Wednesday 12 December 2007

Teams Heading In The Right Direction

I'm not keeping too keen an eye on the Prem for rather obvious reasons this season, but you can't help but cast an admiring glance over the progress of Arsenal. Unless of course you're a Spurs fan, and will have spontaneously combusted by now at the mere mention of your North London neighbours.

Wenger has put together a young team playing probably the most exciting football in the Premiership, and aside from the fading Man City, have been the real surprise package in a contest that's been devoid of excitement for so long.

They're a team heading in the right direction - it's just a bit of a shame their coach driver for the match at Middlesbrough on Sunday wasn't in quite the same league.

Paying far too much attention to the Satnav rather than engaging common sense, he took a bit of a wrong turn and headed for Darlington instead. The squad eventually arrived at The Riverside only an our before kick-off, and suffered a 2-1 pasting. [Read all about it]

The irony must have slapped them round the head with a cricket bat when they saw the sponsors on Boro's shirt - Satnav manufacturers, Garmin...

After I'd mopped the floor from pissing myself laughing, I realised the daft Gooner isn't alone in all this - I picked up a TomTom the other month.

If you haven't got a clue where you're going, they really are ace. I managed to get from London to my mate's flat in central Manchester, via an away match in Hull, with minimal fuss and no maps. Easy peasy, and for the first month it was fantastic. The problems come when you actually know the place you're driving around, at which point they become as helpful as Calista Flockheart in an eating contest.

I'd heard the stories about Londoners being sent through Piccadilly Circus for any journey through Central London, but it had to be an urban legend. Surely no piece of technology could be that stupid. Yet, on a trip from North London to Heathrow, guess where I ended up. Unbelievable.

It does highlight our over-reliance on technology these days, and our unwavering acceptance of all things digital. People have stopped questioning things. "It's on a computer, it must be true". It's far easier to devoid yourself of responsibility when a machine can do it for you. "Not my fault, it's the computer". People forget too quickly that behind every piece of technology created there's a human brain designing it. Guess what - they make mistakes.

So, will Chelsea suffer similar problems on their trip from West London to The Emirates on Sunday?

Avram - a word of advice. Get the boys some Oyster Cards and put them on the tube. It's only 45 minutes from Fulham Broadway and it'll save Roman a coupla quid. He'll probably need it after paying off that Jose fella. It might even get those overpaid nancy boys realising what life is like for those of us who don't kick around a bag of air for a living.

Even better - it's a 5 minute walk from Arsenal station these days. Lampard might lose a few pounds... ;)

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