Between Boxing Day and New Year, Wayne Rooney, Darron Gibson and Jonny Evans went out for a meal
and a few drinks with their WAGs.
The three players were dropped for our next game against Blackburn, amidst rumours that they
were unable to train properly, presumably due to a hangover.
United went on to lose that game, with Rafael and Park starting as our central midfielders.
Ducky's Note: As the season draws ever so closer, the season previews fly
in thick and fast as well. Here is Siddharth, an engineer and an MBA plodding his
way through life trying to make a career out of it, with his thoughts on how the 'Big Five' will
fare. In case it is not evident below, he is a Man United fan.
NUFC Season Review Part One. Following on from part one of Newcastle United's 2011 / 2012 season
review, we begin at the start of the new year with a home tie against Sir Alex Ferguson's
Manchester United... January Man Utd humbled / A Nightmare at the Cottage / The new number nine...
A [...]
Ewood Park has had a tendency to be an unfriendly place for Manchester United, but a win there
tonight against Blackburn will not only significantly aid United's title charge, but it'll help
make up for the embarrassing 3-2 defeat that Blackburn inflicted on New Year's Eve. United have
come a long way since the back-to-back [.
The intolerance of failure in Bulgarian football has become startlingly apparent in the past
week: not only did Kaliakra suspend player wages until they started winning, but Levski Sofia head
coach Nikolay Kostov has today resigned following his first defeat in the league.
The 26-time Bulgarian champions have been undefeated since Kostov took over in November, but
this weekend's surprise home defeat by mid-table Minyor Pernik proved too much for the manager's
exceptionally high standards.
The Mirror is reporting that Brendan Rodgers loaned Andy Carroll to West Ham, because he had
been promised by the board that they will bring in a replacement.
Rodgers obviously wanted Clint Dempsey, but that didn't happen as Fulham revealed they had
rejected an offer of JUST £3million for him, and he went to Spurs for £5million.
Starting with the NextGen U19 European competition last season, the past year has seen a widespread
and increasing focus on youth development and providing a platform for young players to further
improve their games and bridge the gap between youth and first team football.
Now, the Premier League has revealed that for the coming season the fractured reserve league system
in England will largely take a back seat to a new U21 Premier League consisting of the 23
clubs—17 from the EPL and six from the Championship—whose academies qualify for Category One
status.
Yesterday, Columbus announced that they would be playing a friendly against Stoke City in
Columbus this summer. At the time I made the joke that this was the only game that had been
announced and said that KC still hadn't announced a summer friendly yet. Today, rumors are
starting to make the rounds that Stoke City is in fact who KC will play this summer in their
friendly.
Manchester United are setting themselves for a complicated meeting against Blackburn Rovers on
the weekend and Sir Alex Ferguson warned his players that it won't be an easy ride for them
especially since the last few meetings between haven't been kind for Ferguson's boys.
The veteran tactician noted that playing against the Rovers always had a little bit of Derby
feeling into it, resulting in a feisty encounter which usually reflected with a tight
scoreline.
The Frank Lampard preservation society proudly offers another edition of the groundbreaking,
intimate, and kinda shallow life of a Chelsea legend. In this episode, Frank smirks, gloats, and
then smirk-gloats. A lot.
FEBRUARY 26, 2012
Yes, I have kept my New Year's Resolution to not speak poorly of Mr.
Back in October Rocky predicted we would be top three by New Year. He was actually close to
being right as a win at home to QPR on New Years Eve took us into the Champions League
qualification spots as we popped Champagne to wave bye bye to Arsenal's annus horribilis.
Unfortunately defeats to Fulham, Swansea and United followed, by the time we drew away at the
Reebok even the most positive bloggers on here were waving goodbye to any hope of Champions League
football next season let alone finishing above the cretins from N17.
Just like in my life itself, after a promising start that indicated I would push on and improve my
standing, after four weeks of the New Year I am back exactly where I started. West Ham failed to
beat Forest as comfortably as suspected and PSV should be chastised for their inability to beat
inferior [.
Just like in my life itself, after a promising start that indicated I would push on and improve my
standing, after four weeks of the New Year I am back exactly where I started. West Ham failed to
beat Forest as comfortably as suspected and PSV should be chastised for their inability to beat
inferior [.
First column of the new year last week, and we managed to purloin £136 from our £50 stake,
leaving us with a profit of £86. With a degree of trepidation I decided to state my profit and
loss and the bottom of the column each week, something that will come back to haunt me more [...]
At White Hart Lane last night, Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton by two goals to nil. There was
nothing particularly unusual about this result apart from the fact that Spurs have occasionally
struggled to break Everton down in recent years but this was a result that may just prove to be one
of the most important of manager Harry Redknapp's season.
Hereford United fans we chatted to in the aftermath of the club's 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle on
Good Friday seemed resigned to their fate. Given the club's history – one that saw them
controversially elevated to the Football League status in preference to Chelmsford City back in
1972 plus a spell of Conference purgatory in the mid-noughties, expectations never get ahead of
themselves at Edgar Street.
When I am sitting there at the Bridge this afternoon watching the side we all adore, it never
occurs to me just how lucky we are in having the chance to do it week in, week out, it's almost
like we take it for granted.
This video I am about to show you below from UselessZ007 on YouTube tells the story of
someone in their mid-twenties living in Florida and the couple of days he spent in London over the
New Year period.
wood Park hasn't been a happy hunting ground for United in recent years as far as victories go,
but bookmakers make them 1.4 shots to beat Blackburn and in their current form it would take a
brave man to back against them not securing all three points.
Rovers recorded a shock 3-2 win against United at Old Trafford on New Year's Eve, but currently
sit just three points clear of the relegation zone following their loss to Bolton Wanderers last
week.
With fellow relegation candidates Plymouth seemingly coughing and spluttering towards the finishing
line, today represents an excellent chance for either Macclesfield or Dagenham to push on and leave
their rivals in mental tatters as the two meet at Victoria Road. Here, Macc fan and Magic Sponger
Rob MacDonald wonders how it's come to this for the Silkmen and what the implications for
relegation would be in Cheshire East.
Our first Power Rankings of the new year are finally here. I tried to hold off on releasing
these until the positional rankings were out and after the preseason games were over with.
I'm doing these a little different this year, or at least starting out I am. While I am doing
the usual 1-19 list, I have broken the teams up in to four tiers.
By Dario Camacho - MIAMI, FL (Jan 20, 2011) US Soccer Players -- As with any new year, all teams in
Major League Soccer are in a period of transition. Whether it is a minor tweak here or there, or a
full system reboot, most teams will see a few new faces in training camp. In recent years, that's
been due to the predictable disruption caused by expansion teams coming into the fold.
Back to action for Liverpool as they host Brighton in the 5th round of the FA Cup tomorrow at
Anfield. It's a chance for the hosts to rebound after the disappointing display last Saturday at
Old Trafford, as well as to continue their excellent form in domestic cup competition. Brighton
come to town after narrowly progressing in each of the past two rounds, and just a few points away
from playoff contention in the Championship after a terrific start to 2012.
The transformation from Bruce Banner to the Incredible Hulk still isn't an easy process to
watchHello? Is this thing still on? Oh good, you're still here.
Apologies for the delay in regular programming but, fret not, The Boys From White Hart Lane is back
from it's Christmas hiatus and is ready to rock your socks off all over again in this new year.
Mirror: Cheap pints, changing tyres and the magic of the Cup
Matt Lawrence has played for seven league clubs including Fulham, Crystal Palace and Millwall,
for whom he appeared in the 2004 FA Cup final during his 16-year career. Now with League Two
Gillingham, his diary will appear on MirrorFootball every Monday.
The newest Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has burst onto the scene since the New Year and
is already being tipped as a certainty to go to the Euro 2012 tournament with England this summer.
But the youngster himself is keeping his feet on the ground and is more than happy to just listen
and learn [.
It may not have been a coincidence that the Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta was out injured while
Arsenal had their run of three defeats since the New Year, but he was back for this weeks 0-0 draw
with Bolton, and he is not very happy with the team's performances. "We had a lot of chances [...]
The first two months of the season were awful, the atmosphere was angry, unsettled and going to
watch the team wasn't at all pleasant. The atmosphere eased after a good run of results, putting us
well back into contention for the Champions League places.
A new year run that has yet to see us win in the league has heralded the return of that
atmosphere, a portion of the fanbase have been very forward with their views on the manager and a
few of the players an injury crisis has not helped matters either all in all, being an Arsenal fan
in the past few weeks has not been the most pleasant of experiences.
The Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told the fans that they could expect to see more of Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain in the New Year, and he fulfilled that promise by giving him an hour against
Leeds this week. But although Wenger is very happy with Chamberlain's progress, he thinks that he
still needs to work on his [.
Football has well and truly restarted in earnest after the new year festivities now, and with
action in Spain, Portugal, Italy, England and Mexico to report on Argentines Abroad is back as is
HEGS for that matter! Happy new year, everyone. ... Continue reading →
Happy New Year! Dave and Mark are back to try and piece together the RBNY roster puzzle. Who's
coming? Who's going? Who's staying? We're then joining by Red Bulls beat writer Brian Lewis who has
a very shrewd premonition of a roster prediction. Then the SR boys answer a great bunch of tweets
and emails.
In a little under 2 months, the indoor soccer season kicks off at the Independence Events Center.
The Missouri Comets will start their third season in the MISL. Yesterday the league released the
schedule for the 2012-2013 season. Once again this year the league is a 7 team league, with the
Chicago Soul entering the league while the Norfolk Sharx go the way of the dodo.
Morning all, it's a bank holiday here in Ireland and given the dearth of Arsenal related news
this morning it might as well be a bank holiday everywhere else.
Yet here it would be impossible to send a bank transfer to say, oh, Malaga, to a football club
for one of their players. Which is a shame.
In 2011, DC United and the Philadelphia Union were the most improved teams in MLS. DC improved
by 0.41 points per game (PPG) and Philadelphia improved by 0.38 points per game, they were the 5th
and 6th biggest point/game gains since 2008.
This past winter, DC went all-in with their top scorer Dwayne De Rosario.
I put this blog on hiatus shortly before Christmas last year with the promise of being back in
the new year with a clearer idea for the future. This might not be what anyone thinks of as "the
new year", but here I am and it's not last year.
I've written and re-written this post countless times, but it always degenerates into a verbose,
self-indulgent trip down memory lane.
Arsene Wenger said he doesn't expect to sign any new players during the rest of the January
transfer window and feels it should be scrapped anyway. Which is a little odd considering we just
saw Thierry Henry climb into Emirates Stadium through the window. If he sticks to his word, then
Gunner fans shouldn't expect to see the cavalry arrive in the nick of time to save the season from
sinking any further.
Juventus will be at home for the first time in 2012 on Sunday when they welcome Cagliari to the
Juventus Stadium. Starting the New Year off with more of a whimper than a bang, Juve did manage to
take home the three points from Lecce even if it was a struggle. As Antonio Conte stated
afterwards, they will look to build from that match and improve their performance.
Mirror: New Year, new transfer rumours Milan clubs in tug-of-war for Carlos
Tevez
MirrorFootball has teamed up with some of the blogosphere's best new writers to bring you even
more great football reads every single day. Today it's our Serie A blogger, footballitaliano.
The long-rumored friendly between the United States and Italy appears to have come to
fruition.
The Italian soccer federation announced that the Azzurri will host the United States at Stadio
Luigi Ferraris in Genoa on Feb. 29, the first FIFA international fixture date of the new year.
