Jonathan Northcroft

When Scotland set off for 1978 World Cup there was much optimism that they would ‘shake them up’ but as 6-year-old @jnorthcroft.bsky.social documented it didn’t last too long
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The best intro ever to the Transfers Podcast? 😂

Listen to and watch The Transfers Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Acast + more:
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open.spotify.com/episode/65wp...
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@jnorthcroft.bsky.social @duncancastles.bsky.social

Thomas Frank on the brink at Spurs after latest debacle Tottenham weighing up a change after embarrassing defeat by West Ham means head coach has overseen a torrid run of one win in eight games

www.thetimes.com/article/20f7...

good morning

Dwight Yorke v Steve McClaren for a place at the World Cup.
Caught up with Yorke about his coaching journey - he's driven, driving standards and creating a buzz about his team. Chats with Fergie and little old ladies feature too.
#MUFC #AVFC #Concacaf

thetimes.com/sport/football…

The Business Of The Chicken: 12 hours in Chicken Bazooka Perhaps this venerable, bonkers, mediocre chicken shop is the greasy, indestructible heart of Liverpool

As a big fan of chicken shops and nights out in Liverpool (though has been a while) I loved this. Written by a mate. He captures the scene perfectly - and why we keep coming back, against our better judgement, for "chicken roulette"

open.substack.com/pub/liverpoo...

Thanks Sachin (for the first part of your message!)

Amazing privilege to receive an Honorary Doctorate from #DeMontfortUniversity even if it meant wearing Dundee United colours and looking a bit like Henry VIII. There's a particular energy to DMU - seen in how students celebrated getting their degrees :) Thanks @leemarlow.bsky.social and @dmu.ac.uk

Good on Vitinha for being too embarrassed by that pathetic VAR penalty to take it properly

Don't think you've read the piece

Why Liverpool are a better team since Jurgen Klopp departed German has watched happily as his Bob Paisley — Arne Slot — has improved what he handed over, but was Klopp actually an underperformer? The truth is a little more nuanced

Arne Slot's success raises an awkward question for those (like me) who thought Jurgen Klopp did an incredible job. Was Klopp not the man we thought?
Or...did what he hand on, and how and why he did it, show how good he was?

www.thetimes.com/article/df2b...

...but what were Real Madrid doing with their wall?!

Even better from Rice #horse

Remember David Moyes telling me years ago: "Dec - he's got a kick like a horse"

Feels like there are fewer brilliant free kick goals these days but that was one of the best you'll see from Rice.

The pieces may look like an attack on Guardiola but are not. He's a genius. But believe he (and copiers) went too far down the road of positioning and control, leading to football less effective/attractive than before.

His recent comments/changes at City suggest he may even partly agree.

How Jack Grealish became a symbol of game’s lost flair Pep Guardiola is undoubtedly a genius but he has turned Jack Grealish from a maverick whose dribbling stole the nation’s heart to Man City’s ‘rest station’

This on Jack Grealish.

www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

How Pep Guardiola and data destroyed game’s beautiful variety Ever felt like Premier League clubs now all play the same? You may be right, as The Times’s data team reveal the stats behind top flight’s growing and underwhelming uniformity

Our paywall is down this weekend and all Times and Sunday Times content is free 🧵

I wrote these two pieces in December about football losing variety and flair through coaching that takes the agency away from players.

This on the general theme 👇

www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

😄👍

He's right up there with Henry, I think. And his record when it counts is so good - he's not the guy who knocks in the 3rd and 4th goals in a 4-0 win. He scores /creates when it's important and gets better in the big games. I love that.

Salah could do a Rubik's cube with the outside of that foot

Cheers Eck. Loved the trip. Leverkusen may be the Aberdeen (1980s) of Germany. How well did your team play last night???!

No one has plotted career as impeccably as Xabi Alonso. Next stop, Real? From ‘Neverkusen’ to ‘Neverlosing’, Xabi Alonso’s impact in Germany has been compared to a UFO landing and he is now regarded as Carlo Ancelotti’s heir apparent

Great trip to Leverkusen, getting to understand the rise of a clever but grounded club - and the Xabi Alonso effect.
My god he's good.
Wouldn't mind watching that football for €17/game.
Xabi loves details and the bashed up bin in the away dressing room is one.

www.thetimes.com/article/5142...

yes except Madrid suddenly became Ali circa 1965 in the last ten minutes, as they somehow do

City v Real Madrid: great entertainment but essentially because it's so ragged.

Both sides poor versions of themselves at the moment.

How teams are embracing chaos to upset the Pep Guardiola school of tactics Manchester City manager’s rigid positional play appears to be losing its edge as more risk-embracing styles bring Premier League rewards for a new breed of coaches

Ideas lose power, revolutions fade.

I've felt this for a while, watching positional (Pep-style) football.

Players who once wowed playing safe or touching the ball 4 times in a half. Patterns we've all seen before.

There are other ways to play...as 24/25 shows.

www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Why Liverpool trust Richard Hughes, the man who signed Slot and Iraola Richard Hughes, who built team at Bournemouth, has shown how clever deals and letting players like Ryan Gravenberch develop can benefit club more than flashy signings

Richard Hughes. Know it's an unpopular opinion, but I think he's quite good at his job.

From hiring Slot to getting it right on Gravenberch to bringing Iraola to England to putting this brilliant Bournemouth squad together...some of the reasons are in here:

www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

How Brendan Rodgers 2.0 evolved into one of Britain’s best managers The 51-year-old may have matured but he is no less hungry for success as he bids to take his Celtic side as far as possible in the Champions League

Brendan Rodgers 2.0. His second coming in Glasgow.

He has had a sustained career of fine football and achievements but his current work at Celtic might prove his best yet.

www.thetimes.com/article/326b...

Now THAT's a midfield

Jonathan Northcroft - Aberdeen, England, Fergie and the Foxes - markgordon.media Jonathan Northcroft is a football correspondent for The Sunday Times with nearly 30 years of experience mixing with the greats of the game.

NEW!!

Sunday Times football correspondent Jonathan Northcroft is one of the very best in the business.

We talk about his time in football from Aberdeen to Leicester, Sir Alex Ferguson to David Moyes, England and much more!! @jnorthcroft.bsky.social
markgordon.media/jonathan-nor...

Hugh McIlvanney said Denis Law was the only British footballer who would have got into Brazil's divine 1970 team.

His finishing was razor sharp, cheeky, as refined as art.

Aberdeen's greatest.

And just a lovely man who wore his greatness lightly, with a twinkle in his eye.