Premier League Gameweek 21: 5 Things That (May or May Not Have) Happened

Joe Devine returns after a much-needed Christmas and New Year break to look at five things that may or may not have happened last week…

1. Steve Bruce Misinterprets Law

Ah, Steve Bruce. Everyone’s favourite pretend uncle Steve Bruce. He was my pretend uncle, a solid one at that. Always telling me it was going to be okay, and I loved it. That was of course before he questioned the conviction of rapist Ched Evans. Steve Bruce made a number of mistakes last week. First, he mistook “evidence” for what was clearly his late night reading of Ched Evans’ super fan site. Second, he accidentally, fleetingly, momentarily misunderstood the meaning of rape. And finally, he opened his big stupid mouth. Not only does Steve Bruce not know what “a rape” is, he is also guilty of thinking that “arson” was the crime of being a perennial underachiever. Continue reading

Ligue 1: No Longer A French Backwater for Major European Football

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Making his TFN debut, Huw Evans assesses the improving fortunes of domestic football in France…

Most football fans around the UK will know a little bit about France’s Ligue 1.  Indeed most fans will recognize the top clubs from their Wednesday and Thursday nights’ European football viewings on ITV; Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille, Paris St Germain, LOSC Lille, but that’s about as far as it goes for most.  Indeed some of us have had the fortune (or misfortune depending on how much time you’ve dedicated to it) to experience the Football Manager series.  As a result one can reel off endless pointless facts relating to the supposed wonderkids of France’s clubs.

I lived in France for a year and had quite a varying experience of French league football.  At the bottom end, the elation of FCO Dijon’s 2010-11 Ligue 2 promotion campaign and Clermont Foot 63’s 2011-12 so close yet so far Ligue 2 title-challenge. At the other end, the heady heights of Stade de Gerland where Les Gones (Olympique Lyonnais) turn out.  My weekend afternoons on the terraces have nurtured a keen interest in French football, at all levels, and a respect for its most prodigious talents.  Continue reading

Chaotic Entertainment Exposing Premier League’s Decline

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Further European humiliation for Premier League clubs has exposed a number of flaws in the English game; is entertainment alone enough? False Nine editor James Dutton discloses some uncomfortable truths…

Who remembers the Olympics? They were great weren’t they? That now iconic fortnight when the country soaked up the sun and basked in the world’s spotlight; when London temporarily justified its self-gratifying tagline as the centre of the known world. Continue reading

Europa League in need of revamp

 

False Nine editor Hugo Greenhalgh reflects on the Super Cup and the future of the Europa League

Watching last night‘s Super Cup, it would be easy to mistake Atlético Madrid as the Champions of Europe. Chelsea may have won three in three in the Premier League, but they looked sluggish and uncoordinated in the Super Cup as Atlético, marshalled by a rampant Radamel Falcao, punished the London side in a 4-1 victory. Continue reading