THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY
When Big Website revealed that Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe plans to sack Erik ten Hag even if Manchester United beat Manchester City at Wembley, Football Daily felt the first twinge of something approaching interest in the FA Cup final of this season. Just as news of the Dutchman’s impending departure became public, we checked the spelling of a completed article detailing how the first cup final we can remember with any clarity was played in 1982 and won by Tottenham, who eventually defeated QPR in a replay.
Without checking, we stated with certainty that Peter Hucker, Glenn Hoddle, Gary Waddock, Mark Falco, Clive Allen, John Gregory and Steve Archibald were all playing, only to do a perfunctory investigation and discover that one of the people named hadn’t done that. Not that Falco’s participation mattered, of course. The point we were trying to make was that, having watched each of the 41 FA Cup finals, with varying degrees of interest, trepidation, horror and fascination, we can never remember being less enthusiastic about the annual showpiece than when it took place. is coming to Saturday’s Wembley jamboree.
This may not sound like much of a revelation in an era when the FA Cup has lost so much magic that even radio conversations, devoted to how much magic the FA Cup has or hasn’t lost, have gotten to the point where they have lost their magic. Because make no mistake, Football Daily remains a misty-eyed old romantic, in whose heart the FA Cup will always hold a special place – it’s just that until ten minutes ago the outcome of the match between double-chasing City and their It was unlikely that our beleaguered neighbors would elicit a more emotional response from us than a weary shrug or apathy. Now that we know that Ten Hag is on his way to the door of Old Trafford with the inscription Do One, regardless of the outcome, we consider our interest well and truly piqued.
Although United have yet to comment on the news that Ten Hag will be axed, the club’s new Ineos overlords are already being accused of showing a serious lack of class and no doubt a barrage of indignant, chin-stroking think pieces. in the pipeline. Football Daily’s glowing criticism, for what it’s worth, is that Big Sir Jim and his clipboard-wielding lackey and fellow knight of the realm, Sir Dave Brailsford, will almost certainly be furious that the news has leaked and had every right to do so to spread it. to work out their succession plan when it became clear that their current manager is delusional and clearly out of his league. A surprising victory at Wembley will not change that.
“At big clubs like United and City you are always in trouble if you don’t win,” Pep Guardiola honked, before the news of Ten Hag’s impending dismissal became public. “I have enormous respect for his work in the past and now at United. They’ve had a lot [knack], [the] The manager suffered a lot.” Ten Hag could suffer considerably more in the next 24 hours and the final could well lead to car accidents. Whatever the outcome, Big Sir Jim and his regime of expensive new suits will almost certainly look more like amateurish clowns – meeting the new bosses just like the old bosses.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Out – January 27: “I decided a while ago; the people closest to me know it. It’s a situation that I think is affecting the club now. It affects me, but if it affects the club, I think I have to leave” – Xavi explains his decision to leave Barcelona after the 5-3 defeat to Villarreal in La Liga.
In – April 25: “Xavi is staying, he is very happy and excited” – main man Joan Laporta is seemingly delighted as he confirms the head coach has made a remarkable turnaround. “The circumstances have changed,” Xavi applauds.
Just about in – May 18: “We have the same enthusiasm and ambition to tackle this season and next season. And that’s it: calm. I know the environment is noisy, but nothing changes” – Xavi claims he is not going anywhere, but…
Out – May 24: “The president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has informed oversaw Germany) in a 4-1 thrashing of Japan) lined up for the top job.
WIN A DAVID SQUIRES PRINT!
Thanks to our friends at the Guardian Print Shop, we’re giving away more David Squires cartoons. To participate, simply write us a letter for publication below. At the end of each week we choose the top winners of our Letter of the Day and that worthy winner will then receive a voucher for one of our top, finest cartoonist prints. And if all else fails, you can scan the entire archive of David’s cartoons here and purchase your own. You can view the terms and conditions for the competition here.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
I see Xabi Alonso took the Big Vase final defeat with grace and decorum (yesterday’s Football Daily), simultaneously confirming that he was right to avoid any managerial overtures from the Premier League. I mean, what good is a manager if, when his team loses, he doesn’t rant about VAR, complain about the substandard referees on the pitch and take serious offense at the overtly provocative digestion of sandwiches. We have standards, you know” – Colin Reed.
As part of his visit to the Vale of Glamorgan Brewery (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) Rishi Sunak also met with one of Camra’s national directors. Although I am a member, I do not always agree with Camra’s leadership, and I am indeed a kind of bete noire to them. But their collective ability to stand by when the Prime Minister makes a complete fool of himself is something we should all admire” – Ed Taylor,
Cleverly, the BBC added David Moyes, Thomas Frank and Cesc Fàbregas to continue their Euro coverage (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition) after Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand bowed out in the quarter-finals ” – Steve Mintz .
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of today’s letter is… Colin Reed, who along with this week’s other winners will be in with a chance of winning a David Squires cartoon from our print shop. And our letter of the week winner is…Derek McGee. We’ll keep in touch. You can view the conditions for all this here.