25th February, 2013

Swansea City have won the Capital One Cup! (formerly the Carling Cup, formerly the Coca Cola Cup, formerly the… you get the idea) The Swans defeated league two minnows Bradford City 5-0. It’s the first time a Welsh Side has won an English Trophy since 1927 and naturally the Swansea fans partied long into the night. Leek and Pork Faggots were sold by the dozen, Tom Jones was played loudly and many farmers pretended certain sheep were Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In Manchester, City defeated Chelsea 2-0 in an entertaining match. Carlos Tevez sealing the win with a great goal in the 85th minute, meaning if City win all their remaining matches and Man United lose all theirs they might just go back to back. But they won’t. United have this won.

Back home and this weekend offers a probable A-League Grand Final preview with Central Coast Mariners hosting the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday evening. Will the Wanderers go top in their first season or will the Mariners continue their red hot form of going top then choking in the finals? Tune in on Saturday! Or don’t, you could just read this blog. I’ll report on it. I swear.

In Italy the Milan Derby ended in a 1-1 draw, but AC Milan had the better banners of the two sides.

For those interested “Interista Diventi Pazzo!” is an Anti-Inter song proclaiming them to be delusional, my favourite part being the phrase “dreaming out of your arseholes”

For some reason, Milan always show Inter fans as Ned Flanders. I don’t know why.

With the Comedy Festivals Season now upon us…
[I’m performing at Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane Comedy Festival, Melbourne international Comedy Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival, tickets available through dannymcginlay.com]…
I will be a touch busier than normal. So I am employing some of my football loving friends to help out with a new segment entitled

Why you should support…

Each week a guest columnist will tell you why their club is the greatest team in the world. Beginning with host of the B-League on Fox Sports, Sam Mac! Take it away Samuel….

Why you should support…. MANCHESTER UNITED

When Danny asked me to write a piece for his Football Bluff on why I support Manchester United I responded with two questions;
1) Will I be paid per word? or 2) Will it just be a flat fee for the piece?

After 2-3 days of coming to terms with the concept of doing something for someone for free I realised this was the perfect opportunity
to articulate the point that Manchester United & our fans ARE NOT all about the money. I want you to think of me as Manchester United
for a moment…I’m incredibly successful, I have a lot of money & people admire me all over the world. Now I want you to think of Danny
& his Football Bluff as Wigan Athletic…he still manages to turn up every week, he can afford to eat, & people can never really remember
if he’s in the Premier League or a lower division. My point is, we still need each other. Without the Wigan Athletic’s of the world, Manchester
United would have no one to play (and dramatically improve our goal difference) against.

My love affair with The Red Devils began when I was five years old. My father (an Irish immigrant) gave me a video compilation of a
fellow Irishman named George Best. I was mesmerised. This skinny lad from Belfast was in a class of his own. I immediately told dad
that I wanted a Manchester United Shirt & I wanted to see George Best play for them live. At this point he informed me that George Best had
retired about 15 years earlier.

That initial stumble didn’t waver my enthusiasm for United. One of the things that annoys me the most as a United fan is people accusing
me of “jumping on the bandwagon”. I’ve supported the club since 1986 (the same year Sir Alex arrived) & we didn’t win a league title until
1993. Do you know how difficult it was in those first 8 years when all we had in the trophy cabinet was an FA Cup, a Cup Winners’ Cup, a UEFA Super Cup
& a League Cup? Tough times, very tough times.

I could talk about my love for Manchester United all day (obviously I wont though, as this piece is unpaid) but it boils down to a few key factors…

– George Best, as mentioned earlier, he was my introduction to the club & a very special talent.

– Sir Alex Ferguson, who built an empire & is genuinely a living legend.

– Old Trafford, one of the few stadiums worldwide to perfectly marry the past & the present.

– Eric Cantona, who remains my favourite footballer of all time (slightly ahead of Nikolai Topor Stanley).

In closing, I’d just like to say that when the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you.

Thank you Sam! Follow him on twitter – @mrsammac Go!
If any readers of the Football Bluff would like to contribute or to suggest a famous football fan I should ask to help out drop me a line at dannymcginlay.com and hey, while you’re there why not buy tix to my comedy show??

Goal of the Week:

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18th February, 2013

One of Australia’s most beloved sons is returning home! Socceroos Captain Lucas Neill made the expected announcement that he is coming to the A-League but not to the club we all expected. The media reported all week that Neill would join Melbourne Heart, only for Sydney FC to make a last minute snatch. With Sydney FC already boasting Alessandro Del Piero and Brett Emerton, their salary cap is completely stretched and they are now offering fans a chance to play. $50 gets you one half, $75 a whole match and for $100 you play the whole match and Frank Farina does an Al Pacino impression for the whole day.

In England, the FA Cup continued its surprising journey as Blackburn Rovers defeated Arsenal on Saturday and cash strapped Oldham Athletic drew with Everton. Oldham are so poor at the moment the players were ordered not to swap shirts after the match. But things are tough all over. Chelsea defeated Brentford overnight but only the players who scored goals were allowed to fly their private helicopters home.

It’s been a tough year for AS Roma, currently 8th on the Serie A ladder, however local hero Francesco Totti scored a belter of a goal to beat Juventus 1-0 last night. It was new coach Aurelio Andreazzoli’s first win since taking over from Zdenek Zeman who was wacked, sorry, sacked, at the start of the month.

Liverpool are coming downunder to play an exhibition match against Melbourne Victory at the MCG this July. With Manchester United to play a game in Sydney that same month it will be a great month for Australian round ball fans. Not to be outdone Adelaide are showcasing their own big match featuring a European Powerhouse. Tickets for Adelaide United vs Bristol Rovers reserves will be available soon.

It’s not often I post training videos but this drill by Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev just shows what true team mates can achieve when they work together…

Goal of the week – [Not so much the goal but the assist]

11th February 2013

Due to my best mate’s wedding last night and the arrival of a new baby into my family also last night there’s will be a very quick Football Bluff this week.

England – Man Utd still dominating, they will win the league
Australia – Central Coast Mariners still dominating, they should win the league
USA – With David Beckham gone, apathy back to dominating the league

Thomas Rogic played his first game for Celtic and played brilliantly. Although I’d had a few pints by that stage…

African Cup of Nations won by Nigeria [although I read that in an email so it may be a scam]

Lots of people bet on Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory but match doesn’t appear to be fixed, Victory were just genuinely rubbish.

I was on The B League last night – have a watch, it’s a brilliant show!

Feb 4th, 2013

The Melbourne Derby played out to an almost capacity crowd on Saturday night and the Victory once again took the honours. It was a battle of the goalkeepers and both Nathan Coe and Andrew Redmayne put on brilliant performances. The only negative of the match was the damage done to some seats at Docklands Stadium by the Heart “away” support. The AFL has demanded payment for the damage until they remembered that Docklands is home to the Western Bulldogs and no one was going to be using those seats anyway.

David Beckham has signed for Paris Saint-Germaine! What’s more he’s donating all of the money to a children’s charity. What a guy! Our David, who can barely afford to feed his twelve butlers, donating all his cash to needy French kids! Bugger me, what a bloke! I’m sure it’s absolutely nothing to do with the French income tax rate of 75% on people earning over 1 million euros. Not at all. It’s just that he’s a top notch fella.

There was a bit of embarrassment for Fulham on Saturday when their floodlights went out during their clash with Manchester United. Craven Cottage is a beautiful old stadium but it’s powered by badgers on treadmills under the pitch. The electrical fault was attributed to the badgers being frightened when they caught a glimpse of Wayne Rooney.

The floodlights going out was pretty much the only moment of darkness for United this weekend as their two greatest rivals, Liverpool and City played out a 2-2 which could cost both dearly in the course of their seasons. Steven Gerrard scored a cracking long range shot in the 72nd minute but then Sergio Aguero equalised with an absolute squeaker over the head of the out of position Liverpool goalkeeper. This renders the Premier League all but gone to Man Utd. So now we can focus on the bigger stories – who can take out the mid table honours? Stoke or West Ham? Tune in next week!!!

Clearly Cristiano Ronaldo can’t bear the thought of me not writing about him. Last week I claimed I would not report on the Spanish League as it was too repetitive. Well, Ronaldo has turned that around by scoring a winning own goal for Granada against Real Madrid. The match finished 1-0 and has shocked the Spanish football world. However I will not be bullied by players and I am now stating unequivocally that I will not be reporting on Ronaldo until he signs for Melbourne Victory.

Goal of the Week: