Back on the boards in Manchester town,
With bags of tricks to please
Even the hardest-hearted haters of fun.
And, as gay as a lark on a breeze,
To serve you well in truth and jest
And, just a touch of tease
Is Our Profession,
Boldly masked in paint and fineries.
Remember us.

Back on the boards in Manchester town
With bags of tricks to please
Even the hardest-hearted haters of fun.
And, as gay as a lark on a breeze,
To serve you well in truth and jest
And, just a touch of tease
Is Our Profession,
Boldly masked in paint and fineries.

There are many critics who love bickering about the downward spiral of Italian football but at least they have the equivalent of a glamorous Oscar night! Finally, Zlatan Ibrahimovic silenced his entire phone-book of haters last night and won the title of Serie A's 'Best Player in 2011′ while Edison Cavani's Udinese were announced 'Best Club'.

Every now and then a player emerges who is capable of dividing the sports fans into two camps: lovers and haters. At the European Cup of 2000 in Holland/Belgium, the Feyenoord skipper demonstrated his Bosvelt shuffle in De Kuip and allowed Kluivert to score another goal.

At the EK in Portugal [read more]

Dear Scottie Pippen,

Please read the entire title of this blog post before you sue me for $1 million. Please. I don't have $1 million to give you even if you really are bankrupt.

In case you haven't heard, Scottie Pippen is suing every media outlet on the planet that ever claimed he was bankrupt.

El Clasico Video Preview: Lionel Messi, Crisitano Ronaldo, Audi and ESPN - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

While Neymar and everybody else thinks Lionel Messi is the best player in the world, you have Cristiano Ronaldo voting for himself, Messi-haters voting for Xavi and Xavi himself voting for Paul Scholes (which, in a nutshell, tells you all there is to say about 'votes').

Wow, there is a lot of noise in the Major League Soccer system right now.

You either think Houston were idiotic (or poorly attempting to be sly) for not protecting local-icon Brian Ching, or you think Montreal hopes to do slimy deal-brokering with little regard to the player. Maybe you think both.

Outside of the fact that everyone hates him, Manuel Neuer's life is pretty good. The best young keeper in the land, Germany's keeper, Bayern's form, getting to take naps while Mario Gomez scores like it's going out of style down the other end, etc. With such talent in front of him on both fronts, it's possible he spends his time back in net brushing up on his trivia.

Even Robbie Keane's cartwheel was less over-used.Poor old Harry. One suspects that watching Spurs desperately defend a one goal lead from the touchline is cause enough for coronary problems. But to have suffered through that last half an hour whilst recovering from actual heart surgery at home in Poole can't have done anything for the old ticker.

Sexy Sexy Football from Spurs. In the first half at least Spurs were sexy, QPR were crap. Second half was more hit and miss, hanging on stuff mixed with the sexy football. But at the end of the day. QPR we're woeful enough and we were sexy enough for us to get the win. We're now unbeaten in 17 home premier league London derbies.

People don't like Kenny Cooper. He is probably used to it by now. They didn't always like him in Dallas where he racked up forty goals in ninety games. They didn't always like him in England or Germany where he he was busy with a broken ankle. They didn't always like him here in Portland where he was the Timbers leading scorer.

It's Halloween weekend and FC Tokyo's mascot, Tokyo Dorompa (seen above) dressed to the theme at a J-League match two days ago. Vale vale vale, the outfit looks like it was put together in less than 10 minutes, but you know Dorompa wanted all the attention to be on him.

New York and LA will have to deal with two cross country trips now. (Getty Images)

After last night's 2-0 win over FC Dallas, the New York Red Bulls did what some thought would happen set up a big time, blockbuster clash between them and the Los Angeles Galaxy in the playoffs. For the second time in league history the two big clubs meet when it matters most.

The haters of Miami as a soccer town were out in full force last week as it was announced that fewer than 6800 tickets had been sold for the USA vs Honduras game to be played at Sun Life Stadium. The game hadn't even been played yet and already they were bashing.
In the end over 21,000 showed up on a wet night to watch the United states defeat Honduras 1-0 thanks to a wonderful goal by Clint Dempsey.

Carlo Ancelotti was sacked by Chelsea at the end of last season because he went one whole season without winning a trophy. Heaven forbid, one whole season you want to come to Arsenal mate! Now there's a thought for all you Arsene Wenger haters out there, not me may I add. Carlo Ancelotti as the [...]

For archival purposes. And the SFL haters.

Now this is the weather that I expect with my football. Cool, clear, crisp, fall conditions. Our beloved robins are on their way to winding up their season in "mediocre"-ith place, and Extreme Beverage is grasping at straws while the MVP-fueled antics of one Dwayne DeRosario is leading the almost impossible turn-around of DC United into that last spot.

Aah, yes, we know many from the football fraternity who had their arms high up in the air at the sight of those fiery Red Real Madrid kits last night. But perhaps the best quote from yesterday's 1-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb came from Ronaldo's mouth. He had been the subject of some abuse from the Zagreb spectators, which he was probably quizzed about after the game.

Emma Davies on Twitter: "For all the ill-informed haters ... Kevin spoke to Tom Cleverly [sic] on the phone earlier. He would never intentionally hurt anyone."
Name football's dirty players. Paul Scholes, perhaps. Midfield hardmen like Lee Bowyer and Joey Barton. Football's hard-tackling cheats are idiots, aren't they?

Last season, teams in the bottom half of the league were the collective bane on our lives and arguably the reason we dropped out of the top 4. We failed to break down the so-called lesser teams as our competitors could. And so, we arrive at this match rock bottom of the league, with a very real danger of remaining there after Saturday.

Attendance for the Dallas - Seattle match in Frisco on Saturday: 11,635. Attendance for the Portland - Vancouver RESERVE match on Sunday: 10,077. I don't care what club you follow, you can't hate on numbers like that coming out of JELD-WEN for a bench-league match. Unless you're from Seattle I guess; y'all will hate on anything from south of the Columbia River just because.

Panama: Hot canal actionOne of the best things about Toronto FC's qualification into CONCACAF Champions League proper is the chance to meet new opponents. The finest of the finest Caribbean, North and Central American squads doing battle to crown the ultimate regional champion... like a battle royale.

New York Giants fans are upset. Not only did they lose Steve Smith, the team's best wide receiver since Plaxico Burress got locked up, they lost Steve Smith to the Philadelphia Eagles. Losing a key player to an arch nemesis is enough to make any fan's blood boil. Especially New York fans.

Not only did the Giants get blamed for losing their talented wide receiver, Giants fans also bashed Steve Smith on his Facebook page.

Whoever wrote the headline to Beau Dure's latest piece, "Women's soccer seemingly has options for growth," has a sunny disposition I don't share. First, WPS owners have radically different ideas about the way forward and think this arrangement can work in the long run:

"We [owners] don't all agree all the time," Philadelphia owner David Halstead said.

The Rapids used two of the prettiest goals you'll see all season to get an ugly win in Philly. The heat and humidity gave the home team an advantage and they took full advantage, controlling play and out-shooting Colorado.
Despite that, it was the Rapids who went up first, from an unlikely source.

What is it with these Arsenal experts?, the back stabbing has been extended from the external Arsenal haters to now some of our own. Tim Payton who is a leading member of the AST should know better than to create more internal divisions in the club on his twitter feed. For those who don't know Tim Payton, he is not shy about giving his opinion, and considers himself to be one of the official spokesmen for Arsenal Football club despite not being a formal employee of the club.

Looks like Bob Bradley haters need a new hobby. I can't wait to hear how this went down. And also what happens now.- Greg Seltzer

Revealed: How Alex McLeish is winning over the haters at Aston Villa

I had a couple of interesting insights recently into Alex McLeish's new regime at Aston Villa and believe the Scot is making good early progress both among players and fans now the furore over his appointment has ceased.

• Kop That: Revealed: How Alex McLeish is winning over the haters at Aston Villa http://bit.ly/q7DLut 23:54:39, 2011-07-27
• Kop That: Premier League 'set to introduce goal-line technology next year' http://bit.ly/q1K0Gr 23:38:52, 2011-07-27
• Kop That: The art of the Mata: the 10 best Juan Mata goals, skills and tricks videos on the web http://bit.

Photo credit: EricMagnuson
Good afternoon! It's a weird time to be a RBNY supporter, but whatever - there's an away fixture to look forwart to tonight. That's right Red Bulls fans! Our team travels to the Mile High City to take on the reigning MLS Champion Colorado Rapids (9:30pm ET, MSG+).

Based on Jack Bell's report two days ago in the New York Times, I was ready to be on high defcon alert today and tomorrow. Jack, a good dude who is good at what he does, had an email exchange with U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati. Here's what Jack had to say on the New York Times' Goal blog in an exchange that broached the subject of U.

I replayed the Philadelphia Union – Sporting Kansas City game from midweek as I got ready to leave for PPL Park tonight. I don't feel like there is a lot to say here. It was another disappointing result against a team we should have taken more points from. You really have to beat a last place team at home.

During the Philadelphia Union's 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids, many Union fans noticed booing directed at Sheanon Williams, the Union's starting right back. Throughout the game a group of Rapids fans was indiscriminately booing Williams, especially when the second year player touched the ball.

Here are the leaked photos of the 2011/12 Chelsea away kit by Adidas:
4.5/5 Stars
It pains me when Chelsea has the best looking strips in the Premier League, and if this leak holds true they could be on their way to a second such dubious honor in three years (this was easily the best looking design of the 2009/10 campaign).

Here are the leaked photos of the 2011/12 Chelsea away kit by Adidas:
4.5/5 Stars
It pains me when Chelsea has the best looking strips in the Premier League, and if this leak holds true they could be on their way to a second such dubious honor in three years (this was easily the best looking design of the 2009/10 campaign).

Player of the season. It's the final poll. The last question. The end to our attempts at gathering together with fellow bloggers, fans, followers, and supporters to look back at some of the best and worst of the 20010-11 Liverpool season. And let's be honest: This one was never going to be close.

Dani Alves (seen here when we were in Barcelona!) recently gave an interview to FIFA where he spoke about playing for Brazil and this weekend's crucial game against Man United. Here are a few quotes worth reproducing from this man who has gained more haters (!) than he has supporters this season.

In less than two weeks' time, we'll bid adieu to the finest Manchester United keeper since Peter Schmeichel, as Edwin van der Sar will stroll off into the sunset after the (hopefully victorious) Champions League final against Barcelona.

Is the end also approaching for another United veteran?

Amazing isn't it? One result, albeit very good result and a half decent performance later and all the Harry haters are silenced. Well, not quite.

The one thing I've been trying to get across all season is the majority of fans don't hate Harry. Most, if not all, appreciate what he's done since he arrived at the club.

Once again, we are fortunate to have a guest post from Dave Laidig. Dave is a contracts attorney for a large corporation who occasionally submits posts about soccer. He resides in Minnesota, which is not an MLS market. And he may be a little bitter about that. Thanks to Dave for some great thoughts and insight.