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.
Liverpool: Alberto Moreno shows us his short-sighted, armed chimpanzee tattoo
Liverpool FC’s Spanish full-back Alberto Moreno has a tattoo of a chimpanzee holding a gun. He showcased the ink on his Instagram:
How we interpret this tattoo is unclear. What’s the ape listening to, if anything at all – footballers often wear cans to dodge calls from fans and journalist asking for interviews. Isn Cheetah contemplating suicide, murder or a novel and dangerous way of picking his nose? Much to discuss.
It’s a new angle on skin art, moving on from fat lettering, Latin scripts and numbers, and Doodled arms.
Manchester United balls: Fergie’s banger clanger
Hear the story about former Manchester United manger Alex Ferguson’s sausage sandwich? The Star has news:
Revealed: Sir Alex Ferguson’s astonishing reaction to hearing of Man Utd’s defeat to Spurs
No, he didn’t laugh and scream ‘Yid Army!’
The Sun claim the Red Devils legend hurled his food while enjoying the 2016 Masters at Augusta.
Over in the Sun, then, to read:
Manchester United legend Alex Ferguson throws a banger after flops drop a clanger against Tottenham while watching the Masters
We know this because…
An onlooker said: “He was looking on his phone when he suddenly threw his sausage down on to his plate in anger. He’d obviously seen the United result.”
Yeah, obviously.
Posted: 12th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: players’ revolt, Van Gaal mired and the board dither
“CLUELESS,” says the Sun in its appraisal of Manchester United manger Louis Van Gaal. And the players agree. They “labelled boss Louis Van Gaal ‘clueless’ in an amazing dressing-room inquest”.
They did?
A “source” says the players “didn’t seem to have much time for him” following their 3-0 defeat at Spurs.
The Times has more, writing in “stars sick of being blamed by Van Gaal” that the board is split over keeping Van Gaal, or replacing him with Ryan Giggs or Jose Mourinho. It’s a lack of clear thinking and direction that surely undermines United. As Manchester City plot a direction of travel with their recruitment of Pep Guardiola, United dither. The Times says, until things are sorted out, Van Gaal may limp on”.
But the Mail says Van Gaal is “likely to leave United at the end of the season“. Is that why he has been talking about transfer targets?
Posted: 12th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Adam Johnson: a ‘cushy’ life at Holme away from home
Adam Johnson, the former Sunderland footballer serving a six-year prison sentence for sexual activity with a girl of 15, is in a “Cushy” cell. So says the Sun, which features Johnson on its front page.
A “source” says people will “wonder if he should be kept in a much tougher prison given the nature of his offence”. People who read the Sun, perhaps.
As for Holme House, a few facts:
A DHL warehouse operates within holme House processing canteen forms and Picking/packing for eight establishments in the North East. This provides employment for 40 prisoners and NVQ qualifications can be attained…
UNLOCKING TIMES
Mon: 07:30 – 12:30, 13:30 – 16:30 & 17:00 – 19:15
Tue: 07:30 – 12:30, 13:30 – 16:30 & 17:00 – 19:15
Wed: 07:30 – 12:30, 13:30 – 16:30 & 17:00 – 19:15
Thu: 07:30 – 12:30, 13:30 – 16:30 & 17:00 – 19:15
Fri: 07:30 – 12:30, 13:30 – 16:45
Sat: 07:30 – 12:30 & 13:30 -16:30
Sun: 07:30 – 12:30 & 13:30 -16:30
The most recent report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, noted:
there had been five self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection and what appear to be two further self-inflicted deaths since this inspection;..
first night cells were dirty with broken equipment and there was little support from staff or prisoner mentors for those new to prison;
many cells were dirty, toilets were inadequately screened and some prisoners shared cells designed for one which were too small;
laundry arrangements were chaotic and there were insufficient phones and showers;
The Sun, of course, wanted more for Johnson, noting on March 18.
Shoot scared: Footie perv Adam Johnson to pay for ‘protection’ while in horror prison – Paedophile faces being sent to tough jail where sex offender inmate was disembowelled
He is likely to be sent initially to Armley jail in Leeds before transferring to HMP Frankland in Durham, home to child killers Ian Huntley and Levi Bellfield.
He is in Armely. But Johnson’s murder in Frankland is no longer an option to excite the Sun.
And is prison “cushy”? One prisoner told me how it works: “It’s only hard for the innocent – the guilty all sleep well.”
Posted: 12th, April 2016 | In: Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal balls: Wenger is crap, Keown is a one-man team and The Sun is clueless
Arsenal and West Ham United draw 3-3 and the Sun says it;s more evidence that Arsene Wenger is crap:
“Isn’t it funny the Wenger empire was built on a defence he inherited from George Graham – and they have not won the League in 12 years since the likes of Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn left?”
You could argue that money played a factor, what with Arsenal unable to match their rivals’ spending. Or you could just find it funny how the Sun’s man in the know knows nothing.
When Arsenal last won the Premier League title in 2003/04, their defenders were:
Jens Lehmann: league matches started – 38
Ashley Cole: 32
Martin Keown: 3
Lauren: 30
Pascal Cygan: 10
Gaël Clichy: 7
Sol Campbell: 35
Kolo Touré: 36
Who knew going the entire season undefeated was all down to Martin Keown? He really was that good…
Posted: 11th, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal fan starts fight with West Ham teddy mascot
Arsenal fans, listen up. If you are going to pick a fight with any of the West Ham mascots, we’d not go for the massive teddy called Bubbles the Bear. Football is now a family game, and attacking a teddy can upset the kids, or at least the older fans who think children don’t like seeing rough stuff outside the kindergarten. If you must got for a West Ham mascot, aim at Hammerhead. He looks like he can take it. And if your thumbs drop off, that’s your look out.
Anyhow, here is Arsenal fan Ty punctuating Arsenal’s thrilling 3-3 draw with West Ham at the Boleyn Ground by picking on the Hammers’ mascot – a former X Factor contestant (most likely) inside a giant teddy bear costume.
Ty saw Bubbles waving at the Arsenal fans, dashed to the front and asked Big Ted: “Why don’t you do that when you play Millwall?” Big Ted then bent forward in an act of simulation known as ‘holding onto your sides’, lest he laugh so hard his stuffing fall out.
.
TY beefing #WestHam Mascot😂 pic.twitter.com/yrHcQsyZoK
— akanni (@_BigTimerT) April 9, 2016
Posted: 11th, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment (1)
Manchester United got Van Gaal and Spurs get to dream
Does Louis Van Gaal regret turning down Spurs in 2014? “The challenge was bigger for me at Manchester United and shall always be bigger,” says Van Gaal. “I’m sorry for Tottenham but Manchester United is a bigger club.”
Spurs fans celebrating a rare 3-0 win over Van Gaal’s Man United must be gutted. They could have had hammer-headed Van Gaal and his ego instead of young Mauricio Pochettino and his vision.
Of course, Van Gaal was not boasting about Manchester United. He was put on the spot by a journalist. The Dutchman soon turned on the reporter. “It is a little bit pathetic you asked that,” he sniped. “It’s easy to ask that but, ok, you enjoy yourself.”
Van Gaal then added: “Can we finish fourth? Yes, because we have 18 points available. It’s more difficult than before the match, that’s for sure. Everybody can lose to everybody else. We are still in the race.”
How far United have fallen to be “in the race” for fourth. They are, says the Times, “clueless”. Their capitulation more akin to the Spurs of old.
Spurs, meanwhile, can dream of winning the title for the first time since President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba.
Can they do it? Yes.
Tottenham have scored the most goals and conceded the fewest in the Premier League this season. Six teams have achieved that in the Premier League era. Five times – Manchester United in 2001 and 2008, Arsenal in 2004, Chelsea in 2006 and Manchester City in 2012 – that team won the title. On the other occasion, United finished second in 1998.
Posted: 11th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Manchester United Martial in XXX Factor sex balls
Manchester United’s Anthony Martial is no longer with his wife. The Sun says the “French ace romped with X Factor wannabe Emily Wademan in Paris while his wife Samantha was at home.”
This is Marital, who was quoted in the Mail, “After training, I like to come home and find my wife. I am very homely.” Possibly to check she’s there before he nips out. The Sun now says:
The couple, who have eight-month-old daughter Peyton, put on a united front after our revelations. But last week Samantha stopped following the £58million striker on Instagram, and he did likewise. She has continued to update her 82,000 followers with images of Peyton but the French international, 20, has not been seen in a snap for two weeks.
Maybe she’s following him on the place, train and bus instead? And when he signed for United, the Mail said the child was called “Toto”.
The star’s agent confirmed their separation and said no one else was involved.
This story first aired in January, when the Sun boomed: “Married Anthony Martial’s romps with X Factor beauty: Man U ace flew model for sex in Paris.”
The Mail called it a “romantic break”. And Emily – now reduced from “beauty” to “wannabe” (and did she used to be called Emily Dyson?) – told us:
“When we got to Paris he was happy to openly parade me in public in front of French fans on the Champs Elysees.”
A parade on an open-top bus, or is Emily saving that for any sex tape?
Posted: 10th, April 2016 | In: Celebrities, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Manchester United and Spurs balls: Kane and Pochettino got their separate ways
Big news in the Sun that Tottenham striker Harry Kane has “urged” manager Mauricio Pochettino to remain at White Hart Lane and snub any move to Manchester United.
That in the Sun, which has told us:
December 21: “LOUIS VAN GAAL is on his way out of Manchester United after contact was made with Jose Mourinho…Van Gaal could now be gone before the Boxing Day game at Stoke. At best, he will have that plus the home clash with Chelsea next Monday to keep his job.”
March 26: “JOSE MOURINHO will be offered a mind-boggling £60million to send Manchester United soaring back to football’s summit.”
Save the urges, Harry, The Sun says Mourinho’s already got the job.
And pack your bags. After all, the Sun told us that Kane is Manchester United’s leading target:
March 19, 2016: “Man United transfer news: Jose Mourinho ‘wants £60m Harry Kane to be prime target'”
All utter balls.
Posted: 9th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Manchester United: players earn less in line with Moyes and Van Gaal
Manchester United’s players will earn less money if they fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League, says the Times. The paper reasons that “players and coaching staff stand to lose about £14 million if they fail to finish in the top four of the Barclays Premier League this season. That works out at about £500,000 per player.”
Of course, those figures are wrong. The top-paid players – Wayne Rooney – will lose a lot more bonus pay than, say, new blade Marcus Rashford.
The Times has learnt. All players receive a “standard” wage packet when they sign a professional contract at the club, and with Champions League qualification, they receive a larger wage packet, known as the “standard plus” rate.
United introduced the scheme after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, sensing perhaps that the team would not be so assured of qualifying for the Champions League as they were under the Scot.
Ferguson knew the power of money and the status it brings, writing:
“When the Glazers and David Gill agreed to a big increase in Wayne Rooney’s salary in 2010, they wanted to know how I felt. I told them I did not think it fair that Rooney should earn twice what I made and Joel Glazer immediately said, ‘I totally agree with you, but what should we do?’ It was simple. We just agreed that no player should be paid more than me’.”
Reduce the manager; reduce the wages.
Posted: 9th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United balls: Mourinho and his agent look at homes in Cheshire
Hold the back page! No sooner has the Daily Mirror given Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal a “boost” with news that Jose Mourinho is being courted by Real Madrid than the Sun screams: “JOSE HOMES IN – He’s been house hunting in Cheshire”.
The story goes that an “agent” is acting on Mourinho’s behalf, on the look out for a suitable pad in Cheshire. What kind of agent is not said, but our bet would be on it being one involved in getting Jose the top job and any fat fees that go with it.
The Sun adds that Mourinho has a “verbal understanding that he will take over from Louis Van Gaal at the end of May”.
But the Mirror says Manchester United’s main dealmaker, Ed Woodward, “is keen to keep Van Gaal”, who is “expected to stay in his job if United qualify for next season’s Champions League”.
We aren’t told with whom Jose has a “verbal agreement” but if it is with an estate agent, we’d advise going for something more binding lest he get gazumped.
Posted: 8th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United balls: Real move for Mourinho
The Daily Mirror says Manchester United are on “red alert”. The story is that Real Madrid are “plotting” to rehire Jose Mourinho. This, we’re told, is a “boost” to current Manchester United manger Louis Van Gaal. This Mirror adds that Mourinho has been “heavily linked with the Old Trafford job”.
Oh, come on, Why so coy? After all it was the Mirror that told us the job was his:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 8th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Arsenal sign Granit Xhaka with a cheeky smile
Transfer Balls: The Metro reads all sorts of things into a smile, telling its reader bots:
Arsene Wenger smile hints Granit Xhaka to Arsenal transfer could be done
Says Wenger:
“At the moment, no. We are starting to look at people who can strengthen our squad, but we are not on any particular case in a concrete way”
But who needs words when you can have a smile?
As for the player, well, earlier this month he told Express:
“I’ve seen the rumours. All I can say is it’s nonsense. There have been no negotiations with Arsene Wenger.”
But, of course, the deal has already been done. We read about it in the… Metro:
Posted: 7th, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Liverpool: Klopp aims to buck the trend in Dortmund
One more reason to like Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s charismatic manager. Asked if will celebrate a Liverpool goal when the Reds take on his former club, Borussia Dortmund, in tonight’s Europa League quarter-final match, the German said, “of course I will celebrate”.
Good. Go nuts. Footballers who look apologetic when they score against a former club are pathetic and joyless. Goals are what the game is about. Anyone failing to celebrate them should be sent off.
Posted: 7th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Irony overload: Daily Mail bemoans predators who take pictures of Arsenal star on a night out
Martin Samuel is writing about Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere in the Daily Mail:
“Ghouls filming private moments on their mobile phones are a modern curse. So Jack Wilshere merits some sympathy, being a young man unable to go anywhere without a predatory stranger wishing to make his life their property.”:
Predatory strangers armed with cameras who create stories like:
ECLUSIVE: Ariel Winter reveals new inking in a high cut swimsuit as she frolics in the Bahamas surf… after getting THREE tattoos just weeks after 18th birthday
Catching some Lana Del RAYs? Bikini-clad singer tops up her tan in a nautical two-piece during relaxing Malibu beach day
You can read those predatory paparazzi-scoops and many more like them in the, er, Daily Mail.
Posted: 6th, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Walcott fights to stay and struggles to leave Arsenal
News is that Arsenal will flog Theo Walcott. The Bleacher Report says Arsenal will sell the player if he fails to make England’s Euro 2016 squad. The whole story can be surmised thus:
Dean Jones reveals that Walcott could leave the Emirates if he doesn’t get a Euro 2016
Can you reveal an ‘if’?
The Metro has firm facts: “Arsenal transfer news: Theo Walcott ready to seal move away this summer.” Does he want out? Would Arsenal miss him? The Star chips in:
Theo Walcott set to rock Arsenal with stunning transfer decision
If the Bleacher Report is right and Arsenal want shot of Walcott, his stunning decision would be to stay, right? The Star then cites its source:
According to Bleacher Report, the 27-year-old attacker will look for a move away from the Emirates if he’s left out of Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad. And Arsenal are apparently willing to listen to any offers that come in for the speed-merchant who’s played for the Gunners since 2006.
To put the tin lid on the ‘ifs’ and could’, we turn to another organ for more. We’re told Walcott’s pace is no longer what it was (so much for “speed merchant”) and he’s “fighting for his future” at Arsenal. You can read that in, er, The Bleacher Report.
Posted: 6th, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Manchester United: Jose Mourinho wants it in writing but Van Gaal stays
The Sun says Jose Mourinho wants a “written promise” he will be their manager this summer. A written promise? Isn’t that a contract. Indeed, one slot above Mourinho’s request is news of Antonio Conte, who will join Chelsea as their new manager in the summer once he’s finished working with Italy. He has a contract. Jose Mourinho does not.
He sounds desperate. Surely Manchester United hold all the cards. They are the Premier League’s richest and biggest club. Is Jose’s the only name in the frame for such a great job? Would United fans really pick him over, say, Diego Simeone, Laurent Blanc and Louis Van Gaal? In the Mirror, news is that the Dutchman thinks he will stay on as United boss even if he fails to get them into the Champions’ League.
But the Sun is backing Jose. It says United’s owners, the Glazers, “know he is the man to take them back to the top”. Just as, one presumes, they knew David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal were the right men.
Posted: 6th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Chelsea: Conte targets Lukaku, Vidal and Cavani as Costa has personality transplant
The new Chelsea manager is Antonio Conte. He’s signed a contract worth:
£20m over three years (Mail)
£18m over three years (Sun)
15m over three years (Guardian)
£6.5m a year (Guardian)
£9m a year (Times)
As the papers do the sums, Dominic Fifield looks at what new faces Chelsea fans can expect to see that the Bridge:
While Conte is also pushing for the addition of Roma’s Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan, who is available for €35m, and further experienced defensive cover such as Leonardo Bonucci, Kostas Manolas, Kalidou Koulibaly and Antonio Rüdiger have been scouted at Juventus, Napoli and Roma respectively, where the latter is on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, it is perhaps telling he is to adopt the title head coach rather than manager. That would appear to reinforce Emenalo’s position at the club despite Chelsea’s patchy recent record on recruitment.
The Mirror says Conte will get shot of John Terry and Thibaut Courtois, replacing the latter with Southampton’s Fraser Foster. The Times points to Everton’s Romelu Lukaku making a pricey return, Edinson Cavani, Gonzalo Higuain and Artuo Vidal.
But Conte’s “top priority” (Mirror) is keeping Diego Costa. The Sun says Conte will “demand, discipline, decency and respect”. He might consider recruiting a psychologist to get Costa to fit the mould. And then order a personality transplant for the sneaky striker. But not matter because the Telegraph says Costa’s on his way to PSG.
And Conte has another pressing issue, says the Mail in the lead story “match-fix trial dogs new Chelsea boss”.
Conte’s legal team were in court in Cremona on Monday for the latest hearing of the match-fixing trial in which he is embroiled. It continues on Tuesday, when he will learn if the prosecution are seeking a fine or a prison sentence — though the latter is unlikely. Conte maintains his innocence and a decision is expected by mid-May.
If any fine is linked to his salary, you wonder what newspaper the judges will use as their source?
Posted: 5th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Sports | Comment
Harry Redknapp: ‘I’m amazed Leicester City’s Jamaican international Morgan hasn’t been picked for England’
Harry Redknapp has words to the wise in this Daily Telegraph column. The former Spurs manager has noticed Leicester City’s Wes Morgan is a top-top-top-top-top-top player. So good is Wes that Redface tips him to be a future England player. He’s agog and aghast that current England manger Roy Hodgson hasn’t even picked him for a friendly.
One thing, Harry Redknobb: Morgan has 25 caps for Jamaica since his debut in September of 2013.
Posted: 5th, April 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal star Jack Wilshere in beer and shouting horror
Arsenal footballer Jack Wilshere is all over the tabloids. What’s he done?
The Daily Mail’s lead sports story on the backpage declares: “Jack in the Dock.”
He’s been arrested? No. The Arsenal midfielder has been “caught in a brawl”. Police are “investigating scenes of disorder” outside London’s sticky West End club Cafe de Paris at 2:15am. On page 84, Sami Mokbel says Wilshere was annoyed with a “fellow reveller who was attempting to film on his phone”. Film what? Wilshere, says Mokbel, was at a bureau de change on a night out, having been given permission by his club to “let his hair down”.
Daily Mirror (front page): “EXCLUSIVE: England’s Wilshere in 2am bust-up”
It’s not an exclusive. But the Mirror does have more news. It says Wilshere was “quizzed” by police in an alleyway after “allegedly being kicked out of a club”. He’s “accused of hitting another reveller, which he denies.” There were no arrests.
And so it is that footballer not arrested is the Mirror’s lead news story.
On pages 4 and 5, the Mirror puns: “Jack’s Bin Trouble.” But he isn’t in trouble as he stands by some bins in a “rubbish-strewn walkway”. He wasn’t arrested. And is it his fault the streets of London are grotty? Should he have picked a cleaner bit of pavement / walkway / alleyway? The story goes that Wilshere was then put in a taxi.
On Page 5, David Kidd says “our hearts sink at the sight of Jack Wilshere cowering behind a bin after being thrown out of a nightclub”. What happened to his being “allegedly” bounced? And do our hearts sink? Surely, at the Mirror they skip a beat at a footballer-at-large story.
The Sun (front page): “WILSHERE COP QUIZ OVER 3AM BRAWL”
3am. 2am. What matter the facts when a footballer is in the crosshairs? The Sun zooms in on the “crocked England footie star”. Only, he isn’t crocked. He was. But now he’s back in full training. The Sun says a man was punched. It says Jack and his mates were “asked to leave” the club.
The Sun then seems to accuse Wilshere of taking his rehabilitation from a broken leg lightly, declaring, “Ace parties..as he bids for Euro fitness.” This will make England fans “angry“. But Wilshere broke no club rules.
We’re left wondering what it is that Wilshere did wrong? As off-field misbehaviour goes, Wilshere’s antics were harmless. Are Arsenal fans who cheered on hard-drinking Tony Adam angry that Wilshere went out? Are England’s famously prudish and restrained fans angered by Wilshere apparently having a beer and a shout? The tabloids expect Wilshere to be role model, to behave in ways unlike most 24-year-olds – and not only those with oodles of cash in their pocket from an honest day’s work. Do we expect purity from everyone in the public eye, such as, say, newspaper editors, a chaste group of moralists who never put a foot wrong as they report the facts and only the facts?
Posted: 4th, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Ozil and Wenger fight over the towel
Arsenal are at “war”, says the Sun. The back page tells of team manager Arsene Wenger’s “fury with Ozil”. Can it be that the club’s best player and the vintage coach are rowing? The Sun’s headline certainly implies so. What did Ozil says to spark “fury”? This:
“Looking at our season so far, we have to be honest and admit that we screwed up ourselves. We did not play to our potential in the games against the so-called smaller teams. You immediately get punished for that in the Premier League. But we still have a chance of winning the title. We have to hope Leicester and Tottenham slip up and then make the most of it. I would be delighted for Wenger if we win the title. He played a major role in my decision to join Arsenal. He was desperate to sign me.
“Everybody knows he is an extraordinary manager. He is always hungry for success, has a lot of experience and always takes his time for the players. He helps players develop.”
To the Sun this makes Ozil “the defeatist German” who has “chucked in the towel”… (over a summer sun-bed?). And Wenger has this to say:
“I have nothing against the players being honest, but we have to look forward — and this group deserves to be rewarded for all the effort, hard work and dedication they have put in. There is still an opportunity for us and we have to grab it because it’s now or never.”
WAR!
Posted: 3rd, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Ozil joins Real Madrid and commits future to Arsenal
Transfer Balls: The Express says, “Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will both sign new contracts at Arsenal in the summer.” Fact!
Ozil will get £180,000-a-week. Sanchez will get a raise on his current £130,000-a-week.
Big news in the Express, which recently told readers:
Mesut Ozil wants to quit Arsenal and return to Spain… he has grown tired of a lack of silverware and would like to move back to Real Madrid.
Such are the facts in the Express.
Posted: 3rd, April 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Manchester United fish for Everton ‘hero’ Barkley
Transfer balls: The Daily Star says “Manchester United are weighing up a £45m move for Everton’s Ross Barkley.”
Number of words to supports the claim: nil.
Aware that the story is thinner than Victoria Beckham’s smile, the Mirror creates the headline: “Manchester United line up £45m Ross Barkley deal?”
The Mirror then adds: “Manchester United have made £45m-rated Everton midfielder Ross Barkley their top summer target (Daily Star Sunday).”
And with that a story with no source of facts features in two tabloids.
And what of the story? Would Barkely go to United? Well, the Sun told us in late 2014: “ROSS BARKLEY has signed a new £13.5million Everton contract — insisting he could not ‘do a Wayne Rooney’.”
Barkley declared: “I knew what it meant when Rooney left. I knew how the fans felt. We thought Everton could have pushed on, so when he left we were all down. It’s a dream to be playing for Everton. This means everything to me.”
And it was the, er, Daily Star which told us a few months back: “Barkley, 21, is well on his way to becoming a homegrown hero.”
Everton have new owners. They never buckled and sold John Stones in the summer. So why would Barkley leave them for Manchester United?
Posted: 3rd, April 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United balls: Mourinho tears up agreement to join Valencia
Cancel the Jose Mourinho Manchester United scarf. News is that the former Chelsea manager is off to coach Valencia. The Sun tells us as much:
Exclusive: SunSport understands serious discussions have been ongoing for more than a month about Jose Mourinho becoming the master of the Mestalla [Valencia coach]
Anyone finding it too late to return their Jose at Old Trafford scarf should take it up with the Sun, which previously told readers way back in February 2016:
Jose Mourinho agrees three-year deal to become Manchester United manager
Such are the facts…
Posted: 31st, March 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Arsenal buy Aubameyang, Kroos and Stones to cheer Wenger off
The Daily Mirror says Arsenal will not be waving adieu to their manager:
Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger plans to buy and buy not say ‘Bye-bye!’ this summer
Out got: Tomas Rosicky, Kieran Gibbs, Mathieu Debuchy, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Per Mertesacker.
In come: John Stones, Victor Wanyama, Toni Kroos, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
As Arsenal fans fall about laughing, they might also wonder why the Gunners would invest so heavily when the manager will be leaving at the end of next season?
Posted: 31st, March 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
