It may not have been a man of the match-calibre performance, as those honours would have to have gone to one of the defenders—and probably either Glen Johnson or Martin Skrtel. And he likely didn't even have as good a game as his previous two against Wolverhampton and Manchester United. Regardless of that, however, after nearly a full calendar year filled almost entirely by futility as he struggled first with fitness and then with fitting in, it's understandable that on the back of three strong showings on the bounce people would be eager to look for any upside they can find in the 2012 edition of Andy Carroll.

Arsenal supporters are becoming increasingly frustrated at the club's recent failure to compete for major honours in the past 7 years.

The ‘so near yet so far' statement could not ring more true than it does for the Gunners and the fans are starting to lose patience.

The poisonous atmosphere that has swept across the Emirates Stadium in back-to-back games against Manchester United and Aston Villa must be a worry to both the manager and the board.

By Chris Wright

All of a sudden and as unlikely as it may seem, Forest's Robbie Findley finds himself with some strong competition for the 'rubbish miss of the day' honours in the guise of Zenit striker Danny who really fnarked things up against Bunyodkor in the 2012 Dubai Matchworld Cup last night.

Nine years ago Swansea were bottom of the table of league football. Rock soild bottom. Next stop non-league oblivion. Yesterday they were flying high and should be rightly proud of themselves for turning the Arsenal over in royal fashion. They displayed hunger, desire, fight and unity in abundance and deserved the victory.

Brazilian World Cup winner and former AC Milan and FC Barcelona star Rivaldo could soon be playing his football in the African plains with top flight Angolan club Kabuscorp.

Rivaldo who was until last month a Sao Paulo player will become the first international star player to ever play in an African league.

Brazilian World Cup winner and former AC Milan and FC Barcelona star Rivaldo could soon be playing his football in the African plains with top flight Angolan club Kabuscorp.

Rivaldo who was until last month a Sao Paulo player will become the first international star player to ever play in an African league.

Despite their 1-1 draw with local rivals Espanyol, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has refused to concede the La Liga title to their arch rivals Real Madrid. The Catalans now find themselves 5 points behind their arch rivals Madrid who top the standings with 43 points.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Guardiola was quoted as saying that it was still too early to give up on defending their title.

Ally McCoist has urged striker Nikica Jelavic to reject the chance of a move away from Rangers, with Liverpool one of the reported suitors.
Speculation over the last fortnight has placed the Reds in the mix for the striker, who moved to Ibrox Stadium for £4 million last August.
His form in the SPL has alerted a number of clubs south of the border, with The Daily Mail claiming today that Reds boss Kenny Dalglish is one the interested parties in the 26-year-old.

Fabio Aurelio remains upbeat about the prospect of featuring for Liverpool in the second half of the season, and is determined to play a part in the club's quest for honours in 2012.
The 32-year-old Brazilian full-back is currently sidelined with a calf injury, and hasn't yet featured for Kenny Dalglish's side this campaign.

Aurelio: I'll fight to get back

Fabio Aurelio has set his sights on playing a role in Liverpool's quest for honours in 2012.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:20:16 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

By Chris Wright

The 'Anti-Gouge Mourinho 3000′ blew a fuse part-way through the second half

Barcelona made an inauspicious start to the first league 'El Clasico' match of the season, conceding the fastest goal in the history of the fixture when Karim Benzema capitalised on Victor Valdes' immense cock-up after just 23 seconds, but fought back to take the honours at the Bernabeu, end Real Madrid's 15-match unbeaten streak and replace Los Blancos at the summit of La Liga courtesy of goals from Alexis Sanchez, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas his tenth goal in 11 starts for Barca.

After reaffirming he won't be taking the opportunity to bring any additional squad members in during January's transfer window, Sir Alex Ferguson appears to be the only person on the planet who doesn't think Manchester United have an urgent need for reinforcements in order to challenge for any major honours this season.

The race for honours in the latter half of this season will take a decisive turn in the month of December as Manchester United look to put a few shaky weeks behind them. The Red Devils blistering...
Continue to the full story

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri is confident that he will get a new contract extension with the club as his current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2012. According To Allegri, the club is set to offer him a two year extension that will see him stay with the Rossonerri for two more years.

There have been many talks about the potential signing of Eden Hazard from Lille or Mario Gotze from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal recently, especially after the Gunners lost Nasri and Fabregas in the recent summer. A creative spark from midfield is extremely essential if Arsenal are to push for any sort of major honours in [.

When I was writing about the evolution of the football programme a few weeks ago I mentioned a Hibs v Liverpool Fairs Cup programme from December 1970 that carried an interview with Bill Shankly.
I can't remember seeing an interview with a visiting manager in a programme before.

Chasing after his former self, not the opponent

Carling Cup returns to the menu as the victors of tonight's game will seal their path into the semi final of this competition. It won't be so easy to win this year's competitions, well, compared to our run last season. Apart from Manchester City, there's still Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool still in this competition.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice from the penalty spot against Atletico

Real Madrid (Played 13, Points 34) took the initiative in the Spanish league last night as a 4-1 derby success at home to local rivals Atlético de Madrid was sweetened by a defeat to champions FC Barcelona whose 1-0 defeat to Getafe saw them go six points behind los Blancos at the top of the table.

Juventus moved back to the top of Serie A after a well deserved 1-0 win over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to Pepe's first-half strike. In what was dubbed a potential early 'title decider', it was Antonio Conte's men who grabbed the honours although hosts Lazio will feel a tad unlucky having twice struck [.

Steven Gerrard fears he may never win Premier League with Liverpool: I think about it almost every day & it would be hugely disappointing

The skipper has helped his club win a number of major honours but has yet to taste title success; however, he feels if they continue to strengthen they will stand a chance

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-17 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Steven Gerrard fears he may never win Premier League with Liverpool: I think about it almost every day & it would be hugely disappointing

The skipper has helped his club win a number of major honours but has yet to taste title success; however, he feels if they continue to strengthen they will stand a chance

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-17 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Steven Gerrard fears he may never win Premier League with Liverpool: I think about it almost every day & it would be hugely disappointing

The skipper has helped his club win a number of major honours but has yet to taste title success; however, he feels if they continue to strengthen they will stand a chance

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-17 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Steven Gerrard fears he may never win Premier League with Liverpool: I think about it almost every day & it would be hugely disappointing

The skipper has helped his club win a number of major honours but has yet to taste title success; however, he feels if they continue to strengthen they will stand a chance

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-17 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Steven Gerrard fears he may never win Premier League with Liverpool: I think about it almost every day & it would be hugely disappointing

The skipper has helped his club win a number of major honours but has yet to taste title success; however, he feels if they continue to strengthen they will stand a chance

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-17 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Steven Gerrard fears he may never win Premier League with Liverpool: I think about it almost every day & it would be hugely disappointing

The skipper has helped his club win a number of major honours but has yet to taste title success; however, he feels if they continue to strengthen they will stand a chance

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-11-17 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

You could see the internet wariors racing for their keyboard once Singaore defender Nigel Vanu received a straight red after lashing out at an Indonesia player during their SEA Games encounter at the Bung Karno earlier this afternoon. 1- 0 against the hosts following poor performances against Malaysia and Cambodia, Vanu's red gave them a target for their opprobrium.

By Chris Wright

With most of the players involved in the derby-day pasting at the weekend given the night off, Manchester United wafted through to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup with a 3-0 victory over League Two side Aldershot at the Recreation Ground last night with Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and Park Ji-Sung doing the honours for United.

Ball control with Iker Casillas. Image: MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images.

It's no secret that the Spanish NT are an extremely talented buncha boys. Winners of the European Football Championship, the World Cup and numerous other honours we can't really be bothered to write about.

Combine this with our knowledge that publishing pictures of Spanish boys is a surefire way to distract you lot from our early lunch affected schedule and Bingo!

Liverpool's Urguayan striker Luis Suarez has all but given up on the Red's chances of winning the Premier League this season. I do not understand why Suarez would make such a preemptive statement so early in the league.

The league is barely 8 games old and yet the striker has already thrown in the towel.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore believes the club is lacking the defensive steel and that is stopping Kenny Dalglish's side challenging for major honours.
Liverpool were one of the busiest clubs during the summer transfer window and added the likes of Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates on top of January signings Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.

Kenny Dalglish has saluted the attitude of Martin Skrtel following the defender's impressive displays in an unfamiliar right back role.
The Slovakia international assumed the position following an injury to Martin Kelly in the recent win over Bolton and gave another solid showing in the defeat at Stoke.

Daniel Agger believes his commanding start to 2011-12 is a result of getting a full pre-season schedule under his belt - though he's convinced he has yet to hit peak form.
The Dane has started all four of Liverpool's Barclays Premier League matches so far this campaign having worked tirelessly over the summer to regain full fitness following a knee injury that ruled him out of the tail end of last term.

It is a memory that has lasted for what seems to be an eternity. The last time Man Utd showed Arsenal no mercy was 10 years ago thrashing the Gunners 6-1 at Old Trafford and believe it or not, the Gunners went on to finish 2nd that season with United taking the honours. A hammering that has constantly haunted the faithful, it was a result that we well and truly hoped we would never see again.

New Anzhi Makhachkala signing Samuel Eto'o has made an instant impact for his new club by scoring the equalizer in a 1-1 draw away at FK Rostov.

The signing of the Cameroonian international has raised many eyebrows throughout the world of football especially given the huge wages that he is reported to be earning, something akin to 20 million euros a year.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish hailed his summer signings after the impressive 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Jose Enrique, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing all made their second starts for the club at the Emirates after arriving at Anfield during pre-season.
The quartet have all quickly settled in to their new surroundings with Enrique picking up the Man of the Match honours for keeping Theo Walcott quiet during the contest.

Barcelona's new number four was unveiled at the Camp Nou this afternoon and the headline on the Barcelona web site said it all "Back Home"

Eight years after leaving for Arsenal, Cesc (he is no longer Cesc Fabregas, he is just Cesc) has come home to fulfill a dream. Before taking questions from the media today, Cesc stared open-mouthed at the video showing images of Fabregas in the youth teams.

Carra: Stevie can go on for years

Jamie Carragher believes Steven Gerrard could enjoy another five years at the top and claims the skipper's return next month will give everyone at the club a major lift as our quest for honours takes shape.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-08-09 07:53:52 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The Luka Modric to Chelsea speculation has been one of the most talked about subjects amongst football fans this summer.

The Tottenham midfielder has been consistently linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea having two bids rejected for his services including a £27m offer made earlier this week.

'Cole can make big contribution'

Steve Clarke believes Joe Cole can make a 'big contribution' to Liverpool's quest for honours in 2011-12.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-07-18 09:33:29 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

'Cole can make big contribution'

Steve Clarke believes Joe Cole can make a 'big contribution' to Liverpool's quest for honours in 2011-12.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-07-18 09:33:29 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.