Photo credit: Baiji

Good afternoon! It's a glorious Saturday here in Red Bulls Land. Alas, our glorious club is in beautiful Montreal, Quebec, to take on MLS expansion side Montreal Impact (7:30pm ET, MSG, match notes here). It will be the second meeting of these two Eastern Conference rivals this season.

In terms of international friendlies, Schalke 04 falls somewhere between an English team with no strikers (Everton) and a Spanish team intent on reminding us they have nothing to play for (Madrid).

The Germans have stars. They also have some very intriguing young players who (gasp!) have gotten regular minutes early in their careers.

1. The laws of physics bow to Papiss Cisse. 2. He's also the classiest time-waster OTP has ever seen. Why not run down the clock with an outrageous lob, eh? 3. Richard Scudamore, give the public what they want! Let's get this Joe Jordan v Owen Coyle fight on. 4. The temptation to 'do an [...]

(Note: Yes, I am aware this is not a Sporting Kansas City or LA Galaxy website. But when I heard that the two teams would be playing four hours away from where I live during the Chicago Fire's bye week, I jumped at the opportunity to cover it. Hope all of you enjoy it.)

There was a moment at the end of Sporting Kansas City's 1-0 victory over the L.

Tomorrow night Chelsea travel to Birmingham in the replay of our FA Cup tie and Chelsea's team selection will be more than interesting as Roberto Di Matteo takes over until the end of the season.
Will he go with the norm or will be look to make an immediate impact?
It would be easy to pick the big guns, to get out there to get the win.

Newcastle United's form this season have been pretty consistent, resulting in their excellent position in the league, sitting at sixth place with an open chance in chasing for the fourth place spot or at least finishing in Europa League zone.

This situation is obviously being acknowledged by Newcastle players, including their Argentinian center back, Fabrio Coloccini, who is excited with the situation but urged everyone to simply take one things at a time and shouldn't be thinking too far about what European competition the team will play next season.

Having already end their six years title drought, Craig Bellamy now has a new target for his club, Liverpool, which is finishing in the top four place and eventually playing in the Champions League again.

Bellamy believes that after finally winning something again, it's eventually time for the Reds to get themselves back into the height of European club competition and that's obviously the UEFA Champions League.

So Newcastle's new signing Papiss Demba Cisse and fellow Senegalese team mate Demba Ba netted goals for the Magpies in their 2-1 home win over Aston Villa yesterday. However, whats funny is that the same two players could not do the same for Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations.

And this is interesting because African players have a tendency to perform well for their clubs, but when it comes to their national sides, it is a different story.

So there were some very interesting results around Europe this weekend with the major stories making the headlines being Inter's 4-0 loss to Roma in the Serie A and Chelsea's surprising 3-3 draw at home with United.

Coming off the back of 3 poor results, Inter desperately needed a win to ensure they broke into the top 4 spot.

Mirror: Ken Bates: We have to MAKE top clubs respect the FA Cup

Angry Leeds chiefs want big guns fined, docked points and banned from Europe if they pick weakened teams

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2012-01-06 23:00:39 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

By Shane Badger
For as long as man civilized man has existed the great terrible question has been asked: How do you stop a wall of water? The answer of course is deceptively simple; Build.
Build, is exactly what Coach Andracki has been doing in the two weeks since his Lancer squad was deluged by the Wave 25-9 in Milwaukee.

It's been scintillating six months of English football. We've had blow outs (8-2, 5-3, and 6-1 between some big guns) and some stunning individual performances (numerous hat-tricks and goal line saves). With half a season to go, it's time to ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.

Big guns: Aging stars like, from left, Robert Pires, retired Brazilian striker Ronaldo (well, OK maybe it's a little late for him) and Chelsea's Didier Drogba, seen here at a charity game in Hamburg, Germany today, may have less motivation to take MLS money now that China's newly rich have

The visit of the sky blues of Abu Dhabi to The Home of Football and the subsequent infiltration of this very blog the day after got me thinking....

It is often stated that the top clubs are set to align themselves with various sponsors (whether related or otherwise) to ensure that they do not get caught by the FFP regulations.

The visit of the sky blues of Abu Dhabi to The Home of Football and the subsequent infiltration of this very blog the day after got me thinking....

It is often stated that the top clubs are set to align themselves with various sponsors (whether related or otherwise) to ensure that they do not get caught by the FFP regulations.

Right then, back to Premier League action today with a trip to Wigan.

It would be fair to say that our last two trips to this ground have been less than fruitful. Last season 10 man Wigan came from behind to force a draw (was it a Squillaci own goal or a Fabianski flap? Either way it wasn't pretty).

The visit of the sky blues of Abu Dhabi to The Home of Football and the subsequent infiltration of this very blog the day after got me thinking....

It is often stated that the top clubs are set to align themselves with various sponsors (whether related or otherwise) to ensure that they do not get caught by the FFP regulations.

Morning all,

let's start with early team news ahead of tomorrow's trip to Wigan and nobody who played on Tuesday is added to the sicklist, but Tomas Rosicky remains out with a thigh knack while Abou Diaby will miss 10 days with 'a slight muscular problem'.

Obviously I don't think anybody is surprised by that but Diaby now seems to be caught in an infinite loop of injury.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has admitted he would love to face Liverpool in the Carling Cup final should the Eagles overcome fellow Championship rivals Cardiff.
The South London outfit dumped a second-string Manchester United side out the competition on Wednesday night thanks to a dramatic 2-1 extra-time victory at Old Trafford.

Carling Cup semi-final draw: Manchester City v Liverpool, Crystal Palace v Cardiff

Giant-killers Crystal Palace and Cardiff were kept away from the Premier League big guns as they were drawn to face each other in the semi-finals.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-01 08:20:08 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester. Date: Saturday 26 November, 2011 Kick-off: 3.00pm. Referee: Mike Jones (replaces Phil Dowd). Well, it's almost time for the second of Newcastle United's triumvirate of clashes against "the big guns" of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. Like the last one, we will also face the further disadvantage of playing away [.

I must say I always enjoy it when a German club comes to town. They invariably bring loads of fans, make lots of noise and have a cracking time. Marseille and Arsenal might still be in the driving seats in this group, but Dortmund's win on Matchday 4* means they are very much back in it, and if that fact hasn't been drummed into the team throughout this week in training then I'm a goalscoring Dutchman.

The final lineup for next summer's European Championship in Poland & Ukraine is now set after tonight's playoff second legs, with a strong field of sixteen heading for Eastern Europe.
There were no winning fightbacks following the first legs and Portugal, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Ireland and Croatia all advanced to Euro 2012, eliminating respectively Bosnia & Herzogovina, Montenegro, Estonia and Turkey.

QPR to battle Prem big guns for teen starlet

Rangers spotted Josiah Chukwudi playing Sunday League football

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-11-15 12:39:29 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Skysports.com understands a host of Premier League clubs are battling it out for teenage sensation Josiah Chukwudi.
The 15-year-old central midfielder was spotted playing Sunday League football.
QPR recently invited the teenager on trial and he is believed to have impressed at Loftus Road.
News of Chukwudi's talent has alerted most of the Premier League big guns with Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Everton all thought to be weighing up moves for the youngster.

It is now exactly 22 days until MLS Cup at Home Depot Center and we have six hours of MLS playoff soccer ahead of us today.

If the Galaxy needed to be reminded about the irrelevance of the regular season in Major League Soccer, they need look no further than the Seattle Sounders' humbling Saturday night loss to Real Salt Lake - that could have even be worse - and gives them a real uphill trudge in the return leg to make the next round.

I have stated that AVB's bubble has burst in the title of this post and this is exactly what has happened yesterday. For too long we have seen our defensive deficiencies and we knew we had been struggling to keep clean sheets. After conceding three a Old Trafford we were worried but the fact we played so well in attacking United it was more or less played down.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal Premier League 29th October 2011

Yet another bizarre, goal-crazy game between a couple of the Premier League's big guns, this time with a resurgent Arsenal side knocking five past a defensively rubbish Chelsea.

Big guns to clash in Carling Cup quarter-finals

Arsenal face Manchester City, Chelsea take on Liverpool while Manchester United face Crystal Palace

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-10-29 11:58:22 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Luis Suarez doesn't suck any more, though if you follow his press clippings he's probably still a diving cheat or worse. And Liverpool can score again. Or at least Suarez can. Which will be important when the club faces off against you know who and some club or other that doesn't really matter except for the fact that he just happens to manage them on Saturday afternoon.

PSG to offer £45m for Eden Hazard

Moneybags Paris St Germain are set to blow the Premier League big guns out of the water in the race to sign Eden Hazard. Arsenal and Manchester City are keen.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-10-27 06:29:25 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

AVB has rang the changes and introduced three youngsters tonight starting against Everton with some big guns on the bench. JT didn't travel along with the suspended Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa. Ramires isn't ready to play.
The starting Chelsea team is as follows:
Turnbull, Ivanovic, Alex, Luiz, Bertrand, Romeu, McEachran, Malouda, Lukaku, Kalou, Anelka.

Football League clubs vote to change academy system

Fears that smaller clubs will lose out to Premier League big guns under new Elite Player Performance Plan

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-10-20 16:53:31 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

On the heels of the first US win under Jurgen Klinsmann, fans were left disappointed with a loss last night to Ecuador. While the Americans looked good at times, they were doomed by one bad miscue from out of form Tim Ream. They showed signs of the system Jurgen is trying to implement, as they played much more 1-2 touch balls and quick passes than US fans are used to seeing.

When was the last time we saw Istanbul big guns on top of the Turkish Super League together?
It has been long time!
At the end of week 5, before the National team break , Fenerbahce is in first place and Galatasaray on second and Besiktas on Fourth. In between them there is another Istanbul minow Buyuksehirspor who is on third place.

Good afternoon! With our team still fighting for its playoff life, it's another massive, must-win, fixture against the MLS "King of The Hill". Yes, it's time for RBNY to play against the model franchise that is the LA Galaxy. As you might recall, this Galaxy fixture was originally scheduled to take place on August 28th, but was rescheduled due to a hurricane.

Three premiership big guns, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool who last weekend suffered disappointing defeats all bounced their way back into victories this Saturday after beating their respective opponents.

The Blues went on a 4-1 rampage against new boys, Swansea, the Gunners slammed troubled Bolton 3-0, while The Reds edged Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at Anfield.

Tottenham play host to Liverpool on Sunday with both sides looking to enhance their top four aspirations.
Both sides will be aiming for a UEFA Champions League finish come the end of the season and they will be hoping to gain an early psychological edge with victory at White Hart Lane.
The hosts go into the game buoyed by their first win of the season over Wolves last weekend, while Liverpool will be seeking to bounce back from their defeat at Stoke last time.

Tottenham play host to Liverpool on Sunday with both sides looking to enhance their top four aspirations.
Both sides will be aiming for a UEFA Champions League finish come the end of the season and they will be hoping to gain an early psychological edge with victory at White Hart Lane.
The hosts go into the game buoyed by their first win of the season over Wolves last weekend, while Liverpool will be seeking to bounce back from their defeat at Stoke last time.

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In this week's review section, success in Europe for the big teams as they march towards the European finals in Poland and the Ukraine in 2012, while Wales let England off the hook.