You are making it quite hard for non-English people on here. I don't usually have to look up words on a football forum.

Cheers though, for improving my vocabulary with your intriguing choice of favourite words.

 

That's alright Holland, English is my first language and I haven't got a clue what the f**k PloKs is going on about half the time.

 

Just nod and smile politely. 

I'm not entirely sure Ronay does offer more than that, he just does it in such a style that it feels like he's trying to con me into thinking that he has told me more than he actually has. Granted, he doesn't indulge in rumour or innuendo and it's certainly not paint-by-numbers football journalism but most of the articles of his I have come across read like literary self-gratification.

 

That said, I'd very much like to be convinced otherwise if you have any particular favourite pieces of his; clearly he's intelligent and generally speaking I don't like resenting intelligent writers as it feels a bit like I might miss the high-quality parts as my judgement is clouded by my dislike of the parts which bother me. I particularly enjoy reading well-articulated opinions which disagree with mine as it challenges me to improve my own opinions and often I end up learning something new.

 

I would be interested to hear who your other favourite football writers are. I was tempted to make a thread about it (in light of the amount of time we as a forum spend talking about sh*t journalism) but my list is embarrassingly short for someone who spends so much of his time reading about football.

I don't think I can convince you- ronay's writing is more about style and form than content. his work is of a piece- he doesn't often say anything that scratches beyond a world of surface but I find his writing a welcome respite from other broadsheet coverage which I think can converge on an anodyne homogeny. he takes up slightly contrarian positions and uses nice turns of phrase or use of metaphor to flesh out whatever he's arguing- in the context of football discourse I think there's a place for someone who raises an eybrow and writes arch fluff pieces. he doesn't take himself- or football- too seriously and I like that.

 

there are other writers I like but I wouldn't want to read any writer all of the time and the same applies to football journalism. I like michael cox and jonathan wilson though I disagree with them loads. I like martin samuel, though like most big name writers he has been compromised by being too close to certain players. david conn is good for financial stuff, he's a legitimately good investigative journalist though his support of man city means he is handicapped by cognitive dissonance. marina hyde is another writer who I like for pure entertainment value. lots of the foreign writers are good, marcotti, auclair, honigstein. some journalists are good because they have good club specific sources. some of my very favourite football writers are on here actually but I won't name them cos I'm not a massive sycophant (read: the shed end oscars are too far away to start campaigning for votes).

I don't think I can convince you- ronay's writing is more about style and form than content. his work is of a piece- he doesn't often say anything that scratches beyond a world of surface but I find his writing a welcome respite from other broadsheet coverage which I think can converge on an anodyne homogeny. he takes up slightly contrarian positions and uses nice turns of phrase or use of metaphor to flesh out whatever he's arguing- in the context of football discourse I think there's a place for someone who raises an eybrow and writes arch fluff pieces. he doesn't take himself- or football- too seriously and I like that.

 

Fair enough mate, I think that is a pretty good analysis of him. I also think your tip to take him with a pinch of salt is probably good advice. Certainly I'll keep reading his articles and see if he grows on me after a while; there is no reason to give up on a flawed talent just because I have suspicions that he's a bit of a w**ker, otherwise I'd never be able to listen to any musician ever again.

 

there are other writers I like but I wouldn't want to read any writer all of the time and the same applies to football journalism. I like michael cox and jonathan wilson though I disagree with them loads. I like martin samuel, though like most big name writers he has been compromised by being too close to certain players. david conn is good for financial stuff, he's a legitimately good investigative journalist though his support of man city means he is handicapped by cognitive dissonance. marina hyde is another writer who I like for pure entertainment value. lots of the foreign writers are good, marcotti, auclair, honigstein. some journalists are good because they have good club specific sources. some of my very favourite football writers are on here actually but I won't name them cos I'm not a massive sycophant (read: the shed end oscars are too far away to start campaigning for votes).

 

Cheers for that, looks like we have a fair amount of overlap (Wilson, Cox, Honigstein, Samuel), although there are definitely names on there which are new to me. I also agree that there are plenty of brilliant writers on the forum whom I follow more closely than the vast majority of professional writers (then again I spend more time reading this forum than I do actually reading newspapers).

 

Surprised to hear you like Martin Samuel though, I was sure you'd think he was an idiot. Usually I'm embarrassed to admit I'm a fan of his, although I'm not sure what the reason is for either of those feelings.

 

'anodyne homogeny' is beautiful btw

That's alright Holland, English is my first language and I haven't got a clue what the f**k PloKs is going on about half the time.

 

Just nod and smile politely. 

 

To be fair, that's because I talk nonsense rather than in any particularly complicated way.

Also g4 you have just reminded me that I wrote out 90% of a post for the Shed End Oscars thread but abandoned it right before the end because there was some category or other that I couldn't think of anything funny for. I'm fairly sure it's stashed away in a Notepad file at home, I'll have to finish that tonight.

From Reddit:

 

 

Talk of declining is very premature

Wow!  He gives a foul away on average once every four games.  That's phenomenal for a defender.  In fact, scrub that, every single one of those statistics is phenomenal!

Wow!  He gives a foul away on average once every four games.  That's phenomenal for a defender.  In fact, scrub that, every single one of those statistics is phenomenal!

 

He barely gets booked anymore, his timing and positioning is basically God like. 

Those stats were taken before West Ham.

He now has a booking.

Sack him.

Ah but that was a premeditated, prepared-to-take--it-with-full-knowledge-of-what-I'm-doing-booking.  So it doesn't count.

Haha I challenge you to find any football fan who isn't a hypocrite!

 

Completely agree, it's exactly like when I discovered the word 'dilettante', which fast became my favourite insult and which subsequently got shoehorned into every rant I made which was directed at a person. Thankfully I eventually found that it applied perfectly to Russell Brand; it was only then that I made my peace with 'dilettante' and moved onto 'pusillanimous'.

 

 

Pusillanimous pipsqueak has a good ring to it!

For me, he's going to be our most important player between now and the end of the campaign.

 

It's getting nervy, whether we admit it or not.

 

We need our big players, our experienced players, but most importantly we need leadership and we need bottle.

 

We've got the best in that respect but if JT gets injured, I'll admit I might be hiding behind my sofa.

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/chelsea/story/2366742/john-terry-says-jose-mourinho-remark-helped-inspire-his-chelsea-revival?

Fantastic interview with JT for Chelsea Pitch Owners:

 

http://www.chelseafc.com/fans/chelsea-pitch-owners/cpo-news/the-john-terry-interview-for-cpo.html

 

Speaks about Dennis Wise with undiluted adulation, talks about hilarious tasks as a youth players (like having to sit on toilet seats to warm them up for the senior players), praises the medical team who he calls the 'unsung heroes' and has huge praise for José. Well worth a read.

Also g4 you have just reminded me that I wrote out 90% of a post for the Shed End Oscars thread but abandoned it right before the end because there was some category or other that I couldn't think of anything funny for. I'm fairly sure it's stashed away in a Notepad file at home, I'll have to finish that tonight.

 

 

SO??? Have you done it yet?

SO??? Have you done it yet?

 

I refuse to believe the other 90% was funny, let alone the 10% he couldn't think of anything for. 

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/03/terry-signs-new-deal.html

 

Contract extension signed for another year ! :)

Fantastic news. Thoroughly deserved.

What else can I give you?

Great news he is still able to do such a briliant job

Think he's grown more over the last two years then he did in the 5 before that. Rehabilitated his character in impressive fashion both on and off the pitch.

Would have been crazy not to give him an extension. 

 

Has hands down been the best centre back in the league this season and has been one of the key performers in our title push. 

 

Long may it continue. 

Captain Leader Legend!! ;) So happy now!

BOOOOOM

Was always going to happen, he gets better with age like a fine wine!

See Ya next season Mr Chelsea...