JACK IT IN?
Gareth Southgate has previously played down comparisons between Jack Grealish and Paul Gascoigne. It was increasingly difficult to avoid drawing one in the past week, though, as Manchester City tucked into a few drinks to celebrate their Champions League final success against Internazionale, a result that completed a trophy treble. Grealish, a skilful playmaker like Gascoigne, was exceptionally well-lubricated in the aftermath of that nervy 1-0 win in Istanbul. As he stumbled around between planes, trams and open-top bus parades, it evoked memories of some of the most “legendary” Gascoigne moments; visions of the great man sporting a pair of fake plastic breasts or burping into a microphone, all the while leaving the likes of his Lazio clubmate, Aaron Winter, astonished by his booze-fuelled routine.
When he was England manager, Graham Taylor once remarked that Gascoigne might do well to look at how he “refuelled” himself. And the abundantly talented Gascoigne’s drinking ultimately led him to a public battle with addiction (as well as, arguably, some of the injuries that hampered his career). That’s not to say Grealish is the same as Gascoigne, of course, or indeed that his career is heading in a similar direction. But as Southgate correctly said, there is a line.
Pep Guardiola’s recent admission that City drank “all the alcohol in Manchester” to celebrate winning the Premier League was an interesting counterpoint to Southgate’s words – and one that may have caused a few raised eyebrows over in Abu Dhabi. It was a treble, though – so why shouldn’t Grealish have celebrated with as much gusto as he saw fit? There is the whole role model thing, but the most obvious answer is that he happens to be in the England squad for tonight’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Malta, even if City’s players are expected to be rested before the next Group C appointment, on Monday against North Macedonia.
Friday’s match aside, the subtext to Southgate’s gentle suggestion is that he believes Grealish did cross the line with his conduct in recent days. From a manager who chooses his words as carefully as Southgate, this amounted to a pointed and public dressing-down. Grealish, like the rest of his teammates, truly deserved to celebrate their achievement. But you do have to wonder if he’ll remember much of the party.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Tim de Lisle for live coverage of Malta 0-4 England, and check in with Sarah Rendell for the big Euro qualifying clockwatch, featuring Wales 2-0 Armenia, Denmark 3-1 Norn Iron and plenty more. All games kick off at 7.45pm, BST.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Going to matches in England as a wheelchair user is on the whole a decent experience these days. So why is it that for the biggest game in club football, our experiences were the worst? Uefa should be considering the rights of wheelchair users when choosing hosts for Champions League finals, and not as an afterthought, as it seemed to be in Istanbul” – Ellis Palmer, a wheelchair user and Manchester City fan who attended Big Cup final, gives a damning account of his experience.
JEREMY ALEXANDER
In journalism, there are people whose brilliance is known to every one of their departmental colleagues but not to the readers. Jeremy Alexander, a Guardian sport reporter and subeditor who died of cancer at the age of 81 on Thursday, was one such individual. Jeremy worked in the department from 1966 until March of this year. For anyone who has ever worked on the Guardian sport desk, there is not just sadness but disbelief at his passing. It marks the sad end of an era that lasted 57 years.
Read more of Matthew Engel’s tribute to Jeremy here.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“Can I be the first of 1,057 to point out that if Fred Grim gets the Netherlands gig it will be a fairytale appointment for him?” – Mike Gallacher (and no others).
“A great quote in Wednesday’s Football Daily about Jack Grealish: ‘Man likes Tin! Man has hair!’ Reminded me of myself. Well, 50% of it” – Steven Pye.
“Sad news about Gordon McQueen. The very first Scotland game I attended was with my dad in September 1977 when they were playing Czechoslovakia for qualification to the ill-fated 1978 World Cup finals. My very first memory of looking out at the floodlit Hampden pitch was McQueen warming up along the touchline, looking to this impressionable, young viewer like a blonde God. I met him by chance in Glasgow about 10 years later and he spent an inordinate amount of time chatting with me, answering questions he’d doubtless been asked numerous times before, but doing so as if it were the first. A gentlemen indeed” – Peter Allan.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Steven Pye.
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
