Day -176 WorldCup2018
Maybe it was something I said on Monday. Swansea fired their manager, Paul Clement, today. So much for continuity. The club's owners and senior management probably had a meeting to discuss whether they are a big or small, developing or a team on the decline kind of club. And the outcome was: let's fire the manager. The club issued a statement saying that they would make an announcement regarding a replacement within in 24 hours. So there is a very good chance that they knew that they had a new manager lined up before they gave Clement the heave-ho. Ryan Giggs?
Barnsley, of the Championships, have been taken over by a consortium that includes a Chines billionaire and Billy Beane, of Moneyball and Oakland Athletics fame. The consortium also owns Nice. So what would tempt them to own a club from a small town in Yorkshire while also owning a team on the French Riviera. It's all about business, about making money. There are tourism opportunities in France. And in Barnsley?
Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport at Salford University answers that question on the BBC: "The HS2 rail line through South Yorkshire, a multi-million pound retail scheme in the town and a drive to boost tourism in the area in the coming years all "fit the bill" (for the Chinese investors)."
Barnsley were best known to me in the past as the team of one of my favourite sports writers, Michael Parkinson. I'm sure I wasn't the only person who celebrated with Parkinson when his beloved team were promoted to the Premier League in 1997.
Fifa today halved Paolo Guerrero's 12 month ban for cocaine use after his appeal. Are we too cynical to be surprised that Peru's biggest star will now be available to play in May, just before the World Cup? Imagine the alternative: the cries of injustice if he wasn't in Russia.
I saved the best story of the day for last: Bristol City's 2-1 League Cup win against Manchester United. The League Cup is England's equivalent of the Europa League. All of the big teams (any Premier League team, really) see it as a nuisance until they get to the quarterfinals and realize they could win a trophy and get into the Europa League. And then it's another nuisance, until they get to the later rounds and realize they could win the thing and get into the following season's Champions League. And then?
Bristol City won in a wonderfully dramatic, giant-killing fashion. They scored the winner in the 94th minute. It was exhilarating. The manager grabbed a ball-boy and swung him around. The crowd flowed onto the pitch at the end. Players were hoisted on shoulders and selfies were taken.
And I had to read about the amazing season Bristol City are having, moving up to third in the Championship. The Premier League looks like a real possibility. In other seasons I would have been backing this team and their young manager, Lee Johnson. What a story. But they are above Aston Villa right now and a direct competitor for a promotion spot. So excuse me if I save me admiration of Bristol City for next year, once Villa are looking down from the Premier League.
Maybe it was something I said on Monday. Swansea fired their manager, Paul Clement, today. So much for continuity. The club's owners and senior management probably had a meeting to discuss whether they are a big or small, developing or a team on the decline kind of club. And the outcome was: let's fire the manager. The club issued a statement saying that they would make an announcement regarding a replacement within in 24 hours. So there is a very good chance that they knew that they had a new manager lined up before they gave Clement the heave-ho. Ryan Giggs?
Barnsley, of the Championships, have been taken over by a consortium that includes a Chines billionaire and Billy Beane, of Moneyball and Oakland Athletics fame. The consortium also owns Nice. So what would tempt them to own a club from a small town in Yorkshire while also owning a team on the French Riviera. It's all about business, about making money. There are tourism opportunities in France. And in Barnsley?
Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport at Salford University answers that question on the BBC: "The HS2 rail line through South Yorkshire, a multi-million pound retail scheme in the town and a drive to boost tourism in the area in the coming years all "fit the bill" (for the Chinese investors)."
Barnsley were best known to me in the past as the team of one of my favourite sports writers, Michael Parkinson. I'm sure I wasn't the only person who celebrated with Parkinson when his beloved team were promoted to the Premier League in 1997.
Fifa today halved Paolo Guerrero's 12 month ban for cocaine use after his appeal. Are we too cynical to be surprised that Peru's biggest star will now be available to play in May, just before the World Cup? Imagine the alternative: the cries of injustice if he wasn't in Russia.
I saved the best story of the day for last: Bristol City's 2-1 League Cup win against Manchester United. The League Cup is England's equivalent of the Europa League. All of the big teams (any Premier League team, really) see it as a nuisance until they get to the quarterfinals and realize they could win a trophy and get into the Europa League. And then it's another nuisance, until they get to the later rounds and realize they could win the thing and get into the following season's Champions League. And then?
Bristol City won in a wonderfully dramatic, giant-killing fashion. They scored the winner in the 94th minute. It was exhilarating. The manager grabbed a ball-boy and swung him around. The crowd flowed onto the pitch at the end. Players were hoisted on shoulders and selfies were taken.
And I had to read about the amazing season Bristol City are having, moving up to third in the Championship. The Premier League looks like a real possibility. In other seasons I would have been backing this team and their young manager, Lee Johnson. What a story. But they are above Aston Villa right now and a direct competitor for a promotion spot. So excuse me if I save me admiration of Bristol City for next year, once Villa are looking down from the Premier League.
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