SoccerBlogs

Blackpool youngster Tom Ince (Flickr Commons)

Thomas Ince was the subject of constant speculation to rejoin Liverpool in January but the England Under-21 international looks set to stay with Blackpool for the time being.

Ince did express his desire to one day play in the Premier League, but at only 21, he knows that some kids make that step up too early and their development stifles because of it.

By Chris Wright

In which Paul Ince, having watched the fruit of his loins score twice for the England U21s against Sweden yesterday, steadfastly refuses to get involved in any of that namby pamby celebration malarkey quite rightly leaving his bird to embarrass herself by being all 'emotions' in public.

West Ham have returned to the English Premier League with a 2-1 win over Blackpool in the English Championship promotion playoff final. Heading into this match, West Ham were the clear favorites and initially it appeared that Blackpool was no match.

The Hammers took a 1-0 lead with a 35th minute Carlton Cole goal but the lead was short-lived.

By Alan Duffy

Who would want to be the England manager? It seems far more trouble than it's worth. The Three Lions' new caretaker boss, Stuart Pearce, is now feeling the heat from the nation's press, after his brother's far-right views were once again highlighted by the newspapers.

By Alan Duffy

Who would want to be the England manager? It seems far more trouble than it's worth. The Three Lions' new caretaker boss, Stuart Pearce, is now feeling the heat from the nation's press, after his brother's far-right views were once again highlighted by the newspapers.

Whilst Sir Alex Ferguson now has the safest job in world football, we all know his early years at the club weren't as smooth running. Despite saving us from what could have been a relegation season in his first year in charge, the performances on the pitch didn't match that hype that had come with him from Aberdeen.

By Chris Wright

It's Friday afternoon and you know what that means. It's 'footballers in daft hats' time...

Gary Lineker

Edwin van der Sar

Paul Ince

Brian Clough

Nigel Reo-Coker

Nicklas Bendtner

Dennis Wise and Geoff Thomas

George Best

Peter Beardsley

Zinedine Zidane

Lothar Matthaus

Bobby Moore

Colin Hendry

Ken Bates

Ken Bates (again)

Sir Alex Ferguson

Kevin Keegan

Garth Crooks and Ossie Ardilles

Ryan Giggs

Sir Bobby Charlton

Kenny Dalglish

Steven Gerrard

Sir Bobby Charlton (again)

Mario Balotelli

Gary Lineker (again)

John Motson

Arjen Robben

Ronaldinho

Roy Keane

Roy Keane (again) Since when has 'dressing Roy Keane up against his will and then arming him with an offensive weapon' been a good idea?

Former Manchester United player, Lee Martin, has taken time out to answer a few questions for RoM on his time at the club and what he's been up to since.

STR: You joined United when you were a kid. How confident were you of making it for the first team then?

LM: I was never confident I was ever good enough to play in United's first team.

'Slave' Kuszczak has made his last United blunder by crossing Fergie

You would think that after all the reminiscing about Sir Alex Ferguson's 25 years, Tomasz Kuszczak would have realised the golden rule at Old Trafford. No-one crosses Fergie. Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Gabriel Heinze, Ruud van Nistelrooy even Roy Keane in the end made that mistake.

Having won 12 Premiership titles and 2 European Champions League's, along with plenty of other cups and trophies, Sir Alex Ferguson is quite clearly the most successful manager of the past two decades.

Some, like Pep Guardiola, have achieved great success over a period of a couple of seasons with a largely inherited team.

By Chris Wright

On behalf of Yahoo and the League Manager's Association, a 20-strong phalanx of managers have been quizzed over their ideal dinner dates.

All the usual suspects were present, with Elvis, De Niro, Pacino et al all rearing their ugly heads though it was floaty/stingy boxer Muhammad Ali who picked up the most nods, with five managers (Redknapp, Allardyce, McLeish, Pardew and Hughton) plumping for the pugilist.

Inglaterra no levanta un gran título de fútbol desde el Mundial de 1966; en cuatro años se cumplirán 50 años sin gloria. Portada reciente de la revista Time por sus falta de éxitos, en un número titulado "The tragedy of English football"; os dejamos una copia de la misma:

Revista Time: The Tragedy of English Football

Inglaterra estuvo cerca de la gloria en la Eurocopa de 1996.

This article titled "BBC v ITV: who is winning the Euro 2012 battle?" was written by Martin Kelner, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 14th June 2012 11.36 UTC

Shiny new football-themed commercials are part of the joy of big tournaments in my view – the superannuated ex-stars carrying away wheelbarrow loads of money probably feel the same.

Everton 1 Manchester United 0

Played May 20 1995, Attendance 79,592, Referee G Ashby

Neville Southall, Matt Jackson, Andy Hinchcliffe, Gary Ablett, Dave Watson (Captain),
Joe Parkinson, David Unsworth, Barry Horne, Graham Stuart, Paul Rideout (Scored), Anders Limpar

Substitute Duncan Ferguson replaced Paul Rideout in the 51st minute
Substitute Daniel Amokachi replaced Anders Limpar in the 69th minute
Unused substitute Jason Kearton

Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Dennis Irwin, Steve Bruce (Captain), Lee Sharpe,
Gary Pallister, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Brian McClair, Mark Hughes, Nicky Butt

Substitute Ryan Giggs replaced Steve Bruce in the 46th minute
Substitute Paul Scholes replaced Lee Sharpe in the 72nd minute
Unused substitute Gary Walsh

BBC Grandstand Video Highlights

We watched an awful lot of football over the weekend. In case you have a life and were outside living it, here's some of the better highlights...

Good: (at left) Flavio Ferreira celebrated Academica's defeat of Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Cup final by making an illegal approach on Helder Cabral.

So Inter-lull is a fun time isn't it? No Arsenal matches to moan about, no news from Arsenal from two weeks for fans world-wide to digest and and create stories of illusion around, and the long-awaited injury list to pile up even more. It's a great time to shut off from Arsenal and spend time with family, as we all love to do right?