Search: 'Mario Balotelli'
Stories
Embed from Getty Images
Simon Tyers tries to get his head around some strange happenings in football broadcasting
This was a strange month. After Sky’s build-up to the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League tie against AC Milan seemed to assume a comeback was inevitable, Rob Hawthorne reckoned Massimiliano Allegri would “put his faith in his team holding onto what they have”, as if he might have considered letting Arsenal score as many goals as they fancied instead. There was Harry Redknapp on Match of the Day after the league defeat at Everton letting his chirpy pragmatist mask slip by framing every statement as a question – “What can you do? We battered them second half?” – while considering any query about the game as a personal affront. Interviewer Guy Mowbray nearly burst out laughing, which seemed an appropriate reaction.
The money that added flair to Manchester City’s functionality has put Barney Ronay in a quandary
Imagine how boring being a billionaire must be. Not so much the process of becoming a billionaire, which is presumably studded with the thrill of ticking off those billionaire-entry marks: beachhouse-overload, mistress-profligacy, servant-saturation. But just being a billionaire, sealed within your own frictionless seven-star world, conveyed by helicopter gunship from lobby to suite to private island. This must surely be quite dull.
The England captain’s defeat in a privacy action has set a worrying precedent for high-profile footballers, says Nick McAleenan
Are footballers “role models”? This question invariably reappears when a player’s behaviour is called into question. Anecdotal experience tells us that on-field antics are frequently copied: the upturned Cantona collar, the (attempted) Ronaldo step-over, the Klinsmann dive, “words” with the ref. Equally, footballers’ off-field activities have always attracted public attention. Step forward Mario Balotelli, firework safety spokesman and Manchester City enigma.
Dear WSC
I recently heard Alan Green and Robbie Savage give the customary abuse to Howard Webb during the Man City v Sunderland game. While Green’s job is to commentate on football, Savage, as a current player, is in an awkward position when he criticises officials from the safety of a studio in terms that would get him booked on the field.
Maybe the threat of a disrepute charge would concentrate his mind. As Savage himself commented during the broadcast: “The officials bring problems on themselves. First sign of dissent, bang, yellow card.” Well you said it, Robbie.
Paul Caulfield, Bradford