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.
Chelsea balls: Diego Costa and the Daily Mail pile into blameless Conte
Following up its interview with Chelsea striker Daily Mail, the paper leads with “WE BACK DIEGO”. News is that “Antonio Conte’s decision to exile Diego Costa is threatening to damage his strong bonds with other Chelsea players.” Other papers go with “Rebel Will Be Left To Rot” (Sun) and “Blues lay down law to AWOL star” (Daily Star)“.
Costa is currently sulking at his mum and dad’s house in Brazil. He’s been fined for not showing up at Chelsea. And he says the Blues are treating him “like a criminal”.
The Mail says it’s not wantaway Costa in the wrong; it’s Conte. The story continues: “Costa is a popular figure in the dressing room and remains in regular contact with close friends Willian, David Luiz and Spain team-mates including Cesc Fabregas.” Well, so says Costa. And then this: “Some fear they could be the next to be discarded in brutal fashion by title-winning manager Conte.”
That Conte, eh, what a heartless swine. What the Mail omits to mention is that in July 2016, Costa demanded to leave Chelsea for Atletico Madrid. Conte, as was reported widely, persuaded him to stay. Said Costa:”I did all that I could to return but it didn’t happen. When Atlético had to wait for me, they didn’t wait.”
Indeed, one news organ has reported on Costa’s unhappiness at Chelsea many times:
Costa has never properly settled in London after moving there in his own £32m deal and has remained in contact with various former team-mates telling several of them that he would like to return. – Feb, 4, 2016
Antonio Conte unsure if Diego Costa will stay a Chelsea player: ‘If you ask me if Costa will remain, I don’t know’ – July 31, 2016
Antonio Conte won a battle of wills with Diego Costa after Chelsea’s leading scorer demanded to be taken off during the 3-0 Premier League victory over Leicester at Stamford Bridge. The Spain international started the game on four yellow cards for the season, meaning another booking would see him miss the highly anticipated clash with Manchester United on October 23… the Blues striker gestured angrily towards his manager that he wanted to be substituted 20 minutes before time to avoid a potential suspension, but Conte was having none of it – despite Costa holding his leg late on. – October, 2016
All in the Mail.
Having supported Conte for telling Costa who’s boss, the Mail now tells its readers:
Could Diego Costa last longer at Chelsea than Antonio Conte? Champions order rebel striker back to London as their manager feels the heat
Not if Costa’s got anything to do with it, no. He wants to leave…
Posted: 15th, August 2017 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, News, Sports | Comment
Talking Balls: Huddersfield’s Steve Mounie goes missing in the Dales
Huddersfield tonked Crystal Palace in their opening Premier League match, and the Sun’s Paul Jiggins can’t find an atlas. Where the hell is Huddersfield? He doesn’t know. The Sun’s once peerless subs don’t know, either:
At Selhurst Park on Saturday we heralded the arrival of the striker who could become the Premier League’s next African superstar. Steve Mounie is already being dubbed ‘The Drogba of the Dales’”…
Not by anyone in Huddersfield he ins’t, which, as any schoolboy knows, isn’t in the Yorkshire Dales.
Where’s Steve?
Such are the facts.
Posted: 14th, August 2017 | In: Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Media Bias: Chelsea stretch the truth as Burnley win
Media Bias: a look at biased football reporting. Today’s match at Stamford Bridge saw reigning champions Chelsea defeated 2-3 by the mighty Burnley.
Gary Cahill’s sending off
Then, on 14 minutes, proceedings swung in Burnley’s favour. Cahill, stretching after a heavy touch, missed the ball and caught Steven Defour high.
The sympathetic back story – “stretching after a heavy touch” causing him to “miss the ball” – becomes on the Burnley FC website:
Cahill over-ran the ball and lunged towards Defour in an effort to win it back
The Lancashire Telegraph calls Cahill’s foul a “studs-up tackle”.
The BBC’s Martin Keown says of the foul:
“I think it was a red card, without a doubt. He has gone over the top of the ball. He has almost broke his leg… I can see why the referee has sent him off. It is dangerous… he is out of control.”
The BBC’s Pat Nevin (formerly Chelsea):
There was no doubt in my mind that as soon as I saw it that challenge deserved some colour of card. My gut? A strong yellow.
And Cesc Fabregas’s red card?
Chelsea FC:
…the Blues were reduced to nine men, Fabregas the man shown a second yellow for a challenge on Cork. The midfielder was incandescent at the decision.
A challenge? Not exactly, says Burnley FC:
Fabregas collecting a second yellow card for a foul on Cork eight minutes from the end
The Mail reveals how Fabregas earned his first yellow, something not mentioned on the Chelsea FC website:
Fabregas is booked for sarcastically applauding the match official after awarding Burnley a free-kick.
Should a Burnley player have been sent off?
Chelsea FC:
Mee went crunching through the back of Morata and was only booked, much to the disgust of the home faithful and the Chelsea players.
Burnley FC have not a word on that. Mee’s yellow card is not mentioned at all. How does the BBC see it?
More screams from Chelsea fans and players as Ben Mee slides in late on Morata. It was clumsy but not as dangerous as Cahill’s earlier, hence the yellow card.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 12th, August 2017 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Sports | Comment
Dramatic Arsenal winner as Premier League erupts into life
Maybe the Premier League should always begin with an Arsenal home match? Last season the Gunners kicked off with a 3-4 opening day defeat to Liverpool; yesterday Arsenal introduced the 2017-2018 season by beating Leicester City 4-3. Arsenal fans will be hoping the season ahead doesn’t follow more of the familiar late-Wenger disappointments, and that the chief executive’s promise of a “catalyst for change” isn’t just marketing guff.
The match was a thriller. With just seven minutes of normal time remaining, Arsenal were trailing 2-3. Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville was delighted after Olivier Giroud’s late header gave Arsenal the win.
And welcome to the Premier League, Alexander Lacazette, Arsenal’s record signing, whose first three touches in the title race went: kick-off, goal, kick-off.
As for any controversy in a game where defending was scarce and far from textbook – Arsenal ended the game with an unusual defence: a midfielder at right back; a right back at left left; and two left backs in the middle – the Gunners’ third goal, which tied that match 3-3, came from a corner. Should it have stood. The Leicester City website says the Foxes were robbed:
…in the 83rd minute Ramsey was left unmarked at the far post and slotted home the equaliser, although replays showed a blatant handball from Mesut Ozil in the build-up to the goal. City just don’t get the rub of the green in north London.
On the look out for media bias, what says the Arsenal website on the same goal?
Aaron Ramsey hauled us level with a firm finish from Granit Xhaka’s delightful pass
More of this until May.
Posted: 12th, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, News, Sports | Comment
Spurs balls: Gareth Bale’s return would be a badge of lunacy
Tottenham fans looking for their club to boost the Premier League’s second best side last term with new players are addressed by the Sun’s Paul Jiggins. Just as pressing f8 on the keyboard has for years given the Sun stories of Cristiano Ronaldo’s imminent return to Manchester United, we now get news of Gareth Bale’s Spurs homecoming:
With Spurs suddenly looking vulnerable, Levy needs to do more than merely ensuring the current playing squad is retained. He needs to make a statement. And there would be no bigger one than taking up the first option Tottenham have on buying back Gareth Bale if and when he becomes available.
‘If’ and ‘when’ might well be words familiar to Spurs fan whose side have one a single trophy this century, but they aren’t exactly the way a savvy operator like Daniel Levy, the club’s chairman, is likely to dwell on.
As for buying Bale, perhaps Jiggins could suggest a fee? He continues:
Levy still wears the £86m sale of the Welsh wizard to Real Madrid four years ago as a badge of honour. Buying Bale back would be an even greater one.
Why stop there? Why not get more badges and buy back Luca Modric from Real or get Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal? Well, one issue might be the money. Take Danny Rose, the Tottenham and England defender on £65,000-a-week. Rose watched Kyle Walker leave Spurs for around £50m and secure a £180,000-a-week deal at Manchester City. Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld is on around £50,000-a-week. The only way Bale will rejoin Spurs is if all parties lose the plot.
PS: Spurs fans I know aren’t overly bothered about who the club didn’t buy. But they are impressed by who they didn’t sell.
Posted: 11th, August 2017 | In: Back pages, News, Sports, Spurs | Comments (3)
Israeli wins Thai kickboxing medal after Palestinian refuses to fight
Palestinian Sultan Abu al-Hajj refused to fight an Israeli athlete at kickboxing’s World Youth Championship in Thailand. Al-Hajj refused to fight “as there has not yet been an official Palestinian decision over whether to face Israeli athletes in any sporting event”, says MaanNews. Israeli kickboxer Amit Madah, 16, won a bronze medal after Abu al-Hajj forfeited.
Bit odd and self-defeating, no, to forfeit a bout when you arrived knowing Israelis were competing?
Transfer balls: Bale to Manchester United for a fee that makes Neymar to PSG look cheap
The summer’s here and with it comes the usual news that Gareth Bale dreams of leaving the heat and glory of Real Madrid for life at Manchester United. Like everyone else, the Star hears Real Madrid president Florentino Perez state the current European champions have no intention of selling Bale, 28, to Manchester United or any other club. “He’s a Madrid player, he’s important for us and he’s one of the world’s best,” says Perez of the Welsh powerhouse bought from Spurs.
But the BBC tells its readers that “privately Perez has told Jose Mourinho that he would be willing to let the Welshman leave”. Got that? Perez told the Manchester United’s manager something in private and the BBC got wind of it. And so did the Daily Express, whose Jack Otway reveals beneath the headline “Real Madrid stunner: Man Utd given green light by Perez to sign Bale after private talks”, that his source is Diario Gol. Slap its story through the prism of Google Translate and you get:
José Mourinho has returned as best he knows to the press rooms: with his provocative instinct. In the previous one of the Supercopa of Europe, the Portuguese technician sent darts poisoned.
One of them went to Florentino Perez. Luso acknowledged that he would be willing to tackle the signing of Gareth Bale. Especially if he sees that his club does not have him.
Mourinho believes that Bale could not be indisputable in Real Madrid. In contrast, the Setubal would secure a place without hesitation in Manchester United.
The two sides have approached positions but lack consensus. A Bale something happens like what happened to Neymar : he wants a club where he is the leader.
Neymar could not be in Barça because he was Messi , and Bale can not be in Madrid while Cristiano Ronaldo. But the case of Welsh is different. The good moment of form of Isco and Marco Asensio make think that not even its site in the initial eleven is guaranteed. Everyone can not play.
That is the main asset of José Mourinho. The United coach wants to persuade him to change his mind. What was not expected was that Florentino entered the rag.
The president of Madrid wants to play and has recognized that if they are willing to pay what it is worth, “Bale is for sale “. The problem is that Neymar has already assessed the market price of Welsh.
Florentino paid 101 million euros for him and will not let him escape for less than 200 million euros. This is how PSG put things and that is what United should study . The cunning of Florentino, with much higher clauses than the Barça has, makes it unfeasible that nobody can pay Bale’s departure . Only a transfer will be negotiated.
In other words, Perez has apparently told Mourinho and Manchester United that if they love Bale so much they can make an offer starting at €200m for him. And they can forget about triggering any escape clause because Perez, the Real Madrid maestro, is no dummy like those negotiators at dread rivals Barcelona who allowed Neymar to slip away to PSG.
If that’s a green light, any drivers reading the Express fact sheet should proceed with extreme caution.
Posted: 9th, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, News, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho agrees to join Barcelona says one unimpeachable source
In football’s arms race, the Star says Barcelona will offer Liverpool £120m for Philippe Coutinho, 25. Is the Brazilian worth the money? Surely not. Indeed, the Sun counters the Star’s offer and says Barcelona believe they can get Liverpool’s bet player for £90m.
Oddly, the Star adds that Barcelona will also buy Chelsea’s Eden Hazard for around £100m. L’Equipe says Ousmane Dembele has agreed to join Barceloan from Borussia Dortmund for £90.2m. Oh,m and for reasons utterly unclear, Barcelona are also recruiting former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho, 29, from Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande, says.
And finally Bild reports that PSG’s Julian Draxler is also on his way to Barcelona.
Yeah, that’s what we thought – that £199 Barcelona got for Neymar is going a long way.
The story that stands out, though, is that of Liverpool’s Coutinho heading to Spain. Accordign to many news sources, it’s a done dead.
Metro July 26 – “Philippe Coutinho agrees deal to join Barcelona”
The Sun, July 16 – “KOP OUT Philippe Coutinho ‘agrees terms with Barcelona’ leaving club to thrash out £89million deal with Liverpool”
Daily Mail, July 16 – “Philippe Coutinho has agreed terms with Barcelona over a move to La Liga this summer”
Daily Express, August 2 – “PHILIPPE COUTINHO is trying to persuade Jurgen Klopp to let him join BarcelonaBrazilian a step closer to exit after agreeing contract with Catalan giants”
All those report stem from a story on Catalan Radio Station RAC1. It says, according to Spanish site Sport:
As reported by RAC1, Coutinho and Barcelona have everything agreed and now only need to negotiate the amount of transfer that would perceive Liverpool by the sale of Coutinho.
The story contains not a single quote. Which makes you wonder if it’s based on fact or hope. RAC1‘s story, written in Catalan, also contains not a single fact. It does, however, quote a source for its scoop. It’s, er, RAC1:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 7th, August 2017 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Chelsea website sees injustice as Arsenal win Community Shield
The football season is underway. Arsenal have beaten Chelsea to win the Community Shield on penalties. The game was largely flat and riddled with errors. And two incidents stand out. Chelsea’s Pedro was sent off for a “filthy challenge” (Times) on Arsenal’s Elneny. No argument there. And then there was the dive.
The Dive
In the first half, Chelsea’s Brazilian Willian was, says the BBC, “tripped by his own feet”. He fell in the box. Willian wanted a penalty. The referee gave him a yellow card for cheating.
What says the official Arsenal website? Nothing. There is, however, this message:
The Chelsea FC website.. Well, let’s wait a moment and first see what more mainstream media has to say on the incident.
The Telegraph:
PENALTY! NO! It’s a dive! That is very interesting. Willlian is onto a mistake by Bellerin, dribbles into the box and then trips himself up… Bellerin doesn’t touch him..
The Indy adds:
It looks as though he actually tripped over his own leg
The Guardian:
He…trips himself by kicking his own calf;
The Daily Mail:
Penalty to Chelsea? No! Instead Willian is booked for diving after evading a challenge from Bellerin and going to ground after clipping his own heels. Excellent decision from the referee.Reviewing the decision for BT Sport,
The Times:
Mark Clattenburg ruled simulation as Willian tripped himself up, his left leg coming over and catching his right.
And on Chelsea FC’s website?
Willian’s booking for simulation in the first half when replays suggested he had been fouled.
More looking at biased reporting throughout the season.
Posted: 6th, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Sports | Comment
Clickbait balls: Indy tricks Arenal fans in Alexis Sanchez story
This was the week when, according to the Daily Mirror, Alexis Sanchez would tell Arsenal he wanted to leave the club. It’s Saturday and today’s Alexis Sanchez news is that he has, reports the Indy, “set Arsenal a target if 85 points this season in order to challenge for the Premier League title”.
Is that what he said? No. He didn’t say anything. The Indy’s story is total and utter balls. It was Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s manger, who was talking to media. He opined:
“When you have made 75 points (last season), your target is to get 10 points more. And with 10 points more, you are in there (the title race).”
As reported in the Indy by Jack Austin
To recap: Sanchez did not set Arsenal a target. He has not pledge to stay at Arsenal, as the story strongly implies. Other than that, it’s correct.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 5th, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Who is Neymar’s lover? Tabloids haven’t a clue
Brazilian footballer Neymar Junior has moved from Barcelona to PSG, and the tabloids are looking for a love interest. Unable to find one, they instead rest their gaze upon 22-year-old Brazilian actress Bruna Marquezine, who used to date the player. Bruna has 21 million Instagram followers. Discovering her is akin to finding your own arse with both hands.
But the Sun is excited, declaring: “NEYMAR’S world-record Paris Saint-Germain move is not the only reason for fans to be excited.” PSG’s sex-starved fans will be frothing at the lips because in a city short of women Neymar’s former girlfriend Bruna “could follow her man to the City of Love”. This guesswork is cemented in the headline: “Who is Neymar’s girlfriend?” Indeed, who is she? She’s not Bruna Marquezine. One down. A few million more model /actresses to go and the Sun should find her.
After seeing a mere 17 photos of Bruna reaped from her Instagram page, Sun readers might be able to recognise her should she walk past them, but they won’t know anything about her. Toby Gannon’s dossier doesn’t even include her age! (She turned 22 yesterday.)
The Star invites its readers to “click through the gallery to see photos of Neymar’s gorgeous on-off girlfriend Bruna Marquezine”. The Evening Standard’s Fiona Simpson opts to simply rewrite history. The headline above her story boasts: “With the Brazilian set to join PSG, we take a look at the lady in his life”. She isn’t the lady in his life. They are not dating. Indeed, after illuminating her text with a few photos taken from Bruna’s social media accounts, Simpson quotes Neymar: “Me and Bruna are separated.”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 5th, August 2017 | In: Back pages, Celebrities, News, Sports | Comment
Arsenal owner bows to pressure and censors big game killing from his TV channel
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has bowed to pressure. The UK version of his bloodsports channel will not broadcast big-game hunting, an utterly barbaric and wholly sad hobby for psychopathic dentists. (Yes, I now that’s tautological, but you take the point.)
The UK version of subscription service MyOutdoorTV, run by Kroenke’s Sports and Entertainment, was to show footage of men and women dressed in camouflage gear posing with inedible animals they’ve killed for fun. Now you’ll only get to see Bob and Mary-Jo grinning next to dead rarer breeds in the US.
Kroenke spokesman Jim Liberatore says that “in light of the public interest” there’ll be lots of to-deadline deaths but not of any big-game animals. They’ll be shot off-camera, like Aintree horses and Celebrity Big Brother losers. “While many on both sides of this issue have made their voices heard,” adds Liberatore, “and this content is only available through paid subscriptions, Stan Kroenke has directed us to remove all content related to those animals in light of the public interest.”
Liberatore added some guff about Kroenke being there for animal welfare, in the way that Mr Toff is there to support foxes who if it weren’t for hunting would died of boredom and lack of exercise. “He has a decades-long track record of environmental stewardship,” Liberatore continues, “working with conservationists, hydrologists, microbiologists, and others to responsibly manage habitat and enhance wildlife preservation.”
You can just imagine the animals and birds camped outside Mr Kroenke’s fencing, waiting for the chance to leap inside and be cared for by his welfare state.
PS: Of course, if you’re stinking rich, as Kroenke is, and really love animals why not just buy a large swathe of land and leave them alone?
Posted: 4th, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, News, Sports, TV & Radio | Comment
Transfer balls: Monaco want Sanchez, Arsenal want Lemar, Barcelona pay Neymar’s dad earns more than Messi
More news on Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez, who has endured a busy summer in the media, joining Paris Saint Germain, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. He was on his way to Chelsea, definitely staying at Arsenal – who will sell him for £80m – and yesterday kissed the badge on his Arsenal shirt.
On Monday, the Daily Mirror told readers Sanchez would put in a transfer request this week. It’s Friday. He hasn’t.
Today’s news is that he could be on his way to Monaco. The French champions will bid £45m for the Chilean, says the Metro. The Express says Barcelona, rolling in filthy lucre since Neymar let for PSG, will try to bring Sanchez back to Spain. Incidentally, did you know that Neymar’s father has reaped more money from Barcelona in the last four years than Lionel Messi has? It’s true. And it illustrates just how over-hyped football is.
Meanwhile the Sun reasons that Monaco will use Arsenal’s interest in their midfielder, Thomas Lemar, “to try to tempt” the Gunners into lobbing Sanchez into a swap deal.
Unless they don’t.
Posted: 4th, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, News, Sports | Comment
Sanchez kisses the badge and stays at Arsenal
Alexis Sanchez has been training hard at Arsenal. And today he did the unthinkable: he kissed the badge.
.@Alexis_Sanchez with a cheeky kiss of the badge? 😘
The @Arsenal star appears in a jovial mood ahead of open training at the Emirates. #AFC pic.twitter.com/EufVJj2FFW
— Hayters Teamwork (@HaytersTeamwork) August 3, 2017
Might it be that Sanchez wants to remain at Arsenal, the club offering him £280,000 to extend his current contract? The Mirror says Sanchez” will tell Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger this week that he wants to join Manchester City.” But he hasn’t told him yet. And even if he does, Wenger’s non-plussed. “He is focused. My decision is clear, he will stay. He will accept that,” says Wenger. He adds: “The frame of mind of a footballer is quite easy – once you go out into the game, you focus on that.”
Posted: 3rd, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, News, Sports | Comment
Clickbait balls: Lemar’s Arsenal hint
What is the “hint” being “dropped ” by Monaco’s Thomas Lemar that he’s on his way to Arsenal? Has he been spotted signing contracts in Alexis Sanchez’s Paris hotel?
You click on The Metro’s scoop and are told: “Lemar liked a training picture of Lacazette with Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck posted by the striker on Tuesday.”
And? And nothing. Lacazette, the paper continues, “is good friends with Lemar”.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 2nd, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Alexis Sanchez was in Paris to get his UK work permit
You read the news that Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez has “agreed“a four-year contract with Paris Saint Germain? You read that the Arsenal player had been in Paris to meet with PSG reps? And like me you thought it odd that no-one had a photo of Sanchez in Paris. Now Sanchez is in London, training with – yep – Arsenal. But the Daily Mail has news: “Judgment Day: Wantaway Sanchez flies back to London ahead of return to Arsenal… but what was he doing with his lawyer in Paris?”
He was, er, agreeing to play for PSG?
The Mail doesn’t answer. It just notes that “his brief stop-off in France has led to some fans questioning whether PSG is his next destination, while Man City supporters are still hopeful he will arrive at the Etihad.”
Hie next destination turned out to be Arsenal. Which leaves us to wonder what Sanchez was doing in Paris, if it wasn’t to sign a contract with PSG? The Daily Telegraph explains:
Ruben Inostroza Povea, who is Sanchez’s lawyer, uploaded a picture of the pair preparing to leave Santiago airport, Chile, on Sunday evening.
Odd. The paper said he was already in Paris. But at least his time there was a photo to prove that he wasn’t. But why was Sanchez heading to the French capital?
According to Povea’s Instagram picture, the trip included a stopover in Paris, where the forward is thought to have renewed his British work permit.
Just like he did in 2014, when he first joined Arsenal.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 1st, August 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Key Posts, Manchester City, News, Sports | Comment
Manchester City balls: Ederson has Manchester United fans laughing in The Sun
When Manchester City spunked £34.9m on Ederson – a world-record fee for a goalkeeper – the Sun’s Martin Blackburn told readers that now Pep Guadiola’s team could play the passing game he oversaw as manager of an all-conquering Barcelona side. Ederson is known for his great range of passing and “enormous pinpoint delivery”. He is a “keeper who can launch it 75 yards on to a bottle top”.
Writes Blackburn:
Pep turned up at the Etihad and promptly dumped Joe Hart because he did not feel the England keeper was good enough outside the box.
Hart’s not all that good inside the box.
He persisted with Hart’s replacement, Chilean Claudio Bravo, despite a series of high-profile errors. No matter what happened, Guardiola refused to back down.
The 8th Rule of tabloid journalism dictates an on-off existence. Pep is either extraordinarily clever and prescient or a man more stubborn than an enormous turnip. So it is that when faced with the hapless Bravo, dumb Pep stuck with him through thin and thinner. Or did he? Because one newspaper told us otherwise:
BRAVO, CLAUDIO Claudio Bravo dropped by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola: Here is why he is officially the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League – January 30, 2017
Pep Guardiola has explained his decision to drop Claudio Bravo in the Manchester City goal and replace him with Willy Caballero – February 1, 2017
Manchester City prepared to axe flop goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and replace him with Benfica’s Ederson Moraes – February 2, 2017
That paper was – of course – the Sun.
And how great was Ederson just over a week ago?
Ederson has nightmare debut and is already being compared to flop Claudio Bravo – July 21, 2017
You can read about “dodgy” Ederson giving City fans “a sense of deja vu”, causing “United supporters to gloat on Twitter as the £35million signing ensured Pep Guardiola’s choice of goalkeeper will remain a contentious issue next season” in the consistent Sun.
Posted: 1st, August 2017 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, Sports, Tabloids | Comment (1)
Arsenal go trophy hunting with guns: club’s owner launches bloodsports channel
“What’s the best hunting channel on the telly?” is a question most of us are asked. It might be the Outdoor Sportsman Group, a online bloodsports broadcaster owned by Stan Kroenke, a man with a profile lower than a sniper shitting in a foxhole. Kroenke’s name is familiar to football fans because he owns the biggest slice of shares in Arsenal FC. TV’s Ben Fogle, an “ambassador” for the World Wildlife Foundation, has noticed that and because he disapproves of hunting wants Arsenal fans to boycott the club.
Two things have possibly escaped Fogle’s view: Arsenal fans support a football club not Stan Kroenke Inc. The club is called The Gunners, nicknamed because the foundering members met – get this – in a munitions factory. They didn’t make stuff to shoot animals; the made guns to shoot people.
For those of you not au fait with Kroenke’s snuff TV for exotic breeds, the Times, which says Arsenal fans are “furious” over this, tells us:
My Online TV (MOTV) offers viewers the chance to see thousands of hunting shows, for a subscription of $9.99 (£7.60) a month, including one show that depicts a huntress shooting an antelope with a bow and arrow and men chasing bears in America with dogs…
In one episode a middle-aged man with a Smith & Wesson pistol shoots an adult lion beneath a tree. “It felt good, you know,” he says. “This is the most exciting hunt I have ever been on.”
Do we care that the armed pillock is middle aged and that the lion was adult? The average Londoner will find it odd that a man of any age would spend thousands of pounds travelling to Africa to off a big cat. But if it’s his idea of fun and freedom, and all the adults in this tableaux of guns and gore are consenting – no complaint from the lion nor his lawyers – who are we to judge? Football boots are still made from leather, the burgers for sale at Arsenal on match days are made from ‘meat’ and it’s unlikely any Arsenal season ticket holder will pay good money to watch animals being killed on Abattoir TV or whatever the show’s called and feel inspired to shot and mount fans of Millwall (nickname: The Lions), Leicester (The Foxes) or Tigers (Hull City).
Philippa King, chief operating officer of the League Against Cruel Sports, says Mr Kroenke had scored a “massive own goal… We’re living in a world now where most people can see how brutal and shameful trophy hunting is, yet the Arsenal boss is choosing to launch his sick TV channel in the UK.”
Trophy hunting is indeed shameful. Just look at how Arsenal celebrate winning the FA Cup when the really big prizes remain well out of reach. They shoot! They come that close…
Transfer balls: Arsenal offer Alexis Sanchez £300,000 a week one year deal and other tall stories
What news of Alexis Sanchez, the Chilean footballer last seen cradling the dog that most likely ate his homework when the Arsenal player was a lad? Is the Chilean as ill as she claims to be? That question to Arsenal manger, Arsene Wenger, who replies:
“Your job is to be suspicious. Your job is built on mistrust and my job is built on trust. That’s why I prefer my side… I had him [Sanchez] on text yesterday, he will come back as soon as possible. We were in touch with him and his doctor. There is no basic problem.
“He comes back on Tuesday. I cannot reveal what he says to me. I cannot reveal a secret conversation. He is flying back as soon as he is in position to fly back. He has flu, that is normally four to five days.”
The Sun gives its readers the side eye:
but the facts are the facts. Sanchez is returning to Arsenal and will not be old, something Wenger has stated previously. To date the frenzied press have spotted Sanchez in Paris, where he was meeting with PSG reps in Paris before agreeing a four-year contract, talking in code, met with Manchester City’s reps in London, was on his way to Chelsea, is definitely staying at Arsenal – who will sell him for £80m – and was on his way to live his “dream” and play for Bayern Munich.
Today the Mirror publish more total balls. The paper brings news of a “new twist in the Alexis Sanchez saga”.
The twist is:
Alexis Sanchez will tell Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger this week that he wants to join Manchester City.
How do we know this? We’re not told.
And, as exclusively revealed by Sunday Mirror Sport, he has priced himself out of moves to Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain by demanding £400,000 a week.
This would be the same Mirror newspaper that has told its readers:
Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez finalises deal to join Manchester City in blockbuster summer transfer signing – June 10, 2017
Bayern Munich prepared to make Alexis Sanchez their highest paid-player with £350,000-a-week offer – June 8, 2017
Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez targeted by super rich Inter Milan as “poster boy” of new era at San Siro – July 10, 2017
Arsenal transfer news and rumours: Paris Saint-Germain preparing £35million Alexis Sanchez bid? – July 30, 2017
So much for the Mirror’s scoops. And let’s not forget their news that Wenger has quite the club:
The paper adds today:
Wenger insists his star striker will not be sold – even for £50m, with less than 12 months left on his contract. Arsenal are preparing a compromise deal, with the offer of a one-year contract at £300,000 a week and a promise to review the situation next summer.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 30th, July 2017 | In: Arsenal, News, Sports | Comments (3)
Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez is sick, grasping and pathetic – no wonder they all want him
Good news for those of you who hate football? The domestic season is yet to begin and already a player is doing a great impression of a grasping, unlovely git. Arsenal’s wantaway striker Alexis Sanchez, easily the side’s best player, has posted an photo of himself being ill. He’s not chucking up or in radiotherapy. He’s wearing a scarf indoors, cradling a dog and pulling the kind of face a spoilt brat uses when their over-indulging parent says ‘No more cake’. His agent says he has the flu.
Alexis Sanchez turns 9 29 in December.
I love the game but modern football is a hyped sport brimful of grasping berks.
The problem for Arsenal is that rampaging Sanchez scores goals. And when you overlook all the posting and pouting, that’s a rather useful quality.
Posted: 29th, July 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Bale joins Manchester United is a recurring fantasy
Transfer balls: questioned by Real Madrid’s official website, the club’s manager Zinedine Zidane was asked if Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo (the so-called ‘BBC’) were likely to remain.
“I hope the BBC stay for this season,” he replied. “I hope everyone remains. I want everyone who is here now to stay…but anything can happen right up until August 31.”
On the chance of Kylian Mbappe joining Real, Zidane added: “I’m the coach here and you’d have to ask someone else about that. We’re working on things and we’ll see what happens. We’ve got the players who are here now and we’ll just have to see what happens.”
All coy stuff, then. But stick it through the tabloid mincer and you get:
That follows the Daily Express’s news of July 19 2017:
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale has secret agreement to join Man Utd next summer
And there was the Manchester Evening News story of May 8 2017:
Gareth Bale has agreed to join Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford next season, should the club be able to guarantee involvement in next season’s elite European competition by winning the Europa League .
The story of Bale to United is a familiar one. In November 2015, the Sun said Bale was heading to Old Trafford and Real were in “crisis”. Bale never came. Real went on to win the Champions League.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 28th, July 2017 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Sanchez agrees Manchester City and PSG as Arsenal wait
Transfer balls: a look at dire, questionable and clickbait-led football reporting.
Compare and contrast the following headlines in The Sun:
July 27, 2017: “HEART SET ON CITY – PSG drop interest in Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal star wants to join Manchester City this summer”
July 21, 2017 – “Alexis Sanchez in Paris hotel as Arsenal star reportedly arrives for talks with PSG”
On July 26, the Sun said: “Sanchez has been demanding a whopping wage packet of around £300,000-a-week.” In the earlier report, the Sun says Arsenal have offered Sanchez £275,000 a week – which is not all that far off his latest demands.
On July 6, the Sun said Sanchez was asking for a whole lot more:
So much for the facts in the Sun, which produced not a single photo of Sanchez in Paris. But if you want really terrible reporting, the Metro trawls on. According to the Metro, Sanchez has already agreed to join PSG…
Alexis Sanchez agrees four-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain
…and Manchester City:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 27th, July 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal clickbait balls: Wenger gone and Ozil is buried in the Gunners’ (wooden) box
In recent days the Sun’s Neil Ashton has told Arsenal fans that Mesut Ozil is staying at the club (proof: the German Ashton said wasn’t worth “two bob” has renewed his box at the Emirates), Chelsea have been “beaten” Arsenal to £50m Virgil Van Van Dijk (proof: none) and Hector Bellerin will remain at Arsenal (proof: nothing to say that he won’t).
The question is: do these players all know Arsenal are dead? It’s not Arsenal fans burying the club – a group Ashton says “are only ever one defeat away from another meltdown” – it’s Ashton, who opined;
‘ARSENAL Football Club, Rest In Peace. This institution, one of the most famous clubs in the world, is dead and buried. Here at the Emirates, the heart finally stopped beating.’
“So it’s goodnight Arsenal. Goodbye Arsene,” said Ashton after Arsenal were thrashed by Bayern Munich.
Proof to the contrary: Arsenal live on. Arsene Wenger is manager.
It”s almost as if football writers just churn stuff out to fill a space.
Posted: 27th, July 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, News, Sports | Comments (2)
Conor McGregor wears the jersey of the NBA player who slept with Mayweather’s wife
Conor McGregor v Floyd Mayweather is worth the admission fee. My money’s on the American. But in the build up McGregor is putting in the big hits:
It reminds me of the when Muhammad Ali took on Sonny Liston. McGregor is cast in the role of Ali:
David Remnick explains:
Fury and confusion. Sonny Liston was a very simple man, intellectually limited, and this drove him crazy. He was a great and powerful fighter. He thought he would have no trouble with this guy who fought like Sugar Ray Robinson. He danced around the ring, which, you know, was a bit fey for a heavyweight, after all. And Cassius Clay, who was fearful of Sonny Liston in his heart because he knew how powerful he was – he had seen what he had done to Floyd Patterson – wanted to find a way to get to his mind, to unnerve him. To scare him. To make him second-guess. To think really, that he was crazy because the one thing that Sonny Liston couldn’t deal with was somebody who was nuts. Always in prison – where Sonny Liston had spent some time – the person you never dealt with, the person you always avoided was the crazy man. That’s what you avoided.
And so – and Cassius Clay knew that. I’m calling him Clay now, because that’s who he was at the time. And Clay did things like, you know, drive his bus to Sonny Liston’s house in the middle of the night, at 3 o’clock in the morning, run up to the door, and start pounding on the door screaming and yelling and acting like an insane person. And Sonny Liston would come out on the lawn in his shorty bathrobe not knowing what to make of this guy. And it really unnerved him. And Clay and then Ali did it over and over and over again. And the one thing Sonny Liston couldn’t deal with was a madman. But for Clay, of course, it was all by design.
And the most famous instance of it was the weigh-in before the first fight. The weigh-in, Cassius Clay comes in and starts screaming and yelling. Usually these are routine performances in which you really don’t do anything other than get weighed and flex your muscles and get the hell out of there. He’s screaming and yelling – I’m going to destroy him – and he’s jumping at Liston. It was the most amazing performance, and Sonny Liston went into that ring thinking he was dealing with a nut.
After reading that I’m less sure about Mayweather walking it. McGregor’s got chutzpah. It might just carry him through.
Transfer Balls: Neymar to Manchester United, Ronaldo’s secret PSG message and clickbait
Transfer Balls: a look at clickbait-led football reporting. The Sun has news on Neymar’s rumoured desire to leave Barcelona to join PSG.
DON’T DO IT. Cristiano Ronaldo tells Neymar not to join Paris Saint-Germain – and wait for Manchester United if he really wants to quit Barcelona
Ronaldo played for Manchester United until he followed his heart and joined Real Madrid. So did he really tell Neymar via WhatsApp to avoid PSG, France’s second best team, and wait to join United, the Premier League’s sixth best side?
The report continues:
Spanish title Diariogol have reported the two superstars have been in close contact discussing Neymar’s proposed £195million move to PSG…
But Neymar should hold out for Manchester United because joining PSG would be a “step backwards”?
And though Ronaldo has told his friend to push for a move to United instead, the Premier League club may already have decided to move on from trying to sign him.
Over on Diariogol, there is not a single quote to support the story. But it’s enough for the Manchester Evening News to thunder: “Cristiano Ronaldo tells Neymar to join Manchester United.” The MEN cites “reports in Spain”. But there’s only one report, and it’s very light on facts.
Meanwhile, readers might recall how not too long ago the British press was reporting Ronaldo’s desire to join…PSG:
And:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 24th, July 2017 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
