Dublin may soon be without a big time employer.

Setanta Sports is struggling to make a £3m installment to the SPL for TV rights. The deadline is tomorrow. The following week an even bigger sum of £35m is needed to payoff the Barclays Premier League.

It looks increasingly likely that Setanta will declare bankruptcy unless negotiations for an ESPN buyout succeed or some sort of overall contract restructuring takes place with the leagues.

These are the days when clubs have to register for next season and when we find out which clubs don't have the necessary funds to compete next season. Yesterday, we learned about Pisa's unfortunate fate, and today, two more famous clubs have announced they will have to go bankrupt and start from scratch in Serie D.

Spanish winger Joaquin was the provider for both the La Liga sides late goals, setting up first Michel and then David Villa as Valencia eased past Arsenal at the Mestalla.

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• Man United Plan £100m La Liga Trio Bids: Sir Alex Wants to Outspend Neighbours?

British Empire

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In the wake of England's rather lackluster display against Slovenia, Simon Barnes explores why we English still expect to win: "Football is the Last Empire." Barnes writes that in all other sports, the English have given up any expectancy of dominance.

I haven't written much about one of my favorite teams, Southampton. But if you haven't heard things are looking dire for the right now. With 2 games left they're on they need at least a win and tie, and really 2 wins, to have a chance at avoiding relegation to League One (division 3). That in itself is pretty bad.

Sad news today from Seeqpod. They are being sued by several music labels and have filed bankruptcy. Though the CEO says they are just moving servers and are in talks with a major Apple competitor I don't think its going to happen. That's pretty sad, Seeqpod had to be my favorite web app ever.
Well to cheer us up here is a Youtube documentary about a hippy school teacher who recorded a 70s rock album with his kids:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

We interrupt this fantasy football blog for an entirely unrelated thought...
I was caught off-guard this morning by an email from Microsoft and it has me really sort of stunned that people still talk about the Internet as a new thing. I was innocently scanning emails in my Hotmail account when I came across one that thanked me for 10 YEARS as a "customer" (hard to really consider myself as a customer of something that's free but I suppose they make money off of me so I guess I am).

A £100m infusion of cash from one of their major investors gives a boost to the troubled Irish TV giants.

They have lost out to Rupert Murdoch's Sky Sports who have taken over their Premiership broadcast business. The SPL too is renegotiating its deal as they are worried that they may lose substantial amounts of money with Setanta potentially facing bankruptcy.

Ahnold might not be able to save California from bankruptcy but he might be able to sway Sepp Blatter and FIFA in the USA's World Cup bid. After all, who can say no to someone who is going to save the world from Skynet. Yeah, and that new Terminator movie needs a Schwarznegger recall or is that just for Gray Davis?

Rafa's men complete their Far East tour with a convincing win against the Singapore National team. Krisztián Németh netted a couple and Dirk Kuyt performed well throughout.

• Liverpool Target Set for £17m Roma Departure (1)
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• Liverpool Edge Nearer to £18m Wing Wizard as Valencia Near Bankruptcy!

Chelsea may have just been handed a controversial transfer ban for illegally signing an under-18 player, but that's not stopping them from using their money to buy more under-18s. This time, though, Chelsea are doing things right - not only do the Blues have the blessings of their new signing's club, but Croatian club Inter Zapresic say that Chelsea have saved them from financial failure.

Did you miss the Champions League group stage action last night? Not to worry: we've compiled a short montage of the key moments.

And by key moments, we mean gratuitous shots of men focused on doing their jobs as professional athletes that we have turned into cheap tawdry moments of objectification for our own entertainment.

Still sitting with a donut in the points column, Pompey are in desperate need of some points. It seems as though everybody myself included has written them off already. I just published an article earlier this week about how they are definitely being relegated this season. Do I think they are going to get zero points over the course of the whole season, though?

Lyn goalkeeper Tyrel Lacey says that the threat of bankruptcy for the storied Oslo club will do nothing to hinder the squad's focus on the field.

Did you miss the Champions League group stage action last night? Not to worry: we've compiled a short montage of the key moments.

And by key moments, we mean gratuitous shots of men focused on doing their jobs as professional athletes that we have turned into cheap, tawdry moments of objectification for our own amusement.

In light of the fact that United had a Carling Cup tie last night, which was won comfortably enough, but was overshadowed by a good ol' college-style food-fight, BigFourZa shall not review the match in protest, to express our solidarity with the 1 Billion people in the world who go hungry every day (seriously).

Statutory demands are curious documents which have caused some degree of controversy in recent months in the world of debt recovery. They are served under the Insolvency Act of 1986 and are the first step in the process of petitioning somebody's bankruptcy or issuing a winding up order against a company.