Hello and welcome once again to your staple, once-weekly diet of nonsensical football stories from around the world, otherwise known as Football Circus. This week's edition sees an oddly large number of clothes related stories, which include a shirt mix up and two footballers who will be cursing their headwear. We've also got an Irish manager who has proven to be quite the wordsmith and the footballer known as the 'Beast' having a moan about his FIFA rating.
New Drogs Manager Richardson has Way with Words
Footballers and even football managers for that matter, are rarely known for their eloquence when it comes to their use of the English language. It came as a shock to us therefore, to read the programme notes of newly appointed Drogheda United manager Damien Richardson ahead of his side's home game against UCD in the League of Ireland last weekend.
Richardson clearly has a talent for writing and this was reflected in the match programme. He may have gone a little over the top with his musings it certainly made a change from your standard manager introduction.
Richardson wrote:
"Life was calm. Life was flowing with such an elegant composure, that I began to wonder on a daily basis why I had waited so long to meander peacefully along the precocious path of semi-retirement. I had time for everything and everybody. A new man in a new world. Blissful and unconcerned.
Then the phone rang. I was offered a job, in Drogheda, and amazing myself, I proposed time for consideration. Sitting contemplatively under the bowing branches of my heavily-laden pear tree my mind wandered whimsically. My life was indeed calm, unruffled and serene, but, almost surreptitiously, my mental meandering was slowly dislodging the wrappings of contentment and revealing to a relatively receptive inner self the slightest glimpse of a restlessness that I must confess, has always been an integral aspect of who I am.
But this spirit of restlessness which invariably manifests itself as a confounded and all too often insatiable desire to discover what is around that next corner, has very rarely let me down. So, as ever, I am following my instinct, and here I am.
Consequently, the bliss has been bombed, the peace has been parked, and while the elegant composure is still in place, I cannot offer any guarantees on its longevity.
Is it good to be back? Well, let me put it to you this way, if, like me, you were on the verge of middle age and you were asked to work with a large group of talented young people, at a wonderful club in a football mad town could you turn it down? Of course, it’s a rhetorical question, or to be more precise two rhetorical questions.
The strong relationship between the players and supporters of Drogheda United is also a key component in my decision to return to football. Without wishing to be sycophantic in any way, it is no coincidence that all the best clubs have the best supporters and in this sense this club belongs at the top table. But of course at the moment it is not in residence at the top table so it is essential that we all work together to ensure that the unacceptable situation that abounds at this time is rectified.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the good work being done in recent weeks by Darius Kierans, Neale Fenn and Dermot O’Neill. They have induced stability after a turbulent period and granted me a positive base to work from and they deserve recognition for this. It was an absolute no brainer to retain their services and hopefully they will be of even greater service to the club for some time to come.
The players too deserve enormous credit for the manner in which they have responded to the challenge and the fine win in Tallaght last Friday effectively demonstrated the true personality of the squad.
I am delighted to be here, and I am even more delighted that you are here. I intend to make my presence felt. Are you ready to do the same?
Happy hunting.
Rico".
His new players were obviously inspired by their wordsmith manager as they went on to beat UCD 4-0.
Where's Me Jumper?
Though we tend not to focus on it too much, we at Football Circus know only too well how easy it is to get caught up by the high-speed merry-go-round that is the summer transfer window.
Apparently, the AIK kitman will also vouch for that, after confusion over the transfer of player out of his club, almost left him with egg on his face. In biazarre circumstances, the kitman's blushes were saved by a diehard fan.
Midfielder Celso Borges had originally been left out of the AIK squad that traveled to play Swedish counterparts Gothenburg on Sunday. The Costa Rican had been the subject of a bid from French side Evian.
With the move looking likely to go ahead, Borges was dropped from the match day team that traveled and apparently, his kit was left behind. However club management subsequently had a change of heart and decided to include Borges in the squad. The only problem was, the kitman hadn't been notified and Borges was left without a jersey.
All was not lost though, as AIK's loyal fans came to the rescue. One fo the travelling AIK diehards kindly donated his very own jersey which had 'Borges 10' on the back. Before Borges squeezed into his new apparel, there was also time for the kitman to rectify himself by sewing club sponsors onto the jersey.
And with that, Borges took part in the game, in which AIK ran out 2-0 winners.
You Can Leave Your Hat On - Hat Photos get Lavezzi and Medel in Trouble
The internet can be a cruel mistress for a professional footballer, especially when there's a camera around. Two footballers in particular (PSG's Ezequiel Lavezzi and new Inter Milan signing Gary Medel) will this week be cursing the internet, cameras and even themselves as photos surfaced online which will do neither player's reputations any favours. And oddly enough, the respective sets of photos feature the player's wearing hats!
We'll start with Lavezzi who may be a little more red-faced than Medel. Some rather revealing photos of the Argentine star were leaked this week and quickly went viral on Twitter. The photos show Lavezzi and a female friend in some compromising positions. Lavezzi is shown wearing a policeman's hat, though last time we checked, the forward hadn't started a new career as an officer of the law. The majority of the photos are a little too raunchy for innocent ickle Football Circus to show, but @GFN_France tweeted one that will give you an idea as to what was going on.
Gary Medel's photographic misfortunes were far more innocent that his Argentine counterpart's. However he will certainly be feeling a little foolish. Medel travelled to Milan this week for a medical ahead of a move from Cardiff to Inter. But no quicker could you say "walking red card" than had still photos from a 2012 video of Medel wearing a Juventus cap popped up. Now Medel of course, was not to know in 2012 that a move to Inter Milan would be in the offing just two years down the line, but surely a little foresight would have been helpful. Certainly not a good first impression to make on the Nerazzurri fans.
Footballers Get Worked Up Over FIFA
Professional footballers of the modern era take their FIFA games very seriously. Take Reading's Royston Drenthe, who recently invited four random men to his house to play a FIFA tournament and documented the whole thing on his Instagram account, as you do. The former Real Madrid man (yes, that's right) posted an Instagram message on Sunday, challenging local Reading fans to put their names in a draw to play in the tournament. The winner would win a 'nice prize'. True to his word, the man who was voted as the 2007 U21 European Championship player of the tournament (yes, that's right), picked out four lucky winners, brought them round to his pad and let them duke it out on FIFA for one of them to eventually be presented with an 'R.R. DRENTHE 10' jersey at the end of it all.
Meanwhile, AFC Wimbledon's Adebayo Akinfenwa, has been having a bit of a moan this week about his FIFA 14 stats. Akinfenwa is 5ft11, weighs over 16 stone and is reknowned for his strength. He could easily be mistaken for a WWE wrestler rather than a footballer. In FIFA 14, the striker was given a strength rating of 97 out of a possible 100, making him the strongest player in the game. Yet Akinfenwa, despite seeming satisfied with that particular stat, lives in hope that the latest edition of the game will see his speed rating increase. Speaking to the Telegraph, Akinfenwa mused:
"I didn’t realise how big FIFA was until last year. I’d always been one of the strongest players in the game, but officially in FIFA 14 I was the strongest in the world.
"If they say so, I must be. I like that.
"I’ve played as myself a few times and I’m very slow. I’ve asked FIFA to make me a little bit quicker, but you can’t have everything. I’ve always been big, my brothers are my size, we come from good stock".
Judging by this compilation video of the man known as 'The Beast', if we were EA, we'd give him whatever bloody rating he wanted!
What's Mad Mario Upto this Week?
Balotelli has switched sports this week, albeit briefly, as he took to shooting hoops during a visit to Charlotte, North Carolina. In Charlotte as part of AC Milan's pre-season tour of the U.S., Balotelli took a trip to the basketball court of the Davidson college team and he looked just as proficient with a basketball as he does with a football, even managing a one-handed slam dunk.
Little else has gone on in the world of Mario this week (that we know of), though he continues, as he has done since the transfer window opened, to be linked with a move away from the San Siro. In spite of this, fellow Milan striker Pazzini has been busy trying to silence the pair's critics and insists that he and Super Mario will light up Serie A next season. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Pazzini commented:
"Mario and I can work together fine. He likes to move around the area, I like to stay inside to finish. So we are complementary.
"You can try to consign strikers to a rigid system but it is difficult to change the characteristics of a player who has liked playing in a particular way for some time.
"Anyway, I see him as calm, he is training well and has great ideas in mind".
Italian Football Story of the Week
- Evra Already Enjoying Life at Juventus
He may only have played one match for his new employers, but Patrica Evra is already singing the praises of all involved at Juventus following his summer move from Manchester United.
Having taken part in Juve's 8-1 friendly victory over ISL All Stars in Indonesia, Evra told his new club's official website:
"In all honesty I didn’t expect such a welcome from the fans, as I thought that only happened with United.
"Mind you, this is precisely why I chose Juve: because it is a big club like Manchester and gives you the same sensations.
"I am very happy. I thank my teammates, the masseurs, everyone in the staff. They gave me a warm welcome and I already feel like family.
"Today the result was unimportant, but it is always nice to win and score lots of goals. We took this test seriously and are working hard, but the important thing is to be ready for August 30".
Artist's Impression of the Week
- 'WARNING: Footballers and Hats Do Not Mix'
Football Recommendation of the Week
- The Other Final; "Held on the same day as the World Cup Final, this alternative final featured the world’s lowest ranking teams of Bhutan and Montserrat. The project was conceived and filmed by KesselsKramer, with the intention of communicating that football needn’t be so focused on competition. Instead, this sport that crossed all national boundaries could be viewed as a means of bringing people together in fellowship".
Non-Football Recommendation of the Week
- Google Play Movies; Not satisfied with DVD's, your TV provider's movie offering, Netflix OR ye olde cinema? Well fear not, because now you have another alternative. Google Play Movies. Sayeth Google: "Watch your favorite movies and shows instantly on your Android phone or tablet, or on any HDTV using Chromecast. You can also download and watch from anywhere, even when you're not connected".
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