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Review of the week

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Chris Charles | 13:41 UK time, Friday, 26 March 2010

In the week we , there were heavyweight contests galore taking place in the football world.

On the undercard, Messrs Ferguson and Benitez engaged in their latest round of verbal sparring, while in Newcastle it was High Toon for Andy Carroll and Steven Taylor (allegedly).

But it was at Eastlands where the gloves really came off, as

They may sound like a cheesy 80s pop duo, but Mancini and Moyes were more rant and rave than Chas 'n' Dave as tempers boiled over in the technical area. It reminded me of the 'fights' you have at school, where you're ring-fenced by a pack of baying kids, but the best you can do is gesticulate and repeat the question 'Yeah?' to one another.
David Moyes and Roberto ManciniMancini tries to sort the men out from the Moyes
The incident was sparked by Moyes holding on to the ball "a second or two longer than I should have", prompting the Italian to wrestle if from his grasp in a fit of pique.

M&M were quick to point out that they'd kissed and made up afterwards - but not before referee Peter Walton had sent them to their room without any tea, with

What they would have made of this childish spat in the directors' box is anyone's guess....oh, hang on a minute, it appears they were at it as well. , Manchester chief executive Garry Cook had a "stand up row" with an Everton guest, businessman George Downing.

The paper said Downing was subsequently asked to leave, amid claims of "inappropriate behaviour" which Everton strongly deny. , saying City claimed the guest was chanting "2-0 and we've spent 'F.A.'" before "goading Cook".

Of course, it's not the first time the Chief Exec has been involved in controversy.
AC Milan were dismissed as "bottlers" after the Kaka deal fell through, and who can forget his that it was a case of "not if, but when, we are at Wembley having beaten Man United again" - a few days before City got turned over in the League Cup semi-final by their deadly rivals.

Which leads us nicely to Old Trafford, transformed into the Theatre of Screams as the uneasy truce between Rafa and Sir Alex lasted all of 11 minutes. in the build-up to Wayne Rooney's equaliser - and was not afraid to tell his old adversary what he thought.

I reported in last week's blog that Fergie had come out in support of Benitez by saying he felt sympathy for the Spaniard in his programme notes. But the ink had barely dried before Sir Alex was publicly questioning how Steven Gerrard had got away with an apparent elbow on Portsmouth's Michael Brown, while Rio Ferdinand copped a four-match ban for a similar incident.
Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex FergusonThey're quite fond of each other really
Rafa responded by saying: Note to the Liverpool PA, if you want to avoid going the same way as Albert Riera, please resist the temptation to play The Cure's Friday I'm In Love before the game against Sunderland - or as it's been dubbed.

Over at Newcastle, the build-up to the Doncaster game was overshadowed by reports of the said to have left both players needing surgery - with the latter out for the season.

But it didn't seem to affect Newcastle's performance at the Keepmoat, thanks to a jaw-dropping goal from guess who? 'Carroll Stinger' was The Sun's verdict.

At this rate they'll be swapping places with West Ham, who turned in another turgid display in their defeat by Wolves, prompting joint-chairman .

Sullivan roared: "Now we need this team to show their quality. Now we need this team to show their talent, their desire, their passion, their dare. Now we need new heroes." M People, eat your heart out.

Taking Sullivan's lead, I should like to write an open letter to QPR manager Neil Warnock. "Dear Neil, thanks for arresting our alarming run of defeats, steadying the ship and reigniting the passion - but is there any chance we could keep the ball on the deck for more than three seconds at a time, as it's costing me a fortune in physiotherapy? Love, Chris."

Derby were the visitors to Loftus Road on Tuesday night - with Robbie Savage and co snuffing out the threat of dangerman Adel Taarabt. after the game: "Great point tonight. I'll let Taarabt out of my pocket later!"

Meanwhile, , Savage was gushing about the qualities of wife, Sarah. He wrote: "For all those readers who wonder why I put up with a woman who burns my arm (a curling tongs accident), had to ask what 300x1 was, and who thinks the Welsh rugby team wear green socks to make their legs look like leeks, this picture might give you a clue. She's bloomin' gorgeous!"

Another player keen to share his thoughts with the world was Andrey Arshavin, who came up with some during a recent Q&A session, including these little gems:
arshavin595.jpgAndrey Arshavin - gotta love him

Question: "Hi, do you like horses? Have you ever ridden them?"

Arshavin: "Actually, I once rode a horse bareback in the village. It was very slippery. I was a small boy, then. I was barely holding its mane when suddenly it bolted and I almost fell into a pile of manure. After that, I never sat on the horse again."

Question: "I had a dream tonight and for some reason, your face was all covered in freckles! My question is: Do you have freckles? If you do, do you always have them or they just appear in the springtime?"

Arshavin: "Perhaps it was a colour dream, where there was a lot of sun, because I have freckles only when I sunbathe a lot."

Question: "What do you think of ideological anarchism?"

Arshavin: "In order to give you an exhaustive explanation, I should thoroughly study this subject. So far I can't say anything."

Quote of the week came from a belated News of the World article about Fabio Capello getting the hump about Theo Walcott's plans to wear pink boots in England's friendly with Egypt. The paper claimed: "Fabio raged: 'Mamma Mia! Take-a them off pronto!'" Did he really say that?

And finally, the story of the week was spotted by reader Clare Smith on , where a user was responding to reports that, the little boy mercifully released by kidnappers in Pakistan, had been invited to the Oldham-Brighton game. "Hasn't the poor lad suffered enough?" came the reply.

Have a good weekend one and all. I'm planning a quieter affair this time around after last Saturday's post-match session with my mate, Welsh Pete (who incidentally is writing a book about Swansea if any fans have any anecdotes they want to leave).

I survived just about unscathed, but sadly my prized 70s-style QPR top did not and went for a ride towards Cockfosters on the Piccadilly Line without me. So if anyone happened to pick it up, get in touch. Please!


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