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Good God We Hope Not
Paranoid about the media... Mocked by the fans... Did Joe Kinnear do a stint in charge of the England national team while I wasn't looking?
Andrew, Ireland
Taking His Lead
Dear f***ing 36f***ing5
Some poor f***ing c**t ought to f***ing tell Joe f***ing Kinnear that How To Lose Friends And Alienate People has already been f***ing done.
And, hilarious as it all is, I didn't half feel a smidgen of pity for the Press Officer. "Off the record, chaps" indeed...
I must be going f***ing soft.
Buxx (Fergie is a f***king pussy cat in comparison), Copenhagen
...Can all managers follow Joe Kinnear's example and speak to the press in this way in future? Think how much better Match of the Day would be for a start................."Which one of you is Lawro? You're a c*nt!"
Priceless.
Steve Kavanagh
They Are C**ts
I was just reading, over the Guardian at first admittedly, the Joe Kinnear transcript. Now, I realise that there are certain points in there for debate and certain arguments to be had about what is 'par for the course' and so on. But I'd like to put that aside for a moment. If we could.
All of us, including Guardian readers or people who like to think of themselves as clever (such as me) like a good bit of gossip. This applies especially to footy. I admit eating up all the speculation and controversy that surrounds the modern game. I love it. However, I think I'm safe in saying that there is a certain awareness regarding certain sections of the media. That is ... they are c**ts. They know they are. We know they are.
Joe Kinnear has bravely stepped into a very difficult position and has unsurprisingly received a pre-emptive kicking in the media. He's right, it isn't exactly fair. Now to hear (well, read) Joe step up, call someone out by name and say "You are a c**t" brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. But I have to be honest, it's not only because it's great to hear someone call a tabloid journo what they are. It's also, ironically, giving me one of the best footy gossip stories ever, which is, I suspect, the main reason for my enjoyment.
So to all of you - Joe, NUFC, the tabloid press and the game of football - thank you, you magnificent c**ts!
Andy B. Liverpool (currently, Shanghai)
Ahhhhh, Thanks
What a f**k*ng legend. Which c**t said swearing wasn't f**k*ng clever? I know I have wanted to call many a footy journalist c**t. So Sarah, Philip and John...you're all c**ts - but really you're alright by me. You're our c**ts
John Matrix
StandardsStandards
Just to clarify.
Joe Kinnear launches a foul mouthed tirade at the press: he's a hero and the whole thing is laughed off.
Alex Ferguson decides not to talk to the press: he's a whinger (and called worse).
The insight into the mind of your average football fan...
Joe, Cork
A New Regime
I like how this suggests that this sort of conversation between managers & journalists happens regularly off the record but Joe told them they can print what they like.
Would be interesting to hear managers challenging journalists about the stories they've written every week, with the journalists (like in this case) able to defend themselves too - you can easily imagine something similar from Roy Keane or Fergie, and England managers have had a lot worse written about them without (as far as we know) calling all the journalist c*nts.
Chris Chard
Tapping Up, Revisited
"Tapping up"...We had to listen to it all summer and now we have to listen to it in October too. I thought the transfer windows were supposed to mean we only had to listen to this crap for 3 months out of 12? I just can't see why it is so complicated: tapping up is talking TO a player under contract (NB not ABOUT a player under contract) without permission. Why can people not understand this? Real Madrid have not "tapped" up Agger as they have never spoken to him or anyone representing him. It is the same as Man City saying they wanted to sign Ronaldo, no one called that tapping up but the moment Madrid do it everyone gets their panties in a bunch.
I am not saying Madrid are right to do it or that it should be allowed but the fact is that it is allowed for them to talk about a player in the press as long as they do not talk to him. Ashely Cole was tapped up, so was Alex Hleb (by Inter), but so far as I can tell it has not been clear that anyone from Madrid has ever spoken to Agger or Ronaldo or anyone else without permission. Liverpool didn't tap up Barry or Keane or anyone else but they confirmed interest in the press. When Madrid do it the Scousers all start crying into their shellsuits.
Madrid have done some highly dubious things and certainly stepped on a few toes and flirted with the egdes of the rules but they have always just flirted with the fringes of legality. But as long as they stay on the right side of the wording of the rules (regardless of whether it is in the spirit of the rule or not) they will keep escaping sanction as they have obeyed the rules. If the rules need changing fine but that is not Madrid's job.
Mark (yes I hate Liverpool, yes I like Madrid but that doesn't make me wrong) London
West Ham Should Sue Tevez
Does anyone actually remember how Tevez played for West Ham at the start of the 2006/2007 campaign? If i remember rightly, he was absolute gash and ran around like a headless chicken for the first dozen or so games, arguably COSTING West Ham points for being a selfish, useless, try hard.
Granted, he came good in the latter part of the season, but i think West Ham should join the long, Tevezgate queue and apply for points to be added to their tally. Minus the 3 points Sheff Utd and Bolton think he was worth, i reckon that comes to a grand total of 3 point FOR West Ham.
Perhaps Sheff Utd and Bolton should take a stroll down the Hall of Mirrors. What they might see is a sad bunch of moaning losers looking back.
John, Edinburgh
A Theory
Here's a theory for you. The current crisis at Everton is all down to Andy Johnson's frigging knee.
Think about it, if his transfer had gone through for the initially agreed fee - £13 million - then Everton would have had an extra £2.5 million or so to spend in the transfer market. Result? Everton announce the signing of Joao Moutinho instead of that Fellaini geeze and have a central midfield of Moutinho, Arteta and Cahill, a match for any other club in the league. Now, I don't actually think Fellaini is rubbish but his signing reminded me of John Jensen's move to Arsenal - signed on the back of one good performance. When the Johnson money was reduced, Moyes panicked, spunked all his money on a player who played out if his socks in a talented side on probably the biggest nights of their careers, and now his midfield is about as hard to break down as wet bog roll and are doing nothing to support the strikers.
There's some good news though. Everton can now concentrate on getting themselves out of this pickle, and they have got more than enough talented players to do it. If I were Moyes I'd try and play Fellaini, Saha and Baines as much as possible. Baines looked like a corking player at Wigan and I'm sure he'll come good (it's not as if the defence can get much worse!); Saha and Fellaini need to get used to their team mates and if the midfield is still looking crap then ask Phil Neville to do the holding midfield job. The best thing for Moyes to do would be sign a new contract, show his commitment, and then tear his players a collective new asshole. A bit of a crisis might end up being good for a club that has had a rather complacent air about it this season.
William O'Doherty
Keep Your Nose Out
Arsene please neck the f*ck up and mind your business old chap. There was no racism in the chants and in years of going to Spurs I have not heard any racism. Homophobic maybe (which is not acceptable either) but it seems Mr Wenger is imagining things, unless he wants to expand on this? Jermain Defoe got a heroes welcome and clapped off the pitch after scoring against us so perhaps it's selective racism I don't know. Not to mention the fact that Jurgen Klinsmann was adored at a predominantly Jewish club and we are a club of many nationalities and races.
As an aside I do think the fact that we still sing songs about Sol Campbell after all these years embarrassing. This howevre has nothing to do with the fact Monsieur Wenger and perhaps he should concentrate on his own affairs!
Ross (Middlesex Spur) Pursey
...Can someone please ask Wenger what exactly was racist about Spurs fans' abuse of Big Sol?
We are not racists.
The French tw*t.
Diamond (it's going well isn't it) Lights
...This won't take long, because I'm so apoplectic with rage that if go on a rant now it won't stop until I'm sat here at the keyboard with a long beard and the flesh long since withered from my bones.
This incandescent fury has been brought on by Arsene Wenger branding Spurs fans racist for our abuse of Sol Campbell.
You may feel that the abuse he gets is beyond the pale, you may even feel that there is a worrying homophobic element to it, and i wouldn't be able to disagree.
But racist? You're talking about the only club in the Premier League that regularly receives abuse based on race, as anyone who has seen us play Chelsea or West Ham will attest.
And as far as I'm aware, the only basis for saying that the abuse Campbell gets is because he's black is based on this one line from one of our songs...
"...and we won't give a f**k when he's hanging from a tree, that Judas c*nt with HIV"
Nasty? Yes. Not suitable for kids? Definitely? A deliberate reference to Ku Klux Klan-style lynchings? That's a bit of a stretch.
Fact is, most Spurs fans will never forgive Sol Campbell for what he did and perhaps we go too far sometimes, especially when faced with a misfiring team losing at a nonetheless totally noiseless Fratton Park.
But racist? Unless traitorous bastards have become a race of their own, it's total nonsense.
Rob 'It's political correctness gone maaaaaad' Davies
And I Put It To You Sir!
I feel the need to rebut Nick (Bristol City supporter) Hamblin and his ramblings about premier leagues teams' performance in the UEFA cup. Let's look and the evidence one more time shall we:
You say Spurs performed mediocre, I say bottom placed whipping boys of the premier league Spurs beat reigning Polish League Champions.
You say Pompey scraped through, I say team finishing 8th in the Premier League beat team that finished 3rd in the Portuguese league 4-2 on aggregate, (despite Jamo sleeping during a direct free kick).
You say Villa and Man City hardly breezed it, I say they both won 4-2 on aggregate.
And as for Everton, yes a stuttering Everton side does lose 4-3 on aggregate to, oh hang on a minute now, the reigning Belgian Champions!
I fail to agree that this means that Premier League is top heavy with quality, in fact if anything it proves the opposite.
Dave, Pompey
Podball
Does Philip Cornwall answer every question as if hes depressed about it? More air escaping than a Moriniho press conference!
Shouldn't John Nic & Wintys ones be called "Flirtball365" Is John Nic trying to get into Wintys Nics (see what I didi there?) or just doing research for his favourite footy fact?
I actually wrote in to say that I totally agree with the point about Wenger in the latest podball. So why was there not a column on your site, or even much more made of Arsenals overbearing arrogance and over reaction about loosing a game to Hull. They ARE in the same league! Will Wenger kill himself if they loose to a non premiere league side in the FA cup?!
Oh and can you answer this; If a player is not contracted to a club or was to buy out their contract outside of the transfer window can they join and play for another club outside of the transfer windows as they are free agents and not transferred? Cos if they can't then it shouldn't be called a transfer window.
Carlton, Cambridge
