Disgust The hostility between football fans is something that a lot of people don’t understand. Outside of a few hundred diehard fans, there is little aggressive behaviour noticeable in the sparsely populated grounds of League of Ireland clubs. So it’s with, at best, puzzlement, at worst, disgust, that we read about the latest battle between […]
Straws He’s running out of straws for which to grasp, and running out of time to make things right. Brian Kerr’s tenure as Irish manager is on the verge of ending with a whimper, the natural conclusion to a series of disappointing qualifying results. Points dropped in two games against Israel and an essentially moribund […]
Warning signs It didn’t take long for the warning signs to start flashing in a bright neon fashion. Spurs dour 0-0 draw at Blackburn might look like a point gained but ironically it could be the fact that they got the point rather than lost the game that points towards some deeper problems. They say […]
Motto My motto in life (and indeed it’ll be my epitaph) is never to be expect too much, rarely look on the bright side and don’t wash behind your ears because no one ever checks (so much wasted time as a child). As the brand new, predictable, but addictive, Premiership season gets ready to launch, […]
The feel good factor There’s a lot to be said for the feel good factor in life. Warm weather, wealth, health, all that good stuff. It all makes for a very happy existence. It exists in football too and clubs that have it have got a distinct advantage over clubs that don’t. What’s become clear […]
Good riddance I was going to write a little spiel all about Jose Mourinho and his eclectic ways but the excitement of the relegation battle and various other issues of the last few days have prompted me to go elsewhere in my head. I’m not going to be righteous and say it’s a shame to […]
Fickle Football brings out the fickleness in us all. All it can take is a few poor performances from our favourite player or some strange tactical decisions from the incumbant manager to persuade us that perhaps our instincts about the individual were wrong. Forced out When Mick McCarthy was forced out of his job as […]
Kiwis When I spent a year living in New Zealand, I brought my undoubted footballing talents to the country too. Whether it was putting a 60-yard pass on a sixpence, or doing the Cruyff turn, I could be relied on to deliver the goods.* But our league – Men’s Division Four – had a problem. […]
Tap up Another “tap-up” situation has made the headlines. The only surprise is that it is one of the top clubs in the country being stung this time. The most recent “tapping up” episode prior (and I promise that’s the last time I’m going to use quotes with regard to that phrase), was Aston Villa’s […]
Tottenham Hotspur – the winners and losers of 2004 What a year for Tottenham. I suppose what I mean by that is that it was the usual, mid-table, boring, predictable year for Tottenham. Just like every year there were some good and bad points, some heroes and villains – some winners and losers. The Winners […]
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