A Sticker's Worth 500 Words

I’d like to start by expressing my apologies to Tom Moran for the delay with this long overdue request post – see it as a late wedding present mate. Tom’s reasons for putting today’s subject forward come from the ever-fertile ground of Championship Manager where he succeeded where Bryan Robson and Walter Smith failed and “revitalised Gazza” in no small part thanks to this man’s contributions. I hope this post is equally as restorative. Harry Kane ’s winning goal against Manchester City earlier this month saw him become Tottenham Hotspur’s leading goalscorer surpassing Jimmy Greaves’ longstanding record of 266 goals. It was also the England captain’s 200th Premier League goal putting him third in the competition’s all-time list behind only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer . Among the various articles that appeared in the aftermath of Kane’s most recent achievement was a BBC Sport piece musing over which other top flight clubs could potentially see their all-time goalscoring records broke...

Today Mat Jolin-Beech takes on a long overdue request post on behalf of long time supporter of the blog Peter van Garderen. Today’s subject achieved a lot in his career on the pitch including twelve red cards, the fastest ever recorded yellow card and international captaincy as well as Hollywood fame and the starring role in a Westlife video after his retirement. The last of those maybe takes away from his overall image but you could also argue it displays his impressive range. Over to Mat with the rest. Now, here is a man of many hats. I would say talents, and I will just in case he reads this and decides to hunt me down like we’re in some Cockney gangster movie. Now, to those my age or older, there will be memories of Jones as a footballer. And no, I do not use the term loosely. Not at all. To those my age or younger, and according to his Wikipedia page, he is an actor. I obviously misremember him as a footballer. I thought he was a centre back, but he was actually a defensive midfi...

A few months ago I set cover work for a Year 7 class while I attended a course. In amongst the tasks set was a short Google Quiz including a multiple choice question about the rough date range of the “medieval era”. When I checked my emails after the course I was informed by one student that I was wrong about when the medieval era had occurred because they had Googled it and it had actually ended in 1450 rather than the c.1500 I had suggested. Thanks for that one Google. The Internet has massively shaped the way we communicate and has given us access to a plethora of information. As a teacher it’s probably preferable to receive polite emails informing me of my incompetence from my students rather than being subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse in the classroom but the trust all of us put in search engines is remarkable. Firstly the definition of the “medieval era” depends massively on the part of the world you are studying at the time. Secondly there is often more than one correct an...

This week Richard Allinson takes a look at a former Manchester United man who has gained such notoriety he’s gone from being a potential Pointless answer to a cult hero in his own right. So much so, in fact, that when we put out our last request call on Twitter Simon put his name into the mix. Even the great Sir Alex Ferguson made the odd error when it came to the transfer market but perhaps history has judged today’s subject unfairly. Over to Rich with the rest. Mention the name William Prunier to anyone that watched football in the nineties, and most would immediately label him one of Manchester United’s worst ever players. Considering he only played two games for them, I personally think this is a bit harsh. Either way, there is so much more to the career of the thinking man’s Frank Leboeuf.  Being French it is perhaps unsurprising that he started his career in France. His first club, and the one where he spent most of his professional career, was Auxerre, where he played 221...