Who is the top left-back in the Premier League? Here are statistics from the four standout left-backs of 2007/08. They should come as no surprise to our readers. Clichy, Cole and Evra have cemented themselves as among the best players in their position in the world, while Warnock has grown in his ability and is finally starting to become recognized as a competent player.

1. Bring back Martin Jol and Sam Allardyce Hamburg are currently top of the Bundesliga under Martin Jol. Spurs are currently bottom of the Premier League under Juande Ramos. Newcastle's league position when Sam Allardyce was "left by mustual consent": 11th. Newcastle's league position today: 19th. 2.

12 from 12 for Fabio's boys 1. Wayne Rooney is Samson in reverse. His England goal drought is well and truly over. Keep that head bald and keep the goals coming, Wazza. 2. Steven Gerrard's international career is not over. That talk was brought on by a distinct lack of football news this week, methinks.

I'm not an Arsenal fan. I'm not French. I'm not even a former Arsene Wenger pupil. But dammit, he's spot on when he talks about negotiation tricks and the lack of any genuine complaint from Tottenham's end on their players being tapped up. The Arsenal manager (referring to the Chelsea-Ashley Cole-Arsenal saga): "We faced that problem once and [.

The Sun's very own Ian McGarry is today crowing over the fact that Ashley Cole was yesterday thrown into a rage of unbridled disgust comparable to the incident when he nearly crashed his car at the derisory wages Arsenal were offering him... Cole was given the capitain's armband against QPR for the [.

Sky Sports News is now reporting Chelsea full-back Wayne Bridge has agreed a new four-year contract to stay at Stamford Bridge. The England international joined the Blues in 2003 from Southampton and has made 130 appearances for the club. Though he is considered the back-up to Ashley Cole on the left, Bridge insists he is happy to [.

Adidas are launching the new Chelsea Third Kit less than two weeks in to the new Premier League on the 28th August. The bright yellow kit modeled by defender Ashley Cole incorporates ClimaCool to keep the athletes at their peak by keeping them dry and at a comfortable temperature. The new ForMotion technology uses designs [.

But Park is starting. Swings and roundabouts.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Obi, Joe Cole, Deco Ballack, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka. Subs: Cudicini, Drogba, Ballack, Bridge, Kalou, Alex, Belletti.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Scholes, Park, Berbatov, Rooney.

Liverpool are hoping to finally complete the signing of Udinese full-back Andrea Dossena next week, with the transfer fee reported in some quarters to be 7m. Is Dossena good enough to be categorised in the same bracket as Gael Clichy, Patrice Evra or Ashley Cole / Wayne Bridge? From all accounts, Dossena has the technical ability [.

Chelsea's number one obnoxious brat, Ashley Cole, has apologised to Alan Hutton for his tackle on him during his side's 4-4 draw with Tottenham. Cole managed to simultaneously say sorry and also claim that he didn't mean to be dirty: "I'd like to apologise to anyone I offended and of course Alan Hutton [.

Avram Grant conveniently forgot about Ashley Cole's litany of misdeeds when he today proclaimed that Cole - top of most people's imaginary league table of dastardly bastardy - is actually a good role model for kids. The Israeli's basis for such an outlandish statement was that because Cashley apologised to the ref [.

Admit it. There are some players in the Premier League who get under your skin. The type of players you love to hate. But who are they and why do you hate them so much? Names of players who often get fans irate include: Ashley Cole (Chelsea) John Terry (Chelsea) Frank Lampard (Chelsea) El Hadji Diouf (Sunderland) Lee Bowyer (West Ham [.

Every so often a footballer comes along and changes the way we think about WAGs and callous promiscuity. Ashley Cole tried his hand using self-humiliation, and we ran with it for a bit. Jermain Defoe dedicated most of 2007 to the pursuit of blow-up chests and fire-damaged faces. Now though, an unlikely contender has stepped up and shown these amateurs how it's done.

Half of me is looking forward to settling on the couch tonight to watch the Yanks run out against Spain. Cold beer in hand, I'll have the opportunity to watch Clint Dempsey and the boys prove to themselves -- and everyone else, me included -- that they're not as bad as last week's 2-0 drubbing at the hands of England suggests.

There are so many rumors swirling about regarding Chelsea and the moves that Felipe Scolari will be making. Who will leave and who will go? Its the source of some of the biggest rumors floating throughout Europe. One minute Frank Lampard is staying, the next he is going to Inter Milan. The same with Didier Drogba.

There are all kinds of legal hangups here, so that £10,000 may in fact end up costing the player, but it's a clever attempt from Betfair nonetheless. They're offering £10,000 for the first Prem player with no shame willing to look like a jackass with some dance which resembles an ode to Daniel Larusso by [.

It looks as if throwing up on your lover, especially one that isn't your wife, in the middle of naughtiness isn't as bad as you'd think. Cashley's wife, Cheryl seemed to have severed ties with her hubby following his infamous erotic night on the town in January. Now it appears the two have reconciled after they were seen together on Cheryl's 25th birthday night.

A motley collection of ageing not so indomitable three lions didn't roar too loudly.Milan Baros (off Ashley Cole) put the Czech Republic ahead.Wes Brown equalised by putting his head to a Beckham corner .Jankulovski put the Czechs in front again with a great free-kick. Joe Cole managed a scappy equaliser in the 90th minute.

Ashley Cole, football's Augustus Gloop - a greedy money obsessed swine, as evidenced by his seedy meeting and illegal at the Royal Park Hotel - where Cole was tapped up and lured in with promises of mountains of dosh. Cole later compounded his greedmeister image by the passage in his autobiography listing his [.

Looks like Andrei Arshavin is being lined up as the new Golden Boy at Chelsea. It's no secret that the Russian facepuller/playmaker - twice brilliant and once rubbish at Euro 2008 - wants out of Zenit St Petersburg and into one of the big leagues. The expected destination was Barcelona, but seems Roman Abramovih has swooped [.

Chelsea are preparing bids for Brazilian duo Ronaldinho and Robinho while The Blues' full back Wayne Bridge looks set for a move to Pompey.Ronaldinho has been the subject of one of the biggest transfer sagas this summer as AC Milan, Man City and now Chelsea are all trying to capture the unsettled Brazilian.

Arsenal just came out with a list of best 50 players in club history voted by fans.

Thierry "Titi' Henry , presently employed by Barca, is the best player followed by two retirees, Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams.

In the top 50 list there is not one single current Arsenal player.

This one's for you, Ashley Cole. And Poland. Refs who aren't on the payroll of Italian teams have a rough job, as it's not one most people brimming with sanity would take. When they're perfect, it's nothing more than the basic expectation. When they're wrong, it's armageddon. So damnit, the English FA wants them the [.

The FA has told the Spanish Federation that a forthcoming friendly match between England and Spain will not take place in Madrid because of fears England's players would be subjected to racist abuse. The last time the two teams met in a friendly at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2004, Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips were taunted [.

After watching English football on television for more than 30 years, I've watched countless boring tactical games like yesterday's two nil win by Bolton against Manchester City. But I've also seen many incredible games and wonderful individual efforts that still make me jump out of my seat. This season, the club that is impressing me the [.

Some days, I think of football as an arena in which human character can be tested in clarifying and edifying ways: greed, courage, fortitude, lust, creativity, ambition, and sacrifice all striving together to give us a sharper image of ourselves. Other days, I read in the Hollywood Reporter that Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole are [.

It's been hard not to notice the name of Ashley Cole in the newspapers over the past few days, with a number of adulterous claims being levelled at the Chelsea and England full-back. In addition to this, it's clear that the former Arsenal defender has shifted a fair few units of alcohol recently, and the [.

Who's worse - Ashley Cole for a shocking challenge on Alan Hutton and then a petulant display immediately afterwards, or Avram Grant for claiming that he didn't see the lunge? Channel 4 reports that Grant's opposite number Juande Ramos certainly managed to see it, claiming that the left-back got away with being dismissed.

They say that what goes around comes around and this certainly appears to be the case with Chelsea. They are a team that have consistently been at loggerheads with referees throughout the season, bringing the game into disrepute on several occasions and showing no remorse after the event. How Avram Grant had the audacity to [.

Peter Crouch has been axed from the England squad for the friendly game against Czech Republic on Wednesday. The Portsmouth striker was an almost certainty to take the injured Dean Ashton's place in the 23-man squad, however Fabio Capello has decided to call up Emile Heskey instead.
Paul Robinson has surprisingly been included in the squad whilst Ashley Young also misses out.

"It's all too beautiful", the Small Faces reminded me on Sunday when Ji-Sung Park scored his 18th minute goal.

I've had a bit of a pop at him over the last few days and I'm not afraid to say that I loved Mr Park for a few minutes on Sunday. Just a few minutes, mind you. I still think he doesn't deserve a place in the starting line-up but he WILL win me round if he keeps scoring important goals.

Chelsea FC has produced a fantastic documentary featuring current and past players Ashley Cole, Frank Sinclair, Nicholas Anelka and others speaking of the racism that they have encountered while playing football for Chelsea and England. The documentary is currently airing on Chelsea TV. Here's a 3-minute clip of it.

[Photo: AFP/Andrew Yates] In the wake of Ashley Cole's outburst and Javier Mascherano's madness, bloggers and proper journos alike have been asking the question, "Should players be allowed to abuse the referee?" or something to that effect. I'd hope the obvious answer would be "No", or "Look in the rule book, and 'use of insulting or abusive language [.

The sports pages are brimming with gloriously over-the-top stories (is there a big match on or something?), The Sun have a headline that simply says: "BLUNATIC" whilst the Daily Mail bellows: "MAD MAK: Cole injury doubt after 'red card' tackle by team-mate in training" The headlines are very melodramatic, but all you have to do is look at [.

My heart bleeds it really does, it couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke than JT, a man who shows respect to officials week in week out, a man who never tries to cynically cripple his opponents with dirty off the ball antics. Just think of poor Ashley Cole too, another Champions League final defeat, there is no justice in the world.

Barcelona have increased their efforts to sign Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor with a £24 million bid. Arsenal, just as Arsene Wenger suggested, seem to be doing everything in their power to keep their prized asset as they promptly rejected this fresh bid. Adebayor, however, seems to have plans of his own as he was quoted telling News of the World this:

"Barcelona have made a good financial offer and there is also the chance to play alongside great players.

Congratulations to Cheryl Cole because today she was voted the UK's favourite fantasy body in a YouGov poll. Now, I'm not really sure who or what YouGov is, but they seem to do some sterling work really tackling the hard-hitting issues that affect a lot of our lives. Also, just what exactly does ‘favourite fantasy body' mean?

10 Headlines you would like to see tomorrow morning but probably won't:
"Blatter sacked as he is carried off screaming by half a dozen men in white coats"
"Leicester City fans have been victims of hypnosis and have woken to find their team's relagation was all a terrible dream"
"Capello says introducing women to the England team is the key to success"
"Ashley Cole comes out of the closet and declares undying love for John Terry"
"All speculation ended as Cristiano Renaldo makes up his mind"
"Peter Crouch really is a robot"
"Fergie in shock resignation as he heads off to rescue Leicester City"
"It's a miracle.

Newcastle United are thought to be keen on a loan move for Liverpool's promising full-back, Emiliano Insua.
The Argentine was kept at Anfield for this coming season supposedly under express orders from manager Rafael Benitez, but the Toon are still hopeful of securing his services, if only for a year on loan.

So much for settling in.

Uncle Phil set Stamford Bridge ablaze on his debut, guiding Chelsea to a superlative 4-0 win over Portsmouth in the Premiership curtain raiser for both clubs. First-half Goals from Joe Cole, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard insured three points for the Blues, while Deco's out-of-nothing scorcher in the 89th minute capped a memorable performance one which will have put the rest of the league, including Fergie's boys, on notice.