Rory Smith

This is fair. There is, regrettably, a lot more of the M62 than that.

You should be able to read all of it. Martin has done little to suggest he should stay. But I think there's a bigger issue of how quickly the fans turn as soon as the spectre of not overtaking Celtic appears.

Russell Martin caught in ferocity of Old Firm’s unhealthy... Rangers manager’s methods need time but that is one thing that Glasgow’s derby pressure never allows

A test for whether Bluesky is a healthier environment than Twitter: I broke my own self-imposed rule and wrote about football in Glasgow. I think the toxicity of the Old Firm/Glasgow derby is holding BOTH clubs back. I say this with love. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

The Champions League league phase is underway and Matchday 1 concludes tonight. But does is the new format conducive to more exciting games? @jonawils.bsky.social explains:

Libero: Libero 053: The Things That Matter As The Champions League Returns The Champions League is back. Or more specifically, the league phase, which starts with matchday one spread over the course of this week.On today’s episode, Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Horncastle and...

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Welcome back to the Champions League! Can anyone challenge PSG this year?

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The Correspondent Newsletter has FLOWN 📫

This week, @rorysmith.bsky.social touches on:

🤔 The PL's 20 most interesting players
💙 A Grealish for the Labubu generation
🌳 The English top-flight's wildest owner
🤍 Why Spurs fans might miss Daniel Levy

READ IT HERE: mibcourage.co/4gkf9b3

The Correspondent w/ Rory Smith A look at the places, history, humanity, and flavors that make football that most interesting of obsessions.

And if you like it, feel free to sign up to receive it straight to your inbox every week -- FOR FREE -- so that I don't have to remind you on here the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com

The Triumph of Transfer Culture 📊 Rory Smith on the 24/7 game happening off the pitch.

This week's @meninblazers.bsky.social newsletter tries to explore how transfer culture got bigger than actual football, and what that means for how we interact with players, how we watch the game, and who we are as fans.

the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/transfer-w...

No, just at the mercy of word counts. I have lots more stuff to say about it, but limited space in which to say it.

The myth and mystery of Indy Kaila: the X account that ‘w... For 13 years an anonymous social media account has posted transfer gossip to the delight – and despair – of fans

I’d been fascinated by a mystery all summer. It was an itch I had to scratch. A question burning in my brain.

Was…was Indy Kaila now a legitimate news source?

An investigation into the man/men/myth legend who has dominated this transfer (gossip) window. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

The Correspondent w/ Rory Smith A look at the places, history, humanity, and flavors that make football that most interesting of obsessions.

As of today, I am back in the newslettering game, thanks to the lovely people at Men In Blazers. If you -- yes, you -- want to read the first one, and get a free map, then you should enter your email and no other personal details here. the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe

It was not, but that sounds good. The book in question is Evil Genius, by Kurt Andersen, which isn't about PE and football but is (in part) about PE more generally. Sorry if that wasn't made clear. It's worth reading, though.

OK, yeah, that makes sense. But as things stand now surely the only team even vaguely economically capable of competing with Celtic long-term is Rangers. As good as Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee Utd were at times last year

Libero: Libero 033: Can We Not Just Be More Like Wimbledon? On today’s episode Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss the Club World Cup, where James saw the start of the tournament, with Rory now in New York to see its climax. They as...

And the second is about what that means for all of the other sports, and for football itself. I wouldn’t normally say this about something I’m involved with but I think they’re really interesting conversations. pod.fo/e/2f80e6

We’ve now done two @liberopodcast.bsky.social episodes on whether football has grown too big for its own good. The first is mainly about why it is that one sport grew so much, so fast, in the 1990s. pod.fo/e/2f5917

“At best a middling journalist” is, in all fairness, a great line

You didn’t say an article from me. I didn’t cover that game for work, but a quick google of my name and Newcastle will give you a fair idea. I have no idea why you think my view is shaped by who I support and your view is not. This is now a pointless conversation, though, so have a good day.

Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win: part feelgood story, part PR triumph for dictator state ambition | Barney Ronay Newcastle United’s historic trophy is euphoric for fans and a significant victory for Saudi Arabia. Both things can be true

Not wanting countries to own clubs is a Liverpool fan trope? And here you go: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The last one just isn’t true. There’s been loads of coverage of Newcastle’s ownership. I’d say that comparing sponsorship and ownership is stretching it to make your argument work better. No ownership is pure, I agree with you. But that doesn’t make them all the same.

They had a clear plan early on, and executed it. PSG have kind of bounced around trying to figure out what works. But to be fair they have also won the CL quicker than City did.

That’s a very blanket description, and seems to me a really reductive approach.

Paris St-Germain complete their long journey to supreme prize | The Observer Inter Milan swept away as French champions run up record-breaking score in Munich

PSG have won the Champions League, at long last, and all it took was eight managers, 14 years, £2bn in transfer fees, more in wages, one hyperinflationary spiral and the complete restricting of European football. Easy to love the team. Less so the project. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

The Champions League Final Is Here 🏆 Rory Smith on the disrespect of Lautaro Martínez, Inter Milan and PSG's first-ever meeting, and the best brezels in Munich.

Absolutely delighted to be writing, as well as talking, for @meninblazers.bsky.social. Newsletter will go out every Thursday, and you can read the first one — about Lautaro Martinez, and how we judge players — and sign up here: mibcourage.co/4kDA7CG

Libero: Libero 021: Champions League Final, Premface Edition Today on Libero Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and James Horncastle look forward to Saturday’s Champions League final between Paris Saint Germain and Inter Milan.First up is the question of what ac...

Talking Saturday's Champions League final with two of the biggest Premfaces out there, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social and @rorysmith.bsky.social. On today's @liberopodcast.bsky.social

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Libero: Libero 019: The James Horncastle Origin Story Dispatches from the Libero's Bilbao Bureau bring word of an all-English European final that was not the greatest advert for the 'Best League in the World™', so instead James Horncastle, John Brew...

Dispatches from Libero's Bilbao Bureau bring word of an all-English final that was not the greatest advert for the 'Best League in the World™', so instead @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, @brewin.bsky.social and @rorysmith.bsky.social discuss the Italian perspective on football in 2025

Inside the world of Superbikes: ‘It is not a job or a hobby. It is a life’ | The Observer Two deaths a fortnight ago have failed to dispel the turbocharged allure of the motorsport for riders

The only time most of us engage with motorbike racing is when someone dies. I’d always wondered how they managed to race on when they’d lost a friend and a colleague. But I didn’t understand how being so conscious of death changes the way you interact with it. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

Ah that’s very kind of you

Libero: Libero 016: Don Carlo On today’s episode of Libero, Rory Smith, John Brewin and James Horncastle wonder whether anyone not named Carlo Ancelotti can make sense of the modern Real Madrid, and assess the prospects for X...

Carlo and Caipirinhas. An Italian in Brazil. The cultural moment. And what he has left for Xabi in Madrid with @rorysmith.bsky.social and @brewin.bsky.social

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It’s not on the Guardian — they’re separate entities now. Which one was it? (And was he nice about it?)

Libero: Libero 012: Marathon Wolf Hall Sessions Today’s episode starts with a look to the Arctic circle, where Bodo/Glimt have become one of the best stories in European football this decade. The small club from northern Norway have won four o...

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What are the secrets of Bodo/Glimt and can their success be easily emulated?

And a look at Liverpool’s title celebration at Anfield. What does it mean for the fans, Arne Slot and FSG?

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