By Alan Duffy

In a definite case of 'do not try this at home', a bunch of Liverpool fans (you can tell they are Liverpool fans by their thick Scouse accents), driving home after last night's Carling Cup win against Manchester City, found themselves in the lane next to one Samir Nasri.

By Alan Duffy

They may only be a Southern Football Premier League side, but the decision by Oxford City to sack player Lee Steele over homophobic Twitter comments he made will have a significant influence on the game in general.

In refering to the out-gay Welsh rugby player, Gareth Thomas, and his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, Steele Tweeted: "I wouldnt fancy the bed next to Gareth Thomas #padlockeda**ehole".

Like everyone else at the club, Ryan Giggs is eager for us to move on from the fuss Liverpool has created following Luis Suarez's racial abuse of Patrice Evra.

Giggs has no problem with friendly banter and cited the chant our fans were singing during Saturday's victory over Liverpool.

"The rivalry will always be there, but let's have it as healthy rivalry and nothing else," Giggs told The Telegraph.

By Chris Wright

Speaking candidly to the Evening Standard, Andy Gray has admitted that he considered killing himself in the months after both he and Richard Keys were sacked by Sky Sports when a slew of the pair's sexist remarks were made public back in January of 2011.

Who's Behind These Football Club Sponsorship Deals?
English Football Banter, as always, is pivotal in keeping you abreast of the latest football news, topics and debates. In this edition we take a step back and dive into the mud and grit to give recognition to some impressive UK sponsorship deals spanning a decade.

After a brilliant season for Gary Neville working for Sky Sports, with even the most passionate fans who hated Neville throughout his United career acknowledging how good his punditry is, Roy Hodgson asked the former United captain to join the England coaching staff for the Euros.

"A lot of people thought he might be biased towards Manchester United but, watching the games and hearing his opinions, I don't think he has," said Lescott.

When I look at the league table I get a shudder down my spine.
Of course S*urs sitting higher than us in the league table contributes to that shudder massively, but what really causes that horrible feeling is that we sit outside the Champions League places.
Now don't get me wrong, the thought of that lot finishing above us is indeed truly horrific.

Good evening Geordies and welcome to our latest match banter feature, which sees the Magpies hosting the team who have almost certainly been our fiercest foes in the Premiership down the years. I am of course referring to Manchester United. This match will be all the more difficult for the Mags too as Manchester United [.

Good afternoon Geordies and welcome to our latest match banter feature. This one sees the Magpies hosting the team who have been recently renamed, from "Blackburn Rovers" to "Troubled Blackburn Rovers" because of their trials and tribulations in the relegation zone, and also the rather unfortunate behaviour of some of their fans towards manager Steve [.

Venue: St James' Park, Toon. Date: Sun 15th Jan 2011. Kick-Off: 1:30 pm. Referee: Chris Foy. Hello, good afternoon and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature. This time the Magpies will be facing the transitional Queen's Park Rangers under new manager, Mark Hughes, he of the slightly annoying mid-sentence sharp intakes of breath.

The ten point advantage Tottenham currently have over Arsenal in the Premier League would have been unthinkable just a couple of seasons ago. Although Arsenal fans were calling for Arsene Wenger's head after a bad start to the season, things seemed to have settled down on that front with the good run of form they put together following the 2-1 defeat the Gunners suffered at White Hart Lane.

Venue: Craven Cottage, London. Date:: Sat 21st Jan, 2011. Kick-Off: 3:00 pm. Referee: Lee Mason (Lancs). Good afternoon Geordies and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature for today's away visit to Craven Cottage, the home of "Cottagers" of Fulham. As usual, if you're looking for a detailed look forward to the game, I would [.

Guh. Read Martin's preview to be cheered up. (He almost completely ignores our big loss. Glosses over, I guess you could say.)

Last season Ramsey scored a late goal to win this for us 1-0. Here's a picture of that goal for some inspiration:

Could history repeat itself?

Could do.

Arsene Wenger keeps going on about he will only ever spend money in the transfer window if he can find "super-quality" players or "better than we already have". Well I personally think that it would be VERY easy to find players that are better than most of our current squad! So I found this excellent [.

It's high time again for another hat trick and QOTD. Today's piece will focus a bit more on the USMNT as a couple of big games loom tonight and this weekend. One of the matchups includes two American soccer icons in a clash this weekend, which should make for must watch TV. Also follow after the break to have your say in the QOTD.

Ahead of the it being confirmed that Luis Suarez had racially abused Patrice Evra, Kenny Dalglish claimed that the guilty party should be punished. That would mean if Evra couldn't prove he was innocent, he should be punished for making the accusation.

Liverpool players then warmed up in t-shirts in support of Suarez and once Suarez was found guilty, showed no remorse.

Having left a pretty bad mark in their latest meeting with Manchester United, Liverpool apparently wants their upcoming meeting against Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the FA Cup returns as a memorable fixture in a footballing way.

This wish is being revealed by the Reds' captain, Steven Gerrard, who felt that what happened in both clubs' previous meeting have pretty much gave more negative aspect towards his team which is obviously not related with football.

Liverpool have apologised after they used footage of a fan making a racist gesture towards Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in a highlights package on their official website. A spokesman for Liverpool FC told the BBC: "We can confirm that footage was mistakenly included in the highlights package that appeared on the website.

Venue: Ewood Park, Blackburn Date: 1st February 2012 Kick Off: 8.00pm Referee: Phil Dowd. Good evening Geordies and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature. This evening sees us facing Blackburn Rovers for the fourth time this season, with the record so far being two wins to one in our favour, their one victory being [.

Venue: St James'Park, NE1. Date: 5th February 2012 Kick Off: 1.30pm Referee: Mark Halsey. Good afternoon Geordies and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature for this afternoon's early kick-off against Aston Villa at St James' Park. Despite being a fair sized Premiership team, unlike Newcastle United they tend to pass under the radar of [.

Ahead of United's game against Liverpool at the weekend, Kenny Dalglish has created even more ill-feeling by claiming that Luis Suarez, who was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra, shouldn't have been banned.

"We don't think he should ever have been away but we are delighted to get him back," he said.

Dominic Kinnear was predicitably asked after the match about former Dynamo capatain Brian Ching and he made a slightly surprising comment:

"I think in the beginning, we were a little bit liberal with what we were saying," Kinnear said. "I think it was a little bit rude, and I apologize for that, back when Brian first got selected by Montreal in the Expansion Draft.

Venue: White Hart Lane. Date: Saturday 11th Feb, 2012. Kick-off: 5.30pm. Referee: Andre Marriner. Good afternoon Geordies (or should that be good evening?) and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature. Today of course we face Tottenham Hotspur away at White Hart Lane. If you read my match preview you will see from the stats [.

By Alan Duffy

Let go by Manchester United for his questionable attitude, youngster Ravel Morrison has taken little time in showcasing those iffy attitudes at new club West Ham.

The 19-year-old has been charged by the FA over a homophobic Tweet he sent early this month.

We've sifted through all the recent viral goodness found throughout the football blogosphere for you, dear readers.

And for the uni Procrastination Planning 101 course that we're currently enrolled in.

1. Harper Beckham's Fashion Blog

Of all the sites on the internet and there are a lot the one that's surprised us most is dedicated to Harper Beckham's style.

First off, a confession: I don't like biographies. In particular, I don't like player biographies. Too often they're pretentious, ego-massaging,bank account boosting exercises in self-promotion that offer little in the way of genuine insight. Unless, of course, you consider tales of lads' nights out or those of puerile banter as falling under the category of insightful.

Venue: St James' Park. Date: Sat 25th Feb 2011. Kick-Off: 15:00. Referee: Peter Walton. Good afternoon Geordies and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature for this afternoon's game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Well, on one side of argument, Wolves are currently in the relegation zone and under a caretaker manager with new manager, Terry Connor, [.

Infographic by Football Banter

Venue: St James' Park. Date: Sun 4th Mar 2012. Kick-Off: High Noon. Referee: Mike Dean. Hello Geordies and welcome to our regular match banter feature. Today of course sees the Magpies pitted against the Mackems in another one of those "must win" derbies against our much loved and respected neighbours from the so called "city" [.

Venue: Ashburton Grove, London. Date: Mon 12th Mar 2012. Kick-Off: 8pm. Referee: Howard Webb (Man. U). Good evening Geordies and welcome to our regular "match banter" feature. This evening of course sees us facing the Queen's favourite side, the "Gooners" of Arsenal. Something which my esteemed colleague, Hugh, missed out of his otherwise excellent match [.

QPR last night completed the signing of exorcist Derek Acorah after defender Clint Hill revealed he had been haunted by his ‘ghost' goal. The veteran player was denied a first Premier League goal at the weekend after officials failed to see that his header had crossed the line in QPR's match-up with Bolton.

Some bitch must have twisted Harry Redknapp's melon because he seems to be cracking right up.
Having pops at Chezza. Blaming his taxes on his poor dog Rosie, who has never done anything wrong as far as I am aware. And now losing three games in a row has got to him.
I understand it must be hard for him to look in the mirror, what with nearly getting his dog banged up and his ugly baggy face staring back, but he is losing it.

Venue: St James' Park, NE1 Date: Sunday, 18th March 2012 Kick-Off: 4pm (Sky TV) Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffs). Hello, good afternoon and welcpme to our "match banter" feature for this afternoon's visit from the "Canaries" of Norwich City. Here's hoping for a better result than last time at their place, when we lost 4-2 with [.

I don't need to write very much preamble for this gamethread. It's the Fire home opener. Enough said. After all winter, MLS soccer is back at Toyota Park. And it comes against a Union side that has talent, but is certainly in flux right now coming off defeats in their first 2 MLS matches of 2012, as well as some personnel issues.

Venue: The Hawthorns, West Bromwich. Date: Sunday, 25th March, 2012. Kick-Off: 4pm (Sky TV). Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside). Hello Geordies, and welcome to our latest "match banter" for this afternoon's game with West Bromwich Albion. West Brom are eight places below us in the Premiership table in a fairly lowly fourteenth, and their home form [.

In difficult circumstances today Chelsea have to be professional and get three points at Villa Park this afternoon. Yesterday news broke that Stillian Petrov has been diagnosed with acute Leukaemia (cancer of the blood) and has immediately come down to London to a specialist hospital to start treatment.

Venue: St James' Park. Date: Sunday, 1st April, 2012. Kick-Off: 1.30pm (Sky TV). Referee: Martin Atkinson (W.Yorks). Good afternoon Geordies, and welcome to our match banter post for the Liverpool game at St James' Park. For all the in depth stuff in the run up to the game, check out our extensive match preview of [.

Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez, whose father is a Spaniard from Granada (for many of you who still think he's Portuguese!) has declared that he does not want to be compared to a certain Spanish-speaking striker. You know, like Lionel Messi.

Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea. Date: Fri 6th Apr 2012. Kick-Off: 16:30. Referee: Howard Webb. Good afternoon Geordies, and welcome to our regular match banter feature for todays Swans / Magpies clash at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea. This is the sixth game in a row taking place at a odd time for the sake of Rupert [.

Date: Monday, 9th April 2012 Kick-off: 3.00pm Referee: Mike Jones UK TV: None Good afternoon Geordies, and welcome to our match banter feature for todays game at St James' Park against Bolton Wanderers. As some of you will have noticed, no doubt, if we win this fixture it will be our fifth victory in a [.