As Robbie Savage laments (on a daily basis, I might add) players below the top four are not given enough credit. Well, we will aim to rectify that by celebrating the talent of those who are, let's face it, unlikely to win anything except the odd match and maybe a player of the Year award at their prospective club.

::: FistedAway today welcomes a guest post from Elliott, editor of the rather lovely Futfanatico :::

For the past decade, two midfielders have owned the centre of the park for the Three Lions: Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and Frank Lampard of Chelsea. For years, fans have watched these two players make the same run, step on one another's toes, lazily expect the other to tackle, fail to beat up men and pass to the other team.

Who would have thought that Swansea at home this Saturday would be such a pivotal game in the Arsenal's Premier League campaign? Not this subscriber, that's for sure. You see, I saw the season thus far panning out like this; Geordies away, three points, nae messin', man.

Bin-dippers at home?

Massimo Moratti: Whither my next coach?

With Leonardo's exit, the Inter coaching job has opened up. So far their search has foundered.

Andre Villas- Boas is Chelsea bound. Fabio Capello's son confirms Inter made an approach for the England manager but he's bound to the FA.

I don't think anyone who has seen Jack Wilshere play doubts his talent. Even anti-Arsenal hacks and pundits, and purveyors of ignorant, spiteful opinions in the Arsenalsphere rave about the youngster. From football legends like Wenger and Capello to common fans like this blogger, everyone has lavished undiluted praise on the next great English hope ever since he was a schoolboy.

It is very difficult, as an Englishman, not to get carried away when assessing Jack Wilshire's performance in Arsenal's first leg victory over Barcelona. The 19 year-old showed composure, skill, tenacity, technical brilliance and did I mention composure to rival that of the man he was playing opposite, Xavi Hernandez.

Capello's Umbrella Moment Looms After Selection Folly - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Fabio Capello earns 6 million pounds a year. That's £500,000 a month, over £115,000 a week and nearly £16,500 a day. There were nearly 85,000 people at Wembley on Saturday to watch England's lacklustre performance in their 2-2 draw with Switzerland, and the majority of them could only dream of earning in a year what Capello earns in a week.

Sandro Rosell: "Fab is not so fab, so lets fob you off"

Cesc Fabregas has been downgraded by his boyhood club. He should come cheaper as per Sandro Rosell after 'wear and tear'. A football Moody's rating if you must. By the way where did that Capello Index go?

This really should be seen as an insult more so as Barca announced on the same day their serious interest in landing Alexis Sanchez, the Udinese striker who will cost them a pretty packet.

By Chris Wright

Whereas it's easy to dismiss them as being futile exhibitions of nothing in particular, international friendlies do serve a purpose they provide a platform for experimentation in a competitive (if not by name) atmosphere, and afford national managers the stage to tinker with the personnel at their disposal with the safety net of being assured that the outcome will be completely non-decisive.

England fans are a bunch of supporters who don't turn their noses up at friendly victories over apparently lesser sides in world football such as Denmark. After all, we can't really afford to do that after the general misery and frustration, not to mention lack of success, of the past four years or so.

Kenny Dalglish has warned Fabio Capello that he needs to "be responsible" in not relying on Andy Carroll for England's internationals against Wales and Ghana.
Carroll has only just returned to fitness, and made his first Liverpool start on Thursday after suffering a thigh injury before he signed for £35 million in January.

This Sunday SSN broke the story of John Terry being reinstated as England captain. Terry was stripped of his captaincy nearly a year ago for hiding the sausage with England team mate Wayne Bridge's misses. Capello thinks that a year off at captain is sufficient punishment.

Of the hopeless ego maniacs who fail to lead our great nation, John Terry probably is the most natural leader of the pack.

How funny was that, watching England scrape a 2-2 draw against the Swiss yesterday? Dreadful defending by England to give away two free kicks Scott Parker and Frank Lampard obliged - that were neatly converted when the England centre-backs failed to do their jobs and allowed Switzerland two goals inside 35 minutes.

Caught me by surprise as I did not expect the announcement to this weekend, but Inter have today named Gian Piero Gasperini as its new coach. Gasperini has signed a two-year contract.

Gasperini, 53, led Genoa to promotion from the second division in 2007 and qualification for the Europa League with a fifth-place finish in Serie A in 2009.

Capello set to snub England's kids

Old heads likely to face Dutch as boss eyes vital qualifiers

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-08-05 21:59:41 from: The Mirror

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

Barton: I can prove to Capello I am good enough

"My goal is to get in that Euro 2012 squad and the team for the Olympics" says the Newcastle midfielder

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-08-07 21:55:09 from: The Mirror

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

England football and cricket teams caught up in riots

England's football and cricket teams both found themselves caught up in Britain's riot madness. Fabio Capello's men are due to play Holland in a friendly at Wembley.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-08-09 07:48:37 from: The Mail

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

Why Sven Goran Eriksson really does have a chance of replacing Capello as England boss

When he said it a few days ago it sounded like arrant nonsense. After all, Sven Goran ­Eriksson's departure from the England job at his final press conference in Baden Baden five years ago saw most of the country glad to see the back of him.

A brief synopsis of the latest injury chatter heading into the curtain-rasier this weekend (provided the riots don't prevent it from happening). More after the jump.

In Doubt?

So if we're lucky to get some footy this weekend, we may well be in a bit of a bind with some injuries key members of our squad are carrying.

Roy Hodgson: Liverpool revolt was a lesson

Roy Hodgson has said he would consider succeeding Fabio Capello as England manager but only if he felt he had the backing of the fans.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-08-11 22:04:19 from: The Mail

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

Pipita Scored and Kaka had another good game. Great Signs ‘Assumptions are the mother of all Fuckups!' – I once heard my brother (who's an associate Regional Director of a Fortune 500 Company) scold one of his subordinates. Filipinos have a similar adage: ‘Maraming Namatay sa Maling Akala' (Many have died from the wrong assumptions), I was often told when I was young.

Despite being a 7 million pound bench warmer in a painfully thin squad, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has bagged himself a fine looking lady who does by the name of Izabel Goulart. Izabel Goulart is a Brazilian model best known as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels since 2005. Most recently, she has also headed the Armani Exchange and was ranked number 100 in FHM magazine's [.

Lo publicó El Diario de Hoy y también lo comentó Carlos Aranzamendi en Fútbol de Primera, el nombre del mexicano Mario Carrillo suena para El Salvador. "Capello", como lo llaman sus íntimos, pasa a integrar la lista de candidatos, aunque las posibilidades son mínimas. El técnico, quien fue ayudante del Vasco Aguirre en el último [.

Wolverhampton Wanderers host Manchester United on the back of an away defeat to Bolton on Tuesday when a disastrous Ronald Zubar back pass allowed Daniel Sturridge to steal a 93rd minute winner at...
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It's great to see Jack Wilshere being praised by the England manager Fabio Capello and it will be interesting to see how the side play against England with Wilshere being employed in a key position in front of the back four. Although this is only a friendly game it will be Wilshere's first full start for the team and he will work hard to repay Capello's faith in him.

In international week Fabio Capello has once again made himself a sitting duck for the British media. A press pack that are renowned for not needing an excuse to lay in to the England boss. But does that mean you should care as the Head Coach? Should any of your decisions be dictated by how the media will react?

- It seems that every week Mario Balotelli is appearing in the English press for all the wrong reasons and this week has been no different. It emerged that officials at Manchester City had to speak to the 20 year old striker after it was revealed that he had been caught throwing darts at youth [...]

According to news reports on Irish radio this morning the FAI have secured a glamour friendly game against England in February 2012. It was reported last December that the FAI were in talks with the English Football Association to secure a friendly international between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium in June next year, however due to fixture congestion in June the game is being planned for late February.

England fell behind 2-0 to Switzerland before recovering to draw the match at Wembley. Luckily for England, Montenegro were held 1-1 by Bulgaria so both sides remain level at the top of Group G, six points ahead of Switzerland.

Switzerland, needed a win if they were to have any hope of reaching Euro 2012m and they came out and attacked England from the opening whistle.

England fell behind 2-0 to Switzerland before recovering to draw the match at Wembley. Luckily for England, Montenegro were held 1-1 by Bulgaria so both sides remain level at the top of Group G, six points ahead of Switzerland.

Switzerland, needed a win if they were to have any hope of reaching Euro 2012m and they came out and attacked England from the opening whistle.

I'm glad I don't write about England. You'd smell the apathy the second you clicked the link. I do, for my sins, still watch them when I can. Sometimes that's as much to see other talents in action as much as it is England. On Saturday, it was for Xhaka and Shaqiri mainly. They along with Inler and especially Barnetta lived up to their hype.

With England's depressing draw and the United States' drubbing at the hands of Spain, the detractors for both managers have come out in full force once again. Fabio Capello has long been the target of the English media ever since the World Cup last...
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Regular guest blogger Richard Smith doesn't pull any punches with his appraisal the current state of the senior squad we'll have a preview of the Under 21s posted on Saturday morning.

The situation in the England football camp appears to be worsening by the day with manager, Fabio Capello, coming under increasing pressure, more so than he has ever known before.

Dopo le tante voci sui nomi (Bielsa, Mihajlovic, Villas Boas, Capello etc...) papabili per la panchina nerazzurra, ora c'è un nome certo ed ufficiale. L'ex allenatore del Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, 53enne torinese di Grugliasco, è il nuovo tecnico dell'Inter. Prende il posto di Leonardo, volato in Francia, al Psg, in qualit di Direttore Sportivo [.

Every month or so FIFA release a ranking of all the national teams in the world. The rankings are widely mocked for their inaccurate representation of the relative qualities of international sides, but is this fair?

Fans and journalists alike mocked England's recent position of fourth in the rankings.

David Beckham baby daughter's name- Harper Seven Beckham is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

David Beckham baby daughter's name- Harper Seven Beckham is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter David and Victoria Beckham's first baby daughter's name has been kept Harper Seven.

Stewart Downing is the second in our series of transfers that will benefit the England national team and here is why... By adding another string to his bow in recent times by playing a more central role, Downing has enjoyed good form during his tenure at Aston Villa. The Middlesbrough born England international joined Liverpool [.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned Fabio Capello that Jack Wilshere will not be allowed to play in England's friendly against Holland on Wednesday.

The squad inclusion of the midfielder already the subject of a club-versus-country row at Under 21 level this summer came despite him missing the Gunners' pre-season defeat to Benfica on Saturday night with an ankle problem.

Capello gets tough with clubs over pull-outs

Wilshere and Carrick forced to turn up as England boss shows he's no lame duck

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-08-08 21:59:00 from: The Mirror

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

BBC Sport Frank Lampard pulls out of England squad due to illness.

Let me start by explaining that I am not, and never have been , a Frank Lampard fan. I think he's overrated, a horrible ball striker, and without a level of talent that allows him to play the position for his club and country.