Still he rises: Introducing the real Raheem Sterling
Once upon a time, there lived a “flashy love rat”, who “flaunted” his bad attitude as brazenly as he did his “bling”. He was, without reservation, a “troublemaker.” He was, without restriction, “lazy”. As the “flop” matured, he only became more “obscene,” adopting a new hobby: being “happy to insult fans”. This “failure” was nothing […]
7 years ago
Born to manage: Mauricio Pochettino in his own words
We will stand tall, face it all together It is easy, given all that has transpired since, to have forgotten the reality of Mauricio Pochettino’s welcome to English football when he was unveiled as Southampton manager in January 2013. The Argentine was warned the club’s supporters intended to strike against the sacking of Nigel Adkins, […]
7 years ago
Finding Johnny Borrell, the Razorlight frontman that fell down the back of the indie sofa
Johnny Borrell answers my first question with a simple, abrupt ‘Yes’ and then there is silence. For a moment the fear comes that everything I’ve ever read about him is true. That relentless NME-spun arrogance from the early Razorlight years, a band who, through their first two albums at least, had the Midas touch before […]
7 years ago
From tears in Kiev to title challengers: How Liverpool turned their Champions League misfortune into motivation
DESPAIR MEETS DEFIANCE Deep in the concrete belly of the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Liverpool’s Champions League final grief was contoured by a brief post-match interaction. Winding past the Real Madrid dressing room – which was strangely muted following their third successive victory in the competition – Jürgen Klopp was returning to the coaching quarters […]
7 years ago
Football social: How the internet and social media changed the game
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, Patrice Evra doing unsanitary things to raw chicken probably wasn’t what he had in mind. That said, he has always espoused the virtues of diversity of thought and expression, so who knows? A former French international salivating all over an unlucky ex-clucker may not advance human thought […]
7 years ago
The Making of Monday Night Football
Ping, ping, ping… It is Tuesday, October 23 and the familiar, first slow then progressively incessant, WhatsApp dings surface. For six days, the notifications on the Monday Night Football group chat will pass with the regularity of Jorginho. Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville are the texters-in-chief. They usually bounce ideas around themes for the show […]
8 years ago