I know, I know. It's not even in December yet. Although, you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise with the amount of tinsel, fairy lights and ‘great gift ideas' polluting my telly box in the last few days; already I'm getting that urge to take my best scissors to the mains and put shot to the whole damn thing.

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Portsmouth were sitting at rock bottom after seven Premiership rounds and they had always been expected to struggle after they could only reinforce the squad in the dying moments of the transfer window due to the uncertainty surrounding the club. Nevertheless, Paul Hart's team have shown a massive improvement in the last few weeks having taken no less than seven points from last four games.

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The Salady Bits GossipAlso, quick line from The Daily Star - they report that Jamie O'Hara will be allowed to stay at Portsmouth after his loan deal runs out in January. I know it's just gossip but worth reporting just so you have it on your radar.� Maybe he's not necessarily going back to Spurs in January. Click to continue reading...

futuresight: harry does a maradona...

Apologies for my absence in these recent days; been quite busy with some other commitments; though the guilt of leaving my beloved Spurs in the lurch as we found a drop in form; In some ways I feel partly responsible. For the most part though; if you haven't got anything nice to say best not to say anything at all right?

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While they have some very average players (including a few of our cast offs), almost anything can happen in tomorrow's game against Portsmouth. Although Harry might get some love from his old fans, I'd expect Spurs to be on the receiving end of a seriously hostile reception.

The Portsmouth fans could really carry their players through 90mins and with their win at Wolves, the return of Avram Grant and the arrival of Ali Al Faraj, the players and the club as a whole are bound to be in a much more positive frame of mind than they were a few weeks ago.

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What's more offensive - Redknapp's language or his haircut?
Congratulations to those nations that have qualified for the World Cup over the international break, but now let's get back to our addictive hobby - trying to manage ourselves into the world's fantasy football elite...
I. Click to continue reading...

Well, Jeremy stole a little bit of my thunder with his post on what to do about O'Hara/Rooney for this weekend. The fact that he points out some excellent options in midfield and at forward combined with the fact that work has been very busy this week is going to lead me down the path of writing my first Lightning Round TWA column of the season. Click to continue reading...

Ah, yes...It's hard to come back from international break. But re-focus we must. So to get us all up to speed - and yes, there are games today so no due dilligence can start in earnest until tomorrow - let's look at my O'Hara issue. ;-)I have O'Hara at 4.23 and he's averaging 5 points per match. However, he's ineligible to play against Spurs this weekend and he's being played in a more Click to continue reading...

Pompey picked up some Saudi Oil money today as Saudi tycoon Ali al-Faraj bought 90% of the financially stricken club from Sulaiman al-Fahim.
Al-Fahim, of Abu Dhabi, bought the club just 44 days ago - but he's out and the 40-year-old al-Faraj is in.
So, what does this mean? Well - for starters, not much on the pitch: Pompey may have a large arsenal of cash to use in the January transfer window - but they'll have to stick with their hodgepodge of new signings and on-loan stars (O'Hara 4. Click to continue reading...

There are lots of funny aspects to being a Premier League footballer. Like how teammates play practical jokes in the dressing room, or how topless models throw themselves at you, or, I don't know, how your club sometimes can't pay your wages because they're on the brink of a financial meltdown.

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Is it Saha or Jo or neither? Everton Striker Arrested for Dealing Drugs

• Polish freestyle football by 19 year old Krzysiek Golonka "Clyde" [Youtube]

• Everton striker arrested on suspicion of dealing cannabis [Off the Post]

• Liverpool's season is over after 8 games [Football Corner]

• Portsmouth's O'Hara happy to leave Spurs and the club has more points after eight games (three) than Tottenham did last season after eight games (two) [Tribal Football]

• Ipswich manager (or should we just call him former Manchester United legend - since he can't manage) Roy Keane teaches us how to conduct an interview [Unprofessional Foul]

• 8th year anniversary of that Beckham free kick [In the Stands]

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When Sulaiman Al Fahim announced his plans regarding the takeover of the club this summer, Pompey fans started hoping Portsmouth would soon be able to challenge European places in the least. However, completely the opposite happened as Paul Hart's side achieved the record of worst start in the history of the Premier League, having lost no less than 7 opening games.

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Some very quick meandering thoughts off the top of my head from today's matches. I was fortunate enough to watch three full games today (Portsmouth - Everton, Liverpool - Hull, and Fulham - Arsenal) and thought I'd share some of my thoughts on today's action for those of you who may have missed watching the games. Click to continue reading...

FYI - My team is Given, Verm, Heitinga, SeaBass, Lamps, O'Hara, Lennon, Jordi Gomez, Hunt, Drogba, Rooney <p>&lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;altcast_code=e87ac8df74" &gt;The Barn Door Live - Sept. 26&lt;/a&gt;</p> Click to continue reading...

There's no nice way of saying this: Portsmouth are a terrible team. The first team to lose their first six games since Leicester City in the early 1980s, and they've scored three and conceded 12 goals in those games. We're looking at a potentially record-breaking season of awfulness here.
The worst part of it (for Pompey fans) is that while some very good players left in the summer -- Sol Campbell and Niko Kranjcar to name two -- they still have quality in their squad: David James, Younes Kaboul, Tal Ben-Haim, Jamie O'Hara and Tommy Smith, for instance. Click to continue reading...

I've held off on using my wild card this week despite carrying a lot of dead weight. My dead weight is all in the sub 6M range, so will be relatively easy to replace over the next 2-3 weeks, but for now - I'm still stuck with two Wolves' players - Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (5.2M) and the woeful Nenad Milijas (5. Click to continue reading...

Paul Hart was nominated by various broadsheet football journalists as "Manager of the year" last season despite only taking charge of half of Pompy's games, following a disastrous start by Tony Adams. Hart showed his experience and got the team organised again; keeping Portsmouth up for another season in the top flight with relative ease in 14th position.

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Premier League Team News - Barclays Premier League - ESPN SoccernetNo certainty of O'Hara playing for Pompey - I like the thought of him as a cheap option but I'm not willing to go too far out on a limb until I know how (and if) they intend to deploy him regularly.� More a BD option than something for this week if you ask me (and you sort of did by being here to read this column). Click to continue reading...

Oh Spurs. You do warm the cockles of my heart on these blustery Autumnal nights. I love these little PR stunts. You know, the happy, smiley, 'look-at-us-we're-all-friends' gems that pop up on the official website from time to time.
This latest one has provided some excellent feelgood pictures, all coming from the clubs official squad photocall. Click to continue reading...

My apologies today - I'm not going to be able to host our live chat due to the presence of my in-laws and the need to spend time with them while they are here. As neither of them are big footie fans, that lends itself more to brunch and the like as opposed to sitting in front of the big TV, watching whatever match is on, and them being curious about what it is I'm doing on these here Internets. Click to continue reading...

Start the jokes now Spurs are leading the Premier League, I know some people think that its too good to be true but maybe its not and their win over Birmingham City earlier today showed that. In the past Spurs would have packed up and settled for the point, but not this versions of the whites, they kept pressing and finally got the winner after former Spur Stephen Carr fell and allowed Aaron Lennon to break in and score. Click to continue reading...

According to the Mirror, Harry is about to sell Kevin Prince Boateng to Pompey and will also ship out Jamie O'Hara on loan to to them until January.
The the £4 million fee quoted for Boateng seems a bit high as he's hardly kicked a ball for us. If memory serves me right, we bought the lad for £4. Click to continue reading...

We would have settled for a win by hook or by crook or by penalties, but another five-goal salvo does no harm. For some curious reason, I also beam with a vaguely paternal sort of pride at the fact that five different names were scrawled across the scoresheet. It's strangely wholesome.

It all went smoothly enough in the end, although that might have been a different story had Carlo Cudicini not been alert and sprightly from the off.

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This post is guest written by Jamie Dunn, someone you'll be hearing more on this site from time to time.
The League Cup is a curious one; the ‘Big Four' have enormous, continental fish to fry so when they enter the competition in the third round, playing the kids is alright for them. Click to continue reading...

Another year, another bandwagon for Spurs to make it into Europe or even break into the elite. But while there are signs of progress, it wouldn't be Spurs without their seemingly repeating their mistakes. So for every good signing like Palacios, who gives them a real presence in midfield, there is a head-scratcher like Naughton. Click to continue reading...

Official Press Release (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues)
NEWBURGH, NY - The Pali Blues defeated the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 4-0 on Friday in a W-League Semifinal match that featured a battle of unbeatens.
The win means that Pali advances to the W-League Championship to defend its 2008 title against the winner of the other semifinal between Washington and Ottawa Saturday night. Click to continue reading...

After building a 2-1 lead in the second half against the defending W-League champion, the Colorado Force fell 5-2 to the Pali Blues in the first round of the W-League playoffs Saturday night in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

The Force took a 2-1 lead in the 70th minute on a goal by Nikki Marshall, her second of the evening.

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So, our first signings of the summer are announced – and rather curiously they are more full-backs. The trendily-named Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker – 20 and 19 respectively – may sound like characters from Starship Troopers, but they are now lilywhites, plucked from Sheff Utd for anywhere between 5 and 10 mil, depending on which website you trust.

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So, our first signings of the summer are announced – and rather curiously they are more full-backs. The trendily-named Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker – 20 and 19 respectively – may sound like characters from Starship Troopers, but they are now lilywhites, plucked from Sheff Utd for anywhere between 5 and 10 mil, depending on which website you trust.

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So, our first signings of the summer are announced – and rather curiously they are more full-backs. The trendily-named Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker – 20 and 19 respectively – may sound like characters from Starship Troopers, but they are now lilywhites, plucked from Sheff Utd for anywhere between 5 and 10 mil, depending on which website you trust.

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If Luis Figo has seriously been approached, things are a lot worse than I ever imagined. Bear in mind I was imagining quite bad things when Jermaine Pennant's name was being mentioned without a comedy effect chuckle in an I almost had you kind of way.

Figo looks like an old man and has been playing like one for the last couple of years.

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Autor: Juan Figueroa.
El Tottenham es un equipo que posee una de las plantillas más completas de la Premier League, con recambio en casi todas las posiciones, fácil dos jugadores competitivos por puesto. Pero si bien no posee ningún jugador de talla mundial se puede dar el lujo de tener jugadores que se podrían hacer hueco en prácticamente cualquier equipo de primer nivel, se está dando el lujo de tener a dos de los mejores interiores derechos de la Premier en la misma plantilla como lo son Aaron Lennon (Hoy en día el jugador más desequilibrante del equipo y algo infravalorado por la explosión de Theo Walcott) y David Bentley, pero sin embargo el problema hace mucho tiempo está en la banda izquierda, banda que aún no ha podido encontrar un dueño que cumpla a cabalidad con desbordar esa banda, nombres como Steed Malbranque (natural centrocampista de salida y posteriormente acomodado a la banda) Luka Modric, natural volante de creación que fue por un tiempo acomodado a la banda sin buenos resultado, Jamie O'Hara (centrocampista de corte de pierna zurda de buen despliegue físico pero con limitaciones técnicas) los mismos Aaron Lennon y David Bentley que no se acomodan a jugar con el perfil cambiado, el prometedor Gareth Bale, lateral por naturaleza adelantado para desbordar, son demasiados nombres para una posición en tanto tiempo, quizá el único que logró ser un jugador cumplidor en aquella posición fue el francés Malbranque, pero al ser declarado prescindible por Juande Ramos se fue al Sunderland donde hoy en día es uno de los líderes en asistencias de la Premier League. Click to continue reading...

The defending W-League champion, the Pali Blues from Pacific Palisades, Calif., come to Colorado for two matches, starting tonight.

The Blues play at 6:30 p.m. today against the Real Colorado Cougars, and they travel to Loveland to play the Colorado Force at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Sunday match is the Force's only afternoon match at the Loveland Sports Park this season.

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Sorry for the weeklong absence, but I'd rather wait until the end of the season before beginning the requiems, and there's been little else to talk about. Next week will be different.
This is the first time all season a Liverpool league game isn't on TV in the States. Not even on delay (wtf). Click to continue reading...

Embedded above is by far the greatest Harry Redknapp clip of all time. We've shown it before but let's show it again for old time's sake. It has nothing to do with today's real� football news - that Chelsea beat Liverpool in an amazing Champions League quarterfinal match.� Who cares. Click to continue reading...