Just a few weeks ago Inter were the talk of the Serie A, for all the right reasons. Seven consecutive wins on the back of solid defending and a return to form of striker Diego Milito saw the Nerazzurri shoot up the league table and become serious contenders for a Champions League place. There were even whisperings of Inter being a legitimate threat to Juventus and Milan for the Scudetto.

Time for a spot of Argentinian football - we feature a preview of the clausura season

Chris Perez, our newest Albion Road correspondent, takes a look at English football just after the midpoint - revenge of the little guys, the contenders and pretenders, the latest news, and predictions for February. Think he's right or wrong? As always have your say in the comments.

Just like the cosmos the year 2011 died and in its place a supernova of excitement exploded onto the scene in the form of 2012, which in turn brought the infamous "January Transfer Window".

MISL NEWS RELEASE: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Milwaukee's Bennett Named Player of the Week Recorded 15 points as the Wave took a pair of victories from three games
TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Milwaukee Wave forward Ian Bennett had been named the league's Player of the Week for the 12th week of the 2011-12 season.

When Manchester City dispatched Manchester United in commanding fashion earlier this season, the City steamroller was powerful, efficient, and impressive. It looked downright unstoppable. As Kevin McCarra noted the day of City's 6-1 trouncing of United in The Guardian, "For the football world at large, it is more significant still that City have 33 goals from nine league games.

Chasing the Big Leagues Sassuolo (Serie B) is a post from: Just Football

Tales from Tier Two is a series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe's major leagues at the midway point of 2011/12.

Liverpool duo Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique believe they need to improve their home form if they are to have any chance of finishing in the top four.
The Reds were held to their seventh draw in 11 games at Anfield this season as Stoke ground out a goalless draw at the weekend.
Kenny Dalglish's men have struggled for goals this season, having netted only 24 goals in 21 Premier League games and Carroll, who started the draw with Stoke on the bench, believes they need to start taking their chances if they are to turn draws into victories.

This weekend saw lots of action in the Serie A: a furious downpour which forced the suspension of a game; a feisty, highly-anticipated derby; and some very decisive wins. The result? The Serie A standings have been, to borrow from the late, great Elvis Presley, "all shook up"!

On Saturday, Roma travelled South to Sicily to take on Catania.

Two points separate the top four sides in the Championship going into this weekend's action, with leaders Southampton in danger of falling out of the automatic promotion spots for the first time this season.
Nigel Adkins' men wasted no time in acclimatising to life back in the second tier, surprising those who bet on the Championship to quickly build up a healthy lead over the rest.

Oldham playlist: Vote now

Earlier this week, Liverpool FC called on supporters to help shape the pre-match and half-time atmosphere at Anfield by submitting their match-day playlists and we can now reveal the contenders for the Oldham game.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2012-01-04 11:29:47 from: Liverpool FC

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The last remaining head coaching vacancy in Major League Soccer sits in Colorado, where the Rapids are expected to make a decision on their replacement for Gary Smith this week.

Four candidates have emerged as Colorado's leading contenders. Denis Hamlett, Oscar Pareja, Tom Soehn and Richie Williams are the four men sources have told SBi are the finalists for the job.

Finishing in a top four position at the end of a Premier League season is what most English teams dream of. The competition endured throughout a Premier League season remains to be at a very high level with few teams containing the ability to be able to finish in a top four position. Finishing in the top four gives each of the teams a chance of playing in one of the most prestigious footballing events, the UEFA Champions League.

Newcastle playlist: Vote now

Earlier this week, Liverpool FC called on supporters to help shape the pre-match and half-time atmosphere at Anfield by submitting their match-day playlists and we can now reveal the contenders for the Newcastle game.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-12-29 12:25:27 from: Liverpool FC

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That Tottenham, can they do it? Contenders? Say no more. The JimmyG2 Column. It's getting deucedly difficult to write about Spurs these days. We've had it easy for years: missed opportunities; failures to close games out; last ditch losses; individual poor performances; lack of winning mentality; Jenas.

Are there any other contenders for this accolade besides the amazing Gareth Bale? After the Welshman's two goals inspired Tottenham's win, manager Harry Redknapp was typically effusive in his praise.
"I played him in a free role," Harry said. Him and Rafa, rather than on the left. He pops up in positions in-between the midfield and defence, it's difficult to pick him up and once he turns and runs, like he did for the second goal, he's unstoppable.

Blackburn playlist: Vote now

Earlier this week, Liverpool FC called on supporters to help shape the pre-match and half-time atmosphere at Anfield by submitting their match-day playlists and we can now reveal the contenders for the Blackburn game.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-12-23 13:35:27 from: Liverpool FC

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

Sevilla season continues to lurch from disappointment to disappointment hit a new low earlier this week when their President Jose Maria del Nido was been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for his role in a corruption case with the Marbella local council.

Del Nido, who had acted as a legal advisor to the council, was one of 16 people involved in the embezzlement of funds from the local government of the Costa del Sol holiday resort, the provincial court in Malaga said.

Brentford make ambitious bid for Liverpool and Swansea target

Bees emerge as shock contenders for Irish striker's signature

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-19 18:10:29 from: Talksport

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

Sitting five points off the coveted Champions League places, Liverpool will look to gain maximum points in their upcoming fixtures. If they can stay close to fourth over the coming weeks, with the January transfer window looming and Dalglish being clear they have the option to buy or not and Steven Gerrard's return imminent; there will surely be the belief and potential within the club to be genuine contenders for fourth, right to the final whistle of the season.

QPR playlist: Vote now

Earlier this week, Liverpool FC called on supporters to help shape the pre-match and half-time atmosphere at Anfield by submitting their match-day playlists and we can now reveal the contenders for Saturday's game with QPR.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-12-08 14:52:09 from: Liverpool FC

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Canada Drugs

Now that England are safely through to the Euro2012 Tournament Finals in Poland and Ukraine next summer, and that their Group opponents have already been finalised, I thought it timely to decide who might be in the squad for the June kick off against France in Donetsk.

The 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or will be decided between three contenders Lionel Messi, Xavi and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. But who will win? In a month which will seen billions of people around the globe celebrate the birth of Christ, the football world was reminded of the day that three very special (almost Christ-like [.

The final three men shortlist for FIFA Balon D'OR 2011 has been announced. The final list is no surprise to anyone following serious footballing action - Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez. Actually everyone know who is going to win - Lionel Messi. But still you need a three man shortlist.

There are several candidates for the award this weekend including the goal scorers who sealed our 3-0 victory.
Of those, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon caused problems throughout the game, particularly after Bolton had gone down to ten men on the twenty minute mark.
Our defence were pretty quiet throughout the match so the main contenders can be found further up the pitch.

With the increased globalization of the game, major tournaments are heading to new lands. Austria and Switzerland hosted Euro 2008, with next year's event heading to Poland and Ukraine. Last year South Africa staged the World Cup with Russia and Qatar on the horizon. While I'm all for spreading the game around the globe (aside for whatever shadiness helped Qatar land the 2022 World Cup), this trend presents a flaw with regards to tournament seeding.

The draw for Euro 2012 has been made and the fixture list has also been drawn out marking England's plot to the final in Kiev come 1, July. Interestingly enough, should Fabio Capello's men emerge from Group D unscathed, they will face-off against what is likely to be Spain or Italy in the quarter-finals.

The Full draw for Euro 2012 has been made with England being drawn in Group D alongside hosts Ukraine, Sweden and France. The full draw is as follows: Elsewhere, World Cup runners-up Holland will face-off against joint favourites Germany, Denmark and Portugal in the dreaded 'Group of Death', whilst Spain take on the Republic of [.

The 2011 FIFA/Fifpro World XI list has been revealed with six British players, including Gareth Bale amongst the 55 chosen names in the list. The list is chosen from some 50,000 professional football players across the globe who have voted for the best player in every position. Spanish and European champions Barcelona have 11 players [.

In The Stands sticks two fingers up at the official Euro 2012 draw and plays God to create our very own ‘dream draw' throwing up some potential blockbusters! Let's face it, the long-winded ceremony-come-draw for Euro 2012 on Friday evening will be a bore. That is of course until the balls start being drawn out [.

In The Stands looks ahead to the draw for Euro 2012 which takes place on Friday in Kyiv, Ukraine with England situated in Pot 2. The long awaited draw for next summer's European Championship finally takes place at the Palace of Arts in Kyiv, Ukraine on Friday 2 December at 18.00CET (19.00 GMT time). With [.

Ten-man Manchester City survived a serious examination of their title credentials to extend their unbeaten Barclays Premier League record to 13 matches at Anfield.
Had it not been for goalkeeper Joe Hart the visitors may have tasted a league defeat for the first time since May 7.
They barely had time to celebrate Vincent Kompany's 31st-minute opener before Charlie Adam's shot was deflected in by Joleon Lescott.

Liverpool have reportedly become shock contenders for the signature of Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor as manager Kenny Dalglish looks to bolster his forward line.
The 27-year-old Togo international's career at City appears certainly over having spent the second half of last season on loan at Real Madrid before joining Tottenham on a temporary basis for this campaign.

The race to win the 2011 NCAA College Cup will heat up today as the 16 remaining contenders square off in pre-quarterfinal action across the country.

Four of the top five seeds are still alive, including No. 1 North Carolina, which opens today's action in a tricky match-up against Indiana.

Intrigued by the nominations for Supporters of the Year in the SLeague. Normally SAFFC win it with their neo super hero style outfits and dangerously young cheerleaders and of course they are in the running again this year.
Looking at contenders this year, SAFFC, Gombak, Albirex Niigata and Young Lions, you get the feeling that for all the rhetoric that comes out of the FAS about rebranding the game it's all just same old, same old.

Man City playlist: Vote now

Earlier this week, Liverpool FC called on supporters to help shape the pre-match and half-time atmosphere at Anfield by submitting their all-Scouse match-day playlists and we can now reveal the contenders for Sunday's game with Manchester City.

Sporting Lisbon believe they have something special inside their youth system. Sporting thrashed Liverpool in last week's NextGen clash.
And Reds coach Rodolfo Borrell revealed on liverpoolc.tv: "I think Sporting are up there as one of the main contenders for the title. I have some experience working in a great youth system at Barcelona, and now here at Liverpool.

'Melwood visit a perfect boost'

A surprise invite to Melwood, Sunderland and the NextGen contenders all this and more in our latest chat with reserve team coach Rodolfo Borrell...

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-11-22 08:50:36 from: Liverpool FC

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It's too easy to paint this as an important clash for Champions League position contenders. Not only would it be too easy but it would also be a fallacy. These are two teams that probably had title ambitions at the start of the season. Chelsea as last season's runners up had genuine hopes of leading from the front and Liverpool, a team which had been on a great run of form in the second half of last season since Kenny Dalglish took the managerial reigns, had hopes of being surprising unexpected challengers.

Balance restored at Liverpool since Fernando Torres exit Pepe Reina

Goalkeeper regrets his fellow Spaniard's departure for Chelsea but believes the new-look Reds can be contenders again Pepe Reina joined his old friend Fernando Torres on international duty last week.

It feels right and proper to take some time in the Interlull (arseblog TM) to slag off our rivals. Unbelievably we have to include the N17 bottom feeders this season as they prove themselves to be genuine contenders. How could this be? It is unnatural, a twist of the correct order, an aberration and a perversion of all that is right and proper.