Thursday, November 23, 2017

The Joy of Six: unlikely football career twilights

Football | The Guardian
The Joy of Six: unlikely football career twilights

From Micky Quinn’s eventful Greek swansong to Socrates’s freezing cold cameo in north Yorkshire, via Johan Cruyff sticking it to Ajax, George Best and more

It is hard to imagine a striker as typically old-school as Micky Quinn choosing to broaden his horizons. He was a burly scouser, his nickname was “Sumo” because of his wobbly midriff and he was unashamedly fond of a pie and pint. So how was it that he ended up seeing out his career in northern Greece with PAOK Thessaloniki aged 33? “They offered me twice as much money as I’d been earning for just one season in Greece.” Ah. He also wanted to carry on playing after being released by Coventry and had received very few offers in England despite having been prolific pretty much everywhere he played. His signing was seen as a coup in the Greek Super League. The club met him with garlands off the flight and hundreds of fans turned up to roar their approval as he stepped off the plane with eyes agog. That was as good as it got.

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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Jordan Henderson: Don’t blame defence for Liverpool’s Sevilla collapse

Football | The Guardian
Jordan Henderson: Don’t blame defence for Liverpool’s Sevilla collapse
• ‘We let ourselves down … we stopped playing,’ says Liverpool captain
• Henderson blames failure to maintain supply line to Mané, Firmino and Salah

Jordan Henderson has insisted Liverpool’s defending was not the principal cause of their alarming collapse against Sevilla but conceded Jürgen Klopp’s team “let themselves down” in the Champions League.

Liverpool missed the chance to qualify for the knockout stage as group winners with a game to spare after squandering a three-goal interval lead in Andalusia on Tuesday. Alberto Moreno was withdrawn against his former club having erred for Sevilla’s first two goals, scored by Wissam Ben Yedder, while Guido Pizarro equalised in the 93rd minute when Liverpool failed to clear a corner.

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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Oumar Niasse: Everton striker charged for dive against Crystal Palace

BBC Sport - Football
Oumar Niasse: Everton striker charged for dive against Crystal Palace
Oumar Niasse: Everton striker charged for dive against Crystal Palace
Everton striker Oumar Niasse becomes the first Premier League player to be charged by the FA for "successful deception of a match official".

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Friday, November 17, 2017