Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
One other deal worth a look, Joe
IF one of the Mayor of Liverpool’s main complaints to the FA and Premier League over the transfer of Ross Barkley to Chelsea was the extravagant commission to agents (reckoned to be well in excess of £5million), it warrants more than the brush-off given to Joe Anderson by the football authorities.
It warrants a close look, the sort of close look you might give to an Evertonsupporting Mayor authorising a £280million council loan to help his beloved club build a new stadium on a new site. IN Las Vegas, ahead of the Mayweather v Mcgregor fight, Amir Khan held court about his fallout with Eddie Hearn.
“He’s disrespectful and he’s never come clear with me,” he said of the promoter.
Now, Khan has signed a three-fight deal with
Hearn. Like no other sport, only money does the real talking in boxing. SHE has done her time for her drug crime, fair enough, but to have Maria Sharapova deliver the trophy for the Australian Open draw and then take centre stage ahead of the tournament probably sums up the sport’s attitude to anti-doping.
They should have been just two of many.
You can only hope Lee Johnson’s approach to the challenge posed by Pep Guardiola the other night was a wake-up call to the swathe of unambitious Premier League managers who are taking Manchester City’s dominance for granted.
Johnson and Bristol City had a bit of a free hit at the Etihad, for sure.
Even a severe beating would not have dented the credibility accrued by a cup run that has seen four top-tier teams despatched.
They were also faced by a slightly experimental Manchester City team, operating without a conventional striker.
Yet, when Guardiola congratulated Johnson for doing what many of his weekly rivals often fail to do, he was spot on.
In only six of their 22 Premier League matches this season have Guardiola’s side enjoyed less possession than they had on Tuesday night.
Manchester United had only a touch more possession than Bristol City when they faced their local rivals a month ago – and that was at Old Trafford. Of Mourinho’s missteps in his relatively short time at United, that was his most serious. Forget the verbals, forget the pops at his own crowd and the
moaning, the tacit acceptance of City’s greater attacking threat has been Mourinho’s most grievous error.
That will take some recovering from.
What Johnson exposed was that, for all their dominance – and it is now getting on for nine months since they were last beaten in a domestic competition – City can be got at.
Through selection and availability, Guardiola did not field his first-choice defensive unit against Bristol City.
But, for a team that have won 20 and drawn two of their league games this season, there is a vulnerability about whatever line-up Pep puts out.
Bristol City proved it, as did Liverpool before going down to 10 men in their Etihad defeat.
Surely there is no chance of Jurgen Klopp doing a Jose on Sunday at Anfield.
Of course, it is easier said than done, but for showing adventure and ambition, Johnson and Bristol City were rewarded.
They were beaten, but taking a 2-1 deficit into a home second leg of a cup tie against the Premier League champions-elect is a good result.
More crucially, by committing numbers forward when they had the ball, they created chances by asking City’s defenders to do what they are occasionally meant to do. Defend.
Neither started against the Robins, but, this season, Kyle Walker has been a bona fide winger and Nicolas Otamendi swaggers around like some sort of Glenn Hoddle.
For most of the game at St James’ Park just after Christmas, Benitez was just not interested in committing numbers forward on the rare occasions Newcastle won possession.
Ah, yet they almost nicked a point. But they didn’t. Nor did Manchester United.
Only Everton and Crystal Palace have nicked a point.
Too many managers are shortchanging their own supporters in matches against an admittedly excellent Manchester City.
Park the bus, not want the ball and cling to the unlikely hope of pilfering a point?
Or have a go, even if there is a more than decent chance you are going to get a cuffing?
It should be obvious to managers what most fans prefer.
It was to Lee Johnson – and it almost worked.
It still might.
But if the only thing Johnson achieves is to convince fellow managers to be more adventurous against Manchester City, he will have done the game and the Premier League a big favour.