Former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson has been prevented from launching his autobiography with a signing session at the National Football Museum in Manchester, nor will the venue be selling the book.
Atkinson is still paying a high price for the racist comments he made 12 years ago about Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly after a Champions League game against Monaco. He believed he was off air at the time, having completed his duties as a TV pundit for ITV.
Atkinson lost his job with ITV and is still a virtual outcast from football, certainly as far as the National Football Museum are concerned. They took the view that there would be a negative reaction if they allowed Atkinson to use their facilities to promote The Manager.
Ron Atkinson has been prevented from launching his autobiography at the National Football Musuem - there is a worry there would be a negative reaction after Atkinson's past comments
The publishers, deCoubertin Books, received an email from the museum’s head of retail Paul Evans, saying: ‘We took a considered view of the overall career of Ron Atkinson which it is well documented has been a mixture of extreme highs and some well-publicised lows.
‘On balance we agreed unanimously that any potential negative response from our visitors would be more important than any profit that might result from the stocking of this title or being involved in a commercial launch of the book. We will not be stocking the book, irrespective of your confident sales predictions.’
The former Manchester United boss, pictured with the FA Cup (left), has released 'Ron Atkinson, The Manager' which documents his career in the game
Not only have the FA removed Sam Allardyce’s motivational ‘The Journey Starts Here’ banner from the St George’s Park entrance, but there are no plans for a picture of Big Sam to adorn the walls of SGP alongside other former England managers.
However, Allardyce hasn’t been entirely airbrushed from FA history. At least his name remains on the list of England bosses in the SGP boardroom, which already includes caretaker Gareth Southgate along with other former temporary England bosses Peter Taylor and Howard Wilkinson.
There are no plans by the FA for a picture of Sam Allardyce to adorn the St George's Park walls
Joining the cast of former FA employees giving their ‘expert’ opinion on numerous media outlets, including a self-serving article in PR Week, about the Sam Allardyce sting was former FA marketing and communications director Julian Eccles.
Quite why Eccles, who had a brief and best-forgotten spell at Wembley, chose to join the talking heads five years after leaving the FA, is hard to fathom.
Derek Langley, Manchester United’s former head of youth recruitment, who was shown the door after 16 years at Old Trafford following Jose Mourinho’s arrival, has switched his attention to scouting young talent for a football agency.
Langley, who is credited with bringing through Danny Welbeck, Jesse Lingard and Tom Cleverley, has become head of recruitment for OmniSports.
Former head of Manchester United youth recruitment Derek Langley is now scouting young players for a football agency
MICHAIL'S SPECIAL TOUCH
Michail Antonio, the West Ham winger called up for the last two England squads, is in danger of giving footballers a good name with the way he fulfilled a promise made to a Birmingham charity.
Antonio had pledged a signed shirt for Libby Mae’s Little Angels to founders Richard and Charlotte Sharratt, but had run out of time to post it before last Saturday’s black-tie ball and auction for neonatal units across the region.
So Antonio drove up to Birmingham after West Ham’s home draw with Middlesbrough to deliver the shirt personally. Antonio said: ‘I knew they wanted it for the auction that night, so I thought I’d drop it off after the game before carrying on to see my family.’
Thanks @Michailantonio for your generosity dropping your signed shirt tonight @MacBurlington on way from game #LMAball2016 @LibbyMaesAngels pic.twitter.com/Cdzmp7SnwE
— Prepared PR (@preparedpr) October 1, 2016
Sir Ian Botham has promised to do all he can to help his former county Durham after their draconian ECB punishment of relegation into Division Two. And the word at the county is that Beefy may well end up as chairman of Durham.
Meanwhile, there are conflicts of interest involved in the ECB’s imposition of punishments on Durham, including the loss of Test cricket. Principal among them is the fact that ECB chairman Colin Graves had such a large say in the decision when he bankrolls Yorkshire, who will be the main Northern Test-ground beneficiary of Durham’s banishment.
An ECB spokesman said the chairman had had no involvement in Yorkshire for 18 months.
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