Well now, when it comes to football, one man has for many years been the most noticeable, the most controversial, and occasionally the most successful blogger this country has ever produced. His pithy words and abrasive style make him as famous off the pitch as he is on it. This man is Escapini. "I love football. Football she's a cruel mistress. She's, she's more than a mistress. She's a wife, she's a mother, she's a daughter, she's an errant child. She's a… she's a… she can make you laugh, she make you cry. She can bring tears me eyes. She can bring blood to me shoulders. She can bring a kettle to the boil." "Cause football is about nothing, unless it's about something and what it is about, is football."

1 min readPublished 18 Dec 2011, 21:01

Manchester City Football Club

Mario & Mica ‘Like Twins’ [video]

Man City manager Roberto Mancini plays down Mario Balotelli’s reported spat with Micah Richards, and claims the players ‘are like twins’.

Love him or hate him, rate him or slate him, Mad Mario is certainly a fan’s dream. Not only does he provide headlines with his on the pitch form – which has been nothing short of scintillating at the minute – but he is front page gold off the field.

I find myself reading about his activities away from the pitch and thinking surely not – and then seeing confirmation of what I have just read.

For a player that Jose Mourinho described as ‘unmanageable’ Mancini seems to be doing a remarkable job of getting the best out of Balotelli of late – the only explanation Mancini can offer is that he has a son of Mario’s age, and the two are close, which helps him understand the Italian striker better.