Paolo Di Canio says he is tempted to slap Sunderland youngster Connor Wickham to ensure he fulfils his potential. The Black Cats boss is keen to see the 20-year-old live up to the expectations that came when he arrived on Wearside from Ipswich for £8.1 million two years ago. He said: "Maybe, with this guy, [.
It turns out that Ipswich never made an offer for Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu after all.
Great... as if my job wasn't hard enough before selling clubs decided for some reason to start
putting out wrong info, which naturally goes airborne in London thanks to the fish-wrappers. On a
strictly unrelated note, I occasionally swear the British tabloids exist solely to test my ability
for dodging BS
[R]adio Five Live's evening long special on transfer deadline day saw presenter Mark Chapman ask whether this bi-annual occasion is beginning to resemble the NFL draft in its endorsement of razzmatazz. Certainly, it's a more involved affair than it used to be and we've come a long way from the brisk late March afternoon of yore – a low key set of transactions that overwhelmingly featured lower league clubs.
The January transfer deadline is less than a week away now and message boards everywhere are heralding a cry for more experience to be added to Championship squads. The judicious addition of a central defender with a Premier League background or a proven striker could be enough to convert pretenders into serious challengers.
The serious lack of imagination shown by Football League chairmen continues to fuel the managerial carousel. Almost three years ago, we were bemused by Paul Hart's arrival at Crystal Palace while the likes of Alan Irvine, Brian Laws and Darren Ferguson played musical chairs. Two and a half years on and it's Dougie Freedman, Mick McCarthy and Dave Jones making sideways moves, as well as Laws again.
17:20 Swansea v Blackpool at The King Power Stadium15:00 Hull v Bolton at The KC Stadium15:00 Leeds
v Blackburn at Elland Road15:00 Ipswich v Huddersfield Town at Portman Road15:00 Derby v Watford at
Pride Park Stadium15:00 Burnley v Brighton at Turf Moor15:00 Crystal Palace v Sheffield Weds at
Selhurst Park15:00 Birmingham v Peterboro at St [.
17:20 Watford (2-0) Birmingham at Vicarage Road Stadium15:00 Brighton (5-1) Barnsley at Amex
Stadium15:00 Huddersfield Town (2-0) Burnley at John Smith's Stadium15:00 Peterboro (1-2) Leeds at
London Road Ground15:00 Blackpool (6-0) Ipswich at Bloomfield Road15:00 Blackburn (-) Swansea at
Ewood Park15:00 Middlesbrough (2-1) Crystal Palace at The Riverside Stadium15:00 Charlton (0-0)
Hull at The Valley15:00 [.
17:20 Watford v Birmingham at Vicarage Road Stadium15:00 Brighton v Barnsley at Amex Stadium15:00
Huddersfield Town v Burnley at John Smith's Stadium15:00 Peterboro v Leeds at London Road
Ground15:00 Blackpool v Ipswich at Bloomfield Road15:00 Blackburn v Swansea at Ewood Park15:00
Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace at The Riverside Stadium15:00 Charlton v Hull at The Valley15:00 [.
17:20 Watford v Birmingham at Vicarage Road Stadium15:00 Brighton v Barnsley at Amex Stadium15:00
Huddersfield Town v Burnley at John Smith's Stadium15:00 Peterboro v Leeds at London Road
Ground15:00 Blackpool v Ipswich at Bloomfield Road15:00 Blackburn v Swansea at Ewood Park15:00
Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace at The Riverside Stadium15:00 Charlton v Hull at The Valley15:00 [.
15:00 Hull (1-0) Brighton at The KC Stadium15:00 Ipswich (1-1) Blackburn at Portman Road15:00 Derby
(2-2) Sheffield Weds at Pride Park Stadium15:00 Swansea (-) Peterboro at The King Power
Stadium15:00 Burnley (2-0) Bolton at Turf Moor15:00 Crystal Palace (2-3) Watford at Selhurst
Park15:00 Millwall (0-2) Blackpool at The Den15:00 Birmingham (1-1) Charlton at St Andrews [.
15:00 Hull v Brighton at The KC Stadium15:00 Ipswich v Blackburn at Portman Road15:00 Derby v
Sheffield Weds at Pride Park Stadium15:00 Swansea v Peterboro at The King Power Stadium15:00
Burnley v Bolton at Turf Moor15:00 Crystal Palace v Watford at Selhurst Park15:00 Millwall v
Blackpool at The Den15:00 Birmingham v Charlton at St Andrews [.
15:00 Hull v Brighton at The KC Stadium15:00 Ipswich v Blackburn at Portman Road15:00 Derby v
Sheffield Weds at Pride Park Stadium15:00 Swansea v Peterboro at The King Power Stadium15:00
Burnley v Bolton at Turf Moor15:00 Crystal Palace v Watford at Selhurst Park15:00 Millwall v
Blackpool at The Den15:00 Birmingham v Charlton at St Andrews [.
15:00 Hull v Brighton at The KC Stadium15:00 Ipswich v Blackburn at Portman Road15:00 Derby v
Sheffield Weds at Pride Park Stadium15:00 Swansea v Peterboro at The King Power Stadium15:00
Burnley v Bolton at Turf Moor15:00 Crystal Palace v Watford at Selhurst Park15:00 Millwall v
Blackpool at The Den15:00 Birmingham v Charlton at St Andrews [.
[T]here comes a point in every football fan's life when the "sod it, I'm not going moment" occurs. For some Manchester City fans, contributing £62 to Arsenal's coffers was a step too far. For me, spending £25 to sit in a rickety away end at Brisbane Roadon a cold December afternoon watching Exeter toil against an equally uninspiring Leyton Orient side proved beyond even my levels of tolerance and fanaticism.
There was loads of football on Friday, not just Bolton and Forest but the N.I and Welsh leagues
like to hold fixtures, and it appears that game of the day came from Portadown as they succumbed to
a 4-3 home defeat to Coleraine. Saturday I am just about to leave for work and I look [...]
Racing Portuense academy manager John Gontier has proudly revealed the placement of two players
following the completion of NextStars' first year in Spain.
NextStars, a project created for the development of young English footballers, continues to
welcome more aspiring players to Racing Portuense but in May, the joy was for players going in the
opposite direction.
"We want players here who are going to be here for the long term. Players who buy houses here, who settle in the area. It's a brilliant club, great supporters but we want players to come here to be part of that community rather than being ships in the night having a last pay day at Ipswich... we want to build for the future rather than do a quick fix because I think it's going to be a long-term job.
Second-bottom Championship side Ipswich are having enough trouble keeping opposition strikers at bay right now without their own defenders getting in on the act. Centre-back Tommy Smith weighed in with a comedy own goal during last night's 2-0 defeat to Wolves. We think and it's only a theory that he might be intending [.
So Football is officially dead then – beside images of sideburns, NHS celebrations, Kenneth
Branagh in a top hat, a Somali-born hero, David Rudisha, the lightning bolt and the tranquil
surrounds of 'Eton Dorney', the game has lost its sheen – embattled as it was when Freddie
Flintoff inspired an Embrace song in 2005 and Jonny drop kicked that ball two years before.
For our penultimate pre-season preview post, we are made up to welcome Gavin Barber, a veteran of
The Seventy Two; his missives for whom can be sought out at the archive we recently set up on our
home page. Gavin has been a keen chronicler of all things Ipswich Town for a few years now and here
he questions the veil of mystery that surrounds the running of the Suffolk club.
This afternoon, we continue our series of archive matches from the clubs of the Football League Championship with Ipswich Town. A league championship win in 1962 proved to be a flash in the pan for this club, whose greatest years would come more than a decade after this win, and we have seven matches from the years between 1972 and 2000, with our focus very much on the decade between 1972 and 1982.
During each and every window there is at least one signing that raises an eyebrow, a deal that
takes us outside our footballing comfort zone. Be it Michael Owen's move to Manchester United or
Bayern Munich deciding to recruit Dale Jennings from Tranmere, clubs will continue to upset our
notion of the footballing norm.
Match just over at Portman Road English League Championship Home Team Ipswich Goals & Scorers
72′: Michael Chopra;62′: Luke Chambers; Keeper Scott Loach Midfield Lee Martin; Massimo Luongo;
Daryl Murphy; Andrew Drury; Forwards Paul Taylor; Michael Chopra; Defense Jack Ainsley; Tommy
Smith; Luke Chambers; Aaron Cresswell; Subs [.
Match just over at Bloomfield Road English League Championship Home Team Blackpool Goals & Scorers
90′: Nouha Dicko;62′: Craig Cathcart;58′: Thomas Ince;49′: Thomas Ince;45′: Gary
Taylor-Fletcher;13′:Own Aaron Cresswell; Keeper Matthew Gilks Midfield Tiago Filipe Gomes; Isaiah
Osbourne; Angel Martinez Cervera; Forwards Gary Taylor-Fletcher; Kevin Phillips; Thomas Ince;
Defense [.
Match just over at Vicarage Road Stadium English League Championship Home Team Watford Goals &
Scorers Keeper Manuel Almunia Midfield Mark Yeates; Jonathan Hogg; Almen Abdi; Forwards Matej
Vydra; Joe Garner; Sean Murray; Defense Daniel Pudil; Lee Hodson; Martin Taylor; Nyron Nosworthy;
Subs 67′: in [.
The new football season brings new hopes. I was hoping to cash in on the new found glory by
going for an away day at Old Trafford in what was a great time with Fulham riding high in the
league after the 5-0 demolition job of Norwich and United losing to Everton in the first round of
fixtures.
With only hours left in the transfer window, U.S. international Clint Dempsey finally got his
wish as Fulham agreed to a deal with Tottenham on a £6 million move. The deal came after a few
agonizing weeks saw Dempsey consistently rumored in moves to Liverpool and Arsenal, among
others.
The 29-year-old American's desire to move to Anfield fell through today after a £4 million
offer from the Reds was outbid by Aston Villa.
United States international Maurice Edu appears set to move to England as he closes in on
signing a deal with Championship outfit Ipswich Town. Edu is currently contracted to Glasgow
Rangers, but Ally McCoist has admitted a move could be imminent despite pen not hitting paper just
yet.
"There is nothing at the moment," McCoist told Sky Sports News.
"The deal got done pretty quickly and it was a bit of a whirlwind really," the 21 year-old said. "I first heard of the interest about two days ago and I didn't really know too much about it to be honest. I just came in from training at United and then I spoke to the gaffer (Sir Alex), who told me I was going down to Ipswich for a few months and things went from there really.
[A]n eclectic bunch of pieces relating to Football League clubs make up this week's trio of recommends... EXCLUSIVE: Graham Westley's final column, Lancashire Evening Post A rare spot in Goodreads for a column from a local rag. Here, in the first of a two parter, Graham Westley defends himself following his departure from Preston earlier in the week.
Some very intellegent comparisons have been made today between Ipswich and their opponents tonight: Brighton Hove Albion.
Over the years I've heard of Brighton's fight up the leagues, their struggle to rebuild after being forced out of their stadium and the loyal fan base that pulled together for the sake of their club.
Barnsley fans are a funny lot. Wherever you go in the town you will see people's who love that club. A bit like Ipswich, I'd like to think. It's a funny place for an Ipswich fan to live too. Friday nights routinely consist of me asking the pub which game they would like to discuss: Wembley 2000 or Oakwell 2011.
Before most fans had ever heard of Massimo Luongo, his first appearance in the Spurs spotlight
was to miss the vital penalty in our Carling Cup tie with Stoke last season. With apologies for
even mentioning that, it's pleasing to report that the player's reputation enhanced throughout the
remainder of the campaign.
Good morning, and today sees our first real game of pre-season.
Although we took part in the Marcus Andronicus Memorial Shield against Southampton and
Anderlecht last weekend, today we'll play 90 minutes for the first time against a Malaysia XI. It
kicks off at 2.45 this afternoon and is available to watch via Arsenal Player so no doubt many will
log on and productivity will drop in workplaces across Goonerdom.
