Dyke enjoys final dig at the blazers
FA CHAIRMAN Greg Dyke did not waste the opportunity to have a pop at the blazers who have kicked out his reform programme in his last keynote speech at an FA Cup final lunch.
Dyke, who stands down in July, said he welcomed the Football League initiative to introduce another division but wished them good luck in making it happen.
He referenced his own troubles in failing to bring about much-needed governance changes, saying anyone with a reform agenda in football is considered ‘the devil incarnate’. Dyke’s words were greeted with silence apart from one councillor shouting ‘Rubbish’.
The blazers had shown similar rudeness when chief executive Martin Glenn deputised for Dyke in making the speech before the Watford v Crystal Palace semi-final at Wembley, with one dinosaur councillor loudly complaining about how disgraceful it was that ‘staff’ had been given a speaking role. lBT
SPORT may produce numerous graphs and charts to claim that their £900m three-year Champions League deal has been a success this season. However, it will need creativity in the extreme to justify sharing FA Cup final coverage with the BBC. The Beeb’s average viewing figures were 6.9million and BT’s a minuscule 181,000, even with Ian Wright, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes as their pundits. AFTER the atrocious way that Manchester United have handled the sackings of successive managers David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward should relinquish the football part of his job at which he’s proved so gaffe-prone to concentrate on commercial matters.
And the way that United’s press officer, Karen Shotbolt (above), dealt with the media during LVG’s surreal press conference after the Cup final win was abject — demanding questions only about the match when the BBC were already reporting Jose Mourinho’s appointment as Van Gaal’s replacement.
However, Shotbolt is more secure in her job than most at Old Trafford as Mourinho can hardly afford another dust-up with a female employee after the Eva Carneiro saga at Chelsea. lSPURS
have delayed their season-ticket renewals for next season, when the aim is usually to encourage regulars to sign up before the previous campaign finishes. The hiatus is because Spurs expect to play Champions League games at Wembley next season before they relocate there in 2017-18 — an agreement to be announced this week.