The strength of Frank Lampard

I’ve never met Frank Lampard. As with any other famous person, people look at Lampard on the television and judge him from afar. Some people love him, others hate him. For some it’s a question of colours, while others are able to see past the shirt and see, well, the bloke underneath.

I am no different from anyone else who follows football in that I also hold opinions on the players. I wasn’t at all impressed with Lampard the footballer in the 2006 World Cup, for example; on the other hand I felt a tremendous surge of affection for the man when he broke down after dedicating his goal to his late mother.

On the 24th April a London DJ called James O’Brien decided to judge Lampard for allegedly abandoning his children to a poorer lifestyle, calling him “weak” and “scum”. Lampard responded to the DJ live on the show, and the conversation was replayed time and again on various websites.

During the conversation O’Brien mentioned the “nature of the job” – but it isn’t the nature of his job to insult people, and it is the nature of his job to check facts and give the right to reply before calling somebody names. He also stated that “sixty million people can’t ring Frank Lampard” – indeed they can’t, but he could, and if the people can’t then all the more reason to check the facts first in order to avoid misleading the listeners.

O’Brien also stated that he would fight “tooth and flipping nail” so as not to allow his family to be split up – I have no reason to doubt that he would, but that doesn’t alter the fact that some couples separate and even divorce. I’m sure those couples – including the Lampards –also fight to keep their family together, but it isn’t always possible as any mature person will understand.

Many of the news websites that carried the story described the conversation as an “outburst”, Lampard as “furious” and the situation as being one in which the player “lost his cool” – but hearing the conversation I would say that he went nowhere near the red mist that has been described in the press. There was no ranting and raving, no raised voices or swearwords. He was calm and articulated his feelings well.

For what it is worth – and Frank Lampard needn’t give a damn what I think about anything – the man behaved with maturity and dignity, and as I am as guilty as the next person of judging from afar, I have to say Lampard has gone up in my estimation.

Like I said, I’ve never met Frank Lampard. I’ve never met James O’Brien either, but the difference is that I’ve heard of Lampard. Perhaps that’s the point – now O’Brien has had his fifteen minutes of fame.

Bring on the new rivalry

So, now the dust has settled on those Champions’ League semi-finals – it seems like yesterday that the draw was made and we were all excited about the prospect of four stunning matches; the impression that time is passing too fast is too vivid to ignore – and it is time to comment on the most intriguing aspect of the games.

Which referee?

I was referring to the comments made by Ferguson and Wenger before the first leg of their tie. Here’s a quote from Arsène: “I believe we have a better relationship now.” Here’s one from Sir Alex: “Arsène has always kept his principles the same and I think that’s great credit to him.”

What?

This is starting to sound like one of those American films where two curmudgeonly auld wans find themselves stuck in the same room at the home and spend two hours of celluloid trying to out-grump each other before finally, touchingly, begrudgingly breaking into a smile because they’ve finally cottoned on to the fact that nobody gives a flying twat anyway. Say, Clint and Morgan and some young thing who’s the granddaughter of one of them. And lots of pithy one-liners leading up to the anticlimactic climax where one of them dies and the other admits that we’re all only human anyway.

Have Ferguson and Wenger finally learned to grudgingly respect each other? Have they finally reached their dotage? If so, it takes half the fun out of the Premier League. Nothing interesting happens in the world of football on a Thursday or a Friday – no, the UEFA Cup is not interesting – so what better way to spice up the weekend than the latest back and forth of poisoned darts between two managers who apparently hate each other?

Bring on the new rivalries. But which ones? Wolves have made it back up at last, just in time for The Dour One to glimpse Keano running down the back stairs and into the Championship at Ipswich. Alex McLeish and Martin O’Neill have the chance to renew their former Old Firm rivalry, but there’s no evidence they hate each other. If Burnley make it up Owen Coyle will have the chance to take on David Moyes, but again there’s no evidence that they have anything but the utmost respect for each other.

Neil Warnock is still in the Championship with Palace; Alan Pardew is nowhere to be seen. Jose Mourinho probably won’t come back until there is a big enough vacancy. Of course, Arsenal haven’t won anything for four years, they were humiliated by United in the CL semi-final and the pressure is on Wenger. Is Arsenal big enough for Mourinho? If so, that might bring a bit of much-needed spice back to the Premier League.