A Liking For The Viking
‘FIRST up, hearty congratulations to the new BDO world darts champion Andy Fordham.
| Andy Fordham skewers another of his opponents |
We overlooked the achievements of the man known to his legion of fans as The Viking yesterday, and now seek to make amends.
The Times, like us, catches up with Fordham at the Dartford pub he runs. And, admittedly, thats not too tricky since Fordham resembles less a man who vanquished his opponents so much as one who ate them whole.
But let us not judge Fordham by his appearance. As we know, in sport few things are as they appear to be, and no more is this true than in the world of football.
In light of the case of Rio Ferdinands guilt (still lamentably contested in some quarters) and demotion from the England squad that took on Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifier, the Telegraph says that in future Englands footballers will have a say in which players involved in disciplinary action can play for their country.
This weak decision was reached in a meeting between the Football Association, representatives of the players PFA union and members of the team.
We can only hope the team pickers dont ask Ferdinand for his thoughts on anything, since it could take him weeks to consider his stance.
Thankfully, Ferdinand is not needed in what the Mail calls a dirty war at United.
Fears are that the battle between Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester Uniteds major shareholder John Magnier is getting dirty.
There are suspicions that Magnier is trying to discredit the team manager. Allegations are that Magnier planted people at the clubs recent AGM to ask Fergie potentially embarrassing questions.
The conspiracy theory is given added weight in the Express where readers learn how Magnier is embroiled in a legal dispute with Ferguson over who owns Rock of Gibraltar, the famous racehorse.
But in the spirit of football, we suggest that the lawyers simply ask the horse what it thinks. Gary Neville has volunteered to translate ’
Posted: 13th, January 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
