To paraphrase a quote from the end of "Band of Brothers" - 'It's been a long season; it's been a tough season'.
Maybe I'll have deeper thoughts on this as the next couple of weeks go by, but, for now, here's a list of the best and worst moments of the last few months. Let's get the horrible stuff out of the way first.

With some distance between Saturday's win over Everton in the FA Cup semi-final, we can turn our attention to the weekend and Liverpool's return to Premier League action. For all their success in domestic cup competition, league performances have been all over the map, and this weekend's match-up promises to have a healthy dose of awkward to go with the uncertainty of which version of Liverpool we'll be watching come Sunday.

Shambles in Shanghai: Tigana, Tantrums and Anelka as manager is a post from: Just Football

by Andrew Crawford

The Chinese Super League (CSL) is once again watching its most noisy tenant, Shanghai Shenhua, soak up all the attention. Its big name manager, Jean Tigana is gone, replaced, or rather deposed, in headline-grabbing style by Nicolas Anelka, who will now try to rescue the club from its plunge into the bottom half of the league.

By THOMAS FLOYD

WASHINGTON -- There were no goals to speak of when D.C. United and the Seattle Sounders wrapped proceedings Saturday, but that's not to say the match was completely devoid of drama.

The teams traded opportunities throughout, even though neither side found much of a rhythm in what often amounted to a battle of physicality in the middle of the park.

A three loss start to the 2012 Major League Soccer regular season was not lost on Philadelphia Union fans last week and they made themselves heard through boos directed toward head coach Peter Nowak prior to the start of last week's scoreless draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Union's front office has recognized the importance of results as well, a source with knowledge of internal discussions told the Brotherly Game.

Reina let's the occasion get the better of him...Liverpool fell to a 6th defeat out of 7 league games on April Fool's day as Papiss Cisse confidently put two past the later dismissed Pepe Reina. In an embarrassing display which actually began with a lively start from Liverpool, fans were left completely deflated as they made their way back from St James' Park.

szólj hozzá: Balotelli kolarov

Mario Balotelli busted into Andrea Stramaccioni's press conference unannounced last week and against Sunderland yesterday he tried hijacking Kolarov's free kick. Lots of jostling and pushing as Nigel de Jong tried crowding him out till finally Vincent Kompany, City's captain having had enough told him to take a hike.

Andy Carroll's return to Newcastle went about as bad as he probably feared on Sunday. Not only did Fernando Torres, the man Liverpool sold for a tidy £50 million before quickly spending the majority of it on Carroll, score for Chelsea the day before, but Newcastle won 2-0, with their new No.

A quite, considered hush fell over Upon Park about ten minutes into the second half of West Ham Uniteds match against Reading yesterday afternoon. As the visiting team dispatched their third goal, a penalty kick from Ian Harte after a clumsy tackle by Abdoulaye Faye in fifteen minutes either side of half-time and extended their lead to three-one, it was as if this was the collective moment of realisation for their supporters that, having been there or thereabouts for most of this season, the possibility of thereabouts being the sum total of their forty-six league matches us starting to become rather more of a likelihood.

When the final whistle blew on Saturday afternoon, we heard just a few boos from some of our fans, and the lads didn't look happy when they left the field. Fabricio Coloccini manger thinks he's getting back to his best They knew, as the fans knew, that home games against sides fighting against relegation have to [.

szólj hozzá: Arsenal Tottenham 3:2 HIGHLIGH

Football is a funny old sport. The sharks were out circling Wenger and Arsenal before this match with so many negative articles written, admittedly many here on this blog. Spurs had outwitted Arsenal according to Amy Lawrence and there was no escaping some of the salient points she made.

By Alan Duffy

Wigan Athletic Aston Villa Premier League 25th February 2012

The hiring of Alex McLeish by Aston Villa was always something of a strange decision. Villa, a club with a history of playing good football, put their faith in a man whose trademark footballing style is the epitomé of dour.

Despite everyone's best efforts, the source of Bayern Munich's current dodgy form has not yet been located. For the time being, the search continues. Image: REUTERS/Alex Domanski.

More facetious remarks accompanying amusing pictures of cute players hugging, fiddling with their bits and pointing their erogenous zones at cameras is right this way.

It was disappointing to say the least wasn't it. We were looking for a positive reaction after a traumatic week and being honest we never got what we were looking for. It's been a long time since I heard the amount of boos around the ground as Chelsea walked off at half time. To be fair, they were exactly right and were well deserved.

Chelsea lost the chance to consolidate their fourth place position in the league yesterday after they were humbled 2-0 by Everton at Goodison Park. Goals from Steven Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi condemned Villas-Boas to his 6 loss of the season and saw Arsenal overtake them into 4th place after a 2-1 away over Sunderland.

Suarez v Evra. Talking point.

Essential information

Who: Manchester United v Liverpool
What: Premier League
Where: Old Trafford
Date: 11.02.2012
Kickoff: 12:45 GMT
Referee: Phil Dowd
Odds: Bet365 (Take advantage of their 100% Open Account offer.

There's something in the air at The Emirates Stadium. Arsenal Football Club has had a difficult 2012 so far, and patience for some, at least is starting to wear thin, leading to a protest that has brought puzzled expressions from elsewhere. At this lunchtime's match against Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League, a group of supporters plans to place black bin bags on seats at the ground prior to the match.

Match report Video

At half-time yesterday Arsenal left the pitch to a chorus of boos. 2-0 down against Aston Villa, it looked as if we were heading for a fourth January defeat. We hadn't played particularly badly, to be fair, but got caught out twice in ways we really shouldn't have.

Three goals in seven second half minutes that's all it took for Arsenal to win a game in which they were otherwise unimpressive. While the comeback was miraculous and the result crucial, many problems still remain.

As has been the case for the last month or so, Arsenal started at a pedestrian pace.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

Unfair on Arshavin, Unfair on Arsenal FC (By S.H) The home stadium erupted in loud BOOS in protest over Wenger‘s decision to substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain for Andrey Arshavin. Even Robin van Persie appeared to show his dissent over the manager's decision. The Ox had played a marvellous game, and I too, was disappointed to see him [.

Dateline 22 January 2012, this date will go down in history, it is the date the fans at the Emirates turned on Arsene Wenger.

The fans booed the team off at half-time and were rewarded when youngster Nico Yennaris replaced the hapless and hopeless Djourou who becomes a bigger liability every time he puts on an Arsenal shirt.

By Chris Wright

United made it Manchester 2-0 North London in the second of Sunday's super-duper all-singing-all-dancing encounters, beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates to whittle City's lead at the summit of the Premier League back down from six points to three.

Match report Video -

It's interesting that even this morning the focus appears to be on a controversial substitution when the bigger issue is the fact we've just lost our third league game in a row, taking our total of defeats in the league this season to eight.

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's number went up in the 74th minute many of the 60,000 at the stadium made it quite clear what they thought of the decision.

Arsenal slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United as boos rang out after Arsene Wenger inexplicably substituted Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with the scores at 1-1 The nippy and technically astute youngster was having his best game in an Arsenal shirt and after much persistence from the hosts, set up striker Robin Van Persie [.

Injured Manchester United players Ashley Young and Darren Fletcher made it a family day out to Old Trafford on Saturday.

Ashley brought his adorable 5-year-old son Tyler to United's match against Bolton, although Tyler probably just played Transformers or dinosaurs in the on-site creche while daddy hobnobbed with the big fellas.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal's gifted young goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has made the latest in a long line of footballing Twitter boo-boos. Indeed, it's not even his first offence.

On responding to a photo team-mate Aaron Ramsey has posted of himself at a golf event, the Polish international Tweeted: "I don't wanna be rude mate but you look like a rapist on that picture.

szólj hozzá: Chelsea v A.Villa 1:3 MOTD

David Luiz was AWOL as Villa took advantage of Chelsea's non-existent central defense to first slip in Steve Ireland, then Stilyan Petrov, and finally Darren Bent. The last two came within minutes of each other towards the end of the match. Stamford Bridge erupted in boos.

New year celebrations for Chelsea fans were cancelled after the Blues suffered a humiliating 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa yesterday. Not only has this loss pushed Chelsea down to 5th position in the league, but coach AVB has also conceded that his primary target now is to ensure Chelsea challenge for a top 4 finish.

Anfield Match Zone: Kop drown out Craig Bellamy boos

Given he had a much publicised fall-out with Alan Shearer during his time at St James' Park, it was inevitable Craig Bellamy would be booed by Newcastle fans.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-31 00:27:01 from: The Mail

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

During last night's 5-0 win over Fulham, Manchester United fans took the opportunity to let Luis Suarez know what they thought of him after the FA have found him guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra.

Meanwhile, up in Wigan, Liverpool fans were singing the original song, which was met with boos from the home fans.

It was billed as a match in which the losing manager would get fired, and if that is the case then it will be a much happier Christmas in the Coyle household this season than the Kean one as Bolton beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 in a relegation six pointer.

The result means Blackburn replace Bolton at the foot of the Premier League, and Rovers will be bottom at Christmas with only one team avoiding relegation from that position.

Gems of the Lower Leagues: Jacob Butterfield is a post from: Just Football

Just Football's ‘Gems of the Lower Leagues' series continues with a look at Barnsley midfielder Jacob Butterfield. James McMath looks at why talk of a January move to the Premier League will surprise some, but not Barnsley fans.

Downing shrugs off boos

Stewart Downing has brushed off being booed upon his return to Aston Villa and believes Liverpool's win justified his decision to move.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-12-19 12:56:54 from: Sky Sports

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

Aston Villa boos disappoint Liverpool's Stewart Downing

Liverpool midfielder Stewart Downing is pleased with his team's performance in the 2-0 win at Villa Park but disappointed by the reaction of some Aston Villa fans on his return to the club he left for Anfield in the summer.

Skrtel Scores Second In Villa Win

Defender beats defenders... Liverpool scored two goals in the first fifteen minutes at Villa Park to secure a much needed three points. In the slot under the top four at the moment Liverpool are slowly but surely putting some pressure on and the win lifted them up to 6th.

Defender beats defenders...
Liverpool scored two goals in the first fifteen minutes at Villa Park to secure a much needed three points. In the slot under the top four at the moment Liverpool are slowly but surely putting some pressure on and the win lifted them up to 6th. Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel were the goalscorers.

Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool | Premier League match report

The woodwork continues to frustrate Liverpool and Luis Suárez in particular but this was never going to be one of those days when Kenny Dalglish would be left lamenting the number of times that his side have been denied by the upright or crossbar.