This might be a touch simplistic and naive, but...

Shouldn't DVDs on 'how to tackle' be handed out to the youth teams of Premiership clubs, rather than the guys getting six figures a week to go in at some poor man's ankles?

But the higher ups at the FA in England have deemed it a necessary act.

Two women. Two crucial football matches. One widescreen TV. One slightly dodgy internet feed. Copious amounts of white wine & fruit juice.

Ain't no party like a liver failure party and a liver failure party don't stop.

We thought that supplying the Kellys with all the equipment they demanded might compel them to produce full match reports of the Copa Del Rey quarter-final and the Carling Cup semi-final.

Liverpool set up a Carling Cup final against Cardiff after playing out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Manchester City at Anfield to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, City quickly drew level on aggregate thanks to a superb long-range strike from defensive midfielder Nigel de Jong that flew into the top corner.

Kenny Dalglish paid tribute to a 'fantastic performance' from Liverpool after watching his side book their place in the Carling Cup final.
The Reds held a 1-0 lead going into the second leg of their semi-final at Anfield but still displayed a positive attitude to finish the job and set up a Wembley showpiece against Cardiff.

Roberto Mancini was left to bemoan a couple of refereeing calls that went against Manchester City after seeing Liverpool go through to the Carling Cup final.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, City had a lot of work to do at Anfield and opened the scoring thanks to Nigel de Jong's stunning strike from distance.

Steven Gerrard recognized the contribution of Craig Bellamy after Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.
The Reds booked their place in the final against Cardiff by playing out a 2-2 draw with City at Anfield on Wednesday - to maintain their advantage after a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium a fortnight ago.

Video: Carling Cup: Liverpool/Man City

Kenny Dalglish feeling the heat after a series of underwhelming displays by Liverpool in the Premiership was able to get a satisfying consolation in today's Carling Cup match pipping City to the Wembley finals.

Nigel De Jong gave City the lead to level the aggregate.

Craig Bellamy once again starred for Liverpool as they booked their place in the League Cup final with a 2-2 draw against Manchester City. This resulted in Liverpool winning the semi-final 3-2 on aggregate.

Liverpool were the dominant team in the second leg of the semi-final and if it wasn't for the heroics of Joe Hart Liverpool could quiet easily run away with the game.

By Alan Duffy

Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City (Aggregate 3-2) Carling Cup Semi-final 25th January 2012

Liverpool came from behind twice against Manchester City at Anfield to secure a place in the final of the Carling Cup, and their first appearance at Wembley in 16 years.

szólj hozzá: ]bg0-1c,o[Matchhighlight.com] A Nigel De Jong slide tackle uses results in broken legs and studmarks in some unusual places for those on the receiving end. But the reformed Manchester City midfielder is now using his powers for good. He managed to slide tackle in a 25-yard screamer in tonight's Carling Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

Wigan midfielder Maynor Figueroa sent Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini's blood boiling after he inexplicably handled the ball thus denying Sergio Aguero and clear run on goal. City were leading 1-0 at the time with just two minutes left on the clock before a hopeful punt up field by Nigel De Jong was about to [.

Roberto, ditch Sheikh Mansour for Mitt Romney. He's got cash to give away.

The Italian is complaining that he's down to two central midfielders and one striker. James Milner and Nigel De Jong will start in the middle and Sergio Aguero patrols up front.

The Ivory Coast has refused his demand to release Yaya and Kolo Toure till after the Man Utd FA Cup showdown for their ACN campaign.

By Alan Duffy

With so many gifted African players now plying their trade in the Premier League, the African Cup of Nations has become something of an issue for managers in the top division, particularly as it is held slap bang in the middle of the season.

Happy Boxing Day! To start off this marvelous day, here's Mario Balotelli's specially designed Christmas cake complete with an evil looking Santa Claus (is that a knife on good ol' Noel Noel?!) You see, Manchester City came up with a pretty brilliant idea where they got players to compete for the title of 'Best Christmas Cake Decorator'.

Former Charlton and West Ham manager Alan Curbishley believes England have failed to utlise the talents of midfielder Scott Parker during his career.
The 31-year-old has only just begun to play for England regular after winning his first four caps while with four different clubs across eight years.

By Chris Wright

In which several of the Manchester City squad gear up for training with a hearty spot of Christmas cake decorating. Nigel de Jong and Owen Hargreaves in particular excel and Mario Balotelli is easily defeated by a slab of marzipan icing and a little plastic Santa, all while a black-eyed Sergio Aguero dicks about in a silly hat (skip to 2:20 mark).

Arsenal's 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Carling Cup match yesterday showed, once again, the power of petropounds. But one goal from over 100 million is a pretty weak return, really. However, a win is a win and even if City are on the ropes in Europe, they've booked their spot in the semifinals of the league cup.

Manchester City secured a place in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup as Sergio Aguero punished Arsenal on the break to give Roberto Mancini's side a 1-0 win at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal, protecting an unbeaten home record against City that stretched for 36 years and encompassed 28 games, were the superior side in a contest between two much-changed teams, but after being denied by some superb goalkeeping from Costel Pantilimon were undone by a ruthless finish from Aguero after 83 minutes.

Cool T? Surely not

Arsenal failed to qualify for the semi finals of the Carling Cup after a 1-0 defeat at home to the moneybags of the Premier League. $amir Na$ri was jeered and booed throughout. Just after 5 minutes before the whole stadium was standing because "stand up if you hate Na$ri" was the song doing the rounds.

The pre-match hype was all about squad rotation. Who of those gracing the benches of these deep squads was going to make their rare first team appearance tonight? For Manchester City, players like Nigel de Jong, Kolo Toure, and Adam Johnson were looking for a rare place in the side. For Arsenal, the troop of [.

Chasing after his former self, not the opponent

Carling Cup returns to the menu as the victors of tonight's game will seal their path into the semi final of this competition. It won't be so easy to win this year's competitions, well, compared to our run last season. Apart from Manchester City, there's still Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool still in this competition.

This is a tough one to call. Arsenal are very strong at home in the Carling Cup the last eight games ending in wins with a cumulative score of 23-3. On the other hand, City are probably the only club that can put out a second-string side that would not look far out of place in the Premiership.

For the visitors, Dzeko, Adam Johnson, Nigel De Jong, Kolo Toure, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Savic, and even Hargreaves might get a start.

Alan Pardew has pointed out this morning that Newcastle were without some of their squad for Saturday's game. Ben Arfa meets Nigel de Jong on Saturday all is forgiven But that didn't stop them putting up a great fight at the Etihad Stadium, but the lads got nothing out of the game against the [...]

Alan Pardew has pointed out this morning that Newcastle were without some of their squad for Saturday's game. Ben Arfa meets Nigel de Jong on Saturday all is forgiven But that didn't stop them putting up a great fight at the Etihad Stadium, but the lads got nothing out of the game against the [...]

Ben Arfa has declined the request from Nigel de Jong, that he would come over and meet with the Frenchman before tomorrow's game at Newcastle's hotel. Nigel de Jong - in action against former skipper Kevin Nolan But Alan Pardew has stepped in and said it's okay meeting with the Dutchman, but only after the game, not before, so that presumably is [.

Newcastle United's attacking midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa is ready to face his demons on Saturday when the Toon army travel to the Etihad Stadium to face League leaders Manchester City, the unsavoury scene where a vicious tackle from Nigel De Jong broke his leg in two places nearly a year ago.

Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong has asked to meet Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa, when Newcastle travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The sad sad sight of Ben Arfa being stretchered off last year Ben Arfa of course suffered a double break of his left leg in the same game last year in early October, after [.

Newcastle United's Hatem Ben Afra receives a letter from Nigel de Jong expressing regret over last season's tackle, which resulted in a broken tibia and fibula for Ben Arfa. Remember this?: Difficult to forget it really! Well apparently Nigel de Jong has written a letter to Hatem Ben Arfa ahead of Saturday's game to express [.

It was on October 3rd last year at Manchester City, that Ben Arfa broke his left leg in two places, and was out of the game for almost 10 months. Ben Arfa in action against Wigan And it was a rather vicious tackle from Dutchman Nigel De Jong, after only 3 minutes, and the [...]

There are a few infractions which earn automatic, walk-off-the-pitch-before-the-referee-even-reaches-for-his-pocket red cards. Pretty high up that list is the studs-on-face move. Somehow, Riku Riski of the Finland's u21 squad seems baffled by this decision, despite his 'tackle' making Nigel de Jong seems the posterchild for innocent stud placement.

Well that was a bit ugly at times, nerve-racking at the end, but all that really matters is that the Houston Dynamo are returning home for the second leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Philadelphia Union with a 2-1 lead.

The first 8 minutes of the game were wild. Danny Cruz gets Nigel de Jong'd by Gabriel Farfan, the Dynamo score on the ensuing set piece, only to have the defense melt down a minute later as Sebastien Le Toux equalized.

Mancini and his Manchester City have shown us many sides to their character this season. They are resolute in defence, even without the collossal Nigel de Jong. City have shown that they are not content to sit back on a lead. They have served up game after game of excellent attacking football, never resting but always probing.

If you like firecrackers then you will definitely like the Festival of lights or Diwali as it is better known. Now i don't really know much about Diwali other than the fact that i get to not only watch but also participate in lighting up the sky with fireworks whenever i want, something that would otherwise land me in jail on any other day.

There's no way Nigel de Jong pant theatrics didn't leave his bum with rug burn. There's just no way. Image Credit: Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe.

Hatem Ben Arfa has had a somewhat unfortunate time on Tyneside thus far, but with his injuries now hopefully behind him, will we see him make his first Premier League start this weekend against Wigan Athletic? You may remember the 3rd of October 2010, when a psychopathic Nigel De Jong decided to attempt a 'tackle' [.

Dutchman's new way of delivering black eyes It's official: Man City midfielder Nigel De Jong has now assaulted every professional footballer in the Premier League and has now set his sights on recording equipment. His first victim was City TV's camera. Direct hit. Spotted on Dirty Tackle

Dutchman's new way of delivering black eyes It's official: Man City midfielder Nigel De Jong has now assaulted every professional footballer in the Premier League and has now set his sights on recording equipment. His first victim was City TV's camera. Direct hit. Spotted on Dirty Tackle

You can just tell by his look how ridiculous he think this is.Over the weekend, we tweeted a joke about how Tim Howard's orange jersey with the U.S. National Team and camouflage one with Everton makes him a prime candidate for an endorsement with Cabela's, Bass Pro Shop or some other hunting outfitter.

Mario Balotelli is knuckling down to life in the Premier League. How else can you explain two accomplished performances in his two latest outings? Scoring goals has always been easy for the Italian, his attitude has always been questioned. This season, however, he has let his boots do the talking.

We're back in action for what is the first really big test for Alex McLeish since he came to Villa, possibly one of the toughest of the season, but also as good a time as any to play Man City at their own place.

Over the last 10 times this league fixture has been played, we've won just two and lost eight times.