Grapeviney

And it's goodbye to Jose Mourinho, with Guus Hiddink set to step in as caretaker. Given the increasingly fractured relationship between coach and players in recent weeks, and their abysmal record (Champions League aside), it was bound to happen sooner or later, but it would still be hard to pull the trigger on a coach with a record like Mourinho's. There were reports that he was in tears after being told, but if anyone in the sporting universe is likely to land on their feet following a sacking, then Jose's the man. Will be interesting to see where he goes next. Edit: some important fixtures this weekend, with Liverpool away at Watford and Arsenal hosting City.

..and damn you Spurs. Fourth spot there for the taking and they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Watched the Gunners-Villa match last night, a very dull affair. Highlight was probably the Arsenal fans chanting that Villa should be relegated - along with Chelsea. lol

Yep - it's time to take Leicester seriously as a contender, and to abandon the idea that Chelsea can somehow magically revive its fortunes. The two goals that Stoke put past City were both sensational - especially the second, set up by a sublime turn and pass from Shaqiri. They could easily have finished with 5 or 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpU3zsBJ24s

Bit annoyed that my boys (Spurs) couldn't get the win and further stake their claim at the top end of the table. Even more annoyed that I dozed off in the second half and missed Costa's bib-throwing petulance at Jose!

Article in the 'Hun today said his nickname at the Bushrangers was 'Clarry' - apparently a coach got his name wrong or something - and that's what he calls himself on his Instagram account. I like it. Sounds very oldschool, like someone who might have played with us in our heyday.

Great. Just when we were hoping Norm's curse was to be lifted, we go and draft a Weideman and probably [censored] him off all over again!

Aaah, I see you are a man of exceptionally refined taste.. ..perhaps I can interest you in the Aston Villa Match of the Round show?

As Guru Bob used to say: a champion team will always beat a team of champions, unless the team of champions is very, very good.

Bad news for those EPL followers with Foxtel after Optus won the broadcast rights for the next three years. Optus hasn't said yet whether it will on-sell the rights to a FTA station, or set up a subscription service, or a new distribution model. Whatever the case may be, it leaves Foxtel with very little in terms of world soccer, with all the other major European and South American leagues signed to beIN Sports. Will be interesting to see how it plays out. Edit: As I wrote in an earlier post, it's annoying that beIN seems to be available on Fox but not part of the sports package.

This is not so much a specific book recommendation as it is for a publisher - Granta. Can't remember when I first came across them, but I reckon I've read 20+ titles and have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them. They are my safe-as-houses, go-to publisher - I'll buy them even if the blurb doesn't really interest me. They are renowned for their reportage / non-fiction but equally feted for fiction. Here are a few randoms that I've loved: This is just beautifully written and a touching story: Diana Athill ~ After a Funeral Life growing up in Osho's ashram: Tim Guest ~ My Life in Orange Bleak but beautiful story about a broken Czech family: Ivan Klima ~ No Saints or Angels They also publish Granta ~ The Magazine of New Writing, a brilliant quarterly that is often (broadly) themed and has a mix of fiction, reportage, poetry and the like, which you can get in most bookstores. Like the book publishing arm, the Granta magazine (which is more of a small book than magazine) never fails to deliver the goods.

Yay, a book thread on Demonland! Good work Macca. Interesting back story to the new / old Harper Lee book, with claims that the publishers basically took advantage of her age and the death of her sister to line their pockets with the riches that would inevitably follow with another book. The Harper Lee 'Go Set a Watchman' Fraud. I've read Murakami's "Underground", which was fascinating, but couldn't get into "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running". Will check out the others you have recommended hardtack. Must admit that my reading habits have been disrupted by my decision to get Foxtel for the footy this year; instead of reading before bed, I find myself watching late night crap, or overseas sport. I've just started on a collection of essays by Noel Pearson called "Up From The Mission", but the best book I've read in recent months would be Paul Kelly's "Triumph and Demise", which tells the story of how the Rudd / Gillard / Rudd governments squandered so much political capital in such a short amount of time. No-oe understand power and politics like Kelly, and no-one writes with the same authority and clarity. Like his earlier books on the Hawke Government (End of Certainty) and Howard / Keating (The March of Patriots), this one will become the definitive account of the Labor era.

Tim Watson did say last year that Jack had his father's DNA, so I think you could be on to something..

When Smith and Rogers were in the 90's last night, I found myself praying (for want of a better word) that they'd both make tons. It later dawned on me; why are my cricket prayers answered so often, yet my footy prayers almost always fall on deaf ears?!

And we all saw this one earlier in the season - the most important tackle of the season so far, in terms of its impact.

Latest entrant: Maverick Weller. This one looks particularly painful. http://www.afl.com.au/video/2015-06-14/viney-slams-weller-in-fierce-tackle

The Copa America kicks off in Chile tomorrow morning, with coverage on beIN sports channel, for those who have it. You'd have to think Argentina and Brazil start favourites, but it should be a cracking tournament regardless, and Mexico, Colombia, and the hosts would all consider themselves a chance too. Suarez is still suspended but there's plenty of other talent on display obviously. Was astonished to learn that the South American football federation, Conmebol, is headquartered in an area of Paraguay that is basically protected from prosecution. "In 1997, the Paraguayan Government passed a law that granted virtual diplomatic immunity to the Conmebol compound, its property, documents and archives, similar to the privileges enjoyed by the embassy of a foreign nation." That protection looks like it's about to be rescinded by the Government, which would allow investigators to probe more rigorously into its affairs.

And so it proved, Macca. Was an entertaining game, despite Barca's dominance, and they could have easily finished with another one or two. Juventus were disappointing. Aside from the short period after Morata's goal, which itself came against the run of play, they never looked threatening. Juventus 1 - 3 Barcelona That completes the treble for Barca, too - La Liga, Copa Del Rey and now UEFA. Neymar, Messi and Suarez bagged more than 120 goals between them across all three competitions.

The commentary last night and the news today have all compared Bishoo's dismissal of Haddin to Warne's 'ball of the century'. It was a great ball, but it's not in the realm of the Warne delivery. We're a good chance to sew this up tonight.

I guess it was inevitable given our bid, but Australia is now embroiled in the FIFA mess, with a $500,000 payment that was earmarked for a facility in Trinidad & Tobago allegedly being pocketed by Jack Warner. Even without Warner's involvement, it's beyond farce that our bid money should underwrite so-called 'soccer development projects' elsewhere in the world, especially at a time when we've substantially cut foreign aid spending. Australia's $500,000 payment under scrutiny Champions League final this weekend - 4.30am Sunday morning. The much anticipated match-up of Luis Suarez and Giorgio Chiellini won't happen, with the defender ruled out because of injury. Perhaps a case of once bitten, twice shy. Boom-tish! Preview: Juventus v Barcelona

Wow!! Cheers for posting, as I'd seen the result but not the goal - absolute magic. Back on the FIFA corruption, there was a funny little sideshow over the weekend with one of the officials using a story in the satirical newspaper, The Onion, as part of his self-defence. Hard to believe you could mistake it for a genuine news outlet, but it's happened before. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/world/americas/ex-fifa-official-jack-warner-cites-onion-article-in-defense.html?_r=0

Villa never looked like it. The goal from Sanchez was a beauty, but all in all, it was a disappointing game, contest-wise.

Massive story. The only surprise is that it's taken this long to come out. The IOC should be next.

I know the EPL's pretty much done and dusted but just caught the second half of what was a cracking finish at Arsenal, with Sunderland holding on for a 0-0 draw to avoid relegation. Gunners had 28 shots on goal and most of the play i saw was in their penalty box. Great scenes after the game with Sunderland's coach in tears. Was thinking about how many relegation games we would have been involved in during recent years if there were two divisions here - the club would be in permanent survival mode from Round 1 !

Barcelona will play Juventus in the final in Berlin on June 6. We were on track for a super-classico until Juve levelled with Real in the 57th minute to secure a 1-1 draw in Spain. Although Real had lots of the ball and peppered the goals, they were lucky to be in the lead courtesy of a controversial penalty which looked soft at first glance. Yesterday, two early goals to Neymar - thanks to some lovely passing from Messi and Suarez - put to rest Bayern's finals hopes, before the Germans scored some late junk time goals. Semi Final Second Leg Results: Bayern 3 - 2 Barcelona [barca win 5-3 on aggregate] Real 1 - 1 Juventus [Juve win 3-2 on aggregate] Interesting to hear that there's talk of ditching the away goal rule.