For those of us waiting for old certainties to waft again on the summer breeze, there is almost certain disappointment. So we must rely on sporting nostalgiaSport means nothing if it is not about passion and connection and nowhere is that more sharply defined than in football, as we have witnessed since coronavirus ripped it from our lives in recent weeks and days. Once, though, it was cricket, the summer game, deeper in history, richer in symbolism, that held the national sentiment in its gentle palm.As Derek Birley relates in his excellent A Social History of English Cricket, when Sir Gordon Home wrote in the September 1939 issue of The Cricketer, he went straight for a contemporary metaphor. “England has...
Time will tell whether United really have hit upon their saviour and, either way, the club must rediscover the boldness of oldFor those with long memories, the irony inherent in Richarlison’s marvellous opening goal for Everton against Manchester United was the way his overhead kick evoked the image of Denis Law defying gravity as he rose in a whirl of limbs.There were no Brazilians in the English game then, so the Scot’s combination of opportunism, athleticism and deadly marksmanship was something rare and precious, whether or not you were a Manchester United fan. The fact such a goal was being scored against United on Sunday, triggering their fifth consecutive away defeat, symbolised their plight. Related: Is there a single Manchester...
Ole Gunnar Solskjær could do with help at Manchester United and Gary Neville is a club legend with business experienceIn the week Ole Gunnar Solskjær was confirmed as Manchester United’s permanent manager, I’ve been in New York to complete my executive master for international players, which is run by Uefa. It’s been an important commitment for the past two years and I’ve really enjoyed learning about the business side of sports organisations and seeing how they do things differently to football.One of the biggest aspects I’ve noticed is the importance of sporting directors in US sports – for example all the teams in the NFL and NBA have been using that model for several years and it is now becoming...
Former professionals such as Gary Neville educate not only supporters but also younger players while continually raising standards in terms of objectively analysing matches“Three … two … one … and we’re live on air.” It’s a phrase I have heard more and more over the last few months because of my first steps into the world of sports broadcasting and punditry.I must admit that as a player I didn’t have an appreciation of the hard work by the floor staff, the producers and directors constantly instructing you through your earpiece, and the presenters with their impressive array of knowledge and awareness to stay within time constraints, and nor did I have an understanding of actually how difficult it is to...
Liverpool’s young goalkeeper is free and welcome to say what he wants, even if it does upset Sky Sports’ thin-skinned prefect of punditryAs someone who has never played the game of football to the highest level, I wonder if I dare even giggle at Gary Neville? The hierarchies of English football and the various industries that surround it – including Her Majesty’s sports press – frequently remind me of some failing post-war minor British public school, where bumptious members of the Remove are always being slapped down by the bigger boys, for reasons as bygone as the empire. Pointless rules, desiccated conventions, rigid systems of deference – what is any of it for, except propping up the establishment for the...