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Rudd Romps To Historic Win

As a triumphant Kevin Rudd last night led Labor to an historic landslide victory with a national swing of 5.7% giving him a likely majority of 24 seats, ousted prime minister John Howard suffered an ignominious end to his 33-year political career with the apparent loss of his seat of Bennelong. Labor's victory means that for the first time in Australian history Labor now holds government in every state, territory and at Commonwealth level.

It also means that for the first time a woman, Julia Gillard, will hold the second-highest public office in the land. John Howard conceded defeat at 10.35pm, admitting that Labor had won an emphatic victory and congratulated Mr Rudd on assuming the nation's top job.

"I want to say that there is no prouder job that anybody can occupy than the prime minister of this country," Mr Howard said.

"I wish him well in the task that he will undertake and I want to say on behalf of the Coalition that has governed this country for the last 111/2 years that we bequeath to him a nation that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was."

Mr Rudd is only the third Labor leader in 60 years to win government from Opposition, and becomes Australia's 26th prime minister and Labor's 11th.With a record 53.8% of the two-party preferred vote, Mr Rudd can claim an even greater victory than that of Bob Hawke, who won in 1983 with 53.2%. He immediately declared his government would address with "great urgency" the pressing challenges of climate change and water, and would focus on creating fairness and flexibility in the workplace.

"We should celebrate and honour the way in which we conduct this great Australian democracy of ours and it's been on display again tonight," Mr Rudd told a cheering crowd in his home town of Brisbane.

He thanked Mr Howard for his immense contribution to public service over his political career.
By late last night it was apparent that Mr Howard had lost his seat of Bennelong to Labor's star recruit, former ABC journalist Maxine McKew, with a swing of almost 5%. However, both Mr Howard and Ms McKew described the seat as being on a knife-edge. Mr Howard will suffer the humiliation of becoming only the second sitting prime minister in history to lose his seat if Bennelong falls. But with a large number of postal votes set to favour Mr Howard, strategists on both sides agreed Bennelong remained too close to call. Mr Howard, who said he took full responsibility for the Liberals' defeat, endorsed former treasurer Peter Costello as the party's next leader.

Taking the stage at Sydney's Wentworth Hotel, where he has celebrated his previous four election wins since 1996, Mr Howard paid tribute to his family, and the Liberal Party.

"I owe more to the Liberal Party than the Liberal Party owes to me," Mr Howard said. "The Liberal Party has been unbelievably generous and loyal and forgiving and understanding to me over the 33 years that I've been in parliament, the 15 or more years that I've led it and the 111/2 years that I have been prime minister."

The routing leaves the Liberal Party depleted at every level of government across the nation - Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman now holds the Liberals' highest public office. But Peter Costello, the man tipped to be charged with rebuilding the shattered party, declined to speculate on his future last night. Mr Costello, who comfortably retained the safe Melbourne seat of Higgins, said the party would "be very very proud of what it has achieved in government".

Late last night Labor looked to have won 82 seats, the Liberals 58, eight seats were in doubt and two went to other parties. The battle between the Coalition and the Greens for the balance of power in the Senate was too close to call last night.

Canaries Wins Again At Last

After going through a 11-match winless streak, Glenn Roeder's Norwich City FC chalked up a 2-0 victory over Coventry City at Carrow Road. Goals by Luke Chadwick and Jamie Cureton in either side of the half ensured that the Canaries are only three points below their immediate rivals in the English Coca-Cola Championship League. Well done, boys! The match was played on Saturday, November 24 2007 to an almost capacity crowd.

Humble Pie Can Nourish England

TEAMtalk's Jon Holmes considers the future for Team England - players, manager, fans and the FA - following the miserable events of Wednesday.

Driving back up the rain-lashed M1 after an evening at soggy Wembley, the doom and gloom of England fans was all too apparent.

Minibuses with the George Cross draped inside the rear windows contained sorry-looking faces, of men, women and children contemplating a summer without the giddy excitement generated by the build-up to a major football tournament.

Inevitably, disappointments such as Wednesday night result in an elongated period of soul-searching.

So while Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson has already promised a "root and branch" examination of the senior England team set-up, it is entirely appropriate that everyone connected with the Three Lions takes a long, hard look at themselves.

First up, the manager. Steve McClaren appeared to be the most forward-thinking of all the protagonists on Thursday when he held an unusual press conference in which he invited questions, almost all of which he then deemed unfit to answer.

Instead, the York-born jobseeker whittered on about how he had learned so much from the England experience and that he was now "a better manager". Either he had already re-jigged his CV, with Premier League and Championship posts becoming available all the time, or he's saving his juicy barbs in the hope he can get a book out on the shelves in time for Christmas.

Perhaps the most likely route back into the game for McClaren lies at his old haunt Middlesbrough. With Gareth Southgate struggling to keep the Teessiders afloat in the top flight - they currently lie 17th - who would bet against Steve Gibson asking the club's most successful manager to come back to The Riverside?

Moving on, how can the players change for the better? Simply by failing to even qualify for a major tournament - let alone stuttering to the quarter-finals like in recent years - their reputations have been severely dented. No matter what they achieve at club level, England's 'golden generation' routinely fail to shine on the international stage.

Putting aside talk of egos and bank balances (both of which are never likely to diminish), our best hope looks to be the overriding sense of shame and embarrassment that the players must be feeling. We must assume that there is still a feeling of pride attached to the England shirt; if not, the whole exercise is entirely futile. McClaren never offered much in terms of intelligence, direction and inspiration. All those qualities must combine to channel the players' natural ability and aggression - and now their pain too - into results.

Now we turn to the FA. Chief executive Brian Barwick, flanked by the board, apologised on Thursday, telling the fans "we care about this very much", and "won't pass it over and move on". So no one will be resigning, and Barwick won't be sacked along with McClaren.

That is disappointing. Barwick may have excelled in the arena of TV sport, and has recently negotiated the most lucrative rights deal (around £600million) in the FA's history. But little suggests he cuts it as a football headhunter, a charismatic figure able to schmooze with the game's big personalities and convince them to sup from the poisoned chalice that is the England job.

Last year's botched search for the right man does not bode well as we begin the process all over again.

Nevertheless, Barwick will be entrusted with the task - and it must be handled thoroughly, away from the public glare of the media and without unnecessary deadlines.

Fortunately, there is plenty of time available to identify a manager who fits the bill - experienced, methodical and wise. Basically we're looking for Sven-Goran Eriksson again, but without the rampant libido.

England's next competitive game is not until September 6. Realistically, the FA can afford to wait until the end of the current season to appoint a permanent boss and after the Euro 2008 finals, many more candidates will be available. The speculation will be intense, but Barwick must go away, consult with respected footballing knights of the realm such as Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Trevor Brooking and Sir Bobby Charlton, and recently-retired internationals like Alan Shearer, decide upon his prime candidate and then recruit him.

As for Geoff Thompson, he has been chairman of the FA since 1999. In a few days' time, interviews will begin to find his successor, an independent chairman who will be appointed next summer. This procedure was mapped out in the Burns report, and deemed "a path to modernisation". So the wheels of change are finally turning, and if the idea of a National Football Centre at Burton is revived as a result, then England will be on the right track.

Finally, we turn to the fans. After this latest crushing disappointment, the least we deserve is a clash against Scotland, the Auld Enemy, to get the pulses racing in the summer months. Rather that than the likes of Switzerland at a half-empty stadium.

But can the supporters change in any way to help the team achieve better results? Sadly there will always be a Neanderthal element that chooses to boo the opposition's national anthem and randomly swear and boo at England players. However they are the minority, albeit a vocal one. The vast majority are those who venture from all corners of the country, packed into minibuses heading to Wembley or on flights to Zagreb and Moscow.

They will wholly accept that Croatia emerged victorious on Wednesday night because they proved they were the better team. So the main change for the fans rests in our mindset. England expects no longer, and if the sorry tale of Euro 2008 qualifying has taught us only humility, it will have been a lesson worth learning.

Israel Win Gives England New Hope

England were thrown a Euro 2008 lifeline as Israel beat Russia 2-1 to leave Steve McClaren's men needing a draw against Croatia to qualify.

Dorel Golan's stoppage-time winner, just seconds after Dmitri Sychev had struck a post with a shot which looked destined to send England out, must have raised the roof not only off the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv but the Grove Hotel in Watford, where McClaren was watching on, accompanied by his coaching staff.

McClaren must have been shredding his fingernails as, for 29 long minutes, Israel resisted their increasingly-desperate vistors after Diniyar Biyaletdinov had levelled Elianiv Barda's early effort.

Yet it appeared all the hard work would be wasted when Sychev broke through.

Amazingly, the Russian's seemingly goalbound shot bounced off the outside of the Israeli post. And, as they poured forward looking for a winner, the visitors were caught with the perfect sucker punch as Golan scored the goal which could mean so much to McClaren.

With star strikers Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney both missing through injury, plus skipper John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, who is suspended, holding Croatia, who have not lost during their Group E campaign and hammered England in Zagreb 13 months ago, is by no means automatic.

However, with Croatia now through thanks to Russia's failure tonight, McClaren will hope they lack the desire his own side must show if they are to make the most of such an unexpected reprieve.

There are times when it has appeared McClaren has been cursed as England manager.

In Russia last month, McClaren's men saw a winning position crumble completely on the back of an awful penalty decision when a foul by Wayne Rooney was shown to be well outside the area.

The subsequent loss of Rooney to a freak training ground accident only increased McClaren's misery, his nightmare compounded by the thigh strain Michael Owen picked up in Austria last night which means he will miss the Croatia game.

A consistent theme during a difficult week has been McClaren's belief that Wembley clash will be make-or-break.

Instead of remaining within the bosom of his family in the north-east, McClaren chose to watch events unfold with his team of coaches at their Watford base, desperately hoping his prediction came true but equally aware it could be his own version of the Last Supper.

Yet it seemed his prayers were going to be answered when Elianiv Barda flicked Israel into a 10th-minute lead.

At the time, Russia seemed disabled by nerves, unable to stem the flow of Israeli attacks.

It would have been no surprise and in no way unjust had the hosts doubled their lead, although the closest they came was when Barak Itzhaki and Barda failed by inches to convert Maor Bar Bazaglo's outswinging free-kick to the far post.

But, as soon as the second-half began, it was obvious Hiddink had prompted a revolution in belief.

Suddenly, it was Russia on top and creating all the chances.

Although Dudu Aouate stood firm for a while, it was only a matter of time before the visitors levelled.

The equaliser was a fine example of team play, with four men involved on the edge of the area before Andrei Arshavin rolled a pass into the path of Biyaletdinov which invited the finish.

Israel were now on the retreat and McClaren must have had his head in his hands as he watched Dmitri Sychev flash a 20-yard shot just wide.

Another shot from Sychev followed, along with yet more Russian pressure.

Indeed, throughout the final half hour, Israel mustered just one chance, with Gal Alberman's flick just off target.

But, in a gut-wrenching finale, Sychev came so close to knocking England out before Golan finished Russia off.

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The Journey Of Life

Life is a journey, not a destination. In this journey, more often than not, life is never a bed of roses. As I am experiencing a mid-life crisis as many others do, we often forget about the have-nots. Those who do not have anything to eat. Those who do not have a roof over their heads. And those who do not have proper clothes to wear. Yes, my crisis seems to be big. But, thank God, I still have food to eat, a proper home and clothes to wear, although I must admit that I can do with a complete wardrobe overhaul.

You see, some say life is cruel. But what have we done to overcome this cruelty? Ask yourself...when was the last time you helped someone in need...or donated to the needy...or spent time in volunteer work. Even in the richest nation in this world, there are poor and homeless people. What has the rich done to help the poor?

As I try to untangle my web of crisis, I can be grateful that I am not exactly that worse off either. If you think that if you are in some deep shit, please do not look at people that are better off than you. Please look at the have-nots and you would come into your senses that you could not do worse. Be grateful, always and thank God for the life that He had given to you as life if beautiful. And to live is to be grateful.