Latest news with #TrickyTrees
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Premier League's bully boys kill the romance in Europe's hip competitions
FRIDAY FEELGOOD STORY Those of a Liverpool persuasion, do look away now. That's if you've sobered up from last Sunday, but even if you've had your fun this may annoy: there's a thought this has been an unsatisfying Premier League season. Brentford's beating of Nottingham Forest on Thursday night further dulled the romance. It looks as if the Tricky Trees will not now be in Bigger Cup, much to the chagrin of edit producers who had already started working on that Cloughie montage. With zero relegation battle there's only Manchester City's fall from grace to, er, fourth to gawp at. Thank goodness for the continent, then, where the Premier League's brave boys can remind those Eurocrats that ours is the best bloody league in the world. It's going well, actually, though there is something of a bullies turning up at junior school vibe to such success. That's to set aside Arsenal, hanging on in Bigger Cup's semis, a goal down despite the fear North London Forever must have put into PSG at the Emirates. Advertisement The real quiz comes in those tournaments where appeal is more selective. Bigger Vase, a repechage of those not good enough for the top tier, offered double helpings of patriotic pride. In north London, in the first leg, billionaire-owned Tottenham faced hipster's favourites Bodø/Glimt, the Arctic Circle community club who sound like a post-rock outfit on the Thrill Jockey label or a piece of Scandi self-assembly furniture, and won 3-1. Such is the pessimism that surrounds Spurs that much of the focus went on Ulrik Saltnes's late goal, and the plastic pitch greeting them next week in far-northern Norway. 'Look, it is on artificial grass but it's still a game of football,' roared Ange Postecoglou. Hurrah also then for Manchester United, football's grandest crisis club, owned by two separate billionaire factions, for crushing Basque Country jewel Athletic Club, a team collated by cantera – homespun talent – rather than hoofing cash on windy flops, 3-0 in their own stadium. Beaten-down Reds were wiping their eyes in disbelief that Ruben Amorim's team played so well. Where did that come from? Big Red seem to have developed a welcome habit of getting an opponent sent off. This time, it was Athletic's Dani Vivian, dismissed for hauling back Rasmus Højlund in the style of a slapstick early-1980s yoof comedy. To complete the matchbox of England's glory, Chelsea, also owned by billionaires – of the venture capitalist variety – beat Djurgården 4-1 in Stockholm. A plastic pitch proved no issue for Enzo Maresca's entertainers as they walloped a team where the fans come first, just the type of minnows that Tin Pot is supposed to bring the best from, like a Scania artic rolling over roadkill. Well done, he's 13. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Taha Hashim at 8pm (BST) for Manchester City 0-0 Wolves in the Premier League. QUOTE OF THE DAY We've had some difficult results, we are bottom of the league and we were never going to become solid and be dominant in the game. If we did that when I came in with seven games to go, I'd probably be able to bring world peace as well' – interim manager Simon Rusk on how he would have been worthy of a Nobel prize if he'd managed to coach a bit of backbone into his rock-bottom Southampton side. FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS The potential Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs v Manchester United Bigger Vase final is going to be that paradox of a clash between one that can't win and one that doesn't want to win' – Krishna Moorthy. As noticed by me and 1,056 others, your Memory Lane (yesterday's Football Daily, full email edition) photo of Tony Hateley and Emlyn Hughes reminds me of the great Ted Lowe commentary: 'For those of you watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green'' – Louis Beasley-Suffolk. Sorry, I disagree with with you, Tom Dowler (yesterday's Football Daily letters). Riqui Puig was unfortunately injured, and seems to spend most of his time being largely nice, if a bit puppyish and over enthusiastic. John Terry got himself banned from the final by being a divot in the semi. Can we please keep Terry as the epitome of the full-kit celebration? It is the very least he deserves. Plus, I don't care who wins Bigger Cup now, but I do want someone to slip on their ar$e, c0ck up a penalty and start crying so we can bring that up again too' – Jon Millard. Advertisement Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Louis Beasley-Suffolk. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. SHAKEN AND STIRRED Labelling a win as 'seismic' has become a lazy and overused term, which is why you've probably read it more in Football Daily than anywhere else. But in the case of Liverpool's title-clinching win over Spurs there were actual tremors at Anfield. Thankfully, for Mohamed Salah and co, they weren't created by giant man-eating worm-like creatures chewing up the earth below Liverpool 4. Nope, the seismic activity was generated by dismayed Evertonians smashing crockery joyful Liverpool fans roaring their team on to the first league title they have witnessed in person since 1990. Yep, scientists from the University of Liverpool were on site on Sunday to measure ground movement from the 60,415-strong crowd throughout the 5-1 win and the data revealed that the most significant tremor was caused by Alexis Mac Allister's strike in the 24th minute, which put Liverpool 2-1 ahead. It registered a peak magnitude of 1.74 on the Richter scale. 'It is a great reminder that geoscience can capture the energy of human emotion in powerful and surprising ways,' roared Dr Farnaz Kamranzad. 'Incredibly, we recorded six seismic events … every cheer, every celebration, leaves a trace beneath our feet, a seismic fingerprint of collective joy, written into the Earth's memory long after the final whistle.' NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Sticking with Liverpool, Arne Slot reckons those tremors could help attract transfer targets. 'Winning the league, having these fans, this is a big attraction to every player we want to bring in' whooped Slot. 'I don't think I ever have to tell anyone again how special our fans are because that [celebration] was unbelievable.' Advertisement Did Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta find the Reds' title win a hard watch? 'Yes, big time,' he sniffed. 'I understand that it's a team who have been more consistent, they've had the ingredients to win it and it's been painful.' In news that may cheer Arteta up, Ousmane Dembélé may not be fit enough to play for PSG against Arsenal in the second leg of their Bigger Cup semi-final after twanging his right hamstring at the Emirates. Joe Allen will have more time to spend with his beloved chickens after announcing he is retiring after Swansea's match this weekend. The 35-year-old, who has made almost 600 career appearances and won 77 caps for Wales, said it was not a decision he has taken lightly but believes the timing is right. 'When you're getting to 35, you're only getting worse,' he sighed. 'There's a line I didn't want to cross in terms of the level of performance I can give.' Spurs midfielder Lucas Bergvall is set to miss the remainder of the season – and a potential Bigger Vase final – after suffering ankle-knack against Bodø/Glimt. Advertisement In other knack news, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe reckons Joelinton will not play again this season after tweaking a knee. Like many others, David de Gea is bemused by former teammate Antony's transformation into a world beater. 'I trained with Antony 1,000 times and he never scored a goal with his right foot in any training session,' honked De Gea, after Fiorentina's 2-1 loss to Betis in Tin Cup. 'I'm happy for him … now he's showing the best of himself.' And happy 50th, David Beckham! A damn fine footballer – and a man who wears undies, garish green suits and sarongs well. STILL WANT MORE? It's Friday, it's a Premier League weekend, so here's your usual 10 things to look out for, while Simon Burnton outlines what's at stake in England's third, fourth and fifth tiers. Advertisement 'When I go to a pub it's not about the beer. Of course, I like the beer, but I go to be with the people.' Wolves' man(ager) in the pub, Vítor Pereira, gets his chat on with Ben Fisher about mingling with fans and why he is a man of the sea. Jamie Jackson assesses an 'enigmatic' night in Bilbao, where Ruben Amorim managed to conjure a way to save Manchester United's season. Nick Ames sees reasons to be cheerful in Bodø/Glimt's Bigger Vase first-leg defeat by Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs. Wrexham's revolution faces a whole new challenge in the Championship, writes Dominic Booth. And ever wanted to ask Duncan Ferguson if he likes cats, enjoyed playing against Liverpool or whether he really did find the food at Forest Green tasty? Well, here's your chance to help us in an upcoming readers' Q&A with big man. MEMORY LANE 23 January 1973: Hey hip cats, all aboard the 'disco' coach of the League Liner, the train the Football League chartered from British Rail for the exclusive use of fans to encourage them to travel to away games. The train could accommodate 444 passengers and, despite appearing to have no windows, it still looks a lot more fun than travelling to a match on the West Coast Mainline these days. Seen here are some hip Burnley fans on their way to London Euston. ANOTHER LONG WEEKEND, YOU SAY? BACK ON TUESDAY
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Premier League's bully boys kill the romance
Those of a Liverpool persuasion, do look away now. That's if you've sobered up from last Sunday, but even if you've had your fun this may annoy: there's a thought this has been an unsatisfying Premier League season. Brentford's beating of Nottingham Forest on Thursday night further dulled the romance. It looks as if the Tricky Trees will not now be in Bigger Cup, much to the chagrin of edit producers who had already started working on that Cloughie montage. With zero relegation battle there's only Manchester City's fall from grace to, er, fourth to gawp at. Thank goodness for the continent, then, where the Premier League's brave boys can remind those Eurocrats that ours is the best bloody league in the world. It's going well, actually, though there is something of a bullies turning up at junior school vibe to such success. That's to set aside Arsenal, hanging on in Bigger Cup's semis, a goal down despite the fear North London Forever must have put into PSG at the Emirates. The real quiz comes in those tournaments where appeal is more selective. Bigger Vase, a repechage of those not good enough for the top tier, offered double helpings of patriotic pride. In north London, in the first leg, billionaire-owned Tottenham faced hipster's favourites Bodø/Glimt, the Arctic Circle community club who sound like a post-rock outfit on the Thrill Jockey label or a piece of Scandi self-assembly furniture, and won 3-1. Such is the pessimism that surrounds Spurs that much of the focus went on Ulrik Saltnes's late goal, and the plastic pitch greeting them next week in far-northern Norway. 'Look, it is on artificial grass but it's still a game of football,' roared Ange Postecoglou. Hurrah also then for Manchester United, football's grandest crisis club, owned by two separate billionaire factions, for crushing Basque Country jewel Athletic Club, a team collated by cantera – homespun talent – rather than hoofing cash on windy flops, 3-0 in their own stadium. Beaten-down Reds were wiping their eyes in disbelief that Ruben Amorim's team played so well. Where did that come from? Big Red seem to have developed a welcome habit of getting an opponent sent off. This time, it was Athletic's Dani Vivian, dismissed for hauling back Rasmus Højlund in the style of a slapstick early-1980s yoof comedy. To complete the matchbox of England's glory, Chelsea, also owned by billionaires – of the venture capitalist variety – beat Djurgården 4-1 in Stockholm. A plastic pitch proved no issue for Enzo Maresca's entertainers as they walloped a team where the fans come first, just the type of minnows that Tin Pot is supposed to bring the best from, like a Scania artic rolling over roadkill. Well done, he's 13. Join Taha Hashim at 8pm (BST) for Manchester City 0-0 Wolves in the Premier League. We've had some difficult results, we are bottom of the league and we were never going to become solid and be dominant in the game. If we did that when I came in with seven games to go, I'd probably be able to bring world peace as well' – interim manager Simon Rusk on how he would have been worthy of a Nobel prize if he'd managed to coach a bit of backbone into his rock-bottom Southampton side. The potential Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs v Manchester United Bigger Vase final is going to be that paradox of a clash between one that can't win and one that doesn't want to win' – Krishna Moorthy. As noticed by me and 1,056 others, your Memory Lane (yesterday's Football Daily, full email edition) photo of Tony Hateley and Emlyn Hughes reminds me of the great Ted Lowe commentary: 'For those of you watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green'' – Louis Beasley-Suffolk. Sorry, I disagree with with you, Tom Dowler (yesterday's Football Daily letters). Riqui Puig was unfortunately injured, and seems to spend most of his time being largely nice, if a bit puppyish and over enthusiastic. John Terry got himself banned from the final by being a divot in the semi. Can we please keep Terry as the epitome of the full-kit celebration? It is the very least he deserves. Plus, I don't care who wins Bigger Cup now, but I do want someone to slip on their ar$e, c0ck up a penalty and start crying so we can bring that up again too' – Jon Millard. Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Louis Beasley-Suffolk. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. Labelling a win as 'seismic' has become a lazy and overused term, which is why you've probably read it more in Football Daily than anywhere else. But in the case of Liverpool's title-clinching win over Spurs there were actual tremors at Anfield. Thankfully, for Mohamed Salah and co, they weren't created by giant man-eating worm-like creatures chewing up the earth below Liverpool 4. Nope, the seismic activity was generated by dismayed Evertonians smashing crockery joyful Liverpool fans roaring their team on to the first league title they have witnessed in person since 1990. Yep, scientists from the University of Liverpool were on site on Sunday to measure ground movement from the 60,415-strong crowd throughout the 5-1 win and the data revealed that the most significant tremor was caused by Alexis Mac Allister's strike in the 24th minute, which put Liverpool 2-1 ahead. It registered a peak magnitude of 1.74 on the Richter scale. 'It is a great reminder that geoscience can capture the energy of human emotion in powerful and surprising ways,' roared Dr Farnaz Kamranzad. 'Incredibly, we recorded six seismic events … every cheer, every celebration, leaves a trace beneath our feet, a seismic fingerprint of collective joy, written into the Earth's memory long after the final whistle.' Sticking with Liverpool, Arne Slot reckons those tremors could help attract transfer targets. 'Winning the league, having these fans, this is a big attraction to every player we want to bring in' whooped Slot. 'I don't think I ever have to tell anyone again how special our fans are because that [celebration] was unbelievable.' Did Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta find the Reds' title win a hard watch? 'Yes, big time,' he sniffed. 'I understand that it's a team who have been more consistent, they've had the ingredients to win it and it's been painful.' In news that may cheer Arteta up, Ousmane Dembélé may not be fit enough to play for PSG against Arsenal in the second leg of their Bigger Cup semi-final after twanging his right hamstring at the Emirates. Joe Allen will have more time to spend with his beloved chickens after announcing he is retiring after Swansea's match this weekend. The 35-year-old, who has made almost 600 career appearances and won 77 caps for Wales, said it was not a decision he has taken lightly but believes the timing is right. 'When you're getting to 35, you're only getting worse,' he sighed. 'There's a line I didn't want to cross in terms of the level of performance I can give.' Spurs midfielder Lucas Bergvall is set to miss the remainder of the season – and a potential Bigger Vase final – after suffering ankle-knack against Bodø/Glimt. In other knack news, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe reckons Joelinton will not play again this season after tweaking a knee. Like many others, David de Gea is bemused by former teammate Antony's transformation into a world beater. 'I trained with Antony 1,000 times and he never scored a goal with his right foot in any training session,' honked De Gea, after Fiorentina's 2-1 loss to Betis in Tin Cup. 'I'm happy for him … now he's showing the best of himself.' And happy 50th, David Beckham! A damn fine footballer – and a man who wears undies, garish green suits and sarongs well. It's Friday, it's a Premier League weekend, so here's your usual 10 things to look out for, while Simon Burnton outlines what's at stake in England's third, fourth and fifth tiers. 'When I go to a pub it's not about the beer. Of course, I like the beer, but I go to be with the people.' Wolves' man(ager) in the pub, Vítor Pereira, gets his chat on with Ben Fisher about mingling with fans and why he is a man of the sea. Jamie Jackson assesses an 'enigmatic' night in Bilbao, where Ruben Amorim managed to conjure a way to save Manchester United's season. Nick Ames sees reasons to be cheerful in Bodø/Glimt's Bigger Vase first-leg defeat by Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs. Wrexham's revolution faces a whole new challenge in the Championship, writes Dominic Booth. And ever wanted to ask Duncan Ferguson if he likes cats, enjoyed playing against Liverpool or whether he really did find the food at Forest Green tasty? Well, here's your chance to help us in an upcoming readers' Q&A with big man. 23 January 1973: Hey hip cats, all aboard the 'disco' coach of the League Liner, the train the Football League chartered from British Rail for the exclusive use of fans to encourage them to travel to away games. The train could accommodate 444 passengers and, despite appearing to have no windows, it still looks a lot more fun than travelling to a match on the West Coast Mainline these days. Seen here are some hip Burnley fans on their way to London Euston.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Forest season ‘one of the best coaching performances ever'
Forest season 'one of the best coaching performances ever' Former Nottingham Forest forward Robert Earnshaw has called the club's campaign 'one of the best coaching performances we have ever seen in the Premier League'. Forest are third in the Premier League table, having been among the pre-season favourites for relegation. Last season, the Tricky Trees finished 17th in the top flight. Forest have a six-point advantage over fifth-placed Manchester City as the club look to secure a shock Champions League qualification. Nuno Espirito Santo's side have also reached a first FA Cup semi-final since 1991, after beating Brighton on penalties in their quarter-final on Saturday. Advertisement Earnshaw believes the Portuguese head coach deserves huge credit for his transformation of Forest. He said the 51-year-old is overseeing one of the Premier League's best ever overachievements. 'Nuno Espirito Santo has put in one of the best coaching performances we have ever seen in the Premier League,' Earnshaw said to the BBC. 'Everybody would have had Nottingham Forest to be fighting relegation this year. 'I just love what he's done, he's signed the right players and thought 'what are the best tactics for this team?' They're a counter-attacking team, high energy, and defensively they've just been a lot better. Advertisement 'He's given the platform to the attackers too, just look at Chris Wood. This is underrated in football, but he's given the players freedom and he's not too on top of them. He gives the players the right platform to express themselves, and I think that's been the difference.' Read – Viktor Gyokeres: The game-changer Arsenal need? See more – FA Cup Awards: Rashford's Remontada, Exquisite Eze Follow The Football Faithful on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Match officials confirmed for Magpies' visit of Forest
Eddie Howe's welcome the Tricky Trees, who currently sit six points above the Magpies in third place, to St. James' Park this weekend and this will be the second time Gillett has officiated a fixture involving Newcastle this term. The Australian official, promoted to the Select Group referees list ahead of the 2021/22 season, was the man in the middle for United's 1-1 draw against Manchester City in September and handed out a total of eight yellow cards that day, booking Fabian Schär, Joelinton, Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali as well as awarding a penalty to the hosts, successfully converted by Anthony Gordon. The 38-year-old, who has officiated over 150 games in English football, became the first person born outside of the British Isles to referee a Premier League fixture after taking charge of Newcastle's 1-1 draw away at Watford during the 2021/22 campaign. 2024/25 stats Games (all competitions): 13 Yellow cards issued: 53 Red cards issued: 1 Assistants Assistant referees: Darren Cann and Mark Scholes Fourth official: Tony Harrington VAR: Peter Bankes Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin
