Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas admitted that as his side prepares to kick-off at Goodison Park this afternoon, damage control is the only ambition for the Blues in a Premier League campaign where they have not been 'very honorable'.

With Tottenham seven points ahead in third and Newcastle, Arsenal, and Liverpool all within striking distance of Chelsea's current fourth position in the table, Villas-Boas acknowledges that it has been a shaky ride for a side that was assembled to chase glory.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis was interviewed by Fox on Sunday and he said that Arsenal will never be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in the transfer market but believes Arsene Wenger's focus on developing young players is the correct way to run a football club.

In May of 2011, a sort of palace coup was engineered at the Emirates with the two remaining substantial shareholdings of Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith going to Stan Kroenke and in effect Kroenke was anointed the new "emperor" of Arsenal Football Club. Except the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov refused to play ball and increased his holding in the club too!

Following a string of impressive performances, the Daily Star is suggesting that Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is lining up a move for Newcastle United midfielder Cheick Tiote. The Ivorian has been an integral figure in the heart of Newcastle's midfield, and Mancini is insistent that City's billionaire owners keep the check book open.

Watching Man Utd crash out of the Champion's League Group stage has helped me get over Liverpool's defeat to Fulham no end.
It is great to see our fiercest rivals lose at any time but to lose such an important match is terrific.
Basel beat Utd 2-1 with Streller and Frei scoring for the Swiss side while Jones added a consolation on 89 mins.

Can't say I've ever been pulled into looking for a football documentary by a trailer as much as this one on The Other Chelsea, done last year about another financial behemoth run by Eastern European money, Shakhtar Donetsk, and its far reaches. Simply put, the intro is just spectacular.

There are Arsenal legends. And then again there are proper Arsenal legends. For most of us Patrick Vieira sits comfortably in the second catergory. From Shite Hart Lane to (Very) Old Trafford he was a steam engine of a player. Strength, passion, craft, guile, he had the lot and regularly delievered these qualities as a red and white colossus.

LeBron James: 'I can understand why a lot of people were upset'

The Miami Heat forward on why he bought a stake in Liverpool, his controversial move from Cleveland and the NBA lockout The long wait for LeBron James unfolds in a luxury hotel suite large enough to fit a stylish apartment.

Mike Ashley is an enigma. The squash-coach-turned-billionaire shuns the limelight to such an extent that he was once dubbed "Britain's answer to the late Howard Hughes," which makes his purchase of Newcastle United all the more unfathomable. Why would a ... Continue reading →

By Eric Beard

Despite everything Soccernomics preaches, Turkey's path to becoming a footballing superpower has hit yet another bump in the road. The nation failed to qualify for EURO 2012, and via the transitive property this means Guus Hiddink's time is up as manager.

Sports fans typically don't care where the money behind their favorite team comes from. It's the thinking that as long as we are winning games and championships, does it even matter who's writing the checks? Most are fine with not knowing simple because they don't care for the simple reason that its sports and one of the core purposes of sport is to distract us from reality and allow us to forget about the trials and tribulations of day to day life.

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

News International Executive Chairman James Murdoch apologises for The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster

Son of billionaire magnate apologises for newspaper's handling of 1989 tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-10 16:23:00 from: Goal

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

By Alan Duffy

Peter Hill-Wood, Stan Kroenke and Stan Kroenke's hair take their seats at the Emirates

Silent Stan Kroenke finally spoke to Arsenal's shareholders at the club's annual AGM in London today. The US billionaire said: "(Arsenal) has tremendous management at the top, a wonderful manager on the pitch who makes great decisions in regard to personnel, and a tremendous following with the supporters.

Football is becoming more and more of a business rather than simply a beautiful sport to enjoy. Clubs like Man City, PSG, Malaga, and Anzhi Makhachkala have recently been taken over by billionaire oil tycoons, and thus have much better chances of success than their rivals. These affluent Arabs/Russians seem to purchase their favourite team just [.

Playing the long game: Andre Villas Boas and Chelsea is a post from: Just Football

by Andreas Vou

Manchester United are the benchmark to every football club aiming for long term success. The Red Devils stuck with Sir Alex Ferguson despite winning nothing in his first four years in charge and have fully reaped the rewards, having overtaken Liverpool's record 18 domestic league titles last year and winning two Champions League titles in the Scot's ongoing 25 year reign.

Alisher Usmanov wants to increase his Arsenal shareholding in move that could spark a boardroom power struggle at the Emirates.

The Daily Mail claims that the Uzbeki billionaire , the club's second biggest shareholder, is trying to increase his stake to 30 per cent. He owns just over 29 percent but will write to the club's smaller shareholders this week, offering to buy shares at £14,500 each.

Anzhi Makhachkala manager Roberto Carlos has rebuffed suggestions he wants to sign Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, as well as numerous other high-profile players.
The Brazilian World Cup winner has frequently been in the press in recent weeks having made ambitious claims that mega-rich Anzhi are eyeing some of Europe's top players.

Russian big spenders Anzhi Makhachkala are lining up swoops for Robin van Persie, Nicolas Anelka and Neymar, according to player-coach Roberto Carlos.

Carlos claimed his club are also targeting Paris St Germain star Nene in a bid to eventually become as big as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Some time ago I wrote a post about my best ever Arsenal Eleven, I think it was during another interlull, or maybe the phoney window. I promised a post for Peaches and without anything new to write about I have decided to kind of rehash that premise. Someone mentioned recently that a better use for cloning Dolly the Sheep would have been to clone Tony Adams.

Stan Kroenke has given an interview to offer his full support to Arsenal boss manager Arsene Wenger. American billionaire Kroenke became the club's majority shareholder this year and insists AW has earned the right to decide how long he stays in charge at the Ems.

He said: "With Arsene, it's his decision and only he will know that.

Follow the money.

It's a solid rule in sport, whether in prognosticating, betting or choosing one's career path. It also remains true for intriguing storylines.

Anzhi's got some money. They've got some story lines, too like the fact they just named Roberto Carlos player-coach. (In the interim, anyway.

The Carling Cup is a funny competition. It seems to creep up on you at the start of the season – especially if you are in Europe – and there is no grand fan fare ahead of each round like there is with the FA Cup.
Teams generally pick reserve sides, while the fans vote with their feet, leaving matches looking decidedly grim in half empty stadiums, especially if a Premier League side is at home.

Written by FatGingerGooner

So the dust has settled on a couple of dreadful Arsenal away results, and equally dreadful defensive displays. Obviously, I'm talking about the 8-2 and 4-3 defeats. There have been a lot of people coming out of the woodwork in recent days, using these results as ammunition to have a pop at the manager and also to give their opinion on the direction this club needs to go.

Jose Mourinho has turned down an offer from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala that reportedly would have paid him the the biggest salary in the history of football.

Spanish newspaper Marca claims Mourinho turned down an astonishing £22 million-a-year AFTER tax to take the helm at the Black Sea club.

Jose Mourinho has turned down an offer from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala that reportedly would have paid him the the biggest salary in the history of football.

Spanish newspaper Marca claims Mourinho turned down an astonishing £22 million-a-year AFTER tax to take the helm at the Black Sea club.

Andrei Arshavin is being targetted by Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala according to reports today. The Russian side are owned by billionaire Suleyman Kerimov and he is preparing a £15million bid for Arshavin once the transfer window re-opens in January. Anzhi are currently fifth in the Russian Premier League and are just four points [.

This is really one of the biggest questions in the minds of Arsenal fans these days what should we make of Financial Fair Play? As I wrote in my last blog, and as everyone already knew anyway, we most certainly don't have a sugar daddy type owner. At the same time, we also know that our club makes a ton of revenue, and would compete pretty well with the giants in Europe if every club lived within its means.

FC Anzhi Makhachkala (Russian: ФК "Анжи" Махачкала) is a Russian soccer club based in Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan. The club currently plays in the Russian Premier League and is currently in 5th place in the table. Owned by billionaire Suleyman Kerimov, FC Anzhi Makhachkala has been in the news lately for [.

Someone questioned on the blog yesterday whether our new line-up would be able to score enough goals, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the goalscoring prowess of the new players against those who have departed based on past performances.

Now I realise that stats are generally just a way of manipulating figures so they masquerade as facts.

Unpopular Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley rarely shows his face in public, so when we do get to see him, its normally a treat. Following his last sighting at the Emirates, are these gems of a pissed-up Mike enjoying a rendition of 'You can leave your hat on' ... The Sports Direct billionaire had booked [.

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o has signed a world record breaking £345,000 per week deal at Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. The former Inter Milan striker was signed by the Russian side this week in a £22 million transfer, but his wages alone will set them back much more.

According to The Sun, Eto'o's pay packet leaves him earning £345,000 per week after taxes, which is a staggering amount for a 30 year old, and makes him the highest earning footballer in the world.

Samuel Eto'o completes curious move to Russia - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Inter Milan have sold striker Samuel Eto'o to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala for a fee of £21.8 million. Eto'o will become the highest paid footballer in the world at £17.9m per season. Makhachkala are attempting to become a Russian and European power by spending large amounts of cash on international stars.