Darby Jean #101 | The Richarlison Hat-Trick
The festive period is here, which means choking back game after glorious game of under cooked, over served football across three or so weeks until your speech lilts with an excitable cadence despite the apparent monotony, and your ability to navigate life without threatening everyone in your path grows limited. It’s exhausting and entirely pointless, and somehow fully worth it. How much will you be able to stand?
Richarlisson scoring for Everton
The Richarlisson Hat-trick
The Angry Birds of Everton sat three points North of relegation heading into Monday’s game against Arsenal. Given the mood at the club in recent weeks, the desperate, angry baying emanating from Goodison Park wasn’t a surprise, even as the mooted 27th minute walkout didn’t really happen.
Goodison is easily the best sounding stadium in the Premiership. The place produces a clamour that is singular and distinctive. And it was on full display when, after having two goals chalked off for marginal offside calls, Richarlison de Andrade finally scored with an awkward header from a rebound. The decibels improved once more with Demari Grey's 93rd minute star screamer, at which point everyone went APE before decamping to join the Evertonian Marxists who’d left at 27 minutes to keep the seats warm at the appropriate watering holes.
On this night, at least, everything went to plan.
Dean Smith
Dean Smith
It’s weird seeing Dean Smith in Norwich City colours. Recall that he managed Aston Villa for three years, got canned, and then snagged the Norwich gig nine days later. It’s an usual feat in real life, never mind the Premiership.
There was something avuncular about Smith in Villa gear, with his assistants scurrying around in the background in their little brown coats. Norwich City’s yellow and green is an unusual, less imposing fit, with the feel of a borrowed set of pyjamas.
He has the look of a man who’s been sent down to Triple A for being too liberal with the juice and too blind with the eye. He made mistakes, sure, but no one ever got round to firing him, because he was likeable, and always had something easy stashed away in his desk.
That Canos Goal
Sergio Canos scored Brentford’s first ever goal in the Premiership. Since then he’s turned to the bottle (hair dye), which seems to have buoyed his spirits enough to pot this peach of a goal against Leeds on Saturday. Watch his movement: skipping past the shoulders of Leeds’ entire defense before smashing the ball to the furthest of far posts. Lovely.