Nult satis nisi optimum: Phil McNulty 2011/12

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.

read that at work earlier and it just straight shut my brain down for about three minutes, defeated utterly by the Nult hierarchy of badness

Brilliant. That last sentence sounds like the strapline for Airplane 2 or something.

And Maradona, looking like a well-dressed pirate, will have savoured the quality in Liverpool's display.....

Maradona will have appreciated the movement and menace of his fellow South American Luis Suarez, whose partnership with Daniel Sturridge shone a harsh light on the seemingly dysfunctional footballing relationship between Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.

The Argentine will have noted the relentless work-rate and pressing of Jordan Henderson. He will have relished the enduring brilliance of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, now in a deeper role but still the controller.

3 paragraphs, 4 "will haves". The man's a menace.

"harsh light on the seemingly dysfunctional" made my eyes water a bit as well.

http://twitter.com/paulbrownUK/status/451672104815955968/photo/1

https://twitter.com/philmcnulty/status/515253751356358656

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

haha

Tariq Ali

It was a horrific event. It was condemned in most parts of the world and most poignantly by many cartoonists. Those who planned the atrocity chose their target carefully. They knew that such an act would create the maximum horror. It was quality, not quantity they were after. The response will not have surprised or displeased them.

https://twitter.com/TumblrTXT/status/585411804655919104

the atm in my building says something like "please wait - your card will have been checked in a few seconds" and it makes me think of this thread/nult

it's nult's world we just will have lived in it

Gerrard v Lampard: Who was better? 797

Steven Gerrard had the iconic moments but Frank Lampard won more. Phil McNulty grapples with a long-standing question.

25367103-Suicide-attempt-by-slitting-the-wrist-with-a-knife--Stock-Photo.jpg

It is a debate that will be had in the tapas bars on La Rambla but one that will be conducted in an atmosphere of awe.

Could Short even make an attempt to bring David Moyes back to the Premier League from Real Sociedad?

One thing is certain - any contenders will have closely observed the downfall of a succession of previous Sunderland managers and need a lot of persuading that this time things will be different.

http://s18.postimg.org/f0xtkk56h/Screen_Shot_2015_11_15_at_12_26_21.png

lol

slight under the volcano ambience to that.....drinking himself to death at his post , heatstroke, delirium tremens, eventually just ranting incoherently in nult-syntax

yes definitely - Chief Football Writer In Alicante seems like a great novel waiting to be written.

the isis government manifesto is reminding me of nult a bit.

That year was tantamount to the hemiplegia for the idolatrous west that began preparing equipment and projects to strike any project of the Islamic State, and the announcement of the caliphate.

And the announcement of the caliphate was the result of the mujahideen’s realising the lack of advantage in fighting against the idolaters without the existence of a leader and caliph who could gather the Muslims under his banner and be a figure of strength for them.

The announcement of the caliphate in Syria was a powerful blow that the agents of the west who were set on the direction of the Sahwat of Iraq by whom the west thought that it could put an end to the Islamic caliphate project as it had weakened it in Iraq did not expect.

Jihadi groups in Iraq and Syria have lived through long bonds of humiliation pledged on conditional western support, until they seized wide areas of the land and possessed all assets of advancement. Bakr Al Baghdadi is an seasoned campaigner, respected in the region, and will not be easily shifted. However ISIS' vociferous fans will only tolerate poor results for so long before making their feelings known in no uncertain manner.

haaa

Thousands migrated to Syria to fight alongside the mujahideen, without their knowing the direction of any faction, its affiliation or private agendas.

It was necessary to prepare a sound programme in which the muhajireen might take refuge as their jihad is the result of the glory to Islam and the monotheists. Although many tipped Alex McLeish to do the job, the former Birmingham and Scotland man was quick to rule himself out.

The preparatory camp is the first home and school of the mujahid in which his military and jihadi training sessions take place and he undergoes sufficient education in matters of his religion, life and jihad.

Although it is a far cry from Barcelona's La Masia (less paella, sangria, and Messi, and more AK47s and children being hit with whips for minor transgressions, the youngsters here are still being taught the basics of the game.

the 64-year-old, hugely popular Italian will have enjoyed the sweet taste of victory against his former club on Monday.

Had Leicester City kept manager Nigel Pearson - who for all his bizarre behaviour did brilliantly as the Foxes won seven and drew one of their last 10 games to stay up - we would not be in this relegation territory.

But his sacking, with Leicester's board saying their working relationship was "no longer viable", and the appointment of Claudio Ranieri means I fear the worst.

Ranieri's appointment is, at best, left field and at worst uninspiring and unwise. A charming man but perhaps one out of time with the Premier League having last worked there with Chelsea in 2004 and having had a chequered career since.

The Italian known as "The Tinkerman" for his constant team changes was sacked last year as manager of Greece, an infamous four-month reign notorious for a home defeat by the Faroe Islands.

Time will tell - but this one does not quite sit right and it is to be hoped Leicester are not plunged back into the danger zone they occupied for so long last season.

It will come as a huge shock to United's hierarchy, as well as Van Gaal, that they will have their noses pressed up against the Champions League window when it resumes in 2016.

The feeling inside Old Trafford was qualification would have been assured before they even reached the industrial heartland of Wolfsburg for the finale. This was a vain hope.

lol at nult/isis

lately I will have genuinely pondered writing a short story called chief football writer in alicante

alicante is in communidad valenciana right? so probably plenty of the northwest football commentariat filing expenses claims for resort hotels and remembering not to mention neville neville's sexual assault trial over the next half season

yeah it's not as far south as I imagined given its rep. my parents have an apartment south of malaga and the area is full of british - joe kinnear had an apartment in the same complex and he and my dad hung out a bit - it wasn't plush as such, more old fashioned, a place entirely based on weather.

the local restaurant, on a hot motorway opposite strip clubs and right by the beach, had pics of george graham, harry redknapp etc on the walls - a backwater i guess, but with the heat it becomes something else.

ilxor jim will have had positive memories of a brief spell spent in the environs of Alicante in the early 2000s, although it would have not have come as a shock to the Glaswegian that the holiday romance he undertook with a girl from Gravesend would not endure

The Manchester City job appears to have had Guardiola's name on it for years - with the pieces seemingly put in place for his arrival at the Etihad.

All it needed was the nod from Guardiola himself and that seems to have moved closer with his decision to leave Bayern Munich at the end of this season. The Premier League looks certain to be his next stop.

Begiristain and Soriano are already in place and ready to welcome the man they worked with to bring such success to Barcelona. Guardiola's arrival would complete the managerial infrastructure you suspect has been the long-held dream to match the fierce ambition of City's Abu Dhabi owners.

Guardiola may yet be diverted off course by offers from elsewhere - perhaps Manchester United or even Chelsea - but all the smart money is on that dream ticket finally being in place at the Etihad at the start of next season.

The pieces of Wenger's jigsaw look to be coming together but they must now fight off what has often been their fiercest enemy - themselves. Too often Arsenal have been the team that cannot be trusted when the pressure is on.
Can they change that habit of a recent lifetime?

once someone talks about a concept or a "managerial job" or a "nod" actually physically doing something, this is the language of bad politics. incredible that in something as clearcut as sport, nult still finds a way to talk about these ephemeral notions as the subject.

Aye the man's a menace.

"that habit of a recent lifetime"

is pretty incredible

Where Martinez sees blue sky, supporters study the reality of results (especially the humiliation of a derby thrashing) and look at thunderclouds overhead, although even he will struggle to see the sun poking through today.

Phil McNulty ‏@philmcnulty 11m11 minutes ago Salford, England

Lots of large beach balls being knocked around Old Trafford by Bournemouth's fans. End of season fun.

lol

https://www.facebook.com/BBCphilmcnulty/?fref=ts

live q&a on the euro squad. feel free to "get involved" as i have.

starts at 1pm.

i have put it to mcnulty

think he's become self-aware, my question will have been evaded

where is yours? there are only a handful of questions, I'm feeling confident of first contact here

the questions are amassing beneath a live feed, you're in the wrong window

HAHAHAHHAA YES

7-second furrowing of brow as mcnulty fails to make head or tail of my fake facebook name

but then 'a question on tom heaton - will tom heaton have known he would be in this squad a year ago'

thanks mcnulty