So! The troubles grow in Thailand for former leader and football fan Thaksin Shinawatra. As protests become more intense in Bangkok, the knock-on effects for the football club he owns, Manchester City, are clear. A trivial matter compared to the travails of a country, obviously.
A wry smile from ickledot, however, as for the second week running pundit Lee Dixon declared on Match of the Day 2 that there was no better man to be in charge of footballing matters in these troubled times than City’s manager, Mark Hughes. One cannot help thinking that the likelihood of this crisis happening were plain to see when Hughes took the job only a matter of weeks ago and his ‘world-view’ radar may not be quite as finely tuned as his football senses. The sensible option might have been to remain in the relatively secure waters of Blackburn. We shall see.

Tags: politics, football

It’s difficult not to sound nationalistic, but today’s successes for GB in the Olympics were particularly exciting. Maybe it was due to us having a few years where medals of any colour have been a bit thin on the ground.

Particularly refreshing were the post-effort interviews. First, they revealed just how much effort and emotion had been expended, not only during competition, but in the previous weeks and often years and how much the subsequent reward, the medal, was valued. In addition, whatever each athlete lacked in interviewing technique was more than made up for in sincerity. Having witnessed the clipped comments of those pampered premiership poseurs on Match of the Day last night, it was so refreshing to hear it from the heart for once.

Tags: Olympics, football