The stage is almost set. The cast and directors are almost ready. The only delay is because of money. As per usual a “big” game has been moved to Monday night. The argument put forward is so that is doesn’t clash with any other games, which live TV games in the UK are not allowed to do anyway, but also that it is played on a day when there are no other games at all with which to compete. (more…)
In the not too distant past the top clubs in Europe were the ones with the most money. This, to an extent, is still true today but the main difference is that a lot more clubs have the most money than previously.
Thinking back fifteen or twenty years ago there were the usual suspects in Real Madrid and Barcelona from Spain. Bayern Munich, at the time, were usually Germany’s sole representatives in the latter stages of any competition. Arsenal and Manchester United used to fight for the Premier League in England and the Milan clubs and Juventus usually offered Italian resistance. (more…)
(The answer to the above question is that he probably will, but as a commentator!)
When Gary Neville’s ill fated stint in charge of Valencia reaches it’s inevitable conclusion, he will have a choice to make.
Assuming Peter Lim wants him to carry on in the role of coach at the Spanish club, which I actually doubt, he will have to make more of a commitment than he has done so far. I think it far more likely that Lim is looking for a replacement as I write.
Moving to Spain when you are a multi-millionaire ex-footballer is not the chore it once was and, indeed, still is for a lot of the less well-off ex-pats. He will have private tutors for his children and one for himself in order to try and learn Spanish, which he will not be able to do in five months, but he should master the basics.
He will have lawyers, solicitors, translators, all at his beck and call to smooth the transition from Manchester to Valencia.
The worst affected in this move will probably be the children, assuming that they have friends in Manchester. As previously mentioned, they will be tutored at home meaning they will rarely come into contact with other children, certainly not the Spanish ones, unless at club functions. His wife will find more well-off British women to pass the time with on the long days when hubby is at the training ground or travelling to away matches. (more…)
Does Louis van Gaal deserve any sympathy for his plight at Manchester United or for his treatment in the press?
Maybe, maybe not. Some of the media can be harsh, some can be petty and some can be pathetic.
I have watched interviews on Sky TV, on MUTV and on BT Sport and probably others too numerous to mention over the years. The questions never improve, they never change and they are as stupid now as they were fifty years ago. It would seem that the only qualification needed for a job as a sports interviewer on TV is an almost photographic memory for stupid questions.
Asking a manager what he needs to do to win the next game is a stupid question. His team needs to score more than the opponents, obviously. Asking a manager if injuries have forced him to make changes is a stupid question. He cannot play injured players so he will make changes, obviously.
Pathetic questions are no excuse however, for the way some managers behave when faced by the cameras or just by a collection of ne’er-do-wells from Fleet street. (more…)
Just to continue my polite little dig at the incorrect use of the English language and in particular the media who generally misuse it. The standard of English being screened to which our children are listening is, for want of a better word, diabolical.
The examples I will use are taken from watching Sky Sports and Sky News, but I am sure they are also commonplace on other channels.
Firstly, may I remind anyone old enough to remember and inform anyone not old enough to remember that at one time, to appear on TV, (admittedly there were only 2 channels at the time), one was required to wear a suit and tie and have an Old Etonian accent at least. This was never something I particularly agreed with as there are plenty of people for whom English is an art form, who didn’t attend Eton and who look terrible in a suit. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 