Ducky's Note: 'Neutral' Arsenal fan Swaroop is back after a long hiatus (and with some spare time from his proper-journalism course at Newcastle) to look at whether a handshake is such a big deal and while we condemn the racism, we shouldn't stoke the fire by blowing up every little act remotely related to it.

In the modern game of football, 600,000 Euros is an extremely insignificant price to pay for a player. It is a low risk, high reward situation for the club. If the player ends up as a failure then the loss was very minimal. However if the player goes on to be a success, than it looks like a genius move.

SPANISH FOOTBALL tonight under very cold conditions, as in most Western Europe, with 5 matches scheduled as part of Round 22 of LA LIGA. Here are all the final results along with the goal scorers. Levante - Racing LEVANTE drew 1 - 1 with RACING DE SANTANDER in an interesting game of Football that saw the latter more determined to grab the points.

I'll always remember the first game of football I ever went to: I was aged six; the location was Aggborough in Kidderminster as the Harriers took on Aston Villa in Graham Allner's testimonial. It was a few years before I was ever introduced to top flight football at Villa Park or First Division football at Molineux.

This could be an eventful day. And then again, no- as Elton John would say. I'm not sure what the implications will be of having a whole round of Premier League fixtures on the same evening as the transfer deadline, but to me it sounds a spot iffy. For managers looking to get shot of a bit of dead wood, I suppose, it's probably ideal.

Greg Schiano has been taking on challenges his whole life, and where his recent task of rebuilding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL is daunting, the former Rutgers University coach is up for the task.
Stephen F. Holder of the Tampa Bay Times writes of the man who continues to rise to the occasion.

If any game of football lived up to the old cliche 'it's a game of two halves' then this was it. We were poor in the first half and so much better in the second. I have to also add that finally we had something go our way for once, although we haven't been great of late, we also haven't had any luck both in terms of refereeing decisions and in term of the rub of the green in other departments.

SPANISH CUP ( Copa de Rey ) action tonight with the return match between 2º B Division Club MIRANDES & Liga Club RCD ESPANYOL. The latter won in the 1º st leg 3-2 & this match was totally up for grabs. After an exciting game of Football the final 2 - 1 result served to qualify Mirandes ( 4-4 agg, away goal advantage) into the Spanish Cup semi-finals & keep the SPANISH FOOTBALL "fairytale" story

Even Homer could rig a football match more professionally than the British criminal classes.
It is little wonder that your sport, this game of football, is TOTALLY controlled by Asian underground bookmakers whose expertise on both the sport and the behaviouralisms of another culture show you up as the psychopathic antisocials that you are.

So the African Cup of Nations got underway yesterday with a couple of shocking results that i was not expecting. Hosts Equatorial Guinea making their first ever appearance at the AFCON picked up 3 points from a Libyan side who failed to make their possession count.

However, the most shocking result was Senegal's 2-1 defeat to Zambia.

The abuse I've seen thrown at Aaron Ramsey lately has been a sick joke.
Some of it has even bordered on things I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemy.
I couldn't believe my eyes at some of the stuff I've seen. I mean death threats?! Over a game of football?! Come on behave yourself.

By Chris Wright

A flurry of late goals saw Chelsea rack up an impressive scoreline against Championship paupers Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge, with Juan Mata sticking away Florent Malouda's cut-back just after half-time before Ramires (85th and 87th minutes) and Frank Lampard (93rd) padded out the rout as the clock dwindled down to nowt.

Now on Twitter: Rafa Benitez

FORMER Real Valladolid, Osasuna, Extremadura, Tenerife, Valencia, Inter Milan and, of course, Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez has added an official Twitter account to run alongside his official website. Rafa Benitez, pictured with Number Five, is now on Twitter The official Rafa Benitez website is a hive of information and in-depth analysis of the game of football as seen not only by Rafa but by a wealth of experts in various aspects of the game.

What a game of football it was last night. Tottenham dominated the first part of the game, Chelsea then got back into it, Spurs had to make a change to their formation and Chelsea dominated and should have won the game but then Spurs could have nicked it right at the end. It had everything!.
Both teams would be happy to take a point away from this one and both would feel as though they should have won it!

By Alan Duffy

Tottenham Hotspur Chelsea Premier League 22nd December 2011

A clash between third and fourth in the table, this heavyweight London derby lived up to its billing, with both sides getting something from a superb game of football.

By Chris Wright

Once again, the giant globe-spanning Illuminati conspiracy established to keep Liverpool from 'having their year' has come into effect and has demanded that the FA ban the club's most effective player this season for the next eight games and fined a week's wages just for openly and admittedly calling a black man a 'negro' a few times during a game of football.

By Chris Wright

Once again, the giant globe-spanning Illuminati conspiracy established to keep Liverpool from 'having their year' has come into effect and has demanded that the FA ban the club's most effective player this season for the next eight games and fined a week's wages just for openly and admittedly calling a black man a 'negro' a few times during a game of football.

Match report

So, our first league defeat since that trip to White Hart Lane at the start of October, and like that day I don't think it was a game we really deserved to lose. Our encounters with Mancini's City have been normally staid affairs due to their defensive approach but their more expansive style this season meant it was an exciting, open game of football which suited both teams.

Firstly that was a great game of football and a credit to the Premiership. I cannot fault the performance and effort from our lads, despite a plethora of injuries to our full backs, we cobbled together a back four, that despite yet another injury mid-game fought hard for the duration. This was a game decided by small margins and it is arguable that a few little things could easily gone our

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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.

In my humble opinion the governing bodies of football have done very very little to tackle cheating and indiscipline in the game of football. This has been yet again demonstrated this weekend as Luka Modric 'won' Tottenham a penalty with a blatant dive against Stoke City.Modric cheated Spurs a goal and what would the punishment have been if he had been caught?

RUGBY TOWN JUNIORS 0–5 LOUGHBOROUGH STUDENTS Saturday 10th December 2011 Midland Combination Under-21 section; East / North Division Kilsby Lane
The first part of a "double" today, as having been impressed with the Students when I saw them beat Stapenhill 4-1 in October, decided to take in their away fixture at Rugby Town Juniors.

This is the first piece for TSG by Miriti Murungi's Nutmeg Radio; oops, Nutmeg Radio's Miriti Murungi. Murungi also hosts a rather, make that The Confidential podcast, here. In his spare time, he tutors budding archery proteges in his sleep.

Clean cut no more. MLS & Brek Shea, 2018?

There are moments of true magic in the beautiful game of football. This year, perhaps no one knows this better than SSC Napoli in sizzling form in the Serie A, and now having sealed their spot in the final sixteen of the Champions League! Napoli's debut in the Champions League has been nothing less than a Cinderella story.

It is an unfortunate reality of the game of football, one which dictates that an injury to one player means an opportunity for another. So it will be for Jay Spearing who seems to be the player within Liverpool's squad who can best replicate the job that Lucas Leiva carried out and which someone else will now have to do in the Brazilian's injury forced absence.

It was in the sweltering late afternoon heat of Dubai where Gavin Laws, Head of Corporate Affairs for Standard Chartered, watched the last group of children leave the football pitch at the end of the final soccer clinic of the calendar year.
With hundreds more kids having benefited from the chance to enjoy a game of football under the eyes of Liverpool's acclaimed community coaching team, it was a case of being another job very well done as Liverpool FC and our main club sponsors again came together to provide once in a lifetime opportunities for our faraway fans.

Today heralds the official second birthday of Stoppage Time International Football Blog and I am pleased to say that the number of visits to the blog has increased significantly over the last twelve months and I hope that the numbers will rise once again in 2012.

The first year of the blog, going from December 2009-November 2010 saw a decent number of 37,533 visits in its fledgling days.

The Game So then, he we are. Tonight, our beloved Arsenal will face Manchester City in what will hopefully be an entertaining game of football. In a way, it's impossible to look ahead of today's game without ...

Liverpool v Manchester City: five things we learned | Daniel Taylor

Bill Shankly's was a great quote. Truly great, in fact. But not true. 1) Bill Shankly got it wrong It isn't more important than life or death. Craig Bellamy was so distraught about Gary Speed's death there were probably parts of the day when he felt he could barely function, let alone play a key match against his former club.

You know you love football. You love watching the players racing across the field with the smell of cut grass setting fire to your team spirit. You sit at the edge of your seat when the players get the ball down the field, avoiding the opposing team as one good whack against the ball with a head or foot sends the ball past the goalie.

The blogathon continues. Alzheimer Scotland and the Homeless World Cup still need your help. So if you've enjoyed any of this please give anything you can.
It's a pleasure to say a massive hello to Jay Mansfield, also know as @leftmidfielder, for this hour of polite argument. Jay blogs here
Here's Jay on why Scottish football won't change:
Browsing Alzheimer Scotland's Football Memories site, I began to reminisce about the times I would discuss the latest calamity to befall Scottish football (among other things) with my much-missed grandfather.

Why the FA must take the lead on the anti-Blatter revolution

In my opinion Sepp Blatter has been a racist, a homophobe and a sexist. And while we're at it, he has been a dictator as well. Apart from that, I don't think there is much to criticise the FIFA president for.

What a thoroughly entertaining game of football that was. Even Robbie Williams, the greatest entertainer known to mankind, had nothing on that.
The only thing missing was a pissed up Delia Smith coming onto the pitch and cooking a Sunday roast (on a Saturday) at half-time.
To be fair though Norwich City were roasted enough as it was and had Delia showed then she would have only overcooked them.

The beautiful game in black and white; the numbers behind 2011-12 campaign - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

In any game of football luck is a key issue in the outcome; refereeing decisions, the bounce of the ball and a lick of paint all have the ability to make or break your team's fortunes in a split second.

Overcoming adversity: Three Extraordinary achievements by the modern football players - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Sports Illustrated and Gillette Odor Shield Sweat for Greatness contest is celebrating extraordinary achievements of ordinary men and here on Soccerlens, we are going to look at extraordinary achievements of modern day footballers.

I am asking the question here because of our poor defensive displays of late. In my previous post where I have asked you to give your opinions on what you believe is our strongest back four, and this follows on from that.
We all know Roman wants to see attacking football and being honest AVB has delivered fantastic football at Chelsea.

The Game Here we are then! After several days of anxious wait, Chelsea and Arsenal will today go head-to-head in what promises to be an entertaining game of football. Considering our position in the table and the ...

We finally know the Al Davis cause of death. The legendary owner of the Oakland Raiders died of heart related issues. Officially, the cause of death is said to be three things: ventricular fibrillation, congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy.

Davis had been in failing health for a long while.

We briefly started the My Favourite Match season during the summer with my own personal selection of the 1984 European Championship semi-final between France and Portugal. This morning it's back, with Andrew Harding recalling a 4-2 win which, as a seven year-old, came to define his relationship with the London club.

The Rooney Rule: Andrew Palmer's Story Think Football.

During the NFL's journey to England last week when the Chicago Bears faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley, the English FA had a chance to consult with NFL officials regarding "The Rooney Rule" nad how it has affected the game of American Football.