AT THE END OF THE DAY
Could the grand old statesman of Irish football have prescribed one dose of “moral courage” too far? Has he no more “honesty of effort” left in the tank?
Peter Collins: “We’ve run right out of time.”
Gilesy: “Good.”
CARNIVAL OF LOVE
Little wonder Arsene Wenger wouldn’t shake hands with Mark Hughes after Phil Thompson blew the lid off the kind of experimental regime he’s presiding over at Eastlands:
“You see some people who are just having it off and taking it easy and other people are putting in a shift.”
MAN OF THE PEOPLE
Thommo also recommended that Stevie G should reach out to his fans the Tiger Woods way:
“He realises his responsibility and he puts it around the whole of Merseyside.”
HANDS-ON MANAGER
It’s been that kind of week. Stoke manager Tony Pulis has been taking special care of Ryan Shawcross:
“He felt something in his groin, so we pulled him off as soon as possible.”
LANGUAGE BARRIER
Wenger’s handshake shun might also have been down toVladimir Weiss’s third goal for City,which seemed to have a strange effect on Le Prof:
“The last goal was a bit anecdotic.”
SAME OLD SAME OLD
In the rush to downplay the World Cup as an anti-climax fully six months before it begins, there’s no research not worth skipping for Ronnie Whelan:
“You’re likely to see the same four teams as you usually do in the semi-finals.”
Number of different semi-finalists in the last two World Cups: seven. In the last seven World Cups: 13.
EIGHTIES REVIVAL
Fresh from a brush with Petrocelli recently, the Merse pays a nostalgic tribute to John Terry:
“When he plays, they are solid as a rock. They are Ashford and Simpson.”
NUMBERS MAN
It wasn’t until Joe Royle’s intervention that the full implication of Adebayor’s early own-goal dawned on City fans:
“Manchester City will need to score now to get a draw.”
ROYLE PARDON
Although Joe softened the blow with first news of a bye from Fergie in the Carling Cup:
“After seven draws in a row, Mark Hughes is now in a final and beating the league leaders.”
BLOODLESS COUP
Talking up Ivory Coast’s World Cup chances, Joe had a shock for the good people of Togo,spotting Drogba and Adebayor organising a quick merger in the tunnel:
“You wonder about these two playing together.”
GETTING IT OVER WITH
Despite England’s favourable World Cup draw, Jamie Redknapp has already drawn a line under the current management:
“How do you get your two best midfielders to play well together? Capello, unlike his successors, has the answer.”
NEVER FORGET
Lawro still fancies the French inSouth Africa:
“They are handy up front.”
DOING A GOOD JOB SO FAR
Gary Lineker wonders if West Ham can “climb away from safety.”
TIME AFTER TIME
Southend’s fortunes should improve once manager Steve Tilson gets a new watch for Christmas:
“They played some good football and we matched them for 90 minutes, but it was a ten-minute spell that killed us.”
THE SCREENS
A tap-in for Stelling:
“Dagenham & Redbridge are feeling better thanks to (Jon)Nurse.”
QUICK ONE-TWOS
Stuart Lovell drinks in the Parkhead atmosphere:
“He’s never going to piss up that type of chance.”
About time FIFA got round to facilitating Motty:
“I’ve never covered a World Cup in Africa before, which isn’t surprising considering they’ve never played one there yet.”
Con Murphy plays Boss Hogg to Hull keeper:
“Milner taking advantage of Duke’s hazardous exit.”
Talksport’s Mark Saggers lays claim to our Tel:
“New Zealand have been influenced by a strong British influence such as Bobby Gould and Terry Phelan.”
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