SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
MAN UNITED full-back Luke Shaw wasn’t the first player ever to be publicly criticised by his manager — but James Milner delivers a boot for the other side when he describes Jurgen Klopp as “maybe too emotional”.
That’s not exactly a going-over for a manager who resembles touchline gelignite on legs, always about to explode into joy or fury.
Milner, by comparison about as demonstrative as the Old Man of Hoy, added that the Liverpool manager is definitely among the best he has ever worked with.
Plus, their team beat Swansea 2-1 today. So that’s all right, then.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2
WAYNE ROONEY is becoming a bench option under Jose Mourinho and that is certainly not what the England captain should be.
I expect Gareth Southgate to ignore this on Saturday and it shouldn’t matter much against Malta except that we lost to a bunch of fridges at the Euros.
Rooney has replaced Juan Mata as the man United don’t quite know what to do with and it seems he’s just glad to play anywhere these days.
Well, he’s still a lot better than that but he might have to live with a last half-hour and the odd assist off his knees until Mourinho sticks by his word and uses England’s highest scorer as a front-line forward. Or lets him go.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3
WHAT chance a memorial plaque to Sam Allardyce in his home town, Dudley?
That question strikes me because another footballer born there — the legendary Manchester United player, Duncan Edwards — has just been honoured in that way.
And the answer, unless Black Country councillors have a peculiar sense of humour, is a big fat ‘not on your life!’
Allardyce’s reputed £1million pay-off from the FA after what they called “inappropriate behaviour” is disgracefully over-generous — as one of his targets, Gary Neville, points out today.
Allardyce won’t care a damn about that but I suspect he’d have liked a plaque very much indeed.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4
AS sexist insults go, “get back to the stove” is too feeble to prompt a feminist march.
It’s one of a rubbishy pile aimed regularly at women — in this case by Czech players towards a female assistant referee.
It puzzles me there isn’t anything similar from women towards men. The reason perhaps is that men learned in the playground to laugh away stuff like “you fat, ugly, lazy sod”.
And as for informing a ref he knows where he should put his whistle — well, it doesn’t rhyme.
Bosses at Czech team Sparta took another course and punished the players by telling them to train with the women’s team.
But that’s worse, suggesting we are inferior beings who should be used to playing with old dogs.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5
LUNACY is at large . . . and where else but at Fifa, the sumptuous home of strange customs and practices?
Vice-president Victor Montagliani consoles us that taking the World Cup to dubious Russia and diabolical Qatar led to the exposure (largely by the press) of sundry of football’s godfathers.
So who was scriptwriter? Putin? Montagliani also supports increasing the number of qualifiers, perhaps to as many as 48.
This will absurd figure will be supported by Nicola Sturgeon because it gives Scotland a chance. Just about.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
I BELIEVE absolutely in our move to the London Stadium.
And nothing, certainly not the Twitter nonsense I have received before and after the talk I gave yesterday about the move, will change our direction.
It’s become a bit of a bandwagon which will disappear to the fading sounds of grumbling wheels once we start winning home games.
Slaven Bilic certainly understands this.
Don’t get me wrong, we have great faith in our manager and we sense no problems among the players.
They all desperately want to do well and they will.
And, by the way, we can never go back, so we have to look forward together.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
JOHN STONES comments that Gareth Southgate has “got the toughness, being a defender I think it is in his nature”.
He joins a growing number of players who vouch England’s latest manager is a believer in discipline and not some sort of dressing room social worker.
Both men come from the cultural side of ruthlessness but Stones is making a good point.
Centre-backs learn early — although Stones later than most — that fannying around does not work in a decent boss’ office any better than it does in the penalty area.
Straight from the shoulder with a little love is how players like it.
And those who do not respond are in trouble.
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