He was excellent at Bolton. Servicable for the Israeli national team. Mediocre at Chelsea. And with an ass full of splinters at Manchester City. At just 22 years of age, Tal Ben-Haim's performances for Bolton were excellent - he even wore the Captain's armband for the club in the UEFA Cup in 2005. 
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

I know, I know. Shouldn't have friends who support Utd. But they are good people, apart from the fact that they support Ferguson's cronies. Honestly. And they've shown it haven't they? If they heap praise themselves on our team's performance, you know we are doing something right.

Allardyce's Rovers pulled Brown's struggling side further into scrap for survival at the bottom of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at the KC Stadium in a crucial six-pointer on Sunday. Hull have been in freefall since November having won just one of their last 18 games and are now just three points above the [.

One of the big mysteries in English Premier League is just how are Bolton staying alive as ever since Big Sam left the club they have been struggling to avoid the drop. The Trotters are playing the worst football in England and their long-ball tactics definitely makes their fans sick and everyone else for that [.

7:45am, live in the US on Setanta
Last 4 head-to-head:
3-1 Liverpool (a) 12.06.08
3-1 Liverpool (h) 04.13.08
0-0 (a) 11.03.07
0-1 Blackburn (a) 12.26.06
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 1-3 Chelsea (h); 1-0 Fulham (a); 5-0 Villa (h)
Blackburn: 2-1 Spurs (h); 1-1 West Ham (h); 0-4 Arse (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Gerrard 13; Torres 9; Kuyt 8; Benayoun 4; Alonso, Riera 3; Aurelio, Babel 2; Arbeloa, Carragher, Dossena, Hyypia, Ngog 1
Blackburn: McCarthy 8; Roberts 7; Santa Cruz 4; Andrews, Warnock 3; Derbyshire, Ooijer, Samba 2; Diouf, Dunn, Emerton, Tugay
Referee: Mike Riley
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Arbeloa Carragher Hyypia Insua
Alonso Mascherano
Benayoun Kuyt Riera
Torres
With Gerrard having a scan yesterday on a supposed thigh strain, I'd be surprised if he was fit to start tomorrow.

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Andrei Arshavin, AZ Alkmaar and Serie A all feature on this week's good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster's football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories.

This summer may have seemed a bit boring as far as transfers go, but things are finally heating up. Manchester City and Real Madrid were the overwhelming big spenders during the blistering hot summer months, but with only a few days remaining the "smaller" clubs are working hard to fill out their squads for the fall and winter.

It was about a year ago today, just after the 2008 summer transfer window closed, when Newcastle United went into the free-fall it has yet to recover from. To be fair, the club wasn't exactly setting the world alight before that and, arguably, the last period of stability ended when Sir Bobby Robson was given the [.

Morning all,

it's Blackburn today and if Blackburn were never my favourite team before - the fact that they're now managed by that Walrus looking cunt Allardyce has definitely secured their status as one of the top 19 Premier League teams that I hate.

We know old Walrus's teams like the physical approach and with their 8'7 centre-half promising more of the same today it could well be a bit of a battle.

And they got 6 shots on target.Blackburn managed 2 in return.Allardyce is blaming the ref.
EPL 7 Round Arsenal Vs Blackburn - The top video clips of the week are here

The madness is over, the phones are silenced, and January transfer window is closed. With all the snow and traffic collapse in London, the news of the day was Andrei Arshavin's transfer to Arsenal. A real soap opera lasted over 24 hours, minute after minute contradictory news arrived and it even seemed that nothing is [.

Liverpool vs. Blackburn Rovers Liverpool will be a little shaken after defeat to Chelsea in midweek and may have that playing on their minds. Whether they have the mental toughness to bounce back and get on with the job will play a big part in this match and of course Allardyce will send his team out [.

To Anfield, where football was not the most important thing on the agenda for once. Paying respect to those who sadly lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster, 20 years ago this Wednesday, was at the forefront of everyone's mind. A minute‘s silence, impeccably observed. What followed was fitting; a comprehensive feast of flowing football saw Liverpool sweep Blackburn aside with ease.

Blackburn have signed experienced Danish defender Lars Jacobsen on a two-year deal.
Jacobsen, 29, spent last season at Everton but made only four starts for the FA Cup finalists.
He becomes Blackburn's third signing of the summer following the arrivals of midfielder Elrio van Heerden and left-back Gael Givet.

I really have nothing against Bolton, but the day when they get relegated will be like a holiday to me. The Trotters have somehow managed to avoid the drop for the last two seasons but not thanks to their quality, that's for sure. With another Premiership season around the corner, I really hope that this will be the season when they finally go down.

There is generally at least one managerial casualty in the opening stages of a new season and there are plenty of contenders in the Premier League in my opinion. Portsmouth, Hull City and Blackburn are the current occupiers of the relegation places but Bolton, West Ham and Wigan aren't fairing much better and heads may roll before October (or even September) is out.

Blackburn boss, Sam Allardyce demanded from Football Association to accept the system of video technology in the games so the clubs won't get damaged from referees' mistakes.
Blackburn players lost to Arsenal 2:6 on Sunday and the referee in the game, according to British press, didn't adjudge a penalty for Blackburn that could have been a chance for them to level the score to 3:3.

Ah, Gary Megson, never a manager to pass the blame on to anyone else for his own shortcomings, has decided that today he would announce that certain players are trying to destabilise the club. After watching Sundays performance, I don't blame them, they look a team with no self confidence, no belief and no faith in the manager.

Arsenal vs. Stoke preview On Saturday, Arsenal play host to Stoke City on a day that marks the 100 year anniversary of the first ever North London derby! Pulis is marking himself to be a bit of an Allardyce in terms of management approach: he makes no apologies for his side's style of play, and manages consistently [.