Nult satis nisi optimum: Phil McNulty 2011/12

Fortune wasn't a flop. Quintessential Utd squad player

Made the mistake of scrolling all the way down while still on the first paragraph, there's just no way. I will feel like I've wasted my bedtime reading slot if I try and wade through all that

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70185000/jpg/_70185898_meulensteen-phelan.jpg

ill-judged "does anybody else really miss Mike Phelan" detour in the middle, I for one am gagging to see the ingracious cunt back on TV joylessly toeing the party line to the MOTD cameras

he was on setanta last saturday

he has the demeanour of a 75 year old widower

biscuits you are a saint for resurrecting nultroast

haha, god. that piece must be about 5,000 words.

http://i.imgur.com/F5lznYr.png

ah yes that old quote

But this is a manager, despite his lack of silverware and Champions League experiences, who knows his way around the Premier League.

usually you can only call yourself a manager once you win something

Always thought it was "Attack, attack: attack ; attack - attack. (Attack.)"

time was the worst that he would say about a tier 1 england regular was that he will have wanted to have done better but nult is giving joe hart a kicking in the liveblog today

between this and shitting on moyes' doorsteps it's quite a turnaround for the once quiescent scribe

not even just in the liveblog and his columns either, he's going in hard in the normally aseptically factual match reports. nult's gone rogue.

England face Poland at Wembley on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier with echoes from history as well as significance for the future as victory will send Roy Hodgson's side to Brazil next summer.

Some have criticised the FA, but it is a decision that will make for an electric atmosphere and while it will also lift Poland, England defender Leighton Baines believes it will also act as inspiration for Roy Hodgson's side.

it's actually a disgrace that he's paid to write.

still not convinced he isn't a reasonably sophisticated algorithm

those two sentences

I mean

just

he obv doesn't even read his own work, it's genuinely a wrong.

Phil McNulty ‏@philmcnulty 3h

England have a corner...Joe Hart needs to be on his toes here.

Phil McNulty ‏@philmcnulty 4h

Having, in a break with old traditions, correctly predicted a convincing England victory against Montenegro, I go for the same v Poland.

i feel that if mcnulty had a personal twitter account it'd have a great deal of grotesque appeal.

Having, in a break with old traditions, correctly

eeuuugghhh

Townsend came out of left field - or in a strictly football context right-field - as a resounding selection success for England manager Roy Hodgson with two outstanding performances in the World Cup qualifying wins against Montenegro and Poland that secured their place in Brazil next summer.

Lampard is intensely right wing - although in footballing terms in fact plays in a more central midfield berth for both Chelsea and England

he didn't did he

oh wait it's you

fucken

Chicharito - which means "little pea" - came from nowhere, although in the more traditionally visuospatial context in which many fans and observers will likely have viewed the match was actually standing on the edge of the Aston Villa six yard area as he rose to head home th

Phil McNulty ‏@philmcnulty 15h
Few Man City fans suddenly reliving a great moment. Getting retweets of my tweet of Aguero's title-winning goal. Brain was scrambled. Again.

finally the mask slips

that gum you like will have come back in style

Seasoned social media users imprison me with RTs. Knowing help will have been sent I wait.

What will the relived tweet have been that will have been retweeted?

Can't find it. Googling just reveals shit like this.

https://twitter.com/philmcnulty/statuses/182577644943060992

Don't click on that link unless you want the perfect image of how short and insignificant our lives are.

I know you'll all click on it.

A jpg of a man who will be dead's face, talking about a goal nobody can remember, after it's already gone in.

future historians will have been glad that's in the archives

https://twitter.com/philmcnulty/status/200958792417017856

jesus

It is also a meeting between two past managers of Real Madrid in Chelsea's Jose Mourinho and Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini. If one emerges victorious today it will be seen as a real statement of intent for the months ahead.

the first 18 search results for 'a real statement of intent' are fitba related

Arsene Wenger will face the same questions until the day he can hold up a trophy in front of his inquisitors and remove the 2005 FA Cup triumph as the last entry in his and Arsenal's list of honours.

Knives would not have been out but there would have been knowing glances, suggestions that the excellent form after that opening day defeat to Aston Villa was merely a false dawn before the fade.

In midfield there was much creation to admire from Mesut Ozil but the goals came from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey, showing that an end product can come from elsewhere even when Olivier Giroud, whose touch has been so sure this season, does not hit the target.

It may be something of a distant memory but Wenger will well remember what it takes to win a Premier League - and how not too many conclusions can be drawn early in the season.

There can no question, however, that Arsenal's mood - and that of their supporters - will have been lifted greatly by events on Saturday.

Wenger will know more after the trip to Old Trafford next Sunday but they will go there in a rare position of strength against a Manchester United side still in the process of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era and getting to know his successor David Moyes.

The Wenger we are seeing this season looks refreshed. The form of his team from well into last season and continuing into this appears to have had a rejuvenating impact on the 64-year-old French manager.

The German has provided the link and quality that can not only hurt opponents but also inspire his team-mates.

Manchester United moved swiftly to deny they were interested in Ozil as Arsenal prepared their deal - Wenger will hope he will leave Old Trafford next Sunday having shown the reigning champions that maybe they should have been.

that's bad even by his own standards.

doggerel.

http://i.imgur.com/Y9M5UP9.gif

is this the worst bit?

Wenger will know more after the trip to Old Trafford next Sunday but they will go there in a rare position of strength against a Manchester United side still in the process of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era and getting to know his successor David Moyes.

or this?

Wenger will hope he will leave Old Trafford next Sunday having shown the reigning champions that maybe they should have been.

i mean that double use of "will" in such close proximity. you'd give out to a child for that.

Knives would not have been out but there would have been knowing glances takes it by a furlong

the excellent form after that opening day defeat to Aston Villa was merely a false dawn before the fade.

this is p awful too. after/before.

a false dawn before the fade, to be distinguished from the other false dawns where the dawn doesn't fade

The Uruguayan will carry the burden of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League after a dismal start - not helped by some unforgiving fixtures - that has yielded only a single point from seven games and restoring calm from Di Canio's chaos.

The Uruguayan will carry the burden of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League after a dismal start - not helped by some unforgiving fixtures - that has yielded only a single point from seven games and restoring calm from Di Canio's chaos.

The Uruguayan will carry the burden of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League after a dismal start - not helped by some unforgiving fixtures - that has yielded only a single point from seven games and restoring calm from Di Canio's chaos.

The Uruguayan will carry the burden of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League after a dismal start - not helped by some unforgiving fixtures - that has yielded only a single point from seven games and restoring calm from Di Canio's chaos.

The Uruguayan will carry the burden of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League after a dismal start - not helped by some unforgiving fixtures - that has yielded only a single point from seven games and restoring calm from Di Canio's chaos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24445999

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, especially with saves from Coutinho and Jordan Henderson, was a monument to Pellegrini's measured man management. He has always been the Chilean's number one choice but looked rejuvenated following his recent enforced rest cure.

Some recalled the so-called "Valentine's Day Massacre" not so far away at Oldham Athletic in 1990, when West Ham were also thrashed 6-0 in a League Cup semi-final. That was bad - but it would have had to be very bad to be worse than this.