Chelsea's Foundation Of Steel

By Shane Thomas

Remember Jose Mourinho's "little horse" press conference from last season? After beating eventual champions, Manchester City, he claimed his team were ill-equipped to make a challenge for the Premier League. The press understandably lapped up the pithy soundbite, but that wasn't the most significant utterance from the Portugese. "Next season..." he declared - continuing the equine metaphor - "...we can race."

The Politics of Sport - Waiting For Change

By Shane Thomas

"The whole recruitment process needs to be more professional, more diverse, and equality-wise, fairer. We've struggled to do that." - Gordon Taylor

"There is no racism in football... If you are good, you get the job... Football is not stupid to close doors to top people." - Jose Mourinho

United in Grief

By Shane Thomas

As the postmortems and retrospectives of David Moyes' compendiary spell as Manchester United are written, I had to join the punditocracy by penning my own thoughts.

Beware The Little Horse

By Shane Thomas

Not long ago, I threw some self-indulgent shade at Chelsea re-hiring Jose Mourinho last summer. However, after their accomplished 1-0 win over Manchester City on Monday, the media narrative appears to be showing the Portugese much favour.

The Three Horse Race

By Shane Thomas

NOTE: Please bear in mind, that the predictions in this piece may change, and are based on the squads on the respective teams as of 13th August.

Mourinho and Chelsea: The Perfect Match

By Shane Thomas

So, it's official. A special one returns. It bears stating that Jose Mourinho's first press conference in England is alongside Bob Geldof's, "Give me the money!" in terms of memorably misquoted utterances. Despite what the press would have you believe, Mourinho never dubbed himself, "The Special One." He dubbed himself, "A special one."

Want Gods And Superheroes? Then Stick To Fiction.

By Shane Thomas

People love stories. Particularly tales of greatness. A major reason why this summer's Olympics held Britain in such thrall was the daily accounts of athletes finding the best of themselves. We had yarns such as the woman who grabbed her last chance of glory (Katherine Grainger), the chosen one adored by her public (Jessica Ennis), or the wounded king who ruthlessly crushed those who would usurp him (Usain Bolt). This wasn't just running and jumping. These men and women are the gods of our time.

La Decima: Real's Obsession. Mourinho's Salvation

By Shane Thomas

When Real Madrid president Florentino Perez moved to get Jose Mourinho as the head coach of Los Blancos, it seemed something of a no-brainer. Mourinho had just delivered an unprecedented treble for Inter Milan, with the coup de grace being a 3rd European Cup/Champions League title. This was all the more significant as it was Inter's first since 1965 - despite their worldwide renown, Inter had been perennial underachievers in Europe's top tier competition.

The Gambler Who Could Afford To Keep Rolling The Dice

By Shane Thomas


It's seldom that a person succeeds in any walk of life without having something of a gambler's instinct. Playing it safe only gets you so far, and in football, Roman Abramovich is a man who's rolled the dice ad nauseum.

El Clasico - Here We Go Again

By Shane Thomas

In football parlance, the phrase "clasico" refers to a match between two marquee sides. You know the type, the Manchester United's, AC Milan's and Bayern Munich's of this world. Well, contests between Real Madrid and Barcelona have become so big that they have been dubbed, "el gran clasico". This is an occasion where the febrile hype is justified. Real and Barca is not a "clasico", it's the "clasico".

Lambs To The Slaughter - The Massacre Of Real Madrid

By Shane Thomas

BARCELONA 5-0 REAL MADRID

Barcelona put on a five-star show in the Camp Nou last night to seize control of the title race in Spain. Real Madrid's heretofore unbeaten league run came to an end in the midst of one of the finest performances in Barcelona's history.