www.silverguide.site –

PATRIOT GAMES

There are a lot of billionaires making global headlines at the moment and even if we were dying of thirst, Football Daily wouldn’t go for a pint with any of them. Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe almost certainly wouldn’t want to come for a pint with us, given our backstreet local’s clientele boasts no end of foreigners of every stripe and shade, all of whom are apparently more hell-bent on annexing the pool table than “colonising the UK”. A man who is so patriotic he would do anything for his country except live or pay taxes in it, Big Sir Jim has plumbed unprecedented depths of unpopularity among Manchester United fans by embarking on a diatribe against immigrants that played fast and loose in its use of far-right rhetoric and was backed up by wildly inaccurate statistics.

While the usual suspects – your Nigels, your Tommys, your Julias, your anonymous Social Media Disgrace boot-lickers – have of course applauded the United co-owner’s ‘straight-talking’ it has not gone down so well in more enlightened circles. The UK prime minister, the Greater Manchester mayor and assorted United fan groups have been among many, many folk to condemn his deranged comments about ‘forrins’ relying on handouts, labelling them crass, offensive and unhelpful. Never one to turn down a government handout himself – specifically when it comes to funding Ineos or a Wembley of the North stadium project – Big Sir Jim has also been accused of outright hypocrisy given his own immigrant status as a tax-dodging resident of a Mediterranean principality. “Offensive and wrong,” barked Keir Starmer. “Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”

While Big Sir Jim is undeniably entitled to his wrong opinion, like many strident advocates of free speech he has forgotten it can often have unwelcome consequences. The irony of a man whose English football team is essentially a United Nations assembly of talent complaining about foreigners is unlikely to be lost on Michael Carrick and his players, who will be unimpressed when they get asked to comment publicly on his nonsense so soon after unwelcome questions about haircuts were put to bed for the foreseeable future. Outside of Old Trafford, the FA is currently assessing whether Ratcliffe has brought the game into disrepute before deciding whether he has broken any rules. Describing his words as “disgraceful and deeply divisive”, the anti-racism group Kick It Out reminded him that United play in a city whose cultural history has been hugely enriched by the very people he is targeting.

On the plus side, the man who seems hell-bent on stealing his rejuvenated team’s thunder for reasons best known to himself has since issued a classic non-apology apology. Earlier on Thursday, Big Sir Jim said he was sorry if his “choice of language offended some people but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth”. To Football Daily’s untrained ear it sounds like he’s only sorry so many of his detractors are such woke snowflakes for being appalled by his right-wing views.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Scott Murray for minute-by-minute coverage of Brentford 2-3 Arsenal in the Premier League, while Sarah Rendell will be watching Atlético Madrid 1-1 Manchester United in Women’s Bigger Cup (both 8pm GMT kick-offs).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“When you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is: ‘To Dare Is To Do’ and yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. They didn’t realise that, to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks. I felt like they were saying: ‘We’re one of the big boys.’ And the reality is I don’t think they are” – Ange Postecoglou pulls no flamin’ punches in the wake of Thomas Frank’s firing.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. I am sure I am in tune with 1,057 others when I suggest that Tottenham Hotspur did a Frank appraisal of their situation and decided to have a frank conversation with Frank to explain that, frankly, his tenure as manager was not good enough and that, as soon as their franking machine could print off the postage, Frank would be getting a frank letter, asking him – frankly – to do one. Which is a great shame, as he seems to be a really good guy and, as his time at Brentford shows, he is a very good manager. As an Arsenal fan, I now wish him well, which I haven’t been able to do since June last year” – Andrew Kluth (and no others).

In yesterday’s Football Daily (full email edition), we have Liam Rosenior making sure his players are ‘switched on for 90 minutes’. Can I be one of 1,057 pedants pointing out that, according to no less an authority than Big Website, games now last an average of 100 minutes, 36 seconds? Demand more, Liam. Demand more” – Simon Riley (and no others).

This may be scant consolation to Rod de Lisle (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) but Leicester’s capitulation against Southampton, while spectacular, is eclipsed by at least one other game. Back in 1957, Huddersfield Town – managed by Bill Shankly, who, were he still around, would surely win letter o’ the day so often you’d probably drop it altogether as a feature, and also featuring future Wolves manager Bill McGarry as a player – somehow contrived to turn a 5-1 lead in the 63rd minute away at Charlton (who had also been down to 10 men since the 17th minute) into a 7-6 defeat” – Simon Gill.

It doubtless won’t be much consolation to interim Leicester boss Andy King, but given that his team weren’t playing against 10 men when they threw away that 3-0 lead to lose 4-3, it probably wasn’t the worst half in the history of football” – Nick Payne.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Andrew Kluth. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED SUPPORTING

Big Website is sceptical of plutocrats and entrenched power – and what they spread can often be distorting and destructive. We are different: with no super-rich owner, we are free to seek the truth – and free to care less what Big Sir Jim or any billionaire thinks of us. Thanks to readers like you contributing what you can, we will continue to publish fearless, independent journalism – whether the rich and powerful like it or not. Will you support us in that mission?

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

The pod squad are here to discuss another busy few days in the Premier League, with Spurs and Forest hitting the panic button and Big Sir Jim being offensive and wrong. Listen wherever you get your pods.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Or watch it right here.

THE FOREST FOUR

At about 10pm on Wednesday night, Sean Dyche fronted up in the mixed zone after Nottingham Forest were held to a 0-0 draw by Wolves. “I care about this club,” he roared. “I’m working very hard … if the owner wants to make a change, that’s the way football is now.” Perhaps he sensed something in Evangelos Marinakis’ itchy body language, because two hours later, a 57-word statement confirmed that the Forest owner did, in fact, want to make a change, with Dyche “relieved of his duties”. With a third manager bundled through the spinning door marked Do One this season, Marinakis is already closing on a fourth: none other than Vítor Pereira, who saved Wolves last season before crashing and burning this term. Still, no time to worry about that, with Forest three points above a charging West Ham, a vengeful Nuno Espírito Santo clutching the reins. As this list shows, going through four managers in a season is not a recipe for success, but Forest would be the first Premier League club to appoint a quartet of permanent managers in one season, if Pereira is offered such a deal. Although these days, the job title of “permanent Nottingham Forest manager” isn’t really worth the paper it’s printed on.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

QPR and Crawley Town are being sued for more than £11m by former player Amrit Bansal-McNulty, who claims the clubs failed to protect him from racist abuse.

Former Italy forward Mario Balotelli says he was racially insulted while playing for Emirati second-tier side Al-Ittifaq during a match against Dubai City. “I’ve always condemned all acts of racism, but I didn’t expect it here,” he said. “I hope serious measures are taken to prevent this from happening again.”

Thomas Tuchel has extended his England contract until after Euro 2028, where his side will be co-hosts. “I’ve loved every minute so far,” tooted Tuchel, whose plans for their Geopolitics World Cup buildup have also emerged.

Manchester City have closed in on Arsenal – for now – with a 3-0 home win over Fulham, but Erling Haaland had to be hooked at half-time with “niggles and fatigue”, according to Pep Guardiola. Haaland grabbed City’s third goal, taking him to a whopping 22 for the season.

Arsenal have one foot in the last eight of Women’s Bigger Cup after their 4-0 first-leg win at Leuven. “Today, I think there’s almost 1,000 Arsenal supporters here,” sighed the Belgians’ boss Arno Van den Abbeel. “That says something also about the popularity of women’s football in England and that is something we have to work on in Belgium to make women’s football more attractive and in that way find more resources for the evolution of our sport.”

And to the Magic of the Cup dept: TNT Sports have reported that the FA Cup third round generated more viewers than any Premier League game the channel has shown so far this season.

STILL WANT MORE?

Jonathan Liew on Manchester United’s Haircut Game and whether winning matches still matters in the social media age.

Could Ange Postecoglou return for a third season in the never-ending saga that is Tottenham Hotspur, muses Max Rushden.

Eni Aluko is damaging her legacy with her latest attack on Ian Wright, reckons Suzanne Wrack.

Pellegrino Matarazzo could end up setting a new bar for a US coach in Europe after a flying start at Real Sociedad, writes Leander Schaerlaeckens.

And in the latest Moving the Goalposts, Júlia Belas Trindade looks at how Chile’s union for female players could create a blueprint for South America.

MEMORY LANE

Ted Drake has a shot on goal for Arsenal against Brentford back in September 1938. The Gunners lost 1-0 at Griffin Park, having also been beaten 3-0 five months earlier, in a game where Drake was knocked out and had to be carried off. Arsenal were defending champions in the 1938-39 season but finished fifth, while Brentford fell from sixth in 1937-38 to 18th in the last full season before the second world war began.

MAKE IT STOP … AGAIN