It looks like Paul Lambert is going to be appointed the Aston Villa manager in the coming hours. I have to say he is the first manager I have been enthusiastic about since Martin O’Neill. Next season will be an optimistic one
Football
Why McLeish has to go
FootballExtraordinary not because McLeish came from Villa’s rivals, Birmingham City. Extraordinary because McLeish had just suffered his second relegation with Birmingham in three Premier League seasons. And extraordinary because he is synonymous with a brand of football that, to borrow the former Villa manager Graham Taylor’s recent description, “looks [like] you are preparing a side not to lose”.
Well done Villa
Football, SportI’m a big Villa fan but this story really makes me proud of the club. I’m going to get one of those shirts for next season.
It’s all over
Football, Germany, MunichNormally, I would jump at the chance of a ticket for a Bayern game. Not tonight. The race for the Bundesliga title is already over and while the game is interesting for the relegation battle that Armenia Bielefeld are involved in, I’m just not interested enough to spend €20 to see it.
Finally
FootballTrappatoni has been chosen as the new Ireland manager. At least he seems much better than all of the other rumoured candidates and should provide some interesting times for Irish football in the next couple of years.
Is Dida a big girl’s blouse?
FootballDenmark
FootballNice result for Ireland last night although there was so many chances for both sides during the game, I wonder how useful an exercise it was. When the game was at 4-0, I thought it would be funny if there was a repeat of the incident in the Sweden – Denmark game where a supporter came on and tried to hit the referee. The match was abandoned and the score set at 3-0. If a supporter did something similar, they would have improved on the final result. At the end of the game, I saw that they played in a different stadium to the Sweden game with a big running track around the pitch. Anyone trying to get onto the pitch would have a difficult task in getting onto the pitch.
World Cup Dividends
FootballFrom Spiegel
The football World Cup from June 9 to July 9 last year appears to have sparked a baby boom in the host country Germany, where hospitals are reporting a marked rise in imminent births nine months after the tournament, remembered here as a month-long fairy-tale of sunshine, parties and soccer success.
I Don’t Believe It
FootballMourinho has made an apology. What is the world coming to?