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.
Manchester United: Chinese turn Bastian Schweinsteiger into a Nazi doll
Schweinhund Schweinsteiger
In China you can buy a Nazi figuring that looks like Manchester United’s German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. Yeah, that’s what we thought: who in China buys Nazi figurines? This one costs HK$958 (£80).
Schweinsteiger is upset enough to set his lawyers on the Hong Kong-based company, makers of ‘Bastian’, the one-sixth lifesize doll. They say it’s pure coincidence the doll looks like him. all Germans look the same, see.
“We have no figure which is based on a football player,” Patrick Chan tells Bild (not to be confused with the Vőlkischer Beobachter). “It was pure coincidence that the ‘Bastian’ figure looks like Schweinsteiger. The figure is based on the typical German. We believe that all Germans look like this.”
They do. Stick this one in a dress and it’s Heidi Klum.
Posted: 22nd, October 2015 | In: manchester united, Reviews, Sports, The Consumer | Comment
Transfer balls: Eden Hazard wants to quit Chelsea for Real Madrid AND Barcelona
News is that Eden Hazard wants to leave Chelsea. The Belgian fancies joining Real Madrid says L’Equipe. As is so often the way with these things, Hazard has told friends, family, pals, dogs and parrots that he wants to move. For some reason, they all decide at once to tell the Press. Hazard says nothing in public, preferring to let his football do the talking, which it is – quietly.
The Indy takes up the story:
The report comes in the same week that Hazard seemed to ‘like’ a post on Instagram linking him with a move to Real Madrid.
At at once we see the plan. Hazard is no longer playing his best in order to avoid winning a man-of-the-match bottle of champers and being made to speak in public. He now only communicates through nameless cousins and ‘likes’.
Of course, Hazard’s potential moves have been in the news for some time:
Such are the facts…
Posted: 22nd, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal balls: ‘devastated’ Ramey back in three weeks
“Devastating”
Arsenal Injury Balls: Having read about the “devastating” injury to Aaron Ramsey in the Metro and how the Welsh footballer will miss ’10’ matches, the Mirror says he will be out “up to a month”.
The Mail says he’ll be fit to play in…three weeks.
The Metro really is full of utter balls.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 22nd, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal balls: Ramsey and that ‘devastating injury’
The media loves an injury. Arsenal midfielder and Wales captain Aaron Ramsey was injured during the Gunners’ match against Bayern Munich. The Metro picks up the player’s medical charts. And gasps:
Devastating? Ramsay had his leg badly broken at Stoke City. That was devastating. This is a hamstring injury.
Sam Kearns writes:
Arsenal fear that Aaron Ramsey will be out of action for up to six weeks after the Wales midfielder injured his hamstring in the Gunners’ 2-0 win against Bayern Munich.
How does he know that, then?
….according to Goal.com, the former Cardiff City man is facing a six-week spell on the sidelines that will see him miss matches against Bayern Munich, Tottenham and Dinamo Zagreb.
Over at Goal.com, Greg Stobat writes:
Arsenal fear Aaron Ramsey faces six weeks out with the hamstring injury that forced him off during the 2-0 win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
As we wonder out if Stobart and Kearns are one and the same, we read the BBC:
Wenger said Ramsey will miss Saturday’s Premier League game against Everton and could be out for some time. “He’s very down, he told me that the hamstring is a tough one. He’s out yes,” Wenger said.
In the Telegraph the news is fuller:
What had been an increasingly settled Arsenal team will be disrupted, however, by the loss of Aaron Ramsey. He suffered three similar hamstring injuries last season and, while assessments are ongoing, the initial sense is that he will be out until at least next month’s international break.
Those begin on November 13. That would mean Ramsey missing five matches, including a League Cup rubber against Sheffield Wednesday – not 10 matches, as the Metro thrills. If he is out for six weeks, that should see him miss 8 matches.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 21st, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Watch Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0
Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the Champions’ League. The ball hit Giroud on the head and went in.
2 minutes and 51 seconds after coming off the bench, Giroud puts Arsenal ahead. Vital goal. https://t.co/S7tChpRQPv
— Soccerlens (@soccerlens) October 20, 2015
And then…
Manchester United balls: rip-off ‘revealed ‘
The BBC’s annual Price of Football study is a pretty useless exercise, unless, that is, you work in the media in which case it’s a rich source of bilge about how terrible football is. Media likes nothing better than writing about media, and the BBC bigs up its survey. Take this example on the BBC’s website:
Parenting web site Mumsnet has accused clubs of exploiting young fans after the BBC study revealed a full Manchester United junior strip, with name and number printed on the back, cost more than £100.
Mumsnet had no idea how much a football kit cost until the BBC’s investigative team of crack journalists went online and added up the bits.
Wow.
Posted: 20th, October 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Chelsea balls: Mourinho fights FA ban by blaming his bad English
Is Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hiding behind his grasp of English?
The Times reports:
In the FA’s written reasons for giving Mourinho a one-match stadium ban, suspended for 12 months, and a fine of £50,000 after he suggested that referees are “afraid to give decisions to Chelsea”, it rejected any notion that the language barrier posed a mitigating circumstance.
Back in September, Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma said he was “sorry” for saying of teammate Diego Costa: “Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponent out of his game.”
Later Zouma, 20, then told the Evening Standard in admirable English:
“I did a mistake because I just wanted to say that Diego likes to put pressure on his opponent. After the game, I was tired and was chosen for doping control so I wanted to go quickly back to my house. I didn’t remember what I said and I didn’t expect it to come out like it did. It was a mistake and I am really sorry for it. It is my second year in England and my English is not perfect. Everybody can do mistakes. This day, I did. l I never thought Diego is a cheat. He is a friend. I like this guy. On the pitch he gives everything for the club and the team. I hope he will continue like this. He should not change. I spoke to him and said, ‘Sorry, mate’ because I didn’t want to say that. English is not my first language, so I did not mean it. He told me: ‘It’s OK, no problem. I know what you wanted to say’.”
Language and footballers, eh.
It was, we firmly believe, the great Paul Merson who coined the term “a torrid” to connote the match-long suffering of a defender (normally a left or right back) at the hands of vividly in-form opponent (normally a winger or “pushed-on” midfielder) — in other words, “a torrid time”, but the adjective becomes a noun and the “time” is silent, hence “he’s given him an absolute torrid”.
It was also Merson, incidentally, who came up with the term “a worldy”, meaning “a world-class save”, and, as we have had cause to note before, that’s two more additions to the dictionary than any Poet Laureate in living memory has managed. If you want proof that the English language is vitally and compellingly alive, look no further than the former Arsenal winger’s desk on any Gillette Soccer Saturday.
Better to do as many footballers do and only talk about yourself, whether in the first or third person. Tim Sherwood of Aston Villa explains:
“We’ve got a manager in the opposite dugout today who’s not had it all his own way at every club he’s been at, but he’s come through and stuck to his beliefs. That’s what Tim Sherwood will be doing.”
Of course what Mourinho should have done is gone to ground, beaten the turf with an open palm (having previously run it over his scalp and checked for blood) and called for medical help.
Arsenal: Dynamo player failed drugs test, Bayern can be beaten, Ospina injured
Can Arsenal overturn the form book and beat Bayern Munich in tonight’s Champions’ League match at the Emirates? Can a team defeated by the ordinary Dynamo Zagreb and Olympiacos beat the mighty Germans?
Arsenal Manager Arsène Wenger is ambitious:
“At the moment they have the best record in Europe. Maybe they are the most outstanding team in Europe. Historically they have won the European Cup how many times? Five? And Arsenal zero. So you cannot say that historically we are at the same level as Bayern. What we want is to get there. But the history doesn’t play the game. What will decide the game is the performance we produce. That comes from if we believe we can do it.”
Can they win? Wenger adds:
“I believe we have some ground to make up in Europe as we have not been at our requested level in our first two games. Our focus has been much stronger in the Premier League than it has been in Europe, and we know in this game the focus needs to be exactly the same as in the Premier League. We have the belief and confidence that we’re doing something right, so that helps. We maybe could be a little suspected in the first two games of not taking the opponent seriously enough, but this time this is not the threat. So let’s take the positives of our Premier League and get the right focus that you get when you play a big opponent. It’s a realistic statement to say we have to win one of the two games against Bayern. Maybe not even realistic enough.”
The Times notes:
Wenger’s frustration at the Zagreb defeat, in particular, was compounded by Arijan Ademi, the Dynamo midfield player, failing a drugs test after the game. Uefa is waiting for the results of his B sample before opening disciplinary proceedings, but the result will stand regardless as only in the case of more than two players from the same team having been found to have committed a doping violation in the same competition are team sanctions imposed.
Test them all, then. Why not?
Says Wenger:
“When you don’t play at your best and your opponent is doped, it is difficult. The rules are the rules and I cannot change that, so I don’t think the result is really under any threat. We have organised World Cups before now with 740 players and zero doping cases, and I don’t know if that is really a fact. I was surprised the player was Ademi because he didn’t play before he played against us. But we have to wait as well because there is a counter check to see what comes out.”
Why aren’t all footballers at top matches checked?
As for the match, David Ospina, the Arsenal goalkeeper who gifted the Greek a goal, is out injured. The feeling is that whoever is in the Gunners’ goal will have to play brilliantly.
Posted: 20th, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Liverpool balls: Jurgen Klopp says one of his side is the ‘complete footballer’ (no, not him)
Keen to convince his Liverpool team that they are the players he’d have chosen to buy, new Reds’ manager Jurgen Klopp says one of them is the “complete footballer”.
Klopp told reporters:
“We don’t have to sprinkle magical dust on them: ‘and now you can play football’. They know how to play. We just have to create a situation where it is possible to do this.
“I am not sure how many games you saw like this from Adam Lallana? I know him from Southampton and he can do 20-30 percent more. Philippe Coutinho? Do you not think he can play better football than today? Of course, he can.
“Lucas? You don’t think he can play balls on the right and left side? Of course he can. Emre Can? Learning between running and passing? He can learn.”
But who is the star turn?
“Milner? The complete football player, the perfect professional, a machine.”
He sure is Jurgen, he sure is…
Posted: 19th, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Aston Villa: David Moyes’ failure in Spain is no qualification for Premier League success
Great news for Aston Villa fans comes via the Sun’s back page. Villa are on “alert” because fans of Real Sociedad want team manager David Moyes sacked. It’s pretty rum when your team’s fortunes depend on a saviour being sacked by their current club.
And what of Tim Sherwood, Villa’s current manager, who only yesterday was being backed by Sun columnist Alan Shearer?
The worry is that were Sherwood to go, he would then join David Moyes and Brendan Rodgers as young British managers given top jobs but ultimately seen as failures.
The football business is stuck on names. Villa get Moyes because Moyes did well at Everton. But why would Villa fans want Moyes, a man with baggage?
The BBC picks up the story of Moyes’ life in Spain.
Real Sociedad manager David Moyes said “I know I’m the best man for the job” after the pressure on him grew with a 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid. Fans reportedly chanted “Moyes go home” in English with Sociedad only outside the relegation zone on goal difference. “You cannot always keep changing your manager and think that’s the answer to your problems,” the Scot said.
He’s right, of course. So why, then, does the Star report that Moyes wants to manage Aston Villa?
The answer is the same reason that Villa might be eyeing Moyes: a lack of imagination and foresight.
In the Mirror Moyes denies seeking a move:
Moyes also denied reports that would be willing to the return to the Premier League should Aston Villa decide to do away with Tim Sherwood and offer the Scot the role at Villa Park. “During pre-season I had contact with clubs, which is normal, because they know my statistics, but my intention is to stay here at La Real,” he said. “I’m not thinking about anything else. You saw the hard work and determination the players put in, how they fought.”
Did Villa offer Moyes the job in the summer?
The Mail presents Moyes’ return to the top flight of English football as a given:
David Moyes may be back in the Premier League even sooner than first thought after his side failed to win at home for the fourth time this season.
Lose in Spain and you get a top job in the top division.
Sudha Vishwanath sums it up:
These are dark days indeed, when failure overseas is a qualification factor for becoming an EPL club manager!
If Villa do sack Sherwood they should seek adventure and a vision. Moyes offers neither.
Posted: 19th, October 2015 | In: Reviews, Sports | Comments (2)
Scotland ‘Rabbed’ at rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup isa t the semi-final stages. Like many British spots fans, we too will be following the proceeding in traditional manner with a trip to B&Q. New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and South Africa are the four sides left in the tournament. Scotland lost out narrowly to the Australians, the game turning on a decision very later on.
The papers reacts with a few puns. The Sun says it was a “TARTANIC Effort”.
The Independent sees Mel Gibson in the sweat:
The Telegraph and Mail agree that Scotland were “robbed”.
Robbed? Surely ‘RABBED’.
Call me Fleet Street, I have ideas…
Posted: 19th, October 2015 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Manchester United: Mata tells Chelsea manager Mourinho what he’s missing
Juan Mata, of Manchester Untied , has been talking to the Times:
On Jose Mourinho calling him a “luxury”:
“If a luxury player is a player who scores and assists and has good stats, then I’m happy to be a luxury player.”
On the goals:
“I’ve scored as many goals for Manchester United in the Premier League as for Chelsea, but in something like 30 games less. “In terms of scoring and assisting I’m quite happy with the stats, and stats don’t lie. They are facts. I want luxury players in my team. I like creative players, and players who do different things. It’s easy to say certain players are luxuries, especially when you’ve lost a game. When you lose, a certain kind of player — the creative players — always get the blame.”
And back to Jose:
“I’ve not tried to prove anyone wrong. I didn’t speak with Mourinho like he has spoken with you, for example. I never had any explanations and didn’t ask for them.”
Mata was Chelsea’s Players’ Player of the Year when Mourinho sold him.
Clickbait football: Surprising facts about Arsenal for Metro readers
The “surprising” stat is that Arsenal have won more Premier League games than any other team in 2015. Trouble is that season runs from August to May – so its means nothing.
Posted: 18th, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Liverpool balls: stats prove Klopp has Reds playing like Burnley
Klopp Watch: more bilge on the new Liverpool manager in the Metro.
Stats show the Jurgen Klopp effect is already in full flow at Liverpool
Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Spurs in Klopp’s first match in charge. In can be argued that the scoreline is the biggest and most important stat. But the Metro has seen a tweet by data harvesters Opta:
Gegenpress is Klopp’s preferred method of closing down the opposition – what English types call ‘getting in their faces’ or simply ‘pressing’.
It might be worth looking at the same fixture last season, a game that ended 0-3 in Liverpool’s favour. Or the result in the season before that when Liverpool won 0-5.
And as for sprints equating to good team play, well, these are three biggest runners from last season:
George Boyd (Burnley) – 2587
Scott Arfield (Burnley) – 2532
Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull) – 2241
Burnley and Hull were relegated.
Such are the stats.
Posted: 18th, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Liverpool balls: Danny Ings turns Klopp is the new Shankly
Klopp Watch: Gary Neville was annoyed by BT Sport’s Klopp cam, a little box in the corner of the screen that kept track of every smile, grin and physical jerk by Liverpool’s new manager Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp is hailed as that most rare of sporting gems: the likeable German.
In the Mirror, before a ball has been kicked under his guiding smile, the paper told readers:
Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp had the air of Bill Shankly about him at first pre-match press conference
Shankly was the manager who inspired Liverpool to greatness.
David Maddock began his article:
If there is one word Jurgen Klopp has used above all others since arriving at Anfield, it is “dream”.
He is living it, he insists, and he wants his players and the Liverpool supporters to do the same. His aim, above all others, is to get his new club dreaming again… There is something of the Shankly about him when he says, calmly, he has always preferred to concentrate on those who are available, rather than worry about the players who aren’t.
That’s pretty much what every manager does, is not, focusing on playing the fit over the ill, in this case not dwelling on injury to striker Danny Ings.
“As a manager, one of the things I learnt first you do not think about the players who are not available at this moment, because there is no chance to get lucky if you do this all of the time,” he explained with a smile… Shankly was famous for refusing to speak to injured players, blanking them as though they didn’t exist until they were fit and useful to him again.
Blimey! It’s the second coming.
Posted: 18th, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Arsenal chase Isco to beat Chelsea in a game of tabloid tag
Transfer Balls: The Metro says Arsenal are looking to buy a “world star”. Who he? And what is a “world star”?
Rebecca Coles explains:
Arsenal ready to beat Chelsea to transfer of world-star in January – report
Yes, yes. Who is it? What is it?
Arsenal are to step up their interest in Real Madrid’s Isco after reports Chelsea and Manchester City are also lining a potential transfer for the midfielder. The Gunners are eyeing a £22million deal to sign Isco in the January transfer window, according to Spanish news outlet Fichajes…
Why would Arsenal want hm
…in a bid to improve their chances to win the Premier League title.
No sh*t, Sherlock.
No link to the Fichajes site. But we looked and found:
The Gunners team that has followed him on many occasions, are considering the possibility of disbursing € 30 million to take over its services. The London club would be trying to do everything possible to incorporate into their ranks in the not too distant future, as indicated Caught offside .
Over there we are told:
Arsenal are ready to launch a £22m bid for Real Madrid attacking midfielder Isco in January according to the Daily Mirror.
Liam Corless writes:
Arsenal will attempt to sign Isco from Real Madrid in January, according to reports in Spain.
Can he cite a source?
Fichajes claim the Gunners will lodge a £22m bid for the Spanish starlet when the winter transfer window opens.
It’s another Human Centipede of football reporting.
Posted: 17th, October 2015 | In: Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Klopp Watch: Liverpool manager swears at media and binds Reds fans
Klopp Watch – a look at the news Liverpool manger Jurgen Klopp in the news. Matt Dickinson tells Times readers he “fears that the charm offensive won’t last”.
Klopp is the current media darling. It used to be Jose Mourinho they loved and before that Harry Redknapp. But Jose is now presented as toxic by the righteous and right-on and Redknapp’s been rumbled.
Says Dickenson:
As José Mourinho finds fresh conflict and conspiracy everywhere he turns, at least there is that lovely Jürgen Klopp to keep us smiling. Ah yes, the “normal one” with his cool jeans-jacket combo, his self-deprecation, the twinkle in his eye and stylish stubble on his rugged chin. Klopp is the future — bright, optimistic — like Mourinho used to be. Or so we like to think.
We then get to realise that anyone who got to the top of German football didn’t do it by grinning alone:
Blaming his woes on referees? Klopp can resort to that cheap tactic along with the worst of them. A check of his misdemeanours shows that he has been sent to the stands at least eight times for volcanic explosions. Patronising to journalists? Klopp can charm but he can also pull off a world-class sneer. You might think that is no bad thing — the media dish it out, we should take it too — but belittling hacks does not tend to play well beyond a club’s supporters.
Nigel Pearson’s belittling played out badly with pretty much everyone. And if Klopp’s words can bind Reds fans, so be it. Maybe he can share a few words with a Sun journalist and really win them over?
How long before Klopp is snapping like he did at Borussia Dortmund in a press conference when it was pointed out by someone from the club’s website that he was on a losing run against Hamburg: “The last thing I need is for you to bring that up, a***hole”.
Make a nice change from Mourinho’s too-clever-by-half rhetoric. Klopp’s “dark side” looks refreshingly normal.
Read it all here.
Posted: 17th, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: lose to Bayern Munich and the Premier League goes too (just ask Liverpool)
Arsenal are playing badly in the Champions’ League. With the table reading ‘played 2; lost 2’, Arsene Wenger’s team need a win in their home match with Bayern Munich.
Steve Howard has a theory that you can win when you lose. He writes in the Sun:
Should Arsenal suffer back-to-back defeats against Bayern Munich — P11, W11 and 24 goals in their last six games — they could well finish bottom of the group and not even qualify for the Europa League. Arsenal, free of other distractions, will then never have a better chance of winning their first title since the Invincibles in 2003-04. Just call it forward planning. And they never do anything in the Champions League anyway
Can losing matches help to win matches? What about winning being a habit?
In 2014, Liverpool were pushing to the title. With a home match against Chelsea looming the Daily Mirror asked its writes to take a view:
Will Liverpool win the Premier League title? Our reporters have their say…
Martin Lipton:
…the Anfield clash comes slap in the middle of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final games with Atletico Madrid. That surely gives Liverpool an advantage.
Joe Mewis:
While there’s surely a few twists and turns awaiting us, the fact that the Chelsea game comes in the middle of their Champions League semi-final tips the balance in favour of the Reds for me.
Paul Wilson had more in the Guardian:
There can be no doubt, as Liverpool home in on a possible first title in 24 years, that their chances have been enhanced by non-involvement in Europe.
Managers in the know such as José Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini have been saying all season that it is easier to play once a week, it is clearly less tiring not to have to travel abroad in midweek and you do not run the risk of “hangovers” when disappointing results in Europe affect your confidence in Premier League matches…
The Anfield game falls right between the two legs of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid. Mourinho’s players will arrive in Liverpool having played in Spain, and have the home leg at Stamford Bridge three days after Anfield. Given that victory over Liverpool will not necessarily confirm Chelsea as English champions – another slip-up by Manchester City will be required for that to happen – it may be the case that European progress is prioritised…
He then adds wryly:
At the very least some seem to feel that if a 24-year gap is closed and Gerrard gets his title wish, an asterisk should accompany the achievement in the record books to denote that Liverpool played fewer games than most of their rivals that season. If Liverpool do win the title and seventh place is established as the ideal launchpad for domestic success, can we expect teams to be fighting to finish outside the European positions from next season onwards? It could be Manchester United have been ahead of the game all along.
Adding:
There is plenty of room for argument about whether a Championship season is actually easier or less taxing than a Premier League one, but missing from my correspondent’s analysis of the Wembley situation was the consideration that Arsenal, of the Champions League, were nine minutes from being humbled by Wigan, of the Championship. A team that though relegated at the end of last season had gone to Manchester City in the previous round and put out a side that at the time were favourites to win the Premier League title. You can produce statistics to support almost any argument in football, but Danny Blanchflower was right about the game being about glory. If you don’t see that, if you can’t even be a little bit excited about teams upsetting the odds, you might be missing the point.
Liverpool never did win the title that year, losing t0-2 to Chelsea in that home match. Chelsea lost 3-1 to Atletico Madrid.
Does defeat in the Champion’s League help a team win the title? No. It just means you lost.
Posted: 16th, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Chelsea: jealous Mourinho says FA love money even more then Arsenal
Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, has been fined £50,000 and threatened with a stadium ban for criticising referees. Yep, just 50 grand. Jose Mourinho is a profitable business for the FA. They must hope he stays in the job and keeps talking and talking. His offence was to say referees are “afraid” to award penalties to his team, following a 3-1 home defeat by Southampton. The FA’s fine system is pretty opaque, but we can reveal that if Mourinho calls the referee a “scaredy-cat” the FA can order new silk carpets for their Zanzibar beach office.
At a press conference to launch his new book, Mourinho invited the media “to get deep” into the workings of the FA disciplinary department.
“You should get deep.You should go. You should be honest. You shouldn’t be afraid to write, you won’t be punished. Every word I say is a risk. I am happy I don’t have an electronic tag. I think it’s not far from that. I also think that £50,000 in the world where we live today is an absolute disgrace. An absolute disgrace. And I also think that the possibility of getting a stadium ban is also something absolutely astonishing. But more difficult for me to understand is when I compare different people with different behaviours or with similar behaviours, with different words or with similar words.”
He means Arsene Wenger, of course, the Arsenal manger who seems to occupy a place deep below Mourinho’s skin. Wenger called Mike Dean “weak and naive” when the weak and confused referee made a complete hash of this season’s Chelsea v Arsenal match, sending off the wrong player and letting the right player who should have seen red stay on the pitch. No fine for Wenger. “The difference is £50,000 and one-match stadium ban,” says Mourinho.
“The word ‘afraid’ is a punishment, and a hard punishment. But to say the referee was ‘weak and naive’, referring to one of the top referees in this country and in Europe, we can do. Weak and naive, you can use. And in this country, a word [afraid] is more important than aggression. So now we know. We can push people in the technical area, no problem.”
That’s a reference to when Mourinho and Wenger had a tiff at pitch-side.
We can only wonder what would happen should the FA offer its legal services to hairdressers, tabloid columnists or religionists. As Craig Brown notes:
One of the cattiest memoirs of recent years was the preeningly titled Know The Truth by George Carey, the spud-faced former Archbishop of Canterbury…
Carey took sideways digs at no fewer than three of his fellow Bishops, among them the Bishop of Peterborough (‘popular with the media . . . but he worried me by his tendency to pour doubt on all diocesan efforts to raise funds or enthusiasm’), the Bishop of Durham (‘his concerns were not always grounded in real life’) and the Bishop of Sheffield (‘another whose eloquence was often unintentionally destructive’).
Nor did he withdraw his claws from those of other denominations. At one point, he described a meeting between the Queen, to whom Carey is, of course, always unctuous, and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, who had, he noted, a ‘menacing beard’. The Queen, he wrote, ‘patiently endured the Patriarch’s rather lengthy answers’. Miaow!
If the FA ran the Church of England disciplinary committees, a bankrupted Carey would be living off donations.
Posted: 16th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Key Posts, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Wenger quits ‘all of a sudden’
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ‘named the date when his career at the Gunners end – the Mirror says it’s June 30 2017:
The Mirror says Wenger will “quit in 19 moths”.
On October 3, the same newspaper said Wenger had no plans to quit:
Wenger spoke:
“I will retire, don’t worry. But no, I haven’t decided on a plan yet. I think it can be more instinctive and impulsive than that. I’ve heard that so many times, ‘Next year I will retire’ and then they continue, or go somewhere else. I think one thing is for sure that, when I retire, I will really retire.”
And so to today’s scoop:
Gunners boss Wenger’s current £8m-a-deal expires at the end of next season and talked as if he was preparing to leave at the club’s AGM on Thursday
No quitting, then, but reaching the end of his current deal.
He said:
“I am resolute to commit absolutely until the last day of my contract to bring back big success to this club, and leave as well one day in a position where it can do even better when I leave. That is for me very important that I leave the club in the shape that the guy who comes after me can do better. The responsibility on my shoulders is much bigger. I know what it means for people. I know how sad people are when we don’t do well, I know how sad people are when we lose a game.”
So he has not set a date when he will quit. The Mirror’s scoop is balls.
The Times is more circumspect:
Arsène Wenger hints at his Arsenal exit strategy
Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has given the first hint he is starting to contemplate his legacy at the Emirates Stadium, suggesting that he is determined to make sure that he leaves the club in such rude health that his successor is more successful than he has been.
Speaking at a stormy annual general meeting, the 65-year-old insisted he is “absolutely committed” to seeing out his contract, which expires in 2017. Sir Chips Keswick, the club’s chairman, also made clear that he and the board remain convinced that Wenger is the “best person to take charge of Arsenal for as long as he feels inclined”.
Said Wenger:
“Looking back, I am proud we have won titles and FA Cups, but the first quality of a club is to be consistent. We have had 18 consecutive years in the Champions League. Only one club — Real Madrid — has done better. I can understand that is not enough. I am the first person to agree that it is not enough. We want more.
Wenger stays!
Posted: 16th, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer balls: Arsenal chase the elusive Michy Batshuayi who wanted to reject them
Arsenal are buying… Michy Batshuayi. Maybe. The Metro has been tracking the story – and has yet to deliver a single cogent fact:
September 15: “Arsenal set to make January transfer bid for Michy Batshuayi”
September 16: “Arsenal transfer news: January move for Michy Batshuayi”
September 20: “Arsenal target Michy Batshuayi could make transfer away from Marseille, admits president”
September 21: “‘Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger asks board to seal Michy Batshuayi transfer – report”
October 14: “Arsenal ready to make Michy Batshuayi transfer move – report”
October 15: “Wenger plots Michy Batshuayi move”
Previously:
Followed one day later by:
Such are the facts…
Spotter: Football 365
Klopp watching: Liverpool boss implicated in Firmino love photo
Klopping Off
Klopp Watch: a look at the Liverpool manager in the news. the Daily Mail shoehorns Klopp into a story built around a selfie.
Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino all loved up with wife Larissa Pereira…
Rohan Banerjee adds:
…so will new boss Jurgen Klopp take a fancy to him?
File under: threes a crowd.
Posted: 15th, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Chelsea balls: Le Saux says Mourinho is bad for football
Former Chelsea defender Graeme Le Saux says Jose Mourinho’s row with Dr Eva Carneiro has been bad for football:
“What concerns me most, given the work I’m doing for the FA, is the impact Mourinho’s behaviour may have throughout the whole game.”
Le Saux has a seat on the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board.
“We’re trying to deal with some very sensitive issues and to change the culture of the game. Some good people at the FA have taken a kicking after concluding there was insufficient evidence to charge Mourinho, whilst the whole furore may also deter women from becoming involved in football, as well as discouraging clubs from employing them.”
He had us right up to ‘women’, portrayed by Le Saux as being so weak that a few bitchy barbs from Mourinho and they will rule out a role in professional football.
You can read it all here.
Posted: 15th, October 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports | Comments (3)
Arsenal season ticket costs JUST twice as much as Stoke’s
Arsenal sell British football’s most expensive season ticket. Or as Mirror puts it:
Arsenal fans are forced to pay more than any other Premier League club for match-day and season tickets.
The media has been reviewing the BBC Sport’s annual Price of Football study.
Their most expensive season ticket costs £2,013 – almost SEVEN times the cost of the cheapest season ticket at Stoke, which at £294 is the most affordable in the top-flight.
Why compare the most expensive ticket at one club with the cheapest at another?
Stoke City only offers 300 season tickets at £294. Stoke’s top price ticket is £519. The cheapest season ticket to watch Arsenal cost £1014. Which represents the better value for money is for you to decide. If you think it’s Arsenal, you need to put your name on the waiting list. If you think it’s Stokes, pick your seat…
Posted: 15th, October 2015 | In: Arsenal, Reviews, Sports | Comment
