26 January MW21 Part 2 SYMMETRY The five matches over the weekend yielded 18 goals with Saturday’s games involving five goals each, Sunday’s four each and Monday’s none. Arsenal’s 5-0 thrashing of Palace match not as evenly distributed as Brentford’s 3-2 victory over Forest. Substitute Gabriel Martinelli’s late brace came in added time with theContinue reading “Premier League Nuggets 2023/24”
Category Archives: Brighton
2023/24 Premier League Nuggets
5 December MW20 GOALLESS IN STRATFORD As has been pointed out here many times, this season has seen a glut of goals. In the first nine games of MW20 there had already been 35 including the usual slugfest that is Liverpool Newcastle which ended 4-2 (not quite one of the 4-3 classics from 1996 andContinue reading “2023/24 Premier League Nuggets”
From playing ‘Football Manager’ to improving Guinea-Bissau’s squad – the story of Jack C. 2.0
In the late 1980s and early 1990s Jack Charlton oversaw the Republic of Ireland’s status as a football nation shift dramatically from also-rans to a top 10 FIFA ranking, taking them to a World Cup quarter-final along the way. Charlton was responsible for casting the net for potential players far and wide, searching through theContinue reading “From playing ‘Football Manager’ to improving Guinea-Bissau’s squad – the story of Jack C. 2.0”
Premier League Nuggets 2023/24 season
Each week throughout the season The Football Mine will share a couple of choice Premier League Nuggets for your delectation, whetting your appetite for the forthcoming matches. Week 1 In Week 1 of last season’s Premier League there were four own goals, which set the pace for the third highest number of own goals inContinue reading “Premier League Nuggets 2023/24 season”
Premier League Nuggets
As the thirtieth Premier League season is over, it is high time for some Nuggets, all 30 of them firstly club-by-club, and then some generic ones. 1. Starting with Arsenal who lost more games (13) than Brighton (11) & Palace (12) but won more (22) than Chelsea (21). 2. Next up it’s Aston Villa –Continue reading “Premier League Nuggets”
The welcome return of the 12th man and home comforts
When Everton squeaked past Chelsea last weekend it provided a huge boost to the Toffees’ chances of survival, something that was celebrated with raucous gusto by the Goodison crowd of over 39,000. The influence exerted by the home supporters that started the night before and reached a climax in the last frenetic minutes of theContinue reading “The welcome return of the 12th man and home comforts”
Own Goal of the season – the Richard Dunne trophy
Stats c/o premierleague.com Inspired by the prospect of the 1,000th Premier League own goal being imminent towards the end of last season I wrote several pieces on football’s brand of self-inflicted wounds. Starting with this one in February https://bit.ly/3dNMEo4, followed by Part two in March https://bit.ly/3cr5Rem and culminating with the finale in April https://bit.ly/3uWihkQ. HatsContinue reading “Own Goal of the season – the Richard Dunne trophy”
Botafogo and Crystal Palace: From Rio to South London – a match made in Heaven?
[Thanks to Tomas Martinez for the photo of Botafogo Bay c/o Unsplash.com and also to Robbie Blakeley @rio_robbie for his insight] John Textor’s investment in Brazilian club Botafogo has led to an unlikely transatlantic alliance between Rio de Janeiro and South London. After Textor announced his interest a few weeks ago there was a rashContinue reading “Botafogo and Crystal Palace: From Rio to South London – a match made in Heaven?”
Queens Park Book Festival with Pat Nevin and Ricky Hill
At last weekend’s Queens Park Book Festival I had the pleasure of hosting a football panel with Pat Nevin and Ricky Hill, who both had books published earlier this year. A common theme that unites the two former internationals is that, for different reasons, both were considered as outsiders within the football world, for exampleContinue reading “Queens Park Book Festival with Pat Nevin and Ricky Hill”
Decline and Fall of The Super League
The dust barely had time to form let alone to settle when the whole edifice came tumbling down. As fans gathered outside Stamford Bridge to express their opposition to the formation of the Super League there were already cracks appearing within the dozen clubs. The protests had been gathering ever since the news broke onContinue reading “Decline and Fall of The Super League”
The Football Mine 