🎙️Co-host @ItWasPod https://xitter.cf/t.co/xvnaIIewgt 📕 Inside England: Behind the Scenes of 3 Lions World Cup Dream https://xitter.cf/t.co/XZ3Rs7sC16 📰 @guardian_sport

Joined July 2011
Man Utd: what can you say? I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies
And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Nothing beside remains, Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away
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Elon Musk claims that Ukraine allegedly violated Starlink's terms of use and used the system on combat drones. As someone who was inside the process at the Ministry of Defense, I can say with certainty that this is not true. In February of this year, whitelists were introduced. Stationary terminals could be registered by both military personnel and civilians. But for any satellite terminal to work while on the move, it had to be added to a special list and connected to the military Starshield system. Otherwise, no satellite communication terminals in Ukraine would work. In other words, using civilian Starlink for drone missions was technically impossible. All drone missions that required satellite communication could only be carried out using Starshield. We are very grateful to the United States and SpaceX for access to critically important satellite communications. Ukraine did not violate the terms of use.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that Arsène Wenger transformed English football Today’s @ItWasPod Patreon edition with @jonawils on how Wenger revolutionised scouting + helped build today’s Arsenal For years Arsenal were best in class - even if they missed out (just) on Messi!
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The astonishing elegance with which Arsenal won the 1998 double was the moment Arsène Wenger cemented his legendary status in England Part 4 of Wenger on @ItWasPod with @jonawils covers that extraordinary 1997-98 season, the first French conquest of England since 1066
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When I was a kid, I would wait for my Dad to come home form work, scrabble thru his briefcase and get out The Times. I devoured all the sports pages but when I read David Miller it opened my eyes to a different, observational way of writing. I wanted to be that man! That he wrote about my sports - football and athletics - with such authority only increased my awe as did his collaboration with my hero Seb Coe on a definitive biography: still on my bookshelf + I still regularly consult as a coaching manual. Undoubtedly he became too close to some of his extraordinary contacts, yet when I finally met him as a fellow pro, I was able to tell him he was the first sports writer I aspired to be. RIP
Sad to report that David Miller, the former sports correspondent for The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Express, has died. He was 91.
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Rob Draper retweeted
For Sheikh Mansour, the stakes of the Manchester City investigation are far-reaching. Scandal has been at his door before. A piece on 1MDB, the Topaz yacht, and a claim that “the sheikh would not get out of bed for less than $100m”. Free to read ⬇️ nytimes.com/athletic/7698639…
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The future of Saudi sport amidst wars + PIF reining in its spending • Newcastle won’t go the way of LIV • But the ‘Man City’ model won’t ever be happening • Golf tournaments postponed • Questions over Asian Cup 2027 • No more stadiums in the sky theguardian.com/sport/2026/o…
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“Bayern Munich 1974-1976: slow, boring, hampered by ponderous sweeper Beckenbauer” 💯 stick to my Ralf Rangnick inspired view this is the correct take @jonawils (a rigid, uninspired thinker) seems to think the evidence of 3 successive European Cup wins suggests otherwise 🙄
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Rob Draper retweeted
English football’s biggest financial scandals… putting Manchester City into context. For IWWIW members. #scandals #mcfc #sunderland #iwwiw Sign up here… patreon.com/cw/ItWas
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‘You got beat by a team that shouldn’t even be in the league’ 🤨 Interesting, @newyorkcityfc 😐
Mamdani: How are you as a Liverpool fan right now? Reporter: Well… Mamdani: I mean, you got beat by a team that shouldn’t even be in the league. Reporter: I won’t comment on that
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🧵 A lot of talk about Abu Dhabi will simply outspend football authorities + Independent Football Regulator (IFR) in legal action, going back to Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s original quote - ‘rather spend £30m + sue them for next 10 yr than agree a financial penalty’…
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So ultimately the UK Gov will financially backstop any legal challenge from Abu Dhabi about whether owners or directors fail any tests (subject to appeal) Which would make this even more challenging for PM @andyburnham as it would effectively be Abu Dhabi govt v UK govt*…
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*Ultimately tho the bill goes back to football even if UK Govt loan the money to IFR The important take home is the IFR won’t fold its hand because it can’t keep up with the spending
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Rob Draper retweeted
Arsène Wenger becomes the victim of some classic banter as he settles into life at Arsenal. #arsenal #wenger #iwwiw
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Regarding yesterday civil exchange of views with Chelsea fans, which was along the lines of ‘Roman might have persuaded Deloitte to falsify documents to save tax but that doesn’t mean he would have ever dared to break UEFA and PL financial rules, he’s just not that kind of guy…’
A top anecdote kicks off Dom Midgeley’s piece on Abramovich today. Who can say what possessed Deloitte to work for the Russian rotter? dailymail.com/news/article-1…
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Rob Draper retweeted
Arsène Wenger wandering around Wimbledon dressing room saying: ‘There is a bum?’ after Ian Wright pranked him there was a bomb scare 🤨 Picture Arsenal players sniggering in the background 🙄 Part 3 Wenger: The Man Who Changed English Football @ItWasPod @jonawils
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