TALES FROM THE UNIVERSE No 2 - Featuring: How brave are you? House music, David Attenborough, Manuel Pellegrini, Mason Greenwood, Book Club, an original poem, and much more...
Welcome to this week’s newsletter (and find here nearly 7,000 stories by me, dating back to 2002, for The Guardian and Observer)
1. Part 3 of BECAUSE THEY CAN PLAY F’CKING GOOD FOOTBALL is coming:
On Wednesday the third part of my new Erik ten Hag book is published - as usual, a sample of this is readable for free, the rest for subscribers at £4.99 a-month, the story coming in weekly chapters.
In part 3…
'Manchester United hit Cyprus';
'erik ten hag and the owners’
'marcus rashford and the gang can’t score’
And further intrigue as the story of Ten Hag’s first season as Manchester United manager moves on.
2. Tune
House music is an orchestra in the head
3. It is all art, baby
Death of a pair of running shoes
Can we please have a 7-minute mile moment of silence, please…
4. Poem: tibet rising
tibet rising
through yellow flowers
through blue rain
the discovery of
unexpected joys
i have seen tibet rising on a monday afternoon
while walking corridors down
this latest week of days and nights;
hearing sirens, and trying to create
once again new.
tibet has risen, the mountains are still there;
maybe if i dream
i can recall
just once
some long gone
evening
from all that time before
5. Rumination
There are no rules; including this one
And:
How brave are you? Braver than you think right now…
6. Man City WARES:
Manuel Pellegrini was back in town last week as his Real Betis were thumped 4-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford. In May 2016 I interviewed the Chilean, who had managed Manchester City to the 2013-14 Premier League title.
Our chat came as he was about to make way for Pep Guardiola. It occurred at the City training ground, in his office across from the Etihad Stadium, and after an hour or so I was the one who politely finished our chat. Rare.
The below is from the published Guardian piece:
‘Pellegrini has just returned from a break in Scotland with his wife. It may surprise some that this first interview since his tenure materially ended at City – his contract expires on 30 June – takes place at the club, given it will soon be commanded by Pep Guardiola. This, though, is in line with Pellegrini’s relaxed demeanour, as is the absence of a City media officer.’
It turned out that Pellegrini had granted me the interview without City knowing - and when it was published and they realised they were not happy - with Pellegrini.
7. Man Utd WARES:
Coming soon surely will be the decision on whether Mason Greenwood will ever play again for the club. Whatever Manchester United decide will polarise opinion. Sometimes there is no right or wrong decision is an element of the thinking, I believe, at the club on this.
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