Still Following the Trawler

If you’ve been following me on Twitter this week (...of course you have...) you will have noticed my shockingly hyper-levels of dissapointment towards England not winning the 2018 World Cup bid. And if you follow my blog, you will understand what I mean by 'shockingly hyper-levels of dissapointment'! I make no secret of the fact that I'm not an England fan. Like many other true reds - and true football fans of any club for that matter - I am 100% a club over country supporter. But unlike many United fans, it may suprise people to know that I played my part in 'Backing the Bid'. I worked with sports publishing company Seven46 , content providers for the Bid (speaches, Bid Book etc), for four months over the summer. During that time, the Bid and seemingly pointless FIFA Inspection Visits in August firmly gripped and absorbed the office. The hours myself and my colleagues at both Seven46 and Unspun , the official event organisers for the Inspection Visits, put int...

So…THAT’S how our unbeaten start to the season ended! No one saw it coming, and as long as it doesn’t open the floodgates and signifies a beginning to a detrimental losing streak, I don’t think anyone is overly fussed. It was a bit embarrassing – losing to a team planted at the bottom of the league is one thing, but conceding four (in one game) against a team who has scored only four at home (all season) is pretty damn awful. And clearly, as with every shock defeat we have suffered in the Carling Cup over the years (there haven’t been many in recent years), questions were immediately asked over the pedigree and the ability to gel of our new breed. This crop have shown their hunger and ability already this season – Wolves in the Carling Cup and Bursaspor away in the Champions League spring to mind – and therefore any overly harsh criticism is purely that: overly harsh. Especially when you bare in mind the media bashing we got after our last defeat in the Carling Cup, 0-2 at home to ...

...or '10 reasons why our season is back on track' . 1. Fluency and understanding . Two words that have been massively absent in United's style of play this season. Yet two words that defined our performance on Saturday (along with 'shit load of goals', of course). I don't think I'm alone in feeling rather surprised at how we've managed to find ourselves in our current league position, as all 14 games prior to Blackburn's embarrassing visit had displayed one of two things: we have a lot of work to do if we are to retain this title; or we are simply content with our 'Champions League place' form that has seen our unimpressive record so far read: won seven, drawn seven. But if Saturday was a turning of a new leaf; a game to show that we are really ready to kick start our season, then as some journalists put it yesterday, United may run away with it. 2. Unbeaten . Every week I'm making this point and every week its addition is sweeter and ...

Here's my second post for the Telegraph . Similar to the one I wrote about sh*tty Inter the other day , here is another timeline, of the Scottish referee scandle: Scottish Referees' Strike Timeline - by Pos Lambrianides

Mark Ogden,  the Daily Telegraph "Wayne Rooney resisted the temptation to kiss the Manchester United badge after converting an 86th minute penalty to secure victory against Rangers, but relief was clearly bursting out of the 25-year-old as he sprinted towards the supporters who no longer chant his name. "...Actions, rather than words, are what will repair the bridges broken by Rooney’s stand-off with his employers, but his Ibrox penalty may ultimately prove to be the foundation stone in his new relationship with the club and its supporters." Ian Ladyman, the Daily Mail "It may only have been a penalty in a game United didn't have to win but the bear hug and the kiss on the cheek he received from the supporter who reached him first by the corner flag suggested forgiveness is nigh for a player who almost left a little over a month ago. "In yet another TV interview ahead of last night's game, Rooney conceded that it may take a while before every United fan...

Good. General thoughts… Th ought we played a lot better than we did on the weekend against a similarly tepid side (no offence to either Wigan or Rangers – as I’m not entirely sure which team this would offend – but I reckon they’re fairly evenly matched opponents). The movement on and off the ball at times was pretty good, and although we provided very little in the form of finishing product, our 63% possession against a side reasonably strong in all areas of the field was impressive. Easy progression into the next phase as well, without ever really being tested, has been good. But in general, its worth remembering that we’re still finding our feat and easing crucial back to form and fitness So any victory, as unglamorous as the performance might be, is just splendid. Old look United. It was great to see Rooney and Berbatov together again, as well as Giggs and Scholes starting in the midfield. There was something a spot nostalgic and very reassuring about seeing all four of them i...

(I've just noticed how dramatic that headline sounds!! So immediate apologies for anyone expecting an epic essay about the fall of the European Champions!) I just wanted to redirect you to a little time-line piece I've written for the Telegraph about Inter's awful decline. Given my utter distain for their fact-friendly manager, I probably wasn't the best person to write the piece. But I soon realised that the newspaper world isn't quite the same as the blogger world. So needless to say its content is toned down a notch. Inter Milan manager Rafael Benítez on the brink - by Pos Lambrianides