Posts tagged as:

twohundredpercent

Throwing Paul Ince a Life Preserver

The firing last week of Paul Ince as Notts County manager — one of only two blacks who held managerial positions (out of 92 English clubs) — highlights a recent survey that racism suffuses boardrooms in English football. But did Ince’s fast-tracking to Blackburn’s top job three years ago (only to crash and burn) do black managerial candidates any good? Wouldn’t a Rooney Rule for English football just be a cynical ploy, and isn’t it time to force those boardrooms to bring in faces of color first? (Jason/twohundredpercent)

{ 0 comments }

Read of the Day: Guilt and the Lefty English Fan

“Anyone English, white and to the left of Walt Disney” was relieved at their national side’s tie with Ghana the other night — because “the sight of eleven dejected young millionaires yanking hunched carcasses off a football pitch following their narrow defeat to former colonial masters would [have been] enough to reach for the sulphuric acid and start scrubbing.” But can one be “as left-wing as an IRA bake sale above an alternative book shop” and still root for England? And call bullshit on England’s patronizing celebration of Ghana’s “excitement” and “vigour” without being called a reader of The Daily Mail? (Mark Critchley/twohundredpercent)

Well Struck: Deceptive Correlations, Card Waving and a Ball Tom Friedman Would Love

Did England’s early World Cup exit boost English tourism? Did the Jabulani make shots less accurate? Can a soccer ball boost business productivity? Click the headline for some great…click-throughs.

Read of the Day: The League of Secrecy

Why has a Christian anti-poverty NGO issued a report about secrecy in British football? It’s not just because tithing Premier League salaries could dent global poverty — Christian Aid’s “Blowing the Whistle” uses football’s lack of transparency “to draw attention to wider points about financial secrecy and the damage that…tax havens can wreak on economies in the developing world.” Here’s just one eye-opener: Leeds United places only 7th in the report’s “Secrecy League.” (Mark/Twohundredpercent)

Against Goal Music…Except at Norwich

Turns out the DJ at the Bernabéu played the same song (Bellini’s “Samba de Janeiro”) after Milito’s two goals that Norwich City plays after the Canaries score at home. Turns out everybody hates goal music: “What nobody wanted, even the Bayern supporters behind Butt’s goal I should think, was to hear a tinny rendition of a song that had probably been chosen arbitrarily by UEFA in an attempt to augment the significance of any strike in their showpiece final.” Nobody, that is, except Norwich City fans… (William Abbs/Twohundredprecent)

The Shame of Gijon 1982

Algeria’s first World Cup appearance since 1986 brings back memories of one of the most shameful episodes of soccer history — the non-football that West German and Austria played in the final match of the first round at Gijon, Spain, ensuring that both would go through and Algeria would go home. Was it a conspiracy? Or was FIFA to blame for not starting all of a group’s matches at the same time? (Ian/TwoHundredPercent)

The Premier League Gets Even Greedier?

The EPL is trying to force through an increase in parachute payments to the relegated that seems benign but will pull up the drawbridge behind them and the Champions League — making a Fulham-like rise from League Two to the Premier League impossible. It’s a cynical move designed to bind the Champions League to the EPL that sets up a showdown with the Football League — and would make political reform of football less likely. (Twohundredpercent)