Early Doors - Your morning briefing blog

Political own goal

Tue May 19 08:54AM

England launched their World Cup bid yesterday in uninspiring fashion.

First of all, they couldn't seem to decide which tournament they want to host, hedging their bets with a logo proclaiming England's desire to see football come home in both 2018 and 2022, which seems a little unrealistic.

And what better way to woo the world than with a giant football, some kids with flags painted on their faces and a Prime Minister with all the charisma of a cereal box?

Gordon Brown was on the scene to chat with David Beckham and Wayne Rooney amid much forced joviality, although goodness only knows what they had to say to each other. Something about second homes, probably.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg also lent their backing to the bid, which seems a bit odd given what a fiasco the 2012 Olympics has become. Presumably all three figure that by 2018 it will be someone else's problem.

Brown said he had made it his "personal mission" to drum up support from the rest of the world, but did not explain how he planned to butter up foreign leaders from the Labour back benches.

FA chairman Lord Triesman insisted England would not get complacent - as sure a sign as any that England have already got complacent. Otherwise, why mention it?

"People are not up for us swishing in shouting 'England invented football, here's a cocktail, now give us the World Cup,'" Triesman said.

There's Plan A out of the window, then.

The list of proposed venues also filled ED with a slight sense of horror, as it featured a whopping five London stadia including Twickenham, the home of rugby and Bon Jovi concerts.

The World Cup may also visit such historic football outposts as Milton Keynes, Bristol and, horror of horrors, Newcastle.

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Sunderland had cause for complaint last night when Alan Wiley blew his whistle before John Utaka scored during Portsmouth's 3-1 win. The referee was presumably awarding a penalty for a foul on Utaka but allowed the goal to stand after illegally playing advantage.

Middlesbrough were denied what looked a clear penalty against Aston Villa when John Carew hauled down Marvin Emnes. In the previous match, Obafemi Martins's hugely important winner stood despite the involvement of a clearly offside Kevin Nolan.

West Bromwich Albion could easily have had a penalty for Lucas Leiva's challenge on Marc-Antoine Fortune during the 2-0 defeat against Liverpool on Sunday.

ED mentions these incidents to balance out the disproportionate focus on Newcastle United's grievance against referee Howard Webb, who disallowed a Mark Viduka header against Fulham for obstruction by Nolan.

Alan Shearer even had the gall to blame Webb for basing his actions on an illegal block - again by Nolan - in the Middlesbrough game that allowed a Steven Taylor goal.

Newcastle have also appealed, ludicrously, the red card against Sebastien Bassong despite the fact that he first pulled back and then tripped Diomansy Kamara as the striker ran through on goal.

If the Toon go down, effigies of Webb may end up being hung from lampposts in the North-East, but nobody has a monopoly on hard luck stories, least of all Newcastle.

As fans of Sunderland, Middlesbrough, West Brom and Hull seem to understand; if you get relegated, you probably deserve it.

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Early Doors allowed itself a slight smirk yesterday when it was announced that Ben Foster was to undergo thumb surgery that would "rule him out" of the Champions League final and England's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The Manchester United man was, of course, going to play no part in any of these games anyway, save the odd glimpse at his iPod from the bench.

Edwin van der Sar will play for United in Rome and Foster has failed to dislodge David James as England's number one. And, whatever Calamity James's other failings, he never gets injured.

Only now he has. James will have an operation tomorrow on a niggling shoulder injury, meaning he will play no part in England duty.

Chris Kirkland, as ever, is crocked, Manuel Almunia is not quite English enough yet, and Joe Hart has been sitting in a corner, sobbing gently, ever since Manchester City bought the best goalkeeper in the world in January.

Which means, other than that Foster is the unluckiest man in the world, that Fabio Capello will probably call on England's self-proclaimed number six, Robert Green.

Mind you, as the qualifiers are against Kazakhstan and Andorra, so any self-respecting England side should be able to pick Peter 'The Cat' Bonetti in goal and keep two clean sheets.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Alex Ferguson on why he loves Europe: "You can smell the cigars and there's perfume wafting down from the stands. It's wonderful, it's different. I love it. You go to Milan and everyone's so stylish. Every woman who passes you by is Miss World."

FOREIGN VIEW: India captain Bhaichung Bhutia has sought an immediate release from his club, accusing it of humiliating him after they claimed he appeared more keen to participate in a television dance show than play in the I-League.   

Mohun Bagan, India's oldest soccer club, wrote to Bhutia last week asking him to explain why he was skipping training sessions to appear on the celebrity-based dancing show on television and accused him of lacking commitment during the league season.

The diminutive striker, the face of Indian soccer, in turn blamed the club for leaking contents of the letter to the media.

"I no longer have any desire to play for Mohun Bagan after all that has happened. It is good, both for me and the club, to part ways in a peaceful way," The Times of India quoted him as saying.

"After playing for 17-18 years, I don't need to prove my commitment. From day one, the club was aware of my schedules for the dance programme.   

"I am extremely disappointed with this attempt to make me the scapegoat...I have been humiliated and now I feel no urge to play for the green and maroons."

COMING UP: You love cycling, you just don't know it yet. Follow LIVE coverage of the Giro d'Italia's 10th stage throughout the day.

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