Roy Hodgson liking John Updike will take some getting used to | Barney Ronay
The new England manager is serious and classy so should he really be reading work by such a frisky author?Refracted unflatteringly through the prism of modern football's revolving idiot-scope, there is a tendency for football managers to dwindle away t...
Why no flags for caveman-Maradona Sol Campbell? | Barney Ronay
The brontosaurus-thighed supreme competitor is an all-time England great. But as the former Arsenal and Tottenham defender leaves football, a decent send-off seems to be missingFarewell, then, Sol Campbell. Although – like many others I suspect – I...
England unveil Roy Hodgson with gleam of orderly optimism | Barney Ronay
After this most soft-pedalled of appointments, the new national manager gave nothing away in a sure-footed debut at WembleyWelcome, Mr Hodgson. We haven't been expecting you. If there was a fug of unexpected excitement around a drizzle-draped Wembley S...
Football transfer rumours: Douglas to Newcastle?
Today's fluff has got him! We've got the Duke!According to the Daily Mail Arsenal have now "stepped up their pursuit" of Ajax central defensive obstacle Jan Vertonghen having – against all expectations – finally fallen out of love with scuttling Fr...
Football transfer rumours: Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United? | Barney Ronay
Today's tittle-tattle just isAccording to today's Daily Mail, Kenny Dalglish has made "a personal trip" to watch fashionable Montpelier goal-machine Olivier Giroud, a break with tradition from Dalglish's many other trips abroad where he tends to send e...
England can benefit from a refreshed, unburdened Wayne Rooney | Barney Ronay
This could be a seminal summer for England's talisman who though missing for the first two games of the tournament, may be a trump card at Euro 2012As the Premier League season dwindles towards an unusually incestuous twin-headed climax at the Etihad S...
Football transfer rumours: Robin van Persie to Juventus?
Today's fluff has taken the required number of stepsToday's Daily Mirror has an EXCLUSIVE that even in the throes of its own frothingly EXCLUSIVE back page rumour-gush still has the air of a feint, a stalking horse, an uber-agent's rather clumsily exec...
Redknapp bemoans lack of options with Spurs
• Queens Park Rangers fully deserve their 1-0 victory• Harry Redknapp laments lack of options in 56-man squadThis was a tale of two clubs in the grip of opposing fields of end-of-season gravity: one for whom the season appears to have gone on ...
McDermott hails Reading’s ascent
• 'I can celebrate for the next two months,' says manager• McDermott describes feat as his best moment in footballOn a night of fevered promotion celebrations Reading's manager, Brian McDermott, had the air of a man at the eye of the storm after hi...
Reading 1-0 Nottingham Forest | Championship match report
There was a heartfelt leap of celebration from Brian McDermott on the touchline of a near-delirious Madejski Stadium as Reading sealed promotion to the Premier League with two games still to play. Needing to better West Ham's result at Bristol City to ...
The Fiver | Unneccessarily Pedantic Obfuscation | Barney Ronay
Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arrivingIMAGINE HOW LONG THIS STORY WOULD BE IF IT WAS ABOUT THINGS THAT DO ACTUALLY EXISTIt has been a particularly fine couple of days in the larg...
Roy Hodgson liking John Updike will take some getting used to | Barney Ronay