PRESS RELEASED Football Daily didn’t get where it is today by abdicating its responsibilities. If we say we’ll slither apologetically into your inbox or spam folder five days a week (Bank Holidays excluded), then that’s what we’ll do, even though there’s a good chance nobody would notice or even care if we skipped the odd appointment. It seems the same can’t be said for José Mourinho, who has been fined for failing to materialise at his post-match press conference in the wake of Fenerbahce’s defeat at the hands of Galatasaray in last Saturday’s Intercontinental Derby, an absence he was only happy to explain yesterday. José was speaking prior to Fenerbahce’s Bigger Vase match against Union Saint-Gilloise tonight and, having deigned to turn up for this particular presser, took unsurprisingly grave exception to the suggestion that he might have avoided his post-match media duties last weekend because he was in one of his fabled sulks or, worse still, running scared. “In 24 years of football, I never in my life escaped from a press conference especially after a defeat,” he said. “I never had fear of any journalist, any question or any press conference. So, it wouldn’t be with you that I was going to change my way of being.” Having belittled the ladies and gentlemen of the Istanbul media for their impertinence at the very suggestion he might have been trying to avoid them in the immediate aftermath of a particularly chastening defeat, José went on to explain that he had been kept waiting for 75 minutes and eventually lost patience before sodding off home. “I tried to go,” he explained. “I was not allowed to go. I was in the door of the press conference trying to go but I was not allowed to go. So it has nothing to do with the result, it has nothing to do with anything; it has only to do with something that is either correct or not correct.” Asked if his no-show was perhaps a sign of disrespect, José agreed that it was, albeit not in the way the reporters he’d blanked might have hoped. “If anyone felt disrespected, then it was me.” During a week when Arsenal have had to face accusations that they deployed football’s “dark arts” against Manchester City last weekend, it was heartwarming to see a master at work as he goes about using every trick in the book to deflect attention away from his team’s poor derby performance. And for what it’s worth, given Football Daily’s experience of attending pre- and post-match pressers, we’d consider any such event where a manager fails to front up an unexpected bonus. With Tottenham and Rangers also in Bigger Vase action tonight, Ange Postecoglou and Philippe Clement were happy to sit in front of official Uefa rectangles covered in smaller, more colourful rectangles while facing interrogatory projectiles from reporters. With Tottenham hosting Qarabag and Rangers away at Malmo, neither said anything that will live long in the memory of anyone who heard it, ahead of matches that are unlikely to live long in the memory of anyone who participates in them. But at least they showed up, eh? LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Taha Hashim for a wide-ranging Clockwatch that takes in both the second legs of the Women’s Big Cup qualifying, including Arsenal 3-1 Häcken (3-2 agg), and Bigger Vase games including Malmo 1-1 Rangers. Oh, and Will Unwin will separately bring you piping hot MBM Bigger Vase updates from Tottenham 3-1 Qarabag from 8pm BST. QUOTE OF THE DAY Monday 18 March 2024 Scott Munn, Tottenham Hotspur’s chief football officer, announces plans for a post-season tour of flamin’ Australia, with the first match of said tour (in Melbourne, on 22 May) taking place just three days after Spurs’ final Premier League match of last season (on 19 May … in Sheffield). We are delighted to be heading to Melbourne for a post-season fixture against Newcastle United. Being able to take our team overseas is always a huge honour. We have amazing global support and to have the opportunity to connect with those fans who may be based thousands of miles away but are fanatical about the club is truly special. Wednesday 25 September 2024 Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur’s flamin’ manager, addresses the effect of fixture congestion on his squad just a few weeks into the next season, mate: I’ve spoken already about the fact that I think we’re getting to a real dangerous level with what our expectations are around players. Instead of focusing on one or two tournaments, it’s about the calendar, that’s more of an issue. Players don’t get a break between seasons any more like they used to, there are more tournaments both at international and club level, continental level. It’s going to get to a point where we’re not going to have the best players out there playing and probably even worse is them breaking down for various reasons. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed. FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS “Reeling me back in there with [Wednesday’s] SPFL-themed [Football Daily]. The mention of Hearts’ use of data analytics did make me think of a great quote attributed (I think) to John Robertson of Nottingham Forest fame, reported to have responded to the suggestion of a more continental style diet with the observation that ‘if they all eat pasta, how come three of them get relegated?’ Which is merely to suggest that the use of Bloom’s data analytics is likely to become routine, make some people fortunes and disappear into the ether when something shinier appears. Can’t they all just download the latest CM 01/02 update and play a few seasons anyway?” – Alexander McMillan. You have to hope that whoever is inputting the data into the Hearts manager-finding algorithm is more numerate than the [Football Daily]. Losing consecutive games to Dundee, Motherwell, Dundee United, Motherwell, Celtic and St Mirren would be six, not five. You also have to hope that they know more than the [Football Daily] about Scottish football too, as they only played Motherwell once” – Stuart McLagan (and 1,056 others). It was with a glowing sense of nostalgia that I read about Hearts and their laptop manager hoo ha. Brings back delightful memories of Manager Idol at Luton, the lunatic brainchild of chairman John Gurney, whereby Joe Kinnear was sacked and a phone poll created to vote for his replacement (candidates including, erm, Joe Kinnear thanks to the fans’ furious reaction). Cue a bemused Mike Newell took the hot seat. Sadly the new stadium with incorporated F1 track was never built, we went into administration and were nearly never heard of again …” – Kevin Goddard. “Twente fans heard chanting at the Etihad? Well, it was a Milk Cup game in fairness. At an average Premier League game you can usually hear Thirte or Forte” – Phil Cockburn.