Make believe versus real life You know how it is – third round league cup game and you’ve got one eye on Europe or getting promotion. You put a couple of squad players in, play your expensive reserve striker, give your backup keeper a game, put the highly rated 19 year old winger in the […]
It’s disturbing that it’s as easy to write about off-the-pitch stories as it is about those on it. Fifty years ago footballers were taking public transport and cycling to 3pm games on a Saturday afternoon. Now their Bentleys and Ferraris would almost run over the fans just to ensure a few extra minutes walking around […]
Title: Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir Authors: Dave Mustaine and Joe Layden Published: 2010 After almost 30 years of bickering, therapy, and lyrical jabs, the feud between Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine and his former band mates in Metallica had reached that point where it almost become theater. In reality the barbs and general ire usually came from […]
I’m usually quite grounded when it comes to the tribal nature of football. Crossing the Merseyside divide, traversing the North London battle lines or exchanging colours in Glasgow will usually earn you abuse from your former employer’s fans as well as a proportion of your new supporters. As a Tottenham fan, having a former Arsenal […]
Monday 2nd August I don’t need to convince anybody – I just do my job. I have a couple more years on my contract and that’s it, I’m an Arsenal player. – Manuel Almunia: Sunday 15th August Monday 16th August To be honest, it is so difficult to concentrate because Arsenal is a big club […]
Is a move for former England right-back Luke Young a sign of how far Liverpool have fallen or a sign that the consistent and respected defender is finally getting his just rewards? If all goes to plan the former Tottenham and Charlton player will move from Aston Villa to Anfield for £2.5m – a sum […]
It’s certainly not easy to care about Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, a man who spent the world cup tumbling every time I walked near the television. But his controversial handball that effectively denied Ghana a place in the tournament semi-finals has mobilised a call to ban the player from the final/third place play-off and even extreme suggestions such as […]
I don’t know why I held off writing this piece when Roy Hodgson’s move to Liverpool has been the worst kept secret since Dickie Rock removed his wig. Liverpool announced today that the former Fulham boss signed a three-year deal to become their new manager and his first task will be to convince the club’s […]
There’s always going to be some knee-jerk in the wake of a humbling tournament exit. But as discussed in my previous post this is not just about getting caught on the break a couple of times and being victim of a gross officiating mistake. Joe Cole, who originally predicted that England could win the tournament (and […]
I said yesterday that England needed to produce a credible performance to match the bold claims made by the likes of David James and Joe Cole. They didn’t. What they produced against Germany was as bad if not worse than the display against Algeria. The stats might show that England had more possession and more shots […]
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