John Nyen ahead of the curve again on EPL and Anfield analysis

Was the real "Brit" missing here?

When Liverpool dipped their toe into the transfer market in the past window, there was a distinctly British feel to the occasion. Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Craig Bellamy and Stuart Downing all joined the club bringing to the forefront the idea that Kenny was going home-grown.

While we usually prefer 'ballers in the buff (or as close to that as possible), brooding editorials like these also bring joy to our bad boy-loving selves.

In a new interview with FHM España, Pique describes his personal style as "modern and elegant," and says he typically opts for jeans and t-shirts during the day, but switches to a button down (and sometimes a tie) in the evenings.

Why vile reaction to Rooney Rule proposal shows there IS prejudice in our national game

As well as the support for the Rooney Rule, many people have made eloquent and persuasive arguments against it, arguments that I respect. But I have to admit, I have been taken aback by the level of vitriol and prejudice that has flooded into my Twitter account about a proposal which merely seeks to give candidates from ethnic minorities a chance to put their case for a job in football management.

By Gareth McKnight, Australia

With the much publicised transfers of Phil Jones and Jordan Henderson being completed by Manchester United and Liverpool respectively in the last week for a combined total of £36.5 million, most Premier League managers will be looking to the continent and beyond for their summer signings.

With a rapidity uncharacteristic of the French state, the FFF racism scandal has already run it's predictable course: from outrage to self-exoneration. Yesterday, the French minister of sport Chantal Jouanno announced that no laws had been broken and therefore no specific legal or administrative action needed to take place.

French national team coach Laurent Blanc has been cleared by France's Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno of discrimination claims.
Jouanno said no anti-discrimination laws were broken when Blanc and soccer federation colleagues discussed whether quotas should be introduced to curb training academy access for young French players with dual nationality, many of them black and Arab.

French sports minister Chantal Jouanno today said: "Laurent Blanc was present for the first time at this type of meeting. He wasn't organiser or pilot. He discovered the debate about quotas.

"He offered no opinions, unlike other participants at the meeting who were prepared for this debate.

By Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Montreal

It seems as though a lot has changed in French Football since the Domenechian World Cup debacle. Laurent Blanc's inspiring ideology has brought the best out of players who want to play football and are eager to represent their country.

The last few days have offered some new and crucial details in the story of racism at the French Football Federation. The initial reaction by those implicated, including Laurent Blanc, was to deny that they had said what Mediapart accused them of saying. But they rapidly backtracked, perhaps because they had realized that in fact the blog had access to a tape-recording of the entire meeting, from late 2010, in which the idea of the need for "quotas" aimed at limiting certain kinds of youth players was discussed.

Should youths with dual-nationalties go to the back of the queue for academy places? The race row has raised tricky questions for France's authorities.
Since taking over as manager of Les Bleus last August Blanc has advocated concentrating on cultivating technique and intelligence rather than power and speed.

France manager Laurent Blanc has denied any knowledge of a controversial alleged proposal by the French Football Federation (FFF) to limit the number of black and arab players by introducing discriminatory quotas.

Reports that French football chiefs, including Blanc, had discussed and approved the introduction of a ceiling on non-whites emerged Thursday via Mediapart.

This afternoon the French blog Mediapart published a stunning report, based on several weeks of investigation, that argues that racist ideas have become normalized, indeed banalized, at the highest levels of the French Football Federation. You can read an English version of the report here. And I have published a piece in reaction the article at Mediapart, which echoes and extends some of the reflections here.