Best Article ever in Daily Mirror

Makes a change from him blowing smoke up Beckhams arse. My personal favourite Holt piece was the one where he implied that our owner shouldn't have passed the fit and proper person test because of the human rights furore in Bahrain, which is kind of near the U.A.E.

A new question for sport is emerging in the wake of the decision to cancel next month’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Not whether it is safe for a major sporting event to take place in a Gulf state but whether it is right.

Calling off the race was a no-brainer but its postponement leads inevitably to far wider, and more awkward, questions about sport’s willingness to prostitute itself for oil money and ask ­questions later.

The protests in Bahrain have suddenly focused the world’s attention on the fact that the dictatorships in the region may not be quite as benevolent as everyone wanted to believe.

Until now, money effectively bought sport’s silence. And its approval. Attracted by the glint of so much gold, sport has pretty much moved house to the United Arab Emirates.

Laureus, an organisation that makes such a fuss about its Sport for Good Foundation, even held its glittering sports awards bash in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

But if, as many have suggested this week, Formula One should never have been racing in Bahrain in the first place, is it right to let the dictators of Abu Dhabi own Manchester City?

If it is wrong for Lewis Hamilton to pitch up in Manama, why is it okay for Tiger Woods to hit golf balls in Dubai?

If it is wrong for Fernando Alonso to drive his Ferrari around the desert track, why is it okay for Andrew Strauss to play cricket in Sharjah?

The Bahrain Grand Prix might have been cancelled because of unrest there but the unrest is not the real issue for sport. The real issue is that sport, in its lust for money, has been helping to prop up these autocratic regimes.

Do you think the regimes in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, for instance, are more enlightened than the one in Bahrain? Please. Don’t tell me you’re that naive.

This is not a defence of Formula One. Far from it. It is merely a reminder that the rage that is spreading across the Middle East has far wider ­implications for sport than the cancellation of one race.

Because it is not just golf that has been caught in a Race to Dubai. The whole of sport has been sprinting towards the oil-rich, freedom-poor Gulf states in an unseemly rush to stick its snout in the trough.

Fifa’s decision to host the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar is the most obvious example of a sport sacrificing its integrity and its credibility for the sake of hoovering up as much cash as is humanly possible.

But as people finally begin to wake up to the idea that there might be ethical concerns about sport’s embrace of these autocratic fiefdoms where immigrant workers have limited rights, the Premier League must be breathing a sigh of relief that some of its own ambitions in that area were thwarted.

If the richest league in the world had had its way, don’t forget, it would have been playing 39th games all over the Gulf this season, probably some time around now.

Manchester United v Wigan, live from Abu Dhabi. Chelsea v West Brom, direct from Dubai. Liverpool v Birmingham City, straight from Sharjah.

Opposition to the plan forced the Premier League to back down but that is far from the end of the issue.

Sheikh Mansour, City’s owner, is, after all, a member of the Al Nahyan family that runs Abu Dhabi. He is the half-brother of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

If we accept what many people are saying and that it was ethically dubious for F1 to be racing in Bahrain anyway, is it really acceptable that the ­autocrats of a neighbouring fiefdom should be allowed to run one of our leading clubs?

The ruling regime in Abu Dhabi, part of the UAE, is not very different from the ruling regime in Bahrain. In fact, the only real difference is that the wave of rage that has rolled across the Middle East has not yet reached the UAE.

That does not alter the fact that most of us turn a blind eye to the abuses that happen there because of Sheikh Mansour’s vast riches.

After what happened with the Bahrain Grand Prix, that may not be possible any more. The unrest in the region is shining a light on the UAE, too.

There are no political parties in the UAE, for instance, and no elections based on universal suffrage. Migrant workers, who make up such a large part of the population, are denied many basic human rights.

So it is not enough just to say that Formula One ought not to race in Bahrain. Just as the rage against these regimes is spreading from nation to nation, so it may spread now from sport to sport.

In this climate when the regimes of the Gulf states are being scrutinised anew, maybe we should think again about whether Sheikh Mansour is a fit and proper person to own one of our football clubs.

The Arab Spring is still in its infancy. Sport is only just beginning to feel its power.
 
Has the penny dropped with the media? not sure I want us to have too much attention. Been better since Ballo left
 
its about time he wrote a balanced piece about our club. he spat his dummy out big time when we dispatched of hughes. his write ups made him sound like a jilted/petulant teenager. it was embarrassing. i think he was aligned to kia at the time who gave him his scoops. glad he appears to have moved on from this and can now look at bigger picture. he obviously been briefed. incidentally he supports stockport county.
 
warpig said:
its about time he wrote a balanced piece about our club. he spat his dummy out big time when we dispatched of hughes. his write ups made him sound like a jilted/petulant teenager. it was embarrassing. i think he was aligned to kia at the time who gave him his scoops. glad he appears to have moved on from this and can now look at bigger picture. he obviously been briefed. incidentally he supports stockport county.
Click to expand...

He's stood on the terraces at maine road/anfield/old trafford/edgeley park "delete as applicable when it suits whatever shite I'm writing atm"
 
Kippax Street 1880 said:
warpig said:
its about time he wrote a balanced piece about our club. he spat his dummy out big time when we dispatched of hughes. his write ups made him sound like a jilted/petulant teenager. it was embarrassing. i think he was aligned to kia at the time who gave him his scoops. glad he appears to have moved on from this and can now look at bigger picture. he obviously been briefed. incidentally he supports stockport county.
Click to expand...

He's stood on the terraces at maine road/anfield/old trafford/edgeley park "delete as applicable when it suits whatever shite I'm writing atm"
Click to expand...

He supports County.

Holt's a decent bloke.
 
Damocles said:
No THIS is the best ever article by Ollie Holt:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Oliver-Holt-opinion-Why-Sergio-Aguero-30-minute-cameo-may-have-been-the-spark-that-changes-Manchester-City-for-ever-article786053.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion ... 86053.html</a>

Sometimes, it just takes a spark.

A player who can turn a good side into a title-winning side.

A player who suddenly seems to solve all the niggling problems and the misfires.

A player who ignites all the good players around him and whose very presence makes everything fall into place.

Manchester City 4-0 Swansea: Daily Mirror match report - Debut double for Aguero

Welcome to Manchester! City drool over two-goal Aguero

10 things you need to know about Sergio Aguero plus video of his goals and skills

Oliver Holt on Swansea: The ghost of Blackpool already looms over new boys

So forgive the excitement and forgive the impression that maybe we're all getting a little bit carried away.

And don't think anyone's forgetting that, for £38million, Manchester City fans should be entitled to think a forward ought to be a bit special.

But to be at the Etihad Stadium and to witness the Man City debut of Sergio Aguero felt like being in on something momentous.

It felt like a landmark.

Yes, the Argentine striker was only on the pitch for half an hour.

Yes, it was only a cameo.

And yes, he was only playing against a tiring Swansea side whose best moments of the night were long gone.

But of all the superstar arrivals that have happened here in the blur of transfer activity that has taken place since Sheikh Mansour bought the club three years ago, it's Aguero's that feels as if it has the power to transform the side.

There was an electricity about the place when he came on for Nigel De Jong. There was a feeling that something special was about to occur.

Certain players carry that magic along with them.

Like Wayne Rooney did when he made his Manchester United debut in September 2004 and scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahce.

There has been a feeling until now that City are a worthy side, a solid side, a team full of quality players but with the exception of Carlos Tevez, who has been a restless presence, a team lacking stardust.

Under the cautious, counter-attacking tutelage of Roberto Mancini, they have often failed to capture the imagination.

Even while winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League, they have been damned by faint praise.

The arrival of Aguero, who cost £13m more than the entire Swansea starting XI, threatens to change all that.

Other players may arrive before the end of this window, but none of them will be as important as Diego Maradona's son-in-law.

Swansea played some beautiful football in the first half but as the visitors were demolished after the break, it felt as if the grand design of City's jigsaw is nearly complete.

There is room for more creativity in midfield, certainly.

They would probably be better and certainly more attractive without both Gareth Barry and De Jong in the starting line-up.

But the arrival of Samir Nasri would improve that and in all other areas, City are formidably strong.

David Silva is the best technical player in the Premier League and the surging power of Yaya Toure at the heart of the side is often breathtaking.

Their defence, led by Vincent Kompany, who was at his indomitable best against Swansea, is solid and, in attack, they now have an embarrassment of riches.

It still seems unlikely Tevez will be here after the end of August, but Aguero's arrival also means that Mancini no longer has to indulge the idiosyncrasies of Mario Balotelli, with whom he is fast losing patience.

So, yes, it was only half an hour.

And yes, it was only a tiring Swansea.

But Sergio Aguero changed something last night.

He made City and their fans believe that their time has come.
Click to expand...

I have never seen a reporter before or since absolutely perfectly capture the zeitgeist at that time.
Click to expand...

Sergio's second goal did it for me. When it whacked into the back of the net I thought we had bought a barrowful of stardust.
 
His mam was Emily Bishop in Coronation Street.

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Derbyshire" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Derbyshire</a>
 
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