2017 wish list THE new year is already racing away, but just time to slip in a wish list for sport in general as we reach double figures in January.
TIGER WOODS TO WIN A MAJOR No comeback is more eagerly awaited or will come under more scrutiny than Tiger’s (caricature) return to the PGA Tour. The swing, the knees, the back, the dreaded yips will all be under the microscope as he tees off on what could be either a second coming or a damp squib.
He’s 41 now and still four short of Jack Nicklaus’s all-time record of 18 majors. In his allconquering pomp, surpassing the Golden Bear seemed inevitable b u t w h e n he shanked his SUV into a fire hydrant on Thanksgiving in 2009, he had to take a massive drop.
It all came out that he’d already been OB with a gallery of waitresses. He lost his wife, caddie, swing and self-respect. Golf lost more. With no Tiger on the prowl, viewers turned off, fewer teed off and sponsors withdrew.
His mind and swing were all over the place, his back was playing up and his last major win was in 2008. But after a 15 month absence and surgery to back and swing, an encouraging outing in December suggested he may still have the magic.
One more tournament win and the buzz would be back; one more major and he’d electrify the whole of sport.
PEP TO SUCCEED Three months ago, such a sentiment would have been akin to hoping for the sun to come up in the morning; after he came close to losing the plot at Manchester City, there is a possibility that Pep Guardiola (right) could be driven out of English football.
Such an outcome would be a disaster for both. The Catalan’s legacy would be irrevocably tarnished and in some quarters even downgraded from messiah to flat track bully. There will always be grinches who feel the tea lady could have won trophies in charge of his Barcelona and Bayern teams. But any more cry-baby interviews, the tabloids will go for the kill. So we must hope that his contrition after City’s return to form at West Ham was genuine. The Premier League is privileged to have a manager of his calibre and if he can get City to play with a fraction of the Barca dazzle, he’ll take the English game to a new level. To lose him now would send the wrong signal – that the game was insular, Neanderthal and no place for enlightened coaches who dare to be different – especially from abroad. We need to cut him some slack and he needs to stop thinking we want him to fail: most of us don’t.
JOSE MOURINHO TO BUY A HOUSE (OR A DOG)
Come on, Jose, stop being so miserable. Like Pep, it would be a shame to lose you now you no longer park the bus. Six wins in a row have improved your mood but if you really are in Manchester for the long haul, it is time to stop living out of a suitcase.
Buy one of those big pads in the Footballers’ Belt and bring your family. There are limits to the menu of even a five-star hotel, not to mention the confines of a suite. Or at least buy a dog for company. You were once arrested for breaking the quarantine rules over your Yorkshire terrier at Chelsea; now it’s time to break your own quarantine.
FEDERER AND NADAL TO MAKE IT A BIG FOUR AGAIN Last year, tennis’s Big Four became the Big Two. The old firm of Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal went winless and injured for much of the time, allowing Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic to rule the roost.
But with no one else in sight and both the Swiss and Spaniard insisting they have another Grand Slam in them, we can only hope they make it a Big Four once again. Old Father Time and wonky knees may be against them, but we’d love an encore to the game’s golden age.
TAKE WORLD CUP FROM QATAR It is too late to take the World Cup from Russia, but surely not too late to avoid the Qatarstrophe of the next one. For fans certainly and maybe for players, but above all for the game. The disruption to the European fixtures is mind-numbing in scale and will take three seasons to adjust.
The decision was made by a corrupt regime which has gone. It should be declared null and void.
WINTER BREAK AND 18 TEAMS FOR THE PREM
Turkeys don’t vote for Xmas but the case for a smaller league and a midwinter break is mounting: players are knackered and everyone suffers except the greed is good merchants.
Just one week would do. The English game could still have its holiday fixtures and rest in the second week in January. The psychological effect would be almost as beneficial as the physical. And room could be made if there were two less teams in the Premier League.
A NEW GOLDEN AGE The first 16 years of this millennium have been fantastic for sport – hence the wish for one last hurrah from its star performers. But every age has its heroes so we hope there are budding world-beaters out there who will soon brighten our days - and back pages - for the next decade or so.
You can’t help but feel though that they’ll have to be a bit special to match the Bolts, the Tigers, the Federers and the Messis of this particular era.
Happy New Year!