We continue our series of historical videos of the clubs of the Football League Championship
this morning with Birmingham City, and six matches from the years between 1975 and 2007. Our first
match is a trip to Hillsborough for an FA Cup semi-final against Fulham in 1975, and our second
match is from the following year, a trip to Filbert Street to play Leicester City in a league match
from December 1976 which features a devastating performance from Kenny Burns.
As the statue of Sir Bobby Moore looks on, London burns in the distance behind a desolate
Wembley Stadium. The scenes across England this week have been devastating and
surreal. These images have brought to mind the sectarian unrest I witnessed as a child
when the IRA and Loyalists committed weekly acts of bloodshed.
Gaven, Rogers, Burns & Ekpo Out Of Contract With Crew
Now, this doesn't mean they are free agents within MLS. The rights issues are fairly complex. If
the Crew don't want one back, but MLS reaches a contract agreement the players would be available
in the Re-Entry Draft. Their rights would also be availabe via trade.
So, I know its a bit late, but I figured I'd get a short review of the season up (even though
its a season, one of many, that I would ultimately like to forget about)..
I guess it would be most appropriate to start from the beginning though in all honesty, I can
barely remember much from the first half of the season!
Nacho Scocco came on as a sub and won the game for AEK with a header from close range,after a
sublime ball by another sub Geriero found him,for once,unmarked.
Jimenez rested many players with the midweek cup match at Toumba in mind.Saja still started in
goal,and honestly was a spectator for most of the match.
I seriously wonder sometimes... if it wasn't for what our badge stands for and some of the
legends that have worn our shirt, why would any of us bother even paying the slightest attention to
this joke of a league. I'm referring specifically to yesterday's derby between Oly and PAO though
also our match today as well as yesterday's match between Tripolis and Kerkyra.
The roller coaster ride that has been AEK this season continues yet again, this time as a result
of a 2-1 home loss to Aris (only the 3rd time Aris has beaten us at home).
It wasn't all bad for me personally as I felt there were some positives to take from the game
including some nice football we were playing, particularly in the first half.
Europe is over for us once again yet things could have so easily gone the other way!
We played a well fought match and the passion was very obviously there from our players.
Throughout the entire first half they pressured and never gave up chasing the ball. Our passing was
smooth, players looked calm and collected when under pressure in the attack, and things really were
going well for us for the first 40 minutes or so.
Things are not looking very good for us at halftime. Still 0-0, but Atromitos was stronger the
first half. We let them come too much. Not that there have been many chances, but they had too much
possession, so that we never got to play our own game. Blanco very lonely up front, but looking
sharp. Jimenez responded by bringing Burns for Guerreiro in the 30th minute, trying to bring more
strenght in our offense.
AEK has left Athens bound for Croatia to take in Hajduk Split in the 5th match of the Europa Cup
Group Stage.The team should be on a 'high' after that tremendous victory over our rivals on
Saturday night.Nothing less than a draw is needed heading into the last game against Zenit.
Jimenez has announced a 20 man sqaud to choose
from:-Saja,Arambatzis,Nasuti,Manolas,Jahic,Leonardo,Dadomo,
Makos,Karabelas,Argyriou,Blanco,Lagos,Papa
Boupa,Burns,Georgeas,Scocco,Liberopoulos,Dellas,Gentzoglou,and youngster Froxilias.
How sweet it feels once again.An Ismael Blanco tap in from 2 yds out in stoppage time after
brilliant lead up work by Papa Boupa Diop,both late substitutes,was enough for the Enosi to earn
maximum points at the Oaka on Saturday night.
Jimenez,who is now 2 from 2 in the major derbies,chose to again change the lineup,and for the first
45 minutes,it was mainly AEK applying most of the pressure.
Exactly the kind of result I was expecting. Disappointing to say the least, almost repulsive at
times. Our team showed very little will to win, no hunger for any from of result. It is clear that
everyone out their needs to wake up, and soon. We have a great coach leading us but with the way
things are not even Mourinho could get much out of these guys if they don't put in the effort
required.
First, some good news. We started the match brightly, played some really nice football,
controlled the middle, maintained possession, and even developed some nice through balls after a
series of one touch passing. It was fun to watch, heartening really. We lined up in a 4-3-3
like this:
Tomorrow will be Jimenez' first test, and it comes at a pretty critical time. Playing Aris away
is NEVER an easy outing. We need the three points more than anything else right
now and, though it's still early, I hope the team and staff is ready. Libe will miss this one due
to injury, and it sounds like Eder may get the start over Burns (I've liked what Burns has done for
us so far but I wouldn't mind seeing Eder get some time considering how promising he looked during
pre-season friendlies).
Message from editor: The grass v turf debate was sparked again. This take sums up positions
I've stated many times, so rather than write more, I'll just frontpage this. Also, I have a
computer again, so regular posting will return shortly. - Dave
Dear national soccer writer,
Thanks for weighing in with your opinion on the state of the pitch at Century Link Field.
Roberto Mancini channels his inner Muhammad Ali on someone who can't even drive a car straight,
doesn't know how to put on a bib, and burns down his own house.
Steve McLaren, 30 August, 2011: "What happens over the next few days will decide whether we can win
promotion or not. Absolutely it will, without a shadow of a doubt. What we do now, over the next
few days, will determine whether we are good enough to challenge or whether we are scrapping to get
into the play-offs.
It's not often that we'll talk about a tragedy in another sport, but this is just sad. Yahoo Sports
is reporting that en route to a Kontinental Hockey League match, all but one of the 1st team of
Russian club Lokomotiv were killed in a horrific plane crash. The surviving member, Alexander
Gamilov, is currently in intensive care with burns covering 80% of his body.
I want to take this opportunity to inform our newest readers that not only can this site be
blunt at times, but there may be sparse usage of profanity as well.
I'm certain some people find this outrageous or just off-putting and that's ok. This is simply
my way of saying this blog is probably not for you, and it might be best to unsubscribe.
Rob Kinnan PhotographyI wrote a much longer article on the Railhawks recent win here. Still after
watching the recent victory by the Carolina Railhawks over FC Tampa Bay, a few things stay on my
mind.
Etienne Barbara is on fire. He cannot be stopped at the moment. His goal scoring and his assists
are a byproduct of his attitude though.
GoalkeeperColin Burns says he is settling in nicely with Norwegian 1. Division club Sandefjord and
expects to be part of a promotion race for the second consecutive year.
BURLINGTON, NC An entire soccer field IN Burlington, North Carolina was scorched Sunday afternoon
from a grass fire set by model rockets. Captain Blair Keck of the Burlington Fire Department said
the call came in at 1:18 p.m. and it took the 12 personnel about 20 minutes to get the fire at 3715
Rural [.
Continuing some of my stat updating before tomorrow's opener for India in the Asian Cup, here's an
updated list of Wizards/Sporting KC players and the number of caps they have for their national
teams.
USA
Tony Meola - 100
Alexi Lalas - 96 - 9
Chris Henderson - 79 - 3
Mike Burns - 75
Peter Vermes - 67 - 11
Mike Sorber - 67 - 2
Josh Wolff - 52 - 9
Brian Bliss - 44 - 2
Eddie Johnson - 42 - 12
Frank Klopas - 40 - 12
Roy Lassister - 30 - 4
Eric Eichman - 29 - 4
Preki - 28 - 4
Jimmy Conrad - 28 - 1
Mark Chung - 24 - 2
Chris Klein - 22 - 5
Kerry Zavagnin - 21
Mark Santel - 8 - 1
Herculez Gomez - 8 - 2
Davy Arnaud - 7 - 1
John Diffley - 7
John DeBrito - 6
Nick Garcia - 6
Yari Allnut - 5 - 2
Kevin Hartman - 5
Sasha Victorine - 4 - 1
Steve Pittman - 3
Matt McKeon - 2
Alan Prampin - 2
Ken Snow - 2
Diego Gutierrez - 1
Curt Onalfo - 1
Teal Bunbury - 1
What follows is a list of the men who have played the most games in the MLS regular season without
playing in an MLS Cup, updated through the 2010 season.
With Jeff Cunningham relinquishing the top spot this past weekend, Jason Kreis returns to the top
of the list. Pablo Mastroeni also played in the MLS Cup and is out of the top five.
If not for Crusaders' Jordan Owens (34'), the match could have been even more lopsided.
Two early goals from forward Mark McAllister (3' and 18') saw Linfield, Northern Ireland's
most elite football program, quickly open up the lead.
Only six minutes later "Big" Jim Ervin (24') made it three to zero but the scoresheet was to
be edited two more times before the end of the half as Curtis Allen scored in the 34th
minute and Peter Thompson added a 45th-minute goal.
Mihajlovic from the press room of the Ferraris stadium in Genoa after the final moments 1-2 defeat
to Sampdoria Sunday: "Understandable physical decline with many players who have played their
natural role because of injuries. The defeat burns but from tomorrow we must begin to think our way
out of this situation.
BURNS 21´ (0-1), NYASSI 36´ (1-1), NYASSI 66´(2-1). Con dos goles de Sanna NYASSI Los Sounders
FC vencieron al Columbus Crew 2-1 para retener el título de la US Open Cup. Ante 31,311 fanáticos
en el Qwest Field, una entrada récord para una final, Los Sounders FC se convierten en el primer
equipo en ganar [.
