World Cup MIFA Project

MIFA stands for Missing In Footie Album and is Dave Will's pre-World Cup project to have artists and illustrators across the globe make football sticker designs for all the players who are in the 2018 World Cup squads but didn't make the official Panini sticker album due to squads being announced and changed after the official album is finalised.

I only discovered this fun project when Peter Rasmussen or @badlydoodled who I follow on Twitter posted his entry and so I dived in to pick a player while there were still some left.  Some furious scribbling later and messing around between multiple apps and my entry is one of the 254 on show by over 150 artists and there is a great variety of styles and some stunning artwork.

I chose Bartosz Bialkowski from the Poland Squad who plays for Ipswich Town in the English Championship.  He made his international debut aged 30 back in March although he has strong competition from the usual No.1s of Fabianski (Swansea) and Szcesny (Juventus) for a starting place in the squad.

England v Russia (Euro 2016)

So England v Russia Euro 2016 for England in Marseille where the fans had been involved in clashes for three days, and following a victory for Wales who showed that British teams can win their opening matches the England team performed quite well.
  With the veteran Wayne Rooney now withdrawn into midfield as a midfield general (drawn above) they were making lots of chances that unfortunately no-one managed to get onto the end of.  It was all potential, pressure and no goals in the first half and in the second half Russia came more into it until Dier scored from a free kick and Roy Hodgson hauled off Rooney and Sterling for Wilshere and Milner as we looked to see out our victory.
  With Russia it is never so simple and in the 91st minute they scored an equaliser with one of their few attacks.
  In the aftermath where a draw felt like a defeat I drew this cartoon showing parallels between 1812 and now (although whether Borodino which was not the clear victory Napoleon was looking for exactly equates to a 1-1 draw is debatable).

New Season Writeoffs

The new Premiership season kicked off today and already seasons are being written off by tomorrow.

Liverpool crashed out to West Brom 3-0 so that will be their season over.

Also Arsenal failed to score against Sunderland so they will be in crisis as well especially since Song is maybe going to Barcelona.

As always pundits have column inches to fill and fans of all colours have comments to vent at so these clubs are always attracting these stories which later in the season turn out to have been premature.

Football is a simple game and at the last match (Egypt vs Belarus at Hampden) it was easy to shout at both teams for not doing the seemingly easy task of putting the ball in the net.  If we can see it from the paying seats how much more should managers and coaches just be telling their players to just score goals.

Football may be simple but it's not easy and today's defeats while good for headlines are no indicator of future performance.


Above is the version posted to the CCGB competition but after I did it I noticed a glaring error so I post the corrected version below so you can play spot the difference and laugh at my mistake (I pencilled a detail in the rough but forgot to ink it)

Roy Hodgson Caricature

What am I doing putting caricatures of the England manager on my cartoon website - well it's for a competition.

Hodgson's Choice

Today Roy Hodgson announced his squad for Euro 2012 as the markets crashed around him.

As an Englishman in Scotland I have followed the England side since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and when I read the names in this squad it just felt like World Cup 2010 all over again.  Many of the same players who disappointed in that tournament are back again and there is a lack of new talent.

Fawlty Tevez Episode 1: The Germans

Only in Premier League football could you refuse to play and still be paid a quarter of a million pounds a week!  I don't normally draw what people suggest but Oli suggested I do something about Carlos Tevez refusal come off the bench during the Champions League match with Bayern Munich.  Or was it a misunderstanding?  Was Carlos sitting there at the match wondering what he was doing in those comfy padded seats so close to the match?  Also was he confused why he was wearing a Man City strip with a number on his back and he might be asked to do something for his quarter mil a week.  Then again if he can't speak English (allegedly) what about those around him what were they doing.

The comedy of Fawlty Towers stands up well after several decades.  Some may think the exchanges between Basil Fawlty and Manuel are no longer-PC but is the classic comedy of misunderstanding - a bit like what happened at the Bayern Munich Stadium

Sky Commentators Gaffe The Female Response

Today's topical cartoon refers to the story about Sky Commentators Andy Gray and Richards Keys comments about women assistant referees not knowing the offside rule.  Like Gordon Browns election gaffe the remarks were made when they believed the microphones weren't on. 

Doing cartoons about topical events is all about having an idea fast while it is still imprinted in the public memory.  Too many times its like when someone says something to you and then several hours later you think of a really witty reply but it's too late.  To get something like this published (and I'm not sure it would be) I'd had to be maybe a day earlier as by the time tomorrow's papers/editions roll out the 24-hour news bandwagon will have moved onto some other gaffe made by some other celebrity.

It also reminds me of my only 'published' cartoon which was way back in my University days when I know a guy who helped compile the Hamilton Academical Fanzine who commissioned a cartoon called 'Why Women Don't Play Football'.  It would not look very enlightened today but I've made up for it by trying to be sensitive and understand the female response to these totally unacceptable comments.

Rooney Repays England

"Well Wayne it could be yours for 10,000 easy weekly repayments of 250mil and I'll throw in 3 months sea tax and a Merlin ASW helicopter"

Wayne Rooney has been rewarded for his disloyalty with a new five year contract at Manchester United allegedly worth 250,000 per week.  This despite his disappearing act at the World Cup and a very poor contribution to my fantasy football team.  I think this is the least he can do to repay the country.

Continuing the Navy and Matt theme from yesterday the building of more aircraft carriers than we need is another easy target of comedians everywhere and here is Matt's Rooney/Aircraft Carrier cartoon.  My father works for one of the companies building the carriers and was in no doubt that they couldn't be cancelled due to contracts already signed.  Indeed earlier this month we were at the launch of HMS Duncan and we could see huge sections of the carrier already underway in the hanger.  The launch of the first Queen Elizabeth class carrier is going to be another field day for cartoonists but certainly not as satisfying for the people who built it as it should be.