Pickford in alleged Sunderland fight
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Updated 02/04/2019 at 08:15 GMT
Plus: things are looking fairly positive for Arsenal, and the Pope brands Messi as 'not God'...
Everton's Jordan Pickford during the match
Image credit: Reuters
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
What about lairy lads that goaded Pickford?
Of course, footballers should expect some level of abuse. Of course, if they’re being 100% sensible footballers probably should not go out on the pop in their home towns after said home town has just played in and lost a cup final. Of course, getting involved in a public scrap is very much not ideal for anyone, never mind footballers.
But the Warm-Up does have a certain amount of sympathy for Jordan Pickford. The Everton and England goalkeeper was allegedly involved in a set-to in Sunderland on Sunday night, in town for Mother’s Day but apparently out touring a series of establishments after watching his old club lose the Checkatrade Trophy final to Portsmouth.
Reports about what actually happened are a bit hazy, but the Guardian says:
According to reports, Pickford was subjected to what was described as “good-natured banter” rather than any malicious criticism of some of his recent mistakes for Everton – being told he had “small arms” and “butterfingers”. Pickford took the abuse well initially, posing for photographs while giving a V-sign to the man hurling the insults. However, at a different bar later on his fiancée was also insulted and that prompted an alleged fracas involving Pickford before he was led away by friends.
Everyone has a breaking point, and it’s not really for us to necessarily judge where that point is for someone else. But that’s not even the real issue: clearly if Pickford did get involved in a physical altercation then he should be duly punished, but what about the antagonist in the situation, the lairy lads (and it will most certainly have been lads) who thought it was perfectly acceptable to abuse a man trying to enjoy some downtime in a public place, and furthermore abuse his fiancée who has done little more than become engaged to a man in the public eye?
In an ideal world none of this would happen. But this isn’t an ideal world, and we therefore can’t get too upset if Pickford did get involved in a scrap with some charmer in a Sunderland bar.
Arsenal skip an’ a stroll past Newcastle
An interesting thing happened at the Emirates on Monday night. Arsenal were nothing special, in the end relatively easily collecting three points against a Newcastle side who essentially rolled over to have their collective belly tickled. But the nothing special bit was the key point: they weren’t that brilliant, but the home crowd seemed happy, and here’s the interesting bit: they even cheered in encouragement when the hapless Shkodran Mustafi launched a cross high into the stands.
This is an Arsenal that is slowly, slowly, slowly clawing their way back towards something like where they want to be. The win last night, brought by an Aaron Ramsey goal that must have been as painful as it was pleasurable, and a delicious lob by Alex Lacazette, put Arsenal third, above Tottenham and Manchester United, if perhaps only for a day or two.
But it’s a damn sight higher than they thought they might be, and it’s worth pointing out that they have already equalled last season’s points total with seven games remaining. You get the feeling that this is an Arsenal team that is inching their way back.
Messi ‘not God’, Pope confirms
Is this the Holy Father launching a ‘verbal broadside’ against his country’s greatest footballer? Has Il Papa started a ‘war of words’ involving the very highest consciousness known to man? Just what sort of trouble is our man the Pope trying to stir up here?
Speaking to a Spanish TV station, a conversation with Pope Francis inevitably turned to football, of which he is a big fan, and whether Leo Messi can in fact be considered a ‘God’. The answer is ‘no’, as it turns out. Ol’ Popey said:
In theory it’s a sacrilege. You can’t say it and I don’t believe it. I think people say ‘he is God’ just as they say ‘I adore you.’ You have to adore only God. It’s expressions that people use. This is a god with the ball on the pitch. It’s a popular way that people have of expressing themselves. Of course it is a joy [to watch Messi play]. But he is not God.
We await Messi ‘hitting back’ with bated breath.
IN OTHER NEWS
Well done to Racing Club, who at the weekend secured the Argentinean Primera Division, obviously leading to scenes of wild celebration in Buenos Aires. But one celebration was more unusual than the rest, as this fan took with him the skull of his dead grandfather to join in the revelry. OK…..
HEROES AND ZEROS
Hero: Ian Holloway
As in many industries, there’s an omerta in football management: thou must not chip off at your peers. Sure, you can have a row on the touchline and say the odd thing in the heat of the moment, but in the cold light of day you must show proper deference to fellow managers: there but for the grace of god, etc and so on.
So hats off to Ian Holloway for breaking that rule, reacting to the dismissal of Steve McClaren by QPR on Monday by saying on talkSPORT:
He took my job. I still had another year left at the club. I’m still being paid by them now. [McClaren] was talking to the chairman while I was in the job saying what he’d do. He hasn’t been able to do that. What goes around comes around.
Zero: Ken Anderson
If you haven’t been following the Bolton story, the Warm-Up possibly advises against looking into it too much: there’s plenty of depressing news in the world already without ducking your head into that rabbit hole too. The short version is, it’s a mess, with wages now not paid on time for a second month running and a promised takeover somewhat slow in materialising, despite promises to the contrary by current owner Ken Anderson.
As a result, the first-team squad have gone on strike, partly because of the lack of information given to them by the owner, but also seemingly in solidarity with the non-playing staff, most of whom, as you can imagine, cannot afford for their wages to arrive late. With an appearance at the High Court over an unpaid tax bill of £1.2million slated for Wednesday, there’s still a genuine chance that Bolton, currently scrapping against relegation from the Championship, might not make it til the end of the season.
HAT TIP
All roads lead to Munich. At the end of a week in which it was announced France’s World Cup-winning defender Lucas Hernández would arrive at Bayern in the summer – after the champions paid a fee almost double the Bundesliga’s existing highest for an incoming player – Marco Reus will also head for Bavaria, as a Borussia Dortmund player, of course, but there had been doubt about the captain making the journey. This weekend Reus’s first child, a baby girl, arrived a few days earlier than expected, freeing daddy up to lead his side in what could be the defining game of their season.
A title race in the Bundesliga? Allow Andy Brassell to explain.
RETRO CORNER
You forget that in Arsenal’s ‘Invincible’ season, Manchester United were top of the league for a lot of it. Then they faced bottom of the table Wolves, as they do this evening, on a January afternoon, and this happened.
COMING UP
Getcha Premier League riiiiiiiiiiight here. With the FA Cup semi-finals throwing the weekend league schedule all out of whack, there’s a bonus little taste of Premier League action this midweek, starting with a repeat of the quarter-final as Wolves take on Manchester United, while elsewhere Fulham’s inevitable relegation will be confirmed if they suffer a ninth defeat on the spin, as they travel to Watford.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by Ben Snowball, you lucky, lucky lot.
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