10 rules England must follow to win the 2018 world cup !!!

1. Win the bid

We are bidding for the 2018 world cup & after all the controversies, FA should go ahead and bid for the world cup. Our best chance to win the world cup is when we play at home, that’s what the statistics say. We have the richest league on the planet and some of the players too, we should use all these resources to become the host country. Good Luck!

2. Enjoy your football

English footballers need to play football without any pressure. Media or personal pressure should be zero when they walk on the field. They should go out there and enjoy the sport. Forget about winning or losing; just play because you love the game.

And Wayne Bridge, get over it, Terry was having an affair with your ex girl friend not your girlfriend. It all comes down to the lady, is it not? The WAGs will spoil the party even if they are not invited! That’s how powerful the WAGs are…

3. Learn to dive at the slightest touch

If Andrés Iniesta had not dived, Heitinga would not have been sent off, Netherlands would have been 11 men and Iniesta might not have scored the goal. But he dived at the slight touch on the shoulder….

Sometimes it is SMART and not CHEAP when you dive and get a penalty and win matches. The world will not remember what you did but your fans will remember that you got the penalty. Drogba, Ronaldo & Rivaldo can be our coaches.

4. FA must abolish the crappy league tournaments

Carling Cup? Who cares about Carling Cup these days? FA must understand that there is no need of increasing the number of games these players play. Football Clubs should also try and save the player’s legs. Asking players like Lampard, Rooney, Gerrard to play around 60 games in a year is just too much. And if a player like Rooney is carrying an injury you give him injections and send him on the field. That’s just ridiculous. Don’t kill the players please.

5. Do not touch the ball when you are not 100% fit

The players & managers should decide if that player is needed for just 1 match or for the rest of the season? If a player is injured he should take rest & nurture his injury, so that he can come back. Rooney broke his foot and was back playing for United against Byren Munich in a week. Too much pressure on the body will make it crack. Don't kill players, make them play when they can.

6. Increase the number of English players playing in English clubs

There are too many foreign players playing in the top English clubs. Arsenal, United, Chelsea & Liverpool have around 80% of the players from foreign countries. (AC Milan didn’t have a single Italian in the 11 when they won the This doesn’t help the English players. The English players will learn from the best players from the world when they play against them and not sit on the benches when the foreign players fight out for the English Premier League. There should be a rule to have a maximum of 4 foreign players on the pitch from a club.

The Spanish team had 7 players from Barcelona & 4 from Real Madrid in the starting line up of the finals. Now we have players from teams as low as 17th in the league (Green & Upson from West Ham United) & our best goalie is from the team placed 20th in the league.

Cant we have more players from the top 3-4 teams? We cannot because the top 3-4 teams have foreign players. :-(

7. FA must ask the players to relax from 15th December to 15th January.

No football. Stay with your family. Well its Christmas & new years’ time; so stay home with your kids. Relax, take time off from football. Go on a vacation to some hot place for a week and then come back early January and start training again. This will recharge the batteries and small injuries will get some rest. But with players playing 38 matches in Premiership, FA cup & Carling Cup, where is the bloody rest?

8. The top two leagues Premiership & Championship to be broken down into three leagues

The top two leagues Premiership & Championship have around 44 teams in total. Make it 3 leagues with 15 teams each. The new leagues - 1, 2, 3 will become more competitive teams. The standard of game between the best & the worst teams will not be miles apart.

It also means that the players will have to play 28 matches in the league and that gives them more time to rest between games, a longer summer break & a 1 month winter break. I really think that is the need of the hour.

9. Ask Capello to remain as the coach

Yes please. He has done wonders with the players, team discipline, WAGS, media personnel & helped England qualify easily for the 2010 world cup. I would also say this easy qualification added to the pressure on the players. May be he wont be able to do wonders in 2018, but if he stays for another 2 years, he might bring good culture in the dressing room which will help character building of the English players. So FA stick around with the Italian.

10. Pray on the night before the match

Well it might not help the performance of the players on the field but you never know. I guess there was some divine intervention when someone flashed the camera light in the referee's & linesman's eyes and Lampard's goal was disallowed. May be the German's did pray.

BP, Oil, America & Other blah issues

BP's been spilling out oil since past few weeks and we have a village festival all across the shores of Mexican Gulf. According to data on Wikipedia there have been bigger oil related accidents in history.

Why is it that this oil spill has been made as if we have the third world war has broken out and we have all the multinational companies on one side and the rest of the world on the other side?

What I think this disaster is different than one of the other recent disasters (say in last 20 — 30 years) is that those disasters were not close to the American Borders; America wasn't directly profiting directly through it?

Also I feel that the media today hypes up everything. News is made and sold these days. Create a controversy, run behind it for days, then when the person retaliates you say "how dare he!" that's where you bring in all the cameras and journalists. Who killed Lady Diana? Accident?

I also think that the Environmental groups have too many rights and they act as if the environment is run by them. GreenPeace might say this tomorrow, “This is how much the earth's temperature must be”, “This is the amount of CO2”, “There must be these many number of trees” and “the oceans must have these many gallons of water and this many kilos of fish”. The Green people decide everything. Not the sun or moon. It was the coldest winter in Britain, blame China, North Korea, Iran & yes now add BP to that list.

Why is OPEC telling the world how much oil must be pumped out of earth every day? I say pump out as much oil as you can, when the oil gets over we will have new source of energy to run our cars and bikes. They said that “the world’s electricity will get over if coal gets over”, we found Hydro & Nuclear power to generate electricity. Why ration oil? That has made the world thirsty for more oil. Every news and war is now fought over, “I want more oil”. The sooner we get over with all the oil in the world the better!

Coming back to the BP & media issue. Today, we have so much information in our hands that it is very easy to make you feel bad; so feel bad o humans.

Accidents happen. Don't beat your chest about it. Don't blame the British Government & American Government for it. First things first the American Government should

1. Ask BP to stop the oil
2. Save the shores.
3. US Government should support BP in all ways to stop the oil flow
4. Once the oil flow has been stopped
a. Tell them to compensate the fishermen
b. Tell them to follow rules. If needed make new ones for companies which have broken the rules before.
What about the people who died? Will the insurance company pay them? Or does BP have obligation towards them? What about people who were injured? What about people who were just shocked? They might have nightmares every day for next 10 years. They might never want to work on an oil rig, what about their jobs? Do you still tell them, "no work, no pay"?

These are more difficult questions to be answered than just shout slogans against BP.

BP might just say "with every project there is an insurance company involved don't blame me. I want to pump oil, for any compensation go talk to the insurance people", but instead it is now trying to stop oil flow and avert a disaster. I think this kind of accident never happened before and BP is learning a lot of things by going through this.

Does standing with banners outside every BP petrol station help the cause of the worker on the oil rig? That won't help the moral of the poor guy who works 12 hour shifts at the petrol station.

Just fed up with how countries and organisations fight with each other. The world has now become like a school playground and every kid loves fighting with the other.

Why my love?

• Why does my wife spend half an hour brushing teeth & putting cream before going to bed? You are going to sleep darling and not going out.
• Why does my wife ask me every night "which shirt are you going to wear tomorrow"? The one I see first in the wardrobe, it's really doesn't matter as long as it is ironed and has all buttons my love. And if I don't wear the shirt of her choice she doesn't like it. Well from tomorrow, you can choose my shirt & iron it!
• Why does my wife have 14 pairs of shoes and needs a new pair every time she buys a dress? "Ah a new dress and now I need just a nice pair of shoes to match the dress." I have never seen a man buy a pair of shoes which match his blue striped shirt!
• Why does my wife have a clutch bag? It's so small that it can't hold more than 3 things, eyeliner, lipstick & lipgloss. And then, "darling can you please keep my cellphone, keys & hairbrush with you?" Why should I? They don't fit in your bag doesn't mean I have to carry it. Well after buying a clutch bag, the next visit to the high street means "I need to buy a big bag, that is fashion". Can you please decide if you need a small bag or a large bag? :P
• Why does my wife do the not so necessary cleaning and keep the stuff in places that we cannot find? Wife: "Let me clean up and organise the stuff in your wardrobe" Me: "ok" Next morning, "where are all my socks gone? Why do I have my ironed shirts folded? Where are my ties?" is she trying to hide my stuff or help me organise stuff? Sometimes I cant even leave the stapler on the study table because the table must be free when someone needs it. Me: "Well no one is using it now", She: " I might use it any time", Me : "Do you want to do something on the table?". She: "NO!". Me : "Then why do you want it clean?". She "Because I might use the table. he he he he he... "
• Why does my wife need my pillow cover to match her pillow cover? Me: "I am going to keep my head on it and sleep my love not "wear" it. Also, you don't see the pillow cover after the lights are out, what's the point?" She: "What is the point of watching football?" She has a point here!
• Why does she say that I must cut my nails on Tuesday and Friday only? What if I chew my nails? What if the match is a nail biting finish? When England won the 20-20 world cup, I didn't have nail then! What a waste of nails!

You have to work...

The worst thing about working is going to work & the best thing is the day they pay your salary. :-)
Well actually I hate my journey these days and so I am quite peed-off that I have to go to work.

This is my morning schedule:

• Get up at 6:15
• Come out of the bathroom at 6:35
• Get ready by 6:40
• Throw breakfast down my throat in 5 minutes
• Get out of the house at 6:50.
• I always keep few extra minutes in my hand, just in case.
• Bike to the station & reach at 7:05.
• Train leaves Cambridge station at 7:15.
• Reach King's Cross at 8:05.
• Take Northern Line from King's Cross to London Bridge & then the jubilee line to canary wharf.
• Reach office at 8:35-8:40. To do all this in time I need to iron my clothes in the night & keep them ready.

If anything is not in place, I am sure to reach office late and the rush in the London underground is worse than the Bombay Locals.

If I reach late it also means that I might have to leave office late. And then the whole day is a mess.
Many a times the modern Jubilee Line doesn't work and I just hate it! To get in the Jubilee Line train there are 2 doors and each has to work perfectly. What if anyone doesn't operate? PROPER MESS! Canary Wharf station at 8.30 AM and 5.00 PM is like India. No one is polite and everyone is in a hurry!
The travel time these days to the client office is around 1hour 45 minutes, one way ,door to door and I don't mind the time, the problem is changing trains. I just hate it. I feel so tired when I reach office that I don't feel like starting work.
And if I work at my office on Liverpool Street then it's 1:30 door to door, with no changes and I can study or work on the train for an hour.
As one of my club-mates pointed out few days back. It's becoming mechanical now; wake up, eat, journey from Cambridge to Canary Wharf, work, journey back home, eat, sleep, wake up, eat...
But I do look forward to Trupti's cooking every evening. :-)
Right now I am very eager for the 3 day weekend and looking forward to having fun with Sehaj & Pavit. :-)
Had a great vacation in Morocco but I need more rest. ;-)
On the train again going back home! Such is life, when you are unemployed, you want to work 8 hrs a day. And when you start working you look forward to vacations. But if you want to have your vacations and spend money, then you have to work...

Survived the Winters

Flowers at Cherry Hinton Road

My neighbour's Cherry Blossom tree

My neighbour's Cherry Blossom tree

These were the harshest winters in England since the invention of V8 engines and I survived them. Being here and going through the pain of winter weather for 3 whole months was an amazing feeling, thank you very much; I don't want that feeling any more. I mean ever in my life!

So when I went to my local super market on Saturday morning, I could stop admiring the spring flowers.

The temperatures touched 15 deg C this weekend and guess what did the Brits do? Removed their clothes, got sun burnt & fired up coal for their barbecues. Not a bad sight at all. :-)

Look forward to the summer weather and some bank holidays. ;-)

State of hockey in Pakistan & India

I live in England now and have realised why dont India & Pakistan do well in hockey anymore. Asian teams haven't done great in this Hockey World Cup, Pakistan finished 12th, India finished 8th & Korea Finished 6th...

This is the difference...

• My Town

I live in Cambridge & hockey is quite popular here. Cambridge being a university town supports lots of competitive matches amongst colleges. There are kids from the age of 5 to the age of 50 year old veterans who play hockey. Mixed hockey, men’s hockey & women’s hockey are all equally popular.

• Number of Turfs

The town has around 10-12 turfs. All these turfs are sand filled turfs and not water filled turfs. They are cheaper to install & maintenance of the turf is cheaper.

• Who provides the turf?

Some turfs are installed by the local council and some by private schools. The turfs installed in most private schools are of great quality (but not world class level). So clubs hire them after school hours.

• How many clubs in my town?

There are around 3 big clubs in Cambridge town and 10 small clubs outside the Cambridge city area (in villages). Each club has around 3-4 men’s teams and 2-3 women’s teams. Big clubs like Cambridge City Hockey Club have more teams. Cambridge University also has around 5 (men’s & women’s) teams and they play in the English Hockey league as well.

• How many Teams in my club

There are 4 men’s teams & 2 women’s teams. The best team plays in the 3rd league & 2nd best team in the 4th league and so on. There are 12 teams in each league.

• When does the season start?

The season starts in the last weekend of September & end in the last weekend of March. 6 months of proper competitive hockey. We played 11 home matches & 11 away matches. The teams in the league are chosen in such a way that any team doesn’t have to travel 100 miles on a given day.

• How many leagues? How many teams in each league?

England hockey leagues are segmented in 4 zones. NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST. Each zone is then segregated into sub zones.

I play in the South Zone. And in the south zone my league is in North West division. I play in the 4th division of South Zone (NW Division). There are 12 teams in my league.

So if you can imagine there around 60 leagues running at the same time in England. The number of people playing hockey every weekend is around 8500. (60 leagues X 12 teams X 12 members of each team).

So there is an enormous pool of players from which the best 15 players can be chosen to represent England in the world level tournaments. Imagine this thing happening in Pakistan or India?

• What does the club do during off season?

In off season; that is from April to September, we play evening mixed hockey & friendly matches with local teams. This keeps the team fit & also helps ourselves play some amount of competitive (& fun filled ) hockey.

• How does England deliver a good team every year?

Look at the number of people who play regular competitive hockey every year. Getting 11 best players who can represent from that pool isn’t difficult.

• And why can't India deliver that kind of team?

There are not many Astros. The state governments don’t have any plans to set up Astros. The city commissioners don’t have any budget for sports. Not enough tournaments (forget about the leagues). No proper training has been given to coaches. No proper training to umpires.

There are not enough players from where you can choose the best 11. A pool of 100 players is needed, from where the world level 11 players can be chosen.

Aussies use GPRS to see how each player’s movement was when the game started from the 16 yard line. Pakistani or Indian coaches haven’t even imagined about the existence of such a thing!

There is no motivation for Indian players to do well. There is no fun in hockey any more. You need to enjoy hockey to keep yourself motivated.

Also no one knows the quality of players selected to represent India, there is no formal process. How do you decide these players are good enough to represent India if there aren't any competitive competitions?

1000 different reasons of recent failure.

Fingers must be pointed at the Government of India, Sports Ministry, Sport Authority of India, Hockey federation of India and Hockey Federations of each state for the abysmal performance.

Very frustrated and sad about the state of hockey in Pakistan & India.

Organisations take care of "their own people" only...

We all know how "Apple" brings the best products to the market and how they have changed the MP3 players market and the smartphone market. You can now watch live sports on you phone. I watched the Manchester United VS Inter Milan match on my phone in HQ.

I had an iPod shuffle and it stopped working few weeks back. I had been using it for around 2 years now.

So when I went to the Apple store in Cambridge and asked if they can repair it or I need to buy a new one? They looked into the problem and said "Why don't you buy a new one? New one will cost you £60 with 2 year warranty and repairing the old one will cost you £45 with 1 year warranty."

I thought it was not a bad deal and I bought a new one.

So these guys at the Apple store insisted that I should give them the old one and they can recycle it for me. Save the planet. Brilliant idea! They also said that they won't give me a paper receipt but would email me the receipt. Apple wants to save the planet & paper is made from trees. They want to save the planet,etc etc. Very very impressive.

But when you cross the apple store in the night, you find all the 15", 20", 30", computers switched on.

Photo 1 - All the iPods and iPhones are running a screen saver.

Well isn't that using power? Isn't that adding to the carbon foot print?

What I feel is that all the corporates act in the same way. Make rules, policies, guidelines which suit yourself & forget the customer. Promote what you want to and ask your customer to get involved in it, make him sign up for some promotion activity & then take a totally different stand when the customer is not there. Absolutely hypocrisy! No one actually cares about the planet.

Another incident with my colleague.

He's got an American Express card and gathered tons of points on it. He thought of converting it into British Airways miles and book tickets on BA for his family. Conversion of points done, booking of flight tickets done, booking of holiday done & everyone is happy.

But BA lost 4 tickets which someone else would have booked. It looked like BA made a loss of £2000 on this deal with American Express. My colleague gets a call the next day and BA said "We cannot honour your points, please talk to Amex".

Now he has a holiday booked but without any flights. All he wanted to do is have a nice relaxed holiday, and all he gets is pain in the wrong place. He has been calling Amex & BA everyday trying to sort the issue.

My question is "do the big organizations really care about "their people" (read customers) or are they bothered only about "their own people" (read share holders)?

We all know the answer don't we?