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ShinyDavidHowell

Listed below are comments made by ShinyDavidHowell between Monday, 24th August 2009 and Sunday, 8th November 2009.

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Quotes of the week 4:26pm on 08 Nov 2009 'Vennegoor of Hesselink's second goal of the future earned Hull a critical three points'

Caption below the photo in the Hull-Stoke article on this site, quickly edited out but worth noting for posterity!
Haye does what he has to do 09:37am on 08 Nov 2009 "I'd advise you to disregard the trash-talk, that was just part of the plan. The real Haye is the man who arrived at the Nuremberg Arena with just his trainer and sparring partner in tow. He just wants to do his family, friends and countrymen proud, and he deserves all the plaudits he'll get."

Notwithstanding the occasionally distasteful nature of said trash-talk (and as has been discussed before this fight, Ali and others were guilty of far worse) I entirely agree. Haye knows that he had to sell this fight, perhaps especially knowing that his gameplan was going to make it a bit dull, and he succeeded.

A likely KO of Ruiz will then remind us all of the excitement he can provide, and set up a fight with one of the Klitschkos - wouldn't care to guess which, nor the outcome, but it will certainly be the toughest defence either has faced in some time.

As for winning rounds on the back foot - crikey, if two of the judges in Germany gave it to him by four rounds he must have been dominant!
Anfield's day of destiny 11:41am on 24 Oct 2009 All of the top clubs have shown a bit more vulnerability than we anticipated, none more than Liverpool but none entirely lacking. I can't see Liverpool winning the title, and can see them missing out on the top four, but equally I can see them winning this game and really shaking up the title race further (whether they remain a part of it through winter or not).

With all of that said I'll predict, rather callowly, 1-1.
Button deserves credit for rearguard fight 10:54am on 28 Sep 2009 Button has a very smooth driving style, and that allowed him to win races effortlessly when he had the dominant car.

Since then, it's been a case of him doing what he can and racking up a few lesser-points finishes with a car that has been matched or bettered by Red Bull and possibly others, certainly in cooler conditions (both Button and his car are great at keeping tyres cool, but the exact opposite has been required in several races this year), and hope that no other contenders take their chances. Button delivered on the first, the second was also forthcoming, and now he has one hand on the title.

This sport is about taking the chances you get, be it from your machinery or from race incidents. Button, surely, can be credited for that, and is a worthy champion.

The separate question is who would win the title in equal machinery. I think Button would still be competitive, with points finishes in almost every race, but I reckon Alonso would sneak it thanks to a couple too many DNFs from an aggressive Hamilton.
Life in the old dogs yet 11:54am on 30 Aug 2009 Rooney didn't dive, although I don't doubt he saw a penalty as his best chance to score from that position. I think he was leaning downwards to possibly sidestep the onrushing Almunia, but was taken out anyway. I can, however, see why Wenger thought it a typical OT penalty-from-nothing - it didn't look like one at full speed to me on first viewing, but the first replay made it utterly clear. Good spot from Mike Dean you have to say.

Did Boruc get a touch on Eduardo? I'm not convinced he didn't you know, but Eduardo still over-reacted. That said, Eboue dived under absolutely zero contact yesterday...

Totally agree that the penalties shouldn't be a matter for debate (he says having discussed the second one...) - Arshavin made the first call irrelevant in stunning fashion and the one that did get given was obvious as soon as the replays were shown.

Still, a good performance from Arsenal, worthy of at least a point, and an Arsenal side that has turned a transfer market profit in a summer where everyone seemed to think they had to strengthen have proven that once again they can live with anyone. I can't see their top-four spot being gatecrashed on this evidence, put it that way.
Seconds out as golf and sevens go Olympic 6:15pm on 28 Aug 2009 Womens' boxing will definitely be welcome, if only because it might knock out (pun intended) some preconceptions.

Picking golf has a logic to it, but it's the wrong logic. Squash and sevens were my choices too.
Crowd trouble club-by-club 1:58pm on 28 Aug 2009 'I don't know if anyone has already pointed this out but Man Utd may be top of the list as the stats include ticket touts.'

Fair point, and the vast majority of ticket tout offences relate to Big Four clubs (significantly more than the other 88 combined) but the stats break it down and it's only a small fraction of the total.

With all of this said, what would the typical number of arrests for this many people gathering in a city centre at night be? More than this, that's for sure.
Arsenal's revival faces Man Utd test 1:51pm on 28 Aug 2009 I can see this one being a match that makes one wonder who the home team is - Arsenal having the majority of possession, but United striking with excellent counter-attacks. I think both teams will score, and a 2-1 scoreline either way seems most likely. If pushed, I'd say United simply because close matches (regardless of who's involved) often get decided on refereeing decisions favouring the home side (one reason there are twice as many home wins as away wins in the Premier League and indeed other leagues), and I don't see this being anything but close... contentious refereeing decisions (especially with the Eduardo dive story rumbling in the background) could decide this match.
Crowd trouble club-by-club 7:58pm on 26 Aug 2009 The underlying facts seem to be that football violence is a continuing, but now relatively minor, problem, and that overall disorder is actually impressively low considering the tribal nature of football and the demographics disproportionately attracted to it. I'd love to see comparative figures for concerts (the only gatherings I can think to rival sporting fixtures in this regard - see #78).

The number of Manchester United away arrests is definitely a concern, well spotted #4 (the size of United's fanbase is relevant, but won't come close to explaining a discrepency this big in away fan arrests).

It is certainly worth reading this - what we learn from it is slightly unclear as this discussion proves, but it is valuable that this is public-domain material in my opinion.
Manchester City making waves 1:07pm on 24 Aug 2009 With Liverpool and United it's a bit awkward because there's no doubt their prestige makes them able to splash the cash, and United were unrivalled for many years in exploiting that prestige for profit; however, what they both have in common is highly leveraged takeovers built on questionable levels of debt, creating a very awkward fault line in light of the 'credit crunch' (and it is the credit situation rather than the subsequent recession that is the issue here, although the latter is an exacerbating effect if it reduces revenue). It is right to distinguish Chelsea from them; Liverpool and United have different origins of their wealth, and different reasons to worry about what happens next.

As for City - I predict top-six but not top-four as well, either cup is possible if they luck out (not least because they can field two separate Big Four-quality attacking units) and a Europa League challenge in 2010/1 is very possible. Champions League football may depend on whether any of the Big Four face financial chaos in the next couple of years - if they do, City will be first in line to replace them.

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