Michael Calvinπ
@CalvinBook
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Internationally best-selling author of 16 books. Won a few awards as old school journo. Latest book : A Completely Different Game w/Emma Hayes
United Kingdom
Joined September 2010
Have no skin in this particular game. I donβt believe in conspiracy theories ( and Jota was stupid after a nonsensical initial yellow) but the refereeing of Simon Hooper and the implementation of VAR has been staggeringly incompetent.
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I lost my father in law to the virus in his care home this morning. He was approaching his 98th birthday. Please remember him tomorrow. He was a Royal Marine commando during the War. He understood what sacrifice and patriotism really meant. Rest easy, Olly.
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Sadio Mane : "Why would I want 10 Ferraris, 20 diamond watches, or 2 planes? I built schools, a stadium, we provide clothes, shoes, food for people who are in extreme poverty. I prefer that my people receive a little of what life has given me.".
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Inevitable that a halt to the PL season will be called today. Equally inevitable that some self interested clubs will attempt to have season voided. They must not succeed. Liverpoolβs title is inevitable and should be confirmed on resumption.
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Morning. Aware this will probably torch my timeline, but @sterling7 is a good kid, with values instilled by a wonderful mother. Acknowledging nature of his father's death was a huge statement for him. Leave him alone.
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Daniel Levy, financial genius. Sacks a world class manager, pays him Β£12.5m to leave, and undermines a culture it has taken years to establish. Mauricio Pochettino will come back to haunt him.
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Marcus Rashford has fed millions of hungry kids. Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka are role models in urban estates. They will come again. Shit happens.
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Spurs fans isolated in upper tiers so sponsors get their exposure. A gesture of contempt from a club that is rudderless and valueless. No wonder team was booed off.
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How good is it to watch an England match and not be driven into a murderous rage by that pathetic band?.
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Football managers are human beings. They have families and feelings. It's a brutal job, complicated by haphazard decisions, taken by those above them in the food chain. That reality explains why I respect each and every one of them.
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Can't wait to see how Peter Shilton gets on as trade envoy to Argentina.
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Morning. Before we get into another weekend of football, a word of praise for @CPFC. Turning Selhurst Park over to the homeless during freezing temperatures and providing basic necessities is a brilliant gesture. I'm sure other clubs will follow suit.
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David Moyes living his best lifeβ¦.pure pissed Dad at the wedding reception .
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ππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ πππππππππ 115 Elephants in the room at the Etihad.
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Morning. Admirable transparency, but VAR remains an abomination. It has simply replaced one set of human errors with another, at the cost of the flow, spontaneity and outcome of the game. Scrap it now.
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Impossible to watch with dry eyes. Thanks to @annealicia for sharing. The joy of a young disabled fan on his first visit to Anfield is the antidote to the spivs, sportswashers, and speculators who poison the game. What football could and should be. Agree?.
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That United win belongs on Crimewatch rather than Match of the Day.
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Gareth Southgate's @England are what this country can be: inclusive, engaging, reasonable and successful. They represent all colours, classes and creeds. Win or lose tonight, they provide a powerful antidote to poisonous trolls, bigots and despicable, flag-flaunting politicians.
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A reminder : Super League clubs are contemptuous of clubs like Villarreal.
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Free for your delectation #NoHungerInParadise documentary: Please share far and wide. Ta.
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A brilliant journalist, @maitlis, is silenced while a propagandist, @bbclaurak, is protected. Confirmation that @BBCNews & @BBCPolitics form an arm of government.
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Terrible news. JB saw through the stereotypes and was adopted as one of Millwallβs own. A fascinating, principled and loyal man, he welcomed me into the club and relished his role as the figurehead of the Family. #RIP
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Thinking of Graham Taylor tonight. A warm, flawed man who deserves to be enshrined in legend. What goes around comes around .
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Tale of two co-comms. Emma Hayes , earlier : insightful, knowledgeable, well-researched. Jermaine Jenas: leaden statements of the obvious.
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If, understandably, youβve forgotten what moral leadership looks like , here it is. ππ.
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He's in serious danger of giving Leeds a good name. π.
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This, and similarly disgraceful "journalism" from the BBC, is shameful. These are human beings, not extras for a film crew and a vacuous "reporter".
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Roughly translated: weβll try to buy off discontented clubs. The Cup is a pivotal earner for the FA, which has abandoned its duty of care to the game. A concerted threat to boycott the competition is long overdue.
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Anyway. Just like to introduce you to my grandson Michael. He arrived today. Of course, I'm in bits.
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Football as an expression of common humanity. @Antonee_Jedi was 2 when he was mascot of my sonβs youth team. His Dad Tony , a terrific coach and better man, bred these values.
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Millwall. Proper club. NHS tribute in stand : all proceeds from cardboard crowd (650) also goes to NHS.
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Managers : German, Argentinian. Goalscorers : multi national. Xenophobes like you : cretinous.
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This England team represents the best of us. The politicians who will intensify their efforts to associate themselves with their success are the worst of us.
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The malign character of a one-footed, massively overpriced embarrassment captured in a single image. They need to clean the stables at Old Trafford.
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The Premier League are in danger of being damaged immeasurably by the understandable impression they are harvesting low hanging fruit. Manchester City's 115 charges are complex and of greater magnitude, but until and unless they are dealt with, PL's credibility is compromised.
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Call their bluff. Expel them from domestic football. Let them suffocate in isolation.
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So. This is my next book. Itβs only taken me a lifetime to write. #WhoseGameIsItAnyway is out next April, thanks to a new partnership with β¦@PitchPublishingβ©
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So, according to the swivel-eyed self appointed guardians of our conscience, Lee Carsley not singing the dirge that passes as a national anthem is a sacking offence. Iβd go full reverse ferret and give him a knighthood.
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Morning. A much-needed reminder in these turbulent times that humility is an essential element of leadership.
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This is an utter disgrace. UEFA are unfit for purpose.
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Accounts reveal Gordon Taylor, caricature trades unionist,βearnedβ Β£2,290,276 as PFA CEO last year. Football must challenge this fiefdom.
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Symbol of our times. don't worry about the football, or the fans. Just get the shop open. .
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This is why, despite all the associated rubbish, football is worth persevering with, A boy's joy.
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Morning. Not every day you have two books published. Paperbacks of No Hunger In Paradise & Family now released. βπ
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Hypocrite. The culture war launched by you and your appalling government creates and sustains the climate of hate, ignorance and degeneration.
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I left Carrow Road that night convinced that Frank would become one of the outstanding managers of his generation. Erudite, empathetic, emotionalΕy and professionally intelligent.
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Thought for the day: There is no refereeing conspiracy. Wild suspicions are tribal nonsense. There are, however, poor referees, poor decisions & poor laws supported by an unbalanced, incompetently applied and ultimately unsustainable VAR system.
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Itβs been a bit of an open secret but Iβve been collaborating with Alastair Cook on his autobiography. Completed today, out Sept 5. Cheers.
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A farce of a football show, created by political infiltration of BBC. Brought to you by the same vile politicians who starve the NHS, lie about Brexit, encourage bigots, excuse profiteering energy companies, and turn a blind eye to polluting water companies.
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Didn't want to rush to judgement on this. The only innocent party is the 14-year-old girl. Her father was a disgrace. @Carra23 is rightly ashamed of himself. I was brought up to believe in the power of contrition : on balance he shouldn't be thrown to the lynch mob.
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Neil leaves with dignity & integrity intact. Senior pro who approached me on first day of Family research became a terrific manager. Respect.
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Would love to see fans spontaneously put @premierleague & @EFL to shame this weekend. A minute's applause in the 9th min to recognise Cyrille Regis as a player and, most importantly, as a man? #kickitout.
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Ian Wright keeping it real as ever regarding nonsensical WSL ko times. Game needs to be as professional off the pitch as the players are on it.
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Calling all @Arsenal fans & anyone fascinated by football management: an impassioned, insightful interview with Mikel Arteta features in tomorrowβs @btsportfootball Football People podcast, with input from @johncrossmirror & @SebSB . Online from 6am.
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Morning. The first day of the rest of Aaron Lennon's life. Footballers are expected to suppress fear and insecurity; he deserves our support.
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Cold venture capitalism, imported from the US, ignores the social heritage of a great instution. A fundamental, spirit-sapping error of judgement.
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Not a new observation ( which tells its own story) but the central weakness of Gareth Southgateβs managerial approach is his apparent inability to respond to the natural flow of a game.
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This was taken six days after my father in law, a war hero, passed away alone, in his care home. We said farewell on an iPhone. I cannot express the depth of my contempt for everyone in this photo. I hope Karma will take its toll.
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Morning. Confession : I'm the sort who'll stop the car to watch a Sunday League kickabout, but I won't watch a single minute of Nations League football. Irrelevant, and unfair on overburdened players. England games have their place in the calendar, but not now. Agree?.
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I like to think of myself as a fairly reasonable bloke. But I can no longer bear even to listen to @theresa_may. She is playing games with our kids' future. A desperate, evil individual, surrounded by venal,scheming mediocrities. God help us.
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Final reflection on (another) depressing day. I wrote in Whose Game Is It Anyway? that I expected a migration of fans to local lower or non league clubs because of the growing disenchantment with "elite" football. Suspect that trend will accelerate.
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Morning. If Keir Starmer does not demand Johnson's resignation in the Commons today he, too, should resign. Enough is enough : there have been too many lies, too many lonely deaths, for this government to avoid the consequences of their contempt for the so called "little people".
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Morning. Just one more day to endure the ugliest election campaign of my lifetime. Terrifying to think what the racists, liars, con men and their propagandists could do, given five years. Please vote tomorrow. It matters.
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All aboard the banter bus. It's not journalism but, hey, that's increasingly regarded as an irrelevance at the BBC.
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Sorry, not having the faux-sympathy for @theresa_may A mendacious, morally dubious incompetent. Her legacy ( and that of Cameron) is a horribly divided nation, tainted by the racism and ignorance promoted by Farage and Johnson.
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Emma Raducanu was responsible for a generational sporting achievement last night : why sully it with obsessional references to a piece of jumble sale tat passed off as a significant award by the BBC?.
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News of the tragic passing of former Manchester City academy player Jeremy Wisten raises questions for another day. It moves me, beyond words, since I visited his school during research for No Hunger In Paradise. Now is the time to send condolences to friends and family.
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Anyone else watching this Leeds Liverpool game out of habit and thinking βwhatβs the point?β.
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OK. Must say this. Saka, hugely talented, naturally confident, but chronically inexperienced. Why give him the worst job, the fifth pen?.
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Am I being too cynical if I suggest this was a set up? The suits get much-needed 'balance'. Morgan becomes the 'story'. Freak-show ratings guaranteed.
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The FA, as currently constituted, is unfit for purpose. The Premier League is incapable of changing for the common good. Have long held the view that an independent regulator is needed in football. Here's your chance to express your opinion :
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In any functioning democracy, the PM would offer his resignation. Instead Johnson hides in a Β£25k-a-week Marbella villa owned by a failed MP he ennobled. A rancid government, led by a rancid individual.
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Know this isnβt original, but Ally McCoist is the best co-comm on TV.
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Hugely chuffed to be on the longlist for Football Book of the Year.
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Feeling blessed. My daughter @lydiacalvin gave birth to my second granddaughter, India Joy Josie, this morning. Thanks so much to all @bedfordhospital & @NHSuk . Iβm not having a quiet weep, honestβ¦β¦.
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Rats leaving a sinking ship are still verminous. Resignations may bring down the loathsome liar Johnson, but they all deserve to be driven from office.
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I'm sorry (and remain virulently opposed to this Government) but could you blame a politician for looking at such profligacy and directing public funds away from football? By their actions, the rich are conspiring against the game's poor.
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Morning. @NorwichCityFC have made an ideal choice in Dean Smith as their new manager. A builder, teacher, innovator and, as anyone who has read of his compassion towards Martin Ling in the opening chapter of Living on the Volcano, a thoroughly decent human being.
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Livelier crowd at the Valley than usual, but another Millwall win π.
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This is now more than a football match. Itβs a test of footballβs resolve to start dealing properly with racism.
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I got to know Garethβs parents well when writing and researching βProudβ. Warm, welcoming people. I disown lowlife disgracing my profession.
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Today has been depressing. A criminally incompetent liar lying to the Covid inquiry. A racist playing the victim card in parliament. A lawless government. Then consider goodness, kindness, humanity and humility in the shape of Kevin Sinfield. Hero.
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Morning. A reminder : this isn't war by another means. It's not a demonstration of cultural purity, or an excuse to wrap history in a flag. It's not about fear and loathing. Enjoy England v Germany for what it is, an intriguing football match between two transitional teams.
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Thanks to Jake, Frank and Chris for their time and insight tonight. They get it. Hope parents and boys will benefit from watching the documentary. #NoHungerInParadise
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Does anyone else think that your Stalinist thought-speak in which reasoned debate is misrepresented as sabotage is morally repugnant? I do.
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