We've complained alot, England fans, about friendly matches. Everytime is followed by a round of managers moaning that its pointless having England friendlies, followed by pundits, and to some degree supporters about how they feel a bit of a chore.

Next Wednesday England run out at Wembley to launch their new kit, to prepare for the World Cup group game against Algeria by playing Egypt, their local rivals and recent winners of the African Cup of Nations.

Injured Spaniard fighting to be fit for the World Cup.

Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!

Andres Iniesta has been a crucial part of Barcelona's fortunes for six seasons now and is a player who Vicente del Bosque now depends on to bridge midfield and attack.

Rumours are circulating today that Joe Cole is about to sign a three year contract to join Arsenal.
I must admit, I never thought that Arsenal would be able to afford Joe's wages after his supposed wage demands at Chelsea (£120K per week).
If the rumour is true then Arsene Wenger has got a bargain and let's face it would suit Arsenal's style of play.

UPDATE: According to Sky Sports News, Fulham have reached an agreement with Roma to sign striker Stefano Okaka on loan. It is reported that Fulham will have the option of making the deal permanent at the end of the season.

January 4th, 2010 According to Salvatore Landolina at Goal.

photo courtesy of Thad Bell
Following up on what he said yesterday, Robb Heineman got behind the "wheel" of one of those machines sitting out at the Legends stadium site and made the first breaking of ground. The photo above is from Heineman's first dig in the ground. After the ceremonial dig, Heineman made way for the professionals and they started moving dirt in the southeast corner of the complex, around the area where the entrance to the Cauldron Club will be.

Freddie Ljungberg speaks and I listen, simple as that. (Getty Images)

I won't lie to ya, anytime I see something Freddie Ljungberg says I believe it to be the truth. That is unless something morally tells me not to do so but 98% of the time I take his word for what it is. Today is no different.

So with United winning against Arsenal on Sunday its another must win game for us tonight. We travel to the KC Stadium to take on Hull in our game in hand on the others and we simply must win to re-establish our four point lead over United ahead of this weekends games.
Tonight it looks as though we will welcome Didier Drogba back into the starting line up along with Ricardo Carvalho and Deco but its Didier's comeback that will be the main talking point and questions from Chelsea fans as to how Ancelotti will line the side up this evening.

I love roller-coasters! Don't know if I have the same feeling for football rides.

Bullets after the break:

• Bad: Drew to Hull, Away from home
• Good: Beat the gooners 2-0. Convincing at home.
• Bad: Unreliable set-piece defending.

(Photo/Headline taken from http://www.thesun.co.uk/)
Woken up to the news that Deco wants to quit Chelsea to go back to Brazil to be near his kids after playing for Portugal in the World Cup this summer. Deco joined Chelsea back in the summer of 2008 and was signed by Scolari, enough said!

Michael Ballack has reportedly said to Chelsea that he wants a two year deal or he will look for a move to Jose's Inter Milan who have been strongly linked to the 33 year-old Midfielder.
I believe that Chelsea won't budge and as reported on here a few weeks back it looks like Roman Abramovich will adopt a different transfer/contract policy this summer.

As Jose Mourinho relaxes this evening, quietly celebrating Real Madrid's capture of Mesut Özil from Werder Bremen for a seemingly great piece of business at 15m Euros, Rafael Van Der Vaart my not be having such thoughts of joy.

The Dutch playmaker is presented with yet another challenge at the Bernabeu, which could finally be one bridge too many for Van Der Vaart to cross.

So this afternoon at the Bridge I will take my seat in the West Stand wondering will we score another 6 or more today?
That's no disrespect to Stoke who in my view are a good team and being honest I believe that Tony Pulis has done a remarkable job with his team ever since he came into the Premier League.

By Ollie Irish

Overall Chelsea didn't play that well against Marseille (twas a classic 6/10 display), but even without Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard they were much too strong for the Ligue 1 side. French youngster Gael Kakuta caught the eye with a lively performance shame he was taken off midway through the second half; I wanted to see more, but by then Marseille were threatening to score and Ancelotti wanted to consolidate his side's 2-0 lead.

Paddy Bordier, Eamonn Flanagan and Lucy Zelic talk us through the best in Aussie football. What a fantastic podcast.
Are we seeing more Aussie Number 10's than ever before, 75% of all games decided i the last minute, Ray Gatt disected, Jesse Fink out thought, and all the Socceroos news, opinions and views.

Just when you think you're getting a sense of what's going on in the Premier League, the script flips and a weekend completely surprises you. As I sit here watching the Premier League weekend wind down as Sunderland lead Chelsea 2-0 at the Bridge in the second half, I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that I have some thoughts on what has just gone on.

UPDATE: According to Salvatore Landolina at Goal.com, Tuttomercatoweb.com is reporting that Roma striker Stefano Okaka is all set to join Fulham on loan. His agent Domenico Scopelliti said,

"Fulham have spoken to Roma so we can define all the details, but we have to wait for [Giallorossi director] Daniele Prade to return from Dubai .

This was shown at halftime of the otherwise dreadful final Giants game. Even with the edit taking away the bridge and the last verse, I think this video is the highlight of our season. Love the shot of Mr. Mara at the end.

Now when all this steel and these stories, they drift away to rust
And all our youth and beauty, it's been given to the dust
And your game has been decided, and you're burning the clock down
And all our little victories and glories, have turned into parking lots
When your best hopes and desires, are scattered through the wind
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Yeah just to come again
Bring on your wrecking ball!

UPDATE: According to Ian Herbert at The Independent, Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is not going after Rubin Kazan defender Cristian Ansaldi. When asked if he was, Mancini said,

"No, in that position we have Bridge .

"We've supported the club both with marketing assistance and some direct funding - that's not a situation we want to continue forever," FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said last night.

"What the club has to do is create a strategic and business plan for the future which addresses their issues.

In a packed Saturday Premier League football evening, Liverpool will visit Stoke City and try to win back some respect. After a string of losses and being knocked out of FA Cup by Reading, The Reds are low on confidence but will still be the better side on paper. Though without Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres [.

Download National Podcast
A-League is ramping up as the race is on for the finals spot and the first Asian Champions League spot.
We've got all the moves, news and views, quiz and commentary.
Why didn't Taj Minniecon's pass to Joel Porter get mentioned time and time again.

Robb Heineman got to do what Wizards fans have begged for and little boys dream of. Use heavy machinery to dig in the mud and start construction of the new Wizards stadium. The first bucketful of dirt (mud) was Robb's honor. I did find out that there will be two webcams setup in the near future. One a pole on the State ave bridge that crosses France Family Dr.

Didier Drogba...yes we can!

Drogba is set to return to Chelsea sooner than expected after the Ivory Coast was bounced out of the quarter final stages in the African Cup of Nations.

I am going to hold off on bringing Drogba back into my fantasy line up, because who knows if he'll see the pitch this Wednesday against Birmingham at The Bridge (especially since I've already burned my transfer on Tim Cahill.

3-D soccer extravaganza
U. of Awesome prospect
Rob and bob
Meet me in St. Louis
Wild celebration
Gunners are dying
Robinho unveiled
Team Bridge shirts

The England National team has been thrown into the world soccer spotlight after news broke of the John Terry scandal. Current team captain Terry has been publicly disgraced by reports that he cheated on his wife with England teammate Wayne Bridges ex-girlfriend and mother of his son, French underwear model Vanessa Perroncel.

Well, I have to admit I fully expected Chelsea to go to Hull and turn Phil Brown from glowing orange to Avatar blue, such would be the thumping they would inflict. Instead a 1-1 draw means that if we beat Chelsea on Sunday we'd be within three points of them.

If there was any further motivation needed for the lads then this is it.

Stephen Warnock is being touted as the answer to the England left back problem. The Villa defender almost certainly doesn't shag his team mates' partners or share exotic photos on his mobile. However, since he breaks the same leg every three months, the chances of him lasting a full season are slim. Not so, says Stilian Petrov, who doesn't think any of this matters.

Il "caso Terry" e la scappatella con l'ex compagna di Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel, continua a imperversare nello spogliatoio dell'Inghilterra.
Clamorosa la decisione di Wayne Bridge. Il difensore ha deciso di lasciare la nazionale in seguito allo scandalo sessuale perchè sarebbe "insostenibile e potenziale causa di divisioni".

A massive game this round at the Bridge, with mid-week UCL struggles Chelsea up against mid-week FA Cup flops Man City. Another slip up by the Blues will see United and Arsenal back in contention for the title, whereas a win for City could lock in fourth spot as Tottenham host an in form Everton... [.

photo credit: Daadi

Chelsea-Manchester City

The Bridge-Terry debate has heated up a bit this week with Bridge claiming that he will not play for England this summer and tomorrow many critics are already debating if the two men will be civil and shake hands.

We've all been there; two mates arguing over the same woman, or maybe seeing the same woman, or even worse, diddling the same woman. Everybody pretends that it's all fine and everybody are mates after all and it's a wonderful sentiment to... Read more

I have just been reading this piece written by Stan Collymore (who as we all know has had it his own domestic issues during his playing career) and was wondering who thinks the same or who thinks that maybe JT should sit out Wednesday's England game against Egypt at Wembley?.
Don't get me wrong fellow blues.

After yesterday's nice news, its a return to the norm today, as the FA have discovered that a bugged conversation between Fabio Capello and his players before England's win against Egypt last week was offered to the press. The FA have warned the press that it would illegal for them to publish the material as it was gained via illicit means.

When he first arrived, he was hailed as the man who would sort it out. he had an impressive record, getting silverware with all four of his clubs. He was the disciplinarian, slightly old-fashioned, but he got things done. Not to mention, his fancy specs scream authoritarian. But recently, things seem to be getting a little out of control.

Chelsea beat West Ham 4-1 at the Bridge on Saturday with goals from Alex, Didier Drogba (2) and Florent Malouda. Drogba will grab some headlines with this double strike but it was Florent Malouda and his fantastic performance that earned a standing ovation from the Chelsea fans.
Malouda ran the show on Saturday, had plenty of the ball and although he scored he had a part to play in two of the other goals with sublime crosses for Alex to head home in the first half to put us 1-0 up and Didier Drogba header at the far post from point blank range after another superb Malouda cross.

Downham Town 0 March Town United 3 - Eastern Counties League, Division One
Eastern Counties League
Downham Market, also known simply as Downham, is a town Norfolk. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, south of the town of King's Lynn, west of Norwich and north of Cambridge.

Por Sebastián Dulbeca
Minuto taitantos de un Cazalilla-Útica de juveniles en la Regional jiennense. Quien esto escribe se dirige al córner para lo obvio cuando el árbitro detiene el juego a instancias de un sector del público. El motivo: se rifan unos conejos y el hombre de negro es solicitado a viva voz como mano inocente.

There have been some news out of Haitian football in the past week, which will require a couple of posts. Here is the first one. The FHF has announced the return of the Haitian Cup (Coupe d'Haiti) as a bridge between the current football season and the next one. The tournament starts 21 April with 32 teams from the top two divisions in eight groups of four.

A Paul Scholes header in the third minute of stoppage time handed Manchester United a precious 1-0 victory over fierce rivals Manchester City at Eastlands. The veteran midfielder marked the signing...
Continue to the full story

I believe 'the Art of Coaching' comes down to three areas- tactics (creating an on-field plan), player identification (assessing & acquiring players to implement that plan), and man-management (the ability to convey that plan to your players, & have them believe).
Jose Mourinho's recent performance in the UEFA Champions League, masterminding victory for Inter Milan over Barcelona, has magnified his mastery of 'the Art of Coaching' in each of those areas.