Welcome to this, the hundredth edition of Football Circus. It's been quite the journey to get this far and we've no plans to stop inundating you on a weekly basis with football-based nonsense. Given the occasion, we've a special edition for you this week. We report on some false teeth making an appearance at Wembley, Hollywood star Vigo Mortensen's Jose Mourinho hatred and a pig-imitating tiger mascot, fireworks and a referee attack in Brazil. We bring your usual Mario Balotelli and Italian football news and most importantly, we this week have our very first interview. Michael J. Browne who painted 'The Art of the Game' spoke to us this week about his famous painting, Eric Cantona, Mario Balotelli and more...So without further delay, have a read of Football Circus 100...
Football Circus Clown Quote of the Week
"I think Tottenham have a team of legs that are looking good".
- Peter Taylor proves he is very much still in touch with the game since being out of management.
Absolutely Dental! Walsall Fan Brought Dad's Lucky False Teeth to Wembley
Way back on 13th May 2013, in our eleventh edition, we featured a story regarding false teeth being thrown onto a pitch. A whole 89 editions later, we can finally bring you another false teeth-related story. That's thanks to Walsall fan Jason Bailey, who revealed in an interview with the Daily Mirror, his plans to take his late father's lucky false teeth to Wembley at the weekend as his side took on Bristol City in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final.
It wasn't the first time Bailey took the gnashers to a match. He explained to the Mirror, how he brought the false teeth to the 2001 Division 2 play-off final, two years after his dad had passed away:
"We were losing 2-1 and I took the teeth out of my pocket, spoke to my dad for some inspiration for the team, gave the teeth a kiss and a hug, said a little prayer and we came back from losing 2-1 and won the match 3-2.
"It’s sort of like a lucky emblem and all the big, important games I’ve started taking the teeth with me.
"He was a big practical joker, he was always playing jokes with his false teeth, dropping them into pints and various pranks.
"They always brought happy memories for me so me and the teeth will be having another little journey, off to Wembley to see the final".
As Jim Morrison once sang, people are strange.
(For the record, Walsall lost the match 2-0).
Viggo Mortensen Hates Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho's list of detractors is a long one and includes many big names, including Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez and Roy Keane. The latest name to be added to the list is a rather peculiar one - Danish actor Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen, who has starred in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Carlito's Way and A History of Violence, bizarrely revealed to Grantland.com, that despite finding him entertaining, he loathes the Special One.
Said Mortensen:
"Well, there’s a real character whom I loathe but find entertaining — José Mourinho, the coach of Chelsea. I like Real Madrid, and when Mourinho coached them, he basically destroyed the team psychologically. The damage he did to the fan base and the whole structure of the club will last for a while.
"He was playing a match two days ago in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. It was the return match, and Chelsea had the advantage of an away goal in their first match, and it was unlikely that things were going to go well for Paris.
"He was playing a match two days ago in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. It was the return match, and Chelsea had the advantage of an away goal in their first match, and it was unlikely that things were going to go well for Paris.
"Then partway through the first half, Paris unfairly had a player thrown out. So they were playing 10 against 11. Chelsea should have creamed them. But it ended up being an epic 120 minutes, with comeback after comeback, and even though Paris was playing with a numerical disadvantage, they kept playing really beautiful, pure football, and Chelsea was just playing not to lose.
"In the last minutes of regulation time, Paris tied it up, and in the last minutes of extra time, they tied it again. Since they had two away goals compared to the one away goal Chelsea had, Paris went through. It was great, dramatic. It was almost like watching a movie".
Bedlam in Brazil - Fireworks, Tiger Mascot imitates Pig, Ref gets Clotheslined
It's been a week of madness in Brazil. It seemed apt that our 100th edition would feature at least one story from Brazil given how often the country has appeared on Football Circus -From Ronaldinho and Adriano's antics, to riots, to animals on pitches; it's the gift that just keeps on giving. And this week would appear to be as crazy as ever in the home of samba soccer.
First up we have Gremio fans who attempts at putting off opposition players went a little too far when they decided to throw a firework at the goalkeeper. Luckily, the keeper dived out of the way in time to avoid injury. Needless to say, the goal that directly followed the firework was disallowed. Gremio are now likely to face sanctions.
Meanwhile the Sao Bernardo mascot is in trouble after he mocked Palmeiras fans by making pig gestures...all the while dressed as a tiger. The referee was so displeased with the pig-like actions that he saw fit to send off the mascot and send him to the dressing room.
In a 'VH1 - Behind the Music' style moment, the man inside the tiger costume, Anderson Ferreira, has issued an apology:
"It was an in the moment thing. I thought I’d play, because my parents are Palmeiras fans and they take such things well, but I regret it, because I probably should be punished".
Finally in Brazil, a lower league encounter between Jacuipense and Juazeirense saw an infuriated midfielder by the name of Meidson Maciel, take the law into his own hands. With his team Jacuipense 3-1 down, Maciel let his frustration get the better of him. He attacked the referee with a clothesline that Hulk Hogan would be proud of and now faces a 12 month ban.
What's Mad Mario upto this Week?
Balo failed to start in Liverpool's gargantuan clash with bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday. The day prior, however, he posted a rather odd video to Instagram where he announced:
"I support Liverpool, no matter what, I support Liverpool - especially tomorrow.
"But remember: I do what I want, I do what I want, and remember - yes, no, yes, no. Cool".
This followed an angry rant last week, where Balo told his critics to "shut up":
Balo did manage to make an appearance as a substitute in Sunday's game, but made little impact, though he did earn himself a yellow card. That could have been followed by a sending off, as the Italian appeared ready for a fight after getting tangled up with United's Chris Smalling and falling into the hoardings. Liverpool fans were shown to hold Balo back though and he later showed his gratitude through a Facebook message which read:
"Besides all efforts the game didn’t go our way. But one thing was real clear: I wasn’t alone on the pitch. YNWA".
Meanwhile, Super Mario's former manager Roberto Mancini has said he hopes the striker can turn things around at Liverpool. In an interview with CNN Sport, Mancini stated:
"I think that it's important that Mario starts -- or restarts -- to think only about football. Not the other things that are around him.
"It depends on Mario. If Mario wants to do it, he can do it.
"I hope that they can do a good job with Mario because I think they spent a lot of money for him.
"Mario has a big chance because he plays for a top club like Liverpool. He has a good manager. He can play again in the Premier League - that, for me, is one of the best championships in the world. And I don't think that he can lose this chance, because Liverpool is a top club, and Mario is a top player".
Italian Football Story of the Week
- 'Keep Calm and Carry On' Message from Mancini
Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini has not had a successful start to his second tenure in charge of the team. The Neazzurri have had a woeful campaign in Serie A and currently lie 9th in the table, with 2015/16 Champions League football looking all the more unlikely by the day. Mancini is unperturbed however and has said in an interview with Tuttosport that he does not feel like a man under pressure.
Said Mancini:
"I’m not under pressure.
"Instead I’m regretful because Inter have improved but we’re not getting results. However, I’m not a Coach under pressure.
"We’re just in a moment when everything is going wrong. Against Cesena we created 10 scoring chances, against Wolfsburg their goalkeeper made three or four decisive saves and we were on par with Sampdoria on Genoa in Sunday, we played a good game.
"We have to try to finish the season well to give us a platform to build on for next season. The problem is that we had to start from scratch, and despite that we’ve had some good performances.
"We’ve had, at most, a couple of bad games, apart from rare exceptions we’ve always been competitive.
"At the moment the results aren’t coming, and there’s the tendency to see everything in a negative light, but we must be able to look a little further.
"We’ve been working for a few months, and you can’t reinvent a team in such a short space of time.
"In Italy, unfortunately, people want everything right away but to build a team doesn’t just take two, three or five months, it takes more time. Not seven years, but more time".
Artist's Impression of the Week
- 'The Art of the Blog'; Football Circus celebrates its 100th edition.
Football Recommendation of the Week
- Off-Foot. Soccer; "Off-Foot Soccer represents a creative collaboration between artist Case Jernigan and Anderson Fariss, two soccer fans in New York".
Non Football Recommendation of the Week
- TouchWood; Irish indie rock band, well worth checking out. With some new material out soon ('A Million Miles Away'), keep an eye on their official Facebook page.
Michael J. Browne Interview
Finally this week, we spoke with Michael J. Browne who famously painted 'The Art of the Game', a piece which is on show in the National Football Museum in Manchester and features Eric Cantona, Sir Alex Ferguson and a number of 'Fergie's Fledglings'.
*FC denotes Football Circus; MB denotes Michael Browne
FC: Michael, thanks for taking the time to talk to Football Circus. You're perhaps known for your football-related paintings and 'The Art of the Game' is probably your most recognisable. Could you tell us a little about how the painting came to be?
MB: Ok. I originally wrote to Eric regarding doing a different painting of him. But he was not interested.
I then decided to start a different painting some months later. Large scale. I got a sponsor and a location, Barca, in Castlefield, Manchester, to do the painting.
I was about 2 weeks into it when he appeared there one morning. So I approached and asked if he was interested to be involved. I think he knew I was planning using him as the subject. He said yes. So we chatted. And a week later he posed for pics. He visited regularly to see the progress.
A long 10 months later. the painting was completed
A month before completion, the Manchester city art gallery staff came to have a look and offered to unveil it a month following.
FC: Eric Cantona took pride of place in 'The Art of the Game' and you mentioned he checked on the painting's progress a number of times. Have you had many encounters with the great man since?
MB: Yes. But not for a long time.
I did a drawing of him for charity.
He signed a 100 prints for me.
I bought him an art book for his birthday.
I later delivered the finished painting to his home and we went for a meal.
A while later, I had limited edition prints made of that. So I visited him in Paris for the day to get them signed. They had to be sent by flight in a crate. They were large prints.
A while later, I had limited edition prints made of that. So I visited him in Paris for the day to get them signed. They had to be sent by flight in a crate. They were large prints.
Three years ago I drove to his parents home in the south of France to collect the painting for an exhibition at the National Football Museum in Manchester. It's still on display there now.
FC: Cantona aside, have you bumped into many more big names from football?
MB: Yes, though not who I would have expected. Apart from going to the United training ground to photograph players for other work (e.g. Rooney, Ferdinand, Giggs), I was doing a new work in a Manchester restaurant, and behind me the whole Manchester City squad and their wives turned up and sat behind me to have their Christmas dinner!
I spoke to Frank Lampard quite a lot and his wife. Frank likes his art. Vincent Kompany took a pic of Frank and I.
And Pablo Zabaletta approached me to inquire about work.
We had some amusing discussions about my Cantona postcards which were on my table. You should have seen Vincent's face!
We had some amusing discussions about my Cantona postcards which were on my table. You should have seen Vincent's face!
FC: 'The Art of the Game' famously featured a number of 'Fergie's Fledglings'and...John Curtis. Any idea what John is upto these days?
MB: To be honest I have no idea. These younger players were all England team players and hopefuls as well. I don't know what happened to John.
FC: What is it about football that has inspired so many of your paintings?
MB: Many things! Renaissance images often have controversial subjects in their theme. Football has controversial subjects today. Especially through the media's eyes - as judge and jury. Just as the situation was for people in history during the Renaissance. So I align the two.
FC: Interesting...that leads nicely onto our next question...
'The Art of the Game' was completed in 1997. How has the game changed, in your view, since then and do you feel football still has characters who are comparable to likes of Cantona and Ferguson?
MB: At that time, with the end of Eric and the emergence of Beckham, it suddenly became all about branding players as commercial entities.The money was as much about merchandising rights, as it was about wages.
That was my impression.
The football characters are still there. But they seem better at manipulating the press.
For example, in the game against Arsenal a couple of months ago...Rooney seemed to do the identical goal celebration in the corner of the pitch, as was featured on the back page of the Sun newspaper in a betting advert. Also, just recently he stages his celebration on the knockout punch from the day before, when he was featured in the papers appearing to be knocked out!
It's like it's almost staged.
I think the players are getting better at manipulating the press today. Whereas before, players were more the victims. It's just my guess.
Instead of just seeing Rooney facing up to refs, he now has his kids by his side more often.
FC: You recently completed a Louis Van Gaal piece. What are your views on how he is performing in his first year as Man United manager?
MB: Unfortunately people are drifting away a bit. Up until Christmas I had my eyes glued to every game. But then United started losing games they should have won!
Van Gaal appears to treat each team as if they are all Chelsea, or City. That's just my opinion.
But fans are getting angry because we could have been in a great position at the top of the table, if we hadn't let those post Christmas results happen.
The jury is still out on the manager. He is either mercurial, or he doesn't fit United. It's an indication if players he just bought are not performing to their proven reputation.
The jury is still out on the manager. He is either mercurial, or he doesn't fit United. It's an indication if players he just bought are not performing to their proven reputation.
FC: You've painted quite a few Manchester United focused pieces and you've painted a few boxers too. Are there any non-United players you'd ever consider painting and if so, who?
MB: I wanted to paint Mario Balotelli. Large scale. I had set the painting up and got a sponsor. But I just could not get to meet Mario.
He has polarised opinions. An interesting subject. I don't know if it is too late now.
But I could paint most players to be honest.
FC: What are you currently working on and do you have anymore football pieces in the pipeline?
MB: I am now working on a 5 metre by 1.5 metre painting, showing Manchester's achievements.
Themes from the industrial revolution until recently. It's in Gusto restaurant, Manchester.
There are always football themed paintings in my mind because of the characters and situations in the game. But I have to decide after I have finished my current painting.
FC: Lastly, who do you consider to be the biggest clown in football and why?
MB: I know many people will say Balotelli. I just think he gets into unfortunate situations. He's a rebel. But it's not working. But I want to address that in a painting. Because there is much more to the man, than the press bother to look at. Which relates to a previous question, and my answer: Media, judge and jury.
FC: Michael, you're an absolute gent, thanks for taking the time to talk.
You can follow Michael on twitter @michaelbrowne77
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