Odds & Ends: Not Too Subtle Edition
Sir Matt Busby…the 2nd most important person born in Bellshill, Scotland
- Let me begin I by saying that I have absolutely no “dog” in this fight except for Mr. Dempsey himself. That being said, I really hope he doesn’t end up at Liverpool. There is nothing about this club that says that they will be going anywhere in the near future and the club’s glory days grow more distant every day. The addition of Dempsey will do what, improve them from 8th to 7th place? Maybe get them into the Europa League? A team where he could do some good is Spurs, where he might be able to jump them from the Europa League to the Champions League. I think he’d be great at Everton or Newcastle too, but either of those clubs would be too much of a lateral move for the American international. One has to wonder if there is a top Spanish, Italian, or German club that might have their eye on him…
- The easiest bet you can place on the upcoming Premier League season is this: Ryan Giggs will score at least one goal for the 21st Premier League season in a row. You won’t get very good odds on it, but it’s going to happen. In case you’re wondering, it’ll probably happen in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 as well.
- Speaking of Giggs, as I see it he has made only two mistakes in his now-over-two-decades-long career: the first being at the heart of the whole “super injunction” kerfuffle as a result of his extra-marital affair with the fabulously be-knockered Imogen Thomas, and the second being his choice to play for Team GB at this summer’s Olympics. The latter being especially confusing given that he had the choice of playing internationally for England or Wales, he chose Wales and that he has been very clear to identify himself as Welsh during his career. Yes, I am essentially saying Team GB is an “English” enterprise. Sue me. As long as I’m on the topic, it turns out that by choosing to play for Wales instead of England, Giggs lost out on exactly…let me recheck my math…zero silverware.
- As long as I’m waving the flag…in the first 20 seasons of the Premier League there were 98 English managers and 30 Scottish managers: The top 3 English managers won a total of 1267 matches, the top 3 Scottish managers won 1493 matches. Even if you remove all of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 772 wins and replace them with those of Graeme Souness (the fourth winningest Scottish manager), Scottish managers still won 1040 matches. Of the first 20 Premier League seasons 13 were won by Scottish managers. If I may quote a Scottish musician, “Same as it ever was, same as it ever was…” Busby, Shankly, Ferguson, Stein…to name only a few.
- Why would the alphabet soup of Scottish football organizations choose Friday the 13th to hold their next meeting and to- presumably- make decisions not only regarding the future of the Rangers “newco,” but also the future of the SFL and domestic football in Scotland as a whole. It’s almost as though they are trying to make things worse.
- Finally, here’s a little something to think about: Wayne Rooney is still only 26 years old. Like him or not, Rooney and his new hair could very well end his career with the most goals in Premier League history and the most in the history of the English national team.
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