Around here we all make fun of Soccer America's Paul Gardner a fair bit. We all say he's old, or that he's "lost his fastball" or that he's been making the same point for the last 20 years. But the fact is, when he's on, he's on. Today he wrote about Eudy Simelane, a member of the South African women's soccer team and how her life came to a tragic and violent end. Click to continue reading...

Well the 1st weekend of the Premiership has come and gone and while many may think that you can begin to get some insight into how things are going to turn out this season, I'm here to inform you that you are very mistaken. Its only 1 game of 38 and there is still a very long way to go. So Everton fans cheer up, you may be at the bottom of the table for now, but it doesn't mean that it has to last long (especially if David Moyes is allowed to spend some money). Click to continue reading...

Today, the second qualifying round of the 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League begins, with all of the participating clubs playing the first leg of the two-leg round on either Tuesday or Wednesday. This is where it starts getting important, sort of, because at least two clubs playing in this round are guaranteed to advance to the group stage under the new qualifying system. Click to continue reading...

According to the London Times, Tony Mowbray will be installed as the new manager of Glasgow Celtic. He leaves behind a relegated West Bromwich Albion, but this is a good move for both Celtic and Mowbray. Tony did a great job getting WBA promoted in the first place. He also didn't receive a lot of financial support to buy new players once the team were promoted. Click to continue reading...

I present you with the following...
Guardian:
"72 mins: Chelsea substitution: Drogba off - and he shakes his head in dismay at that decision - and Belletti on. So Hiddink removes his most effective weapon and declares his intention to hold on for the 1-0 against 10 men? It would appear so. Click to continue reading...

Here are the highlights of Manchester City's 6-0 demolition of Portsmouth. Come and watch the Robinho shuffle! I'm also including a link to an article from the London Times that describes how Robinho and Shawn Wright-Phillips are feeling liberated playing for Manchester City. They are without doubt the most compelling club in soccer right now as everyone waits to see who they will sign during the winter break and even over the next couple of years with the influx of money into the club. Click to continue reading...

Here's an interesting article that Tony Cascarino has written on the use of video replay in soccer. Tony makes some interesting points, but I disagree with the basic idea. Video replay can help to get certain calls right, and makes more sense in American sports where there are a lot of built in breaks in the game. Click to continue reading...

That is the question that Tony Cascarino poses in his latest blog post in the London Times and the simple answer to that question for me is no and the reason why is Thierry Henry. There is not reason why Theo can't become a more refined player over time just like Henry did, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, etc. Click to continue reading...

The London Times ran this article asking who was more responsible for England's victory against Croatia - Fabio Capello or Theo Walcott. Its a bit like the old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. To me the answer is pretty simple and it doesn't take a Jenas or a genius to figure out that the answer is Walcott. Click to continue reading...

This is a great article from the London Times, that describes how Joe Cole has become England's attacking midfielder / forward without an assigned position. Personally, I think this strategy is long overdue as Cole has always shown so much more of his ability when he was allowed to roam around and wasn't confined to one of the wide midfield positions. Click to continue reading...

The London Times has done a great article that goes in depth with Steven Gerrard about the inconsistency throughout his career in terms of the positions that he has played. It is obvious that his preferred role is central midfield, but with both Liverpool and England he has ended up wide left, wide right, and an advanced midfield role, almost as a forward. Click to continue reading...

Here is a link to another really good article by Tony Cascarino, the former Republic of Ireland forward from the London Times. Tony provides a good account of why Alan Curbishley had no chance of success at West Ham United and how now was the best time for him to leave.
The London Times also provides a listing of the candidates that West Ham are looking at to replace Curbishley. Click to continue reading...

Here is a link to an article in the London Times, which gives much more insight into the situation at Newcastle United and a good explanation of why Kevin Keegan quit. Personally, I think its a sad state of affairs when the prevailing thought at a club like Newcastle United is that Dennis Wise knows more about football then Kevin Keegan. Click to continue reading...

I just wanted to include a link to another article from former Republic of Ireland forward Tony Cascarino that he wrote for the London Times where he comments on Robbie Keane's move to Liverpool and Shaun Wright-Phillips' move back to Manchester City. Cascarino gives an excellent analysis of Keane's problems settling in at Liverpool that makes for a very interesting read. Click to continue reading...

Here is an interesting article that for Republic of Ireland forward turned London Times columnist Tony Cascarino wrote about David Beckham's recent performances for the English national team. I completely agree with Tony based on the England games that I've seen live. The English team are tolerating Beckham purely for his ability on free kicks and corners, but they really do need a more complete player like a David Bentley or Aaron Lennon (if he can recapture his form). Click to continue reading...

Martin Samuel from the London Times writes about how England are lacking in quality forwards and I agree with him. Wayne Rooney can't carry the team upfront by himself, and he really does seem to be more of a setup man then an out and out finisher. With Michael Owen not being fit again, I think Fabio Capello needs to look at either Jermain Defoe or Darren Bent. Click to continue reading...

Poor old Rafa Benitez nearly quit Liverpool because of how they handled the whole transfer saga regarding Gareth Barry according to this article in the London Times. Well my answer to that is boo hoo poor Rafa. If you want to quit Liverpool go ahead and do it because you are far from God's gift to management. Click to continue reading...

Here's a really good article from the London Times written by former Republic of Ireland forward Tony Cascarino. I have always found Tony to have an interesting perspective and in this article, he really makes the case for Manchester United's potential signing of Dimitar Berbatov to be a great move, which I agree with. Click to continue reading...

According to the latest news in the London Times, Chelsea are planning to make a world record signing of Kaka from A.C. Milan. To me thats Kaka. With the amount of money they are going to spend on 1 player who may still be in his prime, but also is nearing the end of it, they could be rebuilding the entire squad for the multiple campaigns that they have to mount in England and Europe. Click to continue reading...

Soccer is coming back in many of the leagues throughout Europe. The English Premier League had a rather slow start with the Charity Shield game between Manchester United and Portsmouth, which ended 0-0 and then went to penalty kicks where Man U won easily.
In France, Lyon got off the a strong start, with Karim Benzema scoring 2 goals to lead them to a 3-0 victory over Toulouse. Click to continue reading...

I thought it was appropriate to quote some Pink Floyd lyrics when looking at these 2 stores in the London Times. According to this article, the Gareth Barry deal has fallen through for the 342ns time this summer due to the unwillingness of Liverpool's owners to provide the funds to sign Barry.
This other article from the London Times describes how Harry Redknapp would like to try and mount a challenge on the bigger clubs, but isn't being given any additional funds to acquire the players that he needs to complete his squad. Click to continue reading...

According to an article in the London Times, an ally of the Randy Lerner, the American owner of Aston Villa says they are ready to spend £30 million on 1 player. Well if thats really the case then why don't they? There are plenty of players that they could use so why don't they just go ahead and spend the money? Click to continue reading...

According to this latest article from the London Times, Tottenham are looking to buy Croatian international defender Vedran Corluka to add to their summer spending. If they can pull it off I think it would be a great buy as he would seems to be a quality player and would give Spurs a lot of depth in their squad. Click to continue reading...

Here is a link to an article in the London Times, which contains all of the latest news and gossip related to the transfers that might occur before the start of the new season in a couple of weeks. Click to continue reading...

A different story and a different set of circumstances with the Dimitar Berbatov situation with Tottenham. If he is as desperate to leave Spurs for another club as this article from the London Times suggests then they should let him go. To me it gets back to the situation with Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United - what is the point of keeping players at your club if they don't want to be there? Click to continue reading...

Is Carlos Tevez really worth the supposed £35 million transfer fee as reported in the London Times? Manchester United seem to think so, but I think thats a bit much. It would break the British transfer record of £30 million that Chelsea paid for Andrei Shevchenko. Is Tevez really the best forward in Britain? Click to continue reading...

I've enclosed a link to a story from the London Times where Carol Tevez says that Manchester United shouldn't stand in Cristiano Ronaldo's way if he wants to go to Real Madrid. I really don't want to keep posting articles on this soap opera, but I just found it interesting that Tevez would come out and say this. Click to continue reading...

I thought I'd share a few interesting links, one is the latest column from Brian Glanville, the famous English journalist who has been covering the game it seems like since the first time England played an international match.
Another is a recent interview published in the New York Times that contains an interview that Jack Bell did with Samuel Eto'o where he is pretty candid on some recent issues. Click to continue reading...