Winter of discontent Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter has got a few questions to answer this morning after a strange sectarian article appeared on his official website. Winter has been blogging his travels around Australia and New Zealand over the festive period. But one of the blog posts takes a very peculiar take on [.

Talksport: The Transfer Tavern with Gabriele Marcotti Jan 8

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A news article on 2012-01-08 14:50:14 from: Talksport

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Belatedly, a roundup of links regarding the passing of Brazilian great Socrates a couple weeks ago: Remembering Brazil's Soccer Philosopher King, penned by Gabriele Marcotti, appeared in the WSJ the day after his death:

Sunday [December 4] morning marked the passing of Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, better known simply as Socrates.

by Adam Bate

*A version of this article appeared as an obituary in the February 2011 issue of Calcio Italia magazine

Some people choose to remember the 1982 World Cup for the famous Brazil team of Zico, Socrates and Falcao. Their silky skills and attacking football certainly captured the imagination.

Watching the 1982 World Cup in my parent's basement, my brother and I pranced around our basement trying to imitate the beauty of Socrates. No-look passes, flicks and back heels were introduced to a growing soccer nation, and I was clearly swept up in it.
With the passing of the Brazilian midfielder this past weekend at the age of 57, Gabriele Marcotti writes of the great playmaker and leader of the Brazilian football revolution.

With everybody now seemingly on Twitter, it is difficult to know who is worth following especially if you're looking for decent football opinions. So it is that I've tried to compile a list of the best people out there who are well worth following. Be warned, however that as a rule I tend not to follow player - do they ever have anything really of interest to say?

Once again I'm proud to be among the contributors to the latest edition of Calcio Italia.

There's been some great feedback so far and I can see why because there are pieces by Giancarlo Rinaldi and Adam Digby - two of the finest writers about Italian football as well as a feature on Giuseppe Rossi by Spanish football expert Sid Lowe.

Here we go again with Serie A Weekly giving you a list of five stories to read this lunchtime that we have seen from around the web and enjoyed ourselves. Many of these will be about Italian football of course but there is always room for something different and those will be here too. Take a look at our recommendations, pass them on and be sure to leave a comment on these great articles.

Porto has been dominating Portugal this season, and a large reason for that is manager Andres Villas Boas.

Gabriele Marcotti of Sports Illustrated writes about Porto and their dynamic coach.

There's a team in Europe that is still in the hunt to win every competition this season. A club which is dominating its league, ahead of its perennial archrival, which itself is having, statistically at least, a great season.

Here we go again with Serie A Weekly giving you a list of five stories to read this lunchtime that we have seen from around the web and enjoyed ourselves. Many of these will be about Italian football of course but there is always room for something different and those will be here too. Take a look at our recommendations, pass them on and be sure to leave a comment on these great articles.

Former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain tells an interesting story in his autobiography about Sir Ian Botham's time as a selector. It's worth quoting in full:

"The problem was that Beefy is such a legend, people do listen to him. Not only the David Graveneys [Chairman of Selectors] of this world but also people in the street.

Another month, another superb edition of Calcio Italia.

The usual columns by Gabriele Marcotti, James Richardson and Tor-Kristian Karlsen are all there. In addition, there are also features by James Horncastle and Dan Ross.

I have contributed to the magazine writing a They Retired The Shirt feature on Franco Baresi which I hope readers will enjoy.

The Referee, as well as Arsenal's Tomas Rosicky, are under suspicion.

Breaking: France State TV is reporting that Interpol, the International Police Agency, are investigating the Arsenal/Newcastle draw from the weekend, centering in on odd betting patterns. The alleged investigation includes Arsenal winger Tomas Rosicky, whose foul was allegedly the cause of the second Newcastle penalty.

I'm delighted to say that the February 2011 edition of Calcio Italia includes three of my pieces. There is a feature on the history of Brescia Calcio and a 'They Retired The Shirt' piece about the career of Cagliari hero Gigi Riva. Finally, there is a tribute to Italian World Cup winning coach Enzo Bearzot, who died just before Christmas.