Tic-tac Paddy slacks

Bookmakers are famed for their in-depth knowledge of sport – after all, they make their living by betting that their judgement is better than the punters’. So the Diary was rather bemused the other day to be asked to fill in Paddy Power himself (he’s actually the company’s head of communications) on the finer details of English football.

Drinking in a pub in Kilburn recently, Power was asked for an interview about the previous night’s England international. Although he didn’t want to let the fragrant Kelvin MacKenzie down, he confessed to the Diary that he knew next to nothing about English football. After a quick briefing, Power went down a storm, and got so carried away with his success that, live on air, he asked any TalkSport listeners in the area to join him in the pub for a pint, on him. The Diary, needless to say, beat a hasty retreat.

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