Queens Park Rangers were heading only one way under the stewardship of Neil Warnock. The team had not won in several matches and were perilously close to the relegation places. In fact the only reason the team were not already in the relegation places was because the team had somehow, against all the odds, and not without immense fortune, managed to achieve victories earlier in the season despite not playing well, for example when they defeated Chelsea at Loftus Road.

I think there is one question we are all asking at the moment and that's the situation with the Gary Cahill transfer from Bolton.
We know the fee was agreed last week and the player and his representatives were discussing personal terms with Chelsea but then we heard from AVB that both sides were "a million miles apart" when it came to finalising a deal for the young international centre back.

It beggars belief really doesn't it. Danny Sturridge has been (when fit) a regular first team starter under AVB and has scored five goals in nine games. He has received his first call up to the full England squad that is preparing to play Spain tomorrow and there is a good chance that he is going to start the game too.

Sydney FC are playing decent football - hooray.
Strong defence - a key to their Championship win under Lavicka - and now a feature in Season 7. Jamie Coyne...who would have thought. Liam Reddy - surely he won't survive on the form of last season.
But wait - we love attacking football and Sydney have oodles of it just now.

sorry, seemed to be some gremlins. Apologies if this is the second time this has appeared for you.

Further to yesterday's waffle, it occurred to me that I was unduly harsh on Julian Barnes. I think he's tarred by the Amis/McEwan brush, and while they write perfectly good books, they seem to be writing for and about other people.

Further to yesterday's waffle, here is some more waffle, building on the same thoughts. It occurred to me that I was unduly harsh on Julian Barnes. I think he's tarred by the Amis/McEwan brush, and while they write perfectly good books, they seem to be writing for and about other people. A central tenet of fiction writing seems to be that your characters should be drawn in a way that makes readers take an interest in them, perhaps even want to be them.

Liverpool veteran Jamie Carragher has praised the new management team for the way they have transformed them into a formidable outfit.
Under Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli Liverpool have brought in some stellar signings to add some significant quality and depth to their squad, with seven players alone coming in this summer.

Wow, what a gameweek! Don't you just love soccer! My comment from last week about this season being evenly matched jumped out of the window. Both teams from Manchester dominated their opponents, and showed just how you play football. And how about that Dzeko! Not to mention Young or Rooney. Hopefully you captained one of the them.

Ireland U21 manager Noel King has confirmed his Ireland Under 21 squad for the friendly international with Austria in the Showgrounds, Sligo on Tuesday the 9th August. Leeds United full back Aiden White is a new addition to the squad, while goalkeeper Aaron McCarey links up at this level for the first time, following his performances at the UEFA Under 19 Finals in Romania last week.

The pre-season tour to the Far East is over and we are entering the transfer season. Wenger told us that clubs will wait until the end of the month to make their moves and Wenger will be one of those. Ivan Gazidis said he spent the week in the Far East to discuss Arsenal's transfer strategy with the boss.

One week in and already the close season is slowly imposing its languorous silence on West Ham related news. The footballing world becomes an abandoned chateau this time of year with its inhabitants scattering for a change of scene. The football fan is left to stroll through the echoing salon, the immense panelled dining room and numberless bedrooms; none sealed or closed but all kept in a state of suspended life, the beds made, the floors not exactly clean but swept occasionally, the decorations faded but intact.

Yes, that's right: a quiet beach a million miles away from the hurly burly of Premiership football and the unforgiving scrutiny of the media.

A blue sky, a blazing sun and a long, golden beach as empty as Abou Diaby's head.

Obviously Arsene shouldn't go there right now that would be rude.

Alan Hansen has pin-pointed the up-coming games against Manchester City and Arsenal as a way of measuring the squad's strength in depth.
City visit Anfield on Monday night, with the Reds travelling to the Emirates six days later to face Arsene Wenger's men.
The Kop legend believes the two games will give manager Kenny Dalglish a good evaluation of his current squad's capabilities.

Barcelona's defeat of Arsenal last night was of little surprise to the football world, especially with Arsenal being reduced to 10 men with over half an hour to go.

What did shock was the lacklustre performance of Arsenal's key player and captain, Cesc Fabregas. The stage was set, his first competitive game at the Camp Nou, a stadium where he stood in the terraces 15 years earlier cheering on his idol, the now Barca manager, Pep Guardiola.

Carl MacDonald writes at his blog A Journalist in the Making. Carl doesn't have a video to capture his magic moment - and he doesn't need one. Here he vividly describes his favourite goal ...

17th November 2001. There was an air of tension hanging over Doncaster Rover's Belle Vue stadium.

In 2009, film-maker Mattias Löw decided to follow the Swedish referee Martin Hansson on his journey to the 2010 World Cup. It was supposed to be a film focusing on the extraordinary pressures facing an ordinary man. It turned out to be so much more. The unassuming Swede found himself at the eye of a media shitstorm of epic proportions.