Following Saturday’s defeat at Preston North End, Huddersfield manager Simon Grayson remarked that his charges had made the home side look like Real Madrid and if these comments were largely a criticism of his own team, the more paranoid among North End fans might view them as another set of cast aspersions on the character of Mr. Graham Westley. For the current Madrid crop, stewarded as they are by an elegantly greying, right of centre taskmaster, are not above the underhand – and so it is with Westley. Unmentioned in the recent Sound of Football podcast devoted to footballing chicanery…
All posts tagged Preston
The Monday Profile: Leon Cort
Leon Cort has a big summer head of him. While the attention of most of this country will be squarely focused on events in Poland and the Ukraine, his national side Guyana will be stepping out on to the turf at a yet to be determined Mexican stadium; this potential tussle with a man known as Chicharito, the first of a sequence of six games that are the most important in the nation’s footballing history. With his club Charlton seemingly cruising to a place in next year’s Championship, Cort will be galvanised for the steep task ahead and Guyana have…
Book Review: The Smell of Football
The Smell of Football by Mick ‘Baz’ Rathbone Published by Vision Sports Publishing July 2011, £12.99 ISBN: 978-1907637148 I have a regular correspondent who likes to talk football. A Liverpool die-hard, man of Shrewsbury, our exchanges normally concern the current wiles of his personal idol, Rafael Benitez, or his affection for his hometown ‘Salop!’ boys and our shared whimsy for the Midlands club born of our bonding over mutual appreciation for Grant Holt and Paul Simpson. Lately, though, his musings on football have taken a rather different turn. My pal, you see, is currently employed in Shanghai and his missives now often shed light on the micro-culture of…
From League of Ireland to Football League
It’s hard to guess what level League of Ireland players would be capable of playing at elsewhere, at least I have always found it so. When Kevin Doyle was signed by Reading from my own club Cork City I remember wondering why on earth they overlooked his more prolific strike partner John O’Flynn. Although O’Flynn has since found success at Barnet and Exeter, there are clearly factors for consideration above and beyond strike rates, or their status as local stars. English league clubs, those higher up the echelons at least, tend to look for strong athletic young players from the…
Turmoil Week: Preston North End
Back in November 2011, Preston City Council reluctantly announced that the redevelopment of England’s 50th city had hit the buffers. John Lewis had pulled out of the Tithebarn regeneration scheme in the city centre and, operating as we are “in the middle of one of the worst economic and financial situations since the 1930s”, plans will now be made to scale down the blueprint accordingly. Similarly, the city’s football club are also in the middle of their own cost-cutting exercise. Following years of spending beyond their means in the quest for Premier League status, North End are now having to…
James: Are the wealthy middle classes really the ones to back a football team...
Lanterne Rouge: Garath McCleary on signing for Reading today:
"It's amazing to be a...
Lloyd: On the Oxford / Reading thing, Lanterne, you write that "there is no c...
Ben: Yes, it does loom a bit, doesn't it? Moxey's comments on the ground re...
