Is football better or worse?

The BBC Sport Twitter page is asking this question today: is football better or worse now?

What a bizarre question. Better or worse than what? Another sport? Or better or worse than it used to be? Whatever it's supposed to mean, it's totally unquantifiable anyway - not to mention subjective. In short, it's absolutely meaningless!

In my opinion, football is what it is. That may not sound terribly profound, but I find all this navel-gazing about 'the state of the sport' just a bit tiresome. There will always be doughy-eyed nostalgics who'll fervently declare that nothing is ever as good as it used to be - just as there will always be ruthless modernisers, looking out for the 'next big thing' and always trying to make everything better than ever before.

Football always polarises opinions, and sadly some people find themselves getting awfully worked up about it all. My advice to those people would be: if you don't like football the way it is, don't watch it - find a sport the state of which you do like, and watch that instead.

Whether football is 'better' or 'worse' is impossible to say, and frankly, doesn't really matter - it's whether you enjoy it or not that counts.

Reading and QPR sale?

With the news that both Queens Park Rangers and Reading have been relegated from the Premier League today, my thoughts have turned to the Summer Transfer Window, and which star players may well be shuffling out of the back door either at Loftus Road or at the Madejski.  I have been trying to decide which current members of the QPR and Royals squads it would be worth having at Norwich next season - and, to be honest, not many spring to mind...

Just to be clear here, I'm talking specifically about which QPR or Reading players would enhance the Norwich City squad - not which players are good enough to play in the Premier League in general.  I know both sides have goalkeeping talent, with both Alex McCarthy for Reading, and Rangers' Júlio César turning heads during this season, but I have faith in Norwich's current 'keepers of John Ruddy and Mark Bunn, so I have little interest in seeing McCarthy or César at Carrow Road next year, even though I think there's a strong chance that both will still be playing in the top flight.

So, who would I want to take from Reading?

Hardly anyone, frankly.  However, considering that most of the problems we (Norwich) have had during this Premier League season have been to do with not being able to score enough goals, I wouldn't mind giving Adam Le Fondre an opportunity at Carrow Road.

And who would I want to take from QPR?

Again, keeping in mind the Canaries' goal dearth during the current season, I'd be more than happy to take Loïc Rémy on - of course, I feel sure that plenty of Premier League clubs (and their fans!) have been eyeing up Rémy for some weeks, and many more illustrious names will be chasing his signature in the summer, but that's not to say I wouldn't be happy to see him wearing yellow next season.  Another QPR player who's caught my eye, though - particularly in the earlier stages of this season - is Jamie Mackie; I don't think Hoops' manager Harry Redknapp has given him a fair chance in the latter part of the season, but I was impressed by him at the start of their campaign, as he struck me as a hard-working, positive thinking footballer with a lot to give.  I think Mackie could be an excellent addition to the current Norwich line-up, and I would be glad to welcome him here.

Fixture pile-up

I can't fathom football teams complaining about 'fixture pile-up' when they have to play a lot of matches in quite a short period of time.

Quite frankly, if you're good enough to be at the business end of several cup competitions towards the end of the season, you should be good enough to cope with playing lots of games.

And remember, there are plenty of clubs who would give anything they have to be in that position!

Here's a tip...

If there's one place which should be required by law to provide hand-washing facilities, that should be rubbish dumps. (Sorry, "Recycling Centres" - our local one has been "rebranded" as such, so I assume most of them have?!)

Who wants to get back in their car and drive home, after handling all their dirty, grimy rubbish, without being able to wash their hands first?! Not I!