Today's soccer is a sham

After a lifetime of watching and enjoying all sports, I find modern professional soccer deeply depressing. How could it be otherwise, with the unimaginable floods of money pouring through the game, the mindless media coverage, the antics and behaviour of its stars, and above all the pathetic diet it now serves up as a sporting spectacle?

Perhaps it was the Republic of Ireland's miserable exit from the World Cup that was the last ...