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Brighton 0 Everton 1

Brighton’s run of poor home form continued – our last home win was in November. David Moyes, who has 700 managerial games under his belt, did a number over the considerably less experienced Fabian Hürzeler. Surprisingly Minteh was overlooked for Grouda, but the latter was ineffectual [...]

January 28, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Fulham 0 Manchester Utd 1

The less said about this dreadful match the better. Fulham’s performance was dire: once again they sat back in the second half and, the longer it stayed 0-0, the more I thought the away team would score. Tactics tend to be impressionable and many sides – Fulham included – adopt [...]

January 27, 2025 // 0 Comments

HARLEQUINS 24 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 19

Quins are quite often given the Friday evening slot as a televised apéritif for the weekend’s rugby and this match proved an excellent taster even though both teams were bereft of key players called up for international duty. Quins have depth – whether it is the evergreen Danny Care, the [...]

January 25, 2025 // 0 Comments

Nazi war crimes: fact or fiction?

In the week I had two interesting conversations regarding the Nazis. The first was with an old cultivated friend and brother of a distinguished historian, who said that non-fiction was more reliable than any fiction in understanding history. The second was with a highly knowledgeable, well informed [...]

January 23, 2025 // 0 Comments

Sir Keith Park

On Monday I walked from Victoria Station to my club The Reform in Pall Mall. As a London park I prefer Regents Park, not just because of its greater amenities (the boating lake, Rose Garden, Open Air Theatre and Zoo), but because you can get lost there – whereas at St James, you are more or [...]

January 21, 2025 // 0 Comments

Smith or Smith

I followed the Radio London commentary of the Harlequins 24 Glasgow Warriors 7 match, being unwilling to lay out £25 monthly for broadcaster Premium Sports. So I cannot give a total report but – with the Six Nations looming – I thought I might offer my ha’porth on Fin Smith [...]

January 20, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Leicester City 0 Fulham 2

Though this was not the most exciting of games it was a vital one. Fulham had drawn 6 of their last 9 games and doubts existed why we fared so well against team above us – and so badly against teams below us. As for Leicester, they had lost 6 successive games and grave doubts surrounded the [...]

January 19, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: West Ham 3 Fulham 2

You can lose a game because the opposition is superior or through bad luck (a deflection, an injury or a poor refereeing decision) or through sloppiness. This match was lost by sloppiness because Fulham were the better team but two grotesque defensive lapses gifted the game to the Hammers. Fulham [...]

January 15, 2025 // 0 Comments

El Cid/The book and the film

I was recently given a new biography of El Cid, the Spanish 11th Century knight, by Nora Berend, a Cambridge University historian. Her thesis is that Rodrigo de Viva – far rom being a patriot – was a mercenary. She concedes that many of the primary sources are unreliable. However this [...]

January 12, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report: Fulham 4 Watford 1

Reporting on this victory is secondary to commenting on the decline of the FA Cup in my lifetime. The year of my birth (1954) witnessed what many consider the greatest game ever played at Craven Cottage – a cup tie with  the holders Newcastle United which the latter won 5-4. The linesman who [...]

January 10, 2025 // 0 Comments

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