Champions have become less guardiolista to allow Haaland to flourish and it is telling the best player of late has been Gvardiol Familiarity inevitably breeds, if not contempt, then at least discernment. When Leicester won the Premier League what mattered was not how they had done it but merely that it had been done. You could talk about the performances of N’Golo Kanté, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, pontificate about how Claudio Ranieri had developed Nigel Pearson’s side or dwell on the significance of the discovery of Richard III’s body under a car park, but fundamentally all that mattered was that they had defied the laws of football finance and logic and that they had done it. But as Manchester City edge towards a sixth title in seven years, the manner of the win feels important. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Euro 2024, it’s sooner than you think. Because on Saturday evening, it’s the draw for the finals, to be played in Germany, of course. That’s taking place in Hamburg at 5pm GMT since you ask, and balls are being warmed in readiness for the 24 finalists, though make that 21 that we know of, as there’s the playoff round still to be decided. There, 12 nations who horsed their qualifications but were given a second chance by a Uefa Nations League equation that would have Nicolaus Copernicus reaching for his Casio scientific calculator will meet other such nations. By around midnight on 26 March all 24 teams will be revealed. It’s been a while since you had one of these but the news about Shane MacGowan has reminded me that whenever I heard Naby Keïta’s name mentioned I would immediately sing the chorus of Navigator by The Pogues. It’s so perfect I can’t believe they didn’t chant it at Anfield. Anyway RIP Shane” – Alan Ferneyhough. Pleasantly surprised to see Truro City grace the pages of Football Daily (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). I was a member of the youth team in the halcyon days of 2007 when the club won the FA Vase, before reaching the Conference South. Since then it has been a sorry (but familiar) tale of financial overreach, administration, 10-point deductions, and relegation. Most recently the home ground since 1900, Treyew Road, was sold (now a Lidl) and the club has been suffering the ignominy of having to play home games in (gasp) Devon while a new stadium is built. Here’s hoping the new ownership can bring back the glory days. Finally, for those that would call Cornish football a ‘farmer’s league’, don’t worry, they all played rugby” – Jack Stokes. Re: ‘the chaos that has plagued Manchester United behind the scenes for years finally found its way on to the pitch’ (yesterday’s Football Daily). Finally? Can I be one of the 1,057 to remind you of this” – Rob McPheely (and no others). This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...