Catching the Large Fish
From Robbie Savage being cheered on by rowdy, drunk fans at Ally Pally, to members of Gareth Southgate’s team taking on the English press at major tournaments, and Steve Sidwell avoiding Tim Vine in the Talksport Warm-up Pandemic Trust Darts final, the worlds of football and darts often intersect. During the world championships, Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale ran into Luke Littler at a hotel in London and asked for a photo, and more recently, Littler was invited to Manchester United’s training ground to play against Christian Eriksen and Harry Maguire. In true sportsmanship, their matches were played with utmost respect, reminiscent of a video from the 1980s where Jocky Wilson paused his game to light a cigarette for his opponent, Cliff Lazarenko.
Unfortunately, there was a lack of good sportsmanship on display on Wednesday night at Tottenham. During Brentford’s match against Tottenham, Neal Maupay imitated James Maddison’s trademark celebration of throwing darts after scoring the opening goal. This was a sneaky move from Maupay, who is known for his ability to taunt opponents. However, his decision to do so after only 15 minutes meant that there was plenty of time for his mocking gesture to backfire. Later in the game, Brennan Johnson, who came on as a substitute, scored the second goal in a three-goal run that led Tottenham to victory. He then invited Richarlison to join him in an imaginary darts celebration, while a remorseful Maupay had to settle for a Bully tankard and his transportation fare home.
“I mentioned to him that he may not have scored enough goals recently to have his own celebration, so he may have to imitate mine,” pondered Maddison, in response to TNT’s question about his conversation with Maupay during what appeared to be a tense interaction between the two.
He was referring to the well-known goal shortage during which Maupay, for nearly a year, teased his Everton teammates by being unable to hit a cow’s backside with a banjo. Since returning to Brentford and scoring seven goals in his last seven games, Maupay seems confident enough to respond. “Disappointed we couldn’t get the win,” he wrote on Instagram before making a bold statement. “I’ve scored more goals and avoided more relegations in my career than James Maddison. Let’s keep going, Bees!” Some publications labeled it an “escalating feud,” but in reality, it was more like two inexperienced dart players repeatedly missing the same target.
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“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
“The past cannot be reclaimed, but the future is ours to either succeed or fail.”
“I can’t believe it, it feels like a dream,” said local defender Conor Bradley as he struggled to describe his emotions after contributing to Liverpool’s dominant 4-1 victory over Chelsea at Anfield, keeping them five points ahead in the Premier League standings. “They outperformed us in every aspect,” sighed Mauricio Pochettino.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Regarding John Caley’s idea to rename the football pyramid as the football ‘bell-bottomed trousers’ (from yesterday’s Football Daily letters), what a fantastic proposal. How could we not embrace the opportunity to say that our team is ‘striving to reach the top of the trousers’, or ‘unfortunately, we are descending out of the bottom of the bell-bottoms’, or we are ‘ascending the bottom’?” – Dan Levy.
Regarding the discussion about the center circle in Football Daily letters, I have always questioned its purpose. It seems unnecessary and we could function without it. While some may argue that it is necessary for opponents to be 10 yards away during a kick-off, we make do without it on the rest of the field. Similar bold statements can also be seen in pub conversations, such as the idea that 30-all in tennis should be called deuce, according to Karim Fatih.
In the recent edition of News, Bits and Bobs, you included a quote from Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal, where he promises to be more decisive. You also mention that he spoke about changing his mindset. According to Merriam-Webster, the word “blather” means to talk excessively without making much sense. However, it does not seem like Jesus was talking excessively or nonsensically. His comments were clear and sensible. I would suggest using more precise language when quoting someone, to avoid any misunderstanding or misinterpretation. – Richard Hourlula
There is some comfort for supporters of Chelsea who are still dealing with the aftermath of Todd Boehly and his partners’ extravagant spending of £1 billion. The recent game against Fulham was essentially reduced to a publicity stunt for the movie Argylle, indicating that whoever approved of this has limited knowledge about both the entertainment business and football, according to Neil Bage’s statement.
“Email [email protected] to submit your letter. Today’s recipient of our non-monetary letter of the day award is Neil Bage.”
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Source: theguardian.com