Mark Ogden writes for The Telegraph about Manchester vs Merseyside

Studs Up looks at the Henry handball conspiracy theory

Oliver Holt writes for The Mirror about Henry's loss of reputation

The Times looks at how referee's favour the home team

When The Seagulls Follow The Trawler has a chat with Oliver Kay

"RoM Reads" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...

Some advance warning: This post is going to be mildly critical of Zinedine Zidane. Nothing too harsh, because as for many people he was one of my favourite players to watch. The vision, the touch, the roulettes, the shiny bald patch. Loved it. But that's also the reason I'm about to mildly criticize him.

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There's a red storm raging and it's threatening to overwhelm the Houston Dynamo, if it hasn't already.
So yes I'll start. I am quite bummed about the guys losing to Metapan, who had neither won nor tied a single game in group play before last night. So, not to be a downer here, but it's very possible that the season, which we all hope lasts five more games, might just be over in three. Click to continue reading...

The claim by Croatia that we threw the game against Ukraine because we would prefer them to qualify just doesn't stack up. It might explain why Ferdinand appeared to be asleep at the crucial moment, and why the referee initially went to send him off , but Capello keeping Heskey on and Green completing the move by bringing down Milevski is a conspiracy theory too far. Click to continue reading...

By now you've probably heard about the extra time fiasco that went down last weekend in the Premier League's Manchester Derby between Manchester United and Manchester City. The referee allowed the extra time to elapse well over the initial number of minutes officially given. The end result was a Michael Owen game-winner with literally no time remaining on the clock to give Manchester City a chance to score.

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Brazil qualified at the weekend thanks to a 3-1 win in Argentina, who
are now fourth in the South American group, five points behind Chile and Paraguay and only two points in front of Colombia and Ecuador. If Ecuador win in Bolivia this evening or Colombia win in Uruguay and Argentina fail to pick up a point in Paraguay early on Thursday morning then either or
possibly both of them latter could leapfrog Diego's boys.

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I am deeply saddened to return to the Greece Blog on the heels of a bitter (to say the least) 2-0 loss to Switzerland on Saturday night in Basel. My big return was supposed to be capped with a huge celebration of a big win in Basel, but somebody (I'll deal with him in a sec) really ruined...everything (this is not a conspiracy theory, or me saying England is going to win the World Cup again, ever).

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So it looks as though Pascal Chimbonda is about to sign for Blackburn. I think he'll do a decent job for them and Big Sam will get the best out of him. We'll also get a nice £2.5 - £3 million for him, so it's not all bad.
However, a few Lilywhites in the office did tell me about a small conspiracy theory regarding Chimbo. Click to continue reading...

Before I get to the [delayed] reaction post, I wonder if I might present a conspiracy theory. Mind, I'm doing this on the evidence of Thursday night's McBribe...oops!...Fire win, and last night's officiating horror in the United match. I haven't... Click to continue reading...

In a sensational display, FC Barcelona defeated defending champions Manchester United to lift this year's UEFA Champions League Trophy with goals from Eto and Messi. By doing so, FC Barcelona became the first Spanish side to achieve the historic Treble in the history. I doubt whether any Barca fan could have scripted a better game; apart from the early ten minutes, this was "The Perfect Script". Click to continue reading...

"I think people at the top have demeaned this competition"
It is rare that we get a snarky comment out of Colorado. But luckily we now have one courtesy of one English manager, Gary Smith. One part snark, one part disgust, one part conspiracy theory. Apparently he is none to happy his Rapids didn't get to play at Qwest Field and has wrapped himself in the flag of the US Open Cup to defend his comments. Click to continue reading...

Turning to the Guardian's sports blog this morning, it is disheartening to see that 39.4% of people replying to a poll asking the question of "Are Chelsea the victims of a UEFA conspiracy?". Leaving aside the fact that sending off a Barcelona player and leaving it until the ninetieth minute before Barcelona have their first shot on goal of the match (which would, more likely, require the compliance of the Chelsea defence rather than UEFA officials or the referee of that particular match) and that, let's be honest, if UEFA wished to conspire against Chelsea, they could have found a far more watertight way of doing it than the one that they used, here's an alternative "conspiracy theory" over what was going on at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

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In the first leg of a 2005 second round match against Barca, the referee Andres Frisk sent off Drogba, which prompted Jose Mourinho's furious accusations of yet another bizarre conspiracy theory that the referee had met up with then coach Frank Rijkaard before the match.

The Swedish referee was forced to retire after he and his family received death threats.

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UEFA, according to conspiracy theorists, have "got the final they wanted". Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona last night, and the opening line of this post is already being widely repeated as the truth. One would have to have a heart of stone to not feel some degree of sympathy for Chelsea - they had approximately two and a half strong calls for a penalty waved away and Barcelona's goal was their only shot on target of the entire match.

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Supporters of Blue Square Premier club Oxford United could be forgiven for wondering whether there is a conspiracy theory against them. They were relegated from the Football League after years of systematic maladministration, and it now seems that their attempts to get back into the League will be scuppered by more of the same, only this poor bureaucracy has come not only from within the club, but also from the Blue Square Premier itself.

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Can you believe it? The Special One was Dennis Wised on the latest episode of I'm On Setanta Sports. That plus The Special One does a special exclusive story on the Newcastle United takeover including the return of Dave who has a conspiracy theory involving Shola Ameobi, like. Enjoy the latest episode. Click to continue reading...

What was supposed to have been a battle for the right to play for the SuperLiga final instead turned into, well, a battle.
Atlante vs. New England in a battle royale. Vilar versus Heaps. Atlante assistant versus Albright. Disgrace versus Revolution.
The match itself was not the greatest display of soccer. Click to continue reading...

A Happy New Year to all of our Chinese and Asian clients and readers.
All Asian clients should check their emails where you will find a suitable red packet when you return to business mode.
The mythology of Chinese New Year seems particularly apt when compared with the modern day realities of the global football betting markets. Click to continue reading...