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Joined November 2016
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Football fanatic and NBA tragic. Part-time journalist at Rugby League Week
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I've never been one to commend or condemn athletes for making a political stance, but US President Donald Trump is now forcing us to…
The NRL has a long and unfortunate list of players taking up headlines for all the wrong reasons. James Roberts has been no stranger…
The St George Illawarra Dragons have officially announced that the man they plan to make their future is Ben Hunt. A six-million-dollar, five-year deal,…
The Sydney Kings' hopes of making the NBL finals are hanging by the barest of threads, which given their roster, is an absurd reality.…
The Sharks' decision to re-sign embattled fullback Ben Barba could do more harm than good for their squad in 2017. It's hard to imagine…
Pep Guardiola's first season in English football has been nothing short of a nightmare. After enjoying huge success with Barcelona and Bayern Munich it…
To absolutely no one's surprise, Semi Radradra is set to walk out on rugby league at the end of the season - the only…
Jose Mourinho is on course to steer his Manchester United side toward a club record winning streak. His side clocked up their ninth successive…
Wayne Bennett's tenure as England coach has been nothing short of pathetic. After a dismal performance against the Kangaroos brought an end to their…
Forget about rookie of the year - Ezekiel Elliott is marching towards the MVP. Not since Jim Brown in 1957 has a rookie been…
Things haven't gone to plan for the Boston Celtics so far, but were they ever really going to live up to the pre-season hype?…
Someone not listed that could be in for a big year is Paul Vaughan (Dragons). He was on the cusp of Origin just a few seasons ago and was severely undervalued in Canberra given their already monstrous pack.
A more obvious choice would be Proctor. Fantastic hole runner, great work ethic and a model professional. The Titans have come up big securing his name
Who do you think will be the NRL's best buy of 2017?
It’s Clippers or bust. If LA can put together a deal that is appealing to the Knicks than it’s a deal that will be beneficial to all parties.
Getting a third-team involved, however, seems the only way to get the deal pushed through and so unless someone (most likely the Celtics) can come in and provide some assets to help accomodate NY than I don’t see a deal happening.
Any takers for Carmelo Anthony?
I’m not doubting he still brings value – especially for the price – but at what expense are you bringing him back?
If it potentially costs you the chance to tie down Holmes to a long term deal than all of a sudden it seems to be a heavy price to pay
Barba's return set to have Valentine looking for new Holmes
When you compare him to Bravo right now he looks like a superstar
Guardiola is being exposed as a fraud
Clearly you and I see differently on his time with Munich because I do genuinely believe any qualified coach could have taken over that squad and delivered three Bundesliga titles, such was the difference in quality between their squad and the rest of the league.
He will certainly be given the time to adapt but he hasn’t shown he has a Plan B or C when he isn’t able to play the way he is used to.
Guardiola is being exposed as a fraud
You’re right, it’s a long way from being over but expectations were much higher of Pep than they were of Conte or even Klopp in his first term.
Conte has his side looking like running away with the league, while Klopp’s first season took them to two cup finals with a squad that was completely inherited and hadn’t had a pre-season under him.
The fact remains that Guardiola is struggling to adapt becasue he does not have the world class players he has had everywhere else he’s gone. Hates off to him for taking up the challenge but anyone who thinks he will have this club conquering Europe is quite simply delusional.
Guardiola is being exposed as a fraud
I’m pretty confident that the four teams ahead, and even the one behind, are quite content with the managers they already have
Guardiola is being exposed as a fraud
But a lot of the defensive issues are down to his decisions. He wanted John Stones for astronomical money. He chooses to rotate his back four so their is no structure. He chose to ship out their vocal leader and replace him with a keeper that seems scared of the football.
I actually like Guardiola and the football he tries to implement, and while it is far too early to completely label him a fraud there’s no denying that he is being found out rather quickly
Guardiola is being exposed as a fraud
I do understand that argument as well, but would Messi really be any less of the player he is had he not worked under Guardiola? And yes, he did elevate both Xavi and Iniesta to being among the best midfielders in the world but my point is that both those players were perfectly suited to playing and adapting to his system. He certainly took that team to a level far higher than where they were under Rijkaard but they haven’t been any worse without him.
Guardiola is being exposed as a fraud
They have not played like champions in the past six matches just because they’ve won all their games. They were outplayed at home by Tottenham, who probably didn’t create enough to win but had majority possession and dictated the pace of the game. Beating the lower teams unconvincingly is far from a champion side.
They had a great run of fixtures over Christmas and did well to maximise their return, but I’ll say it again, they’re a far cry from the teams above them
Manchester United still a far cry from title contention
You say that like LVG and Moyes set such a standard post-Ferguson?
Only the woodwork and Bravo denied United a point in the derby? You’re mental – they were extremely lucky not to have conceded three or four themselves.
The point is they’re not playing like champions at all. You point to all these times they’ve undeservedly dropped points, but it works both ways for them this season.
They had no right to beat Crystal Palace and got lucky to snatch a winner there. They were far from the better team in the opening 45 minutes against West Ham and can thank the referee for allowing them to play with an extra man for the better part of an hour. They were very lucky to steal a late winner at Hull.
Champions get results even when they’re not at their best. If you’re saying United are playing so well and not picking up the points then that’s as alarming as anything
Manchester United still a far cry from title contention
Completely agree – the fact he’s working away in a sport that receives such little publicity means he isn’t given the respect he deserves. He’s easily the best professional in Australian sport, period.
No better role model than Damian Martin
You can make a compilation like that regarding any and every team across Europe, just like you can psycho-analyse every team and work out points that were undeservedly dropped.
Liverpool were incredibly unlucky at home to West Ham and away at Tottenham = 4 points
Arsenal were incredibly unlucky against Middlesbrough and Leicester earlier this season = 4 points
Man City were unlucky against Chelsea not to secure a win, as well as against Everton and Southampton = 7 points
Luck is one thing but playing style and calibre is something else entirely. Anyone watching can see United aren’t of the same class as those five teams above them at the moment
Manchester United still a far cry from title contention
You thought they’d be worse off than sixth? I understand it takes time to break the structure from a previous regime but to say they’d be on Chelsea’s heels with a little more luck is scraping the barrel. Every team around them has had their fair share of unlucky streaks bar Chelsea, which is why they are where they are.
Luck works both ways, and having a player undeservedly sent off at West Ham certainly aided them, as did their offside goal against Palace. Again, theoretically they’re still in with a chance but they aren’t at the playing calibre of those above them
Theoretically they’re still in contention but when you rank them against those around them, based on the form of others and their match ups this season then yes, they are some way off being legitimate challengers.
Manchester United still a far cry from title contention
I agreed with everything you’ve said, and commented, up until you claimed McGregor to have a stronger punch than Canelo Alvarez . . .
Conor McGregor is on track to become one of the best ever
Giants are another side with a very good offensive line
Five talking points from NFL round 10
I completely agree that Dallas have the best offensive line in the NFL right now, which has benefitted both Dak and Zeke, but if you take Elliott out of that team I don’t believe the likes of Alfred Morris or Darius Jackson would come close to replicating his efforts.
Whereas on the flip side Jimmy Garoppolo and, to a lesser extent, Jacoby Brissett were able to perform more than adequately in steering the Patriots to a 3-1 start
Zeke marching towards rookie-season MVP
It’s more the fact he hasn’t done anything right.
The side arguably look worse than they did prior to him taking over, his comments regarding his captain certainly won’t bode well for team morale and at the end of the day he is doing more harm than good for the game in England.
Bennett's behaviour worthy of the sack
The issue is to do with the banning of countries that are largely of Muslim inhabitants. We can call it a ‘Muslim ban’ or something else entirely but the facts remain the same – players and athletes will be alienated and as a result the league will be thrust into a position where they may have to take a stand against the political decisions being made by the President.
The article has nothing to do with excluding Muslim players, so you should probably read before you write.
Trump's ban is bringing politics into sport