Both Londoners, media darlings and wrapped in St George patriotism, Harry Redknapp and David Beckham are a super-bromance just waiting to happen.Despiteperceivedwisdom that the former England skipper would be out of his depth in the top tier of football, he has always been backed by a splurge of superlatives from good ol' Harry.
A Game Weekend is ought to be filled with excitement and quality. Nevertheless, the exciting fixtures lately were completely overshadowed by non-football related issues. The media's intervention has definitely irritated the matters, but unfortunately the players themselves have not helped in resolving the disputes either.
A Game Weekend ought to be filled with excitement and quality. Nevertheless, the exciting fixtures lately were completely overshadowed by non-football related issues. The media's intervention has definitely irritated matters, but unfortunately the players themselves have not helped in resolving the disputes either.
Ashley Young believes that his Manchester United teammate Antonio Valencia is the closest one can get to becoming a complete footballer, praising the Ecuador international's intelligence, discipline, and professionalism. Valencia, 27, was voted as United's Player of the Year last season and Young feels that the winger's success can be attributed to a rare combination [.
Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov has slammed former boss Sir Alex Ferguson for treating him
poorly at Manchester United and finally admits that he should have considered leaving Old Trafford
in 2011.
Berbatov was United's stand-out striker in the 2010-11 season, scoring 21 goals in all
competitions, only to see himself snubbed for a place in Fergie's UEFA Champions League final
match-day squad.
When the news broke that Chelsea had signed Marko Marin, I will be honest, I have never heard of
him. Bearing in mind I do not really have the time to follow the other major leagues around the
world and due to hardly being able to play Football Manager as religiously as I used to, Marin was
someone I was unaware of.
By tomorrow evening, half of Manchester a phrase that in itself provokes so much debate that it
is worth pointing out that it is being used for the purposes of simplicity alone will be
celebrating a Premier League championship victory. Either Manchester City or Manchester United will
be crowned as the champions of England.
Fabrice Muamba with Dr Andrew Deaner (l) and Dr Sam Mohiddin. Image: Reuters.
Fabrice Muamba has been released from hospital, barely a month after he collapsed on the pitch
during Bolton's FA Cup tie vs. Spurs. The midfielder was "technically dead" for 78 minutes
after suffering a cardiac arrest and thanked medical staff for the prompt action that aided his
recovery.
After spending more than a month at the London Chest Hospital recuperating from a serious
cardiac arrest suffered during a FA Cup match against Tottenham in March, Bolton Wanderers 24
year old midfielder Fabrice Muamba was released from yesterday to continue his treatment at his
family home in Chesire.
Steve Bruce has claimed that of all the players to have graced the Premier League, Ryan Giggs
and Paul Scholes stand out from the rest.
"The achievement of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, to play 900 and 700-odd games respectively
for Manchester United is remarkable," he said. "To still have the hunger and desire to be
as good as they are is remarkable.
So, you-know-who took a look at my site. I asked ever so politely for a few basic tips to get
more eyeballs to the site. The Good Doctor glanced. The Good Doctor perused. Then the Good Doctor
dissected. Overall, he liked that the headlines were SEO friendly. However, editorial direction
aside, a large, gaping hole existed at the center of my content: misogynist pictures only
tangentially related to soccer.
Real Madrid assistant Aitor Karanka appeared to suggest that Kaka could be on his way out of the
Bernabeu following his omission from Jose Mourinho's squad for a pre-season friendly against
Oviedo.
Kaka has been regularly linked with a move away from Real over the past 12 months, after
struggling to justify the then-world record fee of £50.
Man City's Kun Aguero (seen here with his son, Benjie, at the
2010 Super Cup Final between Inter and Atletico) has rubbished reports that his alleged "stupid leg
injury" is one that is, well, stupid. All of you Sherlock Holmes-types better hide your
microscopes because Kun doesn't like the idea of snooping around.
Sevilla have fired coach Marcelino García Toral after the 46-year-old failed to halt a run of
disappointing results.
Marcelino, who took charge last summer following the departure of Gregorio Manzano, leaves with
Sevilla 11th in the standings and just four points above the relegation zone.
Today we say good bye to another polarizing figure in the Portland Timbers' MLS history, striker
Jorge Perlaza.
Signed on March 7, 2011, Jorge Perlaza was the first of many Colombian acquisitions for General
Manager Gavin Wilkinson. His previous campaign with Deportes Tolima gave Timbers fans hope that
they'd have a goal scoring machine on the pitch, having scored 15 goals in 31 matches.
Professionalism is an odd topic. It can be as simple as "Does one get paid?" The NCAA has
hundreds of pages and dozens of people dedicated to codifying the differences between amateur and
pro status. Yesterday, after the Portland Timbers debuted their new dedicated training facility
some on Twitter were claiming that the Timbers are still not a fully professional organization
because they play on artificial turf.
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has branded Wigan chairman Dave Whelan a 'comedian' for his
actions during the Reds' manager hunt.
Whelan gave regular updates to the media during the period in which the Latics' manager Roberto
Martinez was approached and subsequently interviewed for the vacant Liverpool job.
Liverpool's Managing Director Ian Ayre has had a pop at Dave Whelan, after the Wigan Athletic
owner claimed that the Reds had offered Latics manager Roberto Martinez the top job at Anfield. In
response to those comments, Ayre said:
"I always thought John Bishop was the biggest comedian in the north west, but Dave Whelan seems
to have taken that mantle over in the last couple of weeks.
Ronaldinho has gotten his contract with Flamengo terminated by a Brazilian labor court over
almost $20 million in unpaid wages. He is now free to sign with another club after scoring 29 goals
in 72 matches for Flamengo since singing in January 2011.
From Sambafoot:
The reasons for the termination were four months of unpaid wages, a justification accepted by
the judge.
A nice article by Dave Clark of Sounder at Heart on what it means to be a professional in Major
League Soccer and around the world. A little heavy on the Leveque but he starts things off with a
defense of the Timbers, which can't have been easy.
Sean Payton will not have his suspension reduced for many reasons. But, the single most influential
reason may have more to do with the most quotable head coach of all time, Bill Parcells.
For Roger Goodell and the NFL, the opportunity to have Parcells coach one more season is reason
enough not to touch the decision.
Carrie Patterson (in white uniform) is one of five players that signed on with the Mutiny for
the upcoming season.
With spring rapidly approaching, the New England Mutiny added five more players to its roster as
it prepares for its first season in WPSL Elite.
Defender/midfielder Kelsey Hood, defender Ciara McCormack, forward Carrie Patterson, defender
Ella Stephan and midfielder Kate McCarthy were announced as the team's latest additions on
Tuesday.
TweetInter Milan have sacked coach Claudio Ranieri after just 6 months in charge following a 2-0
loss to Juventus. Although sympathetic, In The Stands' Rolly Pelovangu argues that the Italian is
just a loser. "President Moratti and all of Inter would like to thank Claudio Ranieri and his staff
for the professionalism and the commitment [.
Outside of Harry's court case, the issues surrounding John Terry and the England captaincy have
been firmly in the media spotlight this week and while the attention is currently on manager Fabio
Capello, two of Tottenham's England internationals could be set to profit from the affair.
Scott Parker emerged last season to command a regular place in the England side and since his
move to White Hart Lane, our outstanding midfielder must surely be one of the first names on
Capello's team sheet.
Except for the teeny tiny detail that these gentleman are making massive wages and playing in
the Champions League knockout for a reputable club from one of the world's biggest leagues.
Bayer teammates Michael Kadlec and Manuel Friedrich fought over Lionel Messi's match shirt in
the tunnel at halftime of their Champions League bend on Tuesday.
Man City's official YouTube channel has provided a lot of unexpected entertainment over its
relatively short existence and has already become a model for other clubs to follow. It does,
however, go off the rails from time to time (City kitman Les Chapman's "nature watch" segment where
he tracks down a ginger kid in his underpants).
You expect certain levels of professionalism from match officials and posing for a photo with a player midway through the match probably falls short of those levels. But this enterprising assistant referee was not going to pass-up the opportunity to grab a picture of him and Lionel Messi. He chose half-time during yesterday's match between [.
Back in 2008 I attended much of the ASEAN Football Federation Youth Championships here in Jakarta.
Five teams competed, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Bahrain. The Aussies won,
beating Bahrain in the final.
But what of the players four years on. Back then they were under 16.
Less than a week after literally kicking his players up the backside and pulling off the upset
of the Capital One Cup second round with a 4-3 extra-time win over Stoke, Paolo Di Canio and
Swindon Town returned to League One player and lost 4-1 to Preston North End. Preston scored twice
in the first 10 minutes, with the first goal coming off a goalkeeper error, prompting Di Canio to
take 21-year-old goalkeeper Wes Foderingham off in just the 21st minute.
Italy need a win to make it to the quarterfinals as they face the Republic of Ireland in the
last round of Euro 2012 Group C fixtures. The match will take place at the Poznan Municipal Stadium
in Poznan, Poland with kickoff scheduled for 20:45 local time.
Italy manager Cesare Prandelli
"I'm sure we have the means at our disposal to go and win it.
Image: AP Photo/Michael Probst. Usually we love us some Nicky Bendtner you know we do. Usually, we
have love for Nicky "No Pants" for the obvious reasons (general hotness, thighs of thunder, etc)
and not so obvious reasons (tabloid consistency, designer gear and all around drinking
professionalism).
The UKFF academy side almost made history by becoming the first team to win the Academy Cup on
their first attempt.
Made up exclusively from the website the squad showed tremendous spirit by reaching the final
after a stunning comeback in the semi final to seal a dramatic win on penalties.
Their Words "I am naturally very pleased to be discharged from hospital and would like to take this
opportunity to pay tribute to every single member of staff at The London Chest Hospital who have
played a part in my care. Their dedication, professionalism and expertise is simply amazing and I
will forever be in their debt.
There can be few things more tiresome in international football than war analogies. Sometimes,
however, they are inescapable and this can be no more true than in the case of European nations
which once pitched up against each other on battlefields, only to find themselves facing off
against their former allies or rivals for decades afterwards.
The use of a 'Cup final' as a cliche in soccer make sense.
A 'Cup final' is a match that is a championship game in a tournament - one where there can only be
a winner and a loser, and one where the loser is eliminated. The NBA on TNT uses this phrase for
their commercials during their tournament-style playoffs: WIN OR GO HOME.
Alot is always written and said about Frank Lampard during the course of a season, some good and
some bad and there is divided opinion at the moment on whether or not Lampard should be
playing week in, week out or if the manager should continue with his rotation
policy this season.
The new leadership at the Indonesian Football Association, PSSI, promised they would change the
game when they took over. They promised a new era of openness and professionalism and they would do
their best to improve Indonesia's standing in the world game.
Gone are the days of tedious months long preparations for international tournaments interspersed
with promises of friendlies against Argentina and Ivory Coast, delivering friendlies against Pelita
Jaya Under 23s or the Army team.
Andreas Pereira, who agreed to join the club last year from PSV before signing when he turned
16-years-old this year, has spoken of his happiness at being a Manchester United player.
The Brazilian-born Belgium youth has that he is settled in well, thanks particular to his
countrymen in the first team squad.
