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Hello! Which royal family member is on your club’s internet forum?
Coming up:
🍻 Prince William’s Villa pub trip
📈 Iraola: Europe’s hottest coach?
⏬ The worst Man Utd team ever?
🎰 Messi, Vegas and sports betting
Prince in the pub: Villa fan William talks Tielemans and double pivots
(Courtesy of Steve Jones)
In the anonymous world of football message boards, anybody could be lurking. I wonder how many coaches, players, chief executives or similar go incognito online to test the water around their club.
From today, any Aston Villa supporters out there should have a keen eye on their favourite forum. Look out for a poster with a username along the lines of fkoe82 — because it might just be the future king of England.
We’re bringing you the story of Prince William — next in line to the UK throne — joining a group of Villa fans for a pint in a pub because it drew lots of attention on The Athletic over the weekend, on both sides of the Atlantic. Jacob Tanswell’s piece about it gave an insight into how a member of the royal family follows the game, and painted William’s love of Villa as far more than a token gesture.
Officials in high places, and politicians especially, can make you cringe when they talk about football, primarily because they’re clueless about it. William was different: schooled in the role of Youri Tielemans which helped Villa nick a 2-2 draw at Arsenal on Saturday, clued up on double midfield pivots and versed in the web of profit and sustainability (PSR). Dare we call him a man of the people?
Burner account
TAFC won’t insult your intelligence by pretending that last week’s gathering in a boozer at Birmingham’s New Street train station was entirely spontaneous. It was arranged through Villa’s commercial department, ahead of their 1-0 win at Everton. Some would see it as PR fluff.
But the orchestration notwithstanding, it wasn’t as if William bluffed his way through an hour of chat. He goes to games when he can. He’s mates with former Villa striker John Carew. He once used Christian Benteke’s matchworn socks in a charity match. He took a shine to the club through a Villa fan who used to drive him to school back in the day.
Better than that, though, was the revelation that he’s active on several Villa forums, posting under different names and using burner accounts to get in on the discussions. So that person digging out Unai Emery, or hammering the transfer policy at Villa Park? Maybe it’s the UK’s king-in-waiting. Stranger things happen.
News round-up
📲 Stay ahead of the game with our live transfer blog.
Bournemouth buzzing: Iraola reputation only growing as Kluivert treble sinks Newcastle
There was something quintessentially British about the spiky reaction to Bournemouth dispensing with Gary O’Neil to make way for Andoni Iraola in 2023. O’Neil had done a steady job, and culling a good man isn’t the done thing around here (or something like that, anyway).
Kudos to Bournemouth, though, for sticking to their guns. A 4-1 win at Newcastle United — achieved in the face of a horrific injury list and Newcastle’s blistering form — was another step in their evolution and Iraola’s reputational surge. Very few clubs have rolled the managerial dice with finer results.
His team are clever and adventurous. His high press (driven by an upbeat Tyler Adams) creates a type of Alcatraz which Clint Eastwood couldn’t escape from. Justin Kluivert’s hat-trick at Newcastle was indicative of a forward in fine form — and I chuckled at the poster on X who asked if the 25-year-old ranks as the first son of an iconic footballer who is actually any good.
The obvious question as time goes on: who will try and poach Iraola from Bournemouth? Because he’s clearly one of Europe’s top coaches. And to follow that question up: could it be Tottenham Hotspur, if Ange Postecoglou cannot stop Spurs going round in circles?
The adjective ‘Spursy’ has been in football’s lexicon for years. Tottenham are the kings of false dawns, and we’re seeing another. Those heady days when Postecoglou had them top of the Premier League seem like a fantasy. Defeat at Everton yesterday was their seventh in nine league games.
Spurs have become that kickboxing sparring partner who gives you a rest from the snipers on the mat. They’re a soft touch and they’re frozen in mediocrity. I get that Postecoglou is badly down on numbers — but Iraola went to Newcastle with that excuse too.
🎙️ The Totally Football Show has been giving Iraola some love as well. You’ll find it on Apple and Spotify.
Around the grounds: ‘Worst team in Man Utd history’, Foden in form, Real top La Liga
A few notes from a lively weekend, in the Premier League and beyond:
Best of The Athletic FC
Catch a match
(Selected games, times ET/UK)
Premier League: Chelsea vs Wolves, 3pm/8pm, USA Network — Fubo/Sky Sports.
Serie A: Como v Udinese, 2.45pm/7.45pm — CBS Sports, Paramount+/OneFootball.
La Liga: Villarreal v Real Mallorca, 3pm/8pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports.
And finally…
We could easily have devoted this section to YouTuber KSI — once an opponent of Jake Paul’s — announcing a fight with ex-Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge. Boxing gets weirder and weirder.
If it happens, it won’t be aesthetically pleasing. But something that was easy on the eye was this volley from on-loan Spurs midfielder George Abbott for League Two Notts County on Saturday, a GIF you could watch on repeat all day. Smoother than Willy Wonka’s chocolate river.
(Top image: Steve Jones, his wife Julie and son Daniel, with Prince William — courtesy of Steve Jones)
