“Post-match interviews with players are mostly dull because reporters only want to talk to the goalscorers, during which we learn that the player concerned is indeed quite happy to have successfully done his job. Managers, though, are interviewed as a matter of course, regardless of the game’s outcome. Again, not so interesting when the manager’s side has won but much more compelling after a defeat or a lost lead. A glance at this past weekend’s quotations presents an instructive picture of the several different ways of talking away failure.” (WSC)