I was discussing Joe Kinnear’s foul-mouthed press conference tirade with friends over the weekend and have been surprised to find quite a lot of sympathy for the nutter. The popular view, expressed also by football pundits in the past couple of days, seems to be that although he probably went a bit over the top, [...]

Since drivers of 4×4s tend to be regarded as braying, selfish, middle class dummies - their penchant for oversized cars that are much too big for the school run barely disguising an inherent bullying streak - I can’t think of a better way for Land Rover to lay this image to rest than by creating [...]

To Liverpool, where today’s Daily Post seems to have missed a football story of some minor European importance.

EVERTON youngsters are celebrating a fine tournament success after winning the under-13s girls Premier League Schools Tournament.
Represented by a six-a-side Broughton Hall High School from West Derby, Everton overcame Liverpool 2-0 in the final at the Madjeski Stadium.
More [...]

I’ve just come back from Manchester city centre. The whole place stinks of piss. People appear to have been sleeping in the NCP car park on Oxford Road. There are empty beer bottles and pizza boxes strewn around between the BMWs and the odd empty bog roll on the ground. I suppose twenty quid for parking is cheaper than [...]

Someone predicted on a forum on the Liverpool Echo website at 10.28am yesterday that Arsenal would draw Liverpool, Man Utd would get Roma and Chelsea would play Fenerbahce, leaving Barcelona v Schalke in the quarter finals of the Champions League. The idea of fixing a live cup draw seems initially ridiculous until you consider the [...]

The outcome at 18.33 today - whereby the appointment of Fabio Capello as the new England manager was finally “approved” - was reached unpredictably speedily during the course of this week. And, rather as it does with Wimbledon and the Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC has taken ownership of the event.
It’s been impossible to switch [...]

Today’s Guardian blog piece called “Israel and Russia: the best of football friends” is a neat lesson in how to avoid legal action, while at the same time suggesting a “conspiracy theory” about how some of Roman Abramovich’s money, through the (Russian) Football Academy Foundation, is tied up in Israeli football.
It hints at something whiffy [...]

A bewildering choice of headline in the Manchester Evening News, which appears to use Carlsberg Special Brew as part of a punning headline in a story about the “homeless and disadvantaged” today.
Man City footballer Didi Hamann is pictured on the back page visiting a “resource centre for homeless and disadvantaged people in Stockport to help [...]

While I was away, Jose Mourinho resigned as Chelsea manager. I must confess I felt confused and disorientated by this turn of events. Luckily, there was an excellent distillation of the saga in the Mirror from that renowned expert Fiona Phillips (of GMTV):
We truly won’t see his like again. He was so charismatic and so [...]