Yaya Toure and his agent Dimitri Seluk to donate £100,000 to help the victims of the attack in Manchester last night
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.
Arsenal balls: Arsene Wenger and the Daily Mirror’s fake news (scoops)
It was a busy season for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The Daily Mirror and its reporter John Cross have been at the forefront of Wenger contract news. And the paper’s clear message was that he wasn’t going to sign one. The paper knew. Wenger was out! And then he signed a new deal keeping him at the club for two more years. It’s not fake news. It’s possibly true:
Daily Mirror – John Cross – August 23 2016 – “Boss Wenger will celebrate 20 years in charge of the Gunners at the start of October and there is a growing feeling that he will stand down when his contract expires at the end of this season.”
Daily Mirror – John Cross – Feb 3 2017 – “Arsenal fans’ abuse nudging hurt Arsene Wenger towards the exit THIS summer”
Daily Mirror – John Cross – 16 Feb 2017: “Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger IS set to leave in the summer following shattering Bayern Munich defeat”
Daily Mirror – John Cross, March 2 – “Arsene Wenger gives another clear hint he’s ready to leave Arsenal this summer”
Daily Mirror – John Cross – March 7 – “Arsene Wenger’s position is now untenable after Arsenal suffer another sorry European capitulation”
Daily Mirror – March 19 – Arsene Wenger set to STAY at Arsenal — even if they miss the Champions League for first time under him
Daily Mirror – John Cross, April 10 – “It seems unthinkable Arsenal will give him a new contract. Time to go, Arsene. Arsenal cannot possibly put their supporters through another two years of this”
Daily Mirror – John Cross, May 10 – “Arsene Wenger could still leave Arsenal this summer – there are various factors at play”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 1st, June 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Kroenke ‘orders’ the title as Wenger goes back to the future
Arsenal fans rejoice! Arsenal’s board have “ordered” (Sun) Arsene Wenger to win “a major trophy in the next two years”. “NOW WIN THE TITLE!” barks the Mail’s back page. “Arsenal lay down law to Wenger after new £16m deal.”
The Daily Star says under Wenger the Gunners have not won the Premier League since 2004 – true enough – and “not had success in Europe during the Frenchman’s 21 year reign”.
Under Wenger, Arsenal were beaten finalists in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup and the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League final. They qualified for the Champions’ League for 20 seasons running. Whilst not stella stuff, Wenger has always billed qualification to the Champions League as akin to winning a cup. You only need to see the joy on Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s face to know how a top-four finish can define a season. Wenger’s regime does not represent decades of failure.
Over in the Express, readers see Stan Kroenke,”the man with the money behind Arsenal”. That rather makes it seem that the American billionaire has bankrolled the club. He says: “Our ambition is to win the Premier League and other major trophies in Europe… Arsene is the best person to make that happen.” He is? Kroenke has been Arsenal’s majority shareholder since 2011. He’s never seen Arsenal win the title under his ownership and Wenger’s management, let alone come all that close to doing so. So why does he think it will happen next season? Because he’s “ordered” it and made it part of Wenger’s new two-year deal?
As the i points out, Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis hailed Wenger’s new contract by talking about “pushing forward”, “evolving” and “looking forward”. But do Arsenal fans believe Wenger represents the future more than Klopp, Mourinho, Pochettino, Conte and Guardiola, the managers whose sides Wenger’s Arsenal need to beat?
Readers hear from Wenger in the Mirror, who tells fans. “Let’s be together to support our players, to support the club and all give our absolute best to be at the level that we want to be. We can move up to the next level.”
Arsenal finished fifth last season. They qualified for the Europa League. The next level might well be fourth followed by a shaky Champions League campaign.
It’s plus ca change at the Emirates.
Posted: 1st, June 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Alexis Sanchez takes Bayern Munich pay cut and joins Manchester City
Transfer Balls: The summer is shaping up into a big one at Arsenal. Much news will revolve around Alexis Sanchez, now in the final year of his Arsenal contract. Is he staying or not? Here’s a round-up of today’s news:
The Times: “Wenger stays but Sánchez wants to leave Arsenal.”
Sánchez’s contract expires in 12 months but he is determined to force his way out of the club this summer to join Bayern Munich…
Sánchez has attracted firm interest from Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern in recent months, with the Bundesliga champions his preferred destination.
But he won’t go there unless she takes a cut in his wages.
Bayern Munich cannot match Alexis Sanchez’s wage demands and have all but given up hope of signing the Arsenal star, giving Manchester City a free run at his signature
So Sanchez is off to play for Manchester City. Right?
The Express: ” Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to leave Arsenal as Arsene Wenger signs two-year contract”
Arsenal have been attempting to convince Sanchez and Ozil to commit their long-term future for at least a year. Express Sport understands the club are ready to pay as much as £300,000-a-week to keep them. But no agreement has been reached with the duo and they are now entering the final year of their contract.
Wrong. Arsenal and Sanchez are talking. Or as Manchester City’s local newspaper puts it:
Manchester Evening News: “Man City director travels to London to sign Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez”
But hold on:
Daily Telegraph: “Arsenal prepare contract offers to make Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil highest-paid players in club’s history”
There has been more outside interest in Sanchez, who ended the season with 30 goals and his situation is being monitored by Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Juventus and Chelsea. Sanchez, though, likes it in London and Arsenal hope that he might be willing to commit for an extension of two years until 2020. That would give him the option of moving at a stage in his career when he is still likely to interest the very elite of Europe.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 31st, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comments (2)
Arsenal balls: Wenger stays beyond his leaving date
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has signed a new two-year contract. Wenger’s contract was set to finish at the end of the current season. The man who never breaks a contract will be at Ashburton Grove until 2019.
The Daily Mirror makes the Wenger deal its lead sports story:
Or as the Mirror previously scooped:
He never was going to leave the club. Wenger’s an obsessive. Arsenal is his place and he wants to stay there.
Posted: 31st, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
FA Cup Final Media Bias: Arsenal ignore Sanchez’s handball, Chelsea miss Costa’s lucky shot and Moses’ dive
Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in today’s FA Cup Final. The better team won. But how do the clubs’ respective websites report on the game? Is there much bias in the reporting?
The Alexis Sanchez Goal:
The first Arsenal goal appeared to feature an accidental handball in the build up.
We made the sort of start you dream about making in an FA Cup final – taking the lead through Alexis after he raced on to a ball that deflected off him and beat Thibaut Courtois.
Alexis Sanchez netted a controversial opener, that could have been disallowed for either handball or offside, very early on, and it was the Gunners who looked the more likely to add to their lead before the break.
Arsenal:
It came in slightly strange circumstances as Alexis received the ball outside the area, and tried to lift the ball over the Chelsea defence to the onrushing Ramsey. But his pass was blocked, hitting the Chilean before spinning up over the backline.
The offside Ramsey made sure not to touch the ball, and Alexis raced on to the ball before slotting it under Thibaut Courtois and into the bottom corner. The assistant referee immediately raised his flag, but after a brief consulatation referee Anthony Taylor allowed the goal to stand, to the delight of the vociferous Arsenal fans.
The Islington Gazette, Arsenal’s local paper, makes no mention of any handball.
The Dive:
And what of Victor Moses’ dive? The Chelsea player tried to con the referee into awarding his team a penalty? His cheating earned him an early bath.
Chelsea FC: “On 68 minutes, Moses was shown a second yellow card for simulation as he drove in to the box from wide on the right.”
Diego Costa’a goal?
Diego Cost scored for Chelsea. His shot took a deflection off an Arsenal player’s leg, wrong footing the Gunners’ ‘keeper who, nonetheless, should have saved it.
Arsenal: “It was frustrating for the Gunners, who had defended to well until that point but they could do nothing as the ball fell to the Spain international in the area and he prodded the ball into the bottom corner.”
Chelsea: “Willian came on and we switched to a 4-4-1 formation. It was the Brazilian who was heavily involved in our equaliser. He took a pass from Hazard infield and crossed to Diego Costa, who chested, took his time and smashed his effort into the ground and beyond the dive of Ospina. 1-1!”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 27th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United’s £300m splurge
Transfer Balls: a look at iffy football transfer reporting. The Daily Mail says Manchester United have targeted “Antoine Griezmann, Andrea Belotti, Romelu Lukaku and Michael Keane in a £300m summer spree”.
That’s spending big. Ian Ladyman has the facts and figures. Or rather, he doesn’t. What he tells readers of which players Jose Mourinho wants at Manchester United is:
There are likely to be four. Burnley defender Michael Keane will be one, with the Lancashire club wanting £30million for the United old boy, while Mourinho wants the Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann to be his stellar signing.
Who else?
Do not be surprised if Marcus Rashford ponders a request to go out on loan, meanwhile. The chances are quite slim of the 19-year-old England striker playing in his favoured position once somebody such as Griezmann arrives.
And that’s it. The headline figure of £300m is fabricated. Ladyman mentions two players, whose combined transfer fees would register around £120m. The other £180m is made up of a sub-editor lobbing in the names Andrea Belotti and Romelu Lukaku.
And because the media works in a continual voracious feeding frenzy, what one newspaper prints the others copy. The Sun duly thunders:
QUIDS IN FOR JOSE Manchester United target Antoine Griezmann, Romelu Lukaku, Michael Keane, Andrea Belotti and Eric Dier in staggering £200m-plus transfer spree.
Five players!
The Sun tells readers:
According to The Times, up to £200million has been set aside as Mourinho looks to continue rebuilding the struggling squad he inherited from Louis van Gaal.
But over there, the Times only mentions three players – “Griezmann, Dier, Keane in £200m spree”.
The trick is to get the names one source makes an educated guess at and then add another and round the price tag up to the nearest £100m.
Posted: 26th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester City balls: Daily Mail betrays Jesus and milks the carnage
Having heard that Manchester City players have given generously to the victims of the Manchester bomb, the Mail delivers a story that casts a shadow over the club. “Jesus returns to his native Brazil following Manchester terrorist attack,” states the paper.
Suggestive much?
Is there a link between his return to Brazil and the horror? Has he run away? A click on the link and we read beneath one of the story’s photo: “The Brazil international’s apartment is just metres away from the Manchester Arena.”
And then we get to the actual story – the one reported by ESPN on Monday. Jesus says – and this through Google Translate:
“Everybody is helping me here, [Brazilian teammates] Fernandinho, Fernando, but the club as well. They help my family, my friends that are here with me.
“I’m missing my mum a little, she is in Brazil with my brothers and nephews. But, when she is happy, I am too. This week we will meet and end this feeling.”
There’s no mention of the atrocity at all in his interview. Which is odd because the Mail’s headline suggested a clear link between Jesus’ movements and the massacre on his doorstep. Why didn’t he mention the carnage? Because he had already made his plans to fly to Brazil earlier and had spoked to ESPN on May 21st – one day before the explosion!
Posted: 24th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Manchester City and Manchester United players dig deep for the city’s victims
Manchester City pair Pablo Zabaleta and Yaya Toure have donated a lot of money to the relief effort following the attack in Manchester Arena.
The Sun says:
Zabaleta showed just why he is so respected as a man across the city […] by donating £90,000 from his final match fee.
Meanwhile, Toure did likewise…
Seluk later told Sky Sports News:
The news an eight-year-old girl went to see her favourite singer and didn’t return home is too much to bear.
Yaya and I want to help. We talked this morning about what happened and he asked me what he thought we could do.
We have agreed to donate £50,000 each to help the victims of this terrible crime. It doesn’t matter whether the victims are from Manchester or not.
Those of us lucky enough to work every day in football can do so because of the generosity of fans across the world.
Yaya is from Cote D’Ivoire, I am Russian. It doesn’t matter. Today is a chance for those of us in football to help out.
Former Manchester Untied player Phil Neville had a van-load of food delivered to a local children’s hospital after hearing their supplies were running low.
Brilliant.
Posted: 24th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: ‘Sanchez damaged Gunners by training on his day off’ – Keown
“PRIMA GUNNERS,” accuses the Sun on Tuesday. “Keown blasts over-indulged Alexis and Ozil.”
Gunner-turned pundit Martin Keown has a view on Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. They damaged Arsenal with their behaviour, says Martin. What did they do? And did they do it worse than Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi or Kieran Gibbs?
“It became about Ozil and Sanchez for too long in the season. Their behaviour let Arsenal down in that period,” says Keown. “Sanchez is a difficult man to manage off the pitch. I was at the training ground on one of his days off and he suddenly turned up and was bouncing around the training pitch.”
The nutcase turned up on a day off and trained. The selfish, useless c…!
“They were having to facilitate him and put a training session on for him,” Keown continues. “It’s not necessarily about you as a player – you have to fit in as well with the group.”
Maybe if all the other Arsenal played trained on their days off, the Gunners might have done better?
As for Ozil, says Martin:
“If I was playing in some of the games when Ozil doesn’t get a perfect pass, I would have been in his ear telling him my bit. ”
Ready? It’s going to be long break in play as Martin critiques his team-mate mid-match:
“I’d have said, ‘I’m trying to give the ball to you, don’t disrespect me in the way you do when I don’t get the ball to you. And how about you working just as hard out of possession as I’m working out of possession? I can’t ever get close to the creativity you can create but I want you to work hard when we are not in possession – because we’re not quite good enough to win things without every single player applying himself in possession and out of possession.'”
Why can’t Ozil be more like Keown? Answer in the form of a long ball into the cheap seats.
Posted: 23rd, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Manchester City balls: Leroy Sané has lrage tattoo of Leroy Sané
Isn’t vanity great. Manchester City’s Leroy Sané is so keen on himself his back is covered in a large tattoo of Leroy Sané. You can see his face from he back. Who needs shirt numbers?
Spotter: @_MattColeman
Posted: 22nd, May 2017 | In: Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Wenger’s hubris gets just rewards
One day we will know what happened in December 2016 that destroyed Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League. Having failed to qualify for the Champions’ League for the first time in 20 years (during which Arsenal have been champions just three times; a fact that tells you a lot about that inflated competition’s credentials), the team’s manager, Arsene Wenger, tells talkSport:
“We were a force this year until December, fighting for the championship [but] after we dropped off. I will say one day the real reason behind that…”
Was it something to do with the death of Indian economist Sulabha Brahme, 84, who passed away on December 1? Did that bring Mesut Ozil to a standstill? What about the murder of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, who was shot dead on December 19? Did that put lead in Francis Coquelin’s boots? Or did it all go wrong when Toyah returned to Coronation Street?
Or was it something to do with losing matches? In December Arsenal lost 2-1 to Everton and 2-1 to Manchester City in back-to-back away defeats. The Everton game was very close, with Arsenal having shots twice saved off the line in the game’s dying moments; and in the Manchester City match they were hard done by when the referee allowed two goals that could both have been ruled out for offside – City’s second was egregious. But in each match Arsenal only scored one goal. Not enough.
Maybe something else happened – something extraordinary and uniquely damaging? Wenger’s pretty good at saying one day he will reveal all. On buying Danny Welbeck in 2014, he said: “I will tell you that story one day.” Why so mysterious? Is it hubris, gnostic or self-serving balls?
And what about what else Wenger told us today? He added:
“I believe since January we have played in a very difficult environment for different reasons.
“Some you know about and that’s very difficult for a group of players to cope with that – and some other reasons we will talk about on another day.”
Tell us now. Go on.
“Psychologically the atmosphere was absolutely horrendous. It has been difficult, yes, and certainly my personal situation has contributed to that but you can never question my professionalism or commitment.”
What happened was that after 19 matches of a 38-game Premier League season, Arsenal were nine points behind leader’s Chelsea. After 38 matches, they are 18 points behind Chelsea, the champions. Arsenal never were in contention. As Roy Keane put it when Arsenal were annihilated by Bayern Munich in the Champions’ League, “Well, what did you expect?”
We expected Arsenal to be league also-rans and enjoy a good FA Cup run playing bouts of incisive football punctuated by moments of abject, laughable ineptitude. It wasn’t a season of disappointment for Gunners’ fans. It was season of complete predictability. Wenger will tell us all abut it one day – and that nine seasons of the same that preceded it.
Posted: 21st, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Key Posts, Sports | Comment
Arsenal want to be like Chelsea but with the history and without the debt
On the BBC website, you can read Gunners’ “legend”, BBC pundit and financial wizard Ian Wright’s views that Arsenal “need a billionaire like Alisher Usmanov to move forward”. What business doesn’t need a billionaire investor to progress? Such people are undoubtedly handy.
Usmanov, described by the BBC as “Metal magnate Alisher Usmanov” – the metal perhaps being Teflon-coated gold – owns 30% of Arsenal shares. Wright has heard that Usmanov wants to buy-out Arsenal’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke – a man nicknamed ‘Silent Stan’ presumably on account of him boasting a profile lower than a steamrolled spoon and not because his favourite chant is “Can you hear the Arsenal sing? No-oo. No-oo.”
Wright tells BBC Radio 5 live: “Something has to change, whether it is the manager Arsene Wenger or whether it is the board upstairs… They may be out of the Champions League – something they are not used to – and they have to beat one of the best Chelsea sides I have seen for a long time in the FA Cup final to try and get something from the season.”
Don’t fans accept that their team’s fortunes fluctuate?
“Abramovich is a winner,” adds Wright of the Chelsea owner who bought the Blues in 2003. “Stan Kroenke sees it as another asset. If you look at all his other franchises, they are doing the same. They are mediocre, with poor attendances and aren’t achieving anything as a team. That is where Arsenal are at the moment. We need an owner like Abramovich, who wants to win. I would swap Arsenal’s last 10 years for what Chelsea have done.”
It might be worth looking at what people said when Abramovich arrived at Chelsea. As of May 2014, Abramovich’s interest-free loan to Chelsea stood at £1,041,243,000. These quotes are from 2003:
Chelsea fan to the BBC: “I think it’s disgraceful because I always thought that Ken Bates was Mr Chelsea.”
Former sports minister Tony Banks: “I want to know whether this individual is a fit and proper person to be taking over a club like Chelsea. Until that question is answered, then I’m afraid the jury is out. A sale has been arranged to an individual we know nothing about.”
David Pottinger on BBC Radio 606: “I fear for the future of Chelsea, especially with all the debts.”
Ramon Min on Voetel Int:
This is good news for Chelsea, but I don’t know about the rest of Europe. Dutch clubs are used to letting their players move on to ‘bigger’ clubs when they are ready, but if more teams like Chelsea are going to have the same financial clout as, for example, Real Madrid and Manchester United, then players will go abroad at an earlier age. That’s obviously not good for Dutch football or its fans as the standard of our own league will drop. And while money is often good news, it can also create a lot of problems. You have to be very careful when you have so much. Chelsea could go for someone like the Ajax player Rafael van der Vaart, who is young and exciting, but then the fans are going to demand success when so much has been spent. My guess is that they will go for experienced players who will win things quickly.
The Guardian: “Roman Abramovich’s buyout of Chelsea almost certainly rescued the club from having to default on a £75m loan that would have plunged it into financial crisis.”
And Arsenal today – are they like Chelsea before Abramovich arrived?
Newsweek (April 2017):
Arsenal’s cash reserves are pretty high and of course Arsene Wenger has got this reputation of being quite frugal when it comes to player investment. What people forget is of all the costs associated with running a football club like Arsenal. They have to budget for around £30 million worth of debt servicing. That comes out of those cash balances. So when people talk about a £100 million war chest, you’re immediately saying well that’s £100 million minus £30 [million]. But that doesn’t get reported enough, basically. [In Arsenal’s Annual Report from 2015-16, Keswick noted cash reserves of £226.5 million, reduced to £149 million. Arsenal’s debt service reserve balance, the cash it stores to ensure it will not default on interest payments of around £15 million per season for Emirates Stadium until 2031, stood at £35.4 million].
Arsenal have still got £232.6 million worth of debt on their balance sheet [according to 2015-16 accounts].
The numbers are huge in football’s arms race.
Posted: 20th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Alisher Usmanov bids to oust Stan Kroenke and build Chelsea Mark II
Into the Anorak inbox is dropped news that Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has made a $1.3bn bid to buy out his rival shareholder, ‘Silent Stan Kroenke, and take control of the club. In 2013, the Sunday Times Rich List crowned Usmanov Britain’s wealthiest person. The very rich like buying up swatches of London real estate. So why not buy a stadiumand football club ? If the football fails you can always put a roof on the place and use it as a vault.
The FT:
Mr Usmanov, a metals magnate who owns 30 per cent of Arsenal, conveyed the offer in a letter to Stan Kroenke, the US sports mogul, who controls a 67 per cent stake. The approach, made last month, valued the club at $2bn. Mr Kroenke has yet to formally respond.
He is understood not to have dismissed the idea out of hand at first. However, he has since informally indicated he is not interested in selling to Mr Usmanov or anyone else. “Two weeks ago, I thought something could realistically happen. Now I am not so sure,” a person close to the situation said.
Arsenal fans can only marvel at how the club they’ve supported has been transformed into a brand for billionaires to play with.
It might be worth harking back to what Chelsea fans said when another Russian, one Roman Abramovich, bought the club in 2003:
David Mellor. The disgraced former government minister was cautiously optimistic about the new Russian-backed regime. “What I think that we have to hope, as Chelsea fans, is the kind of investment that is being talked of will give Chelsea a good run-out in the Champions League,” Mellor, once the chairman of the Football Task Force, said.
“This is a power-play by an extremely wealthy man and, as far as he is concerned, Chelsea, with their entrance into the Champions League, is a fitting vehicle for his ambitions. If money can buy success, there is a fair chance that Chelsea might achieve.”
…
Tony Banks, the Labour MP, perhaps taking a lead from Tony Blair, was considering the more global implications of a Russian revolution in the Chelsea Village. “We need to know rather more about Roman Abramovich before saying this is a good deal,” Banks said. “Russia is not settled politically or economically and lots of questions are asked about the rigours applied in Russian business.”
Plus ca change.
Posted: 19th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: James Rodriguez to Manchester United is a dead cert – place your bets!
Transfer Balls: Is James Rodriguez on his way to Manchester United? Is the player not good enough to start for Real Madrid for more than two matches in a row good enough for Manchester United?
On May 16, the Daily Mail said a deal has been agreed. “James Rodriguez ‘agrees’ Manchester United transfer,” said the paper.
Why the Mail saw a need to couch the agreement in inverted commas is odd because the story begins with a statement of fact: “James Rodriguez’s summer move to Manchester United will be confirmed following the Champions League final next month.”
In a second story, this time about Real Madrid replacing Rodriguez with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, the Mail confirmed the news: “The 25-year-old Madrid signed for £60million in 2014, and who is represented by Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes, had agreed terms with Manchester United.”
And then the facts got a little murky. Sky Sports reported on May 15:
“European Paper Talk: Has James Rodriguez played his last game for Real Madrid?”
Dunno. Because Marca then told its readers on May 18:
“After missing the match against Celta, James Rodriguez has recovered from his ankle injury and will be available for Real Madrid’s last LaLiga game against Malaga on Sunday.”
And then in two stories dated May 16 Sky mused:
“European Paper Talk: Real Madrid set James Rodriguez asking price”
“Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez offered to Man Utd”
Offered to United? But the deal has been agreed. Or as the Indy puts it:
“Under Zinedine Zidane this season, Rodriguez has not once played more than two consecutive games for Real and United are, quite frankly, not interested in the 25-year-old…”
Football 365 picked up the scent of the betting companies feeding off the rumours.
There is no issue with those headlines, and Sky Sports were hardly alone in running them, but when partner Sky Bet then offers odds on James Rodriguez joining Manchester United, it’s not hard to see how those headlines might persuade the public to part with their money.
Is it news of is it PR for the betting industry?
Says 365:
Fast forward further and most reports on Wednesday morning now say that Rodriguez is not close to a move to Manchester United, that no offer is being made by United and that claims he has agreed personal terms are false. And lo and behold, Sky Bet have opened up their market again to take bets on where Rodriguez ends up next.
Indeed, in a story updated after 6pm on May 18, Sky reports that there are odds on Rodriguez joining Manchester United. Betting is no longer suspended on what has been presented as a dead cert. Quick – get your money on it while you can!
Such are the facts.
Posted: 19th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, Key Posts, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment (1)
Arsenal balls: Lazy Sanchez is no winner but he’s worth £300,000 a week
More now from the Daily Mirror’s John Cross, the man who told wrote beneath the headline”ARSENE SETS THE DATE” that the Arsenal manager was leaving the club on June 30 2017.
The same John Cross later updated that scoop by writing beneath another Daily Mirror headline “WENGER’S STAYING”.
This week, Cross has once more been talking about Arsenal. The Gunners won 2-0 against Sunderland. Incredibly, Wenger’s under-performing side have a slim chance of qualifying for the Champions League – although given their palsied performances in the competition, fans wold be forgiven for finding that an underwhelming prospect.
Here’s Cross on April 17. He’s talking about Alexis Sanchez, who scored both goals in the Sunderland match:
“They simply have to break the bank to keep him. Without Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal would be completely lost as once again the red-hot Chile forward bailed them out. You need big hearts on nights like these and it was Sanchez who saved Arsenal from disaster.”
Sanchez is possessed of a “street fighter’s desire that really make him special”, says Cross.
Or as he wrote on March 7:
Or as he wrote waaay back on March 31:
“It has been a source of great frustration to Arsene Wenger this season that, despite Sanchez’s histrionics making it look as if he works hard, he actually covers less ground than you think.”
Arsenal should “break the bank” for someone so obviously overrated (unless he’s being “red-hot”).
Posted: 18th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Watford balls: insulting Walter Mazzarri in English is easy
On Twitter, Daily Mirror football writer John Cross is having a pop at Watford FC’s Italian manager of the moment Walter Mazzarri, a man he calls “an insult to the Premier League”. How so? Cross explains: “He has been in England for a year and not bothered to learn English. Really poor.”
You’d suppose the internationalist, hyped and gilded Premier League, with its oligarch owners, absurd wages and massive dividends would possess a pretty thick skin and be largely unaffected by one man’s struggles with the English language.
And there was this from February 1 2017:
Walter Mazzarri returns to familiar surroundings as Watford look for Manchester United scalp – Watford boss Mazzarri spent four months immersing himself in English culture
The story appeared in the, er, Daily Mirror. Mazzarri said:
“I know Manchester very well – I used to walk around the city a lot. When I go back, I can’t really call it my home… but almost. For three or four months last year, before I came to Watford, I travelled back and forth between Italy and the UK.
“I stayed in Manchester and I enjoyed it very much – it gave me an understanding of life in Britain because, from a personal perspective, I wanted to understand the culture.
“I chose Manchester because it is not as cosmopolitan as London, which helped me to settle in the environment of life in England faster…
“It would have been completely different if I had lived in London because it is full of Italians and I would have been stopped in the street more often than in Manchester.”
What an insult, eh.
PS – Given the number of foreigners in the Premier League and the power of the Champions’ League, British journalists could learn another language?
Ueli Steck climbs the North Face of the Eiger in 2 hours and 47 minutes (video)
Ueli Steck (4 October 1976 – 30 April 2017) died near Mount Everest. The Swiss climber fell 1000 metres to his death. He was an incredible athlete, who scaled the famed and feared north face of the Eiger in – get this – only two hours and 47 minutes. He did it carrying less equipment than a Highgate mum takes to the toilet. The video footage of the climb is awe-inspiring:
Bias: Stoke City praise Peter Crouch’s ‘expert’ cheating against Arsenal
Media Bias: when Stoke City’s Peter Crouch scored with his hand against Arsenal in yesterday’s Premier League match, pundits on BBC TV’s Match of the Day pundit meekly said ‘It should have been disallowed’. There was no shame heaped on former England player ‘Crouchy’ for his cheating. It was not his fault that he scored with his hand and then celebrated wildly. It was the referee’s error.
How does the media report the goal?
Stoke City FC website: “PETER CROUCH expressed disappointment that his second half strike counted for nothing as Stoke City fell to a 4-1 loss to Arsenal in their final home game of the 2016/17 season.”
A second half “strike” that disappointingly counted.
Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil struck either side of the interval before Crouch was summoned from the bench and pulled one back for the Potters midway through the second period.
Mark Hughes’ side enjoyed a dominant 10 minute spell after the striker’s near post effort…
Crouch’s effort was his ninth of the campaign, and although pleased to net once again…
But the goal was scored with his hand. Crouch says:
“I just threw everything at it and it’s come off my hand a little bit but it was a goal and I was pleased to score another one.”
No. It came off your hand entirely, Peter. It was handball. But good you were pleased.
But Crouch’s blinkered view of his cheating pales when compared to the official Stoke City match report:
The hosts did offer some resistance… and managed to halve the deficit through substitute Peter Crouch, who expertly headed home his ninth of the season from close range just minutes after being thrust on to the field.
And on the Arsenal website:
But finally the hosts did break through – albeit in hugely controversial circumstances – as Arnautovic broke down the left once more and whipped in a cross that Crouch sent in via his hand.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 14th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Injury Balls: Arsenal sell Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for spare parts
Injury Balls: a look at unreliable reporting. When Alex Oxlade-Chameberlain was substituted in Arsenal’s win over Southampton, the knives were out. It was all over for ‘The Ox’.
Daily Mirror: “The England star was forced off 10 minutes before the break with an apparent hamstring injury, meaning he could now miss the FA Cup final in 17 days”
Daily Telegraph: “Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffers hamstring injury that could rule him out of another FA Cup final”
Daily Mail: “…he appeared visibly distressed and is a major doubt for the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 27.”
90Minutes: “Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is set to draft Hector Bellerin back into the first team fold in place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the remaining games of the season”
Two days later and:
BBC: “Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should be fit [for today’s match at Stoke] despite limping off early in the midweek game against Southampton with a hamstring injury.”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 13th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Liverpool balls: Mark Lawrence hails Klopp’s new Invincibles
Liverpool are just one match away from being The Invincibles Mark 11, aping Arsenal’s achievement of going an entire Premier League season unbeaten.
According to BBC pundit and former Liverpool player Mark Lawrenson’s crystal balls Liverpool have yet to lose a league match this season.
Each week, Lawrenson predicts the week’s Premier League results for the BBC. And each week he cannot see Liverpool losing. Not once has he tipped Liverpool to be beaten. In reality they have lost 6 times this season.
Biased much? Why does the BBC persist in giving all the pundit jobs to old pros from top clubs?
Manchester Evening Post’s fake news pledge and Arsenal spin in the Mirror
Forget all that Clickbait balls and Transfer Balls and all the other balls designed to seduce football fans to click on the ads. The Manchester Evening News is going factual. It might be contagious and impact on other titles owned by Trinity Mirror. This is the MEN’s mission statement:
Sport, like news, is a perpetual motion machine. The pace of change is increasingly rapid, not just on the pitch but in the press box too.
After all, what is a sports journalist in 2017? Outstanding bloggers interrogate coaches at press conferences, long-loved fanzines have gone digital, reaching millions of readers every year and supporters are turning the cameras on themselves; democratising the games we love and presenting an unprecedented landscape to traditional media outlets.
Supporters and lovers of sport crave authenticity. To be a fan is to join a community, to share a common language that transcends accents or post codes. It is our job, as the regional experts around our clubs and personalities, to generate and reflect these communities and their conversations every day.
To be trusted by the people who go to games and know our teams inside out is a great privilege. Plenty changes in sport, but that remains the same. When you see a sea of headlines about your club, looking out for the title based closest to the club in question in the best way to ensure you’re getting the real story from your clubs.
Why? Because we don’t just report on our clubs, we live and work amongst its fans too. It’s a matter of trust.
We know what fans want because we are them ourselves. But we also know that fans want facts – no matter how much we’d all want to believe that Ronaldo is about to sign for our club. That’s what sets us apart from those organisations who just want your click. We want your trust.
Good for them. Fans of Manchester United and Manchester City will get the facts and only the facts.news: ”
In 0ther MEN news: “‘Have Manchester United dropped transfer hints about the futures of De Gea and Rooney?”
Answer: No.
Meanwhile, over at MEN stablemate the Daily Mirror, the top story online (at the time of writing) is “JOHN CROSS: Wenger out? A shakeup is imminent and he could still leave Arsenal this summer – there are various factors at play.”
Could leave?
Can this be the same john Cross who told Mirror readers that Wenger is “STAYING” at Arsenal and…
…not staying at Arsenal?
It’s not fake news. It’s just to-deadline guesswork.
Posted: 10th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Media twists Pep’s words on Manchester City being the Premier League’s best team
How football reporting works. Manchester City manger Pep Guardiola is speaking to journalists. He says Manchester City are the Premier League’s best at creating changes.
“We don’t score enough goals. The numbers don’t lie, we have not been good enough in the boxes this season…
“Even the next champions, Chelsea, we create more chances here [at the Etihad Stadium] than even at Stamford Bridge, but in the boxes we are not good. We are the best in the league at doing that, we create more chances than anyone, but we are not always able to score the goals. In basketball you see Michael Jordan, last minute … puts it in the net…. The most difficult thing in football, basketball, tennis, in all the sports is to do it in the last moment. That’s why we are in the situation we are in.”
That looks like a reasoned appraisal of his side. Man City get into good positions but don’t stick the ball in the net. And, as Pep concedes, that is the hardest thing to do.
Put it through the news mincers and you get:
Stan Collymore in the Daily Mirror:
“PEP GUARDIOLA is speaking utter tosh when he says Manchester City are the best team in the Premier League.”
Jamie Redknapp in the Daily Mail:
“PEP GUARDIOLA has claimed Manchester City are the best team in the Premier League…”
Daily Mirror:
“Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City ARE the Premier League’s best side”
No. That’s not what he said.
Posted: 10th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Arsenal end Manchester United’s incredibly boring 25-match unbeaten run
Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Manchester United is hailed in the Press. But before a look at the back pages, a word from Sachin Nakrani, the Guardian’s sports features editor. He’s at the office:
Sub editor 1: “They’re chanting ‘Fuck off Mourinho’ at the Emirates”
Sub editor 2: “Which end?”
Highlight of my day, that.
And that’s Jose Mourinho, isn’t it. He’s the brattish kid on tennis camp, a little shorter than most but he’s carrying the oversized racket and always has a can of new balls. In Jose’s monocular vision, Arsenal did not beat Manchester United. Manchester United let Arsenal win, gamely allowing the Gunners to score all the game’s goals and end United’s 25-match unbeaten run. And – boy – what roller coaster of thrills that’s been right.
Having been beaten, Mourinho “sarcastically disparaged the importance of his first competitive defeat to Arsène Wenger” (Times) . He said:
“I left Highbury and they were crying, I left Emirates and they were crying. Finally today they sing, they swing the scarves. It’s nice for them… It is the first time I leave and they are happy. Before they were walking the streets with their heads low. The Arsenal fans are happy and I am happy for them.”
And on he goes:
“Do not think I am happy they are not winning trophies. Arsène Wenger is a big manager so my record [not previously losing a Premier League game to him] is not normal. Normal is win, lose, draw. I really don’t care about it today. We shook hands and during the game I don’t like what I never like. He puts too much pressure on the fourth official.”
Alex Hess tweets:
Helluva job Mourinho’s done with history’s most expensive squad: won twice vs top six, fewer goals than Bournemouth, will finish 5th or 6th.
And that hurts the brand:
Manchester United are at risk of triggering a financial penalty in their £750m kit deal with Adidas should they fail to qualify for this season’s Champions League.
United will suffer a 30 per cent cut to their annual £75m payment from the German sportswear giant if they finish outside of the top four. This means the club will lose more than £20m in sponsorship income.
So the back pages, then, which all lead with Mourinho.
Posted: 8th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Arsenal: one player or maybe seven wins the title for Gunners, says Souness
Mystic Meg, eat yer heart out. In his article on Arsenal v Manchester United for the Sunday Times, former Spurs and Liverpool player Graeme Souness begins by tooting his own horn: “I predicted in March in this column that Manchester United and Arsenal would both miss out on the top four and I have seen nothing since to change my mind.”
The man’s got the gift, I tell you.
This is the same Souness who at the start of the season predicted the Premier League title going to Manchester United or Manchester City:
I think it will be one of the Manchester teams. If Ibrahimovic can fire on all cylinders – and I think there is a good year left in him – he will inspire those around him.
He’s someone who I enjoy. I enjoy his arrogance because he’s someone who can back it up. I think he could be the difference.
His Top Four ran: “1. Man Utd 2. Man City. 3. Tottenham 4. Arsenal.”
Whoops!
Having told readers back in August “Obviously it’s our job to make forecasts”, Souness today writes:
Arsenal should be looking at the likes of Griezmann and Bale… Over the past decade their recruitment has simply not been good enough, which is one of the main reasons Wenger should step aside. For seven or eight years they were only two or three top players away from being the team to beat but in the past few years it has not been a question of two or three players they need, it’s six or seven.
Ot as Souness put it in November 2015 – during the 2015-2016 season – just one season ago:
Arsene Wenger’s only major signing last summer was Petr Cech and he alone will give them a major chance of winning the Premier League this season. He could be worth anything up to 10 points for them.
Not two or three players, then. Just the one.
Posted: 7th, May 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Broadsheets, Sports | Comment
On this day 1996: Manchester City relegated after classic (Alan) Ball’s up in Liverpool decider
On this day 1996: Manchester City manager Alan Ball led The Citizens down into the old Second Division. In the era before the ubiquitous mobile phone delivered news in “real time”, fans, players and managers alike looked to the radio and TV text services to keep abreast of scores. Chris Wright explains what happened:
Having left Southampton in slightly acrimonious circumstances to take over at City the summer previous, cruel fate subsequently ensured that Ball found himself vying against his old team as the 1995/96 relegation battle went down to the wire.
With only one relegation spot still to be decided going into the final match of the campaign, City played host to Liverpool while the Saints faced Wimbledon – both sides chasing vital victories.
Alas, it took less than five minutes for Liverpool to go ahead when Steve Lomas had the misfortune to deflect a Steve McManaman cross into his own net.
Ian Rush then put the Reds two up before goals from Uwe Rosler and Kit Symons clawed City back into the reckoning.
However, Ball then needlessly injected an overdose of confusion into the maelstrom by incorrectly informing Lomas that Southampton were losing and that a draw would be enough to keep City up, thus prompting the midfielder to dribble the ball into the corner in an effort to wind down the clock.
In actuality, the match at the Dell was still goalless as Niall Quinn, who had just been subbed off, quickly realised when he checked the live scores on a television in the tunnel.
With Southampton looking set to snaffle a point, it instantly re-dawned on City that only a win would be enough to stave off the drop.
Sadly, by that point, it was already too late – the game ended 2-2 and squeaky Ball and his leaky City side were consigned to their fate.
In time, Lomas was just about able to see the tragicomic side of City’s self-inflicted implosion, telling ESPN:
It’s fair to say I don’t have good memories of last-day scenarios. The situation with City was just one of those things. Alan Ball, God rest his soul, told us a draw was enough to keep us up.
If it wasn’t so serious there was great comic value in seeing big Niall running half-dressed down the touchline to say a draw WASN’T enough.
It’s the quickest I had ever seen Niall run! He told us we needed to win so it was just crazy. Alan had received false information because he thought Southampton were losing and I was taking the ball into the corner flag to kill time.
It was tough because just a week earlier I had scored the winner away to Aston Villa to keep us in the hunt.
Relegation is hard enough anyway but under those circumstances it was so hard to take.
I’d been at the club from the age of 12 so it was particularly hard on me.
For the record, despite being relegated to Division One, City’s top brass decided against sacking Ball only for him to resign three matches into the following season.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the club found themselves further demoted to the third tier (for the first time ever) thanks to a truly iconic scintilla of shite from Jamie Pollock.
Spotter: WhoAteAllThePies
Posted: 6th, May 2017 | In: Manchester City, Sports | Comment
