Swan flew over the cuckoo's nest
Telling Cardiff fans to “fuck off” may have been the height of stupidity, but Lee Trundle still deserves an Ireland call-up.
Tony Cascarino, 12 Apr 2006
The Birmingham chairman, David Sullivan, has been criticised for saying his players aren’t worth their wages, but given that City went and drew a few days later with Chelsea I think it was a bit of a masterstroke. If you’re on £40,000 a week, you can afford to have your feelings hurt once in a while!
It was mild stuff compared to what Bernard Tapie used to say and do to us at Marseilles. There was one time after an away defeat when he invited the heads of the Winners, Yankees and ‘84 Ultra groups to come onto the bus and give us a talk, which consisted of all the dreadful things they’d do to us if we lost again the following week. Never in the history of football has there been such a collective pulling out of fingers!
Sticking with France, I was disappointed to hear that Zinedine Zidane has been branded “a traitor to his race” by an Algerian immigrant group who wanted him to side with them over the riots. If Zidane comes out and makes a statement in their favour, he’s going to have every Front National supporter in the country baying for his and his family’s blood, which – given the far-right’s strength in France – is a very dangerous situation to be in. He’s a quiet, unassuming man who’s already done his bit for the Algerian cause by becoming one of the best players of his generation.
It was a rather better week for his Les Bleus teammate Thierry Henry, who was outstanding against a Villa side that’s gone from bad to worse under David O’Leary. If Henry opts to stay with them next season, Arsenal will be part of what I can see being the most competitive title-race since the Premiership was set up. Along with Liverpool and Manchester United, they’re only a player or two short of a squad that can properly compete with Chelsea who, sorry Alex, are still a shoo-in for this year’s silverware. In fact, it could be a five-way contest next time, if Martin Jol’s given £10 or £15 million more to spend at Spurs.
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