The Warm-Up: Zizou isn't angry at Gareth Bale, he's just disappointed

Updated 01/08/2019 at 09:38 GMT

Yes, that's right, the Gareth Bale saga is getting even more undignified, as Zizou gets all passive aggressive

Zinedine Zidane, Gareth Bale

Image credit: Getty Images

THURSDAY’S BIG STORIES

The Golfer plays golf, annoys Zizou

On balance, we’d say that Gareth Bale’s apparent decision to play golf after being left behind while his Real Madrid teammates travelled for the super-prestigious Audi Cup in Munich, is just on the right side of top-notch trolling, as opposed to rank stupidity.

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The man known in Spain as ‘The Golfer’ due to him spending much more time on the links than the language school, apparently took in a few holes while the rest of the Real squad were in Germany, which at the very least is superbly on-brand. Whether it’s the sort of thing one should be doing given the circumstances we’re not sure, but we suspect Bale doesn’t really care what anyone in Madrid thinks of him these days.

“I hope he trained there,” was Zinedine Zidane’s response when asked about Bale’s day out. “We are here, thinking about the team.” And then, when asked if Bale’s attitude bothered him, Zidane said: “Well, we’ll see when we get back. I will not prevent someone from doing something. He has to look after his responsibilities. We will see what he has done in Madrid. I will not get into his personal life. But I think he has done training.”

He’s not angry, just disappointed.

Managers to be banned for multiple yellows

The new season is nearly upon us, and you know what that means: yep, new rules and regulations to keep track of. There will be a couple of ones that could produce high comedy, such as yellow cards issued for any player who makes the symbol for VAR – which is to say, draws an imaginary TV in the air with their fingers – in an ‘aggressive or excessive manner.’ It’s unclear as to whether referees will be allowed to send those incidents to the VAR.

Another one, as reported by the Times, is that managers will now be subjected to the same totting up procedure as players, meaning that if a boss gets four yellow cards for crimes such as wilfully leaving their technical area or kicking a bottle a bit, they will be booked and are on the track to a ban.

This is all very well, but it does lead one to the conclusion that, once again, we all take football far too seriously. But perhaps these little added moments of farce will add some levity to the whole thing and make football look suitably ridiculous.

IN OTHER NEWS

Seeeeeeeeeeee ya.

SPECIAL PRE-SEASON THRIKER CORNER

The first in what could be an occasional series as the season proper looms ever nearer: good hit, Harry Wilson.

HEROES AND ZEROS

Hero: Paulo Gazzaniga

Sure, it’s ‘only’ some diddy pre-season trophy, but here’s a hot take for you: the Warm-Up reckons Hugo Lloris’s form – already on the iffy side of ropey, at best – will essentially become so much of a liability in this coming season that Mauricio Pochettino will have little choice but to drop him. Enter, Paulo Gazzaniga.

Zero: Christian Eriksen

Did you have somewhere else to be, Chris? A pressing dinner engagement? Theatre tickets? Because otherwise how are you excusing this anaemic mess of a penalty?

HAT TIP

Asked what life has been like for the Bolton Wanderers players as their club has imploded around them, Andrew Taylor does not mince his words. “Horrendous,” he says. “Absolutely horrendous.” On Monday, Bolton were cleared by the EFL to play their opening League One fixture against Wycombe on Saturday. Quite who will feature in the Bolton line-up, however, is another matter. At the time of writing the club has just seven senior players. And two of those are goalkeepers. Taylor is not among them. The left back’s contract expired in July. He was hoping for a new deal, but after what happened last season, he knows that is unlikely.

In the Daily Telegraph, Jim White talks to some players affected by the crisis at Bolton about the human cost of their financial problems.