Mihir Bose's Blog, page 93
January 25, 2011
Neil Warnock's like a dad – I'm desperate to get QPR promoted, says Adel Taarabt
Evening Standard
Adel Taarabt hated life in England so much when he moved here that he wanted to go back to France only two weeks after joining Tottenham.
Fast forward four years and the Queens Park Rangers captain has no thoughts of leaving this country.
The reason for the dramatic transformation in Taarabt's attitude is thanks, largely, to Neil Warnock.
Adel Taarabt hated life in England so much when he moved here that he wanted to go back to France only two weeks after joining Tottenham.
Fast forward four years and the Queens Park Rangers captain has no thoughts of leaving this country.
The reason for the dramatic transformation in Taarabt's attitude is thanks, largely, to Neil Warnock.
January 23, 2011
Row over Stadium caused because Government did not think London would win 2012
Insideworldfootball.biz
The row about the post-Olympic use of the Stratford stadium is the price of unexpected victory. And, if it is not quite like the wages of sin, it is just as painful.
In many ways, the 2012 bid book pledge to retain an athletics track at the Olympic stadium was the sporting equivalent of the Liberal Democrats' pledge not to raise tuition fees.
They made it in good faith but then they did not expect to be in Government, some of them are clearly still uncomfortable with being in power. And, once inside the tent, they had to renege on the pledge as realities struck. Just as the Liberal Democrats didn't expect to be in Government, London did not expect to win in Singapore. If, at the end of the day, the promise on the track is broken, it must be seen as one of those hard realities that confront those in power.
The row about the post-Olympic use of the Stratford stadium is the price of unexpected victory. And, if it is not quite like the wages of sin, it is just as painful.
In many ways, the 2012 bid book pledge to retain an athletics track at the Olympic stadium was the sporting equivalent of the Liberal Democrats' pledge not to raise tuition fees.
They made it in good faith but then they did not expect to be in Government, some of them are clearly still uncomfortable with being in power. And, once inside the tent, they had to renege on the pledge as realities struck. Just as the Liberal Democrats didn't expect to be in Government, London did not expect to win in Singapore. If, at the end of the day, the promise on the track is broken, it must be seen as one of those hard realities that confront those in power.
January 19, 2011
All aboard: Kolkata to Delhi, and all the glory of India between, on the Maharajas' Express
Mail on Sunday
India, said author Nirad Chaudhuri, can make even the lowliest commoner feel like royalty. You only have to stand in the street and do something a bit different and a crowd will gather, looking at you in awe. Before you know it, you have attracted a following.
But, even allowing for this very Indian trick, the way we were greeted as we arrived at the Kolkata station to board the Maharajas' Express did make us feel special.
Nothing during the previous two nights in Kolkata - formerly known as Calcutta - had prepared us for Chitpur station, as far removed as possible from the mania of Howrah, the city's historic rail station.
India, said author Nirad Chaudhuri, can make even the lowliest commoner feel like royalty. You only have to stand in the street and do something a bit different and a crowd will gather, looking at you in awe. Before you know it, you have attracted a following.
But, even allowing for this very Indian trick, the way we were greeted as we arrived at the Kolkata station to board the Maharajas' Express did make us feel special.
Nothing during the previous two nights in Kolkata - formerly known as Calcutta - had prepared us for Chitpur station, as far removed as possible from the mania of Howrah, the city's historic rail station.
January 18, 2011
Olympics chief backs Gareth Bale to play in British team
Evening Standard
If Gareth Bale still wants to play in the London Games come the summer of 2012, then the Wales star will have no bigger supporter than chairman of the British Olympic Association, Lord Moynihan.
Last week, the Football Association of Wales spelt out that they will oppose any moves by their players to be part of the Great Britain side, fearing it could jeopardise the status of the home nations teams.
If Gareth Bale still wants to play in the London Games come the summer of 2012, then the Wales star will have no bigger supporter than chairman of the British Olympic Association, Lord Moynihan.
Last week, the Football Association of Wales spelt out that they will oppose any moves by their players to be part of the Great Britain side, fearing it could jeopardise the status of the home nations teams.
January 12, 2011
Blatter courting danger as he enjoys watching Bin Hammam squirm
Insideworldfootball.biz
It was entirely predictable that Sepp Blatter's comments on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being played in January raised a howl of protest.
Not only does it seem extraordinary that after the game is over, the rules of the game are changed, but the near-revolution this would cause to the European game is incalculable.
But what has been missed in all this is that Blatter, the most consummate of sports politicians - one who could teach those who make a living out of politics a trick or two - is not actually concerned about whether the World Cup moves to winter.
It was entirely predictable that Sepp Blatter's comments on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being played in January raised a howl of protest.
Not only does it seem extraordinary that after the game is over, the rules of the game are changed, but the near-revolution this would cause to the European game is incalculable.
But what has been missed in all this is that Blatter, the most consummate of sports politicians - one who could teach those who make a living out of politics a trick or two - is not actually concerned about whether the World Cup moves to winter.
January 11, 2011
Gavin Henson: Standing ovation on Strictly topped my Six Nations successes
Evening Standard
Gavin Henson's love for Wales is not in doubt. But, he confesses, he just couldn't go on living in the Principality.
"I got a lot of stick in the Welsh media," he says. "It is hard to understand quite what I had done so badly there. The media in Wales don't understand me. They treat me like an unwanted son. So I said, enough is enough, I need to be out of Wales'.
"I had a few friends in London and thought I would try a London club."
Gavin Henson's love for Wales is not in doubt. But, he confesses, he just couldn't go on living in the Principality.
"I got a lot of stick in the Welsh media," he says. "It is hard to understand quite what I had done so badly there. The media in Wales don't understand me. They treat me like an unwanted son. So I said, enough is enough, I need to be out of Wales'.
"I had a few friends in London and thought I would try a London club."
January 6, 2011
John Higgins: I feared being booed but no one has waved fivers at me
Evening Standard
There is, as even John Higgins admits, something "rather surreal" about the match he has just played. Here we are in a golf club just outside Billericay. The world No1 has just emerged from the Ryder Room, where he has been playing behind-closed-doors' snooker — no spectators, just his opponent and the referee.
The Championship League, backed by bookmakers, is only available on their websites. Meant to encourage punters to bet, it is part of the sporting empire of World Snooker's new supremo Barry Hearn.
There is, as even John Higgins admits, something "rather surreal" about the match he has just played. Here we are in a golf club just outside Billericay. The world No1 has just emerged from the Ryder Room, where he has been playing behind-closed-doors' snooker — no spectators, just his opponent and the referee.
The Championship League, backed by bookmakers, is only available on their websites. Meant to encourage punters to bet, it is part of the sporting empire of World Snooker's new supremo Barry Hearn.
Switched-on Beckham proves once again that nobody does it better
Insideworldfootball.biz
Has David Beckham done something that no other footballer has ever managed?
I do not mean his setting the pace among male fashion models, or the fact that he is now tutoring the next generation of Beckhams to be fashion models as well.
His eight year old son Romeo is now 26th in GQ magazine's top 50 best-dressed men in Britain list, not that far behind father David, who is 16th.
What I mean is has he become the first footballer to effectively become a free agent? Whether we see Beckham back in the Premier League or not, the fact is, the whole business shows that Beckham has gone where Carlos Tevez and others would like to go and cannot.
Has David Beckham done something that no other footballer has ever managed?
I do not mean his setting the pace among male fashion models, or the fact that he is now tutoring the next generation of Beckhams to be fashion models as well.
His eight year old son Romeo is now 26th in GQ magazine's top 50 best-dressed men in Britain list, not that far behind father David, who is 16th.
What I mean is has he become the first footballer to effectively become a free agent? Whether we see Beckham back in the Premier League or not, the fact is, the whole business shows that Beckham has gone where Carlos Tevez and others would like to go and cannot.
December 29, 2010
FA will learn nothing if they do not confront England 2018 defeat
Insideworldfootball.biz
It did not take long for the board of the Football Association to choose David Bernstein as the new chairman. The whole thing, I am told, took a bare five minutes. He was nominated, all hands went up and on to the next business.
However, sometime after this decision, there was a report by Andy Anson on England's disastrous World Cup bid for 2018. Here something rather curious happened.
It did not take long for the board of the Football Association to choose David Bernstein as the new chairman. The whole thing, I am told, took a bare five minutes. He was nominated, all hands went up and on to the next business.
However, sometime after this decision, there was a report by Andy Anson on England's disastrous World Cup bid for 2018. Here something rather curious happened.
December 23, 2010
Lalit Modi: All I've done is created the IPL, the hottest league in the world
Evening Standard
Rich talk: Lalit Modi says that every franchise in the IPL makes money and compares that to the Premier League, where clubs struggle to break even.
Lalit Modi, who changed the face of cricket when he created the Indian Premier League, has been devoured by his own revolution.
Rich talk: Lalit Modi says that every franchise in the IPL makes money and compares that to the Premier League, where clubs struggle to break even.
Lalit Modi, who changed the face of cricket when he created the Indian Premier League, has been devoured by his own revolution.
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