My first visit to White Hart Lane came in February 2001. It was an FA Cup Fifth Round tie against Stockport County. My uncle had driven up from Southampton on the morning of the game and surprised me with a ticket.

I fell in love with the stadium and the atmosphere. I loved being part of the crowd and watching Spurs easily dispose of the opposition as they won 4-0.

Egyptian soccer is in chaos, mirroring what that country is going through. The Egyptian prime minister dissolved the Egyptian Football Federation, Port Said's governor and police chief were sacked, and the Muslim Brotherhood launched a scathing attack on the Interior ministry, deeming it responsible for the violent Port Said clashes that left 74 dead and scores injured.

By Chris Wright

This is a real stinker to start the morning but, as was reported at half-time during last night's Final Score, 74 people are known to have died and at least 1,000 have been injured in a mass pitch invasion during the Egyptian league game between rival sides Al-Masry and Al Ahli in the city of Port Said.

It seems that a lot of people are not talking about football these days. Whether it be racism, gayism (ok not sure if that's an actual word) or other outrageous incidents not even related to the beautiful game. Here are a few things which I think should be brought back/or removed to help bring the English game back to the glory days of the 90s.

What a rough week I have had. My week was similar to Arsenals current form, depressing. Well screw all that, we still had a great week of football. So let me give you a slightly over the top review of the week that wasn't:

Arsenal

It was another dramatic week for the Gunners.

Former Arsenal manager George Graham (1986-1995) said the Gunners starting 11 are good enough to beat anybody when they're healthy, but once the club has to dip into its squad it struggles. Graham told James Olley of the London Evening Standard that If the team happens to finish in the top four this season and makes it to the Champion League it'll be one of Arsene Wenger's greatest accomplishments.

The magic of the FA Cup. The combined furor of two players and thus two clubs and two sets of support groups embroiled in an alleged race row.

And, of course, handshake gate revisited.

Not again

Saturday's FA Cup fixture between visiting Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road is brimmed with subplots.

Arsene Wenger has said that he can take criticism from his own fans as the club heads into the business end of the 2011/12 season.

Last weekend, Arsenal once again lost to bitter rivals Manchester United by a scoreline of 2-1, which was their third consecutive league defeat. Wenger infamously substituted impressive Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with severely out-of-form Andrey Arshavin in the second half of the match.

As if today's disappointing result wasn't enough to elicit anger, we now have news that a section of Chelsea supporters were reported to authorities after allegedly making racist remarks about Anton Ferdinand as they were traveling back from Norfolk via train.

Chelsea Football Club is concerned to hear that a small number of fans travelling back by train from Norwich were alleged to be involved in racist chants and comment.

I said on here that I would take a win before the game no matter how well or bad we played in this one and as I sat on the tube going home I was relieved. Chelsea at times played well but again found ourselves exposed by in form Sunderland and if the likes of McLean and Bendtner had taken their chances, it could have been a very different story.

Guardian: Liverpool and Manchester United to hold peace talks before FA Cup game

• Relations currently strained between Liverpool and United • John Terry could face Anton Ferdinand if Chelsea meet QPR Manchester United and Liverpool will hold peace talks over the next few weeks after being paired together in an FA Cup fourth-round draw that also throws up the possibility of John Terry's Chelsea playing at Queens Park Rangers only a few days before his court appearance for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

Goal: Liverpool working with Merseyside Police following claims of racist abuse towards Oldham's Tom Adeyemi

The club have called on fans to help with the ongoing investigation, following reports of racist chants directed towards the 20-year-old during the FA Cup tie at Anfield on Friday

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-07 21:15:00 from: Goal

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

Barnsley reject claims fans taunted Billy Sharp with chants about dead son

Tykes director Don Rowing has blamed "mindless mischief-makers" for posting the allegations on Twitter

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2012-01-03 11:26:24 from: The Mirror

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

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was the centre of attention after receiving his eight-match ban but the Uruguay international cut a frustrated figure as his side were held to a goalless draw at Wigan.
Perhaps understandably the Reds' top scorer, playing just 24 hours after learning of the lengthy suspension handed down by the Football Association, faded as the game wore on.

Kenny Dalglish insists Luis Suarez has never been a disappointment for Liverpool, as the storm of controversy continues to surround the striker.
The Uruguayan started his club's 0-0 draw at Wigan on Wednesday less than 24 hours after being hit with a Football Association ban of eight matches and a fine of £40,000 for allegedly racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

1. We were desperately hoping that Steve Kean was going to sit down on the grass during the Stand Up If You Want Kean Out chants. 2. It took seeing how good a hereto hopeless Bolton side to realise precisely how bad Blackburn are at the minute. 3. On a night when the two Lancashire [...]

1. Wayne Rooney's hair transplant was definitely worth it. His new quiff got the ball rolling for Manchester United in their match against QPR. 2. The QPR supporters' "Warnock for England" chants might encourage Blackburn fans to try a change of tactics. Kean for Scotland, anyone? 3. Then again, if Aston Villa keep putting in [.

U.S. MNT fans watch the USA take on Spain in June.
This month, American Outlaws is hosting a chant contest for fans of the U.S. National Teams.
In an effort linked to the AO Act Above Campaign and U.S. Soccer's Respect Campaign, the goal of the contest is to unite and strengthen U.

Two quick orders of business on this glorious Sunday. One, stay tuned in the next day or two for part three of my four-part series examining the MLS offseason. For reference, here's part one and part two of the Western Conference outlook. And as for No. 2... Getcher RGIII chants ready for his inevitable NFL bum rush.

So the offseason has calmed down just a little bit, and while there will be the occasional rumor that pops up, there is unlikely to be a ton of movement until the draft in January and preseason beginning. Until then and with less than 100 days until the home opener on March 17th, what can you do? Well here's a list of some things that I've put together that you could look to do during the rest of the MLS offseason.

Luis Suarez has found an unlikely friend in the guise of QPR manager Neil Warnock, who insists the FA is setting a double standard by punishing the player and not the perpetrators following Suarez's alleged middle-finger salute.
Suarez was charged with improper conduct by the FA after pictures in British newspapers appeared to show the Uruguayan aiming a gesture at Fulham fans.

Riise defends Liverpool striker Suarez over cheat chants

Fulham defender shrugs off antics of Reds star

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-06 18:44:11 from: Talksport

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

Kenny Dalglish believes it is time Luis Suarez was afforded some protection after describing chants of 'cheat' during Liverpool's defeat at Fulham as 'scandalous'.
Uruguay international Suarez has seen his reputation come under attack this season amid accusations that the striker is a diver.
During Monday night's 1-0 loss at Craven Cottage, Suarez saw a goal disallowed for offside and he also had a couple of penalty shouts.

Luis Suarez being accused of cheating by Fulham fans was 'scandalous', says Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool manager wants more protection for Luis Suarez after "scandalous" chants from Fulham fans at Craven Cottage.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2011-12-06 11:11:22 from: The Telegraph

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

Liverpool's Luis Suárez makes 'offensive gesture' at Fulham fans

• Striker may face FA charge over incident after 1-0 defeat • Dalglish criticises Fulham fans for calling Suárez a 'cheat' The Liverpool striker Luis Suárez could face a misconduct charge after appearing to make an offensive gesture towards Fulham fans at the end of his team's 1-0 defeat here on Monday night.

Brucie bye-bye Steve Bruce has been sacked as manager of struggling Sunderland. The Black Cats have picked up just two wins in 13 games this season. Odds on Bruce becoming the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season shortened dramatically on Sunday evening, prompting reports that he knew he would lose his [.

Thanks Leeds fans for the headline. I was tempted to go with one of the rare amusing Forest chants of the night: 'How shit must you be? You've only scored four' but well, I didn't want to clutter up the news feeds with naughty words! [...] Read the original post on Through the seasons before us

Shocking news today that Wales manager David Speed is dead. Speed was found dead at his home near Chester in an apparent suicide.

A spokesman for the Cheshire Police said:

"At 7.08am today, Cheshire Police was informed of a sudden death at an address in Huntington, Chester.

Shocking news today that Wales manager David Speed is dead. Speed was found dead at his home near Chester in an apparent suicide.

A spokesman for the Cheshire Police said:

"At 7.08am today, Cheshire Police was informed of a sudden death at an address in Huntington, Chester.

A very negative team and performance from Villa resulted in a very comfortable performance from Spurs and a score line that flattered Villa. David Cameron had braved the Tottenham wastelands to sit in the stands and watch his lot get outplayed. No doubt getting tips from Spurs on how to control the right and left wings.

Welcome back to TGIF, just a short blog today, having just finished work. The wires are humming with the Blatter story and I make no apologies for joining the outcry calling for Blatter to resign. He has become the unacceptable face of apologism for heinous attitudes. His comments on Homosexuals going to Quatar, wanting Women to wear seductive football strips and finally that players experiencing racist abuse from their opponents should just accept it and shake hands indicate that not only is this man out of touch, but those who refuse to condemn this man unequivocally and fail to demand his resignation need understand that they themselves will have their motives questioned.

Despite FIFA'S campaign to ensure fair play is maintained in the sport, the ugly face of racism still rears itself over and over again. FIFA president Sepp Blatter who had earlier stated that racism between players should be settled by a handshake, reiterated that his comments were taken out of context.

Just when he was starting to gain some ground on his rival Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo had to ruin all the progress he has made in the past few weeks by reacting to Bosnia and Herzegovina fans by showing them middle finger.

According to Ronaldo, he was forced to act the way he did because of incessant criticism from fans during Portugal's training session ahead of their Euro 2012 play off fixture.

It took 68 words for Hibs to dispatch of Colin Calderwood.
Even that seemed needlessly verbose, the gist was simple:
"Thanks. Goodbye. We live to find another boss."
A taciturn end to a joyless reign. Consider the contrast to July when Rod Petrie - hardly a prolific wordsmith - devoted 434 words and the logic of a one-eyed statistician to a celebratory love letter in support of the manager.

"You know what you are. You know what you are, Anton Ferdinand. You know what you are." Those were the chants from a section of Chelsea fans in Genk during Tuesday night's Champions League clash. Tell me it ain't so. ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

We rightly get angry about foreign fans racially abusing black players, but are English fans really any better?

The next time the English national team are in action and players are subjected to racist chants, don't feel indignant yet superior. Don't be consumed by anger and attack the opposing country's fans as being backward.

By Chris Wright

Nicolas Anelka finally cottons on

Chelsea have been quick to officially condemn chants about Anton Ferdinand that were sung persistently by their fans during last night's Champions League tie with Genk in Belgium.

Fans sung 'Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are' repeatedly and with gusto throughout the night in, let's call it.

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-From the Bushman Archives
- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

Chelsea condemn own fans for Ferdinand chants

Some Blues supporters sang: "Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are" during the 1-1 draw with Genk

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-11-02 08:15:39 from: The Mirror

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

The River End belts out the National Anthem.

Zombie-mode in full effect as Corey Furlan gets the beat going.

The header from a Brad Davis free kick begins to make its way into goal...

...and moments later Faryd Mondragon celebrates Seba's beautiful goal.