With such blistering pace at just 4.5M, I'd have a silly grin on my face too
Our Funny Feeling Friday this week is Arsenal's left back Kieran Gibbs. With starting left back Gael Clichy out for a month or more with a stress fracture in his lower back, Gibbs should take over the starting spot and comes with the price tag (4. Click to continue reading...

Martin O'Neill has expressed his delight at the form of Aston Villa number two Brad Guzan, who has so far been restricted to the sidelines as fellow countryman Brad Friedel occupies the number one spot. O'Neill claims that Guzan is so good that he could walk into virtually any Premier League side, tipping the former Chivas USA player as a potential United States number one.

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CSKA Moscow v Manchester United
Wednesday 21 October 2009, Luzhniki Stadium
UEFA Champions League
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK (20:45 CET)

With Juande Ramos managing CSKA Moscow and United returning to the scene of their last European triumph, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's 2007/2008 all over again.

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First Stone Cold, now this.
These guests are getting good.
Oh, and he's now a fan of Hamilton Academical, currently 11th out of 12 Scottish Premier League teams.
Nice. Click to continue reading...

Ali Al Faraj has made headlines all over the world the last few weeks with his purchase of Premier League club Portsmouth. Ironically, the head of the Saudi Arabia league, Dr. Hafez Al Medlej, claims that until just as recently as the public eye he never knew who Al Faraj even was:

I hope Al Faraj has success, but we never heard of this guy.

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Morning all,

it's Blackburn today and if Blackburn were never my favourite team before - the fact that they're now managed by that Walrus looking cunt Allardyce has definitely secured their status as one of the top 19 Premier League teams that I hate.

We know old Walrus's teams like the physical approach and with their 8'7 centre-half promising more of the same today it could well be a bit of a battle.

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So we're a month or so in to 2009/10, and it's been pretty hectic, to say the least. Lots of flashpoints, talking points and most importantly, lots of football. So what have been the characteristics of this opening month that have captured the imagination?

1.   There has been an awful lot of football played.

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Google has added a new feature to its Calendar product that allows registered users to subscribe to a free list of upcoming fixtures for any of the 20 Premier League clubs. That's great news for football supporters, but it may be a thorn in the side for the Premier League and another issue that will add considerable strain to the relationship between the league and the technology company (the Premier League sued YouTube, now owned by Google, in May 2007).

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His French accent is funny, but he makes a great point
Emmanuel Adebayor stomped on former teammate Robin van Persie's face last weekend and has been hit with a three-match ban for his actions.
Adebayor's manager Mark Hughes didn't think it was a big deal. But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wasn't too impressed with Hughes' reaction to the clash:

"I watched it when I got home and it looked very bad," the Frenchman said.

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It's ironic that at a time when the 'grow your own' movement has never been more popular (at least amongst gardeners), the Premier League have decided to impose strict new rules on its clubs to ensure they, too, use home-grown produce. Sorry - 'talent'.
All very noble too, except when you look into the make-up of most Premier League clubs, you'll find they're already largely abiding by the rules anyway. Click to continue reading...

Nice, I Like
Beginning next season, Premier League teams will be required to have 8 home-grown players out of a squad of 25, according to measures introduced today.
According to the league's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, "one of the benefits will be that it will help the England team," and it will give clubs an extra incentive to invest in youth. Click to continue reading...

Long ago, P.J. O'Rourke in his book A Parliament of Whores said, "You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money."

I just can't help myself relating it to Manchester City.

The transfer window is closed. And, Manchester City, backed by big bucks, have spent near to £120 million in this single summer transfer window and around £200 million overall since last summer.

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That the EPL is the best championship in the world is plain for everyone to see. The teams are far and away the strongest, most physical, and quickest. With exceptions to super teams like Barcelona, the four Premier League teams involved in the Champions League can (and do) knock off foreign opposition rather easily.

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Phil Brown hopes Michael Turner will be able to convince himself that his future lies with Hull - by putting in a performance at Wolves like he did against Bolton last week.
The Tigers travel to Molineux in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday with the transfer window nearing its close and speculation hotting up, particularly following the completion of Joleon Lescott's protracted switch from Everton to Manchester City. Click to continue reading...

The English Football League Cup or Carling Cup as its known continued its round 2 of matches on Wednesday August 26, 2009. Most of the Premier League teams advanced including Tottenham and Stoke City while Wigan fell 1-4 to Blackpool. Here's a recap of Wednesday's matches along with video highlights.

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We're heading towards the 4th gameweek of the Fantasy Premier League soccer manager game. Again, there are soccer matches that look easier to some teams than others. So, time to see who you want on your team this gameweek.
Here are the fixtures:
Chelsea v Burnley
Blackburn v West Ham
Bolton v Liverpool
Stoke City v Sunderland
Tottenham v Birmingham
Wolves v Hull City
Man Utd v Arsenal
Portsmouth v Man City
Everton v Wigan
Aston Villa v Fulham
West Ham goes to visit Blackburn and I think they won't be too modest guests. Click to continue reading...

The English Carling Cup began its second round of play on Tuesday August 25, 2009 with several matches. The story taking center stage was violence breaking out between Millwall and West Ham United outside Upton Park. One fan was stabbed but is in stable condition and there appear to be no other serious injuries.

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Chamakh has been linked with a host of Premier League teams

Bordeaux's Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh has made a good start to the Ligue 1 campaign, scoring 3 goals in 3 games for the club. Â This form has seen him linked with a host of Premier League clubs, but is he really good enough to be considered by Premier League teams as a solid option?

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It's a big week of football for the club what with the Celtic clash being followed by a Saturday game against Portsmouth in the Premier League but it's not just the first team that will be busy. This weekend also sees the Premier Academy League kick off as Arsenal's young guns are away to Sheffield United on Saturday.

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After the first round a huge transfer-frenzy started. Players get transferred in such speed you'd think half the premier league's been injured. At the top of the wanted list are names like Jason Koumas with 66,563 transfer in and Rodallega with the 49,817.
Wigan is burning hot in the transfer market.

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The boys are back in town for the 2009-2010 Premier League season. Click on the above image for a full-sized picture showing a footballer from each of the 20 Premier League teams. The players are as follows:

1. Arsenal: Theo Walcott
2. Aston Villa: Brad Friedel
3. Birmingham City: Kevin Phillips
4. Blackburn Rovers: Ryan Nelson
5. Bolton Wanderers: Gavin McCann
6. Burnley: Chris Caldwell
7. Chelsea: Didier Drogba
8. Everton: Joleon Lescott
9. Fulham: Clint Dempsey
10. Hull City: Richard Garcia
11. Liverpool: Ryan Babel
12. Man City: Carlos Tevez
13. Man United: Michael Owen
14. Portsmouth: David James
15. Stoke City: Rory Delap
16. Sunderland: Kenwyne Jones
17. Tottenham Hotspur: Peter Crouch
18. West Ham United: Dean Ashton
19. Wigan Athletic: Titus Bramble
20. Wolves: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

Looking forward to another spectacular season!

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At the start of the 1989-90 season, leading clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United boasted just one or two regular first-team players who were born outside the United Kingdom.

Now, Premier League teams have, on average, 13 foreign-born stars within their ranks.

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This summer has been one of the best preseasons in years. We've been treated to the Confederations Cup, Gold Cup, World Football Challenge and plenty of so-so friendlies mixed in with the high-energy Community Shield. But now the season is upon us and the drama both on and off the pitch begins.

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Burnley play football. That's what you hear about this club who after a disastrous start to last season came on late to win promotion via the Championship playoffs. Along the way they had an amazing Carling Cup run, knocking off FOUR Premier League clubs before falling to Spurs.
They are going to need that Cup run mentality week-in and week-out this season. Click to continue reading...

The English Premier League kicks off its 2009-2010 season this weekend and it promises to be an enthralling season again in Europe's top league.

With the transfer window still three weeks away the prospects for many teams will rise and fall on who is added or leaves between now and then.

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Soccerlens' Football League preview reaches its climax ahead of the big kick-off this weekend, with The Championship playing a starring role.

There's plenty of big names battling it out for a money-spinning place in the Premiership, so read for our views on who'll be mixing it with Manchester United next season, who'll be lowering themselves into League One, and our prediction for Newcastle's season.

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Arsene Wenger believes the 'Big Four' Premier League teams will become the 'top six' this season and that might not include Manchester City.

The Arsenal manager said he expects Aston Villa and a 'surprise team' to challenge Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and his side for domestic honours, but doubts City's new-look side will click straight away.

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We're now over halfway through Soccerlens' full season preview ahead of the big League kickoff this weekend. Today we're up to League 1, which contains fallen ex-Premier League teams Leeds, Charlton, Norwich and Southampton as well as smaller teams like Yeovil, Exeter and Wycombe.

Can the Saints overcome their points deduction, can Brentford keep on their buzz after winning League Two?

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It's amazing what a difference a year makes. Last summer, the majority of summer friendlies involving Premier League teams were televised live on Setanta US. This summer, though, Setanta US has shown zero friendlies and the majority of games have been aired by either Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV and ESPN360.

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Throughout Peter Crouch's career he has constantly been judged on his appearance more so than his on-pitch appearances. When Crouch is praised for his footballing abilities, it is usually the famous cliche that the media has tagged Crouchy with 'good touch for a tall guy', but is this all that the England International is good for?

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Blog of the Day

We've been debating all week the value of the high-profile European teams touring the US to huge crowds, while MLS fans slap their foreheads and wonder why fans don't come out for their local team's games. At Footsmoke, Cyrus Philbrick goes contrary at the growth of European soccer in the United States and "why it's probably OK":

Can someone explain to me how more exposure to the game, especially such a high quality brand of soccer, is bad?

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Southend United's Under 18s were narrowly defeated in the final of the inaugural Toomey Trophy at Roots Hall on Sunday.
The Blues' youth side fought out a 2-2 draw with Premier League side Everton, before the Toffees went on to win on penalties.
Southend beat Arsenal 1-0 in a major scalp yesterday, while Everton reached the final by beating Fulham. Click to continue reading...

ESPN today announced that several summer friendlies involving Premier League teams will be shown on ESPN360, its broadband product, this summer.

The games that will be shown live on ESPN360 are:

• Sunderland vs. Atletico Madrid, July 26, 1pm ET
• Chelsea vs. Club America, July 26, 7pm ET
• Manchester United vs.

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After a summer of discussion, controversy and the dominance of Manchester City and Real Madrid in the transfer market, club football has finally returned to our lives albeit in a non-competitive format.

Obviously after the seemingly endless summer break it is great to see your team back in action.

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Fox Soccer Channel announced today that it'll be broadcasting three of the upcoming friendlies involving Liverpool this summer.

The U.S. TV network will be showing the following games live:

• Thai national team v Liverpool, July 22, 9am ET
• Singapore national team v Liverpool, July 26, 8am ET
• FC Lyn v Liverpool, August 5, 1pm ET.

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