Stephen Ireland. Aunque no lo parezca, de ángel no tiene nada Por RocheteauNo vamos a hablar de la mano de Henry. No es un síndrome de originalidad desmedida. Es que FNF nació para ocuparse de las esquinas de la actualidad, de aquello que otros desdeñan, y por la carretera comarcal, lejos del atasco de la autopista de la unanimidad, cabe invocar otros motivos para la eliminación de Irlanda. Click to continue reading...

The great entertainers, and the great source of fantasy points over the years. Also, a great source of injury frustration as year after year players come in and disappear into the training room only to reappear briefly and inevitably too early, finding themselves injured all over again.The latest blow is of course Robin van Persie being ruled out for two months with ankle ligament damage. Click to continue reading...

Ireland play France in the World Cup play-offs this week with many commentators already writing off their chances of making it to South Africa next summer. However, here are 5 reasons why Republic of Ireland fans can still dream about World Cup 2010 despite being drawn against a team that has already been seeded twice.

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Ronaldo? Andy Reid? A bloated Ronaldinho after a night on the town? Hardly. Thailand's top footballers will receive free burgers as part of their new three-year, £545,000 sponsorship deal with the fast food giant McDonald's. According to the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), McDonald's will provide £450,000 in cash and the rest in products in exchange for [. Click to continue reading...

Of the European World Cup play-offs I would argue that the Republic of Ireland's fixture against France is the pick of the ties. The Irish have shown a great battling spirit in their qualification campaign so far, drawing twice with Italy and narrowly missing out on defeating the Italians particular highlights.

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Good week for me -- great Saturday then gave most of it back on Sunday. 107 points with five 2-gamers. Not that I'm expecting much from them. More on that after the jump. Cue the Ennio Morricone... The Good RvP (32) I especially love the assist for Cesc's goal where Palacios just passes it against him in the center circle. Click to continue reading...

It was a busy day with nine Premier League matches taking place throughout Saturday. Manchester United won their 8th match in the season against Blackburn Rovers and is now at the second spot in the league table with 25 points. It was a good first half with Manchester United waving most of the attacks, but Rovers [. Click to continue reading...

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has left Steve Finnan, Steven Reid, Andy Reid and Clinton Morrison out of his squad to face France in their World Cup 2010 qualifying play-off.
It had been rumoured that Finnan would be included to address issues with cover in defence. Click to continue reading...

Brad Friedel's understudy Brad Guzan made the most of a rare appearance for Aston Villa, saving one penalty kick in regulation time and three PKs in the tiebreaker in a win over Sunderland that sends Villa to the English League Cup quarterfinals. In Scotland, DaMarcus Beasley saw his first action of the season. Click to continue reading...

A song for South Africa (well, France at least) Sometime we lack skill / And sometimes we lack speed / Who needs Steven Ireland? / Bring back Andy Reid We have all heard of World Cup songs, but World Cup play-off songs might be a new one. Here's To Trapattoni has been written by the Corrigan Brothers [. Click to continue reading...

It pains me to have to agree with Rafa Benitez. But Mr Zonal Marking is probably right. Not about zonal marking. But on the notion that the top teams will be losing more often this season as the league becomes more open and clubs realize that it's not illegal to play two forwards against the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea.

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There are a number of excuses to which we could turn in order to sweeten this defeat: Darren Bent's fluke goal, the absence of both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, the late arrival of Mascherano, Lucas and Insua, the little time for preparation that Liverpool had and the length of time that Sunderland had in order to get ready for this game. Click to continue reading...

Can it get any worse for Liverpool? The club played one of their worst first-half performances against Fiorentina in the Champions League a few weeks ago and lost 2-0, which was followed by a very unconvincing display in the 2-0 loss against Chelsea. In addition, the club has already lost to Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in the league.

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Darren Bent staked a further claim for a place in England's World Cup squad as Sunderland heaped further misery on Liverpool.
However, he did so in controversial circumstances as the visitors were left fuming over the fifth-minute strike which secured the Black Cats' first victory over a 'top four' team since their return to the Barclays Premier League. Click to continue reading...

Ah, yes...It's hard to come back from international break. But re-focus we must. So to get us all up to speed - and yes, there are games today so no due dilligence can start in earnest until tomorrow - let's look at my O'Hara issue. ;-)I have O'Hara at 4.23 and he's averaging 5 points per match. However, he's ineligible to play against Spurs this weekend and he's being played in a more Click to continue reading...

Big Jack: The Waterboy

As age catches up with us, cynicism is a number of unwanted traits we acquire. Suddenly, scanning through the history of our lives, we focus on memories of our younger years. We scoff sneerly at pastimes, hobbies, favoured television programmes, fashion sense and cringe at times when we embarrassed ourselves through the folly of our youth.

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The fallout of Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Sunderland extended to the dressing room, as reports suggest Alex Ferguson and goalkeeper Ben Foster had a bit of an argument. Foster made a poor decision coming out to catch Andy Reid's chipped ball for Kenwyne Jones, resulting in the Black Cats' second goal.

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Saturday's match against Sunderland saw yet another questionable performance from current Manchester United keeper Ben Foster. United and Sunderland were tied at one all when a deft cross from Andy Reid was headed home by Black Cats striker Kenwyne Jones. Some (including Sir Alex Ferguson and Ben Foster) will argue that this goal was the result of Jones fouling Foster in order to win the cross.

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Saturday's match against Sunderland saw yet another questionable performance from current Manchester United keeper Ben Foster. United and Sunderland were tied at one all when a deft cross from Andy Reid was headed home by Black Cats striker Kenwyne Jones. Some (including Sir Alex Ferguson and Ben Foster) will argue that this goal was the result of Jones fouling Foster in order to win the cross.

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Once again, Manchester United leave it late. And it was Ferdinand who spared United's blushes and saved them from the brink of losing at Old Trafford against a spirited Sunderland. But it wasn't Rio Ferdinand. It was his little brother Anton, and Rio did not look to pleased as one may have thought after the rather unfortunate own goal.

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From Old Trafford, Attendance 75,114 , Referee Alan Wiley Manchester United 2 2 Sunderland

Dimitar Berbatov (51)
Anton Ferdinand (o/g 90)

Darren Bent (7)
Kenwyne Jones (58)
Kieran Richardson (s/o 85)

Manchester United Team Statistics Sunderland 2 Goals 2 5 Shots On Target 3 7 Shots Off Target 2 8 Shots Blocked 0 15 Corners 1 0 Offsides 1 12 Fouls 17 2 Yellow Cards 3 0 Red Cards 1 62. Click to continue reading...

...pese a y por lo visto esta noche en Old Trafford. Se esperaba un choque de lujo entre el poderoso anfitrión y una de las sensaciones de la Premier League, pero lo que seguramente no entraba en los planes de nadie –menos aún en los de Ferguson- sería el atrevimiento del conjunto visitante en una de las catedrales del fútbol europeo. Click to continue reading...

In the old days, Reid loved doughnuts more than corner kicks
I was leaning all week towards Everton's Steven Pienaar - his goal last night in the Europa League only further confirming his chance as a Funny Feeling Friday selection - but, having selected Everton's Rodwell just a few weeks ago - and seeing as Pienaar is already owned by about 7% of managers - I went with an unlikely selection, the less than 1% owned Andy Reid. Click to continue reading...

Andy Reid, Jason Roberts, David Dunn. What do they all have in common?

No, it isn't that at regular intervals, their respective managers have prefixed the mentioning of their names with a string of expletives, bemoaning their inconsistency/fitness/existence. It isn't even that they have, at some stage of their careers, been signed for a sum that made most people remark "how much?

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Steve Bruce's side made light work of easing past Hull City thanks to a brace from Darren Bent and goals from Andy Reid and from Michael Turner against his former club.

1st Half Highlights

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"It's not about money."
Sol Campbell insists his move to Notts County was all about the challenge.

"An English player would be nice, because I think we have enough foreigners. Someone like Andy Reid?"
Stoke fan on the radio, speaking about Sunderland's Dublin-born midfielder. Click to continue reading...

Andy Reid was in inspired form last night, leading Sunderland to a comfortable win at Carrow Road. Did the Irishman do enough to play his way into Steve Bruce's starting team for the Mackems' league game at Stoke on Saturday?...

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Steve Bruce's second string eased past League One side Norwich at Carrow Road. An Andy Reid double helped the Black Cats to a comfortable path to the third round.

0-1 Tainio

0-2 Reid

0-3 Reid

1-3 Hoolahan

1-4 Tudur Jones (Own Goal)

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Midweek, and therefore mostly useless, version. But certainly worth consideration for next week's matches.
Injuries mount for Wolves

Striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake is sidelined for a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury picked up in Saturday's opening-day defeat to West Ham, while right-back Kevin Foley is also ruled out for a similar spell with a medial ligament problem.

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The English Premier League 2009–2010 Football Season is here!

Bolton Wanderers play hosts to Sunderland Association at The Reebok Stadium in the opening game of the season. Bolton's summer signings have a better chance for a place in the starting 11 as Gavin McCann and Andy O'Brien may be out due to injury.

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Brucey is putting together a nice little squad of players, isn't he? Of course, his signing as manager was a boost to the club. He knows his business, can recruit players and can get a team punching above their weight... if he/they are also prone to lose the plot from time to time. It also helps that he has the continued financial backing of the Sunderland board. Click to continue reading...

Roy Keane has spoken about the continuing saga regarding Stephen Ireland's self inflicted exile from the Ireland international squad and the criticism of Trapattoni regarding Andy Reid's exclusion from the squad during the present World Cup qualifying campaign.
"I remember hearing about Brian Clough trying to get Archie Gemmill to sign for Forest – he slept on his sofa. Click to continue reading...

From The Stadium of Light, Attendance 45,408 , Referee Rob Styles Sunderland 1 - 2 Manchester United

Kenwyne Jones (55)

Paul Scholes (19)
Federico Macheda (76)

Sunderland Team Statistics Manchester United 1 Goals 2 4 Shots On Target 3 6 Shots Off Target 9 9 Shots Blocked 8 5 Corners 5 0 Offsides 1 7 Fouls 6 1 Yellow Cards 2 0 Red Cards 0 34. Click to continue reading...

Squashed by Andy Reid Ouch! That cannot have been pleasant. Remind yourselves of the nine other current players OTP would hate to have landing on top of it here. Share on Facebookimg src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/offthepost/TLAa/~4/euRFoopUxnk" height="1" width="1"/ Click to continue reading...

Following Ronaldo's comeback goal OTP salutes the players who, in the age of nutrition, diet, and cardiovascular thingamajig, still haul their huge frames round a football pitch! 1. Andy Reid Reid has to take top spot though for being a fat, skillful winger in the Premier League era. We have stocky strikers aplenty, but Reid is doing [. Click to continue reading...