Does shouting, aggressive behaviour, inside the four walls of a dressing room bestow good management skills? Does the cream always rise to the top from the most decorated of the FIFA, UEFA, badged coaches, did Alex Ferguson become lucky in the early doors development at Manchester United? The David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt of that world shined through, was Alex Ferguson behind the revolution, are the unsung heroes behind the front façade who barely warrant a mention, the real revolutioners? As Brian Clough said “I was the front man”, was Peter Taylor the number 2 man, the working engineer of the miracle that followed, the man that worked the oracle behind the scenes, was Clough joking?

So if we open the curtains or draw the curtains, as Don Revie once did with a valued reporter friend, if there’s any at all, prior to Don’s deserter status from the England team managers’ position, with the words “It’s a secret, I am deserting to the United Arab Emirates” Don subsequently donned the ‘man in a suitcase role’ (on the run) on route to the desert delights of the UAE, via Greece, Geneve Switzerland, bank account opened, tax free, multiple bank accounts, harder to track down, the gutlessness of the move was that the story hit the headline press in the UK during Don’s bank depositories time in Switzerland, much akin to Roy Hodgson’s appearance, wanting a quick getaway for the compulsory post match interview hatchet job in waiting with the press, following England’s shameful defeat to Minnows Iceland, too cold for Roy in the confines of the press room or the Graham Taylor reign who was literally a cod out of water or is it turnip? In Taylor’s role as another England manager, classified as the best English top flight manager at the time, but turned out to be the worst, perhaps and in jest, maybe could only make teams play to the sound of the ‘Rocket Man’, courtesy of Watford’s chairman come padron, Elton John, oh, for those Watford days 1 became 2 with Taylor’s side kick Phil Neal with the regular speak of “Do I not like that” in parrot theme fashion, ditto to Taylor and Neal, the worst of the worst, even Revie gets the benefit of the doubt on this one. Up in the highlands, Scottish of course, the ever lasting memory of Ally Macloud’s Tartan Army on the march to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, in the Scots delirium world of quote, Ally “You can mark down 25 June 1978 as the day Scottish football conquer the world” with the only real deal on the table being the Scots early door’s exit, in the manager’s theme park.

No Standard Bearers

The French forward or is it Arsenal forward, Alexandre Lacazette, maybe Lacazette has forgot, following on from Alexandre’s inhaling of the ballooned gases, hippy variety included, in Lacazette’s world of degeneracy.
The gassed up Gunners have a recent history of players flying high, but not on the football pitch, in a stench unbecoming, gases of course.
Across ones divide, Chelsea’s Callum Hudson Odoi broke the lockdown rules having previously recovered from the Coronavirus, faces serious allegations made by a model, innocent until proven guilty, but the same cannot be said for Odoi who perpetrated one’s self with the uncuffing of the lockdown.