Mick McCarthy

There are few football managers I really admire, and I'm afraid it's never much to do with what happens with their team on the pitch. Today Mick McCarthy has survived, by a whisper, with Wolves. Therefore I can continue to enjoy his doleful and honest interviews on the radio which always cheer me up.

Of course I also admire Sir Alex (although I'm no fan of Manchester United) probably for the same reason, for neither give much of a fuck about the media, and they think they concentrate on the football. But of course you are never perceived exactly as the presentation intends. This is one of the great fallacies of PR. Any lover knows this, you're never loved for what your think you are loved for, but usually for something else entirely. In their case, not exactly whether they win or loose, but the attitude they have to the media about it.

Jose M, of course, much loved at Chelsea, chucking his jackets and medals in to the crowd and so on, seems to have turned in to a bit more of a sulky child at Real Madrid, the 'Special One' tag wears thin with Freudian considerations.

Meanwhile this afternoon was one of the best two hours of football commentary on the radio I have ever heard. Five games at the same time. It was like playing the accumulator on Vegas slots.