A lot of people in my small town are delighted to see Rickie Lambert playing for the England football team. Over ten years ago, he came through the ranks of the youth team to establish himself as a regular in the first team, a big strong teenager with a cannonball shot. Soon he
moved on to better things, though it is only in the past few years at Southampton that he has realised his full potential.
After the goalless draw with the Ukraine, Henry Winter of the Telegraph said that Rickie 'dropped off well after two minutes to flick on to Theo Walcott' and praised his 'selfless movement'.
Martin Samuel in the Mail said, 'England's best move from open play came early, Rickie Lambert threading the ball through......' and 'For Lambert it was a step up again after his wonderful exploits against Scotland and Moldova. He was not thrown by it, but was undermined by a lack of support.'
Contrast that to the sneering spiteful snobby reporting of Sam Wallace in the Independent, a mouthpiece of bureaucratic bigotry. Of course, if Rickie were designated black or female, or some other sort of official victim, Wallace would be celebrating Rickie's triumph over adversity, but alas, the hero of the hour is an indigenous working class Englishman.
Wallace says: 'For Rickie Lambert too, it was a sobering lesson in the quality that is required........when one's touch has to be perfect........but this felt like the occasion when ......(he) had his limitations exposed' and 'Lambert, to put it mildly, looking rather out of his depth.' 'For all his willing running it got little better for Lambert after halftime. To borrow an old joke, his second touch was too often a tackle......'
So there you have it Rickie, lad. Tha's got above tha' station. Tha's offended against the natural order of hierarchy, so says yon Squire Wallace. You've gone and got it fot yourself, without asking permission off Squire Wallace and the good people.
You'd better get downstairs right now and polish some boots!
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