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Commentators and pundits must often be haunted by innocent comments such as that. Maybe you could convince your family that you had your fingers crossed?

keep up the good work Dan, and the shirt rocks

Dan! That shirt is very moderate! I spent years at my cafe in Bristol, brightening up people's lives in outrageous "Hawaiian" shirts -the worst one was from New Zealand, though one was a Paul Smith. Go for it!
(Pity I can't post an image.....or is it?)

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good enough getting critised by your family etc!
bet martin doesn't dance as good as peter crouch

Did think at the time the shirt would cause some comments.
'Bold move' was the thought that crossed my mind when the show started!

If you eant advice on what to wear, go and ask the F1 boys, EJ in particular

Interesting blog

Arsene has certainly made his mark in English football (even if some people ridicule him) he has transformed Arsenal from "boring" to "inspiring" but not just on the pitch has he made such a difference the Emirates Stadium is a joy to behold and his legacy is set in stone.

Well done Arsene you sir are a legend!!!

utter dross, bring back ray stubbs

Are you going to do a piece on Burnley's dressing room this week? For compare and contrast reasons?

It could be possible that the sender of said letter was being ironic, or equally possibly - the shoes were just that bad!

groundbreaking stuff......

the good news is that your shirt can be used in the Tour de France. If I am not mistaken, the red polka dot jersey is awarded to the King of the Mountains during the Tour. every cloud eh.....

A nice post! I really enjoyed the back stage look at the Emirates : )

Good to hear that you associate with Wednesdayites - it's probably through that that you've cultivated not only an appreciation for the game and how it should be played (in short, 'GERRIT ON T'FLOOR!') but also a healthy self-deprecating streak, which can be the only thing that satisfactorily explains the shirt choices...

...enjoyed the show this week, although a proper journalist would have staked out Keown's house all night with a long lens ready to catch the big man busting out some SAVOURY moves. Can't you plot with Dixon to secretly film him in the Focus office and stick it up on here? Nobody will ever find out!

Hi Dan, Despite being tainted by association with the blue nad white virus your heartfelt good wishes for the Blades were appreciated. The shirt was a nice touch as well!

I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Not so sure about the shirt though. It is quite moderate, but it is horrid! A brave move indeed. I thought i'd missed comic relief weekend to be honest!

Keep up the good work man.

Well written piece Dan.

it is very true that Arsene Wengar is without a doubt, one of the most influential managers, probably of all time. As a Liverpool fan, i have always been quite jealous of the style of play that he has incorporated in Arsenal's game that has made them one of the most feared teams in Europe.

Arsenal nor the premierleague would be the same without him.

Plain shirts may be for wimps sir but that one is reserved for the winner of the mountain stages in the tour de france isn't it?

At least your wife has good taste! ;-)

Sorry Dan, couldn't resist...

Possibly one of those comments where whatever you say is wrong... either in trouble with the missus or telling Speedo that you hope his team fails this season?... could have resulted in a punch on the nose.

i bet cousin matt wasnt too pleased either! or uncle andrew for that matter (im not a stalker, i used to sit with the former at hillsborough)! havent got round to watching focus the last few weeks but i'll be sure to get round to it at some point. glad you finally made it, matt has been going on for years about how you were next in line to succeed manish, i dont suppose you could tell him to get rid of the e-mails and texts part of the football league show could you? does my head in listening to liverpool supporters from northampton barking on about who they think should be the next manager of Barnsley! as if they know anything about the football league! and yes, wishing our not so friendly neighbours good luck for the season is never a wise move really! anyway rant over, best of luck on focus!

Bring back Jake Humphreys. A Norwich fan who knows not to mention Ipswich without his fingers crossed behind his back!

i'm sorry, although i do enjoy reading your posts and watching your videos but the shirt is just borderline awful. then again, i've been guilty of such purchase. brave to wore it on tele, mate.

You look like you've won a climbing stage on the Tour de France.

You still got the receipt for that shirt Dan?

Keown throwing moves to Jackson and a disco shirt. I really should not eat so much stron cheese.

I'd sooner see a shirts vs skins battle royale in the FF studio, to be honest. I'd wager that with your reach advantage you could overcome the raw power of Keown and the wily professionalism of Dixon. There could only be the low centre of gravity of Lord Garth of Crooks that could unsettle you.

If you were a professional wrestler, what would be your ring name and finishing move?

Great blog Dan
A very enjoyable reaad
Keep up the good work and lets hope we do get a viewing of Keowns legendary dance...it is said to be quite something

A wander around the football office please Dan... don't bore us with how you put the stuff together... show us around the office - with particular attention to any talent working there....

i tell you what would be really good - tell us how people working there got there jobs... not just a "i did 3 year degree in x followed by y"... but more of a actually how you get the job side of things and what peoples interest (and background in football is... or is it more media backgrounds.... would be interesting)

'I sent the picture back commenting that my beige shoes were the least of his worries.'

Good for you :)

I'd like to see some fly on the wall stuff, but maybe capture some of the team on camera, with the onus on getting to see what goes on when normally the cameras aren't rolling. Some of the run up to the show, and then the bits after.

Please explain why when the match is done and dusted, even the highlights or even the goals which I have already seen in my 'territory' can't be shown on the internet.
Oh and next time you want to wear the King of the Mountains Jersey don't forget your bike. I agree plain shirts are for Wimps...and TV.

bobbieflowers wrote:

utter dross, bring back ray stubbs

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You missed "Want" from the start of that sentence and a "?" from the middle.

That's quite a funny story about a chav taking the time to write in and criticise your dodgy footwear. He'd probably never seen any products outside of an Argos catalogue!

I saw Focus last week and to be honest, I can't even remember your shirt so it couldn't have been that bad.

I'd like to see more stories about the players and managers. The Arsenal thing was very interesting and you can see why Wenger doesn't seem to want to leave Arsenal. He's involved with almost every aspect of the club.

I think stories such as dressing room activity (like Keowns body-popping) or strange superstitions of players would be quite interesting. Also, you always seem to get a one-dimensional view of managers from the media. I really like stories that show managers as who they are. I'm sure some of them are quite witty and funny, but you never get to see that in the post-match interview or the pre-game press conference...

Great idea on the wrestling, Dan. Perhaps you could team up with Manish - he could have the stage name 'Mister President' and finish off his opponents with 'The Fifth Amendment'.

I too would like to see more 'fleshing out' of the FF world. Obviously I'm sure that you'd never be allowed to get a warts'n'all portrayal of messrs Lineker, Hansen, Lawrenson et al sprawled out in front of the 3pm games with cans of Skol and egg sandwiches, but anything that takes us 'behind the curtain' is welcome.

The difference that Arsene made to the English game is that he was absolutely the first manager to achieve success without ever having to portray either the fearsome authoritarian or the more-blokey-than-you beer monster wide boy. That he got results with a largely English team whilst being, let's be honest, a rather effeminate, softly-spoken Frenchman changed the English perception of football forever. He, Cantona and Ginola - three Frenchmen, were pivotal in the repositioning of what it was to be in football in this country.

It's certainly a far cry from that classic interview with Tommy Docherty when he was at United:

"You've had a lot of problems with your players - so your man-management can't have been that good?"
"MY MAN- MAN- MAN- MANAGEMENT'S TERRIFIC! MY MAN- MAN- MAN - they break the rules, they gottae suffer the consequences!"

We could do with the odd firebrand in the game though, for sure. Come back wee Gordon, you are missed!

Dan, was watching ff, and it wasn't until my mum commented on your shirt being a bit strong that i noticed that you may need to reconsider on your choice of pattern.
may i suggest, that instead of the red polka-dots, maybe pull out some verticle stripes? throw in some sequins! who knows!?

Do your shirts have to get passed by anyone before you're allowed to wear them on FF?? Looking forward to some more behind the scenes action - can we see more stuff from the FF office... Is it possible to get a few clips of Hansen and co watching the live games??