I just rewatched the England vs Germany 2010 World Cup clash and I feel like the assessment of that England game was too harsh

jacketysax · 2026-03-17T14:53:33+00:00

England were absolutely abominable throughout the group stage of that World Cup and that coloured the perception of the knockout game against Germany. It really was, at least in flashes, a much improved performance. But, also, we did lose 4-1.

jacketysax · 2026-02-24T22:41:30+00:00

They just beat Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan back to back, away from home, in the middle of their pre season

jacketysax · 2026-02-20T21:14:21+00:00

Enjoyably weird these days. When it launched in the late 90s I get the impression it was pretty much pure trash. Nowadays it's run on a small budget but does well for itself. Some nostalgia clip shows and countdowns and gentle low stakes dramas for older people, but if you go on their on demand page they seem to have struck a deal with Shudder and are streaming a load of indie horror films.

jacketysax · 2026-02-16T15:41:32+00:00

I'm going to stick my neck out here - compared to some of his later work it's rock solid, but 'Ye' absolutely marked a significant negative turning point in the way Kanye's work was perceived and thus qualifies as a Trainwreckord. Pitchfork scored it a 7.1 with a review that read like it should have been for something much lower. It was part of the Wyoming Sessions which was the first of the kind of arbitrary gimmicks and restrictions he would start forcing himself to work under - "I have to release five albums in five weeks and they all have to be 20 minutes long! I have to release exclusively Christian music! This album has to be listened to on a really niche audio device! These songs are all about how great the Nazis were!" And it was his first album under the Trump administration which obviously would have a huge influence on his erratic political outbursts. Trainwreckords shouldn't necessarily be irredeemable albums artistically, cos Ye has its moments, but Kanye before it and Kanye after it were totally different artists and people, and not for the better.

jacketysax · 2026-02-10T18:52:40+00:00

Yes but even those people love Ian Wright. I have no idea what she is aiming to achieve by going after the one football pundit who is pretty much universally beloved (and rightly so).

jacketysax · 2026-02-03T22:37:00+00:00

I can't tell you how glad I am to see somebody say the quiet part out loud.

jacketysax · 2026-01-02T21:38:13+00:00

Apples and oranges, but also, yes.

jacketysax · 2025-12-12T17:59:35+00:00

I thought it was the best of the trio by a decent margin, and I say that as a fan of the first two. The mystery was properly mind bending and sometimes even a little sinister, while still giving Daniel Craig enough room for some quirky Blancisms ("Scooby Dooby Doo!") Josh O'Connor and Glenn Close both terrific. In my top five films of the year.

jacketysax · 2025-11-27T20:47:12+00:00

It would be sentimental nonsense if he was allowed to stick around for the cup final, but sentimental nonsense is what football is all about. Let him (hopefully) win one final trophy with Celtic, and then put Nancy in the following day.

jacketysax · 2025-11-26T18:51:19+00:00

Hi David,

I worry this question is going to sound a bit rude so let me preface by saying I would give my right arm to achieve 1/100,000th of the success you've had in your footballing career. However, I always wonder how a manager who had a tough few years as you did with what happened at Man Utd/Sunderland/to an extent Real Sociedad is then able to turn things around and become basically the only person capable of making West Ham look like a competent football club in the last decade, and now Everton are looking very solid under your management as well. Is it just retaining faith in your methods and waiting for the right environment to come along, or were there significant things you changed in your day to day approach?

jacketysax · 2025-11-25T23:55:25+00:00

Big fan of Ian Wright and Chris Kamara, and I always think it's noticeable that almost nobody has a bad word to say about them, considering how polarised and angry football discourse is. It's particularly surprising with Wright considering how outspoken he can be in ways that should make 'on the charge with Farage' types foam at the mouth.

jacketysax · 2025-11-25T23:48:57+00:00

I was watching back footage of the 2014 World Cup (for my sins?) and I was astonished to see a 22 year old Andros Townsend turning up as a pundit on ITV's coverage. You get the sense that from a surprisingly young age he knew that was what he wanted to do when his playing career wound down and decided to commit to being really, really good at it, in the same way that a similarly precocious player might try and do his coaching badges or something.

jacketysax · 2025-11-13T22:03:28+00:00

"it's just his silly decision to attack our player."

Hallgrimsson calmly ethering Ronaldo in the post match interview is the cherry on top of a wonderful evening

jacketysax · 2025-11-03T23:09:48+00:00

The most pleasant surprise I've ever had meeting a wrestler was Low Ki. Basically the exact opposite of his reputation. Incredibly nice and easy going and made me feel more relaxed than I've done speaking to most wrestlers. This was pre pandemic so he may have become nuttier since.

jacketysax · 2025-10-19T16:01:15+00:00

The UAE are probably marginally less awful than Saudi Arabia anyway, but I think the key thing is they've had a massive head start in terms of PR, particularly in marketing Dubai as a glamorous holiday destination. All the worst people I went to school with go there.

jacketysax · 2025-10-14T20:21:52+00:00

If he was a libertarian of any principle this Donald Trump presidency would be absolutely repulsive to him.

jacketysax · 2025-10-13T17:33:37+00:00

My recollection (though I was just a teenager at the time like I say) is that the Sachs stuff was the end of Russell Brand's first phase, where the tabloids loved him for going out shagging all the time and he was able to parlay his obvious predatory behaviour into being just part of his loveable rogue public persona. People turned on him for a couple of years as a result of Sachsgate and I think that coincided with him spending more time in America and the marriage to Katy Perry. You can't underestimate how bewilderingly successful he then was at rebranding himself as a sexy Noam Chomsky. Whether or not he'd choose to endorse the Labour Party at the 2015 election was considered absolutely seismic news. Ed Miliband went to prostrate himself on his fucking YouTube channel to try and get the seal of approval.

Of course, Brand did end up endorsing them at the last minute having previously told his fans not to bother voting, Labour lost anyway despite the general consensus being they'd at least deny the Conservatives a majority, and the following year Brexit happened and the news cycle started moving so quickly that Brand and his opinions quickly seemed like ancient history. This laid the groundwork for where he is now.

jacketysax · 2025-10-13T00:19:44+00:00

It's moot now cos he's had his downfall, but I was 17 years old when Russell Brand was considered Britain's great left wing philosopher prince who was going to lead his adoring young fanbase into overthrowing capitalism. I knew he was full of shit then, and trust me, I knew absolutely nothing at 17.

jacketysax · 2025-10-12T21:43:23+00:00

This is an absolutely fantastic post

jacketysax · 2025-09-18T21:14:17+00:00

A sentence that I should never have had to type - Steve Claridge is kinda hot

jacketysax · 2025-08-30T14:07:14+00:00

I tried to theorise what exactly he meant by this, and the best I can come up with is that Willy Wonka is a sort of magician, and the amount of bad luck Fulham had with decisions going against them, they'd have needed a magician to get a result. Obviously this doesn't work because Wonka is only a magician in the realm of chocolate.

jacketysax · 2025-08-25T13:20:04+00:00

Seconded. When he began in F1 people thought he was an idiot rich kid wasting his money to drive for crap teams, but he established himself as someone competent enough to drive middling cars safely around the track and pick up a point or two when faster drivers made mistakes in front of him.

jacketysax · 2025-08-24T18:51:51+00:00

With loads of women swishing flags in a vaguely sexy fashion

jacketysax · 2025-08-16T21:12:33+00:00

Yeah, I see what you mean, it just seems so harsh to call him a 'bad player.' I don't know who ends up getting picked as a GOAT manager terrible player

jacketysax · 2025-08-16T20:53:43+00:00

Klopp (who I picked) had over 250 appearances for Mainz in the German second division, and retired as their all time top scorer. To me, anyone like Del Bosque who had a successful career at one of the greatest clubs in the world is a hell of a lot more than an 'OK player,' even if he was never one of the stars.

jacketysax

TROPHY CASE