Savvy Jens Lehmann a step ahead of Arsenal on ‘Invincibles’ branding

It’s 20 years since Arsenal became ‘The Invincibles’ by going through an entire Premier League season unbeaten, so you’d imagine they might have had a whole heap of merchandise prepared to mark the anniversary.

But? According to the Daily Mail last week, if they had indeed planned on cashing in on that anniversary, they discovered a problem. Someone out there had paid £30,000 for the branding rights to ‘The Invincibles’.

Who? Their goalie from that season, Jens Lehmann. It means that the German, who is in talks with three production companies about making an ‘Invincibles’ documentary and is planning an overseas tour featuring players from the team, is now the legal owner of the brand and can stop anyone, including Arsenal, from using it. No flies on Jens.

QUOTE

“If you’re young enough, you’re good enough.”

Stephen Kenny: St Pat’s not yet ready to challenge for League of Ireland title

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All that may remain for Pep Guardiola to do is sign a few Irish internationals and get Man City promoted

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Páirc Uí Chaoimh to host Ireland qualifier against France in July

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Emma Hayes bows out with another WSL title as Chelsea crush Manchester United

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There’s only one Clinton Morrison.

NUMBER: 33

The number of goals Sammie Szmodics scored for Blackburn this season. Thank heavens for his late Granny from Longford.

Ryan Burge’s spectacular show of pettiness

It was shaping up to be the most deliciously petty football story of the season. The gist: Ryan Burge played for a string of clubs during his career, never lasting too long at any of them, his two seasons with Port Vale among his lengthier spells. But he ended up falling out with the club and left by mutual consent, the 10 intervening years not seeming to have eased his annoyance about the whole business.

So, a week after Port Vale were relegated from League One, much to the delight of supporters of their closest rivals Stoke City, a plane flew over their Vale Park ground, when they were playing Cambridge United, pulling a banner that mocked their misfortune. “She stood there laughing – N40,” it read, that being a reference to Stoke’s anthem Delilah, N40 being a rather rowdy Stoke supporters group.

And who claimed to be flying the plane? Yes, Ryan Burge. “Just landed,” he wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to the Stoke City fans who paid me to do something I would have happily done for free. This is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. Fail Park looks like an even bigger shit hole from the Sky #inbreds.”

But? The suggestion doing the rounds that Burge had got himself a pilot’s licence purely so that he could one day fly a mean banner over Vale Park was somewhat dispelled by a Port Vale fan who noted that the plane took off from Blackpool, and not Redhill as Burge claimed, and “was a completely different colour” to the one he had himself photographed beside. So? Hmm. But as the Vale supporter concluded: “Burge giving off Baby Reindeer vibe.”

WORD OF MOUTH

“I’ll be honest ... I knew nothing about Slot at all. Probably like many people, I dived into Google to check him out.”

Robbie Fowler admitting that he’d never heard of Liverpool-manager-elect Arne Slot when his name first emerged in the Jurgen-Klopp-successor-stakes. See below.

“The English are islanders and they have a habit of not looking beyond the island. That you don’t know Arne Slot, for me that’s a reason to take you [pundits] off the air. That Slot is not known to the Liverpool public, I understand that – if you’re a Liverpool fan and you sit down to watch Feyenoord, then you have a strange hobby.”

Dutch football writer Suleyman Ozturk on those who had to Google Slot’s name. See above.

“That they dare give us Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday 12.30 is a crime. I was actually waiting for Amnesty International to go to them.”

Jurgen Klopp complaining about his team’s schedule this season. See Below.

“Hi Jurgen, Maybe next year. We’re a bit busy at the moment. But, feel free to donate to us in the meantime. Thanks.”

Amnesty International respond. See above.

Antony’s hibernation season

You might recall that when Antony scored against Burnley two Saturdays ago, he ran to a photographer at the side of the pitch who handed him a cuddly Sonic The Hedgehog – apparently Antony’s son’s favourite character – before taking a pic of his celebration.

According to The Sun, this fellah is Antony’s personal photographer who he hires to snap his finest moments “for social media postings, endorsements and advertising”.

“It is unclear whether the photographer has got through one roll of film this season,” they wrote, somewhat rudely – while also showing their age. Who uses rolls of film any more? “The Hedgehog had spent the whole league season in hibernation,” they added, pointing out that Antony’s last league goal came in April 2023. You fear his son has long since moved on from Sonic.

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