the redknapps

No it’s not a radical Socialist splinter group from the Somali pirate community but one of the more durable partnerships in the strange C-list fusion world of pop girl and footie guy celebrityness. Jamie and Louise probably rank third in the all-time rankings behind Posh ‘n Becks and Cheryl and Ashley, but look set fair to move up to No 2 in the charts following the recent announcement that the UK’s latest Princess of our Hearts, Chezzer, has decided to separate from the guy whose theme tune could be ‘A rim-full of Ashley on the A45’. Within the same week he’s broken both his ankle and his wife’s heart following a stiff tackle from Landon Donovan on the field and his generous largesse of the afore-mentioned ST with a smorgasborg of wannabee WAGs both live and via his mobile’s iPhoto facility. Blimey he even came close to knocking team mate John Terry off the front pages of the red tops with his salacious antics. Bravo Roman, you must be proud of creating The Bridge over Roubled Daughters.

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spurs win; gertcha

Chas and Dave (and Colin and Shay) will be rocking tonight; Spurs came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley. I’m sure it was the result most football fans would have been hoping for – a win for a team outside the big 4. And Spurs deserved it, they’ve hit a rich vein of form in the Cup and were the more determined side today. Plus the shoe-in Chelski manager Grant picked an odd side, dropping in-form Joe Cole and Ballack and having striker Anelka play out wide. He seemed incapable of spotting his mistakes until too late whereas Ramos was very decisive. I heard somebody say today that previous managers Mourinho would never have lost the game whilst Jol wouldn’thave had the conviction to win it. I thought that was an intelligent (if irrelevant) comment.

Fog on the Tyne

Well I wasn’t going to write anymore about the developing situation at Newcastle U but it just gets murkier doesn’t it? Last night they got thumped again by Arsenal. Even the cynical introduction of serial aggressor Joey Barton couldn’t inject any spark into his team’s performanace. On the upside he didn’t get arrested. At least they could unveil new appointee Dennis Wise whose title is Executive Director (Football). This morning’s reports quote Keegan as saying that Wise reports into him. Well I’m not sure Kev. They’re paying him something close to £1.5m pa by all accounts (my earlier estimate was way short of the mark) to work 2 or 3 days a week in London. How he must have struggled over the decision whether to stay at Leeds or take up that offer.

arsenal lose to spurs; lessons learned?

A strange occurrence in the football world last night as Spurs beat their N London rivals for the first time since 1999, when most of the Arsenal side from last night were wearing shorts… to school. Actually it wasn’t just a win it was a 5-1 thrashing. For all Spurs fans it must have been a sweet, sweet moment and for my good friends Shay and Colin, who have had to endure many jibes from me as long-suffering fans of the under-achieving THFC, it must have been v special. Their gracious decision not to send through any ‘who’s smirking now fat boy manurite?’ messages is humbling…and inexplicable. After all it could easily be 9 years before it happens again! Sorry guys, easy joke.

managerial sack race

Well I may not be 100% accurate with forecasting the outcome of major sporting events but in terms of managerial casualties I’m on a roll. Following Mourinho and Lee’s departure, this week also saw the departures of Jol and Staunton. Jol’s has been coming for a while of course. I did say pre-season that unless he’d got off to a flyer, he’d be under instant pressure having spent £40m in the summer.