Hazel and Toffee (reprise)

NINE months ago, I wrote a post on this blog describing how Everton’s destiny lay in the hands of Hazel Blears. Since then, things have perked up considerably for the Toffees, and got a lot gloomier for Salford’s MP. Yet if I had to bet on which of the two has the brighter long-term future, I’d still go for Blears.

Kings of Spain

IT is, perhaps, a sign of just how overheated the transfer rumour mill got this season that Barcelona’s two scorers in tonight’s Champions League final were, at various points of the season, both linked with moves to Manchester City.

Last on MOTD: To the end

THE tension! The drama! The excitement! And that was just Phil Brown singing. Is this really the best trip you’ve ever been on, Phil? Because if it is, that’s one hell of a high fear threshold you’ve got there.

Up the Swanage

YOU know what? Britain may be in financial meltdown, and our MPs may be sucking us dry to clean their moats and pay for their partners’ pornography viewing. Getting caught in the same part of town as a protest march may now be a matter of life and death, and it may now be possible to get jailed for up to 10 years for taking a photograph of a police officer. And there may soon be only three jobs left in the whole country.

But we are British, and we are proud. And that means that, even when times are tough, we fight to the end for a footballer’s right to run through a Dorset town wearing only his underpants.

Last on MOTD: A testing place to go

YOU can’t miss it on a visit to Stoke City these days. It’s there, as clear as day, right by the corner flag. And yet I’ve not seen it at any other Premier League ground.

A big match

“IS this your worst moment in football?”

Steve Coppell thought about that for a moment, before answering a completely different question. It might have been Reading v Burnley on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t. This was Manchester United v Arsenal, 30 years ago this week, as shown on The Big Match Revisited on ITV4 on Thursday.

My very own Kirk Broadfoot moment

I DO feel sympathy for Kirk Broadfoot, the Rangers full-back forced to go to hospital after a microwaved egg exploded in his face. You see, I’ve been there – kind of.

Pitch invasions and exaggerations

TIS the season for pitch invasions in English football, what with promotion, the play-offs and all that. By far the two most noteworthy this month were the one that shouldn’t have been at Bury, and the one that (apparently) never was at Millwall.

Last on MOTD: Gareth Bale’s Tottenham curse

THERE’S one question which every football journalist will be asked at some point in their careers. It is: Which team do you support? Well, I think it’s time I set the record straight.

The L word

TRYING to make sense of the current mess at Stockport County is rather like trying to untangle a ball of wet wool while wearing boxing gloves. But with manager Jim Gannon, his assistant and almost his entire backroom staff made redundant, the club shop closed, and fears among the club’s supporters that administration could yet become liquidation, a mess is undoubtedly what Stockport are in.