The Story So Far... |
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Jock Ratties first saw the light of day on Setanta Sports' website at the beginning of the 2007-08 football season. The original brief was to produce topical weekly cartoon strips for use on Setanta's relaunched web presence as they set about significantly raising their profile following their acquisition of the rights to broadcast a tranche of live English Premiership matches on their subscription TV channels.
Jock Ratties cartoon strips are available on a non-exclusive licenced basis to any and all publications, whether online or traditional printed media, for only £100.00 plus VAT per three-frame episode and can be sized and configured to fit the available media space.
If you are interested in running Jock Ratties within your publication please do not hesitate to contact us using the feedback form on our 'Contact' page. Alternatively, read on below for the story so far... |
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| Episode 21 - Two 'Grand Slams' of the toilet door... | | |  Sunday 16th December 2007 was heavily hyped by the media as the so-called "Grand Slam Sunday" when the four dominant Premier League sides would go head-to-head in a pre-Christmas "feast" of televised football.
Unfortunately, as always tends to happen on such occasions, the two games did not serve up the eye-catching spectacles of total football that everyone was hoping for, with the combatants unwilling to cast aside their tactical shackles for fear of being undone by one of their closest rivals.
This wasn't a problem for Jock Ratties, who in any case always derives greater satisfaction from the less glamourous aspects of the game such as a "Row Z" clearance or a thunderous tackle from behind. He was more concerned by the fact that Carlos Tevez's winning strike for Man United at Liverpool and William Gallas' match-clinching header for Arsenal at home to Chelsea both came very close to the interval in their respective games when he was "otherwise engaged".
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| | Episode 22 - The domestication of the modern football man | | |  It is somewhat strange how a predominately masculine sport like football could have adopted so many household items into its day-to-day vocabulary. Perhaps it stems from the sheer amount of spare time the modern day professional has on his hands, leaving him to loiter idly around the house until the next scheduled training session or shopping trip.
Jock Ratties is only interested in household items that can double up as weapons to be used threateningly against errant young squad members who may have had one drink too many and embarrassed themselves at an official club function.
With the lurid headlines that followed the 2007 Manchester United Players Christmas Party perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson will now upscale his own methods from a feeble "hairdryer" to the far more menacing "chip pan" approach...
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| | Episode 23 - The results business | | |  The pressure to achieve results has never been so intense as it is now at the top level of English football. The 2007-08 campaign was remarkable for the number of Premier League managers who lost their jobs before the halfway point of the season had been reached.
Jose Mourinho, Sammy Lee, Martin Jol, Chris Hutchings, Steve Bruce, Billy Davies and Lawrie Sanchez all paid the price for not achieving the success demanded by their respective overlords. At the time of writing Sam Allardyce and Rafa Benitez moved into the media spotlight as the next potential candidates for the chop.
Jock Ratties is no exception, operating under similar pressure from his own Chairman, Sir Rufus Chequer-Karn, who constantly craves more success on the pitch in order to guarantee Northern Albion's lucrative Premier League status. It is therefore a good job that Jock's players follow his instructions... most of the time.
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| | Episode 24 - The magic of the cup | | |  With the FA Cup having lost some of its lustre in recent seasons the third round games that took place on 6th and 7th January 2008 did much to restore the romance of the competition.
There were a number of genuine upsets, with Championship side Coventry City's 4-1 away win at Premiership Blackburn a stand-out result. Special mentions must also go to League One Oldham for their win at highly-fancied Everton, as well as a creditable draw for Bristol Rovers at Fulham, Stoke's goalless home tie with Newcastle and Luton's Anfield replay-earning scoreline at home to Liverpool.
However, the accolade for worst result of all must surely go to Jock Ratties' Premier League strugglers Northern Albion who lost 4-0 away to the lowest placed side remaining in the competition, Crinkley Amateurs Reserves from the Fifth Division of the Great Yarmouth Over-35's Sunday League.
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| | Episode 25 - Geordies are hard to please | | |  Seven managers in eleven years tells its own story where Newcastle United Football Club are concerned.
Despite Sam Allardyce's declaration upon taking up the job that it would probably take three to five years to turn the club around the Magpies' lack of patience was taken to a whole new level when the former Bolton supremo was sacked after only 8 months and a mere 21 league games in charge.
While new owner Mike Ashley declared that he was belatedly following his "gut instinct" and should have brought in his own man at the outset, the real force behind the sacking was the fans themselves who turned on Allardyce with considerable gusto. The "Geordie Nation" are a fearsome tribe when they put their minds to it.
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| | Episode 26 - It's nice to be wanted | | |  In a typically populist gesture Newcastle United's flamboyant new owner Mike Ashley heralded the return of Kevin Keegan as manager at St. James' Park by donning a replica shirt bearing the phrase "King Kev".
Over a couple of pints at "The Albion" Jock Ratties reflected that he might not perhaps enjoy a similar level of affection from his own Chairman, Sir Rufus Chequer-Karn.
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| | Episode 27 - Window's shutdown for Jock | | |  The relative merits of the January "Transfer Window" have been much debated since its introduction to British football. The bigger clubs have not tended to make too many moves since many of their targets are often cup-tied for the Champions League by that stage of the season.
However, for many smaller top flight clubs such as Northern Albion, a couple of key signings at this midpoint of the campaign can often prove to be the vital factor that ensures their Premier League survival for another season.
Ominously for Jock Ratties there was a noticable tightening of the purse strings when he went to the boardroom to seek backing for his own survival mission.
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| | Episode 28 - Fabio picks Bentley | | |  The wait was finally over and a new era for the English national team under the command of Fabio Capello began with a reasonably comfortable friendly victory over a less-than-impressive Switzerland at Wembley.
With a number of key personnel missing through injury it was a chance for younger players to stake their claim for a regular starting berth and this opportunity was most noticably seized by the young Blackburn Rovers winger, David Bentley. With a quality of delivery in keeping with his predecessor and almost namesake on the right, one David Beckham, he certainly caught the eye with some clever touches and excellent crossing.
Jock speculated that the name Bentley would be very much on Capello's mind after the game and he wasn't wrong...
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| | Episode 29 - Jock oversees overseas plans | | |  When it suddenly emerged that the Premier League had plans to introduce an additional fixture to the league campaign, with these 39th games to be played in successful bid-winning cities in exotic locations around the globe, there was much uproar.
Many long-suffering fans were up in arms once again at this latest attempt to rake in yet more millions at the expense of the very integrity of the game. Others were more fatalistic, arguing that it would happen come what may as the Premier League needed to capitalise upon it's global appeal for fear of some other league or sport getting there first.
Jock Ratties watched the story unfold with a keen interest before taking matters into his own hands.
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| | Episode 30 - Is Jock keeping his power dry for the Intertoto? | | |  Arsenal are held to a first-leg goalless draw in their Champions League game at the Emirates by a solid looking AC Milan side, causing many to dismiss Arsenal's chances of progressing further. Meanwhile, Liverpool secure an impressive 2-0 home advantage in their first leg with Inter Milan. Both Milan and Liverpool tend to save their best for the "cup with the big ears" but of course, while Liverpool did indeed progress, Arsenal's young guns went on to show their own best qualities in the second leg at the San Siro and knock out the defending champions.
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