Book Review: The Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout by Simon Hughes
Now this is an intriguing book. Whilst most of the key architects of Liverpools's lasting success over the four decades after Bill Shankly took over avtively shunned publicity, most were still pushed into the limelight. Click to continue reading...

Popular "pit-bull" Edgar Davids might get back on football scene and as no less than a Leicester City member. Dutchman's final decision is expected these days and everyone in Leicester are unanimous about getting this excellent player and winner of many trophies on their side.

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This is not the sort of morning that I'd relish watching a soccer game ... but two of my intrepid housemates (applesrisp in hand) will be heading to Lewiston momentarily to watch the Bobcats tangle with the Panthers. Would be so nice if Bates could defeat Middlebury ... and while it's probably in the unlikely category, what I love about sports is that "it could happen.

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After a summer of discontent at Newcastle United, with the club having been up for sale since May, we've failed to attract a single serious buyer. It seems Moat was all mouth and all the other 'bidders' were either publicity hunters, time-wasters or chancers who only expressed an interest in the hope of purchasing way below [. Click to continue reading...

No, it's not about the other teams in the Champions League like Uriea Urigniceni and Rubin Kazan. Though from what I've seen of Rubin Kazan, they could go some distance in Europe, at least through the Europa League (hard luck for them to be in a group with Barca and Inter. If they'd been with Arsenal, they would've fancied their chances).

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An interesting article in the Courier Mail on Monday. The story was that some Roar directors regretted not accepting FFA help at the beginning of the season. The reason given for the regret was that the FFA would have been able to control Frank Farina via a director of football - and stopped poor player behaviour. Click to continue reading...

What the F**k?

Portsmouth Vs Tottenham Tickets Still Available!

For reasons that we have yet to establish at the time of writing, Harry Redknapp has shot to favourite in the next Premier League manager to go market. He is at 7/4, with Paul Hart languishing behind in the sack race at 3/1.

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Extremely excited at the prospect of seeing Arshavin and Walcott back in action for us tomorrow, I went to the BBC website to check if Rosicky was also in the squad. Turns out folks, he is. Then I went to read the match preview. What a load of rubbish that was!

The Fulham-Arsenal match is a league match.

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I have been very outspoken in the past in reference to Major League Soccer really dropping the ball in reference to player development by doing away with its Reserve Division.
Andrea Canales from Goal.com wrote an excellent article about not only how the absence of the Reserve Division is stunting the development of the young American professional player, but also negatively affecting our United States Under-20 National team. Click to continue reading...

by CARL ELDRIDGE Marouane Chamakh won't be joining the glorious Gunners in January after all, according to Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud, a man, it has to be said, who isn't at all shy of the glare of publicity.

The Daily Mail reports this morning that Triaud has hit out at Arsene Wenger for his pursuit of the Morrocan striker, who is out of contract next summer.

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Phew, another busy week in the life of the Arsenal and the long summer days when we dreamed of the football season returning are certainly in the dim and distant past now. Two games a week helps us settle back in nicely to our routine and before we know it it's Friday again and, yes, a trip to Manchester United looms in the Premier League's biggest game so far this season.

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Nike has put up for sale its 100 percent ownership of United Soccer Leagues (U.S.L). The most logical buyer for the U.S.L is the better known Major League Soccer, but it looks like no deal will happen. In fact, according to today's New York Times, M.L.S. officials said the league was no longer interested. Click to continue reading...

Valencia are in Norway for the first leg of their Europa League playoff match against Stabaek IF, but their shirt sponsor, Unibet, is not. From FourFourTwo:

"Despite intense negotiations over the last few days UEFA have taken this decision because of Norwegian restrictions .

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FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifiers
Mexico v USA Azteca Stadium, Mexico City
The real revelation of world soccer this year has to be the USA, who shocked everyone by downing the world's top-ranked nation Spain 2-0 at the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, before leading Brazil by the same score in the final, eventually losing 3-2. Click to continue reading...

By TRAVIS CLARK

With the MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring Jan. 31, 2010, big changes could emerge in MLS. There's a lot of possibilities as to what 2010 could hold for MLS, and recent reports indicate the players union is after a drastic overhaul.

Reports are swirling about the proposal tabled by the MLS players union last month in their meetings with league officials.

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By TRAVIS CLARK

With the MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring Jan. 31, 2010, big changes could emerge in MLS. There's a lot of possibilities as to what 2010 could hold for MLS, and recent reports indicate the players union is after a drastic overhaul.

Reports are swirling about the proposal tabled by the MLS players union last month in their meetings with league officials.

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One of the front runners in line to buy Newcastle United have today withdrawn their interest. The Profitable Group, represented by Steve McMahon, were alleged by some to just be drawing up publicity and any serious involvement by them was met with skepticism by supporters.

However, there are some reports that they could not prove that they had the funds to meet the asking price.

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One of the front runners in line to buy Newcastle United have today withdrawn their interest. The Profitable Group, represented by Steve McMahon, were alleged by some to just be drawing up publicity and any serious involvement by them was met with skepticism by supporters.

However, there are some reports that they could not prove that they had the funds to meet the asking price.

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One of the front runners in line to buy Newcastle United have today withdrawn their interest. The Profitable Group, represented by Steve McMahon, were alleged by some to just be drawing up publicity and any serious involvement by them was met with skepticism by supporters.

However, there are some reports that they could not prove that they had the funds to meet the asking price.

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Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish has paid tribute to Steven Gerrard in a statement read out during his court case.
Gerrard is currently facing charges of causing affray, and he has received strong support from Dalglish.
The former Scottish international's statement was read out in court, and The Mirror quote it as saying, "I have known Steven Gerrard since he came to Liverpool FC as a 14 year old. Click to continue reading...

For all of those who worry that the new Rowdies are missing the boat with merchandise, publicity, stadium plans, well...just about everything, here is proof that they will be at least joining the right league.
Looks like Miami FC is finally getting around to coming out with their new 2009 shirt, in umm . Click to continue reading...

Brisbane RFC have appointed a Marketing and Commercial Manager - Steve Guise.
Guise seems to be exactly the type of person we have been waiting for:
'With a double degree in marketing and sports management, Guise spent 10 years working for Canterbury International in Australia and New Zealand, before starting his own events management business last year. Click to continue reading...

I need to generate publicity for the Supporters Club meeting next Monday night so we can at least get a few people along and discuss what we are going to do. Click to continue reading...

via mistake by the lake

News
Real Madrid to play Toronto FC at BMO Field in August.
Bigger News
A grass field to be placed over the turf for this game (and possibly more games beyond?).
Season ticket holder news
There is speculation that the Real Madrid game will not be the game in your season ticket package.

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Is Tony Adams a grandstanding poseur? He had been talking up his replacement for Gordon Strachan at Celtics when the club came out and flatly denied ever approaching him for the job.

Adams has been in the wilderness since being fired at Portsmouth. These confabulations get him some publicity.

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It's becoming a familiar score this season but last night no points were at stake as Tampines Rovers took on North Queensland Fury in a friendly at Jalan Besar. Pre match all the hype was about the apperance of Robbie Fowler and for that reason alone wtickets prices maxxed out at 25 SGD. About the same as an Albirex Niigata scarf then! Click to continue reading...

A few important house notes before this long holiday weekend (Memorial Day in the United States, and a Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom):

• The latest episode of the highly-recommended Soccerlens Podcast, hosted by Stephen Darwin, features an interview with yours truly about the final weekend of the Premier League, my predictions on how are going to get relegated, what team will give Man United a run for the money next season, what position Liverpool needs to fill to have a strong chance of winning the league next year, and much more.

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It's nice to see "H-TWO-O" roped in the likes of Noh Alam Shah, Lionel Lewis, Ridhuan Muhamud, Hariss Harun etc. to promote this brand of istonic drink (as depicted in those promotional posters below spotted at City Hall MRT station).
Ridhuan Mahamud showing his skill
Noh Alam Shah (foreground), Lionel Lewis (in biking gear and cycling) and Hariss Harun
At least, we get a chance to see local footballers gaining some much-needed publicity other than during those "prominent" matches (i. Click to continue reading...

The ongoing saga of Ebbsfleet United and My Football Club has long been a favourite chosen subject of this site. Their first round of renewals came around earlier this year, and the results were not encouraging for them. In spite of very vocal protestations to the contrary (not least in the comments section on here), the final number of 10,000 subscribers couldn't really be disguised as anything less than a bit of a disaster.

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DJ uses myths and lies to blame Liverpool fans for Hillsborough I gave serious thought as to whether giving the misguided views of Steven Cohen (pictured above, left) more publicity was something I wanted to, but our friends at EPL Talk asked very nicely and I am hopeful you will see his comments for what they [. Click to continue reading...

Browsing through the online sports pages (well, what else are we to do to kill time at work??), we spotted this article over at OurSportsCentral that we thought deserved a bit more publicity related to this Sunday's game against Colorado.

Dynamo to pay tribute to fallen Houston firefighters

Once again the Dynamo leads the way in community relations around the city, way ahead of the more established sports franchises in both thought and delivery.

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Sunil Gulati, President of US Soccer

I was contacted Thursday morning by a PR firm working as an agent for US Soccer. They ran across my story about TCF Stadium being one of the 70 stadiums that could be part of a 2018 or 2022 World Cup should the United States win the bid for either of those tournaments.

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According to US Soccer, although I read it first on Kenn's site.
Oh, sure, it hasn't "officially" been announced, but I think we can all agree that's a formality. Put a fresh coat of pink paint in the visitors' locker rooms - the World Cup is coming to Iowa City!
The only real question is whether Kinnick hosts the Final, or whether they're willing to settle for the opening game. Click to continue reading...

Martin but definitely not Su during Essex FM gig
Four people got up extra early this morning. Armed with placards, they descended on Glebe House in Chelmsford with venom in their throats. Bring back Martin and Su they demanded.
Just four. Click to continue reading...

A few months ago we mentioned that the UK's Football Association had banned leagues from keeping scores or standings for 7 and 8 year old players. This wasn't a surprise and US Soccer recommends this as well, though many leagues continue to do so. But now it seems to have gotten a bit extreme. A proud [. Click to continue reading...