Spurs chewed up and spat out Jack Clarke but Sunderland have harnessed his wonderful potential
Jack Clarke is the Championship top scorer firing another Sunderland promotion push when it seemed another young talent had landed on the elite scrapheap.
Johnny Nic
John Nicholson had a stroke and he still wrote a column because football…
‘Am f**ked but won’t be forever’ was the message from John Nicholson from a hospital bed in Scotland. But that didn’t stop him filing…
Douglas Luiz would be great for Arsenal. But Villa’s main man should stay where he is
It is obvious to see why Arsenal are sniffing around Douglas Luiz. But Johnny Nic reckons the Brazil midfielder would be wise to stay where he is under Unai Emery’s ...
Mikel Arteta was vociferous, righteous and right; VAR is anti-football and anti-humanity
Mikel Arteta lost his mind on Saturday but John Nicholson does not blame him; Arsenal were the latest victims of some curious VAR work.
Manchester United are specialists in failure and humiliation – but there is no incentive for change
Manchester United were embarrassed again by their superior rivals but does it really matter? The last decade has seen them exclusively rewarded for failure.
Serhou Guirassy: The unknown complete striker who Chelsea will sign for £250m and a gold palace
Serhou Guirassy is the complete striker you won’t hear much about until he moves to the Premier League, breaking Lewandowski records and outscoring Kane.
Premier League TV rights are so wrong: viewers want a better product, not even more games
With the value of the Premier League TV rights deal falling from a peak it will never reach again, broadcasters have a chance to reinvent a broken wheel.
From Exeter to the Euros: Watkins thriving under the radar for Villa and England
Ollie Watkins has grafted his way up from the Conference South to the European Championships. Johnny Nic eulogises over a striker whose fight for the spotlight continues…
Dear Gareth, England fans did not execute Jordan Henderson; all they did was boo
Gareth Southgate likes an open letter so John Nicholson has written one to him. And he’s really not happy with his mealy-mouthed nonsense.
Levi Colwill is the archetypal modern-day defender. Don’t ruin him, Chelsea…
Levi Colwill made the first of what Johnny Nic reckons will be many England starts on Friday night. Here’s ‘What’s So Great About…’ the Chelsea defender…
International football is coitus interruptus so let’s go all the way in April instead
This stop-start Autumn thing for international football is rubbish; why not play the season through and then do internationals in April and May?
Football is riddled with conspiracy theories but sport is just organised chaos
The truth is much duller than the theories: People make mistakes. Referees, footballers, managers, the whole shebang…
Burn baby Burn! Newcastle’s local hero is just the story football needs more of…
Dan Burn is living his dream, playing and scoring for Newcastle United in the Champions League. The modern game, cold and brutal that it is, needs more fairytales like Big ...
The only surefire way to fix VAR is to ditch the terrible idea that is being executed terribly
VAR is a terrible idea being executed terribly; for all the solutions being offered in the wake of a huge mistake, none are better than just ditching it.
New Liverpool hero is one of the best midfielders in Europe, a future captain and a perfect fit
With some of the savviest business of the summer, Liverpool finally have a suitable heir to Steven Gerrard in Dominik Szoboszlai. Here’s ‘What’s So Great About…’ the Reds’ midfield general…
Romero ‘handball’ proves once again that VAR has no sense of natural justice
Cristian Romero could not do anything about the ball bouncing up and colliding with his hand; can nothing be accidental anymore?
West Ham bagged a bargain with Beckham-esque star a generation too late for greatness…
Would James Ward-Prowse be more revered if he played 20 years ago? Johnny Nic reckons so. Still, the West Ham new boy is still proving to be a £30million snip.
Man Utd and Erik ten Hag are stuck in the cul de sac of dysfunction
Man Utd can’t really get smaller, make less money and be less scrutinised, so there is no way out of this predicament.
Harry Maguire is a better footballer than all of us and a better human than most…
The Harry Maguire pile-on says much more about modern society and those steaming in than it does about the Man Utd and England defender, says Johnny Nic. Why are we ...
Gareth Southgate out, Graham Potter in? We are surely in the endgame now
We are entering the final chapter in the Gareth Southgate England story; Graham Potter is surely best placed to take over.
The evolution of Lewis Dunk: Get yourself a defender who can do it all, Gareth…
Lewis Dunk is back in the England squad, better than ever, and better than almost every other centre-back in Europe, according to his boss. Johnny Nic concurs…
VAR is breaking its own rules and bending football’s to make everything so much worse
VAR was sold to us on a false prospectus but it is only getting worse. Some of these decisions simply make no sense and no amount of Howard Webb will ...
Can Pep Guardiola strip the b***ocks from Jeremy Doku and give him end product?
Jeremy Doku is fast and he is tricky but that won’t be enough for Manchester City; you would back Pep to eke out more from the Belgian…
£100m for Caicedo or £40m on Maddison? Chelsea and Man Utd transfer waste shows money is no fix
In the past, Chelsea spending £1bn in a year would automatically deliver success. But time and money has changed and a wealth of knowledge and data is key.
Wor Sandro: The new Geordie icon pulling Toon strings and scoffing in ‘Spoons
Who doesn’t love a lavish-locked Italian regista? Johnny Nic does, and he reckons Newcastle have found a gem in Sandro Tonali…
Mary Earps yelled ‘f*** off’ and women’s football does the same to toxic men
This is what football is like when a certain sort of male is removed. There’s joy and there’s passion and it’s now slap bang in the mainstream.
Win or lose the World Cup final, Alessia Russo is a powerful force who won’t be stopped
Alessia Russo, like her England team-mates, had to scrap and sacrifice to reach the biggest stage of all. Johnny Nic pays tribute to the Arsenal new girl…
Man City man Josko Gvardiol is the hunter-gatherer with a defender’s beard
Astonishing he is just 21 but already Josko Gvardiol has a) a beard and b) all of traits of a modern defender. So very good…
Is the transfer window a restraint of trade? Should it be abolished or transformed?
Is the transfer window system working? Should it be standardised or abolished altogether? John Nicholson has some questions.
Jefferson Louis, Jason Steele, David McGoldrick and Stoke are the real stars of football
John Nicholson wants to pay tribute to football’s greatest exponent: the journeyman. But he doesn’t know why they all end up at Stoke City eventually.
Lauren James: Relaxed, unhurried and somehow only going to get better than she already is
England and Chelsea have a superstar in Lauren James and the Women’s World Cup has finally let out a secret that everyone already knew.
‘We’d all take the Saudi money’ like Henderson, right? Well here’s exactly why I wouldn’t
Those who keep defending players moving to Saudi Arabia by saying ‘we’d all take the money’ really ought to consider the thoughts of John Nicholson.
Andre Onana could change Man Utd more than any outfield transfer post-Fergie
Andre Onana could entirely change the way Manchester United play. And more importantly for us, he could be bloody good fun to watch.