During the days, which now seem like a lifetime ago but which in reality were quite recently, of free and easy credit and hire purchase, the phrase 'buy now, pay later' became something of a mantra on the high street. Retailers wanted consumers to interpret this phrase in a very specific manner, appealing as it did to the strongest instincts of the human desire for instant gratification, but as time progressed consumers came to realise that by stressing the phrase differently it could come to mean something quite, quite different.
These are words I never thought I would utter, if we qualify against all odds for the Champions
League again this year I would like to see Arsène Wenger resign as Arsenal manager.
Those who know me, will think I have gone stark raving mad. This wish has nothing to do with
whether I think he can take the team further, if he is too old, that he doesn't want to spend money
or any of the other criticisms aimed at our manager.
These are words I never thought I would utter, if we qualify against all odds for the Champions
League again this year I would like to see Arsène Wenger resign as Arsenal manager.
Those who know me, will think I have gone stark raving mad. This wish has nothing to do with
whether I think he can take the team further, if he is too old, that he doesn't want to spend money
or any of the other criticisms aimed at our manager.
From watching the budgeting minnows defy the odds against the high-spending sharks, to seeing
teams absolutely demolish each other in such a ruthless and extraordinary fashion, this year's
campaign has been insanely unpredictable. And despite being on the wrong end of these 'memorable'
matches sometimes, I think it's been a highly entertaining season.
It's been a while since we've thought about Sergio 'Kun' Aguero – we'd forgotten how
good-looking he is.
Irrefutable evidence from this site suggests that it takes only takes a footballer one thing to
capture a woman's attention: money (see: WAG weddings, photos of). But if you eliminate cash, flash
cars and Christian Louboutins from the picture, which station along the Sexy Times express does a
player like Aguero punch his ticket?
OTP favourite Grant Holt is capable of scoring goals at any level. As if to illustrate that point neatly, here he is scoring for his school... at Wembley. Both ends of the spectrum. After an introduction from Saint and Greavsie no less, you'll see Norwich striker Holt grabbing the second goal of the game for [.
They said it could never happen, but in his testimonial game against AEK Athens last night, Tony
Hibbert finally, finally scored his first goal for Everton.
After almost 11 years and 309 games of dedicated service without so much as troubling an
opposition 'keeper, Hibbo powered a 20-yard free-kick in at Dimitris Konstantopoulous'Â near post
and sent Goodison into rapture sparking a mass congratulatory pitch invasion as 17,500-odd
Evertonian's sang 'Tony Hibbert, he scores when he wants' in unison as they deliriously celebrated
something they thought they'd never get to see in their lifetime.
Holding up that sign earned Carlos Tevez a slap on the wrist. It's all a bit ironical
considering Tevez's own career was almost over 6 months ago after he refused to play Bayern.
An enraged Mancini vowed he would never play for City as the club readied his transfer in the
January window.
As part of Nike's new global 'The Chance 2012′ campaign to sniff out the world's best young
amateur players, Pep Guardiola showed up unannounced at a youth game in Spain, casting his beady
(beardy?) eye across the talent on show and eventually selecting one lad with godawful hair to
advance to the Spanish finals.
If Terrence Boyd, Sean Johnson, Joe Corona or Brek Shea needed a reminder of what they
potentially missed out on by not getting a chance to compete in the Olympics, they will get as
close a look as they will possibly want.
Mexico will honor its Olympic gold medal winning team prior to the U.
I love this story from Mac Anderson's 'Charging the Human Battery', and it really puts into
perspective how I plan to spend my Saturday.
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes
with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work.
Good move for both Michael Bradley and the US Men's National team as the American midfielder has
moved from Chievo Verona to AS Roma for around €3.75 million.
After as disappointing spell with Aston Villa, Bradley moved to Chievo where he made 34 league
starts last season.
Bradley is quoted on the Roma official web site as saying:
After weeks of speculation, Michael Bradley is now officially a member of AS Roma after agreeing to
a four-year deal. Calling the opportunity to sign with the club "once in a lifetime," Bradley is
part of a team with high expectations after finishing two points outside of the European places
last season.
While in Princeton, N.J., for the USA's May training camp, Studio 90 sat down with 21-year-old
Kristie Mewis, one of the top young players in the national team programs. Mewis saw quite a bit of
training time with the full U.S. team this year, but has yet to earn a cap.
She knows that she has been brought in just to learn and get a taste for the intense level of full
international competition, and for the rising senior at Boston College, it's been a soccer
experience of a lifetime.
Constructing the Perfect Football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
It goes without saying, but the footballs of today are miles more advanced than those that were
used in the early days of the beautiful game. But as advanced as they are, there are still some
kinks with even the best and most advanced soccer balls out there.
This is going to be floating around the internets for a very, very long time, and 360,000 hits
or so is but a fraction of its full potential.
There is no indication where this actually took place, if the comments hint toward Russia
because the YouTube comment section is where you want to go for facts but you can likely find out
with enough time and access to the world's police logs.
Nike is running a competition called The Chance, in which they send "Nike scouts"
judging by their YouTube section, these "scouts" are the famous icons on show to select some unseen
talent.
Which is all fine and dandy, but imagine being on the team which is filmed for one of these
virals, having Pep Guardiola or Laurent Blanc randomly show up to "scout" you.
After a nervy 120 minutes ended 2-2, the Carling Cup final between Liverpool and Cardiff went to
a penalty shootout that proved just as manic as the rest of the match. Both sides failed to convert
their first penalty and Liverpool also missed their second, but eventually won 3-2 when Anthony
Gerrard, cousin of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, put Cardiff's final penalty wide of the
post.
The folks at Liverpool Tees were kind enough to extend an offer for some free stuff, and while
they weren't willing to donate a lifetime's supply of free booze, they were open to passing along
one of their custom t-shirts for those who want to participate in a brief competition. Most are
familiar with the site because of the Support Suarez shirts worn by the squad ahead of their match
with Fulham, which was linked to by more than a few commenters over the past few weeks and
months.
Studs like hugs.Everything I said earlier about how fearful the world should be of Japan and how
they're securing their positions as a true force in women's soccer--if not one of the
forces, a true effing powerhouse, in women's soccer--let me now apply this to the Canadians.
It's exciting, I have to admit, as a fan of this game.
Last week MLS announced a new plan for its GSL program. Because the site of the MLS Cup will
not be known until two weeks before the match, GSL holders will not have the opportunity to plan
their trip months in advance. Instead, once the final eight teams are known, fans will indicate
how many tickets they will purchase at each potential venue.
It was a match of a lifetime. It was something that maybe none of us thought was ever going to
happen while we are on this earth. But for a full ninety minutes at one of the best home field
...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
Evian should be granted lifetime status in Ligue 1 simply for having the melons to run all three
of these out weekly, much less one. It's like Formula 1 meets My Little Pony meets a package of
assorted bubblegum or something. It's @#$%ing brilliant.
90ish -- Road Trips Can Bring the Best out of Supporters Groups
"Two weeks, 3000 miles, four points, new friends, and a lifetime of memories." -- James Hromadka
from Texian Army. James shares a small snippet of his trip to Sporting KC, and how it changed his
views on opposing Supporters Groups. Worth the read.
A very emotional Andy Murray thanks the Wimbledon crowd following his Final loss to the
Legendary Roger Federer 3-1 in todays men's showpiece. Federer's win makes World nuber one again at
the expense of Novak Djokovic and it was also his seventh Wimbledon title one which I for one can't
see beaten.
July 3rd Torres-ntial Reign by Off The Post on Mixcloud It was historic, it was beautiful to
experience and it was perhaps the best display of artistry and invention in our lifetime... the OTP
Pod have served up their very last Euro 2012 special. With the salivary gland on full alert, we dim
the [.
Earlier this spring, Ternana, a football club in Terni, Italy, mathematically qualified for
promotion from Lega Pro Prima Divisione to Serie B for the first time since 2006. To give their
fans a chance to fully celebrate this promotion, the club held a friendly earlier this month. The
picture above and the videos below are from that friendly.
Following the riot after Persipura's 1-0 home defeat by Persija, which saw the visiting team forced
to leave the stadium three hours after the game ended by boat, the Indonesia Super League in their
wisdom have seen fit to impose no sanction on the home team.
Oh dear. Never the shy, retiring type, ex-United star Carlos Tevez has rubbed some bitchy salt
into Fergie's wound by holding aloft an "R.I.P. Fergie' sign during Man City's victory parade
through Manchester.
Apparently it's a riposte to Sir Alex's famous answer to the question "would United ever go into
a Manchester derby as underdogs?
One of the classiest footballers to ever wear a Juventus shirt (or any shirt) got the send-off
he deserved at his final home match. Juve finished off their undefeated season -- the first in a
38-match Serie A season, according to Paolo Bandini -- with a 3-1 win over Atalanta in which Del
Piero scored Juve's second goal.
I know a lot of people who've used a pair of crutches at some point in their lifetime. I don't
know anyone who uses them as a fashion accessory. Typically, outlandish though it may seem, they're
required to walk.
Racing fans saw this whole walking business as less important than voicing their displeasure at
the team's current patch of form.
Partnering with ECNL, US Club Soccer, and US Soccer, Nike will be inviting the top 100 female
soccer players around the country to attend a 3-day National Final Camp at Nike's World
Headquarters Campus in Beaverton, Oregon at the end of July.


From that Camp, Nike will select the final team of girls that will receive an international soccer
experience of a lifetime.
2,000 additional seats are being added to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. With the sale of these
additional seats the Impact will break the 30 year-old attendance record ,of 58,542, for a soccer
match. Which, coincidentally, was also a between Montreal and Chicago.
According to the Impact front office over 46,000 seats have already been sold for the match.
Garath McCleary, long renowned in player interviews as the most skilful player in the club since
his bargain signing from Bromley what feels like a lifetime ago, has started played consistently
well. We've seen glimpses of this in the past, epic arcing shots past disbelieving keepers, the odd
stepover, occasional mazy runs and so on [.
