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Hey, Hoddlers!
You’re reading the last Hoddle of 2017! Before I begin rambling, I hope you all enjoy the last this year has to offer and that 2018 proves to be a glorious year for everyone. Though it’s only been a month for me as the Hoddle writer, it has been fun getting to know this wild group of people, and doing it some more in the new year.
Now, for one last ramble of the year.
Ramble of the Day
As I type this, my younger sister is fake crying about chicken tenders. (“You should tell them I’m 20 and not 5,” she said.) We are watching Top Chef and (this is not really a spoiler) one of the contestants insulted chicken tenders. My sister, a lover of chicken tenders, was, of course, offended. “They’re my guilty pleasure,” she added.
Anyway, it made me think, Can chicken tenders genuinely be bad? They can be average, and certainly unhealthy, but can they actually taste bad? There are plenty of things, food included, that can be bad. However, there is a special category of food, I feel, that even if it’s not the best of the kind of you’ve ever had, it’s not a tragedy. At the very least, it depends on each person.
For example, I think fries (or chips, as some of us may call them) can be fantastic, but also mediocre. I can probably get through a plate of mediocre fries just as easily as wonderful fries. (There I go again, talking about potatoes.) The question, for the rest of you, is: What food would you easily eat, even in its lesser forms?
Now, for the final set of links of the year. Unexpectedly, it’s a lengthy one.
Links of the Day
Just four days after he was fired by Sheffield Wednesday, Carlos Carvalhal has been named the Swansea manager.
Speaking of hiring managers - Sevilla is set to appoint Vincenzo Montella, formerly of AC Milan and Fiorentina, as the club’s next manager.
Uruguayan forward Sebastian Abreu signed for Audax Italiano in the Chilean first division, making him the player who has played for the most clubs in his career. This is his 26th (!) club.
George Weah will be Liberia’s next president.
ESPN recaps some of the more amusing moments in the sport in 2017.
Longer read number one of the day: On Harry Kane’s work ethic and how it made him a better player in 2017.
Longer read number two of the day: U-17 World Cup winner Rhian Brewster of Liverpool on racism in the sport and how little is being done to eliminate it.