December 2010 Archives

The great thing about having a blog is you can get a few things off your chest and for once I have been annoyed by the comments left on the stories I have written about the sacking of Chris Hughton and the appointment of Alan Pardew.

It rarely bothers me if people slag me off, my job is to report information and opinions, to spark debate and to deal with the facts. Where necessary, I offer my view as well. But this time, you've managed to get a bite out of me!

So let's get a few things straight. I did not agree with the sacking of Chris Hughton and I said as much to the United hierarchy this week. I have even argued with them about it.

The departure of Chris Hughton hurt me on a personal level like no other since Sir Bobby Robson suffered an equally shoddy fate six years earlier.

I was not friends with Hughton, we didn't go drinking together and we didn't chew the fat for hours on the economic policies of the Lib-Con coalition, but I did respect him as a man and I appreciated the job he had done as a manager.

He was a good man, a likeable man and an honest man. His treatment this week was a kick in the teeth for those who like to see good people doing good things in an ugly business.

It isn't often I can keep silent, let alone maintain a dignified silence, but I thought I'd let the dust settle on England's failed World Cup bid before offering my opinions on the farce.

If I had written anything last week it would have gone something like this. Fifa are a bunch of ****, Sepp Blatter is a slimy ????, and we should **** the lot of them, grab our ball and take it home with us.

As regular readers will know, I'm not a raving nationalist, I'm not a frothing St George's flag waving mad man and I'm not a blinkered supporter of our national interest, but yes, as you can tell, this has wound me up.