Hull City’s high-flying players should have stayed in bed on Boxing Day. Instead they travelled to Manchester for a Premier League match against City and found themselves trailing 4-0 at half-time. Manager Phil Brown decided that a bit of public-performance coaching was the best way to get his side back on track.
With Brown wearing his customary match-day headset, the scene was reminiscent of a motivational meeting in a call centre. Credit where it’s due, though. The on-pitch team talk seemed to sharpen minds. Hull were much-improved during the last 45 minutes, scoring one and conceding one. Of course, that still amounts to a 5-1 thrashing. But as a damage limitation exercise, the finger-wagging public ticking off Brown gave his players worked.
Scott McDonald overcame his extra poundage in Saturday’s Glasgow derby at Ibrox, proving that you don’t need to be slim to blast the ball into the back of the net. Click below to watch the video.
The Australian striker won the game for Celtic with his half volley - the only goal of the match. McDonald was able to take the ball on his chest and turn, despite the close attendance of Rangers’ Kirk Broadfoot.
The 1-0 win gives the Hoops a seven-point lead at the top of the SPL.
Robinho’s chipped shot dominated the headlines when Manchester City beat Arsenal 3-0 last month. But under different circumstances - had the Gunners still been in the game as full-time approached - the pressmen would have been talking about this incident. Watch the video and make up your own mind. Goal or no goal?
Referee Alan Wiley said “no goal” after Robin van Persie pinched the ball from City keeper Joe Hart. Robbing the goalie mid-kick was deemed to be unsporting conduct.
It’s a goal for me. Hart didn’t deserve the ref’s protection. The ball was clearly out of his hands and there to be taken. Van Persie was sharp, Hart was careless.
You tell yourself that cartoons don’t have a corrupting effect on your kids and then you see something like this.
Gastón Aguirre seems to have been unduly influenced by Dick Dastardly and Muttley during his ’80s childhood. The San Lorenzo striker is certainly a lot more effective at waylaying pigeons than the cartoon duo ever were. His wild shot in the first Apertura playoff game against Tigre sent feathers flying and left the referee with a nasty clean up job.
More dead birds - and I never thought I’d write this - can be seen here. Dick Dastardly aficionados will be sad to learn that there’s no pigeon killing in this video. The bird’s already a goner when the clip begins.