{"id":352378,"date":"2026-01-04T22:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/352378\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T22:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:18:10","slug":"blackpool-fans-get-spectacularly-bad-deal-and-roy-keane-turns-his-analytical-skill-to-golf-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/352378\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackpool fans get spectacularly bad deal and Roy Keane turns his analytical skill to golf \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most disgruntled fans of the season? We\u2019ll go with Daz and Dave who vented to the Blackpool Gazette after they had treated themselves to a \u00a3130 (\u20ac149) \u201cExecutive Pitch View Room\u201d at Blackpool\u2019s Bloomfield Road so they could watch one of their games in luxury. <\/p>\n

But? On their arrival, a note was waiting for them informing them that they had to close the curtains in the room \u201can hour prior to kick off, until full-time\u201d. Yes, you read that right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most ridiculous thing I\u2019ve ever seen in my life,\u201d Daz fumed. But it\u2019s not the club\u2019s fault \u2013 Britain\u2019s Sporting Events Act prohibits the drinking of alcohol in view of the pitch at football games, so working on the assumption that their guests will have a jar or three, Blackpool have to order the curtains closed.<\/p>\n

Still, as Daz noted, the room is cheaper on a non-match day \u201cso they\u2019re putting a premium on the room during a match which you\u2019re not actually allowed to watch\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mind you, with Blackpool hovering just above the relegation zone in League One, it calls to mind that (alleged) Bill Shankly quote: \u201cIf Everton were playing down the bottom of my garden, I\u2019d draw the curtains\u201d. <\/p>\n

Quote\"AsAs a famous demander of thorough preparation, Roy Keane surely wouldn’t sound off publicly about things he doesn’t know much about, would he? Photograph: Visionhaus\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t play golf, but it looks easy. You just get it in the hole and everybody applauds. It\u2019s like when you\u2019d get a tap-in at Yeovil.\u201d Roy Keane to a wholly unconvinced Ian Wright. <\/p>\n

By the Numbers: 6 <\/p>\n

That\u2019s how many managers Chelsea have had since 2020 (Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca and whoever the newbie is). The word might be \u201cunstable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Word of Mouth<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want anyone breaking their legs, but I also look at the dynamics of how people behave and think that what goes around comes around.\u201d Former Crystal Palace chairman and current talkSPORT presenter Simon Jordan with, well, a classy take on Alexander Isak\u2019s broken leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are moments I shout at him and there are moments I want to kiss him, so I have that ambivalent feeling with him.\u201d Pep Guardiola on his love-hate relationship with Rayan Cherki.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club is rotten from the bottom up at the minute. It\u2019s been a shit-show.\u201d Nicky Butt somewhat suggesting that Manchester United have issues.<\/p>\n

\"GLASGOW,GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JANUARY 03: Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy reacts during the Premier League match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on January 03, 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s totally normal that you guys kill me. But judge me in a few weeks or months. I want to create a legacy here. I am going to die for this club, for sure.\u201d And this was before Wilfried Nancy\u2019s Celtic died a death against Rangers, making it six defeats in his first eight games. Martin O\u2019Neill is sitting by his phone (again). <\/p>\n

Slack Panthers<\/p>\n

True, it\u2019s a touch early to decide on the sporting awards for 2026, but surely there will be no greater meltdown than the one produced by the government of Gabon after the national team\u2019s less than successful African Cup of Nations campaign? <\/p>\n

Lest you missed it, following defeats to Cameroon, Mozambique and Ivory Coast, the government suspended the team, who are nicknamed the Panthers, sacked the manager and all his staff and removed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga from the squad. <\/p>\n

\"Gabon'sGabon’s Andr\u00e9 Poko and Jonathan Do Marcolino could be set for a long period of international inactivity after their country’s government suspended the national team. Photograph: Franck Fife\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

It\u2019d be a bit like Miche\u00e1l Martin suspending the Irish team after they lost in Armenia, sacking Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson and ordering the dumping of Troy Parrot and Nathan Collins.<\/p>\n

Sports minister Simplice-D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Mamboula described the performances as \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and \u201cdiametrically opposed to the values of ethics and exemplarity advocated by the Fifth Republic\u201d, while president Brice Oligui Nguema said they had \u201cweakened part of our national identity\u201d. Lads? It\u2019s only a game.<\/p>\n

Birmingham\u2019s travel blues<\/p>\n

Birmingham City are one of those teams who are outstanding at home and rubbish away, so a while back the club\u2019s performance psychologist came up with a plan to solve their troubles on the road. They take \u201cphotographs and signage with them that they use to adorn away dressingrooms\u201d, according to the Sun, to make it feel like they\u2019re playing at St Andrew\u2019s. Is it working? Well, they lost six and drew one of their last seven away games. So, in a word, no. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most disgruntled fans of the season? We\u2019ll go with Daz and Dave who vented to the Blackpool Gazette…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1953,10043,5904,349,19404,24740,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-352378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-alexander-isak","9":"tag-celtic","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-manchester-united","12":"tag-pep-guardiola","13":"tag-roy-keane","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}