More HUGE Mufc news - this is out today! '1999 - Manchester United, The Treble and All That' and I hope it's a cracking read. A slice of the 90s, a study of greatness, extraordinary characters and unforgettable drama...
Ineos billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirms interest in buying Manchester United - open to talks with Glazers about taking a stake with a view to full control
FIFA boss Infantino told WC nations 2 weeks ago not to drag football into every ideological/political battle. He is now 45 mins into a speech on global immigration, workers rights, LGBT issues, European colonialism, freckles, female suffrage, racism, disability, orientalism...
Infantino credits FIFA/World Cup with driving change in Qatar. Probably worth remembering that, in 2018, he also said it had changed Russia and received a medal from Vladimir Putin...
Says that she felt bad after practice earlier in the day, was full of stress, shaking. So when the first vault went badly, she knew she had to step away because she feared she would wreck it for her teammates
Quite a press conference this from Simone Biles talking about how she decided after that vault she needed to step away to work on her mindfulness. Talks about how stressful it has been at these Olympics. Won't commit to Thursday. Day by day...
After 26 years, one final column - a thank you to sport and journalism and the guidance we all need along the way. Thanks to all the great people
@thetimes
and far beyond, supportive to the end. Psychotherapy and hopefully a book or two for me now 👍
Been a huge week for MUFC fans. Brentford debacle, Jim Ratcliffe’s interest, Casemiro signing - and a new book reliving all the unforgettable drama about the greatest season of them all 😉
Brilliance of The Sopranos never ceases to astonish me. Went back to watch original pilot episode - knew within seconds that I need to watch the entire series all over again. TV perfection
Lots of reasons for Manchester City’s success - high among them is that Guardiola has one of the most interesting minds ever to stare at a tactics board...
My grandpa received this yday on his 100th birthday - small but such important recognition for him and a generation who sacrificed so much to fight fascism (and never expected/wanted anyone to make a fuss of it). Can’t imagine what they went through. Can only love and admire
Guardiola 2010 - becomes bid ambassador for Qatar 2022: “I believe the time is ripe for the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East.”
Guardiola 2022 - "We have a crazy World Cup..."
Mmmm
So much of post-Biles reaction reaffirms that if I coached any athlete, I would advise them (strongly) to delete all social media. A shame but the perils just too great. Why put yourself through it? Get on with your sport and let the rest of the world continue being perfect...
Tweak of bio and v grateful to
@thetimes
for enabling me 1) to continue writing about the wonderful world of sport for a great newspaper while 2) pursuing training as a psychotherapist. Very excited about all there is to do and discover on both fronts
It's about more than fundraising - it's an act of love. Interview with the wonderful Kevin Sinfield who pushed Rob Burrow 26 miles around Leeds today....
🗣️ "You have to put yourself in the shoes of a young player about to represent his country"
🗣️ "We are determined more than ever to take a knee in this tournament"
Gareth Southgate reiterates his sadness of some
#ENG
fans booing the players taking a knee v Austria
Suspect others are getting all the MotM shouts but no way that defensive system works without Kyle Walker. Not just defensive pace but took a lot of heat off others in possession too
Sack a manager mid-season, reach the Champions League final. Well, remarkably, it's worked 3 times for Abramovich but Tuchel is certainly no Di Matteo or Avram Grant....
Adam Peaty , now Tom Daley/Matty Lee and Tom Pidcock currently crushing it on his mountainbike. That's quite a Monday morning. Have sensed a slow burn of interest at home for these Games. Would think that's about to change
Spoke to Rob and Lindsey Burrow ahead of 'Living with MND', a new BBC documentary. "You probably need to watch it with a box of tissues," she says. Best make that two boxes...
Main thought from listening to Biles - it would have been so easy to hide behind "medical issue" but she could not have been more open. Takes courage to do what she does for a living. Takes a whole different sort of resolve and self-possession to admit vulnerability
Easily forgotten in all this is that CL expansion passed yday includes those 2 places on historic results. It's totally wrong given 6th can leapfrog 5th but all too easily accepted when 15th can mean, well, anything/nothing...
Account was hacked last night (I’m not in the business of selling Xbox and PS5s, at least not yet). Can only hope no one was scammed though I worry looking at many of the messages, DMs etc. No idea how it happened. Can only say be careful...
FIFA president still going, 40 minutes into a speech which aspires to be Martin Luther King but veered through David Brent: "I know what it feels to be discriminated...I was bullied for red hair and freckles."
V chuffed to have finished ‘1999’ about the most amazing sporting campaign I’ve covered - and, still, unique feat of the Treble. Thanks to all the players, coaches, key figures who relived the wildest ride in sport. Out in August
‘Fuck off in your Ferrari’. Sheringham reveals the three-year silence from Roy Keane at MUFC after a boozy night out. First extract from my new book ‘1999’ out next week about the historic Treble season….
This is so much more interesting for Mark Cavendish avoiding the question re Merckx record. His recall for detail in a blurred frenzy of sprints is always astonishing
"It's like my first one. It's what I dreamed of as a kid, it's what I dream of now."
This one will take a while to sink in. Your 34-time Tour stage winner 💚
“F***ing disgrace, you’re f***ing finished!” How it was to be blasted by Alex Ferguson - and why he resigned in fury on eve of historic Treble season. Great to see more extracts of my new book, 1999. Poignant now to recall the club’s greatest era…
Top scoop by
@martynziegler
on this today. As for the big clubs, every single major change to the game for 30 years has been to their benefit - but it’s never enough
Update: 'Big Six' English clubs among 12 of Europe's top teams who have signed up to Super League; PL chief warns it will contravene its rules; UEFA says will take tough line and ban clubs from Champions League:
👀 “Fred van der Hoorn wore contacts, his eyesight wasn’t that good.”
🔁 “Dundee Utd put the board up to make the sub & I shook Fred’s hand.”
👋 “Fred looked over, couldn’t see the number on the board & just ran off.”
Another brilliant
#RangersFC
era story from Ally McCoist 🤣
Wondering if the rage against Super League is magnified by the horrible, nauseous, impotent dread that enough people will actually tune in/pay for it/go with the flow. Isn’t that the worst part of it all, the worry that it could actually ‘work’ for the 12?
MND is as cruel as it comes - but can also bring astonishing qualities out of people. Saluting Rob and Lindsey Burrow, Doddie and Kathy Weir, Kevin Sinfield and all who do so much to fight this horrific disease
Mixed sport growing at the Olympics, successfully. Good to see. Lots to celebrate about it, though once suggested a mixed Ryder Cup and was like I'd unleashed the hounds of hell....
45 mins that underlined that Maguire's fitness is a big deal. Stones to return but who alongside him? Not Mings on that 45. Ben White looked much more composed
🚨 Michael Beale travelling north to finalise Rangers move. Agreement in place that will see QPR receive asking price in compensation.
#QPR
search for new head coach under way & they hope to make appointment soon. W/
@JordanC1107
@TheAthleticFC
#RangersFC
At a time when millions of us have been forced into lockdown, caught up in fear and caution, these racers out on the oceans have provided more than escapism...