West Brom are a team that I respect. I'd even say I like them and will support them in their quest to avoid relegation. They are a team that deserves to do well in the Premier League. I feel this way because the Baggies are a team that tries to play football the right way. They fight hard, but not dirty; they try to defend well, exploit set-pieces, shoot from distance – but they don't intentionally foul goalkeepers, or kick opposition players, and their manager is not a scumbag.

Finally, the full compliment of goalkeepers is in U.S. WNT training camp. When camp started, it was just Jill Loyden getting some personal training from U.S. goalkeeper coach Paul Rogers. She was then joined by Ashlyn Harris, then Alyssa Naeher, and finally veteran Nicole Barnhart arrived yesterday. During today's morning training, Rogers had his 'keepers catching balls with SPARQ weight vests on.

So, Theo Walcott must be dropped from the England set-up immediately. He is the sole reason why England did not win the World Cup.

He can't pass or shoot and doesn't have a football brain.

It is Arsenal's fault for destroying a young talent who has clearly not lived up to his potential, he can't even control a long-range pass from Steven Gerrard.

Hours after dragging ourselves from the wreckage of SSN's relentless deadline day howitzer on the senses, all that's left to ask is: what exactly have we ended up with? Well, for the most part, no-one's entirely sure. Still we wait for confirmation on Van der Vaart's arrival.

Many a person has laughed at me to my face after I say Jose Enrique is one of the best left backs in the country. I would now go as far to say that only Evra and Cashley Cole are ahead of the Spaniard...

He has toughened up since coming to England and is now an absolute tank.

I've heard Australian cricket commentators use a brilliant phrase for a certain type of batsman, a player who takes risks, who reasons that while the odds may be against him, the rewards (and the fun) are high. The Australian commentators say "he's not going to die wondering" about a player like this.

Arsenal are set to repeat their Cesc Fabregas raid on Barcelona's youth team by snapping up Oriol Romeu, according to the Daily Mail.

Romeu, 18, is a highly rated defensive midfielder and shone at the heart of the Spain under-19 team that lost in the final of the recent European Championship.

Since the Blackburn game we've seen a great deal of debate about the goal we conceded at Ewood Park. I've seen a number of different opinions and one that really annoyed me was the rather dismissive opinion about Koscielny simply because he didn't get the challenge on Diouf right.

I agree that it was a mistake but, as it was pointed out by some readers in the comments of the tactical analysis post, it was more a case of mistiming a shoulder barge rather than a case of being lightweight and getting outmuscled.

According to Colin Tattum at the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish spoke highly today of new signing Jean Beausejour, who signed from Club America for around £3.3million. McLeish said,

"Yes, we believe he can perhaps provide us with something we haven't got .

Hello dear reader and fellow fan,
You may have noticed earlier this week that my old friend Joe Janacek contributed a new column for du Nord called "The Curmudgeon Mutters", and in the coming days you will begin to see writing from Graham Fox too.
What does this mean? It means I decided I needed some help with the heavy lifting.

I must confess I was a bit premature in the praise for Owen Coyle and an improved Bolton. To be fair to him, it won't be easy to change the habits of players who have spent their lifetimes training for a combination of "kick them off the park" and "hoof and chase" football.

Coyle could have shown the right intent with a stronger midfield but the moment I saw his starting line up it was clear that we are in for another defensive aerial battle and for some brute force on the ground.

Well that was a hell of a match. What a way to lose two points. I think time slowed down in the last 15 minutes of that match, it was torturous. You could almost feel that we weren't going to escape with a win given the circumstances and the way the match was going.

To begin with, Sunderland surprisingly outplayed us.

Charles: Best player in a Boro shirt today?

Stevenage 0-0 Torquay
Highlights (to come later) | Westley Reaction

Boro held top of the table Torquay to a 0-0 draw at Broadhall Way as they moved up to 15th in League 2. I would have taken a point this morning and after watching the ball in the sky for most of the afternoon, I'm settling for a point this evening.

'This is a team that has balls,' declared Claudio Ranieri in a pre-match rant. Their draw with Bologna suggested otherwise.
Roma lacking testicular fortitude as press gets under Ranieri's skin.

Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has dismissed quotes attributed to him in the Danish press saying that he was "very disappointed" to read quotes which suggested criticism of boss Roy Hodgson.
Agger appeared to question Hodgson's methods in stories published in Denmark on Tuesday morning, in which the defender was quoted as saying he was "here to play football and not to unload [the ball].

Adams State never recovered from a penalty kick goal in the opening 20 minutes, and fell to Mesa State 3-0 on Friday. Three players scored their first goals of the season as Mesa State got its first conference win of 2010.

The Mavericks improved to 3-4-1 overall, 1-3-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

There were two key things about this game; 1. the way Brisbane played and 2. what is, or isn't happening at the Heart.
Brisbane added long balls to their game. In the first 30 minutes, lots of them, lots and lots. It wasn't quite what I had in mind but it did the job. Especially when they mixed it in with a fast short passing game.

League Two - Saturday 25th September 2010
A brisk north easterly wind added to the misery of standing in the shadows of the main stand at Whaddon Road this afternoon. To be frank I don't mind if I never go anywhere near the place again. As I prepared to depart before the final whistle - something which, as a matter of form, I have never done in the past even when 3-0 down - I texted absent friends:
"0-2 shit and hardly worth staying - sod this for an innocent pass time - you can have my season ticket as a gift its worth fuck all".

Just a quick post as I don't get home until tomorrow. A more detailed report and some pictures will be uploaded tomorrow evening.

Chris Holroyd's debut goal was enough to give Stevenage their first away win of the season. Boro were solid at the back, dangerous going forward and totally deserved their victory.

After having used the Concave PT+ Classic football cleats for about two weeks now, I've truly enjoyed every moment of it. These cleats have just about all the features needed to accommodate any type of player, as long as you take time to adjust to them. If you're interested in reading about the features of the Concave PT+ Classic, check out my preview of the boot here, and if you want to visit the Concave website, visit it here.

After two successive defeats we need to bounce back with a win to boost morale before our game with Villa on Saturday and a victory would also give us a great start to our Champions League campaign.

There has been a lot of debate as to whether we should persist with a 4-5-1 or go back to 4-4-2.

Undoubtedly, Song has had a difficult time in the last few games. And I'm one among the many who have not been very happy with the change in his approach. It seems the player who impressed most of us as a Defensive Midfielder is trying to add more to his game. We can't really fault that as a long as it doesn't affect the balance of the team.