Is there hope for Pompey? Maybe if you're an eternal optimist. I just like to think of it as something that Portsmouth fans can reminisce about next season when they are taking the Coca Cola Championship by storm. That is just where the state of Pompey football is at the moment. One 4-0 victory is not going to suddenly turn things around for the better, but for that to happen, Piquionne and Dindane are going to have to put in these types of performances week in and week out.

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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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It was a Super Saturday treat for Premier League fans as all the top names in the game came out to the fields. Chelsea went to Bolton and won 5-0 in an emphatic show of their reign at the top. Lampard got the proceedings going through a freekick in the fag end of the first [...] Click to continue reading...

The English Carling Cup resumed play on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 with round 4 matches. There were five matches on Tuesday including Manchester United, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur. Here's a recap of all the matches along with video highlights.

English Carling Cup Recap - Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Most of the favorites advanced on Tuesday as there were not any major upsets.

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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...

Kieran Gibbs, Emmanuel Eboue, Abou Diaby and Eduardo are the new faces for today's game as Arsenal will try to clinch all three points against Portsmouth in their first home game of the season.

Please feel free to join the discussion in our comments section which will also be active when the game kicks-off.

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Yes, he's actually featured for France
Blogger 1-1-8 got me thinking - the Premier League season is just a few days away, and we really should start pumping out some "preview" articles with a bit more regularity. Sites like Unprofessional Foul as well as The Guardian and Times Online (UK) are doing an excellent job going club by club with season previews - so we don't want to be redundant. Click to continue reading...

Olympique Lyonnais have made no qualms about beginning their 'new era'. With Benzema, Juninho and Keita three big names to leave the club this summer so far, the French side have wasted no time in splashing out on some big-money transfers and it doesn't look like the deals are done yet!

With Benzema leaving, a huge gap was created in the striking position.

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This may be "Kongo Kim's" last match for OL and Sidney's too; wink.
Week 35
Sat May 30, 2009
Stade Alle Gabriel Benes
3:00 PM(21:00CET, 20:00GMT)

Well, we've taken care of business and OL are now back in the CL,albiet in qualifying rounds, but hey, it's better than the alternatives.

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When was the last time you saw this?
Sun, 14 April, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

Last week saw OL get-off to a good start in the final stretch of the season with a strong showing vs. Le Mans. Lyon did alot of good things: scored three- I wanted to see maybe two more to narrow Marseilles' point differential lead, Benzema broke-out of his miny-slump with a brace and Jean the Monster Makoun had two assits.

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Following one of the most astonishing turnarounds in transfer history, Kaka's move to Manchester City has now officially fallen through. It was reported on SKY Italia at just past 2230 CET that Milan and Manchester City had agreed a fee, and that a transfer was almost certain, with only Kaka's signature required to complete the [. Click to continue reading...

Allez Lyon!!!

Lyon:

Lloris
Reveillere - Cris - Bodmer - Kallstrom
Juninho - Toulalan - Makoun
Govou - Fred - Benzema

Bench: Vercoutre, Boumsong, Kallstrom, Ederson, Piquionne, Mounier

Bayern:

Rensing
Oddo - Breno - Lucio - Lahm
Schweinsteiger - Demichelis - Ze Roberto - Ribery
Klose - Toni

Bench: Butt, Van Buyten, Podolski, Ottl, Van Bommel, Sosa, Borowski

Feel free to post commentary, frustrations, and thoughts here during and after the game.

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Ahhh, hopefully we can have a slight respite from the recent Franco-Italian war that has errupted in our comments section of the post-Lyon-Fiorentina CL match, and during the lull in hostilities, get back to enjoying some L1 action!

Saturday, Lyon travel to Le Stade Jules Deschaseaux in the the northwestern region of Haute-Normandie to take on one of this year's promoted clubs, Le Havre AC.

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I suppose if winning is everything, there's nothing wrong with that. However, there's an unwritten code in football that if an injured player is down on the pitch, you put the ball out of play for him to receive treatment and be escorted off. No can do for Lyon, who not only played around him, [...] Click to continue reading...

Dear Lyon,

Don't screw this up.

Hugs and kisses,

Me

Lyon:

Lloris
Reveillere - Boumsong - Bodmer - Kallstrom
Makoun - Toulalan - Juninho
Govou - Fred - Benzema

Bench: Vercoutre, Gassama, Cris, Mensah, Pjanic, Ederson, Piquionne, Mounier

Fiorentina:

Frey
Zauri - Kroldrup - Dainelli - Vargas
Kuzmanovic - Melo - Montolivo - Almiron
Gilardino - Mutu

Bench: Storari, Donadel, Jovetic, Gobbi, Jorgensen, Santana, Pazzini

Feel free to post commentary, frustrations, and thoughts here during and after the game.

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One derby down, one to go. Sunday Lyon will be traveling to Le Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to take on A.S. St. Etienne in the second derby of the season. This is the 96th derby the two teams have participated in. After having handled Grenoble Foot 38 in the first derby, Lyon will have to contend with a St.

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A new coach, several new players, new tactical systems...so I figured it was time for another team building exercise.

I can't resist this picture. It's Lyon to a T.

Between friendlies and the first few competitive games, we've gotten a vague idea about the kind of team Puel wants to form - tactically organized, defensively solid, players sticking to their roles (as opposed to last season, where players would be out of position all the time).

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Benzema celebrates after scoring Lyon's only goal in last year's 2-1 loss to Lorient.

This week, Lyon travel to Brittany to face FC Lorient at Le Stade Moustoir. Lorient is currently tied for 2nd place with seven other teams in L1, having defeated Le Mans 1-0 in the first week.

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