The return of the wacky world of the Premier League
TYNAN'S TAKE: A NEW COLUMN BY STUART TYNAN
ACROSS the Irish Sea, the wacky world of the Premier League is set to return this week.
No doubt for Liverpool fans (of which I am one), the imminent arrival of the Premier League title, adding to their Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup triumphs last year, will ensure all is well among their fans.
They have nothing to complain about and it is all sunshine and rainbows going forward, right? Apparently not.
It seems Liverpool's failure (or refusal) to sign German sensation Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, with the forward all but set to join Chelsea, has caused a bit of a meltdown among sections of their fan base, being cited as yet another example of owners FSG not backing manager Jurgen Klopp and showing once again a lack of ambition.
Since FSG have been at the club, they have broke their own transfer record on four separate occasions, including world record fees for a defender and a goalkeeper, have tied down their best players to long-term deals, and have invested in the redevelopment of Anfield and also a new training facility.
Combined with acquiring Klopp in late 2015, the club has been transformed from a near mid-table side to one of the powerhouses of world football once again.
But it seems all this is in jeopardy because they are not going to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a player who isn't an improvement on what they have already. Some people will never be happy.
Racism has reared its ugly head again
ANYONE who has been following the news over the past week or so will have watched on in horror with the scenes that are taking place across the United States.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis has sparked a flame, in more ways than one, and individuals across the sporting scene Stateside and worldwide have been unequivocal in their condemnation of racism and inequality.
But the words of Drew Brees, a quarterback for the New England Patriots in American football, sadly showed there is still a long way to go.
When asked how he felt about players kneeling during America's national anthem in protest of police brutality, he replied: "I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag."
While he mentioned that the flag personally symbolises his two grandfathers who fought in World War II, and that is perfectly understandable, it also devalues the understandable protests of other individuals (Colin Kaepernick the most high profile) and simplifying their protesting as against the US military only.
What made Brees' stance worse was his attempt to apologise after high-profile athletes (which included his own team-mates and basketball legend LeBron James) criticised his remarks, as he failed to take back his comments about the flag.
If we are to learn anything from this backlash that Brees has experienced, we must all become much more aware of our words and actions and judge people not on their race or colour, but on their humanity.
Attending GAA matches back on horizon
WHILE it has been nice to rewatch many of the legendary GAA moments and matches from years gone by over the past few months, it was certainly music to the ears of all involved in Gaelic games with the announcement that action is set to resume come the end of July.
With fears circling over the past few months in light of the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic that there could possibly be no Gaelic games at all this year, tis week's announcement of plans for club action to resume at the end of July, and the inter-county scene in mid-October, certainly brought a smile to all of us with any connection to our own sport.
However, the question of attendance from supporters to games remains unanswered.
That question is magnified even more so with the inter-county scene.
GAA president John Horan said: "It’s something we’re very conscious of and something we’re looking at, particularly in the context of Croke Park, as to what would be the possibilities of having a crowd in Croke Park for a game, taking into account the social distancing measures that actually are in place at a particular time.
"So no, we’re on top of that. It would be our hope to have attendances at games. It may mean we would use restricted venues for the inter-county championships when they actually come back on board. It’s something we’re conscious of and we see it as desirable to actually have crowds at a game."
While heath and safety must take priority, we have to look at the possibility that the powers that be want the inter-county scene to return to recover some of the expected loss in revenue they will get, with full crowds at games highly unlikely to happen.
It would be desirable to have crowds at these games to help the atmosphere, but it will certainly be desirable for crowds at these games for the bottom line.