Devin is slammed and I'm sick (laryngitis). That being said, we're not sure a preview of Everton will be making an appearance prior to the match. Apologies. What we do have for you, however, are some excellent pieces on Chelsea's finances.

Someone asked us about the recent release of our financials for the year (June 2010-June 2011).

Compiled by Eric Beard

Let's go with a classic scenario. What if you spent the last 12 months fighting for your life on an island after a shipwreck? How would you acclimate back into society? Well, you would probably want to catch up on what you missed. If you're a fan of football and love reading about the game, then you would want to read the best pieces from 2011.

I reckon a run of the mill, ho-hum recap of this defeat our sixth of the term would represent the most extraneous of missions. What I really fancy at the moment is a mindless ramble on any number of things that caught my eye during this eyesore of a match.

One of those days

On with the musings:

• No need to hold any punches here.

China, Why Costa Rica? - Costa Rica have recently unveiled the state-of-the-art Estadio Nacional. But why was it funded exclusively by the Chinese government?

On Saturday, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid kick off at the Camp Nou and the Mestalla, respectively.

By Tony Attwood In case you don't know the blog, The Swiss Ramble is a King among blogs. Blogger of the year, praised by the media, written by a British guy who has lived overseas for many years, everyone loves it and admires the erudition and research to be found therein. So, first rule of [...]

Jamie Carragher has been talking.

What's cool is that someone actually understood him, enough to translate his mumbling into prose. Even cooler, he's managed to make himself look even more daft than usual.

Jamie was apparently in the midst of a rant toward the FA regarding home-grown managers.

How 'bout that Chelsea match, eh?

I don't have much time today as I'm at work (shhh ... don't tell anyone) but this article by the Swiss Ramble football blog regarding Valencia's finances and current economic state is 100% MUST READ material for Valencia fans worldwide.

I can't stress enough how good this blog post is.

Belatedly posting our guide to today's matches to watch. In fact, the first match is already in progress it's 1-1 at halftime in Eindhoven, where PSV is hosting Ajax:

Sunday, Sept 18

Netherlands, PSV-Ajax 6:30aET (ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com): We said it last year, and we'll say it again: if you're only going to watch one Eredivisie match all year, might as well be this one.

Since his much-heralded arrival this summer, plenty has been made of Andre Villas-Boas tactical genius. Is he, as many would argue, a tactical maestro? Or as others would argue, an impostor that's yet to face any true challenges in his fledgling career? To get to the root of this, and as part of the inevitable hype surrounding Sunday's United fixture, we take a closer look at the formations, substitutions, tactical adjustments, and philosophies of Mr.

The Telegraph compares Rooney with Pele after Sir Alex Ferguson's comments yesterday.

United Rant looks to Benfica.

Swiss Ramble looks at United the brand.

The Mirror reports on Giggs' claims that Scholes cannot be replaced.

MUFC Info has all the stats ahead of tonight's game against Benfica.

- Jason Davis
I'm struck today - after my maudlin ramble last night that was mostly down to putting fingers to keyboard at halftime and then changing course mid-stream - by the thing on which so many people are focused after the Americans managed to salvage a draw against Mexico last night in Philadelphia.

Udinese are the easiest hurdle for Arsenal in an incredibly tough August - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The season hasn't started yet, but Arsenal are already contemplating a tough month ahead with matches against Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Udinese to start their season with, plus trouble in the transfer market with Fabregas and Nasri pushing for moves away and a lack of incoming talent.

The all new Fulham Review!

The fifth book in the series. Featuring all the usual reports, essays and statistics.

A match report from every game. A look back at Jimmy Conway, Steve Earle and Les Barrett by Nick Johnson. Kieron "Swiss Ramble" O'Connor writes about Fulham's Finances.

Many of us had hopes that we were going to do some significant house cleaning this summer, with a number of players leaving, as well as many coming in. I think it's safe to say at this point, we're not headed for a very big turnover. The fact that we're likely to hang on to a lot of the so-called "dead weight" on the team has been driven home to me in a number of ways this week.

Roberto Martinez has been in the news quite a bit lately, and for all the right reasons, it seems. His Latics managed to avoid relegation, and he was courted heavily by Aston Villa. He said no, apparently out of loyalty:

"Over the last two years the chairman has been very supportive to me and loyal, and now I feel I need to be loyal and supportive back to him.

Seemed to have decided where he will sit during the twilight of his career

It's been a little more than a week since my last post. You have to excuse me. We are already in the post season. There's no Arsenal games to piqued the interest or the blogger in me. Yet, with the amount of news that has been going about, one would think that we are still the middle of the season.

Excellent article from Swiss Ramble about Udinese. This could be a blueprint for a lot of clubs.

Excellent article from Swiss Ramble about Udinese. This could be a blueprint for a lot of clubs.

It has been a while. I've been on a self-imposed blogging break, partly due to work pressures, partly to do with an inability to collect my thoughts into something coherent. If I had written anything, chances are it would have been something of a ramble, repeating many of the things I'd said before, with a few platitudes thrown in for good measure.

Very happy to welcome Mr. Kieron O'Connor the man behind The Swiss Ramble blog. Kieron joins us to discuss the bottom-line in Italian Serie A football finance. We start the show off by discussing his latest ramble on Fiorentina "The Most Profitable Club in Serie A" Given us a listen and leave comments for Adam and Kevin, and make sure to follow TheSwissRamble on twitter.

Written by Harry

Right everyone, stick with me, a bit of a ramble, Peaches collared me late last night.....

Yesterday, Arsene Wenger staunchly defended his team, his players, his beliefs, the season, something he certainly didn't do on Saturday after the lacklustre display against Blackburn.

I was around twelve the first time I saw a copy of When Saturday Comes. I still remember the front cover – it included a jubilant Stig Inge Bjornebye after Norway had beaten England – but what really impressed me were the articles that it featured. This was no Match or Shoot but something more grown up.

For a fair few months now, a Manchester United striker has flirted with the prospect of being brilliant again. A bicycle-kick here, a strike there, but he has yet to really grab the idea of returning to glory by its skirt, and devouring it in the same way he would do with any semi-respectable prostitute in the Manchester area (allegedly).

Is football over estimating the loyalty of fans? The Liverpool game at the end of the season has now been switched from a Saturday afternoon to a Monday night so it can be shown on television. This might not be such a bad thing, except that the game's long been sold out and many fans will have made their travel plans already.

The Swiss Ramble: Chelsea's Financial Fair Play ChallengeI'm sure Jeremy is rolling his eyes somewhere (or he will as soon as he clicks through and sees what I'm linking to). First, I feel obligated to let you know this is a really long post. That said, it is exceptionally well written and lays out not only specific information related to Chelsea's finances and their potential standing vs.

Bonus post! Further to this excellent article from The Swiss Ramble about Bristol City's financials, it seemed relevant to post the following, which details some of the issues encountered by Roy Hodgson and Bob Houghton at Bristol City in the early 80s. The following was initially published in the latest Fulham Review (continues after the jump).

'La Magicast' return with the fifth episode on everything AS Roma. In this episode of La Magicast Julian and Alex return in the show to discuss a number of topics relating to the club's financial state and the club's sale. Additional Topics: Swiss Ramble's post covering the club is discussed as well as a potential buy by di Benedetto.

By Jack McInroy

Loud and clear: A section of Tottenham fans show their opposition to the Stratford move

Initially it looked like a bluff to stop TfL and Haringey council holding the club to ransom and it might still be, but Tottenham Hotspur Football Club moving to east London is worryingly possible.

I'm just going to put this out there. There is a good chance that if you live in an MLS market the weather outside is frightful. Here in New York it's as if God spilled his clear, lemon-lime Slushie all over the city. It's disgusting and it makes you question why anyone lives anywhere in this country other than Southern California and South Beach.

Just Desserts #6 is a post from: Just Football

Here for your reading pleasure, another Just Desserts packed full of links to interesting articles we've spotted elsewhere:

1) First, a highly insightful article on the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and it's likely effect on Tunisian football, by one of the most prominent voices on the subject on Twitter, Rami.