Oh my lord, Lawton does it again:

James Lawton: Managers have been stripped of their worth in a billionaires' lottery
The IndependentThursday, 4 September 2008 ( Read more... )

• Hey FIFA, fail a little more, I dare you.
  
  "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeals filed by Schalke 04, Werder Bremen and Barcelona against the decision issued on July 30 2008 by the single judge of Fifa's players' status committee that consequently has been set aside in its entirety," said CAS ( Read more... )

The Guardian is generally entertaining, but for passionate football reporting only the Independent will do for me. James Lawton writes honestly, although I have started to find areas of his Liverpool analysis to disagree with, but even that can be refreshing when dealing with the insipid work of most journos. The Sam Wallace article is much more ( Read more... )

1. Why does this victory seem so much sweeter than usual? (Rhetorical ( Read more... )

Haven't been keeping up with James Lawton over at the Independent recently, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this article. Last week Soccernet's Phil Ball, an erratic though eager columnist, wrote about Barca's troubles. He's a RM fan, so I took his column with a grain of salt. Now Lawton has weighed in on the issue, but instead of focusing on ( Read more... )

Basile's reign is starting. I would say more about it but I'm still mourning his appointment, pfft. He's contacted 30 players: the 23 from the World Cup, plus Lux, Gonzalo Rodriguez (YAY!), Somoza, Pellerano, Gago, Insua, and Belluschi. He's also shown interest in Agüero, Clemente Rodríguez, Delgado, Cavenaghi (MORE YAY!), Paletta, and Bilos ( Read more... )

This was published before today's match, but it's still a fantastic look at how far the Argentinian national team has come since 1986, and yet how they haven't really changed at all. It's also a piercing look at how brutal and cutthroat the DT job is. As usual, James Lawton takes my breath away, only now the air is a bittersweet taste in my mouth ( Read more... )

I wish Lawton's style could be bottled and sold. I truly believe that it would make the world a better place.

Gerrard's marauding menace supplies note of authenticity in season of illusions
By James Lawton
IndependentIt was, as Charles Dickens would probably have noted in his racy way, the best and the worst of seasons. It made a lot of promises ( Read more... )

I know James Lawton comes off as a Liverpool fanboy, but it's one thing to love a team and an altogether different thing to respect (and show respect for) its manager. That's why I love reading him -- he knows where the fine line is and how to avoid treading on it.

Benitez's safe hands milk the Special One's muddle
By James Lawton
Independent ( Read more... )

Just found this old James Lawton article from Christmas Eve. He wrote a piece for the Independent lambasting Mourinho, and received lots of angry e-mails accusing him of having a strong Liverpool bias, so I suppose this is his Apology of sorts. It's a fantastic read, as evidenced by the title alone.

The beauty of football is a moveable feast, ( Read more... )