Why David Unsworth should get the Everton job - Phil Neville

Phil Neville seems like a nice guy, but he's written/dictated some punditry nonsense for the BBC:

I would love to see David Unsworth get the Everton job on a permanent basis and it riles me when I see him described as not having enough experience.

Maybe I've forgotten something so let's just check David Unsworth's job experience as a football Manager:

...Never been a permanent manager at any football club but has managed 10 games as caretaker.

Consider me not riled.

Unsworth has done the hard yards as a coach and has done a fantastic job with the Everton Under-23 side, where he has done everything that was asked of him.

So many years job experience in a different job then?

He won the Premier League 2 title with them last season and has also produced a lot of the young players that are now playing for the Everton first team.
The next step now is for him to go and do that at first-team level in the Premier League

Why is the next step from youth level to go directly to the Premier League. What is it about youth football that could specifically prepare him for the Premier League? The incredibly low attendances and lack of media attention? The sensible recognition that players make mistakes and results are not always everything? All hallmarks of the Premier League for sure.

If it is not at Everton, then Unsworth has to get that chance somewhere else - but where?
From an English coach's perspective, we are not getting opportunities. We are seen as second-class citizens at the moment, and that has got to change.

Wow. Shall we ask 66 of the 92 current Premier League & EFL Managers how to magic up a miracle opportunity to be appointed by a football club?

I did not know this myself until I joined, but Everton is a unique club where as a player or manager, it is vital you understand the fans and the area you are working in. They are the people who make it, and it is not just a football club by name.

This is drivel, but also doesn't make Everton unique compared to most other football clubs.

Unsworth gets Everton Football Club, which is something that maybe the previous manager did not do.

I was thinking that Ronald Koeman struggled tactically to integrate his new signings into a cohesive style of play. I was thinking the transfer business Everton did over the Summer after losing Lukaku and Barry was woefully inadequate anyway to even the most untrained observer.
I'm so glad we have the opinion of someone who played the game to show me the error of my ways.

Koeman didn't get it lads he's foreign, I'll bet he's never even eaten a Scouse pie.

Yes he may have managed 9 different clubs across 4 countries and won 3 league titles, but he's not even been to Aintree for ladies day, let alone won the U23 Premier League.

Like if in some doomsday scenario Everton had managed to appoint Pep Guadiola, old Fizzer would have been "he doesn't know what a Liver bird is", "he's never been to the Cavern Club".

Philip Neville was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

Sorry Chris, I feel your pain.

Marco Silva's Watford

Paul Merson has his audience. He's a standard proper football man, and is employed for his entertainment value rather than valid opinions. Nevertheless his delusional hatred of Marco Silva requires some comment.

Here's the killer quotes from Sky Sports preview of the season for Watford:

...they will get relegated. To have a manager who has enhanced their reputation by being relegated is remarkable. He had the chance to bring in players and didn't achieve what he was brought in for.

Marco Silva had a good reputation before he joined Hull, and he retained that reputation because he did a good job last season. He took 27 points from 18 games, which would have seen them comfortably survive if he was there for the full season. OK he didn't stop them from being relegated, but if you are brought in when your team is bottom of the league with 3 wins from 20 games then that goal isn't going to be easy to achieve.

They've not really bought anybody with Premier League experience, and that's why I worry about them. They struggled last season and have no momentum so I'm going to place them 18th.

The Premier League, where teams have to play the first 30 minutes using their left feet only, then half time takes place on the moon. Hey Carlos Kick-a-ball, did you bring your compulsory infrared googles which must be worn at all set pieces?

FYI 3 of the last 4 PFA Players of the Year were all players with no Premier League experience when they were bought by the clubs where they won the award.

Also he is asked 6 questions and replies to 3 of them like so:

I always enjoy watching Troy Deeney.
I read that they might not give Troy Deeney the captaincy and for me he's kept the club together. If they left him out they'd really struggle.
If they get sorted in what's left of the transfer window and Troy Deeney has a good season then they can stay up.

Merse who do you think will win the league this season?
PM: Troy Deeney
OK, and what about Brexit. What impact will it have on the economy?
PM: Troy Deeney
Interesting, and the global political climate in the era of Trump?
PM: Troy Deeney

Quick check-up on this. Deeney has started 1 game in the first 8 and scored 1 goal (a penalty).

Watford are 4th in the league.

It's likely unsustainable if you look at xG, but they look a solid mid-table team even after a pounding by Man City (teams who haven't played City will likely suffer a similar dip in xG the way they are smashing all comers).

Motty's back

John Motson answers question on twitter! Let's quote Motty from a previous post in this blog:

Q: Have you ever been shown how Twitter works?

Gary Lineker asked me this last summer and I told him I have no interest in it whatsoever. I am too busy to even think about it. I am not on Facebook either and I don't do email. My life is very simple, it is controlled completely on a mobile phone with my texting.

Given the above how likely is it that John Motson tweeted the following: 

Hi everybody, John Motson here, ready to answer your #FACup questions. Use #AskMotty and I'll answer the best ones. 

Two hashtags. How likely is it that John Motson knows what a hashtag is? I'm sure he's seen the symbol before because it's on a mobile phone keypad which of course controls his every move.

But I am going to presume that he is being asked them by some FA intern who’s job it is to select the questions and ask them to Motty before replying on his behalf. Even so Motty displays an incredible lack of understanding when replying to the questions asked of him.

Who is the best player you have commentated on?

I'll give you three - Cantona, who transformed Man Utd, Henry who was fantastic for Arsenal, and the mercurial Ronaldo.

Again we’ll revisit a previous Motty quote:

I would go for Eric Cantona as the best overseas player. He changed the history of Manchester United. I have to mention Thierry Henry at Arsenal too.

So he’s added (Cristiano?) Ronaldo since last time at least. But again Cantona and Henry are both subjectively and objectively ridiculous calls. And also Ronaldo isn't mercurial, he's a incredibly consistent goal machine.

who are your favourite up and coming commentators at the moment?

I admire Clive Tyldesley greatly, but BBC tradition of commentators is in good hands with Steve Wilson, Guy Mowbray and JP.

Clive Tyldesley is 60 years old. Steve Wilson (47), Guy Mowbray (42) and Jonathon Pearce (54) aren’t exactly up and coming either.

This is my favourite though:

What, in your opinion, is the finest FA Cup final goal ever scored?

Gerrard v West Ham in 2006 and Lawrie Sanchez in 1988 spring to mind, but the best visual goal has to be Keith Houchen's in 1987.

Firstly can someone explain to me what the difference is between a normal or visual goal? He’s implying that some goals are perceived only by a sense of smell or sound? They are so sublime they can’t be seen?

I can understand the first two choices in terms of what they meant in the game, and the significance of the Wimbledon victory was huge at the time even though it was a basic header from a corner. Gerrard’s goal was a last minute screamer to take it to extra time, so fair enough, but Keith Houchen’s goal was a header from 4 yards out to equalise after 60 minutes. I can accept his personal opinion of liking a goal, but to call this the finest ever visual goal in the FA Cup Final is nuts.

But we knew that anyway.

 

As a final aside the picture that accompanies the article:

Reminds me of this:

Look at his hands, palms flat on the keyboard! Who would sit at a laptop like that? He also looks slightly terrified, I think because he is doing everything he can to not look at the screen, even out of the corner of his eye, just in case he sees how twitter works.

 

Keown on nothing

Martin Keown. I don’t think anyone expected him to sound so articulate once he became a pundit for the BBC, but he has proved to be a well spoken chap despite his rugged playing career. The problem is that although the words come out beautifully, the content is actually the perfect example of BBC ex-pro anti-analysis.

Group F is not an easy draw for Arsenal, with last year’s finalists Borussia Dortmund and  big-spending Napoli both good sides. You feel that they will have to beat Marseille home and away to make sure they get through, so they could probably have done without playing them away from home in the first match. They may struggle without a striker (…)

Firstly, a total lack of any anaylsis of any team from the group except Arsenal. Good sides eh? So glad you wrote that.

Only mentions one non-Arsenal player, and when he does it is as a reference to Arsenal not buying Higuain.

Could have done without playing Marseille away from home? Arsenal having won their last 9 away games, including 2-0 at Bayern Munich in last seasons Champions League.

They may struggle without a striker? Arsenal’s striker Olivier Giroud has scored 5 goals in 6 games. They also have Podolski and Walcott as back up who have fine goalscoring records at the highest level.

Martin now moves on to the strikers to watch in this year’s Champions League. Thanks to the benefit of his exceptional knowledge I now know that Messi/Neymar and Ronaldo/Bale will be quite tasty. So glad you pointed these unknown gems out Martin.

NB. Not his fault but the picture of Zlatan/Cavani actually has Lavezzi/Cavani on it.

Joe Kinnear appoints himself Newcastle Director of Football

Newly self-appointed Newcastle Utd Director of Football Joe Kinnear has thrown up some clearly deluded quotes in a Sky Sports interview. He's confirmed he has joined the club, but the club themselves have been suspiciously quiet and have yet to officially confirm it. Strange situation.

Anyway this is a good time to remember his introductory press conference from his last spell at the club. His opening gambit to the assembled press:

JK Which one is Simon Bird [Daily Mirror's north-east football writer]?
SB Me.
JK You're a cunt.

Back to the present however we get the following:

I've never been a manager of a club that's been relegated

Joe Kinnear was director of football and manager of Luton Town when they were relegated in 2001.

Further to this Kinnear spoke of an "Arab invasion" in the Premier League, as well as calling his new boss David when he is in fact named Derek.

I'm trying to understand the context of the Arab invasion quote. As far as I know the only "Arab" he could be referring to is the owner of Manchester City. A real invasion on a grand scale of 1.

More nonsense from Rowley Birkin QC

 
Jeff Powell at his best.

Hands up all those who have heard of Razvan Rat, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Jesus Navas, Modibo Diakite, Guillermo Varela, Aleksandar Tonev, Jose Canas and Fernandinho.

Without any research I can tell you the following

Razvan Rat: Romanian full back, played a lot of Champions League games

van Wolfswinkel: Dutch wunderkid, tall, strong striker Norwich have wanted him all season

Navas: Sevilla RW. Quick as fuck. Played in and won the WORLD CUP FINAL for Spain
Diakite: French CB, tall, strong, played for Lazio

Varela: fair enough

Tonev: fair enough

Canas: fair enough

Fernandinho: been outstanding for Shaktah Donetsk for quite some time, including lots of Champions Leage games. Explosive CM

For example, I won’t even bother to identify the handful of Mr Whos? bought by Fulham.

Like Martin Stekenleberg, with over 50 caps for Holland who also played in the last WORLD CUP FINAL?

Then, onto Cricket:

Now, in this age of political correctness when to call someone a plonker is a crime against his human rights, we have Warner being banned by Australia until next month’s first Test and fined £7,000 for what sounds like a bit of a lark.

Unprovoked assault in a bar? Bit of a lark really!

Jeff Powell, you are a nonsense.

Adrian Durham

Adrian Durham. I’m not 100% sure if he is on the wind-up with everything he ever writes, but I choose to take him at face value to highlight the ridiculousness of his “journalism”.

His thoughts on Mourinho pre Man Utd v Real Madrid:

He once questioned a referee who then got death threats and decided to retire. So much for respect.

When Mourinho joined Chelseain June 2004 he gave a press conference where he claimed he was “a special one”. Later that same month Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer and politician, and Jemima Khan, daughter of the late Anglo-French billionaire Sir James Goldsmith, announced their divorce.

So much for the sanctity of marriage.

Mourinho has reportedly sent Tito Vilanova his best wishes but, for me, there is something deeply wrong with the amount of celebrating Real Madrid have done in the Barcelona faces after recent victories in El Clasico. Vilanova is in the USA having treatment for cancer.

This bit is beyond parody.

If Real Madrid go through they will have deserved to go through I suppose, but I prefer people who love football to be winners, not people who depend on off-the- field nonsense as part of their tactics. 

Managers who depend on off the field nonsense, like say Alex Ferguson?

Then we move on to Olivier Giroud, Arsenal’s mildly disappointing RVP replacement.

The previous day at Blackburn one of the Football League’s hottest properties right now, 5ft 9in Londoner Dwight Gayle,scored a hat-trick to lift my team Peterborough United off the bottom of the table. It was a perfect hat-trick: the first with his left-foot, the second with his head and the third with his right-foot. 

This hat-trick was scored from a combined distance of about 15 yards. It was decent finishing on good chances in the box.

Gayle, a 22-year-old pacy striker who feels his biggest strength is his finishing, could have been playing for Arsenal. He was with the Gunners as a schoolboy, but released at the age of 12 when the club told him he was too small, that he lacked height and strength

You’d think it’s obvious where this is going, and indeed he does hit us with:

What a shame Arsenal didn’t work hard with a young player and turn him into their first homegrown English star striker to come through under Wenger since... well there hasn’t been one during Wenger’s reign.

Like Wenger can magically invent a striker out of nothing. No credit for Wilshere, Ashley Cole and Gibbs, they aren’t strikers you see. Only strikers count I’m afraid. Also implies there is a limitless amount of young English strikers just waiting around that Wenger just can’t be bothered with. Fact is that the current English crop of young strikers wasn’t available to Wenger because they weren’t born or living near North London.

Then we take a turn for the crazy with the following:

The big clubs in England have a terrible recent record at producing strikers through their academies

He goes on to list players produced including

Danny Welbeck
Daniel Sturridge

Andy Cole

Kevin Campbell

Carlton Cole

Robbie Fowler

Michael Owen

Wayne Rooney

Andy Carroll

Followed by:

The big clubs in England should be ashamed of their poor record of producing strikers. Do academy coaches really know what they’re doing?

So arbitrarily deciding non-strikers don’t count, then producing a list of successful strikers anyway and he still comes to the wrong conclusion!

England’s most capped players currently active were youth products from:

Man Utd
Liverpool
Arsenal
West Ham
Liverpool
West Ham
Everton
Chelsea

Summary:He is talking nonsense.

Lawro v Piers Morgan

Mark Lawrenson's latest predictions are against Piers Morgan. Twat.

Not much from Morgan other than some typically bitter pot shots at Ashley Cole, Samir Nasri and Ant & Dec.

Onto a couple of Lawro pearls:

Chelsea v West Brom

226 words before he mentions anything of relevance to this game or anything relating to a possible prediction of the result. The worst of those words include:

The whole situation at Stamford Bridge has turned into a soap opera

I’m fed up of people in sports media writing shit like this. It’s all been created as a figment of the media’s imagination, and when they constantly print lies about what is happening inside the club hiding behind unnamed sources it should not count as a soap opera.

Southampton v QPR

They are definitely due a victory (…)although I know that does sound daft for a team that has only won two out of 27 league games so far this season.

According to Lawro’s league table QPR are in 7^th with 13 wins. Sounds daft to me.

Why does this never happen in the UK?

NFL player writes a letter to elected official. Great use of the phrase "lustful cockmonster"

Motson's glorious career

Sporting Spotlight

Sometimes I need a reminder of why I started this blog. Sometimes the BBC posts a little reminder for me.

BBC football commentator John Motson discusses the best players he has seen,

Could be interesting, but will most likely be nonsense

how football has changed during his career

A looooooong career, so fair enough question

and his favourite Motty impersonators

Wha? A 40 year career and this is the question on everyone’s lips?

Ok, let’s stop being facetious and get into it.

Q: How did you first get into commentating on football?
A: I was lucky 

And we were not.

Q: Which match stands out in your memory as the best one you have seen?

Bare in mind the tens of thousands of games this man has seen. He has commentated on some truly great games of football. Euro 1984 France 3-2 Portugal AET is in the sidebar on the same page as this Q & A, so that is a candidate. The world’s greatest players performing at levels of skill beyond that of normal players in the biggest games of their careers. Spain 4-3 Yugoslavia at Euro 2000 maybe?

A: Hereford's 2-1 FA Cup win against Newcastle in 1972 is one which helped develop my career because it came up in the year's trial I had at Match of the Day. Nobody saw the result coming.

1. Seems to be answering a different question than the one asked.
2. Making it all about him when he has been simply asked which is the best game.

One of his great failings as a commentator is the need to get his stat in, to make it the Motty show. Everyone loves a good Motty stat so let’s make it about me again lads.

Later in my career, it would have to be England beating Germany 5-1 in Munich in a World Cup qualifier in 2001 when Sven-Goran Eriksson had just taken over as manager. We went there to play our oldest rivals and Michael Owen got a hat-trick.

Great for an Englishman, but it was only a qualifying game, and both teams qualified anyway. The standard of football played wasn’t all that either. Typical jingoistic Motson rubbish.

Q: Who is the best player you have ever seen?

Let me first list some acceptable answers to this question, baring in mind his commentary career started in 1972.

Cruyff

Maradona

Platini

Baggio

Matthaus

Ronaldo (either of them)

Zidane

Messi

But really I think you should narrow that down to Maradona/Messi/Zidane. Anyway his answer…

The best English player I saw was Paul Gascoigne.

Not the question, but an acceptable answer to a different question I suppose. Why would you answer this question by first saying who the best player of your own nationality was? It’s absurd in the extreme.

I would go for Eric Cantona as the best overseas player. He changed the history of Manchester United. I have to mention Thierry Henry at Arsenal too.

Seriously, why won’t he answer the question that has been asked of him? Has it been written down incorrectly on the web page? The best player you have seen is not any of these men, and let me openly state I have a deep and meaningful love for Arsenal’s record goalscorer beyond what might be termed socially acceptable. Best Premier league players was not the question you fool. Also thanks for reminding us who Henry played for, really needed that.

I need to write this out again because it is so insane it's the only way it will sink in:

John Motson thinks that Eric Cantona is better than Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and Zinadine Zidane.

NB. Thierry Henry is so much better than Eric Cantona it's not even funny.

Q: How much has football changed since you started out?
A: It was fun in the way that winning was not what it is today. 

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Erm, the English language is on line five John. Seriously, parse that fuckers!
I can't for the life of me work out what he was supposed to mean here.

Q: If you could take one aspect out of today's football, what would it be?
A: The laws of the game have stood the test of time and do not need much tampering with but to make it more entertaining and clear I think the offside rule needs clarifying. It has become far too complicated and it is much harder for the assistant referees.

Diving, match-fixing, PED use, racism. No, the fucking offside law is too complicated for poor John Motson cos he can't work out what is happening, although that's no suprise considering he can't at the best of times like when a player has the ball in the centre circle and Motson suddenly screams his name out as if he has beaten 5 men and is about to slam it in the top corner...

And breathe.

Q: Have you ever been shown how Twitter works?

Oh god. I don't know what to say to this. Just to picture Motson's face even trying to open a laptop gives me hysterical fits of laughter.

Gary Lineker asked me this last summer and I told him I have no interest in it whatsoever. I am too busy to even think about it. I am not on Facebook either and I don't do email.

No interest is learning anything new thank you very much. Can't see the point in it, too busy looking up stats in my log book of games I keep on parchment, lovingly hand written by candle-light with a swan's feather quill. There's not a better way yet been invented that I am aware of.

Also, I read this as if he wouldn't even listen to what twitter is. It's not that he doesn't like the idea, it's that he won't even listen to anyone who wants to explain to him what it actually is. Like he has no interest at all with anything on a computer, no matter what it is.


My life is very simple, it is controlled completely on a mobile phone with my texting.

Listen to your mobile phone overlord, for it rules all others. I know your wife wants to go for a nice Valentine's meal, but just think, what does your phone say?

I like to think that Motty's wife has to text him to come out of the study for his tea, because he will no longer respond to human interactions.

Fin. 

Stats aren't always stats

By Anthony Kastrinakis

He has added up the times in games when Van Persie and Ronaldo have scored their first goal, and then divided by the number of games played. This then is used to give the time of their average first goal in a game. Apparently this predicts when the players will score. It’s utter nonsense of the highest order and the predictive power of this method is equal to blind guessing.

The most annoying part is the claim that:

Stats show when sharpshooting stars are most likely to score (empahsis mine)

The “stats” show nothing, this is the work of a moron who doesn’t understand statistics or football. This joker has added up a bunch of numbers to produce something he believes is meaningful when has no idea how to do so.

Consider his theory for a moment. Average time of first goal the player has scored in a game will predict when that player will score.

Using this amazing predictive system I have been able to predict the following:

Man Utd are likely to score 7 goals in total as that is how many players in the line-up had an average goal time to calculate.

Rafael should score after 46 minutes, beating two of the most prolific goalscorers in world football to the punch.

Alex Ferguson will start on his second strip of chewing gum after 6 minutes

Jose Mourinho will refuse to answer the 13th question posed to him in the post match press conference

There is a place in football for meaningful intelligent statistical analysis. It worries me that a journalist who writes for national newspapers thinks this is that, and that we are stupid enough to buy it

Lawro's predictions

Here's Lawro

We’ll start with the standard never more than 3 goals in a game stuff

1-1

2-0

2-1

2-0

1-1

1-2

1-2

1-0

2-0

2-0

Tottenham v Newcastle

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of their [Newcastle] injured players come back quicker now their places are under threat.

I take this to mean that these players are currently faking their injuries? Either that or they have the ability to manipulate time and space in such a way as to speed up recovery from injury whenever they so desire.

Joking aside it is a very strong allegation he is making against these unnamed players as to their professionalism. As if they didn’t want any part in coming back until some better players joined. I can only guess he is talking about Ben Arfa and Danny Simpson as they are the only first teamers currently injured. Simpson has a broken toe, Ben Arfa has been advised by the club doctor not to play because he could tear his hamstring. So without X-Men like powers what can they do?

Swansea v QPR. Prediction 1-2.

According to Lawro QPR should be 7^th in the table with 41 points. They are actually 20^th with 17 points. That’s some mighty fine predicting.

I don’t think Lawro even looks at the web page that publishes his predictions, if he did he would surely not keep this up. You would think that it you “write” a column for the BBC that you would at least give it a cursory glance to make sure that what you said is actually reflected in the article. Lawro obviously too busy bemoaning his employment situation, nay his very existence, to trifle with such things.

Sunderland v Arsenal

I can envisage a game where Arsenal have lots of possession

More revolutionary analysis from Lawro and his crystal ball. He’s right of course, but he might as well be saying that he predicts they will play with a round ball. It’s actually anti-analysis where he has just reached into the back of his mind for some vague description of what he thinks Arsenal are like.

Lawros’ brain: Well Arsenal always have loads of possession and try and pass it into the back of the net. Oh why do I even bother anymore, it’s hopeless. Someone get me out of here for the love of God.

Here’s how easy it is to do a bit of actual analysis. It took me 10 minutes to work out that Arsenal have had more possession in 14 out of their last 18 EPL games. The games they didn’t do that in were against Chelsea, Swansea, Man City and Wigan! It’s 11 of last 20 for Sunderland, which is a little higher than I thought but makes sense given their mid table position. Against top teams they are poor in possession. Man City 40%, Liverpool 39%, Spurs 44%, Everton 43%, Man Utd 41%. Also just for lols they only had 35% against Wigan and they still won 3-2!

So the message here is all signs point to more possession for Arsenal, but I wouldn’t expect the gap to be too wide. And also Wigan keep the ball very well but don’t do anything with it!

Aston Villa v West Ham

Let’s take a few titbits from this prediction:

Andy Carroll fit and scoring again.

how easy it is to score against Villa.

Set-pieces are their biggest issue, which is a particular problem when you play the Hammers because they thrive on set-pieces and organisation

Richard Dunne's absence through injury is a particular blow for Villa

All good points here. Looks like Villa are going to struggle

Prediction: 1-0

Oh Lawro.

Also worth mentioning, Liverpool v West Brom get’s 9 paragraphs, and a side bar about Stevie G. This is more than for any other game this weekend. Not in a biased way of course.

Classic india

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/How-many-died-in-CWG-projects-Govt-doesnt-know/articleshow/6795726.cms
 

Top, Top pundit

Jamie Redknapp nonsense:

Glenn Murray scored two more, so that’s 23 league goals for the season, but it was the No 9 alongside him — Kevin Phillips — who might just give
Crystal Palace that extra edge in the Championship run-in.

My old England team-mate has scored everywhere he’s been. An inspired loan signing in the window

So a 39 year-old man with 2 goals in 18 games will give his team the edge? Not the player with 25 goals in 28 games this season?

Stick to the boring platitudes Jamie.

Mike Celizic - HatGuy

Once upon a time I used to read a wonderful blog called firejoemorgan. That blog is the reason I write what you are reading now. They haven't updated that site for years but this glorious day they have returned on Deadspin
Firstly I implore you to click the link and also to read their original blog which should be on your screen somewhere to the right of this post. Secondly a word about a sports journalist that they used to write about.

Mike Celizic, known as HatGuy wrote some absolute rubbish about baseball for a long time, and FJM rightly destroyed him for it. He was recently diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma and sadly today he died. His last blog post was beautifully written and felt to me like a farewell from a warm old friend. A man whose ideas on baseball I couldn't have agreed less with, but a witty and intelligent writer who will leave the world a less interesting and fun place.
Perspective is a wonderful thing. Mike Celizic wrote the kind of stuff I regularly abuse people for on this blog, but as a man he was deserving of nothing but praise. So remember that some crappy sports journalism does not mean I hate the person, just I think what they wrote was garbage.

So raise a hot fudge sundae and say farewell to HatGuy, proof that a person and their work are not the same. Except for Piers Morgan, the twat.

Alan Shearer is the worst pundit floating in a sea of crap

Last night on MOTD Alan Shearer said the following about Hatem Ben Arfa: "no one knows much about him"

This is the Hatem Ben Arfa who has played several times and scored twice for France and won about 5 Ligue One titles so far in his career.
Add the fact that he has just signed for the club Shearer supports and was manager of only 2 years ago and you get a perfect example of why Alan Shearer is the worst pundit in the history of MOTD. He has managed the incredible feat of talking for what I suppose must add up to days of BBC broadcast time and not once say anything interesting or insightful.

That is all.

Evra v Thuram

Intelligent footballers at war with each other?

While the French FA and it's players continue to destroy each other, let's remember this classic line from Manchester United's most erudite player. In response to Lillian Thuram's negative comments we get this beauty

Walking round with books on slavery in glasses and a hat does not turn you into Malcolm X

I'm willing to bet that 90% of the British media's target audience have no idea who Malcolm X was, so it was kind of lost in the Daily Mail of all places. The Mail do know that Malcolm X was a Muslim right? Strange that they mention one without use of the word terrorist or extremist.

Soccer ball II

I have been meaning to re-post this one for a while. Here is evidence that the mainstream US media is still somewhat ignorant about soccer. Theirry Henry interview in which he is named as having just won the World Cup and it is suggested he has moved to New York to avoid racism on the terraces!

Set your cringe factor to 10.

Soccer Ball

Yes this is a real headline, and even though it is tongue in cheek it deserves reprinting.