“It is 30 years since Liverpool smashed the British transfer record to sign Stan Collymore, a brilliant, brutally effective centre-forward with the build of a cruiserweight boxer and skills that, on his day, made him almost unplayable. He was the match-winner on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday, conjuring an eye-catching goal out of nothing, and scored another beauty against reigning champions Blackburn Rovers a month later, but, behind the scenes, cracks soon appeared. From an early stage, he felt out of place at Anfield, cold-shouldered in the dressing room and an awkward fit in a team whose commitment to pass-and-move football was at odds with the strengths he had showcased at Nottingham Forest. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Daily Archives: November 24, 2025
Wolves were improved against Palace – which makes defeat even more demoralising

Rob Edwards watched his Wolves side slide to defeat against Crystal Palace
“There were reasons why Rob Edwards could take encouragement from his first game in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers. His team showed more intensity, more purpose, more commitment to defend and more organisation than they displayed in the final weeks of Vitor Pereira’s time in charge. Yet those positives also helped make the defeat in Edwards’ first game as head coach the most demoralising of Wolves’ season. Edwards has put right several wrongs in just a few days, yet he still saw his side beaten comfortably by Crystal Palace. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Premier League hat-tricks: Ranking the top 10

Duncan Ferguson scores a trademark header against Bolton
“… First, some house rules; we’ve left out those where players who went on to score four or five goals, so Andrew Cole (Manchester United v Ipswich Town, 1995), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City at Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2022) and Luis Suarez (Liverpool v Norwich City, 2013), we apologise. Why don’t they count here? It just doesn’t feel right calling them hat-tricks, does it? It’s a quad-trick or a cinq-trick (that actually sounds quite nice), not a hat-trick. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
