Mihir Bose's Blog, page 53
May 24, 2013
Froch: Mikkel’s taken my best so I must hit harder
Carl Froch tells Mihir Bose exactly how he’ll get revenge tomorrow after losing his first fight with the battle-hardened Dane
Evening Standard
Carl Froch would never cast himself in the mould of Muhammad Ali. But tomorrow, when he defends his IBF super-middleweight title against Mikkel Kessler at the O2 Arena, he is willing to borrow one habit of the greatest: predict what round he will win the fight.
“I am going to stop Kessler in round eight, nine or 10,” says Froch. “I can’t see it going the distance. My gameplan is in my head. When I close my eyes I visualise what I need to do from round one: get a good start and be fast and strong. All I need to do is concentrate early on and make sure I am jabbing with my right hand and am very busy.
Evening Standard
Carl Froch would never cast himself in the mould of Muhammad Ali. But tomorrow, when he defends his IBF super-middleweight title against Mikkel Kessler at the O2 Arena, he is willing to borrow one habit of the greatest: predict what round he will win the fight.
“I am going to stop Kessler in round eight, nine or 10,” says Froch. “I can’t see it going the distance. My gameplan is in my head. When I close my eyes I visualise what I need to do from round one: get a good start and be fast and strong. All I need to do is concentrate early on and make sure I am jabbing with my right hand and am very busy.
May 23, 2013
It would be wrong to say there are no German lessons for English football
Insideworldfootball
In the next few days we shall hear much about how the all German Champions League Final on Saturday is a game changer. True, the way Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund destroyed Real Madrid and Barcelona suggested a dramatic shift in power from Spain to Germany. But such conclusions, while both common and tempting immediately after the whistle has blown, rarely stand up to more considered scrutiny.
If a couple of matches can produce such dramatic football changes then why did the Manchester United-Chelsea final in Moscow in 2008 not leave an imprint on the game? Why did it not mean a similar fundamental shift in England's favour? The reason is that during a football match, rightly described as the theatre of dreams, the passion and intensity of the game can make us believe that what we are witnessing represents revolutionary, dramatic, changes. In reality what is often happening is that there is change of scenery before the next act. The plot and essential nature of the play does not alter.
In the next few days we shall hear much about how the all German Champions League Final on Saturday is a game changer. True, the way Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund destroyed Real Madrid and Barcelona suggested a dramatic shift in power from Spain to Germany. But such conclusions, while both common and tempting immediately after the whistle has blown, rarely stand up to more considered scrutiny.
If a couple of matches can produce such dramatic football changes then why did the Manchester United-Chelsea final in Moscow in 2008 not leave an imprint on the game? Why did it not mean a similar fundamental shift in England's favour? The reason is that during a football match, rightly described as the theatre of dreams, the passion and intensity of the game can make us believe that what we are witnessing represents revolutionary, dramatic, changes. In reality what is often happening is that there is change of scenery before the next act. The plot and essential nature of the play does not alter.
May 21, 2013
What Brighton did to us was classless … I believe things like that come back on you
Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway says nothing shocks him in football these days
Evening Standard
Ian Holloway is preparing for the richest match in club football at Wembley still reeling from the cheap shots aimed in his direction during the semi-final.
Crystal Palace face Watford in Bank Holiday Monday’s £120million play-off for the final place in next season’s Premier League but it has been a far from pleasant journey to the national stadium for the 50-year-old.
Evening Standard
Ian Holloway is preparing for the richest match in club football at Wembley still reeling from the cheap shots aimed in his direction during the semi-final.
Crystal Palace face Watford in Bank Holiday Monday’s £120million play-off for the final place in next season’s Premier League but it has been a far from pleasant journey to the national stadium for the 50-year-old.
May 15, 2013
Mancini’s sacking raises questions about the faceless men of football
Insideworldfootball
Published on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 17:38
It would be easy to say that the sacking of Roberto Mancini shows the short-term mentality that is now part of DNA of owners. If a manager, who secured City their first League title for over 40 years, can be sacked a year after that triumph, then no one in modern football is secure. Yet the Italian's departure raises questions about the faceless men of football, they are all generally men, the people who really manage the club but who never, even in this supposedly transparent world, ever have come forward to explain what they have done. These men are quick to take credit but when it suits them they hide behind the manager and the playing staff to provide a cover for their actions.
For a start the idea that City's owner, Sheikh Mansour, has suddenly acquired the hire-fire attitude of the rich man whose example he has copied, Roman Abramovich, does not hold water. There were many who thought he should sack Mancini the season before last. Some argued that Mancini should have been sacked before the end of last season when it appeared his title challenge had faltered. But the Abu Dhabi owner held back and was duly rewarded.
Published on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 17:38
It would be easy to say that the sacking of Roberto Mancini shows the short-term mentality that is now part of DNA of owners. If a manager, who secured City their first League title for over 40 years, can be sacked a year after that triumph, then no one in modern football is secure. Yet the Italian's departure raises questions about the faceless men of football, they are all generally men, the people who really manage the club but who never, even in this supposedly transparent world, ever have come forward to explain what they have done. These men are quick to take credit but when it suits them they hide behind the manager and the playing staff to provide a cover for their actions.
For a start the idea that City's owner, Sheikh Mansour, has suddenly acquired the hire-fire attitude of the rich man whose example he has copied, Roman Abramovich, does not hold water. There were many who thought he should sack Mancini the season before last. Some argued that Mancini should have been sacked before the end of last season when it appeared his title challenge had faltered. But the Abu Dhabi owner held back and was duly rewarded.
May 14, 2013
Matt Stevens: I am more than just a support act for the Lions
Saracens prop faces a challenge to make the Lions front row but the shock pick is not daunted
Evening Standard
Matt Stevens laughs at the idea his selection for the Lions was due to Warren Gatland needing the prop to bring a club feel to the squad in Australia.
As we meet at the Saracens training ground, the 30-year-old, who was runner-up in the The X Factor: Battle of the Stars in 2006, says: “I like the social activities [of the tour] but it’s more about enjoying each other’s company.
Evening Standard
Matt Stevens laughs at the idea his selection for the Lions was due to Warren Gatland needing the prop to bring a club feel to the squad in Australia.
As we meet at the Saracens training ground, the 30-year-old, who was runner-up in the The X Factor: Battle of the Stars in 2006, says: “I like the social activities [of the tour] but it’s more about enjoying each other’s company.
May 9, 2013
Sir Alex Ferguson, why we will never again see the likes of him
It is a measure of how much Sir Alex Ferguson changed football that his retirement should have overshadowed the Queen’s speech and led to newspapers printing souvenir editions. It is hard to imagine any other football manager leaving his job, and that too at the age of 71, having such a profound impact. Indeed the [...]
May 7, 2013
We must recognise it’s not about foreigners doping. It’s real, it’s live and it’s here in the UK
Evening Standard
Ask the man who set up UK Anti-Doping three years ago whether he is confident that UK sport is clean and his answer is sobering.
“Do you know what, I don’t know.” says Andy Parkinson. “The only people that can tell you are the athletes themselves. What I can say is we’ve got one of the most robust programmes, as many tools as we possibly can have to catch drug cheats.”
Ask the man who set up UK Anti-Doping three years ago whether he is confident that UK sport is clean and his answer is sobering.
“Do you know what, I don’t know.” says Andy Parkinson. “The only people that can tell you are the athletes themselves. What I can say is we’ve got one of the most robust programmes, as many tools as we possibly can have to catch drug cheats.”
May 1, 2013
Can we any longer allow football to regulate itself?
Insideworldfootball
The recent disclosures about the scandals in world football, so graphically documented on this website, not only raise serious questions about football and its lack of morality but also about how such issues are treated in the western media.
That football has become a business is now so taken for granted that it hardly seems worth repeating. However the problem with the football business is that the business is self regulated. That may be true of all sport but no sport is such a huge business that football has become in the last two decades.
The recent disclosures about the scandals in world football, so graphically documented on this website, not only raise serious questions about football and its lack of morality but also about how such issues are treated in the western media.
That football has become a business is now so taken for granted that it hardly seems worth repeating. However the problem with the football business is that the business is self regulated. That may be true of all sport but no sport is such a huge business that football has become in the last two decades.
April 30, 2013
Trevor Birch: ‘It took only 10 minutes to do Chelsea deal with Roman Abramovich but I had to Google him first … I wasn’t sure if Jeremy Beadle was going to jump out’
Evening Standard
Trevor Birch was the man who welcomed Roman Abramovich into Stamford Bridge but he did not last long under the billionaire.
In fact, it was little over a month after the £140million takeover at Chelsea in 2003 that the Russian decided to replace Birch with Peter Kenyon as chief executive.
But then Birch sensed early on that he was not on same wavelength as the oligarch.
Trevor Birch was the man who welcomed Roman Abramovich into Stamford Bridge but he did not last long under the billionaire.
In fact, it was little over a month after the £140million takeover at Chelsea in 2003 that the Russian decided to replace Birch with Peter Kenyon as chief executive.
But then Birch sensed early on that he was not on same wavelength as the oligarch.
April 23, 2013
John Madejski: We built Reading brick by brick but QPR have hallmarks of a quick fix
Evening Standard
Back in 1990 when Sir John Madejski bought Reading, he marked home victories by making what he felt was a simple gesture of thanks to his players.
“I would take them to the bar of Elm Park [Reading’s old ground] and buy them a drink. I can’t do that any more because they now have all these sports scientists, nutritionists and God knows what else. But I still go into the dressing room before a game and give them a talk.”
Back in 1990 when Sir John Madejski bought Reading, he marked home victories by making what he felt was a simple gesture of thanks to his players.
“I would take them to the bar of Elm Park [Reading’s old ground] and buy them a drink. I can’t do that any more because they now have all these sports scientists, nutritionists and God knows what else. But I still go into the dressing room before a game and give them a talk.”
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