Archive for March, 2010
Hoorah for Hughton and a mention for Mike
Newcastle United’s 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest last night all but sealed their return to the Premiership, an achievement which many saw as highly unlikely back in August. Fans and pundits alike were speculating about a finish somewhere between play-offs and mid table obscurity. The Game football supplement from The Times had the toon [...]
The moment Steve Finn never wanted reminding of
Steve Finn, the young English cricketer, will be the first to admit that he has struggled somewhat in his first spell in the Test side. Energy sapping conditions in Chittagong and Mirpur have made extended periods of bowling tough even for the most experienced of bowlers and he has taken just the single wicket in each of the [...]
Betting tales – Ronald Zubar, my saviour
Sometimes in life, when your struggling or have lost your way, you need someone to give you lift, someone to drag you out of the doldrums of the rut you are in, someone to reaffirm your faith in what you thought you knew. For one half of Pope and Swift, that saviour descended last night in the form [...]
Separated at Birth: Middle Eastern madmen
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Pope and Swift have had something of a Separated at Birth writer’s block of late. We don’t know what has been the cause of our sporting spot the difference malaise but, you’ll be happy to know, we’re determined to put it right.
Starting with a Cypriot and an Iranian. If you’re at all interested, it came [...]
Sacre bleu! C’est horrible!
Pope and Swift are aware that British feeling dictates that we shouldn’t care about the progress of their domestic football teams. But that can’t hide the fact that the UEFA Champions League draw could not have gone any worse for France.
Unfortunately for them, France’s prominence in European football does not match their self-imposed centrality within European [...]
A weekend of what-could-have-beens
If this time last year was about achieving sporting perfection and becoming a national champion in the process, this weekend, 360 odd days on, was a demonstration of the fine line between winning the National Student Korfball Championships and coming fifth. On a weekend in Sheffield that ebbed and flowed almost as much as Burton Albion vs Chesterfield, Pope and Swift learnt that [...]
Who do England call..JOE WORSLEY!
If you lose at home
to a poor Ireland,
Who ya gonna call?
JOE WORSLEY
If you’re playing Robbo
and those plucky Scots,
Who ya gonna call?
JOE WORSLEY
If you need brute force
and a tough defence,
Who can ya call?
JOE WORSLEY
An indominitable man
made for the Calcutta Cup?
Who ya gonna call?
JOE WORSLEY
He ain’t afraid of no Scots
And thus, after watching his favourite film over the weekend, it [...]
We need to stop suppressing Rooney’s roar
We have learnt much about the beautiful game in the last few weeks. Aston Villa play best when they have their backs to the wall, Arsenal players haven’t been drinking their milk and Manchester United are useless without Wayne Rooney. This week Sir Alex Ferguson has told the press that he is unhappy with Rooney [...]
Stan’s definitely not the man
It just goes to show how little Stan Collymore knows about football. During half time of the FA Cup match between Reading and Aston Villa, with the score 2-0 to the hosts, Stan (via Twitter) called for wholesale substitutions: ‘Emile off,Nathan on.Downing off,Delph on,Milner to right.May gamble on Sidwell for Petrov.Very tired performance.’
Thankfully, Martin O’Neill, [...]
Spot the difference. Oh wait, it’s impossible
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Martin Taylor, an old fashioned centre back, broke the leg of Arsenal striker Eduardo in February 2008 with a mistimed challenge. Taylor, who had also played for Blackburn Rovers and a host of lower league sides, played at the time for unfancied Birmingham City. He was regarded as a solid professional but was not deemed to have an [...]