It's been a real footballing weekend for me ... working with Allan Prosser, Mike Brough and Paul Wick to produce a 56-page Champions Full Time supplement for the Irish Examiner. It is published today, free with the paper. Great fun to do but I could have done without the relegation issues on Sunday. I had taken a gamble that Wigan would go down and Birmingham would stay up, so apart from updating every Premier League club's page I had to set about on two major rewrites. Then Carlo Ancelotti was sacked. We made the deadline though. It marks another fantastic commitment by the Examiner to sports coverage. The supplement includes a club by club analysis, the best quotes, the top 20 goals, the worst fouls and howlers and a 12-page Champions League preview. It's a great read. Above are a few pages, including the cover and my review Newcastle's season. If you are a footballer fan, try to get hold of a copy. I can guarantee it will be worth it.
Enjoyed putting together the Irish Examiner's 32-page Champions League curtainraiser with colleagues Mike Brough and Paul Wick. Fantastic sporting commitment again from the paper. I was really pleased with the cover - but finding a gladiatorial Englishman from each of our Champions League club's was a tall order, especially after Defoe was laid low. Arsenal was particularly tough, as you might imagine. Most pictures of Theo Walcott are more gladioli than gladiator. Great cover by Paul though ... and a really good read once more by the Examiner.
Back from my summer break (Rome, Menorca, the Camargue) and straight into producing a 40-page Kick-Off supplement for the Irish Examiner, published tomorrow. As soon as we pressed the button on the last page, Martin O'Neill resigned, and it all kicked off again. Good job all round ... especially by Alex Diaz and Paul Wick. Here is the cover - and my take on Newcastle united's forthcoming season. Once again, great commitment from the Examiner to quality sports coverage.
