[Bazf]

Trial by media is now a way of life for everyone from the top coppers down to benefit fraudsters. You can't commit a crime these days without someone making a reality show out of amateur or CCTV footage of it. You can't grope a lass in a shop doorway without the CCTV tape being sold to Bravo for a show. You can't do anything without someone uncovering it and passing judgement on you or having a **** over it.

So it's been with the latest Sven thing. I found it very interesting to see baby Jamie Redknapp sitting on Sky this weekend, speaking increasingly like his father, gripping the arms of his chair tightly, as though he was trying to dispense a very large obstructive turd, pontificating about how Sven should go and we could do just as well or better with an English manager. Because obviously, he's an impartial judge in such things and we really value his input, don't we? He lives his life at the coal face, doesn't he? Yeah right. Just like we value Mr Le Saux's opinions.

But I was even more surprised to see Andy Gray saying that the England fans might just have had enough of Sven now. I was surprised because I thought he would have judged the public mood better. Maybe when you live in the telly world you lose track of real life. Because with this story as with so many others, our bulls**t and hypocrisy alarms start ringing right from the start.

Increasingly, we despise the purveyors of news more than the subjects of the news - regardless of the issue, regardless of whether we think Sven is right, wrong or stupid or if we just don't care - which is I suspect most of our positions. We don't care. We've got more important sh*t to worry about. We just want England to win. We've won a lot of games under Sven. That'll do for us for now.

And as the hyper-ventilating media drone on about whatever it is this week ad nauseum we just tune out. They don't seem to have twigged this. The more they go on about things the less we believe them - often because we meet people who believe everything they see and read and we know just what knuckle-draggers they are - and we don't want to get to that level, do we?

And what does my head in is that behind all these issues is some implied or stated judgemental attitude which is trying to tell us who is right and who is wrong and what we should really think about it. In this climate pressure is always 'building', its always a 'crisis', people are always 'under pressure'. Who from like?

I mean, this week I bet you've just gone to work, had a few beers, listened to the radio, bought an Aerosmith live album if you're lucky and got your end away. Have you been putting pressure on Sven? On Ruth Kelly? On John Prescott? No. And even if you wanted to, how would you do that? We've got our lives to be getting on with. But the media have spoken for us, apparently. Well, thanks but no thanks, pal.

Unlike the world on Life on Mars it seems people aren't allowed anymore to make mistakes, or an error of judgement or just f*ck up like humans do without a the full weight of the press and TV falling on them as though they were responsible for starting World War 3. Even when they were trying their best or doing something innocuous in the scheme of human deprivation. It matters not.

So far Sven's crimes against society have been to talk to some people about a potential job a couple of times, be conned by a bloke in a tea towel into making bland comments about a couple of footballers and he's had sex with some women and er... well that's it. How criminally stupid and evil, eh? Give me a break.

Funny how the really important issues such as financial irregularities in the game are not subjected to such endless in depth scrutiny by the tabloids, isn't it? I can't imagine why they'd want to give a free ride to the rich people they rub shoulders with in their everyday jobs, can you? Oh no.

It's exactly the same with the issue of corrupt officials in football. We're not allowed to mention it, it's a can of worms. Don't go there. They're just inept, not corrupt you know. Of course. That's always true isn't it. Yes. I am a robot. I will do what's right. It's the Brave New World.
Let's spend all our time and money on making a fool out of someone instead. Either that or let's make a programme or an article crucifying some poor sods lifestyle, diet and clothes just to make people feel better about themselves. I hope its not just me who is tired of this all. I hope its not just an old bloke moaning. If it is, I apologise. But there's a lot of us out here smelling a bit of wee and listening to old Blodwyn Pig albums.

Ironically it was in 1973 that the F.A sacked Alf Ramsey for not getting us to the 1974 World Cup and appointed Don Revie instead - a man who a couple of years later ran off with his pockets full of cash to Saudi with some real Sheiks.