Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Transfer Balls: Manchester United Linked To Gerard Pique Who Is Happy To ‘Fail’ At Barcelona
TRANSFER Balls: The Daily Express (natch.) has news that “MANCHESTER UNITED are lining up a sensational return for Barcelona and Spain star Gerard Pique”.
United buying a decent defender is a sensation. But what are the facts about Pique?
Anthony Chapman writes:
Despite turning out for the La Liga outfit 269 times, winning four league title, two Copa del Reys and two Champions Leagues in the process, Pique has failed to make an impression under new boss Luis Enrique.
Failed to make an impression? Because in May, the Mirror reported:
Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu says the Blaugrana are holding onto “the best centre-back in the world and a core part of the new project here”
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Posted: 24th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Chelsea Balls: Wtch Jose Mourinho Play For Rio Ave In 1981
ONCE upon a time, Jose Mourinho wanted to be a professional footballer, like his father Felix.
Felix Vitoria kept goal for Setubal and Belenenses. He won a Portugal cap in a 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland in 1972.
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Posted: 23rd, September 2014 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comment
New York Police Criminalise Cycling After Death
WHEN a pedestrian died after being struck by a cyclist in Central Park, the NYPD reacted by launching a blitz on cycling violations.
Last weekened, police handed out 103 fines to riders – 29 riders failed to stop for pedestrian and 26 ran red lights.
That seems not unfair.
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Manchester United: Just another Chelsea
FOR a long time now, Manchester United fans have goaded other clubs for throwing their money around and buying various titles, accusing their rivals of having no soul.
Of course, ManYoo are no better, from their club-made banners that hang in the stadium to the very obvious huge sums of money they’ve thrown around themselves at their various squads. Sure, they’ve played some lads from the youth team, but that doesn’t make them any better than their competitors. In fact, in a lot of cases, they’ve spent more money that the rivals they mock.
This year, we saw Man Utd spend 18% of ALL the money forked out by Premier League clubs in this summer’s transfer window.
The club splashed £59.7m on Angel di Maria from Real Madrid alone, while in the meantime, selling off two promising young strikers from their squad in Welbeck and Hernandez. Even in Falcao, a mere loan player, Man Utd will be paying him more money than Wayne Rooney earns. Falcao will be getting more money from Old Trafford bosses than Arsenal will pay Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil combined.
And now, former Manchester United defender Phil Neville thinks that the club need another spending spree, with a £100 million-plus blurt required if they’re going to challenge for the league title.
With new manager Louis van Gaal throwing money around like a new lottery winner on Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao, Neville thinks that there’s more cash to be spent.
“I know United have spent £150m,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think there’s another two transfer windows of similar amounts of money needed – maybe £100m – before they can even think about winning the title. There are still key positions in the team that need filling. I think the centre-back position is obviously the key area. Holding midfield or centre midfield needs addressing too.”
‘There were no world-class centre backs out there (this summer). I think that’s why in the next two transfer windows, United might still be looking for that world-class defender.”
Of course, there’s a number of fans who will love this, because a maintainable business model or the heart of a club don’t matter when all you’re concerned about is numbers and trophies. It must stick in the craw of older Man United fans who see their fellow fans concerning themselves only with how many trophies the club have and how much money they can spend.
There’s Manchester United fans who sing to smaller teams “We’ve got a stand that’s bigger than your ground”, or supporters who mock Arsenal for their lack of trophies. A product of the ‘football is a results business’ rhetoric, which is making many elements of professional football so achingly tedious, Manchester United, naturally, does have a heart and soul, just like Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City & Co, but it has been swallowed by short memories and overdrafts.
The Top 5 Mentality is the single most tedious facet of modern football, with more games happening each weekend that aren’t even in the Premier League. Manchester United’s fans who define their love by success are, whether they like it or not, the thing they level against hooting Liverpool fans who bleat on about the 70s and 80s, and the thing they berate Chelsea and Manchester City for.
And now, in the post Ferguson years, Manchester United fans are finding out, or being reminded, that reputation and cheque books count for nothing and that, you better find something else to love and enjoy about football because, without the success, you’ll have nothing to cheer about.
At Old Trafford, the young players aren’t valued like they were, the club is getting into dangerous debt, managers are binned off without completing a season and it doesn’t look like the rot in the boardroom is being protected from the people who are required to get results on match day.
It’s easy to tell yourself you’ve heart and soul when you’ve got a club that has the money to design it and implement it for you…
Posted: 23rd, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester City And Chelsea Hope Everton’s Ross Barkley Forgets His ‘Dream’
TRANSFER Balls: Is Everton’s Ross Barkley leaving Goodison Park to play for Manchester City or Chelsea?
The Daily Express says he is. The Express says Barkley is worth £50m to both teams. That sounds a lot for the 20-year-old. City signed Yaya Toure for £24m. The Express says Barkley will be his replacement.
Richard Tanner reports:
With 17 overseas stars in their first-team squad, City need to sign more England players to comply with the Premier League and UEFA’s home-grown quotas. That is why they are desperate to hold on to England pair Joe Hart and James Milner.
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Posted: 23rd, September 2014 | In: Chelsea, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Arsenal Balls: Debuchy And Walcott Star In Hospital Drama
IS the BBC’s reporting on Arsenal a bit, well, limited?
A look at the Arsenal page on the BBC’s sports site reveals two photos. One shows Arsenal right-back Mathieu Debuchy jack-knifed on the grass in pain. The other shows Theo Walcott contorted with pain.
Or are Arsenal all about injuries?
Posted: 22nd, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment
Manchester United Balls: Di Maria Invites You To Kick His Family In The Face
EVERY time you kick Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria in the shins, you kick his wife and daughter in the face. Well, not really them, more the photograph of the player’s family he keeps tucked into his socks.
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Posted: 22nd, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: The Travelling Reds Beat West Ham United 2-0
LIVERPOOL Balls: The BBC’s Mark Lawrenson wrote in his Premier League predictions on Liverpool’s trip to West Ham United:
Liverpool have had a bit of a strange start to the season. They had a lot of passes in their defeat by Aston Villa last week, but did not seem to really get anywhere. But I think they are a better side on the road at the moment, because teams seem to have worked out how to stop them at Anfield.
Lawrenson predicted a scoreline of 2-0 t0 the Reds.
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Posted: 22nd, September 2014 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
PAO: Exercise Your Facial Muscles and Shape Up
WITH Pao you can exercise your facial muscles and get your face in shape!
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The Southbank Centre Lets The Skateboarders Play
HOW’S that Olympic legacy coming along?
The Southbank Centre has said it is committed to creating new arts and education spaces, despite its planned £120 million redevelopment falling through after it agreed to allow the skatepark beneath the venue to remain in position.
Yep. The haven of national culture has a small, rather grotty area dedicated to sport.
Thanks.
Manchester City And Cheslea Balls: Watch Diego Costa Not Throttle Pablo Zabaleta
TWITTER is great. Well, it can be sink of human bilge and a herd. But when it comes to football, twitter is great. In today’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Cheslea, The Citizens’ (and how arcane a nickname is that given the club’s regal owners) Pablo Zabaleta was sent off. His second yellow card featured an altercation with Chelsea’s Diego Costa.
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Posted: 21st, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Sports | Comment
IndyRef: Glasgow Rangers And Celtic Fans Laugh At The IndyRef ‘Riots’
THE DAILY MAIL says “Nazi-saluting thugs” stained the Scotland indy referendum no-vote victory celebrations in Glasgow. The Mail says things became “nasty”. There were songs, such as “You can stick your independence up your arse”, “If you hate Alex Salmond clap your hands” and the Sectarian mainstay God Save the Queen.
One drunken protester boasted that ‘Glasgow would burn for voting Yes,’ claiming it was now ‘payback time’.
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Posted: 21st, September 2014 | In: Reviews, Sports | Comment
Manchester City Balls: Chelsea Fans Display Banner Praising Frank Lampard’s Goalscoring
OF course Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s record goalscorer (203), struck for Manchester City to deny Chelsea three points at the Etihad.
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Posted: 21st, September 2014 | In: Chelsea, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Mario Balotelli Bombarded With Racist Abuse After ‘LOL’ Man United Tweet
NOW at Liverpool and once of Manchester City, Mario Balotelli tweeted a ‘LOL’ in response toManchester United’s spectacular collapse against Leicester City. Of course, Balotelli’s big-spending Liverpool were only yesterday beaten by West Ham United. So. Manchester United players are free to ‘LOL’ right back at him.
But then Balotelli’s Twitter feed attracted a blitzkerig of abuse.
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Posted: 21st, September 2014 | In: Liverpool, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Barcelona’s Fabian Schar Joins Arsenal From Basel After Rejecting Borussia Dortmund
TRANSFER Balls – a look at bad media reporting on footballers. The Daily Star has an “EXCLUSIVE. News is that “Arsenal and Spurs set for January battle for Swiss defender Fabian Schar”.
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Posted: 21st, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment
Highlights Of My Five-Times-A-Night With Liverpool Striker Mario Balotelli
ANORAK enjoys a kiss ‘n’ tell. Oh, come on, we miss the News of the World. What we enjoy are the details included in the story, the more mundane the better. Today’s kiss ‘n’ tell features Liverpool FC’s Mario Balotelli and “Ashley Cole’s ex”. No. Not Cheryl Cole. It’s Frenchie Eglantine.
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Posted: 21st, September 2014 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Mario Balotelli Lets Off Fireworks In The Bedroom
WHEN Mario Balotelli left Manchester City and England a legion of would be mo-dels and kiss ‘n’ tellers sighed. What now for tales of Mario-fuelled pyrotechnics in the bedroom, to go with fireworks in the bathroom?
Thankfully, Liverpool bought the Italian forward. And readers get to learn what it like to share a “night of passion” with the player:
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Posted: 20th, September 2014 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal Buy Rabiot Twice From PSG And Once From Roma
TRANSFER Balls: Are Arsenal buying PSG’s Adrien Rabiot? The Mirror says they are.
The Mirror also says Arsenal face competition from Roma, Milan and Juventus.
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Posted: 19th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment
Spurs Balls: Partizan Belgrade Fans Call Jews Fools And State A Desire For Homosexual Sex with Horses
AT the Europa League Partizan Belgrade v Spurs match, the home fans added a bit of homemade art to the local colour. The message on the banner declared, somewhat crytically:
“Only Jews And Pussies”
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Sepp Blatter Misses Irony of His Pro-Ethics Tweet
FOOTBALL fans (and even some non-football fans) will tell you that Sepp Blatter, arch ruler of FIFA and world football, is not a nice, upstanding bloke.
Many see him as the Emperor Palpatine of football, cackling away at his dastardly schemes.
Well, today, Sepp Blatter took his irony bypass pill to tweet about ethics in the football community. It’s a bit like Rupert Murdoch calling for calm while people are shouting at immigrants.
Of course, the response to this statement was swift and less-than-complimentary. One person tweeted: “You really don’t get irony do you Sepp?” while another referred to him as the “hitler of football”.
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Savage Balls: Manchester City Should Breaks The Rules, Chelsea Buy Success And Liverpool Didn’t Win
TALKING Balls: The BBC’s football expert Robbie Savage is talking about Manchester City in the Daily Mirror.
Robbie Savage column: Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City can forget Champions League Final win already
One game into the Champions’ League and Savage delivers a rousing speech that only Chelsea should bother turning up for the tournament’s remaining games.
Best league in the world or not, the opening statements from England’s clubs in the Champions League this week were an embarrassment.
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Posted: 19th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Edinson Cavani To Arsenal Unless Manchester United Or Liverpool Place A Big Bet
TRANSFER Balls: Arsenal are the “shock” favourites to sign PSG’s Edinson Cavani. Well, according to the Daily Star they are.
How does the Star know this? Because it’s called Paddy Power to get the odds on a betting market that must be in the single digits and calculated that the Gunners are now the “bookies favourite to land the Uruguayan” next year.
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Posted: 19th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Anfield Thought Police Want Steven Gerrard To Be More Like Manchester United Fans
LIVERPOOL FC don’t want their fans to swear at the match.
Liverpool’s official Instagram account features a picture of Bart Simpson writing “I will not swear when I sing the Stevie G song”.
Bart Simpson sings about Steven Gerrard? We thought he just had shares in the club.
The Liverpool language police who want to turn their fans into 2D supporters working to a prime-time TV script then supply the lyrics:
“He’s big and he’s VERY hard! #LFC @stevengerrard.”
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Posted: 18th, September 2014 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United Sell Mata To Juventus Because They Already Bought Vidal
TRANSFER Balls: Are Juventus going to buy Manchester United’s Juan Mata?
On September 9, the Express reported tht Mata was waned by Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Valencia. All three clusb are considering making £24m offers for the former Chelsea man.
Alex Harris then adds:
The Old Lady’s interest in the playmaker could push Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal to pursue a swap deal involving box-to-box midfielder Arturo Vidal.
That wold be the Arturo Vidal who joined Manchester Untied in the summer. We read that new in the Express.
United never did buy De Jong. And Vidal never did move to United.
In any case, £24m is not enough for Juventus to buy Mata. As the Star said on September 9, United are asking £30m for the midfielder:
And so to the Express’ news of September 17:
Juventus don’t want Mata. But do Valencia and Atletico?
Mata has been one of the few players to make an impression for the Red Devils this season, and Louis Van Gaal is not willing to let him for Juventus unless a swap deal involving Arturo Vidal can be struck.
And on it goes.
More utter balls presented as news in the mainstream media every day….
Posted: 18th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment (1)
Manchester United Balls: Fan Gets ‘Sir Alex Feguson’ Is Dead Tattoo
MANCHESTER United fan of the day is the schmuck who got a ‘Sir Alex Feguson’ tattoo on his arm.
Who is Sir Alex Feguson. And what did he do in his 27 years on Earth?
Posted: 18th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
