What Will Abramovitch Do Now?
After the farce at Swansea last night, it’ll be interesting to see what crazy thing happens at Chelski next!
I watched the match and I think the result was fair, as Swansea with a bit of luck could have won this leg of the tie too!
Supporting Aston Villa Is Much More Stressful Than Being Governor Of The Bank Of England
This is a quote from Mervyn King, in an article in the New Statesman.
I think he ducked the match at Villa Park yesterday, as he was making a speech in Belfast.
The Telegraph Attacks Two Targets In One Article
Toby Young in Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph has attacked both Lance Armstrong and Alistair Campbell in this article.
It is getting that Lance Armstrong is becoming a non-laurel wreath to hang around anybody you don’t like’s neck.
Manly Library Classifies Armstrong’s Books As Fiction
This story is a classic Australian put-down for sports worst cheat.
So it’s only a hoax, but everybody got the joke.
Hugh McIlvanney Calls Lance Armstrong A Conman
In a well-reasoned piece in The Sunday Times, Hugh McIlvanney states his view on Armstrong. Conman came from the title.
I wonder if Armstrong will be suing McIlvanney!
I think he won’t, as The Sunday Times already has a lot of legal issues, it needs to discuss with Armstrong. Probably in a Court of Law!
Lance Armstrong Questions His Punishment
Lance Armstrong has questioned his punishment for proven doping offences on the Oprah Winfrey show.
He actually wants to compete again.
Do they have cycling or triathlon events in prisons?
I suspect that this odious cheat, won’t give up and he’ll go to Court to get what he wants. Let’s hope the judge who tries his case is an honest man or woman.
The Tragic Fallout Of Doping Cheats
After the mega-cheat, Lance Armstrong’s theatrical performance, last night, Nicole Cooke this morning made an impassioned plea for the victims of those, like the drug-fuelled Texan. She said, that she had lost medals because others cheated by doping when competing against her.
I remember the 1960s, when athletics was ruined by the Soviet Block, who took everything that a chemist could devise. Look at the career of our greatest-ever female sprinter; Kathy Smallwood-Cook, who would be in a totally different league, if competition had been fair and square. It has always puzzled me, how Mary Peters ever won that pentathlon gold in the 1972 Munich Olympics. If you look at the women’s athletics results at that games, few medallists are not from the Soviet Block. There are a few West German medals, but then they had home advantage and London 2012 showed how that helps drammatically. I do remember watching that pentathlon, with C on a terrible black and white television, when Mary Peters, was almost willed over the high jump bar by masses of British troops based in Germany, who somehow had got tickets.
Where would the careers of some retired clean athletes be, if they had competed fair and square?
Cheats like Armstrong have a lot to answer for! He should be prosecuted for fraud and perhaps asked to spend some time in a nice cosy Texas jail.
Pep Guardiola Gives A Two-Fingered Salute to Chelski And Man Sheikhy
Pep Guardiola has decoded to join Bayern Munich. Read about it here in the Guardian.
It just goes to show that you may be as rich as Croesus, but you can’t buy everything. And certainly a man to whom it appears football is more important than money.
Patrick Barclay On Sheikh Mansour
I picked up the Standard tonight as I often do, and this article by Patrick Barclay caught my eye. Here’s the first paragraph.
When Sheikh Mansour took over Manchester City, I suggested that his best route to the top of English football would be to buy and disband Manchester United, acquiring as many of their players as were wanted, then paint Old Trafford blue and use it as a training ground. Fortunately, the Sheikh and his Abu Dhabi associates preferred more constitutional methods.
But something must be done to create a fairer playing field, where rich benefactors can make a farce of fair play. UEFA are trying, but then will Abramovitch and Mansour fall into line? I doubt it!
On the other hand, there are quite a few footballers out there, who contrary to the usual myths are intelligent and have made enough money to go where they please. I think and very much hope that we see a lot more upsets like Swansea at Chelsea in the future.
Fatal Blow For John Lewis Store At Sprucefield
This is the headline over a report on the BBC web site. It concerns the political arguments about John Lewis opening a department store in Northern Ireland.
Personally, I think they would be very brave to do it, given the stupid fuss being created by so-called Loyalists about the flying of flags.
The article does suggest John Lewis might open in the Republic. Now that would probably be a sounder business decision, as the only organised violence there generally happens at places like Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium.
The Anonymous Widower 