Day: 22 February 2012

It seemed an unlikely prospect at the beginning of the competition, but after witnessing Arsenal and Chelsea’s travails in Italy it appears likely that there will be no English teams in the last eight of the Champions League this season.
Manchester City can consider themselves unlucky to have been pitted against Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal in the group stages, but they will nevertheless rue their underachievement in a first major European appearance. Neighbours United, meanwhile, had no such misfortune with the draw, yet seemed intent on sleepwalking their way through the group stages until they were humiliated in Basel. For the two London clubs, the competition has merely facilitated a continuation of the dismal league form that sees them fighting to retain their status at the top table for next season.
So what does this say about the current state of the Premier League? In all probability, the situation will be reversed next season, but there is no doubt that the English stranglehold on Europe’s premier tournament has been broken in recent years. In every year since 2005, at least one Premier League team has featured in the semi-finals of the competition (United, Chelsea and Liverpool all reached the last four in 2008), and there has been only one completely non-English final during this period. Until recently, the English dominance was matched only by four-times winners Barcelona, but the re-emergence of the historical superpowers of European football (Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Real Madrid) alongside other, less-regarded but nevertheless highly talented young teams (Napoli, Benfica, Apoel) has served to challenge the complacency of the Premier League big guns.
In modern football, success usually correlates with substantial investment, and on this basis it seems puzzling that the top teams from the world’s richest league have failed to compete in Europe this time around. However, TV rights provide the most significant form of revenue to the major leagues, and it is of no apparent coincidence that Barcelona and Real Madrid, (arguably) Europe’s top two teams, come from a league where this money is distributed based on the amount of TV revenue each club generates, rather than it being shared out equally, as is the way in England.
Unsurprisingly, Real and Barça are now the two richest clubs in world football. Whether their joint-monopoly of La Liga is to be of its detriment in the long-term is another matter entirely, but their overwhelming financial dominance has clearly contributed to their on-field success. Distribution of wealth in England, meanwhile, may have done little to encourage the prospects of consistent domination of Europe by one or two extortionately rich English teams, but it has made the Premier League more competitive and certainly more entertaining to watch.
The Spanish monopoly has served the big two well, but their dominance has forced many of the smaller sides into administration, and the dour, routine nature of the La Liga season is of stark contrast to the current unpredictability of the Premier League. Though we may bemoan the failings of English teams in Europe this season (not least as Real or Barça go on to lift that grand trophy in May), perhaps there is some solace to be taken in the prosperity of our domestic game.

Han Han is a best-selling author, singer, creator of Party, the world’s most popular blogger and also a professional rally driver which is what I find most interesting. Han Han is an inspiration to many and rightly so. His attitude towards life is almost greedy. Nothing it seems is out of his grasp.
He became a professional rally driver in 2003 and achieved sixth place in the N category at CRC Shanghai station. “I’ve loved driving and racing ever since I was a little boy,” Han said. “It is difficult to be both a racer and a writer, but I just have to have good time-management skills.” He went on to win first prize in the China Circuit Championship (CCC) 1600c category in 2007 and in 2009 he became the overall CRC champion in N category as a Shanghai FCACA racer.
This all in a country where dissent is frowned upon and his literary work is often censored. Han Han is someone who refuses to be beaten, refuses to let the establishment that he so hates interfere with his dreams.
Critics have claimed that his racing driving is merely a way for him to show off his wealth which he has accumulated from his books such as Triple Gate. He does have a sort arrogance about him that results in criticism. “I don’t have a head for business and stocks…Advertising opportunities would earn me more than RMB 3 million, but I’m afraid that once I get started in this, I would not be able to stop.”
This independent streak and resistance to following a ‘norm’ is what makes him so interesting for some and so hated by others. These critics however are missing the joy of Han Han. Critics claim that he is a symbol of the one-child policy that has created a nation of spoilt children born in the 1980s. He undoubtedly has a rebellious side to him that thrives off independence but to call it spoilt is to shed unnecessary negative light.
“My success comes from my judgment, which is my gift. Some people will never know what they are really capable of. They just waste their lives in something that they are not good at,” he says. Han Han is a symbol of an attitude in life that everyone would do well to have. He spent his own money on training and buying the rally cars at first but was then contracted to a professional team. He surprised the public by winning the 2007 China Circuit Championship. The greatest conundrum that many people have to deal with is what career to settle on; he tells us not to give up but to face the challenges that life throws at you and pursue whatever path you so wish.
Han Han is an eternal optimist. He realised that rally driving was a sport that would give him pleasure and a sense of achievement so he threw himself whole heartedly into it. Although my dreams of becoming a professional football player may have come to an end, my dream of having a life full of achievement and success has not. If ever there was a guiding light, it is Han Han.

It was a golden week for British cycling as the Olympic team impressed at the UCI World Cup. Britain have a illustrious history in this Olympic discipline and after a post-Beijing hangover, it appears the team are on course for more Olympic glory, led again by the infallible Sir Chris Hoy who claimed two individual gold medals.
It has been a period of steady transition for Team GB after the 2008 Olympics. The success of the 2008 cycling team has been well documented and quite righty so. Not many would disagree with the opinion that cycling was Britain’s most successful Olympic sport four years ago. The statistics speak for themselves. Remarkably, in a discipline so competitive, out of the 14 riders named in Britain’s track cycling squad for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, 13 won medals. To follow on from this monumental haul was never going to be easy, and so it has proved.
Since Beijing, the British team have been matched and in some cases eclipsed at recent major events with the likes of France, Germany and Australia narrowing the gap considerably. Australia, in particular, our great Olympic rivals look well placed to push Britain all the way in London and this was shown by their performance at the World Cup, winning key events such as the Men’s pursuit and finishing with just one medal less than the home nation. Moreover, in Anna Meares, the Australians have a cyclist who has already proved that she can beat Victoria Pendleton, the pin-up girl of British Cycling.
In addition to Britain’s rival countries closing in on the times set by our Olympic athletes, new rules have been introduced which allow only one competitor per nation for each of the five events. This will inevitably make it more difficult for Britain to match their haul from Beijing where Britain often had several riders in the finals on their way to seven gold medals.
It wasn’t just the cyclists who lived up to their billing last weekend as the Olympic Velodrome passed it’s biggest test run with flying colours, receiving universal praise. Sir Chris Hoy highly commended the venue, especially the atmosphere it created. The Beijing medalist was quoted as saying ’’Honestly, I’ve never been to any venue, any track in the world, and seen any home nation get the support we’ve had today. The wall of noise when you’re on the track is unbelievable.’’
Whilst the past four years have been talked about as a transition period, in which the team has built upon the success of Beijing, the spine of the team remain. Of the fourteen squad members who went to China, eight are still here, fighting for their place at London 2012. The squad has experience. With the likes of Hoy, Kenny and Pendleton still very much part at the top of their game. Alongside youngsters such as Laura Trott and Ben Swift, the GB team has a good balance of experience and youth.
The World Championships in Melbourne in April are another chance for the riders to impress before the main event in the summer, but if last weekend’s performances are anything to go by, the golden era of British Cycling looks set to continue.