#stopbrunch www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

So the great Brazil forward Garrincha played at Griffin Park against Brentford. Line-up picture courtesy of Don Tanswell @beesunited.bsky.social

Not now, maestro, the Brentford game is on.

Igor Thiago called up by Braaaazil.

The Secret Agent has to win something at the #Oscars: amazing cast, cinematography and 2 hours, 40 minutes packed w/ 💯 Brazil. 🇧🇷 Corruption / Urban myths / Bureaucracy / VW Fuscas / Violence / Orelhaos / Beer bellies / Carnival / Cachaça / Gente Boa.

Thanks to this website for sourcing my book with @tariqpanja.bsky.social about Michael Tabor being West Ham's principal lender for ~15 years I almost forgive you for knocking Brentford out of the FA Cup. 😉 www.claretandhugh.info/the-incredib...

Matthew Benham headlines at #SSAC26 -Brentford had 20% chance of relegation at start of season -Didn't seriously consider hiring anyone other than Keith Andrews -Players still get bonuses for set piece goals (including kick-off goals) -Brentford passed on signing Eze for £4 million in 2019

Next Saturday. Brentford owner Matthew Benham. Live podcast with Men in Blazers. At Sloan Sports Analytics conference. 🍿🍿🍿 www.sloansportsconference.com/event/men-in...

the Women's Asian Cup is less than a week away, and one of the most fascinating storylines this year is the return of North Korea to the international stage. here's my story about an unlikely powerhouse of women's football over at @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

Set piece scholars since 2015. 👨🏼‍🎓 www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Under the lights at Brentford. Another top shift by the defense. 🫡

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

I wrote this yesterday about the hero city of Minneapolis www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOW...

Worth a listen: one of the most candid interviews about how Brentford operate. From 25 minutes in. Ben Ryan's back story with Fiji also remarkable. So you could just listen to it all. m.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Wg...

The Tour’s back, but at a higher cost than ever before… observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

Cannot wait for the Bolsonaro book club discussion about 'Defeito de Cor' www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

The Tour de France owner Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is posting very strong financial results even as cycling is in a 'downward cycle' Short thread🧵

Brentford in highest mid-season league placing in 88 years. 👀 Back then leading Arsenal by 3 points, before imploding and finishing sixth. Daily Mirror: Jan. 2 1938

Brentford has not fired a head coach since Marinus Dijkhuizen in 2015. Since then UK has jettisoned four prime ministers, the European Union and more than 100 Premier League coaches.

Sevilla 🇳🇬

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

Old but gold Brazilian football quote. #Fluminense 🇧🇷

This is a good explainer about Tony Bloom and Matthew Benham and how they came to run Premier League clubs and major football gambling syndicates. It's not (yet) a scandal, more an uncomfortable juxtaposition that has avoided the limelight until now.

Big, if true .. at ManU. 🧐

I understand the good people of @escapecollective.bsky.social are responsible for this.. 😳 #1 in cycling on Kindle; paperback sold out in Australia; hardback gone in UK. Allez, Vive Le Fric 🇫🇷

A magnificent piece of work. Comprehesive, revelatory & shocking. Journalism this good is always rare & precious but never moreso than at times like this. Latter day Lord Haw Haws being plumped, preened & delivered to your doorstep in plain sight by a Nazi-saluting goon news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

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I've always wondered (and feared) what might happen if everyone started taking set pieces seriously. The first eight weeks of the Premier League season might be giving us a glimpse into the future, where soccer no longer features much, well, soccer: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Here's Ron Greenwood on the Central Line with the FA Cup in 1964.

Gino Pozzo has fired 15 Watford managers in the last decade. In the modern era, few football club owners are in the same league.

The Times: let's just outsource all U.K. government policy to the Dutchies 🇳🇱

Great to see 'Smart Money' is available in public libraries in Brentford, Chiswick, Hounslow, Richmond, Sutton and Luton! Come on You Hatters. Keep the faith.

The 'NFL-ification' of set pieces in the Premier League. link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951cb...

The Amaury family (which owns the Tour de France and La Vuelta) made €2.3 million from offshore investments last year, according to @publico.es It is an above-board scheme known as 'cash pooling' using the family's reserves - profits taxable in France and Spain. www.publico.es/politica/inv...

Moneyball not so much any more. Brentford has 20th costliest squad by transfer fees in world football, according to CIES Football Observatory. More than former European champions AC Milan, Benfica and Marseille. Not far off Barcelona either 👀

In the 80s, a fact checker found that an unedited issue of The New Yorker contained 1,000 errors. (This figure itself wouldn’t survive a fact-check, but never mind.) Zach Helfand delves into the history of the vaunted department.

Spanish Government replies to the UCI's statement, pointing out that the UN has just declared Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide. Brutal final words: "Peace without justice is peace in the graveyard." Lappartient is out of his depth. He is not protecting cycling with his actions and words.

"The UCI's view that sport must "remain autonomous," separate from politics .. .. (Somewhere deep in the small print) .. *except when it concerns the French state and the affairs of Amaury Sport Organisation.

Los chavistas lo dejaron en libertad cuando buscaron en Internet su nombre y descubrieron que se trataba de uno de los protagonistas del famoso sketch fish-slaping-dance, de los Monty Python'

Happy transfer deadline day In 2017, @tariqpanja.bsky.social and I published 'Football's Secret Trade' an exposé of an underground investment market in player transfers Now banned, it made a lot of money for a few already-wealthy people www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/s...

NYT missed a bit. On the walls, there was nothing look-at-me, apart from a blown-up photo of Tana wearing a suit – no tie – and a broad smile while holding a bottle of champagne next to a dozen men in a bath. The caption: ‘Brentford Football Club win promotion to the third division’. RIP Dan.

"Maestro, fúmate un purito despacito." I had not heard this phrase before but si, es la leche 👌

Challenge: To all professionals (and retirees) in the journalism, film, television, theatre, entertainment, and arts world, join the challenge to post a photo of yourself in your job. Just a picture, no description. The goal is to flood social media with our profession.

Billy Grant on Antoni Milambo: "He's got some dancing feet on him." Yes sir, he can boogie. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Rare Tony Bloom interview but with a hint of PR including 'betting advisory' euphemism. Wish him luck taking on Rangers & Celtic - he has more chance of winning the league with Hearts than Brighton. Just needs one bad season for Celtic.

With the Tour de France Femmes starting today, there will be 9️⃣ hours of cycling on the main channel of Dutch public broadcaster NOS today. However there will be be a brief interlude in the schedule for the news - in case anything else is happening.

Matthew Benham selling minority stake in Brentford FC to Gary Lubner as early as tomorrow, according to Sky News. Won't hold it against him when we go on to win the Premier League, but he grew up as a West Ham fan in 1960s South Africa. www.thetimes.com/article/6cda...

Oxford United in Indonesia 🔥 41,000 fans + flares + 9 goals www.oufc.co.uk/news/oxford-...

A reminder that marginal gains did not start with Team Sky. In 1970s Belgium, Lucien van Impe would put his watch forward one hour, a month before the Tour de France began, so his body clock was not out of sync with French summertime across the border. Happy TdF countdown ⏱️