John Motson is losing it: Exhibit A

For the sake of poor old Motty, let's hope this post isn't the start of a series.  And let's not have any of you heartless cynics suggesting that the living legend already lost it, a long time ago.

Personal affections aside, It is increasingly worrisome how slack the media coverage can be even at the sharp end of the game.  In Motson's BBC match preview for Sunday's match between Arsenal and Stoke, the commentator writes:

'There's been some bad blood between the two clubs in recent years, but with Hughes replacing Pulis [as manager of Stoke] it could be a bit different now - the issue of whether Stoke play 'dirty' should be diluted.'

Erm... I might have to beg to differ with you there, Motty.  Surely anyone who's been paying even remote attention to football in the five or six years remembers several instances where Messers Hughes and Wenger didn't see eye to eye?

On a personal level, the two managers enjoyed a ridiculously petty handshake-snub 'saga' in 2009, following the 3-0 defeat of Wenger's Arsenal by Hughes' Manchester City side.

But prior to that, when Hughes was the manager of Blackburn Rovers in the mid-noughties, Wenger accused him of sending his players out with "a desire for violence," to deliberately injure the opposition.

That's quite severe isn't it.

Stoke's propensity to roll over away to the big clubs, as well as the cavernous, theatre-like Emirates Stadium, should be factors that defuse much of the tension for this match.  But odds on the 'bad blood' having disappeared by the return fixture at the Britannia Stadium will be pretty long.

Sorry Motson, these managers hate each other and these clubs hate each other.  Shield your innocent eyes on Sunday, it isn't going to be pretty.

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Photo credit: Ben Sutherland