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T-Mobile riddle: why would a football star take over at Amazon?

Clearly, nobody who was Managing Director of a thriving mobile network like T-Mobile UK would want to leave. Not after only two-and-a-half years in the job. So the Brian McBride who is taking over at Amazon UK next year must be the well-known football star, who plays for the American World Cup team.

The McBride I knew, at Dell, would be an ideal choice to run Amazon, of course. He was VP Europe there; he'd know all about developing and toning up a direct web-based sales operation.

Curiously, he's also a director of Scottish football club, Celtic, where I happen to have a couple of contacts.

The US football team (or, soccer team, as they call it) would have conniptions... meanwhile, let's hope that the researcher at HP Labs, Bristol, isn't the same guy. If it is, he gets about a bit...

Separated at birth: McBride [above, left] star footie player and [right, below] tough exec...

Further research: Tags to follow: Brian McBride, T-Mobile, hotspot, Starbucks