Not for the first time, he wrong-footed us all. When the invitation to a FIFA press conference thudded into our inboxes on Tuesday at 3.36pm UK time, I don’t think anyone seriously expected two hours later to be listening to Sepp Blatter, one of the great survivors of our world, setting out how he proposed to “lay down my mandate” as FIFA President.
What tipped him over the edge? Did he walk or was he pushed? Is the net tightening around him in the United States as is being reported? Or was it simply that the sheer weight of pressure and the almost daily dose of bombshell allegations into systemic corruption simply became too much to bear – even for the great survivor?
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
“How many internal auditors does it take to change a light bulb? None! They’re not allowed to under Health & Safety legislation. Process notes should have been written referring the incident to Facilities.” Old accountancy joke
They are a dry old bunch, auditors. But what they lack in humour, as can be seen from that old accountancy gag, they make up for in money. It might be dull, but as the saying goes,
He came as a man of the world and left as a loser: Roberto Di Matteo was the man brought in to kick start a new era at Schalke 04, but instead, the former Chelsea coach’s time in the Bundesliga has expired after only seven months.
‘Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.’ Chances are, Sepp Blatter will not be familiar with the lyric. Unless, that is, he is an avid follower of rock music.
A week when we learnt that UEFA may soon fine-tune its much talked-about Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations seems a good time to highlight an aspect of the European football body’s payment distribution system that is anything but fair – and which we now know we are stuck with until at least 2018.
“Bayern can only win,” I wrote after the draw of the Champions League semi-finals a month ago. In retrospect, I have to admit I was wrong – at least partially.
Talk of West Ham turning to Rafa Benitez in place of Sam Allardyce raises the question: what about British managers? If even a club like West Ham thinks foreign what hope is there for Britons who dream of managing the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Manchester City? And that this is a question being asked in a season where British managers have made quite a mark shows the problem for the native born.
By a distance Canada 2015 is the most excited I’ve been about a women’s World Cup. In my job, it’s about the story, and there will be stories no doubt.
When Newcastle last won the English top-division title, they really did do it in black and white. It was 88 years ago. It is 60 years now since Newcastle last won the FA Cup and 16 since they lost the second of two consecutive finals. In short, theirs is not a tradition of trophy-laden triumph.
At the end of a season in which no Premier League representative made it as far as the quarter-finals of either major European club competition, it seems most odd to be thinking in terms of a new era of English dominance in European club football. Yet, recent developments look to be conspiring to make this all but inevitable.
“Since Arsene Wenger arrived in north London, Arsenal are the only team Spurs have not finished above in the whole Football League.” Opta
It was 20 years ago, pretty much, that Arsène Wenger walked through the door at Arsenal. In two of the previous four seasons they had finished 10th and 12th in the Premier League. Located in a beloved but ageing arena hemmed in on all sides by houses preventing stadium expansion,
Any journalist with experience of covering the Africa Cup of Nations knows it is not a particularly easy assignment at the best of times, as the lack of adequate telecommunications, transport and hotel infrastructure in several host nations often makes the three-week tournament a test of resilience and fortitude.
It being general election week here in the United Kingdom, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the FIFA Presidential election – via the medium of the four candidates’ Twitter feeds. Not because I judge this likely to offer great insights into the identity of the eventual winner: the football officials in whose hands the outcome lies are assuredly far too high-minded to be swayed by anything as trivial as social media.