The Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has had a fairytale return to the Gunners, scoring within ten minutes of his debut against Leeds, and also scoring in the last minutes of his final appearance at the Emirates. Arsene Wenger hinted that he may try and extend the loan period so that he could be part of [.

On the face of it Liverpool have been granted a favourable draw in the FA Cup 5th round with Championship side Brighton having to travel to Anfield in mid-February.
Kenny Dalglish's men defeated the same opposition 2-1 at the brand new Amex Stadium earlier in the season in the Carling Cup with goals coming from Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt.

Group D: African Cup of Nations Preview (Botswana, Ghana, Guinea, Mali) is a post from: Just Football

Time to conclude Just Football's team-by-team African Cup of Nations 2012 group previews now with a look at Group D Botswana, Ghana, Guinea and Mali.

Group A: African Cup of Nations Preview (Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Senegal, Zambia) is a post from: Just Football

No introductions, you know what this is. The African Cup of Nations 2012, in all its resplendent glory. This will be the 28th edition of the Cup of Nations and the third covered on Just Football after 2008 and 2010.

Why, top of the morning to you, and you, and you with the crooked nose as well. May a squadron of Twix bars find their way into your mouth by day's end, and may time go by as smoothly as Thierry's first touch. The day has gone by that smoothly in fact; exploding capacitors and leaking transformers having taken up so much of my time that this review is sinfully late (A word of caution- never put the positive pin of the capacitor into the negative pin of the battery, unless you want the electronic equivalent of the Vietnam War in your face)

The FA Cup game against Leeds can broadly be divided into two storylines playing out in parallel- a feel-good fairytale with returning Kings, and a tragicomedy about knights whose swords have been replaced by rubber ducks.

Mirror: Simon Bird's FA Cup previews and predictions (Third Round)

For all our love of an FA Cup upset on third round day, the competition rarely end with a fairytale finish. The chances breaking the two decade long dominance of the big five, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Liverpool appears to be just as slim as altering their Premier League hegemony.

What is it about the festive season and Charlie Adam that don't go well? A missed penalty and an own goal blighted this year's celebrations, while 12 months ago his failed transfer attempt to Liverpool got the New Year off to a shaky start. And in January 2009 he was dealt a devastating blow to his career when Rangers let him go.

What is it about the festive season and Charlie Adam that don't go well? A missed penalty and an own goal blighted this year's celebrations, while 12 months ago his failed transfer attempt to Liverpool got the New Year off to a shaky start. And in January 2009 he was dealt a devastating blow to his career when Rangers let him go.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has admitted he would love to face Liverpool in the Carling Cup final should the Eagles overcome fellow Championship rivals Cardiff.
The South London outfit dumped a second-string Manchester United side out the competition on Wednesday night thanks to a dramatic 2-1 extra-time victory at Old Trafford.

Crystal Palace chief wants Liverpool in Wembley Carling Cup final

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is dreaming of a 'fairytale' Carling Cup final against Liverpool after watching the Championship side defeat Manchester United.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-01 17:50:55 from: The Mail

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

Crystal Palace chairman dreaming of 'fairytale' Liverpool cup final

• Palace beat Manchester United to reach semi-finals • Steve Parish hails spectacular goal by Darren Ambrose The Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is dreaming of a "fairytale" Carling Cup final against Liverpool after his side's shock quarter-final win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

by Adam Bate

There are many over-used and misleading phrases in football and "one-man team" is surely right up there. In 1969-70, Cagliari had a quality side. Players such as Ricky Albertosi, Pierluigi Cera, Comunardo Niccolai and Angelo Domenghini all played for the Azzurri. And yet, the simple and remarkable fact remains Gigi Riva won the Scudetto for Cagliari.

Simon Bird's Premier League previews and predictions (Week 11)

Saturday, November 5 (all kick-offs 3pm unless stated)Manchester United vs SunderlandThe nation well, almost all of the nation put aside tribal loyalties to marvel at Sir Alex Ferguson's 25 years in charge at Manchester United this week.

FELIZ LUNES! So these guys were forced to endure a dreary factory visit last week, but at least Atletico Madrid secured a 3-1 win over Zaragoza last night which leaves them in the middle of the La Liga table with 13 points! Of course, you know their rivals Real Madrid are sitting right at the top like a boss, with only one point separating them and Barcelona, following their close 1-0 victory over Sociedad.

A superb goal scored by PAOK Salonica's Vieirinha denied Irish part-timers Shamrock Rovers a memorable draw in Greece in their Europa League tie in Greece tonight. Costin Lazar opened the scoring with a long range strike in first-half, before Karl Sheppard grabbed an equaliser 3 minutes into the second half, but there was to be no fairytale ending for the Dubliner's as Vieirinha's brilliant strike in the 63rd minute denied them a share of the spoils.

Their was to be no fairytale Epsom Derby win for the Queen owned Carlton House as he was beaten into third place by Treasure Beach second trained by Aiden O' Brien and the winner Pour Moi who came from last to first to give French trainer Andre Fabre his very first Epsom Derby success.

I'm not a big fan of forced narratives in sport. Often they require material facts to be ignored and result in faulty conclusions. This is possibly an oddity for a Cule - after all, Barcelona have built their identity on a strong sense of narrative, casting themselves in the same role in every story.

It wasn't the fairytale ending we were all hoping for. But for any fan in red to argue that we deserved something out of this game would have been a serious disservice to the way the Spanish champions dominated us.

We fared better than our showing from 2 years ago. But that wasn't exactly very difficult to do.

MANCHESTER, England Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday as Wigan and Wolves scrambled to safety in a thrilling finale to the English season. Blackpool's fairytale debut season in the top-flight came to an end at Old Trafford where they were beaten 4-2 by champions Manchester United while Birmingham were [.

Kenny Dalglish admitted Liverpool were made to pay for a slow start as Tottenham Hotspur dented their European aspirations with a 2-0 victory at Anfield on Sunday.
A volley from Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric's penalty secured the points for Spurs to ensure the race for Europa League qualification will go right to the wire.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish chose not to publicly criticize referee Howard Webb after his side's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at Anfield but claimed officials "get away scot-free'' by not having to explain their decisions.
The Reds trailed 1-0 when Webb awarded a soft penalty for a foul by John Flanagan on Steve Pienaar, which appeared to take place outside of the area.

Weren't we right here not a month ago? Weird, unexpected but acceptable. Most acceptable.

These two, again

To quote myself on 11 April, prior to our demise in the Champions League:

We've tackled tactics throughout the season. This time is no different.

One of the joys of having younger children is you can sometimes indulge in the guilty pleasure of revisiting films from your own childhood without appearing foolish in the extreme. Well, perhaps you might look somewhat foolish when said children decide to leave the sofa without finishing that tale midway through, bored by its outdated special effects and lack of princesses, only for you to be the remaining person watching it with rapt attention until the conclusion.

A shining light in the fug of our disconsolate national game. A Scottish footballing success story that is helping to change the world.
The Daily Record reported yesterday on the progress of the Homeless World Cup since the idea first germinated - like all the best ideas in a pub - ten years ago.

Some say it was arguably the most heroic comeback in the history of English football. Some say it was possibly the most humiliating collapse in the history of the Premier League. And finally, there are those who believe it was among the worst pieces of officiating we have seen in a while in any sport, let alone football.

The departure of Owen Coyle 12 months ago has so far proved to be too big an obstacle for Burnley to recover from. Since the Scot left for the bright lights of Bolton, the club has slipped from its short-lived stint among the country's elite and back into the Championship, and an underwhelming first half of this season led to Coyle's successor, Brian Laws, being relieved of his duties.