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Not A Petty Man. No Sir
Neil Warnock isn't a petty man. Nor is he one to hold a grudge. No siree bob.
Which is why he is still upset at Rafa Benitez after the Spaniard fielded a...'rotated' Liverpool side against Fulham back in 2007 when the Cottagers were slugging it out with Warnock's Sheffield United to survive in the Premier League.
So much so that he is considering the ultimate gesture of managerial disrespect - not shaking Rafa's hand.
He said: "I've no idea whether I'll shake his hand. It was one of those things that disappoint you in life but you get disappointments and you have to get on with it. I haven't thought about shaking hands yet."
Fulham won that game, which helped them stay in the Premier League. Warnock has in the past said he was 'very bitter' about it and hoped Benitez's Liverpool didn't win any other trophies.
Aye Colin, resting a significant portion of your first team because your priorities lie elsewhere is awful, isn't it? Which is presumably why you did completely the opposite when Sheffield United played Manchester United in that season.
Oh, no, wait - he did do that, didn't he? Sheffield United were relegated on goal difference that season, level on points with Wigan, to whom they lost on the final day. Obviously if they had managed to avoid defeat on that day they would've stayed up, but here's another thing - if they'd scored two more goals that season (in, for example, a game in which they'd played their full team instead of the reserves) then they also would have survived.
So, maybe stop blaming other people for your woes, eh Neil?
Disappointed?
When Mediawatch read that a group of Zenit St Petersburg fans had issued a decree to their club that they should not sign any black or gay players (they announced their status as racists by stating 'We're not racists'), we had two almost simultaneous reactions.
Firstly: 'What a bunch of d*cksplashes.'
Then shortly afterwards: 'Oh, there's going to be some heinous bullsh*t about this.'
And we were/n't disappointed. The Sun asks 'Are you sure the World Cup should be in Russia Blatter?'
Sigh. Mike McGrath goes on to write: 'World Cup host nation Russia were caught up in a shameful race and homophobic storm last night.
'It made a mockery of FIFA chief Sepp Blatter's decision to grant them the tournament...It brings into question why he allowed the greatest tournament in world football to be staged in a country with such severe racist problems.'
Does it really? Is that true? The quick and simple answer is that 'No it sodding well does not'. It no more impacts on Russia's suitability to stage the tournament as the BNP or hissing West Ham and Chelsea fans would impact on England being hosts.
There are any number of reasons for the lack of suitability for Russia and indeed Qatar hosting the World Cup, but a group of bigoted doinks supporting one club are not among them.
#WengerOut
There's a thing in journalism that befells most people at some point. Hell, even your great and masterful F365ers have fallen into this particular bear trap from time to time.
It's the 'write a rebuttal to an argument that is being put forward by fringe loons, then go too far the other way' trap.
There's a whiff of that in Oliver Holt's latest in The Daily Mirror, as he writes after Arsenal beat Reading: 'Still think his time's up? Still want to join the #WengerOut movement? Still think it's time to shower some more abuse on the best manager Arsenal ever had?
'Still think Arsene Wenger's useless, clapped out, broken, shot, outmoded, gone, past it? Still think he's a relic? Still think he's living on past glories? On balance, I'm guessing probably not.'
There are several sensible and cogent arguments to say that Wenger's time is up at Arsenal. There are also several sensible and cogent arguments to say that he should be given more time. Most normal people Mediawatch knows are greatly torn, willing to consider both sides of the debate and still not fully sure either way.
And in any case, even those who have definitely decided that Wenger no longer knows will not be persuaded otherwise by them shafting the worst team in the Premier League. That was Reading's tenth defeat of the season by the way, and their sixth in a row.
Still, Oliver has covered that: 'Sure, the Reading team that Arsenal annihilated last night were desperately poor. But if Reading were embarrassingly bad, Arsenal were embarrassingly good.'
How can one be 'embarrassingly good'? It doesn't make sense Oliver. Ah never mind...
Shopping
Headline in The Daily Mirror: 'I Won't Go Window Shopping.'
Actual quotes from Brendan Rodgers: "There is no doubt we will get reinforcements in and we will get the backing and support from the owners."
Typo Of the Day
Reports The Sun:
'Steve Bruce has been given the go-ahead to launch a £7million swoop for Sunderland hitman Fraizer Campbell.'
Wait, that can't be right. £7million? Seven (7)? Million? Heads are going to roll on The Sun's sub-editing desk for this one.
Saved
Hats off to Garth Crooks, who picked Hugo Lloris in his team of the week for The BBC Website.
Shots on target for Swansea against Spurs: None.
Pepe In Tights
What's the best way to pay tribute to practising Muslim Karim Benzema? By making a really, really strange Christmas video featuring him, Pepe in tights and Sergio Ramos in a hot tub, of course. Duh.
Enjoy.
Nice Fuzzy Warm Huggy Christmas Story Of The Day
'CELTIC have today said they will replace Christmas presents that were stolen from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Police had been called to the hospital on Monday after up to 20 wrapped presents meant for sick children in an intensive care unit had been stolen. Now Celtic will replace the presents for the children. A club spokesperson said: "I'm sure everyone will have been shocked by the news that these presents were stolen from Great Ormond Street Hospital, and we are only too happy to help where we can in replacing these presents for the children' - CelticFC.net.
Tweet Of The Day
'You can batter me if you like, but he's won it all at Barca, let's see if he could do it on a Monday night at West Ham or wet Weds in Stoke' - We don't think SHOUTsport's Ian Abrahams is joking, either.
Non-Football Rating Of The Day
'A mixed night for the Nigerian, who broke up Benfica's play effectively but shied away from receiving possession himself and therefore cost his side momentum - 7' - The iPad edition of The Times gives England wicketkeeper Matt Prior an interesting rating for the recent tour of India.
Worst Headline Of The Day
'ComROOnity service' - The Sun sink to new lows with the Roo thing.
Non-Football Story Of The Day
'Mixed martial arts fighters are used to dealing with pain, but for former Ultimate Fighter hopeful Ray Elbe, he had no choice but to tap out to the most painful experience of his life after breaking his penis. Elbe had previously come close to making a name for himself in the UFC's reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, but lost out in the preliminary bouts to decide the season's housemates in 2009. Unfortunately for him, Elbe has now hit the headlines for rather less pleasant reasons, after sustaining a broken penis while having sex with his girlfriend while in Malaysia on December 3.
'Incredibly, Elbe has not only gone public with the painful and harrowing story, he's taken to YouTube to give a first-hand account of his injury. In a self-posted video that is not recommended for those with a delicate disposition, Elbe explained - in surprisingly matter-of-fact tone - what happened. "I was having intercourse with my girlfriend... and ended up breaking - fracturing - my penis bone. It's actually possible guys." He revealed the injury caused intense bleeding and led to him passing out from the pain. He was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery which, thankfully for Elbe, was declared a success' - The Daily Mirror.
Thanks to today's Mediawatch spotter Sean O'Hanlon
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