‘Praise for Wayne Rooney’s football these days is rarer than a European love note to Donald Trump’: Karren Brady’s diary
West Ham vice-chairman runs the rule over the Premier League headlines of the week in her SunSport diary
WEST HAM vice-chairman Karren Brady gives her views on another action packed week in the Premier League.
Manchester United dumped the Hammers out of the EFL Cup quarter-final on Wednesday a competition that has been welcome rest bite to what has been a difficult start to the season for West Ham.
Sat 26 Nov
ALAN PARDEW needs no reminding of how his future as manager of Crystal Palace turned dramatically downwards this afternoon.
In two ghastly minutes, about the time it used to take the hangman to arrange his rope, Fernando Llorente scored twice in added time and Swansea won 5-4. You could actually watch Pardew’s face go pale.
Chairman Steve Parish and his board have a simple decision to make on their manager: Do they stick or twist?
But that doesn’t make it easy because they must know that Pardew has a very useful squad and a couple of wins would prompt a quick move up the table.
Sun 27 Nov
WHETHER Jose Mourinho’s increasing frustration is with the ref, the team or himself, I don’t know.
The last time a flying object caused such a furore at Old Trafford it was kicked by Alex Ferguson and split David Beckham’s forehead. United went on to win plenty of titles.
Mourinho’s latest show of touchline temper — a kicked water bottle — is going to win nothing, except for ever-longer suspensions.
It makes even me, a big admirer, wonder whether Ferguson’s third successor is going to fare any better than the other two.
On the pitch, West Ham keep their nerve and draw.
Mon 28 Nov
NO fewer than a third of footballers in Scotland have received threats of violence from supporters, which is three times the global average, according to a players’ union survey.
Staggering, but I guess being honest, we’ve all seen that type of supporter in the stands — face as red as a beetroot, veins bulging, hurling violent threats at players about his performance, his wife or his family. God forbid a player answers back.
The odd thing is that Scottish supporters abroad are welcomed as a friendly, noisy and harmless crowd, unlike ours.
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Tues 29 Nov
MY deep concern about the sexual abuse of young players is that it appears some clubs knew that offenders had been coaching in their name and did absolutely nothing about it.
Had they, then other clubs would have been on the lookout for the crimes which are rocking our game many years later. FA chairman Greg Clarke calls the scandal “one of our greatest crises” but as they pulled out of a child protection project a dozen years ago, they’ve some apologising to do themselves.
Weds 30 Nov
PRAISE for Wayne Rooney’s football these days is rarer than a European love note to Donald Trump.
Here’s a little thought.
Tonight, looking livelier than I have seen him in months, Rooney delivered a lovely selection of passes, flummoxing my team in and around our penalty area.
West Ham had a poor second half, no doubt about that, but were unable to find an answer to Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, hungry veterans who are putting the Old into Trafford.
Manchester United may be too patchy to win many trophies this season but there is a pace to their game that has been missing for a fair while.
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Thurs 1 Dec
JUST down the road, there’s an owner who appears to be a cross between an accountant, tactician, football expert and, judging from the long letter I’m reading, downright bore.
It informs his then-Charlton boss Chris Powell as to how he should construct his team, the theory behind 4-4-2 and adds that a scout he had been talking to knew more about his players than Powell did.
Roland Duchatelet is one of those owners who fancies he would make a great manager. So he soon had Powell out and, in the 32 months since, axed eight more.
Maybe he’s been right on each one but there’s plenty of evidence Addicks fans don’t think so.
Fri 2 Dec
SLAVEN BILIC examined all options to ensure his players are not a weary and bedraggled army for the league match with Arsenal.
It may have cost us, and Arsenal, League Cup defeats on Wednesday. Both teams are having to squeeze three matches into six days. Here in one sentence is why clubs need big squads and cover in every position. Even though we have it, our strikers have become patients in a sick bay.
The result is one solitary league goal from them this season, Diafra Sakho last Sunday, and now he’s docked in the bay again with hamstring trouble.
Maybe Andy Carroll will be back or Simone Zaza will break his duck.