Arsenal legend Alan Smith has criticised current manager Arsene Wenger's recruitment policy, which he believes could cost the Gunners a UEFA Champions League spot at the end of the season. The retired striker, who has now turned to commentating, also believes that Wenger should have pursued central defender Gary Cahill more aggressively before he was signed by their London rivals Chelsea earlier this month.

Gadsby's England is back and welcomes 2012 with the usual England-player-getting-arrested story, Rooney again having a bust-up with Ferguson but refusing to see his only chance for improvement as going abroad, and the blood and thunder of the Premier League winter knackering English players while their European counterparts put their feet up.

Mirror: Barmby confirmed as Hull boss

Former England player won five of first seven as caretaker

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2012-01-10 11:28:47 from: The Mirror

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

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has backed Andy Carroll to eventually live up to his record-breaking price tag.
Pardew reluctantly sold the 22-year-old to the Reds, who host the Magpies on Friday evening, on the final day of the last January transfer window when owner Mike Ashley decided a bid of £35million was simply too good to refuse.

Wayne Rooney scored his first league goal since September as Manchester United crushed Wolves 4-1 on Saturday. But with all the analysis and comments that followed an eventful week for Rooney, one quote stood out.

As well as stating that ‘Wayne was brilliant', United defender Phil Jones went on to say, ‘but he still has an influence on the team even when he is not scoring.

This is insane Master engraver Graham Short has come up with a unique way of personalising football boots, albeit we can't see it taking off. The miniature engraving expert has etched the names of every England player to find the net at a World Cup from 1950-2010 into the bottom of a metal stud. If [.

Owen's against Argentina? John Barnes in Brazil? Gazza sinking Scotland? Our favourite ever England goals

One England player could make history in the friendly with Sweden tonight by scoring the national side's 2000th goal. William Kenyon-Slaney scored the very first in a 4-2 victory over Scotland at the Kennington Oval on March 8, 1973, Jimmy Greaves bagged the 1,000th against Wales at Wembley on November 23, 1960, and Frank Lampard got the 1,999th in Saturday's win against Spain.

• Kop That: England to wear poppy FIFA back down http://t.co/jeKv0xGa 23:37:05, 2011-11-09
• Kop That: EXCLUSIVE: Rio WILL go to Euro 2012 http://t.co/JKY6WM6i 22:50:00, 2011-11-09
• Kop That: EXCLUSIVE: Capello claims player punch-ups are GOOD for team spirit! http://t.co/G5TrH6rH 22:49:56, 2011-11-09
• Kop That: Sturridge, Welbeck, Walker and Rodwell set for Spain test as Capello searches for England X Factor http://t.

What are the odds an England player involves a poppy in a goal celebration? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

The easiest way to end the big poppy row would surely have been to bribe FIFA into letting England wear them. FIFA's heavy-handedness in banning the poppy from England shirts led to fears earlier this week that Saturday's England v Spain game would be called off.

Rodwell the first England player to wear Team GB shirt

Everton midfielder modelled the commemorative Olympics shirt

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A news article on 2011-11-07 15:18:01 from: The Mirror

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

Article by Jon Parker
Seeing as we are the home of MLS in the UK, we thought it only fitting to write an article about arguably Britain's most beloved player, following his exploits during the MLS Playoff season. I speak of course about the second most capped England player of all time, David Beckham.

Dempsey proves his worth in energy

Clint Dempsey knows he's not the most ­spectacular player in the Fulham team. The recent scoring ­exploits of Andrew Johnson, emergence of Bobby Zamora as an ­England player and wing artistry of Damian Duff have tended to hog the ­headlines.

Wayne Rooney lone England player on FIFA Balon D'or prize list

Wayne Rooney is the only Englishman on the provisional list for the FIFA Balon D'or award. His United team-mate Javier Hernandez is also listed along with Manchester City's David Silva and Sergio Aguero plus Liverpool's Luis Suarez.

Whisper it, but could Fabio's young Lions make England roar

I was there at the England compound in Phokeng the day after the defeat to Germany at the 2010 World Cup. There was only gloom in the marquee set in the grounds of England's luxury prison camp. Fabio Capello was sitting in front of us promising change but everyone thought that he was paying lip service to the notion and that, actually, he was too old to change.

Ha ha ha. There's no better way to put a skip in your step than to throw a bunch of second- and third-stringers into an away match and get a win anyway. We mostly got tonight's reserve heavy Sounders starting 11 right, but were off on some of the details. Roger Levesque was in the game, but as a right back.

Bolton defender Gary Cahill has opened the door to a move to Arsenal in January by stating that his dream remains to play European football. Arsene Wenger was in for the stopper throughout the summer but the clubs couldn't agree a fee.

But there is every chance AW will be back in for the England player and it seems he is ready to leave the Reebok and possibly join the Gunners.

By Alan Duffy

The Guv'nor is in town and he's not a happy bunny.

Currently "in between" jobs and probably with an eye on a media position, the tough-tackling former West Ham United star has let rip at the state of the national team.

"If you get called up, you should make sure you're there, " he explained.

Liverpool youngster Martin Kelly has revealed his delight with England manager Fabio Capello's recent words of praise.
The defender, 21, broke into the first team with the Reds under Kenny Dalglish last season and he has been reliable when called upon, though injuries have restricted his availability.

Capello insists Lampard remains a key England player

Three Lions boss says the Chelsea midfielder could return against Wales tomorrow

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A news article on 2011-09-05 12:41:49 from: The Mirror

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Stewart Downing believes his England career is already seeing the benefit of his summer move to Liverpool FC.
Downing has been in impressive form during the opening weeks of the season following his near-£20m arrival from Aston Villa during the transfer window.
The 27-year-old last week revealed a determination to make a greater mark on the international stage after admitting his time with England had previously felt peripheral.

Stewart Downing believes that the future is bright for England, based on the performance put in by the team against Bulgaria.
The Three Lions travelled to Sofia and eased past their opponents by carving out a 3-0 victory, with the left-winger putting in a strong performance on the day.
The 27-year-old also admitted that his summer switch from Aston Villa to Liverpool and the chance to work under manager Kenny Dalglish could only improve him as a player.

Downing thrilled with his form for Liverpool and England

Reds winger believes he now feels like an England player after his switch from Villa

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A news article on 2011-09-03 21:56:11 from: The Mirror

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

Tottenham have signed Scott Parker from West Ham for £5m. The England player has been on Tottenham's radar since the start of the summer and it seemed clear at the end of last week that Spurs were going all out to seal this transfer before the end of the window.

Parker will be 31 in October and having just broken through into the England set up, he was determined to force a transfer back to the Premier League, because in case you'd forgotten, West Ham are a Championship side now.

Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott and star goalkeeper Joe Hart have both offered their backing to the club's reported pursuit of Owen Hargreaves, whose injury-prone background and past affiliation with bitter rivals Manchester United will make this a shock transfer.

City boss Roberto Mancini has openly expressed his need for another midfielder before the close of the transfer window and having been linked without success with the likes of Mark Van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder, Daniele De Rossi, and Fernando Gago, it now appears that the Eastlands outfit will take a gamble on Hargreaves.

Despite the fears that I, among others, expressed about England's fate in their Under-20s World Cup last-16 encounter with Nigeria, it turned out that you could say: "England could have won", out loud, in public, and not be immediately fitted up for a white, long-sleeved jacket. Blackpool's Matt Phillips was the one England player of which most observers had heard.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If an EPL footballer accidentally kicks a fellow player in the face during a goalmouth scramble in a pre-season friendly (0.34), we are unlikely to run a post on the matter. We prefer to avoid violent confrontation unless alcohol honour is involved.

SOURCE: REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, July 17: Nepali national football coach Graham Roberts on Sunday claimed that All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is not providing proper training facilities to the team and alleged that ANFA itself wants to lose the 2014 World Cup Qualifying match against Jordan.

Man's best friend has not always been so friendly. While the latest edition of the Copa America plays out, a recurring problem in South America, like, totally repeats itself: stray dog pitch invasions. This dilemma is nothing new. Nor unique to South America. Nevertheless, I invite you to take a walk down memory lane as we re-live some of the greatest canine cancha romps in recent and distant history.

Never before has women's football ever garnered such interest in England. That's because the Three Lionesses have a team in this World Cup that is considered the best in the nation's history.

The women's game was once banned in the UK, and often ignored, even after its legalization has soared in popularity recently.

A second consecutive match on the road against an Eastern Conference rival offers the Fire an opportunity to get back in the thick of the playoff race with a result against a team that sits in a tie with them on fourteen points. New England has struggled this season with a 3-7-5 record and only 11 goals scored.

SOURCE: REPUBLICAKATHMANDU, June 10: All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) signed new contracts with national team coach Graham Roberts on Friday. ANFA and Roberts agreed to sign a contract for a-year long tenure, said ANFA in a press release.
Graham will look after national age group teams along side the national team.

Latest Transfer betting odds The one thing Manchester United do not need right now is another winger and yet if we believe the latest transfer rumours Ashley Young could be heading to Old Trafford. The Villa winger has been strongly linked to several clubs including Liverpool, but reports claim United are the favourites to capture the England player in a reported £16m move.

The future of Aston Villa's Ashley Young continues to be a concern for his club, and caretaker boss Gary McAllister has admitted that the lure of Champions League football is likely to tempt the England man away from the Midlands.
Young has just a year left on his current contract, and so this summer represents the last chance for Villa to cash in one of their most valuable assets.

According to Pete O'Rourke at Sky Sports News, West Ham United are prepared to sell their top players if they end up being relegated at the end of the season. Co-owner David Gold said,

"It's unfair to tell a player to forego your potential England career to come down and play in the Championship .

Gareth Bale becomes the fourth Spurs player to win the PFA Player of the year prize, Pat Jennings, Clive Allen, David Ginola and now Gareth Bale. Arsenal player, England player and full time sleaze bag Wilshire won the Young Player award.

After another imperious display yesterday against Manchester City, John Terry has spoken of being restored as the permanent England Captain. You will not be surprised read that even though the armband was taken away, he never gave up on getting it back.
He said:

"I've always done whatever the manager needs of me to make sure we win.

They say it's better late than never and that was precisely the case when Frank Lampard was finally chosen to lead the England national team in this evening's friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen.

Lampard, one of the most decorated performers in English football, has only received the armband due to injuries that ruled out Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard but it is difficult to argue that the Chelsea midfielder richly deserved the honor after going through so many highs and lows.

Fair play. For once a decent story about Ashley Cole and this time to do with his football. Cole has been named as England Player of the Year in a vote by the England fans and it's about time people are talking about what he has been doing on the pitch for the last year rather than all the stuff off of it.

Ashley Cole, the man everyone loves to hate. The boo boy of Arsenal fans and England fans in general. The best left back in Europe, as any Chelsea fan will tell you.

Delivering a kick up the arse...

A few days ago, UEFA released their 2010 Team of the Year.