Comments on: Zola to West Ham; Also, Which Other Savagely Naturalistic Writers Should Manage in the Premier League?

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:37:04 +0000

I'm not even bitter that I didn't think of it: I'm just glad someone did.

By: mafu

mafu — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:08:31 +0000

Oscar Wilde – Watford

during which period he pens The Ballad Of Reading's Goal , an impassioned plea for the use of video technology

By: SteveH

SteveH — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:29:03 +0000

In order of increasing inanity, I nominate:

Richard Russo to manage the Rochester Raging Rhinos — He's very much at home in upstate New York and likes his work-a-day heroes. The alliteration may get old, especially if headline writers start adding terms like "romp" and "roil" to the mix, but it's a risk we might be willing to take. I also wanted to make sure that a US team was included.

Stephen Hawking as gaffer at Wolves — If anyone could figure out how to turn the clock back 50 years, it would be him.

Eduardo Galeano to manage Brian's fantasy team — It just struck me today how the format and lyrical flow of Soccer in Sun and Shadow has been emulated and I daresay surpassed in The Run of Play.

Jackie Collins to run Harchester United — my wife's guilty pleasure on FSC has done for women in the football front offices what Sarah Palin could do for the executive branch.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:08:11 +0000

That one has me reeling, as I am at a complete loss on how to fit Ivan Campo or Sam Allardyce into an Austen plot. It would have been a bit easier when Nicholas Anelka was still there.

Anyway.

Newcastle United – Eugene Ionesco.
This can only be Theatre of the Absurd.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:24:57 +0000

Bolton – Jane Austen. Really boring, difficult to get through, leaves you underwhelmed in the end (at least from the few novels of hers I've read).

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:46:00 +0000

And let's not forget that Wodehouse also went down amid cries of treason with the entire nation against him.

By: roswitha

roswitha — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:28:35 +0000

Oh mafu, exquisite.

By: mafu

mafu — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:13:01 +0000

Equally at home in the drones club of Soho Square or the verdant prelapsarian idyll of Bisham Abbey ahead of a major tournament, PG Wodehouse could do a job for England – consistently selecting his cast from a small and familiar pool, then launching them on an intricate jaunt that is notable not so much for the generally predictable nature of its resolution, but for the exquisite freshness of wit and invention in the scenes of farce, confusion and bungling that lead up to it.

By: Gianfranco

Gianfranco — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:35:57 +0000

Brian, I just want to make a minute to say that your blend of intellectual yet witty style of writing is quickly becoming one of my favorite reads on all of the net. Your philosphical discussions on previous posts exploring the simplistic yet complex nature of the game makes me yearn for more "philosophical football" really great stuff, keep up the EXCELLENT work.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:46:12 +0000

Jilly Cooper – Fulham.

All about shopping (and f*cking), with some Americans thrown in at random.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:20:46 +0000

John Dryden — Leeds United.

It's been a long time since anyone read John Dryden.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:48:45 +0000

George Gissing – Middlesborough.

Everyone's heard of him/them, but no one is quite sure what he/they are for.

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:02:14 +0000

For some reason I want to suggest William Gibson for Barcelona. A Barca season is often like a Gibson novel – a complete head trip and you come out of it not being able to tell anyone what the hell actually went on.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:05:25 +0000

Plus I have a feeling that the musketeers would scorn all goal-scoring opportunities until they could "pass into the back of the net."

Also, Arsene Wenger just seems like someone who'd know Milady de Winter. Dark chapter of his past, mysterious courier, dreaded revelations, pursed lips; I see this.

On Henry James: Obviously he'd be attracted to any club that included the word "villa."

By: roswitha

roswitha — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:08:31 +0000

Might I suggest Dumas pere for Arsenal, also? Full of escapees from France; always do well in Italy, unfortunately let you down in the final third.

And I'm sure cross-dressing lesbians are *somewhere* in the picture.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:18:10 +0000

Dante Alighieri — Manchester United. Understands that getting to heaven sometimes means putting other people through hell.

By: Richard Whittall

Richard Whittall — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:48:16 +0000

Henry James — Aston Villa.

American born but considered himself properly English, tried to define the encounter of Old World and New, a master of realist fiction (we'll avoid relegation, and if we're lucky, qualify for UEFA again).

By: Davos Newbies » Blog Archive » Translation may be required

Davos Newbies » Blog Archive » Translation may be required — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:44:17 +0000

[...] The brilliant Run of Play: [...]