Scotland lost 1-0 to Macedonia in Skopje, but neighbours England ended up 2-0 winners against Andorra despite an unconvincing display. And just like in the game against the Czech Republic, Chelsea winger Joe Cole saved the day for Fabio Capello, scoring a brace in the second half as the Three Lions struggled against their weaker [. Click to continue reading...

Mancano meno di due settimane all'inizio della Champions League 2008-2009. Sono le inglesi e le spagnole a farla da padrona nella lista delle favorite per alzare la coppa. E' il Chelsea, che paga a 6, la più probabile candidata alla vittoria finale secondo i quotisti di Bwin, seguono a ruota il Real Madrid a 6. Click to continue reading...

The rankings are back after a one week delay, due to an executive member of the ranking committee being on holiday. With the national teams taking center stage this weekend it allowed us some time to catch up. While the top quarter of the table didn't change much, there was ample movement in the middle third. Click to continue reading...

Hmmm. Here's a question for you. Who would you less like to see on a football pitch?

(a) Chelsea and Serbia defender Slobodan Rajkovic, banned for one year for spitting at a referee during the Olympic Games

(b) Newcastle and England midfielder Joey Barton, banned for six matches for violently assualting a team-mate, leaving him with a suspected detached retina, cuts and bruises "looking like the Elephant Man"

Someone at FIFA probably needs to sit down, have a look at these two cases and have a sensible think about their sentencing process for football offences. Click to continue reading...

The takeover of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi United Group has sparked fears that their thriving academy may suffer and inevitably it will be much more difficult for the next generation of footballers to break into the first-team. The question being asked is can a more effective method of bridging the gap between the reserves and the first team be developed? Click to continue reading...

With few weeks remaining in the transfer window, the media were eager to write off the current English and European Champions from retaining their Premiership crown. The logic behind it was Chelsea now had a better manager than last season and they had signed Deco. As they had finished so close to United the season [. Click to continue reading...

You know what really stood out about the recently closed transfer window?  Not the brinksmanship, the complaints about tapping up, or even the idea of billion-dollar teams squabbling over a couple million pounds.  The one thing that really stood out to me was all the talk about "dream moves." It seemed like every high-profile star that [. Click to continue reading...

Don't worry Chelsea fans, it's not John Terry. But it is a defender with the potential to partner Terry in seasons to come: young Serbian centre back Slobodan Rajković. In 2005 Chelsea valued the then 16 year old Rajković highly enough to pay OFK Beograd €5.2m for his services. A record for a player aged under [. Click to continue reading...

This is what happens when you disperse some flem.

Chelsea starlet Slobodan Rajkovic has been banned by FIFA for 12 months after hawking a loogie at a referee during the Olympics. The Serbian defender, currently on loan at FC Twente, chunked on Abdullah Al Hilali after being sent off against Argentina in Beijing.

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Embedding courtesy of Dintillion This amazing interview was gifted to us today from, you guessed it, Robinho. We were all wrong. It's ALL about the shirt and he's thrilled to be playing for, er, who is it again? In explaining his move to Manchester City the Brazilian made a gaffe when he said: "On the last day, [. Click to continue reading...

SETANTA SPORTS CANADA LIVE EVENTS Friday, September 5 to Sunday, September 14 (All times subject to change) All times Eastern SOCCER BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE Liverpool vs. Manchester United Saturday September 13 @ 7:30 AM Blackburn Rovers vs. Arsenal Saturday September 13 @ 9:40 AM Manchester City vs. Click to continue reading...

The big topic in football this week has been the ownership change on the blue side of Manchester and what it means for both the Premiership and football economy. But contrary to popular belief, there is other non-English stuff happening (guilty) and some of it is pretty damn discussion worthy. Take for instance, the champagne [. Click to continue reading...

Whilst Manchester City fans are over the blue moon about their latest signing of Robinho, who would have signed for anyone to get away from Real Madrid, his home nation are less than impressed! Pele "Chelsea are lucky. This boy needs some serious counselling." Marcelo Teixeira, club president of Robinho's first club, Santoa "This is one of the most [. Click to continue reading...

The events of the last few days point pretty clearly to one thing: the end of the football manager. Alan Curbishley quit because West Ham sold players without his consent, Kevin Keegan may or may not be about to do the same thing. In the age of billionaire businessman owners and/or sporting directors, managers just don't [. Click to continue reading...

After a two week period which has seen his name battered from pillar to post, his reputation dragged through the London and Madrid sewers, and been labeled as nothing more than a mercenary, how to you think Robinho would take to sprucing up his image and defending himself? Children's charities would be a start. Click to continue reading...

It could be from the sheer joy he felt at leaving Real Madrid (those horrible, horrible people who brought him to Europe and made him into a star). It could be because through his tears he couldn't distinguish between different shades of blue. Or maybe Manchester Dhabi (sorry, City) offered him so much money that [. Click to continue reading...

So, the transfer deadline (August 31) has passed and the football market is now closed. Closed? Not quite. Indeed, while transfers from one club to another will have to wait until January to resume, teams may still sign players as free agents (and that until March 31, 2009). So, inspired from this Top 11 Serie A [. Click to continue reading...

Most Chelsea fans, including myself, has been quick to label Manchester City's newest darling, Robinho, greedy. Or heartless. Or a greedy, heartless mercenary.

After allowing the blow of losing out on the Brazilian to City no less to expunge from my memory, I'm now beginning to believe the real enemy in this whole ordeal is, of course, Real Madrid.

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Obviously the true bargains won't be known for some time, but there were a few transfers which caught the eye before the participants had even put on their new shirt. Eliminating loans made sure somebody has actually bought up the entire contract this summer, and everyone of these guys happened to come in at under [. Click to continue reading...

Big Phil is not a happy camper.

he made it clear that he expects to be compensated with an increased transfer kitty next year.

And then there's this:

Indeed, Chelsea may well choose to offer a reminder of their own clout in the midwinter window. Kaka remains within their sights.

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Spurs star Giovanni Dos Santos has revealed that he turned down offers from Chelsea and Manchester United before heading to White Hart Lane, Adam Khan-Patient. The 19-year-old Mexican, who was signed at the very end of last season from Barcelona also revealed that their was further interest in him from Italy, as well as the Premier [. Click to continue reading...

Dedicated YouTuber Maestro 21 has put together highlights of Ronaldinho's debut for AC Milan against Bologna. Yes, Milan lost 2-1 and yes, any player can look good if you edit together their best moments. But there's definitely enough evidence here to suggest old Gaucho has still got it. Lots of shimmys and even a few flashes [. Click to continue reading...

The group stage kicks off in about two weeks so until then I will be doing previews of the group stage in alphabetical order. I wanted to wait until after the transfer window had closed so that I would be able to judge the rosters fairly. There were some last minute moves that could have [...] Click to continue reading...

Liverpool have confirmed today that they rejected a £50 million bid for their Spanish striker Fernando Torres on transfer deadline day. The former Atletico Madrid man was subject of a massive bid from the world's newest richest club, Manchester City.

Torres, 24, has been linked with Chelsea also in recent months with rumours claiming that Roman Abramovich was also willing to bid £50 million for the Euro 2008 winner. Click to continue reading...

Sky Blue Thinking Like the promise of a meteor shower on a clear night or (less so in recent times) the results filtering through of a General Election, transfer deadline day is one of those things you promise yourself is worth staying up for, but often falls short of the wild speculation. In past seasons the summer window hasn't ‘slammed shut', as many commentators put it, but rather creaked to a close with no major shocks other than the odd DaMarcus Beasley joining Charlton on loan. Click to continue reading...