On the move???
After a World Cup campaign filled with headline grabbing drama, some U.S. internationals are being linked to interesting transfers. Here are a few that have (Gerard) Piqued my interest.
Clint Dempsey to a big European club (maybe Milan??). A move away from Fulham could take a cheap but productive FPL player off the table.

After getting attacked outside a bank by angry Palmeiras fans back in December, Vagner Love was released from his loan with the club and has now joined Flamengo on a temporary basis from CSKA Moscow.

Love called the move "the dream of a lifetime" and, as you can see, he wasn't just being nice.

As much as I love Barcelona defender and team captain, Carles Puyol, we had to post this. It kinda looks like the Spaniard is coming onto Athletic Bilbao's Javier Martinez... You know, an occasional pat on the butt is fine, but cupping it is another story.

Image Source

Butt's Brain on a Monday... Is Arsenal's midfield depth the best in the world? [Goal] Tottenham fantasy stud Rafal van der Vaart has an injured hamstring [Telegraph] AFR's 3rd ever podcast is out [A Football Report] Belgian player tosses duck ... Continue reading →

KARA are a popular girl group from South Korea. Their song 'Mister', which they performed here at a footy game (in Korea?), features a lot of suggestive butt dancing. Good.

As for the subtitled lyrics, although the English translation makes perfect sense, especially the line about "cute chubby Frank mister", I strongly suspect 'tis a piss-take.

This is the first of two consecutive weeks in which we expect the rankings to go through some massive changes. Don't be scared, it happens every year. After the completion of five match days in each league, the previous season's numbers are dropped from the calculations. Recall, last week, we saw the changes happen in Ligue Un.

Hola amigos! Burrito get the biggest interview of his career as a soccer blogging dawg! Si, this is an interview with the one and only Mister Fake David Beckham! Burrito ax him about Futbol, Mexican food, underwear, and if it really hurt to be so pretty. But most important, if he really want to bring MLS back to South Florida.

Butt's Brain on a Monday...

• Czech pub footy is brutal [A Football Report]

• David Beckham escapes LA for Milan... in his own words [Dirty Tackle]

• Mediocre Voronin and mediocre Dossena leave Liverpool, but who will replace them at Anfield? [Football Corner]

• What leagues are the best in the world?

I'm sure I will be met with many in agreement when I say that right now, our main problem is in the middle of the park. It's a position that blights us in my opinion, filled with high earners and also very over-subscribed. As it stands right now, we have Nicky Butt, Alan Smith, Kevin [...]

"Football, f*****g hell" was all Sir Alex Ferguson could say after the Nou Camp miracle back in 1999 and he must be saying the same thing now after Bayern Munich came back from the dead to eliminate...
Continue to the full story

Nicky Butt will leave Newcastle in June when his contract runs out at the Tyneside club. Nicky Butt fell in love with Newcastle And Nicky has said some good things about the club and the City after he announced he was leaving last Friday. In fact Nicky has waxed lyrical about everything Newcastle.

Chris Hughton has been interviewed in the Evening Chronicle today, and he seems to add to what he had said yesterday that he doesn't see a lot of new players arriving over the summer. Chris Hughton only a few new faces this summer Fabrice Pancrate has left the club and Nicky Butt has announced he [.

Ihm ist nichts vorzuwerfen, er hat Jörg Butt wieder zum Nationalspieler gemacht. Deswegen bleibt er bei uns...

Christian Nerlinger, Sportdirektor des FC Bayern München, kommentiert die Zurückversetzung von Torwarttrainer Walter Junghans.

Any Manchester United fan over the age of 25 is bound to have fond memories of the man who was an ever present in the team which brought the first League title back to Old Trafford since 1967 in the...
Continue to the full story

A bit of what's going on in Butt's Brain today as we bring you news and links from around the footie web. Mark Schwarzer is set for his switch to Arsenal. The Fulham 'keeper reportedly failed a medical last week ... Continue reading →

The best South American goalkeeper in the past 25 years according to Diario Vanguardia, Jose Luis Chilavert had a fight in an airport with a homeboy that owed him moneys!
Chilavert said Argentine Pablo Martín Seijas, a soccer agent, owed him mucho dinero! So he went to get his loot pero Pablo tell him he is a "Starving Paraguayan player!

A bit of what's going on in Butt's Brain as West Ham dominated Manchester United in a 4-0 Carling Cup win yesterday, just days after United had beaten Blackburn 7-1. Amazing. West Ham's faith in Avram Grant is beginning to ... Continue reading →

The man who will neutralize Cesc Fabregas today, Javier Mascherano
Butt's Brain this week from around the footie world wide web:

• Exceptional goals of the year so far [A Football Report]

• Very interesting theory - is Shay Given NOT a good goalkeeper? [Football Corner]

• Valencia defender Miguel mocks his coach from the bench [Off the Post]

• Wigan have a new midfield star, and he's only 4.

I'll say this about deciding not to pursue a State Badge, it makes everything a lot easier, even if you have what some people would be a "bad game." There's no worry about things carrying over and hurting my chances - because frankly it just doesn't matter. I'll work my butt off and put in the best game I can, try to be better, and screw the non-referee opinions.

We're not sure what the status is with Newcastle's on-loan player from QPR Fitz Hall. Fitz Hall is he staying at Newcastle Newcastle manager Chris Hughton has said that the only two senior players leaving Newcastle this summer are Nicky Butt and Fabrice Pancrate, and that he wants to keep everybody else.

What Should Cesc do first: Get a haircut or move to Barcelona?
Butt's Brain - aggregating some interesting footie links from around the web for your consumption and pleasure:

• Brazil vs Argentina: The greatest rivalry [A Football Report]

• Three words to sum up Cesc Fabregas [Football Corner]

• Clint Dempsey's wife is a WAG.

News today in the Sun, that Preston North End manager Darren Ferguson may be interested in Nicky Butt. Nicky Butt - as Newcastle captain The Newcastle United midfielder's contract will not be renewed at the end of June, and Nicky will become a free agent, if indeed he wants to remain playing football at 35 he'll [.

Schoolboy humour from South Africa 1. Hans Joerg Butt 2. Marc Planus 3. Waldo Ponce 4. Danny Shittu 5. Gaetan Bong 6. Habib Bellaid 7. Kagisho Dikgacoi 8. Shane Smeltz 9. Kum Il Kim 10. Nwankwo Kanu

We are finally to the final two groups. I just watched the final match of the second set of matches on the jumbo screens at the Bernabeu (¡Vemos España!) and I've taken a look at the final sets of scenarios. Group G is relatively simple. As it turns out, Group H is more simple than most 6-3-3-0 groups would be because tiebreakers have necessarily been determined in some circumstances.

The captains armband is up for grabs at the minute after being left vacant by the now departed Nicky Butt, but who, in your opinion, is the most deserving and most likely candidate for the role next season? Newcastle are kind of lucky in that regard as we have a lot of players who have played [...]

Newcastle manager still has to decide who he wants to be Newcastle United captain next season. Kevin Nolan would be popular Newcastle captain Meanwhile Hughton will decide who his captain will be at next week's pre-season training program. Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan are prime candidates for the job, but Hughton said: "Nicky Butt has gone now and the [.

Another round of the World Cup completed, another butt-kicking laid out by Germany and another move up the rankings for Bayern Munich. Okay, not a real "move-up" since it already was number one in the Fantasy World Cup Club rankings, but it solidified that ranking by picking up more points than any other club this week, 31.

Of course, as you certainly are aware, this post really isn't "breaking news," the day after Spain win the World Cup.
But to us lovers of fantasy football - those "math geeks," statistics nerds, tactical geniuses (and dunces) at this fantasy premier league blog it certainly is breaking news.

Tim Howard, doing his best Bob Bradley face / impression
A bit of what's going on in Butt's Brain as we say "farewell" to the World Cup and "hello" to the Premier League:

• Cesc Fabregas is an Arsenal player and he is proud to be one [A Football Report]

• Former Arsenal stud Thierry Henry is set to join the NY Red Bulls [Miami Herald]

• Don't expect to follow Manchester United's new signing on Twitter [Off the Post]

• 2010 World Cup shooting statistics.

Here we go. Back for another season of statistics, gut instinct, transfer toomfoolery, incredible vision, and oh yeah, a little bit of luck. It's the Fantasy Premier League at Never Captain Nicky Butt. For those of you that are new ... Continue reading →

Today we've learned that Kei Kamara was not the only player called up to represent his national team in the upcoming international break next weekend. Shavar Thomas has been called up by the Jamaican national team for their games on September 5th against Costa Rica and September 7th against Peru. The good news for the Wizards is that Thomas will not miss the Wizards game on September 4th against Philadelphia.

After a few months on the job,TF3 friend, Bayern Munich goalkeeper coach, and assistant to Louis van Gaal, is implementing his time-tested training methods with the 1st team goalkeepers. Says Jorg Butt, BM first string keeper: "...Hoek focuses on these very attributes in daily training. "Training with him is very like being in a match.

By WAG Watcher

Sexist new quiz alert!

Which WAG's butt are you staring intently at? No clue this week you're on your own. Answers in the usual place.

Last week's arse:

...

It's Zaira Nara, Argentine model and WAG of Uruguay goal machine/Sally Gunnell lookalike Diego Forlan.

Fratton Park is not a happy place
A bit of Butt's Brain on a Wednesday morning...

• Portsmouth missed paying its players again, and player morale is at an all time low. Can anything save Pompey from the drop? [Tribal Football]

• Speaking of the drop, it looks like Phil Brown still has a chance to keep Hull up, as Freddy Adu will join Greek side Aris rather than Hull on loan as expected [CBS Sports]

• Clint Dempsey's spectacular strike vs Stoke yesterday.

Butt's Brain on a Monday...

• Altidore urges you to support Haiti, via our buddies at A Football Report [A Football Report]

• USMNT star Clint Dempsey set for a long spell on the sidelines with a knee injury [TSN]

• Will Manchester City become "bigger" than United?

You really can't accuse NAC Breda's Ellery Cairo of getting a cheap goal in his side's 1-1 draw with Ajax on Sunday. As you can see at the start of the video above, Cairo found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper after an NAC breakaway. The keeper got the best of him on his sliding shot, but Cairo's teammate quickly crossed the ball back to him just as he got his feet.

He always had potential, but this year he is finally a STUD
What's going on in Butt's Brain this week from around the footie landscape...

• The best assists of the week [A Football Report]

• Liverpool turn their season around? Probably not - as we all know Spurs are always terrible versus the top sides [Football Corner]

• Serie A mid-season table and top goal-scorers list [In the Stands]

• If the ManCity - ManUtd Carling Cup clash continued.

Ich bin fast 15 Jahre im Profigeschäft und habe in der Zeit vielleicht zwei oder drei Spiele verletzungsbedingt nicht spielen können. Das ist wichtig. Ich fühle mich topfit, was in meinem Pass steht ist nicht wichtig.

Hans-Jörg Butt, Torwart des FC Bayern München, über die Diskussion, ob der deutsche Rekordmeister einen neuen jüngeren Torwart verpflichten sollte.

September 1998 Diadora ad
The good old days
A quick Happy Birthday to the namesake of our blog, the uber-defensive of defensive midfielders, and the greatest player at the 2002 World Cup - Nicky Butt.
He hasn't scored a goal for Newcastle since the 2007-2008 season, but we love him nonetheless.

Utaka has failed to live up to his reputation thus far in England
A bit of what's in Butt's Brain today...

• We put John Utaka in our starting lineup as a striker for our Fantasy Premier League "Best Eleven" selection this week. He rewarded us with 8 points - his highest output of the season by far.