watford vs liverpool - first touch · pdf fileisaac success - watford to malaga, loan ......

MAY 3RD, 2018 • VOL 24 • ISSUE 43

INSIDE:THE MATTY LAWRENCE COLUMN: THE TRAGIC LONELINESS OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS FOOTBALLER

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Chelsea are considering a summer bid for Anthony Martial if Manchester United can-not convince him to stay. Juventus and Tot-tenham have also shown an interest in the 22-year-old French forward, although Jose Mourinho would prefer to keep him at Unit-ed. (Daily Telegraph)

Luis Enrique could be dealt a blow to his hopes of becoming the next Arsenal manager, as the club are reluctant to pay as much as Arsene Wenger’s £8.5million-a-year deal. Former Barcelona boss Enrique reportedly wants a deal worth £15million a year. (Daily Mail)

England’s medical team fear Harry Kane has jeopardised his chance to be in peak fit-ness at this summer’s World Cup by rush-ing back to action with Tottenham. (The Times)

Manchester United defenders Matteo Darm-ian and Daley Blind have both been told that they are free to leave Old Trafford this sum-mer, with Jose Mourinho on the hunt for two new full-backs this summer. (The Times)

Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan has played down speculation link-ing him to Chelsea and Manchester United by committing his future to the Serie A club. (Daily Mail)

Red Devils centre-back Eric Bailly is also con-cerned about his future at the club after being frozen out by manager Mourinho this season. (Daily Mirror)

United are said to be lead-ing the race for Lazio mid-fielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, as Barcelona deem the 23-year-old Serbian is too expensive. (Mundo)

The agent of Napoli midfield-er Jorginho has confirmed there has been inter-est in the player, with Man United and Man City linked to the 26-year-old. (Manchester Evening News)

Juventus are leading the chase for Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin, according to re-ports. The Gunners star is also wanted by Chelsea and Manchester United, but it is claimed the Italian giants are in talks over a £44million deal for the Spaniard this sum-mer.

Arsenal have reportedly made an improved offer to Jack Wilshere in an attempt to per-suade him to stay at the club. The Gunners, whose previous offer featured a cut to his basic wage, are believed to have offered in excess of £100,000-a-week in the hope of a break-through. (Daily Mirror)

Spanish forward Gerard Deulofeu has hint-ed that he could make a permanent switch to Watford after admitting that his Barce-lona future is in doubt. (Mundo Deportivo)

West Brom are reportedly keen on a move for Everton boss Sam Allardyce, should he leave his current post at the end of the season. The Baggies have made preliminary enquiries about former England boss Allardyce, who is under contract at Goodison Park until 2019 but is unpopular with some fans. (Daily Mail)

Tottenham could bid for former Ger-many Under-21 star Leonardo Bitten-court this summer, according to re-ports. German me-dia suggest Spurs are interested in the 24-year-old, with Monaco and Hof-fenheim also thought to be monitoring him.

However, the 26-year-old midfielder has al-ready had offers from other clubs to join them as a free agent with a big signing-on fee, with the likes of Wolves, Everton, AC Milan and Ju-ventus all interested. (Daily Mirror)

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This week’s cover: Liverpool players celebrate after reaching the Champions League final while demonstrating support for attacked Liverpool fan Sean Cox.

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The loneliness of a superstitious football fan is neither hygienic, nor particularly beneficial to one’s mental stability, I thought as I pulled on the same pair of underpants that I wore eight days ago

While my pals were whetting their whistle before the big kick off in a delightfully air conditioned bar in the West Village, I was ensconced in my Upper East Side apartment without enough room to swing a cat..Or even a cat for company.

Why? I hear you ask, and even if you weren’t asking, I’m going to tell you: It’s because this is where I watched the first leg of the Cham-pions League semi-final eight days ago. With Liverpool running out the 5-2 victors in that game at Anfield, there was no way I could change my routine this Wednesday afternoon.

So here I was sweltering, at-tached to the same underpants (unwashed), lonely and SO bloody thirsty. Sobriety felt good last week with the nerves of the first leg per-meating through my bones. Today, not so. I just can’t change a damn thing. Superstition has taken me under its wing and denied me even the slightest sip of alcohol, or the luxury of a less pungent pair of un-dies.

All this for a bloody game of foot-ball? You can bet your life on it. With a three-goal lead, I really should have felt confident enough to cartwheel down my hallway, into the elevator and into any bar of my choice, safe in the knowl-

edge that LFC couldn’t throw that lead away, wherever I watched the game.

But I’m a footy fan and a former footy player. And, above all else, have witnessed many a Liverpool capitulation and a seeming desire to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Today would be no dif-ferent, I was pretty sure of that. I had approximately three thousand superstitions as a player, and I was sticking limpet-like to that mantra.

My ritual of pre-match supersti-tions would start sometime around Friday night and progress all the way through Saturday and into the actual game after 3pm. Anyone who watched me hopping over the lines at the halfway line where the centre circle bisected it, at every opposition goal kick, now knows why.

Half a banana before the game, the other at half-time, towel folded per-fectly like it had just been pressed, more tape around my shinnies than is currently required to keep my knees in place and ALWAYS the left boot on first…and that’s just when I’m watching in my apart-ment. I kid. Although this Wednes-day afternoon I did have exactly the same M&Ms lined up as last week and a couple of litres of water to chug my way through. If nothing else, I would be well hydrated in this furnace of an apartment.

I suppose we should talk about the game itself. The only way that AS Roma had any chance was if they scored first..At least that was my assumption.

When Mane tucked home Firmi-no’s pass inside 10 minutes, I near-ly hopped in the shower, put on my glad rags and headed out in search of throat lubricants. Of course, I didn’t because a) I’m a supersti-tious cretin, and b) Dejan Lovren.

So, not just once, but twice within 20 minutes Lovren managed to give AS Roma a boost. Granted the referee’s final whistle of the first leg, and opening whistle of the sec-ond, separated this Lovren cameo.

Did he have a few grand squirreled away on an AS Roma victory? Poor, old James Milner is still icing his cheek after Lovren ricocheted the ball off Milner into the back of his own net. The only consolation is we know Lovren didn’t mean it, because he would certainly have missed the target from that five-yard range.

Luckily for Lovren, and my blood pressure, Gigi Wijnaldum restored the one goal cushion in the game a mere 10 minutes later. At this point, Milner’s cheek had toned down from pillar-box red to a dull, dark pink.

Credit where it is due because Lovren isn’t the only clown to be working his magic at the back for Liverpool FC: please step forward Loris Karius. For a guy who rou-tinely struggles to remember to put his hands in his gloves most games, we should tip our caps towards him in the 52nd minute. No fear of those chocolate wrists this time as he had to work supremely hard to parry the ball straight into the path of Edin Dzeko.

Karius managed to ignore every coaching point in the goalkeeper’s manual and instead of tipping the ball around the post, or sideways out of danger, he managed to meet it with steely precision and find the feet of one of the most lethal strik-ers in Europe.

And, boy, did Karius add insult to injury in the 86th minute just to keep my blood pressure teeter-ing around the Bill Werbeniuk + 30 pints of stout + two grammes of beta-blockers levels. Karius’ misjudgement was so bad that he ended up virtually waving the ball into the back of the net. There is not a chance in hell that I’m letting him park my motor in the nearest multi-storey: he’d struggle to get in the entrance with that skew-eyed vision.

The defensive battle that was AS Roma vs Liverpool wasn’t done there, as a 13th goal came deep into stoppage time and made the tie an excruciating 7-6 to Liverpool

on aggregate. Of course this is the result I wanted and of course I lost approximately seven pounds in weight through sweat alone, along with 67,000 strands of hair. Not to mention considering the imple-mentation of hit-men upon certain members of a flaky backline.

But, above all else, I know that this condemns me to be sadly alone when Liverpool Football Club play Real Madrid in Kiev on Saturday, May 26. with no alcohol and ques-tionable personal hygiene on dis-play once again.

Just another day in the life of a su-perstitious football fan, confined indoors, chained to the metaphori-cal radiator yet again, channelling my inner Terry Waite (Google him, young ‘uns).

Read more Bill Thomas at:www.firsttouchonline.com

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And so it ends. In a weekend that showcased both the best and worst of Italian football, Juventus have all but secured their seventh successive Se-rie A title, as they lead Napoli by four points with only three games remaining. There is still the outside chance of an epic Juventus collapse, but in all likelihood Napoli fans will have to settle for knowing they are the team that ran Juve the clos-est in this seven year run.

Let’s start with the positives. Serie A and Italian football are often ac-cused of low blows, corruption and

conspiracies, sometimes with good reason. But Napoli’s 3-0 loss to Fio-rentina last Sunday was testament to the existence of true sportsmanship in Serie A (and some great goals). Some Juve fans were worried that Fiorentina would have buckled more or less voluntarily and allowed Na-poli to win, such is their dislike of Ju-ventus. But instead la viola put on a bravura performance with a first hat-trick from Giovanni Simeone, which the fans applauded. It may seem odd to celebrate a team not willingly los-ing a game, but for those who know the history of late season Serie A games and the Fiorentina-Juventus rivalry, it is certainly an improve-ment.

The negatives were on display in Juve’s come from behind 3-2 win against Inter at San Siro. In-ter were already 1-0 down when they were reduced to 10 men for a foul by Matias Vecino on Ma-rio Mandzukic after 18 minutes. Inter nonetheless came back with a Mauro Icardi header and an own goal by Andrea Barza-gli to lead 2-1 with 5 minutes to go. But then manager Luciano Spalletti substituted Icardi and put on defender Davide Santon. It was a negative substitution and Juve took full advantage of it, with first Juan Cuadrado and then Gonzalo Higuain scoring to give Juve the win.

So where was the negative? The comeback was noteworthy, but as usual with Juventus, the

win was marred by a strong whiff of refereeing contro-versy. The Vecino red card was probably justified, but the referee had in the first instance brandished a yellow before changing his mind after consulting the video as-sistant – which seemed to go beyond the criteria for which the technology is meant to be used. But of more sig-nificance was the referee’s shocking refusal to give Mi-ralem Pjanic a second yellow card for what can only be de-scribed as an assault on Rafinha a mere 5 metres in front of his eyes. Juve may have gone on to win the game anyway, but those deci-sions marred both Juve’s comeback and their inevitable title triumph.

What is left of the title race will see Juventus host Bologna on Saturday while Napoli face Torino at the San Paolo. For Napoli, the loss of the title is even more heartfelt because their team is going to be significantly bro-ken up over the summer, with Pepe Reina joining Milan, the future of Dries Mertens uncertain and manag-er Maurizio Sarri linked to clubs in England. But on the positive side the partenopei will have given Serie A, and European football, some of the most adventurous attacking football for a while.

And one final negative that may hopefully turn into a positive. We have often touched on the recurring violence that blights Italian football

in these pages, and highlighted the links between clubs and their “ultra” supporter groups. In the aftermath of the disgraceful scenes outside Anfield before the Liverpool-Roma semi-final last week, when a Liver-pool fan was gravely injured by a group of Roma ultras, Roma presi-dent James Pallotta has come out with the strongest denunciation of ultras ever seen by an Italian club president. It may be because he is American, but whatever the reason, Pallotta’s challenge to Italian foot-ball was to change and confront violence in and around stadiums, in-cluding by ultra groups, or to be left behind. Reactions have been muted so far, but while on-field shenanigans continue to cloud Juventus ten years after they were relegated for sport-ing fraud, hopefully off the pitch this could be the start of a change for the better.


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‘MLS preaches “Soccer for All” and yet the champion this year will get the Philip Anschutz trophy, named for a guy that gives generously to anti-LGBT causes.’

This Saturday, for the first time in the 2018 Major League Soccer season, it is the Hudson River Rivalry, the Derby Della Gotham, the Bridge and Tunnel Tussle or whatever else you’d like to get creative and call it, as the New York Red Bulls play host to New York City FC.

There are some people that would really like us to go above and beyond the usual game preview stuff to amp up the energy and get everybody hyped. Perhaps you would consider throwing out the record books when these two teams square off, because by golly it just comes down to who wants it more. Should you or someone you know be named Katy, may we suggest you bar the door? And we would be remiss if we did not mention that while your ticket does entitle you to the entirety of your seat, in reality, you will only require the edge.

But, truth be told, this is getting a little bit tire-some, a little bit played out, and a bit too run of the mill.

The NY Derby or whatever it’s called (part of MLS Rivalry Week!) started out as a really new and exciting thing, which the powers-that-be got behind and hyped up to the moon and back. The problem is that once you make these grand ova-tions and promises of the biggest game of the year featuring two teams that can’t wait to bite each other’s faces off, then, you have to deliver that. Exactly that. At least that. Forever. And of course you can’t, nobody can, it’s an unrealistic goal to try to reach.

This is not to say that these two teams or that MLS can’t live up to some hype; they’ve got the

propensity to put out some genuinely enthrall-ing games, from time to time. In fact, roughly as often as any major rivalry or league in the world. Think about all the major rip-roaring slobberknockers across Europe that have been plugged and promoted only to become snoozers. (We’re looking at you, Mr. Mourinho.)

Nor is this to say that one team is so much better than the other, or one isn’t on the other’s level, or one has beaten the other from pillar to post so often that it just isn’t fun anymore. Not at all; these are two good teams and it’s a game that could go either way easily. There are a number of good players on both sides – some household names, some waiting to be – that are going to try their hardest and give it 100%. And there is legitimately a chance that these two teams will be looking at each other when the MLS games count the most, in the playoffs at the end of the season.

But in May? If you’re playing the team cross town or the team cross country, they mean about the same. Maybe it’s because all the insults that get thrown back and forth have all been used over and over again, mined for every last bit of use and then left to just be a hole in the ground. You know how these go: there’s the location thing, the Red Bulls play in New Jersey. But City play in a baseball stadium. But Red Bull is an en-ergy drink. But NYCFC’s ownership isn’t ex-actly squeaky clean in their own right. But atten-dance, but the trophy cabinet, but this but that. The fans can basically have these arguments in their sleep, and watching some of these lame in-sults be lobbed back and forth, it is completely feasible that is the case.


It’s getting so bad that the play-ers are starting to get involved, and with professional athletes, there is nothing more staid, more flaccid and more to-your-face fraudulent than players trying to advance a narrative of rivalry for promotional purposes. To wit, this week NYCFC’s Jo Inge Berget said “It’s the derby of New York. I don’t know if they (RBNY) are really a New York team, but they want to be one.” Now, for a Nor-wegian, that’s incredibly demon-strative and very nearly reflective of a real human emotion, but for the rest of us, it’s hard to imagine blood being spilled on the field for the city’s honor based on that statement.

But maybe there’s more to the meh. Maybe this has more to do with the fact that this was always going to feel like a down year for the sport in the United States, what with everybody else going to the party this summer and us

grounded. We can try to put on a brave face and convince everyone that we’re having a grand old time here at home watching New Eng-land and Minnesota duke it out, but in reality, they know, and we know, and they know we know, there’s somewhere else we’d rather be.

And maybe there’s so much else going on with the sport here that doesn’t exactly make us feel great about where the game is headed. An entire league – the NASL – basically evaporated over the last two years. One of the cornerstone teams of this league is threatening to move across the country, and the owner of said team appears to be doing all he can to make sure that the fans in his current home of Columbus have no reason to come out and support the team he wants to steal away from them.

MLS preaches “Soccer for All” and yet the champion this year

will get the Philip Anschutz tro-phy, named for a guy that gives generously to anti-LGBT causes. MLS and its teams regularly use pictures of people standing on railings to express how raucous the atmosphere at games can be, without telling you that a security guard came and rectified that situ-ation a second after the promo-tional photo was taken.

Or maybe the MLS season is just too long and too repetitive to get all worked up into a froth about a match a third of the way in. Maybe the Sandwich Board Showdown needs a new lick of paint, an infusion of new talent and new big name stars to freshen it up a bit.

Or maybe the league can just stop shoving the idea of a rivalry down everyone’s throats for once and let something grow – or not! - or-ganically. It’s neat having teams in this close proximity and some-thing will eventually come out of that, but there’s nothing more desperate and needy for attention than attempting to show the world something that is not even there.

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Left: Dallas defender Reggie Cannon (2) & NYCFC midfielder Rodney Wallace (23) Right New York City FC forward David Villa (7) celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot. The goal was the 400th of his professional career.Photos: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

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FOOTY QUIZ

CELTIC IN THE 21ST CENTURY1 – Which manager joined Celtic from Leicester

City in 2000?

2 – Which Celtic player scored a hat-trick in the 2001 CIS Cup final against Kilmarnock?

3 – Who did Celtic knock out to qualify for the Champions League group stage for the first time in 2001?

4 – Who beat Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final?

5 – Which team ended Celtic’s unbeaten run of 69 games in December 2017?

ANSWERS ON PAGE 20

NYCFC BEATS DALLAS AS DAVID VILLA NOTCHES UP HIS 400TH CAREER GOALFC Dallas arrived in the five bor-oughs defending Major League Soccer’s last remaining undefeated record after NYCFC lost the only other record of its kind in Portland last time out.

For Patrick Vieira’s men, this was a chance to get back to winning ways at Yankee Stadium where only one visiting team had triumphed in the last 12 months of Regular Season play.

The Boys in Blue were determined to put things right after a soul-sapping evening in Oregon and they got off to the best-possible start on that front, taking the lead with just two minutes on the clock.

Villa led the charge, winning the ball back on the touchline and combining to reach the goal-line where he delivered the cross for Jo Inge Berget.However, that lead would only last for seven minutes as FC Dallas found the immediate response. Santiago Mosquera found himself unmarked through on goal and beat Johnson with a clinical finish.

After that frantic start, things cooled down a little in the next 20 minutes as both teams set-tled into their rhythms and tried to avoid any cheap further concessions.

That was until the 36th minute when the ref-eree pointed to the penalty spot after a VAR review gave the Boys in Blue a penalty kick.

Anton Tinnerholm’s cross struck the arm of an FC Dallas defender which gave El Guaje the opportunity to join the pantheon of elite strikers in world football history by scoring his 400th goal.

The Norwegian’s shot came back off the post but there was Medina to score his first-ever goal in the Bronx from close range.

It was a chance El Capi wasn’t about to pass up as he sent Jimmy Maurer the wrong way and brought up the fourth century of goals – a feat only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez have matched of forwards currently in play.

Villa would only stay on 400 for a matter of minutes as, with 20’ still to play, he pickpock-eted the last defender and coolly slid the ball under the ‘keeper to secure the three points and send the Bronx faithful home happy.

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VIEIRA’S VERDICTOn conceding so many goals in the last t

On how special it was for the club to have David Villa reach 400 goals:

“I think it’s a fantastic achievement. On the personal side, I think that he’s just a fantastic player. You guys are just seeing what he’s doing on the field here, but I have a chance to work with him every day and I’m always amazed by his attitude and his desire to compete every single day and train. His goals reflect who he is as a person and he’s like that every day in training. When you see him work every day,

you’re not surprised that he’s scored over 400 goals. I think we’re lucky to have a player like that in our football club, not just for what he’s done on the field but to use as an example. I think it would be really difficult to find someone better who can show to the young players how to con-duct yourself to play more than 15 years at the higher level and to compete at his age, so he’s a really good tool for me to use regarding how to conduct yourself as a professional.”


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LEFT BACKKieran Tierney, Celtic: The PFA’s Young Player of the Year for a record third consecu-tive season, the dye-in-the-wool Celt continues to earn plaudits for his maturity and consistency. Rumors of a big move to one of England’s “Big Four” abound, but the former Celtic Park ball Bhoy has promised his future to the club he loves—and what’s not to like about that?

CENTRAL DEFENDERChristophe Berra, Hearts: We’ll head back to Edinburgh for the, uh, Heart of the back line, if only because Celtic never really had a pairing in front of goal that produced consistent results.

RIGHT BACKGraeme Shinnie, Aberdeen: We know. Shinnie plays on the left. But, at this rate, he’ll never supplant Tierney, and his play warrants at least some recogni-tion. He’ll make our squad here, which if nothing else makes us seem like Gordon Strachan.

MIDFIELDERScott Brown, Celtic: The Hoops captain said it best: “They told me I was finished. I’m still bossing games.” After look-ing a shell of his former self two seasons ago, Brown has made 60 appearances for Celtic this term—and has been the backbone of the best team in Scotland.

MIDFIELDERCallum McGregor, Celtic: Arguably the Most Improved Bhoy this season, McGregor has made more than 30 appearances for Celtic and scored 10 goals across all competitions, many of them in big games (Rangers, Bayern Munich). Finally, he’s be-coming a regular in the Scotland national team, too.

MIDFIELDERJohn McGinn, Hibernian: McGinn is everyone’s favorite midfielder east of Parkhead. Val-ued at £5 million by manager Neil Lennon, it may take even more than that to pry him from what has been the best midfield group in Scotland not wearing green and white Hoops.

WINGERScott Sinclair, Celtic: Right. We know. Sinclair hasn’t been up to the high standards he set for himself in 2016-17, when he was Scotland’s Player of the Year. But he still has scored 17 goals in all competitions for Celt-ic—and who in Scotland would you rather have playing out on the left?

WINGERJames Forrest, Celtic: Full disclosure: “Wee Jamesy” got our vote for Celtic’s Player of the Year. He’s always had the tal-ent. This year, he’s added fitness and consistency. Oh, and 16 goals across all comps is, as the Scots might say, “naw bad” either.

STRIKERKris Boyd, Kilmarnock: We have to acknowledge the feel-good story that is Killie some-where in this team… Boyd has led all with 18 goals in the Prem this season. And as a former ’Ger, he helps us with that whole “bal-ance” thing.

STRIKERMoussa Dembele, Celtic: Yes, the Frenchman has appeared to coast in some matches this sea-son, and his goal yield thus far (15 in 2017-18 compared to 32 last season) says a lot. But, what striker currently plying his trade in Scotland would you rather have leading the line? When fit and fo-cused, Dembele simply can’t be marked. He’ll be following the money this summer, for sure, but he leaves with our best wishes. Follow Brian on Twitter:

@bpdunleavy

SCOTTISH PREMIER STANDINGS # TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS1 Celtic 35 23 9 3 70 23 47 782 Aberdeen 35 21 5 9 54 36 18 683 Rangers 35 20 5 10 69 44 25 654 Hibernian 35 18 11 6 56 39 17 655 Kilmarnock 35 15 10 10 48 46 2 556 Heart of Midlothian 35 11 13 11 36 34 2 467 Motherwell 35 11 9 15 38 44 -6 428 St. Johnstone 35 10 9 16 34 50 -16 399 Hamilton Ac 35 9 6 20 46 62 -16 3310 Dundee 35 9 6 20 34 56 -22 3311 Partick Thistle 35 7 8 20 29 59 -30 2912 Ross County 35 6 9 20 38 59 -21 27

THE 2017-18 FULL SCOTTISH XI

SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS # TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS1 St. Mirren 36 23 5 8 63 36 27 742 Livingston 36 17 11 8 56 37 19 623 Dundee United 36 18 7 11 52 42 10 614 Dunfermline Athletic 36 16 11 9 60 35 25 595 Inverness CT 36 16 9 11 53 37 16 576 Queen of the South 36 14 10 12 59 53 6 527 Morton 36 13 11 12 47 40 7 508 Falkirk 36 12 11 13 45 49 -4 479 Dumbarton 36 7 9 20 27 63 -36 3010 Brechin City 36 0 4 32 20 90 -70 4

THE FULL SCOTTISH BRIAN P. DUNLEAVY

A certain news network here in the U.S. claims to be “fair and balanced”—and fails. We make no such promises.

With the Premiership title race done and dusted, after Celtic’s comprehensive 5-0 victory over Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday, it’s time to announce the Full Scottish’s “Team of the Season” for 2017-18, and it will be loaded with

players from one side of the Glasgow divide—such was the Hoops’ dominance this season. Of note, we’ll be going with a rather unorthodox 3-5-2, with a wrinkle, no less.

Without further ado…

GOALKEEPERJon McLaughlin, Hearts: The Jam Tarts were the Prem’s second stingiest team after Celtic, and McLaughlin’s steady and sturdy gloves were key to that. His 14 clean sheets in 2017-18 have been enough to earn him a move down to England at the end of the season.


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THE BLACK HORSE PUBENGLISH LEAGUE ONE P W D L F A GD PTS1 Wigan Athletic 45 28 11 6 88 29 59 952 Blackburn Rovers 45 27 12 6 80 39 41 933 Shrewsbury Town 45 25 12 8 60 38 22 874 Rotherham United 45 23 7 15 72 53 19 765 Scunthorpe United 45 19 16 10 64 49 15 736 Charlton Athletic 45 20 11 14 58 50 8 717 Plymouth Argyle 45 19 11 15 56 54 2 688 Peterborough United 45 17 13 15 68 58 10 649 Portsmouth 45 19 6 20 55 56 -1 6310 Southend United 45 17 11 17 58 62 -4 6211 Bradford City 45 18 8 19 56 66 -10 6212 Blackpool 45 15 15 15 60 54 6 6013 Bristol Rovers 45 16 10 19 60 66 -6 5814 Doncaster Rovers 45 13 17 15 52 51 1 5615 Oxford United 45 15 11 19 60 64 -4 5616 Fleetwood Town 45 15 9 21 57 68 -11 5417 Gillingham 45 12 17 16 45 53 -8 5318 Walsall 45 13 13 19 53 64 -11 5219 AFC Wimbledon 45 13 13 19 45 56 -11 5220 Oldham Athletic 45 11 16 18 56 73 -17 4921 Rochdale 45 10 18 17 48 57 -9 4822 Northampton Town 45 12 10 23 41 75 -34 4623 MK Dons 45 10 12 23 42 69 -27 4224 Bury 45 8 11 26 39 69 -30 35

ENGLISH LEAGUE TWO P W D L F A GD PTS1 Accrington Stanley 45 29 6 10 76 43 33 932 Luton Town 45 25 12 8 94 46 48 873 Wycombe Wanderers 45 23 12 10 78 60 18 814 Exeter City 45 23 8 14 63 54 9 775 Notts County 45 21 13 11 71 48 23 766 Coventry City 45 22 8 15 64 47 17 747 Lincoln City 45 20 14 11 63 47 16 748 MansfieldTown 45 18 17 10 66 51 15 719 Carlisle United 45 17 15 13 61 53 8 6610 Swindon Town 45 19 8 18 64 65 -1 6511 Newport County 45 16 15 14 55 57 -2 6312 Colchester United 45 16 14 15 53 51 2 6213 Cambridge United 45 16 13 16 51 60 -9 6114 Crawley Town 45 16 10 19 57 65 -8 5815 Stevenage 45 14 13 18 60 64 -4 5516 Crewe Alexandra 45 16 5 24 60 74 -14 5317 Cheltenham Town 45 13 12 20 66 71 -5 5118 Grimsby Town 45 12 12 21 39 66 -27 4819 Port Vale 45 11 14 20 49 62 -13 4720 Yeovil Town 45 12 11 22 58 74 -16 4721 Forest Green Rovers 45 13 8 24 54 74 -20 4722 Morecambe 45 9 18 18 41 56 -15 4523 Barnet 45 11 10 24 43 65 -22 4324 Chesterfield 45 10 8 27 47 80 -33 38

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP P W D L F A GD PTS1 Wolverhampton W 45 30 9 6 82 36 46 992 Cardiff City 45 27 8 10 69 39 30 893 Fulham 45 25 13 7 78 43 35 884 Aston Villa 45 24 11 10 72 41 31 835 Middlesbrough 45 22 9 14 65 43 22 756 Derby County 45 19 15 11 66 47 19 727 Preston North End 45 18 16 11 55 45 10 708 Millwall 45 18 15 12 55 45 10 699 Brentford 45 18 14 13 61 51 10 6810 Bristol City 45 17 16 12 65 55 10 6711 SheffieldUnited 45 19 9 17 59 53 6 6612 Norwich City 45 15 15 15 48 55 -7 6013 Ipswich Town 45 17 8 20 55 58 -3 5914 Leeds United 45 16 9 20 57 64 -7 5715 Queens Park Rangers 45 15 11 19 58 68 -10 5616 SheffieldWednesday 45 13 15 17 54 59 -5 5417 Nottingham Forest 45 15 8 22 49 62 -13 5318 Hull City 45 11 15 19 69 69 0 4819 Reading 45 10 13 22 48 70 -22 4320 Birmingham City 45 12 7 26 35 67 -32 4321 Barnsley 45 9 14 22 47 68 -21 4122 Burton Albion 45 10 11 24 37 79 -42 4123 Bolton Wanderers 45 9 13 23 36 72 -36 4024 Sunderland 45 6 16 23 49 80 -31 34

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE P W D L F A GD PTS1 Manchester City 35 30 3 2 102 26 76 932 Manchester United 35 24 5 6 67 27 40 773 Liverpool 36 20 12 4 80 37 43 724 Tottenham Hotspur 35 21 8 6 68 31 37 715 Chelsea 35 20 6 9 60 34 26 666 Arsenal 35 17 6 12 67 48 19 577 Burnley 36 14 12 10 35 32 3 548 Everton 36 13 9 14 42 54 -12 489 Leicester City 35 11 11 13 49 52 -3 4410 Newcastle United 35 11 8 16 35 44 -9 4111 Crystal Palace 36 9 11 16 41 54 -13 3812 Bournemouth 36 9 11 16 42 60 -18 3813 Watford 36 10 8 18 42 62 -20 3814 Brighton and Hove Albion 35 8 13 14 32 47 -15 3715 West Ham United 35 8 11 16 43 67 -24 3516 HuddersfieldTown 35 9 8 18 27 56 -29 3517 Swansea City 35 8 9 18 27 52 -25 3318 Southampton 35 6 14 15 35 54 -19 3219 Stoke City 36 6 12 18 32 65 -33 3020 West Bromwich Albion 36 5 13 18 30 54 -24 28

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ASTORIA

Fri 4-May


Sat 5-May

EPL7:30AM Stoke City v Crystal Palace10AM Bournemouth v Swansea City10AM Leicester City v West Ham U







Sun 6-May

EPL8:30AM Man City v Huddersfield T


La Liga10:15AM Atletico Madrid v Espanyol

2:45PM Barcelona v Real Madrid



Tue 8-May

EPL2:45PM Swansea City v Southampton


Wed 9-May

EPL2:45PM Leicester City v Arsenal2:45PM Chelsea v Huddersfield T3PM Man City v Brighton & HA

3PM Spurs v Newcastle Utd

La Liga2PM Barcelona v Villarreal

3:30PM Sevilla v Real Madrid

Coppa Italia3PM Juventus v AC Milan

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Hundreds of Barce-lona fans are packed into Smithfield Hall this spring afternoon and they are all in good voice, but nervous. The scars of the sensational Champions League up-set inflicted on them by Roma are still fresh as they prepare to kick off the 2018 Copa del Rey final against Seville.

As it turned out, they needn’t have worried as they are 3-0 to the good by half time thanks to two goals from Luis Suarez and one from

Messi. By full time, Iniesta and Coutinho have added to the tally and the happy members of Barcelona NYC Penya spill onto 25th Street to celebrate.

The Barca fans are no strangers to such rejoic-ing. Since migrating to Smithfield from their original home at the legendary Nevada Smiths in 2011 they have celebrated winning two Champions Leagues, two World Club Cups, four La Ligas and five Copa del Reys. Not to mention having the pleasure of watching the world’s greatest player week in, week out.

The NYC Penya was originally formed back in 2001 by a group of ex-pats from Catalonia who have now moved on (the original presi-dent is now the president of the Penya in Sao Paolo). The New York club currently has over 500 paying members and is one of the largest Barcelona supporters clubs in the world. The club is now spearheaded by Catalan native Jordi Getman-Eraso who explained to First Touch the appeal of match days at Smithfield.

“What makes it special is that, first of all, we are watching the team that we love. We come here with the expectation that we’re going to watch a great game with the people that we know from every weekend, and we get recog-nized and treated very nicely by the staff, so we really truly appreciate what they do for us.

“At the same time it is really interesting to see people walk in and faces light up as you see different people that you’ve known for a long time. Some of us have become friends not just as members of the Penya, but much deeper friends. So it’s a gateway in many ways to integration in the city for a lot of people that arrive. Barca fans arrive in the city and they

roll into the Penya and then all of a sudden within two or three months they have a series of friends that come to be very important.”

Game day attracts fans to Smithfield from all over the world, like moths to a flame. On this particular occasion there is one fan who has travelled up from Maryland to ask Jordi some advice on starting a supporters group in Baltimore. The president of the Israel chapter has also stopped by for a visit. And of course gamely wouldn’t be complete without the ap-pearance of Ori and his ‘MessiMobile’, a con-traption that has to be seen to be believed.

The car is completely decorated in Barcelona colors with an amazing attention to detail, from the Barca logo headrests, right down to the MESSI number plate. The car even has a horn that blares out Barca chants as well as a personal tribute from eccentric commentator Ray Hudson.

“My daughter designed this car when she was sixteen years old and then I gave it to a shop that does car wrap,” explains Oradell, New Jersey native Ori. “She has a passion for graphic design and that’s what she does now.”

“The car has become the symbol of the Pe-nya NYC. This is our mascot,” says the proud owner, who enjoys the attention he gets when driving around the city.

“Those who know what this car represents actually cheer and give the thumbs up. Even the local cops around here cheer for this car. Even Real Madrid fans admire it. Driving this car and being a Barcelona fan, you can’t go wrong.”

MEET THE NYC FC BARCELONA PENYA

NYC Barcelona Penya President Jordi Getman-Eraso


Ori and his Magestirial Messi Mobile

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As well as enjoying the sense of family and community that Smithfield has helped create for the club, Jordi explains that the Penya is also about returning some of that good will to the community.

“We really try to emphasize the notion of social commitment that Barca is all about, so three years ago we became a non-profit organization. We hold at least three or four big events each year where every member pays an entrance fee. All of that money goes to charity.

It goes to charitable groups in the city that are dealing mainly with young kids that come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We work with groups in Queens and the Bronx and we’ve done a couple in Brooklyn. We’ve worked with South Bronx FC, Man-hattan Kickers and NYCFC. The whole idea is to try to align the notion of soccer with empowering young kids from poor neigh-

borhoods to really start to feel that they can succeed in life, so we want to use football to channel that.”

To find out more about NYC FCBar-celona go to;

www.fcbarcelonanyc.com twitter.com/FCBarcelona_NYCwww.facebook.com/FCBNYC


Friday May 4thEnglish Premier League3PM Brighton & HA vs Man United

Spanish Primera División3PM Sevilla FC vs Real Sociedad

French Ligue 12:45 PM SC Amiens vs Paris Saint-Germain

Scottish Premiership2:45 PM Dundee United vs Dunfermline A2:45 PM Partick Thistle vs Ross County

Major League Soccer8PM Toronto FC vs Philadelphia U

Saturday May 5th

English Premier League7:30 AM Stoke City vs Crystal Palace10AM AFC Bournemouth vs Swansea City10AM Leicester City vs West Ham United10AM Watford vs Newcastle United10AM WBA vs Tottenham Hotspur12:30 PM Everton vs Southampton

Spanish Primera División7AM Girona vs Eibar10:15 AM Athletic Bilbao vs Real Betis12:30 PM Celta Vigo vs Deportivo La Coruña2:45 PM Villarreal vs Valencia

German Bundesliga9:30 AM Borussia Dortmund vs Mainz9:30 AM B Monchengladbach vs SC Freiburg9:30 AM Eintracht Frankfurt vs Hamburg SV9:30 AM FC Augsburg vs Schalke 049:30 AM FC Cologne vs Bayern Munich9:30 AM Hannover 96 vs Hertha Berlin9:30 AM RB Leipzig vs VfL Wolfsburg9:30 AM VfB Stuttgart vs TSG Hoffenheim9:30 AM Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen

Scottish Premiership7:30 AM Dundee vs Hamilton Academical10AM Aberdeen vs Hibernian10AM Motherwell vs St Johnstone10AM Rangers vs Kilmarnock

Scottish Championship10AM Dumbarton vs Arbroath10AM Raith Rovers vs Alloa Athletic

Saturday May 5th (cont.)English League One12:30 PM AFC Wimbledon vs Bury12:30 PM Blackburn Rovers vs Oxford United12:30 PM Doncaster Rovers vs Wigan Athletic12:30 PM Fleetwood Town vs Walsall12:30 PM Gillingham vs Plymouth Argyle12:30 PM Northampton T vs Oldham Athletic12:30 PM Portsmouth vs Peterborough United12:30 PM Rochdale vs Charlton Athletic12:30 PM Rotherham United vs Blackpool12:30 PM Scunthorpe United vs Bradford City12:30 PM Shrewsbury Town vs MK Dons12:30 PM Southend United vs Bristol Rovers

English League Two10AM Barnet vs Chesterfield10AM Cambridge United vs Port Vale10AM Carlisle United vs Newport County10AM Coventry City vs Morecambe10AM Crewe Alexandra vs Cheltenham Town10AM Exeter City vs Colchester United10AM Forest Green Rovers vs Grimsby Town10AM Lincoln City vs Yeovil Town10AM Mansfield Town vs Crawley Town10AM Notts County vs Luton Town10AM Swindon Town vs Accrington Stanley10AM Wycombe Wanderers vs Stevenage

Italian Serie A12PM AC Milan vs Hellas Verona2:45 PM Juventus vs Bologna

Major League Soccer1PM Montreal Impact vs New England Revs2PM Minnesota vs Vancouver Whitecaps2PM New York Red Bulls vs NYCFC4PM LAFC vs FC Dallas4PM Seattle Sounders vs Columbus Crew SC8:30 PM Chicago Fire vs Atlanta United FC8:30 PM Houston Dynamo vs LA Galaxy8:30 PM Sporting KC vs Colorado Rapids10:30 PM San Jose vs Portland Timbers

Sunday May 6thEnglish Premier League8:30 AM Manchester City vs Huddersfield T11:30 AM Arsenal vs Burnley11:30 AM Chelsea vs Liverpool

Spanish Primera División6AM Málaga vs Alavés10:15 AM Atletico Madrid vs Espanyol12:30 PM Las Palmas vs Getafe2:45 PM Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Sunday May 6th (cont.)

Italian Serie A6:30 AM Udinese vs Internazionale9AM Chievo Verona vs Crotone9AM Genoa vs Fiorentina9AM Lazio vs Atalanta9AM Napoli vs Torino9AM SPAL vs Benevento12PM Sassuolo vs Sampdoria2:45 PM Cagliari vs AS Roma

French Ligue 19AM Saint-Etienne vs Bordeaux10:30 AM Lyon vs Troyes11AM Caen vs AS Monaco11AM Dijon FCO vs Guingamp11AM Metz vs Angers11AM Nantes vs Montpellier11AM Stade Rennes vs Strasbourg11AM Toulouse vs Lille3:05 PM Marseille vs Nice

English League Championship7:30 AM Birmingham City vs Fulham7:30 AM Bolton W vs Nottingham Forest7:30 AM Brentford vs Hull City7:30 AM Bristol City vs Sheffield United7:30 AM Cardiff City vs Reading7:30 AM Derby County vs Barnsley7:30 AM Ipswich Town vs Middlesbrough7:30 AM Leeds United vs QPR7:30 AM Millwall vs Aston Villa7:30 AM Preston North End vs Burton Alb7:30 AM Sheffield Wed vs Norwich City7:30 AM Sunderland vs Wolverhampton W

Scottish Premiership7:15 AM Hearts vs Celtic

United States Open Cup7PM FC Miami City vs Miami FC 27PM The Villages SC vs Jacksonville Armada8PM Brooklyn Italians vs NY Cosmos B

Major League Soccer5PM Orlando City SC vs Real Salt Lake

Monday May 7th

Spanish Primera División3PM Leganes vs Levante

Tuesday May 8th

English Premier League2:45 PM Swansea City vs Southampton

French Coupe de France3:05 PM Les Herbiers vs Paris Saint-Germain

Scottish Premiership2:45 PM Aberdeen vs Rangers2:45 PM Hamilton Academical vs St Johnstone2:45 PM Partick Thistle vs Motherwell2:45 PM Ross County vs Dundee

Wednesday May 9th

English Premier League2:45 PM Leicester City vs Arsenal2:45 PM Chelsea vs Huddersfield Town3PM Man City vs Brighton & Hove Albion3PM Tottenham H vs Newcastle United

Spanish Primera División2PM Barcelona vs Villarreal3:30 PM Sevilla FC vs Real Madrid

Italian Coppa Italia3PM Juventus vs AC Milan

Scottish Premiership2:45 PM Celtic vs Kilmarnock2:45 PM Heart of Midlothian vs Hibernian

Wednesday May 9th (cont.)

United States Open Cup6PM AFC Ann Arbor vs Ocean City Nor’easters7PM Charlotte Eagles vs Inter Nashville FC7PM Erie Commodores vs Rochester Lancers7PM FC Motown vs New York Red Bulls U237PM LI Rough Riders vs Kingston Stockade FC7PM Reading United AC vs Christos FC7PM SIMA Aguilas vs TBD7PM Western Mass Pioneers vs Elm City7:10 PM Myrtle Beach vs South Georgia7:30 PM Detroit City FC vs Michigan Bucks7:30 PM Miami United FC vs FC Kendall7:30 PM Seacoast United vs Kendall Wanderers8PM Duluth FC vs Dakota Fusion FC8PM FC Wichita vs OKC Energy U238PM New Orleans Jesters vs Mississippi Brilla8:30 PM Midland-Odessa vs Lakeland Tropics8:30 PM NTX Rayados vs Fort Worth Vaqueros8:30 PM Red Force vs TBD9PM CD Aguiluchos vs San Francisco City FC9PM FC Arizona vs Sporting AZ FC9:15 PM FC Denver vs Azteca FC9:30 PM FC Tucson vs La Máquina FC10PM Golden State Force vs LA Wolves10PM Orange County vs Santa Ana Winds FC10PM Portland Timbers U23 vs Kitsap Pumas

Major League Soccer7:30 PM Atlanta United FC vs Sporting K C7:30 PM Columbus Crew vs Philadelphia Union7:30 PM Toronto FC vs Seattle Sounders FC8:30 PM Chicago Fire vs Montreal Impact10PM LAFC vs Minnesota United FC

UPCOMING FIXTURES...ALL TIMES EASTERN

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PUB & RESTAURANT

BAKE R S T REET

• 1152 1ST AVE, NEW YORK, NY 10065 • • 212 688 9663 [email protected] •

Welcome to Baker Street pub, one of the finest bars New York has to offer.

L I V E T H I S W E E K E N D !Sat 5-May

EPL12:30PM Everton v So’ton

MLS1:55PM Red Bulls v NYCFC

Sun 6-May

EPL11:30AM Chelsea v Liverpool

La Liga2:45PM Barcelona v R Madrid

Tue 8-May

EPL2:45PM Swansea C v So’ton

Wed 9-May 2:45PM Chelsea v Huddersfield 3PM Spurs v Newcastle Utd


LIVE FOOTBALL AT

OUR BEER GARDENIS OPEN!

Watch all the games live on our outdoor screen

180 Grand Street, Brooklyn • (718) 384-5008 • www.ionabrooklyn.com

We accept reservations for parties and groups in the garden and/or the bar

LIVE MUSIC EVERY NIGHT!

CHECK OUT THESE ARTISTS AT THE RED LION!

LIVE MUSIC

151 Bleecker St 212 - 260 - 9797

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QUIZ ANSWERS FROM PAGE 14: 1 – MARTIN O’NEILL 2 – HENRIK LARSSON 3 – AJAX 4 – PORTO 5 – HEARTS

THURSDAY MAY 3RD7PM THE JAM NYC INCL NO MERSEY & ROLLING BONES1AM DAYS OF WILD

FRIDAY MAY 4TH7PM JOHN SCHMITT10PM NO STANDARDS1AM BREAKDOWN

SATURDAY MAY 5TH4PM BOBBY ROCK 6PM STEVIE G 7PM SETH CASSEL10PM THE DC 9’S1AM TRAGIC REMEDY

SUNDAY MAY 6TH3.30PM BOTTOMLESS BOOGIE BRUNCH7.30PM THE WATSONS11PM DUGGER & R.RAINBOW

MONDAY MAY 7TH8PM BIG ED’S BLUES JAM11PM JASON MO SOUL

TUESDAY MAY 8TH7PM SKIP THE PIANOMAN10PM THE STINGERS1AM SILBIN

WEDNESDAY MAY 9TH7PM CHRIS CAMPION10PM LINARD MANY MOODS1AM JASON MO SOUL

THURSDAY MAY 10TH7PM FACE TO FACE10PM DEEP C REVIVAL1AM DAYS OF WILD


“The Mick Balds Live4ever Music Page”

www.live4ever.uk.com

‘Music, Beer & Football.

The very stuff of life itself’

John Peel

Brian Wilson has been forced to postpone all of the shows he had scheduled for this month to un-dergo back surgery.

“As some of you might know I have been having some issues with my back that has very recently got-ten worse.” a statement on social media explains.

“It runs in my family. Carl had back problems as well. My doctors have told me that I need to have back surgery immediately. They are optimistic that this will finally relieve the pain.”

Shows in Richmond, VA, Augusta, GA, Clearwater, FL, Viera, FL and Pompano Beach, FL will all not now take place as originally planned, but normal ser-vice should resume in July.East Coast Dates:July19 – Morristown, NJ, Mayo Performing Arts Center22 – Kingston, NY, Ulster Performing Arts Center

December5 – Westbury, NY, Theatre at Westbury7 – Staten Island, NY, St. George Theatre

BRIAN WILSON FORCED TO POSTPONE SHOWS TO UNDERGO BACK SURGERY

DAVID BOWIE TOPS UK’S RECORD STORE DAY 2018 RELEASES

Record Store Day 2018 releases are nat-urally dominating the latest UK Record Store Chart, with David Bowie‘s Wel-come To The Blackout at number one.

There’s new entries all the way down the Top 20, with more special RSD issues from the likes of Arcade Fire, The National and The Cure proving popular.

For the past few years, the Official Charts Company has been using the Record Store Chart to showcase the best selling weekly albums from 100 of Britain’s leading inde-pendent music shops.

UK Record Store Chart, Top 20:

1 – (new) David Bowie – Welcome To The Blackout2 – Pink Floyd – The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn3 – (new) Arcade Fire – Arcade Fire4 – (new) David Bowie – Now5 – David Bowie – Aladdin Sane6 – (new) The National – Boxer Live In Brussels7 – (new) The Courteeners – St. Jude8 – (new) Suede – Suede9 – (new) The Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Majesties Request10 – (new) Mogwai – Ten Rapid11 – (new) The Who – The Kids Are Alright12 – (new) Madonna – Madonna13 – (new) The Cure – Mixed Up14 – (new) The Cure – Torn Down15 – (new) Madonna – You Can Dance16 – (new) David Bowie – David Bowie17 – (new) Prince – 199918 – (new) Ocean Colour Scene – Marchin’ Already19 – (new) Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits20 – (new) Neil Young – Roxy

THE HORRORS WILL TOUR NORTH AMERICA THIS SUMMER

The Horrors are heading to North Amer-ica in June.

Shows start on the east coast of the Unit-ed States and include a visit up to Mon-treal and Toronto. Backing up last year’s V record, they gradually travel west through cities such as Chicago and Denver before closing out with gigs in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

There was more from the V ses-sions earlier this month when the band released two tracks – Fire Escape and Water Drop – which hadn’t made the final cut.

EAST COAST DATES

June

12 – Washington D.C., Rock & Roll Hotel13 – New York City, New York, LPR14 – Philadelphia, Underground Arts15 – Asbury Park, NJ, Asbury Lanes17 – Cambridge, MA, Sinclair Music Hall

ALEX TURNER EXPLAINS WHY NEW ARCTIC MONKEYS RECORD DIDN’T END UP AS A SOLO ALBUMAlex Turner has revealed that he “was never interested” in the new Arctic Mon-keys‘ album being released as a solo ef-fort, as they originally discussed.

Last month, guitarist Jamie Cook revealed that the band’s upcoming sixth LP was at one point considered to be made and released as an Alex Turner solo record, because the music was primarily “quite basic”. Now, in an interview with German website Intro , Turner has said that the idea never really appealed to him.

“I was never interested in making a solo album,” Turner admitted. “I am a part of this band and one would disrespect the other. Nevertheless, I wanted to make this music, it was in me. When you compose on the piano, you automatically get different results than on the guitar. And it was im-portant to me to say goodbye to the realism of most of the Arctic Monkeys stuff.

“Overall, it developed in a direction that soon made me realise she had absolutely nothing to do with what people would ex-pect from a Monkeys record.”

Asked at what point of the process he got the rest of the band involved, Turner said: “Relatively early. When I finished the first demos, I invited Jamie to listen to every-thing and work on the songs together. He recorded a few guitars, had complementary ideas and was pretty enthusiastic overall.

FLEETWOOD MAC WILL BE TOURING NORTH AMERICA EXTENSIVELY FROM OCTOBER

The latest incarnation of Fleetwood Mac will be touring North America extensive-ly from October.

Shows stretch well into 2019, not end-ing until a visit to Philadelphia in April next year. It’s the first action with the band for Neil Finn of Crowded House and long-term Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, who joined up officially earlier this month at the same time Lindsey Buckingham’s departure was confirmed.

Mick Fleetwood has used this tour an-nouncement to further address Buck-ingham leaving during an interview with Rolling Stone, stating that ‘we made a de-cision that we could not go on with him’.

EAST COAST DATES

March 20195 – Washington, DC, Capital One Arena9 – Atlantic City, NJ, Boardwalk Hall11 – New York, Madison Square Garden13 – Newark, NJ, Prudential Center15 – Hartford, CT, XL Center20 – Albany, NY, Times Union Center24 – Baltimore, MD, Royal Farms Arena26 – Buffalo, NY, KeyBank Center31 – Boston, MA, TD Garden

April5 – Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center


DOWNLOAD THE FIRST TOUCH APP FOR iOS & ANDROID IT’S FREE!

Search the iTunes store: ‘First Touch Magazine’

Indispensable App! H H H H H

by CLH-nyc - Aug 26, 2017What a great idea for an app! Gone are the days when football lovers have to wonder where they might catch a game. The enormous benefit of this app is that it allows you to scoot around town and discover new football friendly places. Haven’t used the app outside New York yet, but I can’t wait to try it on my next trip. Thanks, FirstTouch!

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Essential football app H H H H H

by pmaca - Nov 8, 2016The only football app you need. Lists every game on TV and the internet including time and channel. Writing is always top notch

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