Room 101: Jon Callard – former England international
I would get rid of replacements after an hour has passed. When was the last time you saw a late replacement change the course of a game? I can’t think of one – mainly because it takes a player at least 20 minutes to get up to speed. Changing players so frequently in the final quarter does nothing for the flow of the game and just leads to fans getting restless and bored. If a team picks up an injury, that’s tough luck. I sat on the bench for England god knows how many times without ever getting on and I want people to suffer like I had to suffer! One caveat is that I would allow an academy player to be included on the bench who can come on and off as many times as his coach would like. This would be great for the development of young players because it gives them a taste of what full-on competition is like without over exposing them.
TRP verdict: You’re in…Cometh the hour, cometh the man
2. Motorway Service Stations
You pay boutique prices for goods on sale in dirty, grimy and over-crowded conditions. Tell me this…how can a bottle of San Pellegrino cost 60 pence in my local shop yet the same bottle costs £2.05 in a service station? As for fuel…I just don’t buy it in service stations, I make sure I’ve got enough in the tank before I set off on a journey. Fuel costs nearly 10 pence a litre more in service stations than it does on a regular forecourt and when you do in excess of 35,000 miles per annum, like I do, that can make a big difference. Among my least favourite service stations is the one at Washington, south of Newcastle, and the Watford Gap is pretty dreadful too. We should have State run, non-profit service stations.
TRP verdict: You’re in…buying stuff at service stations is the only time you can legally be mugged.
3. Footballers’ fines
Why do they bother giving out fines to the players? The amount of money players like John Terry and Ashley Cole are being fined is peanuts compared to what they allegedly earn a year in salaries. It’s a disgrace. They need to be punished by other means. I would ban them for longer or add a couple of zeros on the end of these fines and use the money to help pay for the away fans to travel to their home ground. By doing that you get a double-whammy because the guilty player will not only suffer in the pocket but he’ll also have more away supporters booing and hissing at him.
TRP verdict: That’s fine by me…you’re in again.
