Just when Rafa Benitez thought things couldn't get any worse, a study published by Foster's today reveals the Liverpool manager is officially one of the most worried managers in the Premiership.

The leading Aussie beer brand analysed the interviews and statements from every Premiership manager since the beginning of the season using its Ozometer, an algorithm developed specifically to analyse language and word sequences to determine how worried or carefree a person is.

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When we last left Jose Mourinho's tongue, it was being stuck out at the crowd after an injury time winner against Udinese. Here it makes another appearance, albeit just a cameo, after Inter's second goal against Livorno on Sunday, accompanied by some kind of Michael Jackson type hand motion.

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On the 14th November Diego Maradona's Argentina will face Spain in Atlético de Madrid's Estadio Vicente Calderón in a friendly as the first part of their preparation for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On Friday, Maradona named his squad for the match, which will consist solely of players playing for clubs outside Argentina, [. Click to continue reading...

Tuesday and Wednesday have seen some decent games in the midweek round of the Torneo Apertura, with Estudiantes regaining top spot with a 2-1 away win over Godoy Cruz on Tuesday, hours after champions Vélez moved into sixth (two points off the top) with a 2-1 win over Atlético Tucumán that came thanks to a [. Click to continue reading...

Barely has the dust settled from the tenth round, so full of action that the superclásico was all but forgotten about by anyone reasonable, than the next round of matches is starting. It's a big round for both Avellaneda clubs: Newell's host Racing on Tuesday afternoon for some reason Racing's new manager, Lothar Matthäus [. Click to continue reading...

John Hughes described Walter Smith as the "godfather" of Scottish football managers the other day. In recent weeks, however, Smith's traditional taciturn gravitas has been replaced by a more haunted look, the look of a man who spends his long, sleepless nights wondering what went wrong.When he returned to Rangers he knew there would be hard work ahead. Click to continue reading...

Bent's quizzical reaction to his "beach ball" goal highlight vs. Liverpool
Sunderland striker Darren Bent will miss tomorrow's Carling Cup tie against Aston Villa through injury.
Bent is suffering from what is described only as a "slight knee injury" but Sunderland fans (or the thousands of fantasy football managers who own him) may be a bit more nervous about this slight knee injury when they check out Bent's past medical history. Click to continue reading...

When Michael Lewis published Moneyball in 2003, it instantly became one of the most influential books about American sports in a generation. Michael Lewis, normally a financial writer, analyzed how baseball's Oakland A's managed to consistently produce highly competitive teams despite a payroll that was a fraction of their biggest rivals.

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The scores and scorers of the weekend will be up in a few hours' time after the super, Tigre and Argentinos drew 1-1 in Victoria and Colón then took over the leadership of the table in the weekend's final match with a 2-1 win over fellow contenders San Lorenzo in El Cementerio. For now [...] Click to continue reading...

I'm a bit late due to a computer issue the match is already 8 minutes old but is still at 0-0 presently. Open this post, and refresh periodically for sort-of-live-ish text updates on a thoroughly middle-of-the-table superclásico. River Plate 0 0 Boca Juniors (8 mins) 8 mins: Shortly after Nico Domingo drags a shot just [. Click to continue reading...

There's a vital grudge match in England this afternoon as Liverpool host Manchester United in the Premier League, and also today Indian football hosts a less globally famous but no less passionate derby with Mohun Bagan taking on East Bengal. For a change, I'm not going to bill the superclásico as the world's biggest derby [. Click to continue reading...

Three teams are tied on twenty points at the top of the Torneo Apertura after Saturday's matches, and San Lorenzo could join them on Sunday. As well as Central's 2-0 win over Independiente, Estudiantes had already won on Friday night, 1-0 over Atlético Tucumán, and on Saturday Banfield (3-0 at home to Godoy Cruz) and [. Click to continue reading...

Come Sunday, expect the television cameras to be zooming in on the faces of Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson as they try to detect whether the pressure is getting to either manager. Attention will be paid to body language and how each manager interacts with one another, what the handshake is like and to make sure they exchange pleasantries after the final whistle is blown.

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Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been voted as the greatest football manager of all time. Sir Alex came ahead of some of the football greats such as Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Matt Busby.
This poll was carried out by the makers of Football Manager 2010, here are the top 10 football managers of all time, voted for by the public. Click to continue reading...

A recent poll carried out by Sports Interactive has confirmed what we United fans have known for sometime. Sir Alex Ferguson is by far the greatest manager to have ever graced the game of football.

Football fans who play the popular Football Manager game series were polled to see who they hold in highest regard with Fergie coming out on top; head and shoulders above anyone else.

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Sir Alex Ferguson is assured legendary status in football and his achievements have been recognised by football fans worldwide - even those that prefer spending their days playing Football Manager than playing football.

Ferguson topped a poll carried out by Sports Interactive (makers Football Manager 2010) with 26 per cent of the vote.

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Diego Simeone's San Lorenzo travelled across the Río De La Plata on Wednesday night for the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana quarter final against Uruguayan opposition Just like the national team a week earlier, they came away with a narrow win, 1-0 over River Plate of Montevideo thanks to a 71st minute header from [. Click to continue reading...

On the day that retired ex River Plate, Argentinos Juniors, Villarreal, Cruzeiro and Argentina full back Juan Pablo Sorín was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Belo Horizonte (the city he's lived in three times during his spells at Cruzeiro), FIFA confirmed that another former Argentina player is held in rather less high esteem. Click to continue reading...

Argentina's 2010 World Cup qualification campaign isn't likely be forgotten easily by anyone who followed it from beginning to end. For anyone who wants to read a little about the likely fallout from the decision to give the managerial job to a certified nutter, without (too much) mention of crotch-grabbing in press conferences, you can [. Click to continue reading...

It's been a qualifying campaign no-one who followed it from start to finish will ever quite manage to forget, but eventually, somehow, in spite of their manager, their opponents and let's face it their own often atrocious performances, Argentina have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Click to continue reading...

The moment of truth arrives tonight. At 8pm local time (7pm in Argentina; 11pm British Summer Time) Argentina will take to the pitch in the Estadio Centenario, the site of the first ever World Cup final back in 1930. They need a result against their oldest rivals to secure qualification for South Africa 2010. Click to continue reading...

The eighth round of the 2009 Torneo Apertura finally ended on Monday night with the first match of Leonardo Astrada's second spell in charge of River Plate. There wasn't even the shortest of honeymoon periods, though Independiente took a 3-0 lead by half time and only a Marcelo Gallardo penalty with a minute to [. Click to continue reading...

Funny how things come full circle. Back in June, Argentina narrowly beat Colombia on a pitch so bad due to River Plate's decision to stage a rock concert on it a few days previously that Diego Maradona threw a hissy fit which saw the match with Brazil last month moved to Rosario Central's [...] Click to continue reading...

Not I. Oh, heavens no. The heavens opened over the Estadio Monumental on Saturday night and, in a frantic finish, a substitute chosen by D10s himself scored the winning goal to keep Argentina just on track for qualification to South Africa 2010. Martín Palermo has waited ten years for the chance to atone [. Click to continue reading...

Argentina's starting XI for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Peru kicks off at 7pm on Saturday (11pm UK time), and the starting eleven is exactly the same as the one manager Diego Maradona has used in training for most of the week. Newcastle winger Jonás Gutiérrez is at right back due to the injury [. Click to continue reading...

It was an intrigue-packed evening of football in Argentina on Thursday, in the eighth round of the 2009 Torneo Apertura. Colón went fourth with a performance full of golazos to beat Arsenal 4-1. Shortly afterwards champions Vélez Sársfield, who haven't lost a single match at home in 2009, ended Argentinos Juniors' unbeaten run with a [. Click to continue reading...

Argentina's practice session on Wednesday produced a possibly glimpse into the mind of Diego Maradona. Although a frightening place in which Jonás Gutiérrez is worthy of a place in the team at right back, there were also one or two more lucid thoughts flitting about. In a kickabout against Sergio Batista's Under 17 side, this [. Click to continue reading...

With Saturday featuring Argentina's must-win World Cup qualifier at home to Peru, the AFA have brought forward most of the eighth round of the 2009 Torneo Apertura, rather than opt for a two-week gap between matches. River Plate confirmed on Tuesday that former defensive lynchpin and title-winning boss Leonardo Astrada is their new manager, and [. Click to continue reading...

Ahead of the World Cup qualifying double-header which kicks off against Peru on Saturday, Diego Maradona did his bit for team harmony amongst the under-pressure Argentina squad by telling the press that he wasn't sure whether he'd continue as manager if the team qualify for next year's global extravaganza in South Africa. Click to continue reading...

On Friday Néstor Gorosito announced that win, lose or draw against San Lorenzo today, he'd be stepping down as manager of River Plate. Fitting that he should do so against the man he replaced in the Núñez hot seat, in a way. Simeone seems to have rediscovered his touch after leaving River San Lorenzo's [. Click to continue reading...

Friday and Saturday's matches have combined to leave the top of the Primera División table looking decidedly congested, and it might well get even more so on Sunday. On Friday Banfield failed to draw level with Estudiantes at the top,  and the leaders were then beaten on Saturday by Argentinos who as a result [. Click to continue reading...

One of the matches on Wednesday night featured a 'national' team playing Ghana in Córdoba. Martín Palermo scored both goals and, as a result, has convinced everyone in the press that he'd be ideal to play as the number 9 in the World Cup qualifiers against Peru, ahead of Diego Milito and Gonzalo Higua'in. Click to continue reading...

Some crackers from Gary Smith in true English footballing terminology ahead of this weekend's huge game against New England. These quotes are taken from a letter he addressed to players with the Colorado Fusion soccer club which signed an agreement this week to be part of an adidas alliance with the Rapids. Click to continue reading...

Argentina's full selección may be struggling to stagger across the line in the race to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but one country who are already there will take on a locally-based B team in Córdoba on Wednesday night. The starting XI isn't being reported as I type this up, but [. Click to continue reading...

Diego Maradona has announced a list of just eighteen Europe-based players for Argentina's final two World Cup qualifying matches at home to Peru and away to Uruguay. There are numerous big-name casualties of Diego's refusal to consider that any part of the defeats to Brazil and Paraguay might have been his fault. Click to continue reading...