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.
Specialist in failure: Spurs ‘will pay’ £34m to sack Mourinho
Why did Spurs hire Jose Mourinho? At Real Madrid, his second stint at Chelsea and Manchester United, his three most recent posts before Spurs came calling, Mourinho left under a cloud, key players lost and the club weary of his tireless self-promotion. He’s won plenty, of course, something he’d never tired of stating. And wherever his name appears, the English media loves to trot out the much repeated lines that he is ‘Special One’ and a “serial winner”.
Mourinho is the man who wins. With him you get neither philosophy nor building for the future; you simply get to win now. So the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss ended up at Spurs who wanted a winner to replace Mauricio Pochettino, a man as likeable as Mourinho is petulant, and whose only offence was to have lost the Champion’s League final. Now the talk is of Spurs firing Mourinho, something that would cost the club about £34.8m, according to A Bola.
To date the specialist in failure has reportedly raked in £63.5 from being sacked. If the latest figures are correct, the bill for clubs desperate to get shot of Moutinho would reach £100m. Little wonder he pops up on the telly to advertise gambling to willing mugs. Whichever way the chips fall, Mourinho always hits the jackpot.
UFC fighters can test positive for marijuana and still compete
Good news. Before your next Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), you can smoke a spliff. Taking something that might well dampen your aggression and reflexes is not the most sensible move when the opponent is trying to knee you in the face. But you can do it. Returning a positive drugs test for for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, will only be a violation of the sports rules if the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is able to prove that an athlete intentionally used it for performance-enhancing purposes.
However the message is mixed. Last week the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) suspended UFC fighter Bevon Lewis for six months and fined him $1,200 for a positive drug test for cannabis.
Is it right you should be banned from doing your job for smoking weed? Marijuana stays in a person’s system for weeks or months after usage. It’s possible that workers could use marijuana in their personal time in a place where it’s entirely legal to do so and get sanctioned for testing positive on a drug test when they’re back at work in a different location.
And what if a UFC fighter is permitted to use medical marijuana in one state but forbidden in another state? Maybe just legalise all drugs in spot, right?
Folarin Balogun : agrees to go, wants to stay and his agent is busy
Folarin Balogun might not be good enough to start for a faltering Arsenal team, but with his contract expiring in the summer, the 19-year-old American striker is apparently good enough to play for petty much any other side – so long as they recruit him without the need to pay the Gunners a transfer fee and his agent is happy.
Reporting on the player amounts to guesswork. The Sun says he’s agreed to join German side RB Leipzip. The Sun also says – also today – that he hasn’t.
The guesswork continues in the Mirror, where readers can enjoy the article: “Folarin Balogun’s ‘complicated’ Arsenal situation explained amid talk of RB Leipzig agreement – The Arsenal wonderkid is out of contract at the end of the season, and there has been talk of an pre-contract agreement with Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.”
What talk?
So a story that is and isn’t true is reported as fact – and the Google News bots present it as news:
The Mirror – again:
You might begin to wonder at the source for all this ‘news’:
More news form the agent when the tabloids have it…
Posted: 14th, January 2021 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal: Arteta loses the plot with pathetic stats whinge
Next stage of terminal decline is to brandish loose A4 print-outs at press conferences. And so we join Mikel Arteta and his stats. The failing Arsenal manager is at a press conference. Football is a straightforward leisure pursuit. It is not science. The only fact that matters is the score. But Arteta has other facts. He has hundreds of facts. The more he mentions these stats the more ridiculous he looks – and the more you begin to realise why his team is paralysed by confusion and incapable of scoring a goal:
The opposition score more goals than you, you lose.
Golfer Jack Nicklaus delighted his daughter marries a man called Todger
Hyumef golfer Jack Niclaus is delighter to tweet the wedding of his daughter christine to Todger Struknk.
For American readers and Todger’s parents, a Todger is British slang for a penis, a knob, a bellend. you get the idea. The other idea is that if Todger took Chrisine’s name, he’d be Todger Nicklaus.
Posted: 15th, December 2020 | In: Sports, Strange But True | Comment
Robbie Savage, gambling on Spurs and the Mirror’s journalism of attachment
After Spurs easily saw off Arsenal with a 2-0 win, BBC radio DJ and Daily Mirror columnist Robbie Savage told his Twitter followers: “I went early on Spurs winning the league 🤷♂️💙⚽️ 08085909693 ,,, tell me why the won’t ? Tom the arsenal fans said arsenal would win the league this year ,, 😂🤦🏻♂️ 08085909693 #bbc606.”
Tom the Arsenal fans is clearly delusional, unable to see that club manager Mikel Arteta is learning on the job and the Gunners squad is populated by many players who’d struggle to get a game for Fulham. But what of Savage and his to-deadline opinions? You can find out more of what Savage thinks at the Daily Mirror:
In order, this is how Savage predicted the Premier League table, from first to last: Liverpool; Manchester United; Chelsea; Manchester City; ARSENAL; Wolves; Spurs… So that’s Spurs in 7th place, two behind Arsenal.
This guesswork is brought to readers in association with the Mirror’s latest betting partner. It might be that Savage didn’t write the thing, just saw his name added to to the top to give it a bit of omph and authenticity. After all he’s an ex-pro who works for the State broadcaster. You can trust him. Savage might know a thing or two. So place your bets!
Given the damaging impact gambling can have on people’s lives and that the Mirror pitching Savage’s words in an article which encourages betting – the prediction piece ends with a large button stating “BET HERE” – might it be useful to tell readers that Savage’s views are liable to change with the wind?
A radio phone-in is a bit of fun, a distraction from the important things in life. Losing your money and health because those same opinions encouraged you to gamble is far more serious.
Posted: 7th, December 2020 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Key Posts, Money, Sports, Spurs, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal fail to take head injuries seriously – Arteta puts ‘the process’ over player health
The good news. Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez is conscious and responding to those around him. Rushed to hospital after a clash of heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz early on in last night’s Premier League victory at Arsenal, Jiménez lay prone on the pitch for around 10 minutes. He went off. But Luiz stayed on, blood oozing through a bandage taped around his head. Madness. Stupid. Dangerous. And those are just the good points in Arsenal’s reaction to head injuries.
“David is OK,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “He had a nasty cut and he was conscious. He had a test and was completely fine.”
So fine that Luiz was replaced by Rob Holding at half time. He was not fine. He was injured. Head injuries cannot be diagnosed in seconds, as the hapless Arteta believes. That Luiz remained on the pitch after such a sickening clash of heads shames Arsenal. It was a move born of desperation.
Arteta decided against common sense and decency in favour of sticking with what he comically calls “the process” – a “process” that has resulted in Arsenal’s worst ever start to a PL season.
“When you see the reaction of the players you know something really bad is happening,” adds Arteta. “We followed the protocol to check [Luiz] had not lost any consciousness, which he hadn’t, and then some tests. They will continue to do some more checks on him. He was really uncomfortable and couldn’t really head the ball and couldn’t continue.”
Time to take head injuries seriously. Arsenal didn’t.
RIP Sir Diego Maradona – your only crime was not to be born English
Diego Maradona (30 October 1960 – 25 November 2020) was the greatest footballer of all time. He was a true national hero. To mark his death, Argentina has declared three days of mourning. Had he been English, we’d have made it a decade long lament. No, make that 50 years of wailing and gnashing our teeth, the ululating reflecting the many decades since England won the World Cup in 1966.
Maradona was possessed of a sublime blend of rough desire and divine talent, qualities no more in evidence than in Argentina’s match with England in the quarter-final of the Mexico ’86 World Cup. After the “Hand of God” goal, in which he clearly punched the ball into the English net, Maradona scored one of the best goals of all time, slicing and burrowing through the England team at the Azteca stadium to take the game 2-1. The then England manager Bobby Robson called that second goal a “bloody miracle”.
In Argentina, they like the first one best.
Around four years earlier, the United Kingdom and Argentina had fought in The Falklands Conflict, a 10-week undeclared war over two British dependent territories in the south Atlantic. The fighting began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control.
“In the pre-match interview we had all said that football and politics shouldn’t be confused, but that was a lie. We did nothing but think about that. Bollocks was it just another match!” Maradona wrote in his autobiography. Of the second goal he noted: “I wanted to put the whole sequence in stills, blown up really big, above the headboard of my bed”. And of the first: “I got a lot of pleasure from the other goal as well. Sometimes I think I almost enjoyed that one more. They both had their own charm.”
Two goals. Two fingers. Up yours Inglaterra!
Had he been English saluting the Germans, say, Maradona would have been knighted, feted and hailed a living legend. Maradona, the English national treasure who in media speak had a ‘dark side’, faced ‘his inner demons’ and ‘struggled with addiction’, but who was the best thing ever, the living embodiment of the English bulldog attitude and a ‘great ambassador’ for the spot he loved. He was our hero.
But Argentina had him. And England can only dream.
Arsenal: Tierney checks on Leeds United ‘cheat’ Alioski after Pepe floors him with ‘headbutt’
Working under the premise that scoring a goal is for glory-hunters who don’t fully understand the nuances of the game, Arsenal achieved another glorious 0 in a 0-0 draw with Leeds United. With Leeds already on top, and Arsenal accidentally almost scoring – “Pepe inadvertently hit the crossbar with an attempted cross from the left” (sources Arsenal.com) – Pepe was sent off for the first time in his career. What did he do?
Arsenal.com describes the incident thus:
Mikel Arteta brought on Reiss Nelson at half-time but our gameplan was undermined when Pepe was sent off by Anthony Taylor once the referee had checked footage of his altercation with Alioski.
What kind of ‘altercation” is dealt with by the official Leeds United website:
Mikel Arteta went to his bench during the interval, bringing on Reiss Nelson with Willian departing. Just four minutes into the half, Pepe would join his teammate in the dressing room by getting a red card, for head butting Alioski.
Pepe is a pillock. And that headbutt? Is Alioskji ok? Broken nose. Concussion? Worse?! The BBC tells us:
The Ivorian, who has rarely justified his £75m fee, had a running battle with Alioski and eventually lost his patience with a ‘football headbutt’.
Alioski threw himself to the ground…
A “football headbutt” is when you don’t actually headbutt someone?
After the match former Glasgow Celtic player Keiran Tierney was keen to offer advice to the stricken Alioski:
Football – why do we bother?
Arsenal: Ozil saves Gunnersaurus
Arsenal mascot Gunnersaurus (or rather the guy who wears the suit, aka Jerry Quy) has been ‘let go’. Arsenal, owned by multi-billionaire absentee landlord Stan Kroenke, thinks hiring a man to play the role of the club’s oldest fan is too expensive. But thanks to his £350,000 weekly wage, Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil can afford to pay Gunnersaurus’s wages.
That Ozil chose to showcase his generosity on social media is grandstanding – and it runs the risk of antagonising his bosses. Arsenal have been trying to get shot of Ozil for ages. Will they now seek to end his tenure at the club in a get one get two out deal? Look out for Ozil and Gunnersaurus heading into the sunset for a new life together in Major League Soccer.
Stop Press: Arsenal say Gunnersaurus will now stay at the club. But Jerry Quy may not. Will Jerry shorn of his green furry suit hold the same attraction for Ozil? Is Jerry’s future brighter than Ozil’s? Will Mrs Ozil look as good in the massive green suit? Many questions. And as yet, not many answers.
Arsenal use a Thomas Partey sized meteor to kill Gunnersaurus
Farewell, Gunnersaurus, we fear we shall never see your like again – well, not until Arsenal move stadium once more, downsizing to something more in keeping with the Covid-19 era, a large suburban garden, perhaps, or Prince Harry’s second lounge, and discover another ancient dinosaur egg buried under the patio. Arsenal have sacked Gunnersaurus, the giant green lunk. The man inside the suit has been told to get thee hence. His role will not be reprised by benched player Mesut Ozil nor Josh Kroenke, the club’s chairman and all round ‘You da man! Soccerball!! WOOP!’ sort of guy. Why Josh and his fellow beancounters did it, is impossible to fathom for many Gooners.
Talking Balls: Lamela the Spurs hero as Manchester United are robbed
Manchester United 1 – Spurs 6. To reuse a quote by former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, one he used to dismiss the potency and threat of his side’s opposition: “Lads, it’s Spurs.” In this post, we’ll take a look at reporting on the match. With United trailing 2-1, United’s Anthony Martial was sent off in the 29th minute after an off-the-ball incident involving Erik Lamela.
The Manchester Evening Post says the incident “saw the Spurs player drop to the deck despite having instigated the altercation himself”. The altercation says Lemala aim an elbow at Martial, who responded with a tetchy brush of Lemala’s next. Lemala went down in stages. He then got up and sank to the floor again. To many observers it was an egregious act of playacting.
The Spurs website reports the mater thus:
Then came the sending-off incident in the 28th minute, Martial raising his hands into the face of Lamela and the referee awarded a straight red card to the United man.
No word on any altercation, of what went before.
Posted: 5th, October 2020 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Arsenal Transfer Balls: Lucas Torreira, Daily Mirror lies and the truth at Atletico Madrid
Has Lucas Torreira left Arsenal for a new dawn in Spain with Atletico Madrid? The Mirror says he has:
After the Google bots have picked up the Mirror’s story, the paper writes:
Arsenal have reportedly agreed a loan deal with Atletico Madrid for Lucas Torreira.
Reported by?
Says the Mirror:
La Liga giants Atletico moved to the front of the queue to sign the midfielder for the season, and according to Spanish publication AS, have now agreed a deal with Arsenal.
We click the Mirror’s link and head over to AS. We read:
Lucas Torreira, a punto
El centrocampista uruguayo está muy cerca de convertirse en nuevo jugador del Atleti. Sin embargo, la operación está sujeta a salida de Herrera.
Which translates as:
The Uruguayan midfielder is very close to becoming a new Atleti player. However, the operation is subject to Herrera’s departure…for the signing to take place, Hector Herrera’s exit must first be closed.
So AS has not reported the deal is done. The Mirror is talking rubbish. But the Googl bots like it so lots of easy traffic for the self-styled “intelligent tabloid”.
Posted: 1st, October 2020 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Spurs Balls: Eric Dier gets man managed through a poo
When Eric Died dashed from the pitch during Spurs Carabao Cup match with Chelsea, his manger, Jose Mourinho, was in hot pursuit. Dier needed the toilet.
The Standard’s James Olley was at the press conference:
Mourinho on Dier: “With Eric you can imagine what happened. I knew it, I was just pushing him to come back as soon as possible because [we had] no more changes and one player less. It was the consequence of something not human that he did [playing dehydrated & tired].”
Imagine getting man managed whilst taking a dump? From Special One to Number 2.
West Ham United manager Moyes and players test positive for Covid-19 – must isolate – Arsenal worry
West Ham United manager David Moyes and players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen have tested positive for Covid-19. All were banned from playing in West Ham’s Carabao Cup tie against Hull City tonight at the London Stadium. They must now self-isolate for 14 days. And that means big problems for the club third from bottom in the Premier League with no points from two matches played. And it means problems for their last PL opponents Arsenal, who played them just three days ago. Diop played the full 90 minutes. Moyes was in the dugout. This football season has a long way to go. And it might not make it to the end.
Spurs sign Gareth Bale for £13m but Dele Alli ruins Mourinho’s jigsaw
“Gareth Bale completed his emotional return to Tottenham on Wednesday night in a move that was driven by Jose Mourinho.” So declares the Daily Mail in a story that in the Express is reduced to the status of strong rumour.
The Express says Bale joining Spurs for £20m (the Mail says the loan fee from Real Madrid is £13m) completes the “jigsaw” and makes Spurs complete. The Star agrees that Bale is the “final piece” in the jigsaw. There’s Bale just slotting in below Spurs and England player Deli Alli – the player the Mail says is to leave the club.
And in the Guardian, there’s Bale looking up as Alli departs, doubtless wondering how Jose Mourinho will react to discover someone has removed a big bit of his jigsaw:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 17th, September 2020 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Bale to Spurs because Jose Mourinho failed to get him at Manchester United and Real Madrid
Who made the call that 31-year-old Gareth Bale should go back and play for Spurs? His agent, Jonathan Barnett, who tells the BBC: “Gareth is closer to leaving Madrid than at any time in last seven years”? Was it Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, who now presides over a club £1bn in debt for a stadium emptied of fans; a team that looked bereft of direction in an opening day defeat to Everton; a transfer policy that failed to buy Jack Grealish from Aston Villa; and who could be blinded by the sun glinting off the trophies won by local rivals Arsenal? Or how about Jose Mourinho, the manager who is at pains to make himself the centre of the story of Bale to Spurs? Get a load of this self-aggrandising guff when Mourinho was asked about signing Bale:
“He is a Real Madrid player and I don’t comment on players from other clubs. I have to respect that. It’s better not to speak.”
Better, yes. But not what Mourinho chooses to do:
“I tried to sign him for Real Madrid, which was not possible to do during my time there. But the president followed my instinct and my knowledge and the season I left he brought Gareth to the club. It’s not a secret, even Gareth knows that. A squad is a puzzle and when a new signing completes the puzzle it’s great for the team.”
Only Jose Mourinho can save you from Jose Mourinho. Remember when he was using his influence to et Bale to play for Manchester United?
Such are the facts.
Posted: 16th, September 2020 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Transfer balls: When Spurs signed Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish has signed a new five-year contract to remain at Aston Villa. That should come as something of a shock to Spurs fans who get there news from the Bleacher Report:
We read:
…the club is set to make a bid the Villans will be unable to turn down, according to the Mirror’s James Nursey.
And according to Nursey: “Tottenham have won the race for Jack Grealish.” And according to an expert the Standard considers in the know, Grealish to Spurs is still on – it’s his “only” option:
Spurs bid £25m for Grealish, says the Mail. Although some reports suggest the opening bid was £3m, rising to £6m before Spurs pulled it back to £4m at the 11th hour. Villa wanted closer to £40m. Whatever the value the Spurs bid was or wasn’t, Villa rejected it.
“It was really close,” Grealish told the BBC at Bodymoor Heath in 2019. “I thought the Hull City game was going to be my last game [for Villa] but one thing led to another and I didn’t end up going.”
So much for Spurs having “won the race” for Grealish.
Posted: 15th, September 2020 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment
New Chelsea kit makes them look like Crystal Palace
Having splurged £230m on lots of new players, Chelsea have a new shirt for fans to pull on and dress like their heroes. It’s a “new legacy,” guffs the marketing drivel. “One for the sneakerheads, inspired by the 1990s Ultramarine Air Max 180,” continues to blurb. (No, me neither.) “The 20/21 Nike Third kit is here!” “Finally!” yells Wayne in Surrey. The long wait is over. Although Wayne and his Home Counties Chelsea-supporting pals could have just bought a Crystal Palace kit.
Chelsea FC – they used to be a football club.
Transfer balls: Ceballos rejoins Arsenal
Dani Ceballos is all set to rejoin Arsenal for a second season-long loan from Real Madrid. The Guardian says Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta called the player to convince him to play for the Gunners once more. So much for The Metro’s news that Ceballos “snubbed a potential return to Arsenal and has told Real Madrid that he wants to join Real Betis”. He hasn’t. He didn’t. The Mail said he “asked Real Madrid to return to his boyhood club”. That too is balls. Mundo Deportivo, the Spanish site, told us that Ceballos has “made his decision clear” – it is Betis or nothing. As ever, we can read the Spanish news through the Google Translate mangle:
…his participation in the next European Championship could be a chimera, so he wants go to a team in which he can play regularly and Real Betis is his favorite, as he has made known in the offices of Concha Espina in the event of being on loan again.
In other news: Gabriel Magalhães is soon to arrive at Arsenal from Lille.
Posted: 1st, September 2020 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Sports Movies: The Top 3 Comedy Films
Sports Movies: The Top 3 Comedy Films
The unpredictable nature of sports undoubtedly makes it the perfect vehicle for the Hollywood movie industry to work with.
If you throw some comedy into the mix you are likely to be onto a winner, particularly if the back story is one that audiences can identify with.
Betting firm Betway recently studied the sports movie genre and suggested that for a film to be great the viewer must be able to fully buy-in to what they are watching on screen.
With humour playing an important role in daily life it comes as no surprise to find that there are some truly memorable sports movies with a comedic twist. Here’s three of our favourites.
The Big Lebowski
This Coen Brothers classic is rated by IMDb.com as one of the most popular sports movies of all-time and it is easy to why.
The movie focuses on the exploits of Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), an unemployed layabout who is better known as ‘The Dude’.
He spends his days sipping White Russians and night-time at the bowling alley, while his mind spends most of its time reminiscing about Woodstock.
With John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi amongst a superb supporting cast, The Big Lebowski is an absolute joy to behold.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
White Goodman (Ben Stiller), the founder of Globo Gym, is a fitness freak who wants to expand his empire by buying Average Joe’s Gymnasium.
Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) doesn’t want to lose his gym to Goodman, but he needs to raise $50,000 to fend off the hostile takeover.
LaFleur and his pals decide to enter a dodgeball tournament, but Goodman hits back by forming his own team to try and scupper their chances.
With the help of dodgeball legend Patches O’Houlihan (Rip Torn), LaFleur’s team set about trying to save Average Joe’s. Will they succeed? Watch the movie to find out!
Slap Shot
Slap Shot was first released more than 40 years ago, but audiences and critics were not enamoured with the bawdy humour and violence contained in the movie.
However, it has since been acknowledged as one of the greatest sports movies ever made, with viewers finally wising up to how perfectly it encapsulated many aspects of the 1970s.
Starring Paul Newman as player/coach Reggie Dunlop, the film focuses on the trials and tribulations of the Charlestown Chiefs – a club in danger of going out of business.
Dunlop spices things up by signing the child-like Hanson Brothers – a trio of hockey goons who help to transform the team’s fortunes in hilarious fashion.
Posted: 1st, September 2020 | In: Online-PR, Sports | Comment
Leeds United sign Rodrigo for club record fee
Leeds United have invested a club-record fee of £26m in former Bolton Wanderers hopeful Rodrigo. The Brazil-born Spanish international, 29, joins Leeds from Valencia on a four-year contract. The signing breaks Leeds’ previous record transfer – the £18m they paid West Ham for Rio Ferdinand in 2000.
Rodrigo’s arrival is what pundits call ‘a statement of intent’ – the intent being not be relegated from the Premier League having spent 16 seasons trying to get back into it. Leeds were by far and away the best side in the Championship for the past two seasons, contriving to miss promotion two years ago but securing it last season. Marcelo Bielsa has moulded an exiting team. But up front they need help. Patrick Bamford is a talented player but lacks the pace and guile to regularly challenge top-flight defences. Rodrigo it is, then. He should be enough to keep them above fellow promoted sides, Fulham and West Brom, both decent bets for relegation.
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire called ‘unsportsmanlike’ by Greek prosecutor
Harry Maguire, the Manchester United, has been found guilty in a Greek court of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insult. United say he will remain their captain. Maguire says he’s innocent and will appeal the sentence of 21 months, 10 days in prison, suspended for three years. What was a minor incident on a Greek island is all over the news because Maguire is famous. And for that reason Greek lawyer Dr Ioannis Paradissis is invited to address the nation via BBC Radio 4. The prosecutor representing Maguire’s apparent victims tells the Today Programme:
“…[my clients] told me they are still waiting for an apology and they haven’t heard any and this is what I find quite shocking and quite unsportsmanlike, because fair play means when I’ve done something wrong, I apologise.”
It’s personal, no? Maguire might well be a berk, but when the prosecutor goes on the radio and alludes to the famous face’s job as playing some part in the incident, things look a bit odd, unfair even. Why should Maguire be “sportsmanlike” in a criminal court? It’s not sport. He’s not contesting the ref’s decision. He’s appealing a serious criminal conviction.
Posted: 26th, August 2020 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Pogba to stay at Manchester United as Real Madrid run out of cash
On becoming the world’s costliest footballer in 2016, Paul Pogba told us “the time is right to go back to Old Trafford”. Pogba left Manchester United in 2012 for £1.5m, flourished at Juventus and rejoined the Premier League club for £89m. Four years on and which club got the better side of the deal is plain to all but the deliberate controversialist.
The huge fee surpassed the sum Real Madrid paid for Gareth Bale. The Welshman is pretty much surplus to requirements at Real and keen to tell the club where they rank in his affections – remember his banner: ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In That Order’. But Madrid fans would be hard-pressed to claim Bale has not been worth the money. Bale’s breathtaking overhead volley in the 2018 Champions’ League final was the stuff of dreams. When and where he scored it elevates the goal and the player to the greats. Now to Pogba…
Can you recall a moment when the Frenchman starred in a big match? Unveiled at United in a glitzy marketing-led promo video, a red devil marked into his hair, Pogba’s best moment in a United shirt was signing the contract that marked his return.
His current deal haas two years left to run, if United trigger a 12-month option next year,. Rather than waving at Real Madrid, Mina Raiola, the player’s agent, has told Sky Italia that his client will be staying at Manchester United. “Pogba is staying at Manchester United and I think they want to extend his contract,” said Raiola. “He is at the centre of an important project, they will not accept any bid for him this summer.”
In short: In light of the Pandemic, Real Madrid cannot afford Pogba. So let’s see if United will panic and keep their overrated player at the club at all costs.
Posted: 25th, August 2020 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester Untied captain Harry Maguire ‘threw a swing’ in Mykonos
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has been spending part of his summer hols in a police station on the Greek island of Syros. United say Maguire is “fully co-operating with the Greek authorities” following an “alleged incident” on the neighbouring island of Mykonos. The Greek authorities claim Maguire was one of “three foreigners” arrested after an altercation with police officers.
The Sun says Maguire reports the allegation that on “a boozy break” to a “flash” resort, Maguire “punched a cop and tried to bribe officers in a bust-up in Mykonos”.
We hear from Mykonos Police spokesman Petros Vassilakis:
“All of the three were arrested but during the effort to do so, the other two, including the football player, got violent also. They threw down at least two policemen, hit them with their fists and kicked them.
“I can’t tell you what they were telling us. All English swear words against the authorities and against the work of the police.”
The Mail’s report has the Greek police spokesman talking about swings and roundabouts:
Maguire is to appear before a local prosecutor Saturday morning at 11.00am. Maguire’s lawyer said he denies all wrongdoing.
Posted: 21st, August 2020 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
