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January 7: While denying Leeds United manager Simon Grayson is under pressure, chairman Ken Bates takes the opportunity to explain why the club is running smoothly. "The reason why Leeds are successful financially is that we do our budgets. I add up all the income, deduct all the expenditure, use it as a credit balance, take off a sum for contingencies and then say to the manager, 'That's how much we have to spend, wages and transfer fees'."
February 1: Sacks Grayson: "We are over 30 percent over budget on players wages. What I don't understand is why we are where we are with what we have spent."
Winter wonderland
A big freeze gripped Europe this week, causing widespread hand-rubbing and emergency application of snoods (away from FIFA's prying eyes, naturally). Football, of course, must go on, and it's well done to Inter Milan's Joel Obi for unravelling one of the tiny mysteries of football in frozen lands – what groundstaff do with the snow which has to be scraped off the pitch before kick-off. The Circus wishes him well in his recovery.
Homegrown Burnley hero Jay Rodriguez's powers of recovery are strong enough not to let simple comedy howlers stand in the way of a good game. Which is lucky, because this is what happened on Tuesday when Rodriguez stepped up to the penalty spot to put Burnley 2-0 up against Nottingham Forest. (He later scored his second for the game to seal the win).
Finally, at the end of a black week for Egyptian football let's celebrate some of the beauty the game in the Arab world's most populous country can produce. That's Haras El-Hodood midfielder Mohamed Tarek over near the touchline, delivering what is probably the most audacious assist you will see this season.
WAG watch / shopping corner
Buy Sylvie Van der Vaart in Barbie form (if, you know, that is how you roll). 'Talking John Terry' Ken dolls have, regrettably, been pulled off the shelf.
The spoken word
"1 goal in 18 games this season ... We might as well have signed Tim Howard."
– A fan teaches Tottenham Hotspur a valuable lesson after Spurs chose to allow unfiltered Facebook comments alongside each story on their relaunched club website. The following (presumably short-lived) comments also accompanied the news that the club had signed Everton's Louis Saha on the final day of the transfer window:
- "Utter sh_te."
- "What the f--k? Exactly what we DIDN'T need, another old, lazy, injury prone striker! We need to bring in more young talent if we seriously want to compete as a top team."
- "awful signing"
- "I heard about this and fought it actuly was a joke I hoped it was anyways but cum (SIC) on here and FFS it real :'("
January 7: While denying Leeds United manager Simon Grayson is under pressure, chairman Ken Bates takes the opportunity to explain why the club is running smoothly. "The reason why Leeds are successful financially is that we do our budgets. I add up all the income, deduct all the expenditure, use it as a credit balance, take off a sum for contingencies and then say to the manager, 'That's how much we have to spend, wages and transfer fees'."
February 1: Sacks Grayson: "We are over 30 percent over budget on players wages. What I don't understand is why we are where we are with what we have spent."
Winter wonderland
A big freeze gripped Europe this week, causing widespread hand-rubbing and emergency application of snoods (away from FIFA's prying eyes, naturally). Football, of course, must go on, and it's well done to Inter Milan's Joel Obi for unravelling one of the tiny mysteries of football in frozen lands – what groundstaff do with the snow which has to be scraped off the pitch before kick-off. The Circus wishes him well in his recovery.
Homegrown Burnley hero Jay Rodriguez's powers of recovery are strong enough not to let simple comedy howlers stand in the way of a good game. Which is lucky, because this is what happened on Tuesday when Rodriguez stepped up to the penalty spot to put Burnley 2-0 up against Nottingham Forest. (He later scored his second for the game to seal the win).
Finally, at the end of a black week for Egyptian football let's celebrate some of the beauty the game in the Arab world's most populous country can produce. That's Haras El-Hodood midfielder Mohamed Tarek over near the touchline, delivering what is probably the most audacious assist you will see this season.
WAG watch / shopping corner
Buy Sylvie Van der Vaart in Barbie form (if, you know, that is how you roll). 'Talking John Terry' Ken dolls have, regrettably, been pulled off the shelf.
The spoken word
"1 goal in 18 games this season ... We might as well have signed Tim Howard."
– A fan teaches Tottenham Hotspur a valuable lesson after Spurs chose to allow unfiltered Facebook comments alongside each story on their relaunched club website. The following (presumably short-lived) comments also accompanied the news that the club had signed Everton's Louis Saha on the final day of the transfer window:
- "Utter sh_te."
- "What the f--k? Exactly what we DIDN'T need, another old, lazy, injury prone striker! We need to bring in more young talent if we seriously want to compete as a top team."
- "awful signing"
- "I heard about this and fought it actuly was a joke I hoped it was anyways but cum (SIC) on here and FFS it real :'("
The Circus is The World Game's regular look at the beautiful game from left field. So join us every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for something a little more light-hearted than the norm.
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Vitor Sobral
Vitor commentates for SBS and works as a presenter for The World Game. His passion for European football resonates through his blogs. Follow @Vitor_TWG on Twitter.
Philip Micallef
Philip Micallef is a football writer with almost 40 years of experience. He has worked for News Limited and now SBS. He is a long-time follower of AC Milan.
The Circus
The Circus is The World Game's regular look at the beautiful game from left field. So join us every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for something a little more light-hearted than the norm.
Tim Vickery
British-born Tim works as a journalist and has lived in Brazil since 1994 and provides unrivalled knowledge of South American football.
Cornell Heyden
Hailing from Amsterdam, Ajax tragic Cornell vander Heyden has over 12 years of journalism experience and cites covering the 2006 World Cup among his career highlights. Follow @dvanda101 on Twitter.
