By Chris Wright

"ANTON!!! I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NECK!!!"

It can't have escaped your attention that John Terry is due to stand trial on charges of racial abuse for shouting 'you know what' at 'you know who' on July 9th, i.

Chelsea and England captain John Terry's problems are not about to end any time soon after fellow players and anti-racist campaigners called on Fabio Capello to exclude him from his squad for the European championships.

These sentiments come after Wednesday's landmark ruling where the FA announced that Terry would only face trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand until after the tournament.

Luis Suarez stance risks Liverpool reputation Jason Roberts

Blackburn striker Jason Roberts says Liverpool could damage their reputation if they continue to insist Luis Suarez is not guilty of racist abuse.

View the full story here: BBC

A news article on 2012-01-04 17:08:24 from: BBC

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

Luis Suarez defence damages Liverpool reputation Jason Roberts

Liverpool could damage their reputation if they continue to insist Luis Suarez is not guilty of racist abuse, says Blackburn striker Jason Roberts.

View the full story here: BBC

A news article on 2012-01-04 13:02:00 from: BBC

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

Liverpool's decision to wear t-shirts in support of Luis Suarez before their game at Wigan Athletic on Wednesday has been criticized by some prominent black footballers.
Former Manchester United and Aston Villa centre-back Paul McGrath was one of the first to react, and he was disappointed that the club have chosen to support a player found guilty of using racist language in such a way.

Backlash after Liverpool players wear T-shirts supporting Luis Suárez

• Squad and manager wore shirts to show support for Suárez • Critics say gesture conflicted with zero tolerance on racism Liverpool's manager Kenny Dalglish and his players have been criticised for reacting to Luis Suárez's eight-game ban by wearing T-shirts showing their support for the striker.

John Terry is facing consequences of a substantial nature as the FA begin their investigation into whether or not the England and Chelsea captain racially abused Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's 1-0 loss to QPR last weekend. His captaincy is on the line. His reputation with Chelsea supporters such as myself is as well.

By Chris Wright

Pies pick of the photos from last night's League Cup third round action...

The sun sets dramatically behind Elland Road before kick-off of Leeds' game against Manchester United

Wolves' Richard Stearman and Millwall's John Marquis do battle in the air over Molineux.

Let me start by stating the views held below are entirely my own and in no way represent the views of the site.

Anyone who has read my pre-matches over the seasons will know that I am not a huge fan of Blackburn, I will go further and say that for many seasons they have represented all that is reprehensible in football from top to bottom.

Guess who's coming to Villa Park... again!! I'm sure their fans are as sick of the sight of us as we are of them. Fortunately, if we can avoid being drawn against them in both of the cups, we won't have to see them again until the reverse of this fixture in March next year.

So, here's how the two Glaswegian managers are sending their sides out today in what will be Alex McLeish's first home game since taking over at Aston Villa.

As Steve Kean looks to hold on to his best players, he has today added young Scottish striker David Goodwillie to his squad for the new campaign.

Goodwillie signs from Dundee United having played five seasons in their tangerine colours. The youngster netted 29 goals in his time their and bolsters the attacking options for Blackburn this season.

Blackburn Rovers have gone clucking mad as they showcase their brand new shirt sponsor 'Venkys' with the cheesiest football advert since Gary Lineker did those Walkers promotions a few years back. Resembling something straight out of an American-styled marketing project, the 30 second clip sees the likes of captain David Dunn, striker Jason Roberts and [.

Jason Roberts admits it would be a huge blow if Christopher Samba left Blackburn this summer.

Another Transfermations, this time, Blackburn...

Where that stand:

Avoiding relegation was the priority last season, but Blackburn are a thinning squad with Phil Jones gone and Christopher Samba on his way. It's obvious that The Venkys need to strengthen somewhat to avoid a repeat.

Hughpocrite Some of Mark Hughes' former players might have raised their eyebrows at the ease with which their ex-boss quit Fulham this week. Hughes resigned from Craven Cottage and is now widely tipped to take up a new position at a 'bigger' Premier League club. His matter-of-fact departure to further his career could have the [.

It's been a pretty good year for spendaholics in the Premier Leauge. Manchester City have made the Champions League, therefore robbing fans of meeker sides of ridicule. Job done, but will City's stars escape ridicule?

Here are my top 10 flops of the season.

1. Fernando Torres: £50 million.

Timeline of the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday (all times local): 4.00pm (1500GMT) At kickoff time Blackpool and Wigan Athletic filled the remaining two relegation places alongside doomed West Ham United. Blackpool, Wigan and Birmingham City were all on 39 points and with only two goals difference between them.

MANCHESTER, England Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday as Wigan and Wolves scrambled to safety in a thrilling finale to the English season. Blackpool's fairytale debut season in the top-flight came to an end at Old Trafford where they were beaten 4-2 by champions Manchester United while Birmingham were [.

Wigan started shakily, Blackpool should have scored early at Old Trafford and Birmingham started quietly. At the start of the day Wigan and Blackpool occupied the two remaining relegation places after West Ham went down last weekend. At the Molineux both Wolves and Blackburn remained involved, and Blackburn had the better of the early stages.

This town is a rugby town. The red and white horizontal stripes of the Warriors have always been the biggest team in the Greater Manchester town of Wigan, dominating the Rugby Super League with names such as Martin Offiah, Jason Robinson and Andy Farrell standing tall as the sons of Wigan. The blue and white vertical stripes, those that share the DW Stadium with their rugby league brothers, are represented as the lesser sibling of the Warriors in a town that is synonmous pie eating and harsh North Western living conditions.

Since the shock sacking of Sam Allardyce, Rovers have averaged one point per game. The previous regime had a healthy 1.5 points per game average; a tally that would safely stave off relegation.
This has seen owners Venky's discard an expected 57 points finish for the new - far less comfortable - target of just 43 points.

The new owners of Blackburn Rovers, the India-based Venky's group, have not done much to endear themselves to the supporters since their take-over last November.
They started by sacking Sam Allardyce, citing a desire to compete in the top six rather than at the bottom (despite Allardyce leading them to 10th on a meagre budget last season).