Higher performance: Toon’s own Lynsey Hipgrave an early upgrade for TNT Sports
From the ridiculous to the sublime: giving top pro and all-round good egg Lynsey Hipgrave the lead presenter’s gig was a no-brainer for TNT Sports. Johnny explains why…
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Love football but not watching the women’s World Cup? What’s wrong with you?
It’s a serious question – helped by research and a brilliant new Women’s World Cup ad from Orange that challenges our innate bias.
Mason Mount and Man Utd will get the best out of each other. Another POTY incoming?
Johnny Nic’s early shout for 2023-24’s Player of the Year is Mason Mount. Why is the Man Utd new boy not more universally appreciated?
Why we should never stop putting our shoulders to the wheel of football change
John Nicholson gets asked all the time if he even likes football. The truth is that he loves it so will never stop ‘moaning’.
Jack-of-all-trades Szoboszlai will make Klopp’s Liverpool tick once more
Johnny Nic is counting down the days until the season starts so he can see what Jurgen Klopp has planned for Liverpool’s latest lavish purchase Dominik Szoboszlai…
Transfer obsession is sickening part of late-stage capitalism and it leaves us craven
Transfer culture is unique to football. In what other business do its customers focus on what assets a small or medium-sized company is buying and selling?
Bournemouth can be the home that drifter Justin Kluivert has been looking for…
Justin Kluivert has played in Holland, Italy, Germany, France and Spain. Now he finds himself in England with Bournemouth where Johnny Nic reckons he might finally settle into his groove…
Football is f***ed but most of us choose not to look in the boot for the rotting bodies
All we’ve done is separate our love of football from everything else, choosing not to look in the shadows for fear of what we might see.
Arsenal, the £110 new shirt and the nonsense of a price that takes the absolute p***
Is a football shirt ever worth £110? Arsenal are about to find out. The ludicrous thing is that Arsenal don’t even get much of the money.
Christopher Nkunku has all the tricks to stand out in the Chelsea circus…
Not only has Christopher Nkunku swapped the serenity of the Bundesliga for the unfathomable madness of the Prem, he’s joined the Chelsea freak show. Johnny Nic reckons he’ll be just ...
Farewell from Sky Sports Martin Tyler; you couldn’t please everybody and neither will Peter Drury
There is no commentator that does not grind somebody’s gears and Martin Tyler certainly did that. As will his replacement at Sky Sports.
Farewell to Gordon McQueen – a Scotland, Leeds and Man Utd icon who was tough as they come
Gordon McQueen was the dominant British defender of his era, tough enough to lead a brilliant Scotland side and swap Leeds for Man Utd and get away with it.
Farewell BT Sport; you were never truly loved and TNT Sports must be different to survive
BT Sport came, they saw, they absolutely did not conquer but got a lot wrong. Hello TNT Sports, who know it’s hard to make money from this gig.
Will wily old fox Edin Džeko haunt Manchester City to add the ultimate trophy?
Edin Džeko is massive but he’s more than that – he’s brilliant, always puts in massive effort, and could be a problem for Man City.
Jose Luis Mendilibar: the Spanish journeyman who emerged from the shadows to p*ss on Mourinho’s chips
Jose Luis Mendilibar ‘felt like an arsehole’ having flown under the radar for two decades, but Jose Mourinho certainly knows who the Sevilla coach is now…
Football is not broken; look beyond the Premier League and 22/23 was full of joy
Some absolutely fantastic, exciting, shocking football moments happened at every level in 2022/23 and they happened because football is a fantastic mercurial sport.
Prem clubs should be queuing for Kyogo – but Celtic should demand top dollar for Japanese jewel
Johnny Nic reckons Kyogo Furuhashi is ripe for a big move this summer. Just don’t turn up at Celtic’s door with a pittance for the SPL’s top-scorer…
Manchester City are best of all time and nobody gives a f***; take note, Premier League
Manchester City play brilliant football but sport is not about perfection; it invokes a lot of ‘meh’ even without the moral concerns.
Arsenal and Pochettino will battle over Inter’s brilliant Bull for good reason this summer
Lautaro Martinez has fired Inter into a Champions League final and players of his talent find their way to the Premier League. Arsenal would be a good fit.
Women’s football success is two fingers to the bigots, the fascists and the stupids
The growth of women’s football is a journey and not the destination. The crowd for the FA Cup final should now be normalised.
Forest could sign 30 new players by selling Brennan Johnson, but his ability will be cherished
Brennan Johnson could be the difference between survival and relegation for Nottingham Forest, who know that keeping him is more beneficial than selling up.
Liverpool fans gave us our voice at Anfield on Saturday; football should thank them
Liverpool fans are not big on deference to anyone but Shankly, Paisley, Dalglish, Benitez or Klopp, so the coronation boos were to be expected and applauded
Welcome back, Big Sam: a psychotherapist’s dream and Proper Football Man’s fantasy
Sam Allardyce is a creature of contradictions, painted as northern despite coming from the Midlands and so eager to self-aggrandise he makes it more difficult to appreciate him.
Fortuna favours the brave: it’s time for the Premier League to fight their addiction and make tickets free
Bundesliga club Fortuna Dusseldorf plan to make matches free to attend for fans. It is such an obvious PR win that Premier League sides must consider it.
Trent 2.0: Alexander-Arnold’s rebirth a reason for Liverpool and England to celebrate
John Nicholson can’t wait to watch Liverpool star and all-round good egg Trent Alexander-Arnold grow into a midfield role. Keep watching, Gareth…
Leah Williamson is latest footballer to fall victim to a sport designed for men
There are no football boots designed for women; science suggests that leads to a high chance of ACL injuries like that suffered by Leah Williamson.
Kaoru Mitoma: One of the players of the season and an incredible find by phenomenal Brighton
Brighton are functioning on another level and the brilliance of the previously unknown Kaoru Mitoma sums up just how impressive their operation has been.
Premier League shirt gambling ban is a cynical and transparent move
The Premier League are getting ahead of the legislation but there is some good PR to be had if clubs refused to deal with bookmakers entirely.
Marcel Sabitzer is the Bryan Robson-style all-action man Man Utd need
Marcel Sabitzer is an exceptional example of what used to be called a utility player and as such is unusual in the modern game.
England, Arsenal and each of us have the perfect role model in the brilliant Leah Williamson
She’s a brilliant centre-back, keeps lifting trophies and is a wonderful voice for women’s football. Here’s ‘What’s so Great About…’ Leah Williamson…
Pep Guardiola nonsense shows up hypocrisy of ‘class’ and ‘respect’ talk
Pep Guardiola caused a storm in a teacup with his celebrations on Saturday. How ridiculously puritanical is football in 2023?
Steve Clarke: The Tartan Army chief bringing hope and a little glory back to Scotland
Scotland have a team to believe in again, thanks to the understated leadership of Steve Clarke. Jose Mourinho’s former sidekick is right up Johnny’s street…
Kids copy Bruno Fernandes and co; have our girls got better role models?
On a weekend when women’s football dominated the TV, John Nicholson spoke to a father about copy-vcat behaviour.