Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
All this week’s stories come from the opening fixtures of the English Premier League. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast and can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.
Good
It was good on the opening weekend of the Premier League for the title holders and Champions, Manchester United. The Red Devils got a late winner at West Brom to run out 2-1 winners while their rivals, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all drew their matches. The victory came at a cost though as both Vidic and Ferdinand, the first choice central defenders, were injured. But Fergie, the United manager, will be pleased to get three points on the board while his rivals drop points.
Bad
While it was good for Manchester United, it was a terrible start for newly promoted side Queens Park Rangers. The west London club opened their season at home, but they were thrashed 4-0 by Bolton. To add insult to injury, they conceded an own goal, had a player sent off, and there are still rumblings behind the scenes between the board and the manager, Neil Warnock. Bad for QPR.
Ugly
Well it didn’t take him long. Barton is back in the Ugly section at Languagecaster. The Newcastle midfielder, who had been in trouble with his club over their plans for the future, his contract, and his twitter outbursts, played a big part in getting Brazilian Ghervinho sent off. Ghervinho was making his debut for Arsenal when he went down in the Newcastle box, a little too easily according to Joey Barton, who grabbed him and yelled insults in his face. A scuffle started and the Brazilian slapped Barton and was duly give his marching orders. Replays exonerated the Arsenal player, showing he didn’t dive, and Barton was lucky to escape a red card after his initial aggressive behaviour. An ugly start for Ghervinho and Barton.
Vocabulary
victory came at a cost: although the team won, they paid a price; the result was positive, but having injured players was negative
to drop points: to not achieve the result you expect – last week, most people thought Liverpool would beat Sunderland, but they only drew – they only got 1 point instead of three, so they dropped points.
promoted: to describe a team that has gone up a division – n this case from the Championship to the Premier League in England
to add insult to injury: to make things worse; to add a bad think onto another bad thing
behind the scenes: usually refers to the administration of the club, the owners etc.
to go down: to fall, to be tackled and fall to the ground (also to be relegated)
to be given (your) marching orders: to be sent off, to receive a red card
a scuffle: a fight – usually just pushing and shoving
