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James Lawton

Roy Keane

Man who would be Keane

It is a hard and pitiless process and it has beaten down many celebrated football men. But who could have anticipated the latest victim? Who could have imagined the taming of Roy Keane?

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Inside James Lawton

James Lawton: Blame for awful England mess lies squarely with Fabio Capello

Friday, 10 February 2012

Unusually for Fabio Capello, a man who owns some highly valued pieces of art but is not given to too many flights of poetic fancy, he once said that he had a dream. It was right at the start of his England reign and it was that he would lead his team into the final of the World Cup in Johannesburg.
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James Lawton: After court case, Harry Redknapp will find England job a pleasure

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Having cleared his name in Southwark Crown Court, Harry Redknapp is now merely obliged to justify the belief that he may well be the saviour of England's national team, which is once again in a dock of its own on a charge of chronic dysfunction and with any number of cases to be taken into consideration.
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James Lawton: English football is, once again, a laughing stock

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Fabio Capello wouldn't bend and if such a capacity is what you want in the leader of the national team there is a time and a place when it is best expressed.
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James Lawton: Dalglish continues to fuel fires of Suarez row

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

It is a simple, healing phrase and, when the Beatles voiced it, much of a generation was touched. But if Kenny Dalglish wasn't listening then, he certainly isn't now. Let it be. They are not the hardest words, certainly not as tough to utter as sorry, but they are plainly beyond the manager of Liverpool.

James Lawton: FA and Capello reaching end game

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Those of us who celebrated so enthusiastically the appointment of Fabio Capello had one moment of sadly fleeting vindication.
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Chris Ashton needs to grow up

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Chris Ashton says that, along with the rest of new England rugby union, he is dedicated to creating a new image. His challenge, he says, is giving the people a more accurate perception of himself.
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Shake hands or simply wave goodbye to decency

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

It may have been a lot easier to take exception to Kenny Dalglish's contempt for a question about the relentless booing and taunting of Patrice Evra, a victim of racism, than Mark Hughes' eagerness to kick into touch what he believes to be the phoney ritual of pre-game handshakes.
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A Jose Mourinho-Ars�ne Wenger job swap would be perfect for all parties

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Of all the possibilities provoked by Jose Mourinho's latest overture to the Premier League, the most intriguing by some distance would surely be a straight job swap with Arsène Wenger.
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James Lawton: Concern for Mario Balotelli's agent

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Even though hardly a day passes now without the phrase "mad as a box of Balotellis" burrowing a little deeper into common usage, the first full public statement by his agent was still a little startling.

James Lawton: Should managers earn sell-on fees?

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

It is no part of the charge against Harry Redknapp that he had an arrangement with his former club Portsmouth granting him percentage payments on any transfer fees received for players he had signed and helped to develop to the point of profit.

James Lawton: Is time finally up for Wenger at Arsenal?

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

No one is any longer unaware of the consequences of drumming up the nerve to say, however sorrowfully, yes, it is indeed time for Arsène Wenger to go. It is to be automatically cast among Brutus and his knife-wielding mates.
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James Lawton: Swansea boss Rodgers has to swallow his pride

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

If Swansea City's impressive young manager, Brendan Rodgers, felt obliged to complain about the relatively low critical acclaim received by his ball-playing team before their upset of the former masters of the genre, Arsenal, he may be thinking again.
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James Lawton: Mancini has duty to stamp out Balotelli's behaviour

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Someone should explain to Manchester City that Mario Balotelli could score a thousand extraordinary goals, exceed Mother Teresa in examples of spell-binding charity, and still have lingering shame against his name and his club's for what he did to Scott Parker.

James Lawton: Balotelli is an asset and a problem Manchester City can live with

Monday, 23 January 2012

Maybe only Mario Balotelli could quite so effectively deface a game that he came to decide in its last moments.
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James Lawton: Can the new Andy Murray land major prizes?

Thursday, 19 January 2012

These may be extremely early days in the remaking of Andy Murray at the rather advanced age of 24 going on 25, but whatever happens at the Australian Open his new coach Ivan Lendl deserves applause for one achievement at least.
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James Lawton: Arsene Wenger can't restore belief at Arsenal if he fails to see the truth

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Arsène Wenger has suffered many harsh cuts recently but maybe the cruellest thus far came when he was caught by TV seething in his box made for one on the Swansea touchline. The man on the microphone couldn't resist a comparison with Victor – "I don't believe it" – Meldrew.
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