The Week That Was

Manchester City just can’t seem to stay out of the news can they? Let’s not even get into injury time arguments – although we have heard that Giggs just made it 5-3 – but Craig Bellamy just can’t help himself, can he? He scores two brilliant goals and rounds it off by slapping a fan.

Obviously the fan was acting like a prat and being a competitive chap Bellamy couldn’t let anyone out-prat him. We made it a score draw although the fact that the bloke was being physically restrained by two stewards before Bellamy’s brave intervention might just have tipped it in the City striker’s favour.

On the subject of City-United (alphabetical order before anyone complains!) you had to love Rio Ferdinand’s belief that Carlos Tevez joined City because he didn’t want to join their ‘real rivals’ Liverpool. Obviously! Tevez’s agent, yesterday.

Meanwhile Crawley’s manager Steve Evans was slapped with a 13-game touchline ban by the FA, we think. It’s actually pretty hard to keep up as he has so many bans running consecutively that if you stick ‘Steve Evans’ into the FA’s search function you get quite a list.

We’re sure Steve isn’t too worried though, in November 2006 he received a one year suspended ban from society (which we think includes the touchline) courtesy of Her Majesty’s Courts after cheating the taxman out of £323,000 to pay Boston players cash in hand.

Flavio Briatore has so much cash and moral fortitude (of course) that he doesn’t need to resort to brown envelopes. Nevertheless the QPR owner could fall foul of the Football League’s fit and proper persons test following his F1 ban – it only took the BBC and Guardian two days to catch up with us, see last week’s TWTW. Obviously we’ve never nicked a story from them! Eat our dust media conglomerates.

Flavio isn’t the only one having trouble with football’s administrators this week. Sol Campbell’s short stay at Notts County means he can’t sign for any other team until January unless he proves he had ‘just cause’ to leave. Quitting ‘just ’cause’ the changing rooms were too little won’t cut it either.

We had an interesting email from Lincoln fan Neil Hobbs earlier this week too. Wikipedia has banned Lincoln’s hardcore, the Passionistas, from having their own entry despite allowing other clubs’ fans the honour – some supporters are more equal than others apparently.

If this is any help Neil feel free to use it in evidence…let them have the entry they deserve Wikipedia or we’ll set Kenneth Dokken on you.

Have a good weekend.