One of the strangest ironies of the last ten years has been watching Britain immersing itself as deeply as ever in memories of WW2 while proudly turning its back on the project that emerged from it.
To all my West Ham mates who told me I didn't know how good Declan Rice is. I apologise. You were correct.
I think we all knew Donald would fuck it. Not sure we knew he'd do it this quickly and this badly.
Just re-watching The Banshees of Inisherin. Loved it first go. Second go, it's a total masterpiece.
My Dad used to go and watch those golden era heavyweight boxing title fights at the cinema in the West End, live at 2am... a pre-cursor to PPV.
I'm going to watch When We Were Kings. Possibly the greatest Sports Documentary of all time.
George Foreman. RIP.
If you don't like Myles Lewis-Skelly, I will judge you. You are on the list.
I've disliked this Newcastle team over the past 2 or 3 years. But I've got to remember the team is not constant, but the supporters are. And thousands maybe millions will have never seen them win a 🏆. And so to those NUFC supporters, I raise a glass to you tonight. I will dislike you again tomorrow.
First team to score 7 in a away KO match in CL.
Also first team to bring on 3 left backs from the bench when our starting left back was not a left back. 😄
Michael Oliver has a free weekend. 🙄
"No Foul" says PGMOL's best Ref.
Never thought I would find someone to dislike more than the Orange Babyman. But I think JD Vance trumps him.
And I've been lucky enough to sit round a dinner table for 5 hours with the great man. So I know how many brilliant stories he has when he drops his guard a little.
Maybe one day he will have another go, and we will get the unvarnished version.
In fact, I got more from the one Keown/Wenger chapter than I did from the whole of Arsene's autobiography. I waited years for that, always thought it would be a cracker.
It was a dud. Nothing new in it. Felt like he took £20 off every reader under false pretences.....
I've just finished this. Very enjoyable. Honest, forthright, anecdote heavy. The two chapters where Martin is in conversation with Tony Adams and Arsene Wenger are particularly interesting. Can definitely recommend, especially for Arsenal fans who were there '98 thru '06.
I'm reading Martin Keown's autobiography. It's a decent read. Just got to the bit where he regrets going to the ManU dressing room to congratulate them after the Giggs match. He quickly regrets it because GNev is being a prick.
Quite a timely read really. As I was saying.... zero self-awareness.
I used to be paranoid. Now I know everyone is against us 😄.
Different rules for Arsenal's shithousery, compared to everyone else's shithousery. A bit like the laws of football in general.
When Gary Neville started his punditry / analysis career, he was a breath of fresh air. Not so nowadays. One eyed, trolling for clicks and podcast listens, disingenuous, inconsistent. But most of all, he's lazy. Doesn't put the work in. Hindsight, not Foresight.
Indeed. Which in itself was a semi-rip off from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers.
It's great when individuals who work for broadcasting outlets that have shows like 'Ref Watch' and who focus so, so much of their match coverage on refereeing decisions start wondering why there is so much focus on referees and conclude that it is because of Mikel Arteta.
Btw, any Arsenal fans reading this. I'd suggest giving the latest Stick to Football podcast a very wide berth. Listening to Gary Nevill and Roy Keane talk about the Michael Oliver/PGMOL debacle may well make your head explode.
The lack of self awareness of the England 'golden generation' team in their post playing career is huge. Rooney and Gerrard at the top of that tree. Add in there Lampard, Terry, Cole, Neville, Scholes, Ferdinand. No wonder they didn't fulfil their international potential. Too busy being narcissists.
On the day that Steven Gerrard gets the boot from his team in Saudi, (after nearly relegating Villa before Emery took over), it is enlightening to listen to Wayne Rooney on the Stick to Football podcast blame his lack of success as a manager on not having good enough players to understand his ideas.
. @legrove.bsky.social G'day Pete. Matthew Syed in today's Times. Calls for PGMOL to be disbanded. Among other things, cites poor culture, and uses the airline industry analogy. Is he a LeGrove subscriber? 😄
Just finished this. If there is a better contemporary writer out there than Jonathan Coe, I'd like to find them.
Not my experience where I sit (Block 3 West lower). Same faces every match. Very few Ticket Exchangers.
I was at the NLD last night. I remember seeing Bukayo Saka at 17 and thinking he will get 50 caps for England. (I was wrong, he will get 100+). I get the same feeling now watching MLS.
When he made his debut away to City and had a crack at Haaland at the end, that was the first clue. Fearless.
Always Assume the Worst. It Saves time.
The follow up Asquarius is one of my favourite albums. I need to revisit Leggy Mambo. Thanks for the nudge.
In the big scheme of things, I think going out like that today was a big positive. Don't judge me.
On so many levels this result is a blessing in disguise.