Big Story
UEFA yesterday revealed more information about investigations into over 200 individuals alleged to have fixed matches in nine different countries with a press conference. This revealed that the vast majority under suspicion are domestic matches, with the German authorities having requested information from UEFA's Betting Fraud Detection System in a number of cases, making 17 arrests yesterday.

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Welcome to another edition of Groan in Brief, the weekly look at the world of football in bullet point form. Today, we tackle the Worst Handball Ever in History And Time Itself ™, and the curiosity of Egypt's continued absence from the grandest stage of international football.

'That' handball

Whenever the media decide to jump on a story, what transpires is the most unsightly of feeding frenzies, each reporter seeking to trump the last.

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Thank God, it's over! This was truly the interlull from hell. Not only was our best current player injured for almost two months, but our best former player has been branded "a cheat" and "a liar." I have refrained from covering and incessantly commenting on this whole affair because I am just absolutely sick to death of the British media.

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Morning all, good to see the Thierry Henry stuff has blown over. Erm ... I wouldn't normally bother but I think it's only fair that someone tries to counter the lies and the hysteria. He's not one of ours now but he was and he was one of our best. Plus it's kinda quiet.

The Mirror:

Liam Brady last night branded Thierry Henry "shameful" after launching a bitter attack on FIFA for fixing the outcome.

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Morning, morning.

Well can I just say:

FUCK YOU INTERLULL. I HOPE YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN BY A BUS. THEN RAPED BY A BEAR. IN THE FACE.

Leaving aside the fact we've had no Arsenal for two weeks the hysteria over last night's handball by Thierry Henry has been ludicrous. The ire of Ireland fans I can fully understand but the vitriol levelled at Henry from some quarters has been way over the top.

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Good piece by Henry Winter in todays Telegraph, about how dangerous a First Round Draw England could get despite the fact that we will almost certainly be seeded (won't be officially announced untill all the teams are through and FIFA has worked out the best way to get the big teams through the fairest way for everyone to play against each other.

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Manchester United have been very good at producing youngsters, with a very long line of players such as Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher. Even more recently, other examples are Danny Welbeck, Jonny Evans and Darren Gibson. Here. we look at some of the other players who have the potential to rise from the academy reserve sides, and though some mentioned are not British like the players mentioned above, they can still become big Manchester United stars.

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Highlights and an interview with Arsene Wenger below.

I am still walking on air following our demolition of Spurs yesterday. With a glorious 3-nil victory at the Emirates we were able to put some breathing space between us and the four clubs trailing us at the moment.

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Big Story
Yesterday's stunning day of UEFA Champions League action is of course the focus of discussion today, with every game providing talking juicy points for the press.

The British press naturally focused on Liverpool after their home defeat to Lyon.

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Henry Winter again writes for The Telegraph in defence of Sir Alex Ferguson

Studs Up has a laugh at Rafa and Liverpool

The Mirror look at sick chants following City repeatedly singing their Munich Carlos Tevez song

The Times discusses the most bizarre goals in football

Sky Sports warns our fans will be checked for beachballs at Anfield

Are you on LinkedIn?

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Henry Winter is one of Britain's most respected football journalists and currently works for the Daily Telegraph. His career started at the Independent and he moved to The Telegraph in 1994. A familiar face on Sky's Sunday Supplement, Henry was been kind enough to have a quick chat with us about himself and football.

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In Henry Winter's excellent piece on Carlo Ancelotti for the the Telegraph today, there is plenty of insight into the man who has Chelsea atop the table with a perfect record and finally moving on from Jose Mourinho's legacy, and that's all fine and good, but if you've ever wondered to yourself what Carlo Ancelotti thinks about Florent Malouda and John Obi Mikel's taste in music, you've finally got an answer:

"I am used to players who are very focused so when I came to England it was a big surprise because in our dressing room there is music.

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An interesting piece from Henry Winter in todays Telegraph:

The temporary absence of all his expensive attacking superstars for Sunday's derby may appear a cruel conspiracy to City, but it also provides an opportunity for Hughes to show how he can juggle depleted resources, how he can devise a game-plan to frustrate the champions.

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Big Story
It's not often a 6-2 loss is taken to presage a "nation's arrival on the big stage", but that's the reaction today in the Guardian from Anna Kessel on the England's women's team's defeat in the UEFA European Championship final to Germany last night.

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Big Story

There is, of course, a lot of reaction to digest on the FIFA action against Chelsea announced yesterday for inducing Gaël Kakuta to break his contract with Lens and sign with the London club.

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By CARL ELDRIDGE Arsene Wenger will receive a ‘grovelling' apology from refs boss Keith Hackett after being sent to the stands in the defeat at Manchester United, the Sun tells us.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">

The story runs alongside the post-match comments from AW digging out Manc enforcer Darren Fletcher for continuously fouling in the Old Trafford clash.

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I read an interesting article in The Telegraph today.
It bore the intriguing title "The nation should cherish Michael Owen, not allow him to be caned".
As a girl still relatively new to football, my entry point to Michael Owen is probably different to most fans in that my 'knowledge' of him to date is limited to the following;

• He played for Newcastle when I first knew him - from which I deduced he was not good enough to play for any of the top teams
• He is very injury prone and has been out of action more often than not
• He is a spent force who once shone for England but is now a has-been

As you can imagine, therefore, I was surprised when he was bought by the ManUre. Click to continue reading...

From Henry Winter:

Onuoha has nicely wry sense of humour. Asked what he learned from Sven, City defender said: 'In terms of football or other things?'

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As the popularity of Twitter skyrockets, more football supporters are signing up to stay updated on the latest football news. Trouble is how to know which people to follow on Twitter.

To help, I've compiled a list of the top 10 English football bloggers you should follow on Twitter.

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Good news to start with this morning and it's that Arsene Wenger has confirmed he'll be staying with Arsenal. Apparently he told the Daily Mail last night:

There's nothing to worry about, it's not an issue for me. I'm staying here. If that changes I will let you know, but don't worry about that.

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Morning all,

A few bits and pieces to be going on with this Sunday morning. In which I'm not hungover at all. Oh no. Not one bit.

Now, you know the way everyone, and by everyone I actually mean everyone in the whole entire world, even people who don't care about Arsenal or know about Arsenal or even know what football is, wants Arsene Wenger to buy more experienced players?

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Jimmy Bullard, the Hull City midfielder, will be the next guest on the EPL Talk Podcast. Bullard, who previously played at Fulham, Wigan Athletic, West Ham United and other teams, will be interviewed tomorrow (Wednesday, April 29, 2009).

Here's your chance to ask any questions you may have to Jimmy.

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Telegraph writer Henry Winter has composed a stern defense of Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.
The club's problems, according to Winter, lie in a dressing room that requires toughness, not Hughes' dugout. It is on this point that I can only concur.
After the recent 3-1 Uefa Cup defeat to Hamburg, City midfielder Stephen Ireland told BBC Radio 5 Live that "at times some people were hiding and when we had our backs against the wall they were not brave enough to come out and fight''. Click to continue reading...

Telegraph writer Henry Winter has composed a stern defense of Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.
The club's problems, according to Winter, lie in a dressing room that requires toughness, not Hughes' dugout. It is on this point that I can only concur.
After the recent 3-1 Uefa Cup defeat to Hamburg, City midfielder Stephen Ireland told BBC Radio 5 Live that "at times some people were hiding and when we had our backs against the wall they were not brave enough to come out and fight''. Click to continue reading...

Telegraph writer Henry Winter has composed a stern defense of Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.
The club's problems, according to Winter, lie in a dressing room that requires toughness, not Hughes' dugout. It is on this point that I can only concur.
After the recent 3-1 Uefa Cup defeat to Hamburg, City midfielder Stephen Ireland told BBC Radio 5 Live that "at times some people were hiding and when we had our backs against the wall they were not brave enough to come out and fight''. Click to continue reading...

For the first 60 minutes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the game looked remarkably familiar. Chelsea were passing the ball beautifully around the pitch. Wonderful movement off the ball. Using incredible amounts of imagination and creativity. Yet they couldn't seem to score that crucial second goal. Sound familiar? Click to continue reading...

American football has its John Madden, but among the media soccer doesn't have a recognized authority figure on soccer? Or do we? Vote now who you believe is the number one authority on soccer worldwide. <a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1022314/" >Who's the number one authority in the world on soccer? Click to continue reading...