The Nult first with the news
― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Monday, 20 June 2011 12:05 (fourteen years ago)
Phil McNultyAuthor
― Lo_Ol (cozen), Monday, 20 June 2011 12:08 (fourteen years ago)
presumably he doesn't write the headline, because nowhere in that article does it say that Chelsea are going to appoint Villa Boas. It just states that his buyout clause is 15m Euros. iirc Messi's buyout clause is around 300m Euros so they may as well put an article up on BBC sport website that Chelsea/Man City etc are going to buy Messi.
― pandemic, Monday, 20 June 2011 12:47 (fourteen years ago)
the Villas-Boas article is pretty coherent and grammatically correct, if hampered by that one-sentence-per-paragraph thing. The Nult will perhaps have thought he had been a modernist stylist extraordinaire when he left the BBC house style behind and filled his blog with temporal contortions.
― Antoine Bugleboy (Merdeyeux), Monday, 20 June 2011 21:59 (fourteen years ago)
nah the nult will have been subbed properly for a big news piece like that...
― LocalGarda, Monday, 20 June 2011 22:12 (fourteen years ago)
no ~the~ svp
― nakhchivan, Monday, 20 June 2011 22:13 (fourteen years ago)
nuuuuuuuuuult
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 13:20 (fourteen years ago)
sometimes on a day so warm yr laptop has died, all you can think of is a cool glass of chablis and a fresh nultblog on the iphone
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 13:24 (fourteen years ago)
By Alan HansenBBC's Match of the Day football punditUnited were soundly beaten by Barcelona in last month's Champions League finalSir Alex Ferguson knew major work was needed to rebuild his Manchester United team - and he has responded in style with his dealings in the transfer market so far.Ashley Young's arrival from Aston Villa comes swiftly after the signing of Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers, with Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea and a high-class midfield player also expected to make the move to Old Trafford.The loss to Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley did not exactly do United a favour but it would have confirmed in Ferguson's mind that his side was obviously on the wane.Some may have been fooled into thinking everything was OK given United's success in the Premier League but they were the best of a bad bunch last season and Ferguson is brutally realistic.I stand by my belief that he dragged those players to the title and would have claimed the crown with any of the other top sides had he been in charge of them.Continue reading the main storyUnited were awful for long spells last season and really suffered against Barcelona - the fact they won the league was a work of art in itselfHow United won the title playing as badly as they did away from home, where they were abysmal on so many occasions, was almost beyond belief. Ferguson will have been well aware that they might not have been so lucky next season.Ferguson had two factors to address. First, the team was awful for long spells last season and really suffered against Barcelona. Secondly, the natural passage of time has resulted in the retirements of Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, while Ryan Giggs is edging ever nearer towards the end of his career. Giggs was magnificent last season but can you see him having another season like that at the age of 37? I can't.Ferguson has bought defender Jones, who is only a youngster and is clearly a signing for the future. Young, a winger, is a proven, fabulous player with great delivery who will add much.If you watched United last season, they were weak all over. The fact that they won the league was a work of art in itself, the sign of a great club and a great manager, with Ferguson as the key component.Continue reading the main storyIf I was Ferguson I would break the bank to land Luka Modric -he is a class actThe loss of Scholes and the fact that Giggs is another year closer to the end of his career means Ferguson is almost certain to strengthen in midfield. He has been linked with Tottenham's Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan, both fabulous players.I do not know where Modric is going, or even if he is going because Spurs chairman Daniel Levy gave Chelsea very short shrift last week, but if I was Ferguson I would break the bank to land the Croatian. He fits the bill perfectly.Modric is a class act and his performance when Spurs won at Liverpool on the final day of last season was as good as it gets. When the ball comes to him, he doesn't just instinctively know his three options, he knows the best one to take. He also always has time and space in abundance - the hallmark of the great player.Ferguson will obviously recruit a goalkeeper to replace Van der Sar, who was a major reason for their success last season and has been for the last five years.De Gea appears to be the chosen one but the hardest person to replace in your team is always the goalkeeper, as proved by United's struggles to find a quality successor to Peter Schmeichel. Bringing a foreign keeper into the English game is always hit and miss because a big part of the game here is the ball into the box.We have seen the likes of Heurelho Gomes struggle to cope with that aspect of the game whereas Van der Sar was consummate and his communication skills were wonderful. De Gea is only a young boy, so it will be very intriguing to see how he goes if he does sign for United.Van der Sar will be tough to replaceRetirement and age have taken some of Ferguson's best players out of the equation but he is a master when faced with this sort of situation.He will also be aware of the challenges coming from elsewhere. United and Chelsea undoubtedly came back towards the pack last season, while Manchester City may feel they will never have a better chance of winning the Premier League than next time around.They will spend, Roman Abramovich will back new Chelsea boss Andre Villlas-Boas, while over at Anfield, where not much escapes Ferguson's attention, they now have the Kenny Dalglish factor.Liverpool will clearly strengthen their squad this summer and there is still the feel-good factor following Dalglish's arrival, which galvanised the whole club. Luis Suarez will also be ready for his first full season in the Premier League. The striker was sensational after coming to Anfield in January.But history tells us there is nobody better at coming out on top in a pressurised position than Ferguson. He clearly means business after taking stock of the current condition of his squad.And you would never back against him - you can't back against him - because if he can take his team to the title playing the way they did last season then they would have to start as favourites next season as he begins the process of building his latest Old Trafford model.
Alan Hansen was talking to BBC Sport's Phil McNulty
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 13:27 (fourteen years ago)
last para is v much his master's voice tho obv the a true picture of nulto-hansenic relations is yet to emerge
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 13:29 (fourteen years ago)
the
Ferguson will have been well aware that they might not have been so lucky next season.Ferguson will have been well aware that they might not have been so lucky next season.Ferguson will have been well aware that they might not have been so lucky next season.Ferguson will have been well aware that they might not have been so lucky next season.
<3
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 13:33 (fourteen years ago)
haha i wanted to post this, so fucking shameful that nult puts his own dirty mark even on an interview. i read it and knew from the first line it'd say nult had done the interview.
― LocalGarda, Monday, 27 June 2011 14:27 (fourteen years ago)
like all the great auteurs, nult does his best work with other people's scripts
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 14:40 (fourteen years ago)
― tipper gore (nakhchivan), Monday, 27 June 2011 14:24 (1 hour ago) Bookmark
irl lol
― r|t|c, Monday, 27 June 2011 15:13 (fourteen years ago)
only one direction for my thought to go when, reading W.G. Sebald's 'The Emigrants', I come across the phrase 'one thing is certain'. Damn you Nult.
― Sir Chips Keswick (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 19:44 (fourteen years ago)
Wonder what Nult thinks of Austerlitz and its long multi-clause sentences, can he read German do you suppose.
― boxall, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:24 (fourteen years ago)
No matter how often I tell myself that chance happenings of this kind occur far more often than we suspect, since we all move, one after the other, along the same roads mapped out for us by our origins and our hopes, my rational mind is nonetheless unable to lay the ghosts of repetition that haunt me with ever greater frequency. One thing is certain: Sir Alex will be delighted.
― Sir Chips Keswick (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:42 (fourteen years ago)
very much enjoying wg sebald but he does have a habit for slightly nult via thomas mann lengthy future perfect sentences in his reimaginings of past lives
― kid 606: the nultness (nakhchivan), Tuesday, March 29, 2011 7:47 PM (3 months ago)
― nakhchivan, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 22:12 (fourteen years ago)
@chrisbevan have a read of wg sebald, excellent prose. @jonathanstevo #themagicmountainmate #alliteration sir alex will have cogitated
― MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE LIVING HERE!! (Local Garda), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 22:33 (fourteen years ago)
By Mark Ashenden
1055: England's Paul Casey will have had better starts to a major championship. Four pars and three bogeys leave him struggling on +3.
― once a week is ample, Thursday, 14 July 2011 09:57 (thirteen years ago)
I like how in its simplest form that construction just reads as "I can't be bothered to verify whether this assertion is true." Has Casey had better starts in majors? He will have had, I should think.
― boxall, Thursday, 14 July 2011 14:26 (thirteen years ago)
By Phil McNulty
Manchester City are moving to finalise the signing of Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero despite the collapse of Carlos Tevez's move to Corinthians.
City boss Roberto Mancini has decided to press on with a deal for Aguero even without finance from the sale of Tevez.
The two sides are moving towards agreement on the £39m buy-out clause in the 23-year-old's contract.
― MY WEEDS STRONG BLUD.mp3 (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:24 (thirteen years ago)
can someone tell nult that buy-out clauses are legally binding and no agreement is necessary if they are fulfilled
― MY WEEDS STRONG BLUD.mp3 (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:25 (thirteen years ago)
I seem to remember reading (maybe on here?) that the buyout clauses in Spain only apply to deals with other Spanish clubs. Could be bullshit i dunno
― Number None, Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:28 (thirteen years ago)
was just thinking i was missing pasting nult's every awful sentence on ilx.
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:35 (thirteen years ago)
think he's had a few weeks off
― MY WEEDS STRONG BLUD.mp3 (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:37 (thirteen years ago)
nult
Cesc Fabregas' future, or lack of it, has once again dominated the summer
The weaknesses that cost Arsenal last season, vulnerability in central defence and a physical presence in midfield, have not yet been addressed.
They may well arrive once the saga of Fabregas' seemingly inevitable move to Barcelona is concluded. And their success will shape Arsenal and Wenger's season.If they are, Arsenal may cling on to fourth place - if they are not then there is the real possibility of the Gunners dropping out of the select quartet at the top of the Premier League.
IF WHAT ARE YOU CUNT
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 10 August 2011 21:26 (thirteen years ago)
Dalglish has problems to solve at left-back and in central defence, but if he does that successfully I expect Liverpool to seriously threaten Arsenal and Spurs for fourth place - and well worth a few pounds of anyone's money to win a cup without the added fixture congestion of the Europa League.
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 10 August 2011 21:28 (thirteen years ago)
and well worth
I love that this article was trailed as Nult making "some bold predictions"
Nult clicking submit then sitting back in his chair, steepling his fingers and going "truly, the cat will have have been set amongst the pigeons. Game on."
― MPx4A, Thursday, 11 August 2011 08:52 (thirteen years ago)
Also not entirely sure what Phil is saying "may well arrive", but it seems to be some weakness in central defence and some physical presence in midfield?
Nult clearly making predictions that only he understands so he can't get called out on them
― MPx4A, Thursday, 11 August 2011 08:55 (thirteen years ago)
This has created unrest among the fanbase and led to Kenwright's rendezvous with "The Blue Union" in his London office and the frank admissions that confirmed the worst fears of Everton's following regarding finances and the lack of interest from any potential purchasers.
― nakhchivan, Thursday, 18 August 2011 19:36 (thirteen years ago)
The catalyst, however, is Suarez. The credits were rolling for Arsenal as soon as he appeared. Full of movement - not movement for movement's sake but going into areas defenders do not appreciate - and menace, he unsettled Arsenal's makeshift defence instantly.
― nakhchivan, Sunday, 21 August 2011 18:50 (thirteen years ago)
"movement for movements sake". WTF?
― pandemic, Monday, 22 August 2011 09:28 (thirteen years ago)
If Spurs fail to clear the clouds in Modric's mind then they are left with a major dilemma and little time to find a solution.
No such worries for Ferguson as he strode off towards the Stretford End at the final whistle with a paternal smile of satisfaction after watching a youthful United see off Spurs, robust for an hour, to win in style.
― diouf est le papa du foot galsen merde lè haters (nakhchivan), Thursday, 25 August 2011 16:52 (thirteen years ago)
this tendency to splice in nonsequitur subclauses - thought by many to rhyme with 'cub pauses' - is quite the new thing for the embattled web scribe nult
― diouf est le papa du foot galsen merde lè haters (nakhchivan), Thursday, 25 August 2011 16:54 (thirteen years ago)
There are still as many questions as answers surrounding Torres. When he chose to square for Ramires in the first half Old Trafford's panel of judges was divided. Did he pass up an opportunity to shoot that a striker in full flow, and sure in his powers, would have grasped at, or is he still so clear-headed in his struggles that he calculated Ramires was obviously better placed?
― James Mitchell, Monday, 19 September 2011 08:01 (thirteen years ago)
who is this panel of judges he speaks of?
― Ravaging Rick Rude (a hoy hoy), Monday, 19 September 2011 14:26 (thirteen years ago)
When the list of great managers is compiled, Ferguson's name will be near the top of some lists and at the top of others, alongside the founding father of United, Sir Matt Busby, Liverpool's Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley, the maverick Brian Clough at Derby and Nottingham Forest and his own inspiration, former Celtic and Scotland manager Jock Stein.
― James Mitchell, Thursday, 3 November 2011 13:39 (thirteen years ago)
good to know there are no good foreign managers.
― a hoy hoy, Thursday, 3 November 2011 14:02 (thirteen years ago)
When the list of great managers is compiled, they will be on some lists and on some other lists.
― James Mitchell, Thursday, 3 November 2011 14:29 (thirteen years ago)
When the list of great managers is compiled, Ferguson's name will be near the top of some lists and at the top of others
this is a new low. i think he might be reading wikipedia articles i "unsub-edit" and copying the style.
― When a German communicates, you listen (LocalGarda), Thursday, 3 November 2011 20:43 (thirteen years ago)
John Terry's meeting with the media started with a bouquet before barbed wire was placed around the elephant standing in the room with England's besieged captain.
― Stevie T, Monday, 14 November 2011 21:46 (thirteen years ago)
Couple of very interesting shouts here this morning that Man Utd should have signed Friedel to allow De Gea to develop. Makes sense that.
― James Mitchell, Sunday, 29 January 2012 14:50 (thirteen years ago)
not v nulty
― teaky frigger (darraghmac), Sunday, 29 January 2012 14:50 (thirteen years ago)
With Terry stripped of the captaincy for a second time, the prospect of him ever regaining it will surely be gone forever.
brilliant analysis.
― I'm going to allow this! (LocalGarda), Friday, 3 February 2012 19:28 (thirteen years ago)
why does he court controversy like this???
ugh grammar
― The term “hipster racism” from Carmen Van Kerckhove at Racialicious (nakhchivan), Friday, 3 February 2012 19:30 (thirteen years ago)
Capello is now handed the dilemma of whether he should even take Terry to Euro 2012 - as well as the possibility that his former captain may not wish to go.
― I'm going to allow this! (LocalGarda), Friday, 3 February 2012 19:32 (thirteen years ago)
lovely. classic nult
― 《Myst1kOblivi0n》 (jim in vancouver), Friday, 18 March 2022 23:37 (three years ago)
Marc Cucurella looked to panic as the ball came in and grabbed at Erling Haaland with inevitable results.
― imago, Sunday, 12 November 2023 17:06 (one year ago)
Did the FA simply want an English coach - or did they want the coach who will make the England team winners?
The answer to that question is Tuchel.
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 16 October 2024 18:14 (eight months ago)
lol whoever is nominally supposed to edit him is just sat back laughing at this stage
― Yuwen Hu's army (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 16 October 2024 19:02 (eight months ago)
in his metal machine music era, lol.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c78dgy9qngno
i read the headline here from the main site and was like 'please let this be nult'
so many great bits
And surely St George's Park and all the coaches and development teams nurtured there can only benefit from having someone of Tuchel's stature and success rate in the building? He will not live on an island. The FA will hope he can make his own indelible mark on future coaching generations.
time for a geography lesson, phil.
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 16 October 2024 19:07 (eight months ago)
I love the ones where he's just given free reign to type out every single thought he's had about an issue
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Wednesday, 16 October 2024 19:47 (eight months ago)
Sometimes I am a mild sceptic about the layout of a piece of prose dictating mood above and beyond what it says, or before you begin reading, but then you see six almost equally sized Nult four-line paragraphs in a row, just a terrible drab feeling.
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 16 October 2024 20:35 (eight months ago)
The notion is misguided as any mistakes made by those who take charge of games, as with players, are because of honest human error, not ill-feeling towards - or bias against - a particular manager, player of club.
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Tuesday, 12 November 2024 18:49 (eight months ago)
Sitting back with a hot drink at the end of a long work day and taking 30-40 minutes to try and understand what "as with players" is doing in this sentence
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Tuesday, 12 November 2024 18:52 (eight months ago)
think he's saying Keane honest human errored Haaland's career
― badder living thru Kemistry (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 12 November 2024 19:13 (eight months ago)
[pointing angrily at a video of Ben Thatcher clotheslining Pedro Mendes] that's bias
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Tuesday, 12 November 2024 19:27 (eight months ago)
The majority of sensible observers, though sometimes not those fans who choose to view decisions through the prism of their own partisanship, accept referees will make mistakes under the severest pressure.
classic nult. the sentence but also the constant positioning of himself and most others as right and reasonable, unlike more hot-headed observers, who will have been trapped in the brig of their own partisan ship.
― LocalGarda, Tuesday, 12 November 2024 21:32 (eight months ago)
It is stretching reality to breaking point to suggest all is sweetness and light between officials, players and managers but what has to be real is the principle that none of this goes through any official's mind when it comes to the decision-making process.
In other words they, as in the time-honoured adage about Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion.
time-honoured adage... again, just absolutely deep, prime nult.
― LocalGarda, Tuesday, 12 November 2024 21:36 (eight months ago)
Lee Carsley's reign as England's interim manager has not been without its obstacles, but the most impressive performance of his reign may just have made the road to succession a lot smoother for incoming coach Thomas Tuchel
It's raining reigns, hallelujah, it's raining reigns, amen.
― LocalGarda, Thursday, 14 November 2024 23:59 (seven months ago)
Redemption and revenge for Carsley, along with a list of positives he can hand over to Tuchel, came in the shape this stylish win here in Greece, where the vast crowd inside Athens' Olympic Stadium was silent – not to mention largely absent – by the end of England’s 3-0 win.
― LocalGarda, Friday, 15 November 2024 00:00 (seven months ago)
looking at old threads i haven't cleared out and just sitting here swaying back and forth gazing at 'where the vast crowd inside Athens' Olympic Stadium was silent - not to mention largely absent'.
― sur le pont donkey kong (Fizzles), Tuesday, 10 December 2024 13:54 (seven months ago)
Schrodinger's Nult
― Number None, Wednesday, 11 December 2024 13:23 (seven months ago)
I often think of this thread name when pondering the mystery that is Phil
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 December 2024 16:48 (seven months ago)
this image makes me think of like 'nulty', or 'the talented mr nulty', travelling around europe, lying about matches he's been to or seen, bludgeoning people to death with terrible sentences.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/480/cpsprodpb/4aba/live/46c2dda0-3aa7-11ef-bdc5-41d7421c2adf.jpg
― LocalGarda, Wednesday, 11 December 2024 17:54 (seven months ago)
Nulty’s Game
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 December 2024 18:30 (seven months ago)
When Farhad Moshiri laid out his grand plan for supremacy after taking control at Everton, the mission statement was that he did not want the club to become "a museum".
As Moshiri finally takes his leave after almost nine years of chaos, dysfunction, discontent and squandering of finances on an industrial scale, the great old stage of Goodison Park has more closely resembled a mausoleum.
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Thursday, 19 December 2024 13:25 (six months ago)
Credit to the big man for this para though:
Everton's fans were in revolt before Benitez's arrival, although a threatening banner meant for the Spaniard emblazoned with the message "We Know Where You Live" lost most of its impact by being left outside the wrong house.
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Thursday, 19 December 2024 13:27 (six months ago)
Nulty being an Everton fan is an underrated part of his lore
― imago, Thursday, 19 December 2024 14:00 (six months ago)
for a good few years i've felt sid lowe deserves an honorary phil mcnulty lifetime confusion award, but his lopetegui piece today, christ:
Offers arrived, but it was too soon. Instead he headed to Mexico, where he is building a hotel with his brother Joxean, a former pelota player, and as he arrives at another hotel, this time in Madrid, it is clear getting away from it all was good for him. Heading in, he bumps into Rafa Benítez and conversation begins, back to football again. “Slowly, you start to feel that enthusiasm,” Lopetegui says. “You step back, see things clearly, get closer to reality.”
― LocalGarda, Sunday, 23 February 2025 22:08 (four months ago)
No one had actually told Lopetegui he would be sacked but he knew. Everyone did. He had been in the job six months, 22 games, yet the surprise was that it took that long. He took three training sessions aware it was over and the sense of inevitability went back further, almost to the start.
― LocalGarda, Sunday, 23 February 2025 22:10 (four months ago)
Rashford may have claimed most of the spotlight with his re-emergence from the Old Trafford wilderness, but the experienced Asensio has had even more impact and provides Villa and Emery with a close acquaintance with the highest prizes at former club Real Madrid.
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Thursday, 3 April 2025 15:37 (three months ago)
he claimed seven eighths of he spotlight
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Friday, 4 April 2025 15:35 (three months ago)
In a season, Europa League apart - although even that ended in defeat in the final - of complete mediocrity for Manchester United, captain Bruno Fernandes has been a shining light.
Often questioned about his suitability for leadership, Fernandes has at least tried to set standards of quality and resilience several levels above most of his team-mates.
It may be strange to offer up a Footballer Of The Year candidate for a team so low in the Premier League, but Fernandes is a deserving candidate.
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Friday, 23 May 2025 07:29 (one month ago)
beautiful first sentence, you can tell he's spent time crafting that.
― LocalGarda, Friday, 23 May 2025 07:31 (one month ago)
Many Spurs fans will feel it is right to sack Postecoglou, but others will believe his success earned him the right to a third season, an opportunity to build on the emotional scenes witnessed in Bilbao, then on the streets around Tottenham at the Europa League homecoming.
Truly expert analysis. Some will agree, some not. The best living football writer.
― LocalGarda, Friday, 6 June 2025 22:27 (one month ago)