Tehuas scored nine of Tahiti’s goals in the 10-1 win over Samoa in the opening tie of the OFC finals with eldest brother Jonathon, 24, scoring a double, twins Lorenzo and Alvin netting four and two respectively, and their 19-year-old cousin Teaonui one.

The Tehua boys chose football over taekwando because of the proximity of AS Tefana – it was the closest sports facility to their home and school. Alvin said: “I’m very proud to play in the national team with my family. We are a unit within the national team. I think it helps the side as a whole.” Lorenzo added: “I’m happy we play together – it’s taken a long time for us to come together in one team.”

International football anoraks will have noted that the rise and rise of Tahiti started three years ago when their Under-20 team broke the country’s qualifying duck by reaching the World Youth Championship in Egypt.

But with Australia now in the Asian Confederation, any Oceania tournament should provide New Zealand with what amounts to a free pass to the finals. Yet the All Whites drew with Solomon Islands before losing to New Caledonia, opening the way for the mother of all underdogs to qualify for Brazil 2013.

Team Tehua will no doubt make alternative headlines next summer and while the days of double-digit scorelines are virtually extinct at major finals, the 2013 Confederations Cup will surely see the elite of world football using the Tahitian upstarts as a football punch-bag.

Etaeta, understandably, took a positive approach and said: “We may play against the likes of Brazil and Spain which will be amazing for our country. We will enjoy this moment for now and then start planning towards the future. We’re happy with what we have achieved but we are in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup Oceania qualifying stage three. That was our main objective, our main goal. Everything else from here is a bonus for Tahiti.”

Football Writers’ Association members who travel to Brazil for the Confederations Cup may also be reporting on Tahiti when the most successful country in football stages the 2014 World Cup finals. The top four teams in the OFC Nations Cup – Tahiti, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Solomon Islands – move on to a home and away series with the team winning the most points going through to a play-off against the fourth-placed team in CONCACAF (the North, Central American and Caribbean Association) for a berth in Brazil.

While this may not raise too many eyebrows around the world, New Zealand, with their comparative wealth of professional experience, will be given a run for their money by the amateur teams of the smaller Pacific Islands nations.

Tahiti at the World Cup finals sounds unlikely but then so did Tahiti taking part in the Confederations Cup.

FWA Q&A: James Ducker

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JAMES DUCKER, Northern Football Correspondent of The Times, on Bruce Lee in the mixed zone…doing a chicken dance for Geri Halliwell…and drinking a £500 bottle of Disney wine

Your first ever job in journalism?
I did a week’s work experience on the Manchester Evening News sports desk about four months after starting at university in Sheffield. Someone must have been feeling charitable that week because they asked me back and gradually I started to do more and more to the point where I was working regularly in a freelance capacity on sport by the time I reached my third and final year at university. I remember having to ask the sports editor if he would write to one of my lecturers requesting more time to complete my dissertation as I’d worked almost non-stop one Christmas for the MEN and neglected my degree work in the process. Fortunately, the lecturer took pity on me. I can still vividly remember my relief. The MEN then sponsored me through a journalism diploma at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and when I finished there I started as a full time staff news reporter.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
No, I’m not sure any other profession would have me.

Most memorable match?
Difficult one that, I’ve been fortunate enough to cover some pretty great matches during my time on The Times. It’s a somewhat unoriginal choice but Manchester City’s dramatic 3-2 win against QPR on the final day of last season will probably stick with me forever, for numerous reasons. Manchester United’s 4-3 win over City at Old Trafford in September 2009 also left a mark on me, not because of the see-saw nature of the game and Michael Owen’s exquisite 96th minute winner in “Fergie time” but also because of Ferguson’s post-match press conference when he came out with all that stuff about “noisy neighbours”. Memorable match for the wrong reasons? England’s abject goalless draw against Algeria in Cape Town at the 2010 World Cup. God that was bad.

Best stadium?
Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion and the Bernabeu.

…and the worst?
Doncaster’s old Belle Vue ground. It wasn’t the worst stadium per se, but it felt like it in December 2005 – a few days before Christmas – when, with no power point and no internet, Arsenal were taken into extra-time and I had to file a big match report and back page splash via a copytaker in zero time. It should have been a great game to cover and the atmosphere in the ground was electric but I just remember it being complete misery. So my view of Belle Vue was forever (and probably unfairly) skewed after that.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
How long have you got? Things actually seem to have picked up technology wise over the past year or so but I will always remember being at the Nou Camp to cover the first leg of Manchester United’s Champions League semi-final against Barcelona in 2008 and Craig Tregurtha, my football editor at the time, coming on the phone an hour or so before kick-off and saying, ‘James Ducker, sure to be the busiest man at the Nou Camp tonight’. I didn’t mind that at all at the time. There was no wi-fi, or if there was I couldn’t access it, but my 3G was working fine so I was still pretty relaxed when the order came over: ratings of 80 words per man per team plus 30 words per substitute – in effect about 2,000 words – which needed to be filed about 20 minutes before the final whistle. And also a big technical breakdown in six separate 100 word chunks – so another 600 words. The first-half was fine. Then when I went to file some copy towards the end of half-time the 3G shutdown. The words “technical error” followed by a series of terrifying looking numbers and letters screamed at me. I faffed around in a state of nauseous shock for about 15 minutes – way too long, in hindsight – and then got on to copy. At those moments, you pray you get a copytaker who knows something about football. Inevitably, I didn’t. ‘How do you spell that again?’ was all I heard for the next 45 minutes or so. The conversation went something like this: Copytaker: “Can I just check, so that’s ‘Abigail’?”; Me: “No, it’s ‘A-BI-DAL’. A for alpha, B for bravo … You get my the idea. I got there in the end, just, but it was one of the longest nights of my life. At least Neil Custis and Ian Ladyman cheered me up later but attempting to recreate a scene from a Bruce Lee film in the mixed zone. I’ll never forget Laydo’s kung-fu pose. Priceless.

Most embarrassing moment in the job?
I was working at the MEN when the news editor suggested I should ‘audition’ for Pop Stars, one of the predecessors to X-Factor, and write a story on it for the next day’s paper. I’ve the worst voice imaginable so I was torn between trying to sing a notoriously tough ballad while giving the impression that I thought I was really good like a lot of lunatics on those shows do or just doing something silly. In the end I did a chicken dance while singing Jingle Bells in front of Pete Waterman and Geri Halliwell. She didn’t even laugh. She just looked at me with complete contempt. They later rang me up to request permisson to use the ‘footage’ on the highlights package but, regrettably or thankfully, I’m not sure which, my one shot at stardom never aired.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Err, I’m not sure I should admit this but I encountered a Liverpool supporter once who was convinced I was Dietmar Hamann. He – the supporter that is – must have been smoking something. My close mates thought this was hilarious as they were always taking the **** out of me for apparently looking like him (No James, you should not have admitted this – Ed).

Most media friendly manager?
Wigan’s Roberto Martinez, by some distance. Very good manager, even better person.

Best ever player?
The best player I’ve seen live on a regular basis over a decent period of time is Cristiano Ronaldo.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
The current Barcelona and Spain teams in my lifetime. It’s hard to argue otherwise.

Best pre-match grub?
No contest. Manchester City all day and everyday. Even I could get fat dining there.

Best meal had on your travels?
It was actually not while away covering football but on a press trip to LA courtesy of Disney. I just remember eating like a king for a week at LA’s best restaurants and washing the stuff down with £500 bottles of Chianti with a group of equally disbelieving newspaper reporters.

…and the worst?
I had a sort of stew once in Riga, Latvia after which I was evacuating at both ends for the next 24 hours.

Best hotel stayed in?
I’m sure I’ve stayed in some nice ones but they all tend to blur into one in the end. Does that sound ungrateful?

…and the worst?
My last actually – an apartment in Kiev while covering the Euros that cost £360 a night but which I decided would make a perfect location for a low-rent slasher film.

Favourite football writer?
I can’t believe I’m bringing myself to write this but Danny Taylor on the Guardian writes a terrific feature. I accept cheques, Daniel, but no cash in the post please. For all round capability, my Times colleague Matt Dickinson takes some beating.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
TV pundit would have to be Gary Neville. He’s injected some much needed quality and incisive analysis into TV punditry. I like Ian Dennis and John Murray on 5 Live.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
In some respects, I think we’re past the point of no return. Players and journalists are never going to have the relationship they once did for a whole raft of reasons and football clubs want more and more control over communications now as the sport becomes an ever bigger business. But I think it’s important there is a relationship between journalists and the hierarchies at all clubs. Of course, that relationship won’t last or work if there is not mutual trust and respect and that has to be built up over time but it would help to cut out some of the spurious rumours and duff information that routinely circulate.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
I’m not sure I can pick just one. A title fight between two great boxers in Las Vegas would be pretty special to watch as would the Wimbledon final or the 100m final at London 2012. I’m not a fan of American Football as such but attending the Super Bowl would be some experience.

Last book read?
I’m reading two at the moment – Stuart Maconie’s brilliant Pies and Prejudice and the last in the Millennium triology, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest.

Favourite current TV programme?
I’ve just finished Series 5 of Mad Men, which was probably the best yet. I’m two episodes in on Hit & Miss, which is very good.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I used to love that kind of thing as a kid but I have no interest in it now.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
I’d look at new opportunities opening up via social media and things like that rather than just focusing solely on trying to get into the media via traditional routes such as newspapers, radio or TV. The industry is facing some tough changes and challenges and it’s imperative you weigh up all of these things very carefully before deciding what avenue to pursue.