@RorySmith

Football Correspondent, The Observer. Also: @meninblazers @podcast_libero @bbc5live’s Monday Night Club. Author of Mister and Expected Goals.

 UK
Joined April 2010
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Rory Smith retweeted
Libero@podcast_liberoOct 19
Libero is going live again! This time we're doing two of the most important of the least important live shows, Leeds (18th November) and London (20th November). Tickets are on sale now! Leeds ticket link: tickettailor.com/events/inst… London ticket link: tickettailor.com/events/inst…
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Rory Smith retweeted
Libero@podcast_liberoOct 16
New Libero Does the Premier League need Brighton and Brentford to succeed? @RorySmith @JohnBrewin_ @JackPittBrooke pod.fo/e/6c076f

Libero: 167 | Why Does The Premier League Need Brighton And Brentford?

The Premier League's two smartest, most upwardly-mobile teams, Brighton and Brentford, are currently third and fourth in the table. Is it too soon to talk about Champions League football? What do w...

pod.fo
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Rory Smith retweeted
George Simms@GeorgeRSimmsOct 9
The man behind the Ange mask Spent a couple of hours with mid-imperial phase Jason Cundy, on everything from ADHD, anxiety and his father's death to the generational run, O'Hara and the perfect TalkSport caller @ObserverUK observer.co.uk/news/sport/ar…

Jason Cundy: the man behind the mask

The ‘devious’ talkSPORT whirlwind on his ADHD diagnosis, callers who don’t know what they’re talking about, and winding up co-host Jamie O’Hara

observer.co.uk
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If anyone's having a conversation about how to end the red cartel without a financial free-for-all, unlikely hero @IanDoyleSport is right: you erase economic advantage with sporting restrictions. Homegrown players, under-21s, squad limits, fewer subs: they all solve it.
Ian Doyle
@IanDoyleSportOct 9
Replying to @RorySmith @Alex_Berwick @SeanAxion
I've told you about this many times Rory. Limit clubs to three senior players on bench and whole thing changes. Becomes lot more competitive. Because clubs over time won't be able to stockpile players who simply will hardly ever play. They go elsewhere or stay at original club
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The logic that the Premier League should let the market rip -- owners spending what they want! no cost controls! get rid of red tape! -- is disingenuous in lots of ways. But it also forgets that the hated red cartel have advantages they don't use, too. observer.co.uk/news/sport/ar…

City’s ‘lone ranger’ mentality is threat to what made Pre...

Once the principle of collectivism is gone, where is the incentive for English football’s more traditional powerhouses to keep up appearances?

observer.co.uk
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That's the inherent danger with City: the PL is basically a collective endeavour. It relies to some extent on people acting in the general interest, rather than according to their own specific priorities. It's why they vote on rules. It's why it's a tyranny of the majority.
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*A lot of people assume everything I think is because of the team I support, which is why journalists for a long time didn't publicise things like that. But my real bias is that I think the PL's strength is very obviously bad for European football as a whole, and needs curbing.
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English football has sold itself for decades out of an ambition to be the best league in the world. That’s why it opened the doors to anyone with money. It’s why it’s ownership neutral. It’s what leads to the Man City case. But…why? What’s the point? observer.co.uk/news/sport/ar…

The Premier League has only itself to blame for the Manch...

The league’s winner-takes-all mentality caused the case that might be its downfall

observer.co.uk
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Seems fair to ask if the PL’s breathless and unquestioning pursuit of wealth at all costs has been worth the trouble the league is now in, where one club can indirectly threaten the country’s economy. You don’t get that with Augsburg, do you?
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(Not in the piece but a sidenote: English football seems to me to have turned supporting a team from a hobby into something more like an addiction. The discourse around City (sort of from both sides) suggests that. Is this fun?)
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