Rafa Benitez’s unlikely recent defence of the one eyed tendency among managers has only served to remind us of the prevailing habit among Premier League bosses to see things only from their own point of view. The humble Championship, by contrast, is mercifully bereft of this selfism. Fans of the cult of the individual are nonetheless still well served by the presence in the managerial phalanx of one Neil Warnock. The ex-Gainsborough Trinity boss sees Crystal Palace’s current problems from a perspective that would do justice to that legend of Greek mythology, the primordial race of giants, the Cyclops. Neil…
All posts tagged Championship Letters
Championship Letters 4: Peter Ridsdale as Harold Skimpole
Bleak House has a strong claim to be the pinnacle of Charles Dickens’ artistic achievement. Early in the novel, the scrounger Harold Skimpole attempts to trick Richard Carstone and Ada Clare into raising the money he needs to pay off the bailiff who has arrested him on a writ of debt. Cardiff City fans will no doubt have reacted in the same open hearted way when asked to delve into their pockets to buy season tickets recently. As Skimpole says, “I almost feel as if you ought to be grateful to me, for giving you the opportunity of enjoying the…
Championship Letters 3: Nolberto Solano as Paddington
Not too many can attract applause from all four corners of a ground, but Nolberto Solano’s unlikely new start at Leicester on Saturday provoked a thunderous show of love from Newcastle and Foxes’ fans alike. In this, he resembles more than ever his fellow Peruvian national, Paddington Bear. Diminutive in stature and the kind of person football fans just want to hug, I’m sure he has had many a Jury’s Inn marmalade breakfast forced upon him, no doubt with the result of a very hard stare on each occasion. Both “men” have also seen their image appear on postage stamps…
Championship Letters 2: Martin Allen as Cerberus
A facile comparison maybe; and Mad Dog’s laurels have largely been gained outside the Championship, through FA Cup and lower league notoriety. Still, that short tenure at the Walker’s Stadium was every bit as tempestuous as Cerberus’s stint at the gates of the Underworld. Each of the canine guardian’s heads was said to have an appetite only for live meat and having witnessed a spectacularly snarling performance from Allen on the touchline at a Millwall-Reading season opener in the year 2000, one can imagine him gnawing on a goodly sized bone on his banishment to the dressing room. In the…
Championship Letters 1: Shane Supple as Hamlet
The similarities between literature and the Championship are legion. This is the first in a new, weekly series of posts drawing parallels between the timeless characters of World letters and those of our cherished league. To start, our example comes from perhaps the most famous literary work of all. The title character of Hamlet is a mental dead ringer for Shane Supple, the goalkeeper who voluntarily ended his Ipswich Town prematurely earlier this campaign. True, the Irishman may not have matched the Dane in wishing to shuffle from “this mortal coil”, although some would say that pursuing a career with…
P Squires: Interesting read, but '...which by train is comfortably further from L...
Lloyd: An enjoyable, snappy piece of writing Will.
Going through Worcester...
Frank Heaven: LR - yes, that's right, with Albion and Wolves being in Staffordshire....
Lanterne Rouge: Great piece Will. Of course country boundary changes do tend to confus...
Eoghan Darbyshire: Quality player, could see he was head and shoulders above the rest of...
