Arsenal, Global, Manchester United, Premier League, Uefa Cup
Five Things
Ronaldo farce: So it’s one more year for Cristiano Ronaldo, but the whole affair has been a ridiculous pantomime with the Portuguese belatedly pledging his short-term future to the club that made him and offering a half-apology in a pathetic effort to make things right with the club and its supporters. Come summer 2009, the [...]
Ronaldo farce: So it’s one more year for Cristiano Ronaldo, but the whole affair has been a ridiculous pantomime with the Portuguese belatedly pledging his short-term future to the club that made him and offering a half-apology in a pathetic effort to make things right with the club and its supporters. Come summer 2009, the same palaver will happen, the attempts to wriggle free will be greater, and Ronaldo will surely get his way. Is Ronaldo’s heart really at the club any longer, with his reputation tarnished?
Footballing Karma: Rangers’ exit from the Champions League was a sad affair only for the fans that turn up each week to watch the side but a relief for everyone else. Their anti-football of last season was a major turn-off for all spectators yet they still managed 19 European games and even reached the Uefa Cup final. That after an incredibly tedious two legs against Fiorentina in the semi-final that left many questioning if there is any point in playing the sport at all if it is to be destroyed in such a manner.
Olympic blow: Lionel Messi, along with Rafinha and Diego, have been stopped by their relative clubs from going to the Olympics, against the players’ wishes. It is refreshing to see young footballers motivated by an illustrious and unique tournament rather than money and so the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision is a big shame for footballing integrity. The three clubs may yet allow the players to go to China, but the Olympics must always take precedence over club football in future.
Referee Respect: The new Respect campaign for referees across the country promises much but it remains the elite officials in the Premier League who will set the agenda for the rest. The constant lack of action on player dissent ensures Sunday morning referees suffer even more abuse - so the Respect campaign will only work if those at the top stop worrying about marks from assessors and deal effectively with abuse. The zero-tolerance policy in Italy is something English officials can learn from, and quickly.
McClaren heads for unhappiness, again: FC Twente took a huge and unsure step in appointing England flop Steve McClaren as head coach and the manager’s luck again seems to be out after Twente drew Arsenal in the Champions League qualifiers. It’s a game that finally threatens to test an English club in qualifying but one Arsenal should stroll through nonetheless. Failure to make the Champions League group stages will not impress McClaren’s employers, despite the severity of the draw, who were originally reticent to employing him. Still, Twente would enter the Uefa Cup and McClaren can finally recall some happier memories of Middlesbrough’s fabulous progress into the final of the competition in 2006.
Tags: Arsenal, Barcelona, Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego, England, FC Twente, Glasgow Rangers, Lionel Messi, Manchester United, Olympics, Rafinha, Referees, Steve McClaren, Uefa Cup
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rangers deserved to go as you say. but your comments are completely OTT. rangers beat stuggart, lyon, werder bremen and sporting lisbon in that euro run. yeah - fair dos - the fiorentina games were awful to watch but i don’t recall man utd playing the way football should be played vs barca en route to the final of the champs league. i seem to recall a backs-to-the-wall approach. you have to make do with what you’ve got. not eveyone can play like arsenal. indeed - i went to a few everton games last season - and they were quite frankly, rotten.
lets have a knock at rangers eh just shows you the song we sing ..no one likes us….. where was your team when we were in the uefa cup final fact the resources rangers had they done well getting to the final and we had the sight of the whinging english saying ohh my team didnt want to be in it anyway yeah right utter bullshit ..mathew day who the hell are you ???? some non entity
Olympics is an amateur game, club football is contractual. Contracts take precedent over non contractually binding events.
“lets have a knock at rangers eh just shows you the song we sing ..no one likes us….. ” spot on mate…no credit for reaching the final and as soon as we get a bad result they all jump on the bandwagon.
Matthew Day - i hope you fail in your career as a journalist - basically because you dont have a clue!!
A relief for everyone else…what?! Must be a tottie picker….the famines over….jealousy isn’t a very nice thing and its splashed all over your comments!
Yeah, I agree with trueblue - rangers are shit
If you had any wit at all you would have been congratulating Rangers for doing what they did despite the massive gulf in resources available. But of course it spoiled the party didn’t it because it wasn’t a club that has had millions lavished on it by a Russian crook or one that has had tens of millions of Sky money year after year to still fail abysmally. Get a life you sad waster and better still, if you are going to write a column and post it for all and sundry, at least have the ability to evaluate each article from every perspective rather than the shallow gutless tripe that you’ve put up today.
All genuine comments apart from racist Alan. The famine isn’t over, Kenny Miller still hasn’t scored yet ya numpty.
Touched a few nerves has the author! Rangers went from an almost record breaking season to one of massive anti climax, but Rangers fans should be venting at thier manager not the article, for the record, kaunas have far smaller finances available to them than Rangers, so well done FC Kaunas.
Well said BigRab! This guy Day is clearly only listening to the pish anti-Rangers propaganda we are all sick of. Did you notice that, according the the media, 23000 souls braved the rain to watch Celtic v Man City but a “mere” 25000, hardly anyone at all really, turned out to watch Rangers V Liverpool. It’s something we have had to live with for over 100 years. We should revel in the fact that we are the world’s most successful team (count the trophies Day) and let the others scrap it out for second best.