Dave Kitson would be up there with Michael Gilkes and Shaka Hislop as one of my all time favourite players. I first took note of the Ginger Ninja in a 2-2 draw between Cambridge United and Reading at the Abbey Stadium back in 2002. The former shelf stacker was everywhere that day and it was with huge excitement that I greeted his arrival at Madejski Stadium a year later. Click to continue reading...

It seems that the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, Carlo Cudicini, has been involved in a serious crash this morning after hitting a car whilst riding his BMW motorbike. It's been confirmed that Cudicini has fractured both wrists and sustained serious pelvic injuries according to a statement by London's Metropolitan Police.

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So far the Premiership old boys are showing their class, occupying the top 3 places. After paying out £2 million compensation to Keegan Newcastle failed to score for the first time this season against Bristol City. Fans can only hope that any takeover, made more likely by the compensation pay out, causes minimum disruption.

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Three games in and it's time to take a look at what's happening in Serie A, by most pundits reckoning the third strongest league in Europe behind the Premier League and la Liga.

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Last year you could argue that with West Brom, Stoke and Hull were the favorites to go down, however Newcastle and Middlesbrough filled their places.Were they too good to go down? Maybe, but there are 10 good teams above these two, who made a hash of it even more.

10. Reading, 2007/08

They say the second season is the most tricky for a newly promoted club.

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This World Cup Stars post features possibly the greatest player of all time, Diego Maradona. To help you understand a little better there is a vocabulary list containing the words in bold at the foot of this post

TRANSCRIPT

Pele may have won more World Cup titles, Ronaldo may have scored more goals, Lothar Matthäus played more games but no one has dominated the World Cup as much as Diego Maradona.

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Reading manager Brendan Rodgers is delighted that Celtic and Ireland defender Darren O'Dea has joined on loan until January.
The 22-year-old has signed a new three-year deal with Celtic but has been sent out on loan to get first-team experience.
O'Dea turned down a number of clubs to join the Royals, who have shipped seven goals in just five Championship games. Click to continue reading...

Barnsley manager Simon Davey has left the club by mutual consent - thereby becoming the first managerial casualty of the English Championship season. A string of poor and abject performances by the Tykes has seen the pressure mount on Davey - and there were angry scenes as fans protested outside Oakwell stadium following the club's defeat to fellow Championship strugglers Reading on Saturday. Click to continue reading...

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | World Cup Stars

Listen to this week's show here Transcript

Each era has its heroes and stars. Today's football world is dominated by players like David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, who are role models to many young players, but I wonder how long their influence will last.

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On this week's show we start a feature which takes a look at some of the great World Cup players through the ages. Of course next year is the 2010 World Cup, so we hope you'll enjoy our look at some of the best players to grace any football field. To start we look at Pelé.

• Read our football news review in the good, the bad and the ugly
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• Follow the weekly predictions battle in the Predictions competition
• Listen only to the main report here - complete with transcript
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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Monday was another light day on the transfer news and rumors front, but we still do have some top clubs looking to make reinforcements before time runs out.

Defense is still the order of the day, as a few Premier League clubs are in the market for additions at the back, while a couple of top European clubs are looking to add some quality on the flanks.

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Well you can't keep an average striker down. Love him or hate him, he's entirely unpredicatable and yesterday Shola Ameobi managed to give us a brief period of respite with a convincing hat-trick which sent Reading packing. From his first slightly fortunate headed goal to his perfectly-timed three goal tribute to Sir Bobby, it truly was [. Click to continue reading...

Shola Ameobi lands a hat-trick and gives Newcastle a 3-0 victory over Reading today. Click to continue reading...

Many a football fan around the world is in full-on rejoicing (or relief, for some) mode, with the focus shifting back towards club action on the pitch.

However, there are still more than two weeks to go in the summer transfer window, so there's still plenty of business yet to be concluded in the market.

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It's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel

• Top 10 teenagers in the Premier League. Arsene Wenger salivates [In the Stands]

• Chelsea in talks with Bayern Munich for Ribery [Goal]

• Hungarian scores in Norwegian Cup, but won't win fair play award [Off the Post]

• Hull agree fee for Reading's Stephen Hunt [BBC]

• Steven Gerrard has a groin problem, again [Sky]

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We're less than a week away from the start of the new Premier League season, and though many clubs have solidified their squads for the most part, there are still a lot of moves to come in the next three weeks before the summer transfer window closes.

The two Merseyside clubs looking to be eying up a couple of talented midfielders from abroad, while Hull City are picking up some real steam in the transfer market after hitting brick wall after brick wall for much of the summer.

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Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Teaching Ideas

Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson died last weekend. In this post we take a look back at one of the most respected English managers in the game. Vocabulary in bold is explained at the end of the post to help you with comprehension.

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The second tier of English football, The Championship, kicks off this week and in this post we take a look at which teams we think will be involved in the promotion race or the relegation battle.

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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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After watching the Reading v Chelsea friendly yesterday which ended in a 2-2 draw, my attention turned the The Emirates Cup tournament being held at The Emirates Stadium.
I missed the first game between Rangers and PSG which Rangers won 1-0, but I saw the last hour or so of Arsenal v Atletico Madrid. Click to continue reading...

The preseason for the European clubs is winding down as most leagues are set to begin in the next few weeks. Here are video highlights for several of Saturday's friendlies including Chelsea v Reading, Burnsley v Manchester City, Celtic v Sunderland, and Derby County v Stoke City.

Celtic (1) – Sunderland (2) – Friendly – Saturday August 1, 2009

Derby County (2) – Stoke City (2) – Friendly – Saturday August 1, 2009

Barnsley (1) – Manchester City (1) – Friendly – Saturday August 1, 2009

Chelsea (2) – Reading (2) – Friendly – Saturday August 1, 2009

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Sorry for the lack of posts this week; it has been an extremely hectic last five or so days. Anyway.

Chelsea netted twice in the final five minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw with Reading at the Madjeski on Saturday afternoon. Kalou bagged the first I know, shocking with an own goal, set up by the towering Alex, providing the late-game theatrics in added time.

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I know they are not as bad as Newcastle United yellow look, but Readings neon green road kit might rank right up there. The Royals unveiled them today when they played Chelski in a friendly. Neon green letter on a white shirt and neon green shorts, just screams classy. Click to continue reading...

Reading Football Club is an association football club, based in the English town of Reading, in Berkshire. They will start the 2009/10 season in the The Championship after losing to Burnley in the semi-finals of the 2008/2009 Championship play-offs. Earlier today, the Royals launched their Puma 2009/10 away kit. Click to continue reading...

It's safe to say that Darren Bent is leaving Tottenham, but for who? It looked like Sunderland was a go for Bent, but until all of the i's have been dotted and all of the t's crossed, nothing is definite.

Along with late bids for Bent, this morning's roundup is packed chock full of Portsmouth tidbits, and we've also got the latest on Chelsea's pursuit of AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo, Hull's pursuit of new striker(s), and much more.

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Brendan Rodgers has praised hot-shot striker Shane Long after he scored all four of Reading's goals in their second match in Sweden.
The 22-year-old Ireland international scored twice either side of half-time against Tolo IF on Saturday, staking his claim to spearhead the Royals attack in Rodgers' preferred 4-3-3 formation. Click to continue reading...

languagecaster's produces one podcast every week during the European football season. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here. In this post we focus on how students of English can improve their English listening skills from with these podcast.

Main Elements of the Podcast

• First - a review (Listen to the podcast and read in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly posts)
• Second - a main piece of about 5 minutes (You need to download the worksheet with answers and transcript so you can practice while you listen.

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It seems that America is fallng out of love with David Beckham. Read the article on the former England captain's current troubles at his club LA Galaxy. Vocabulary in bold is explained at the end of the post to help you with comprehension.

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The biggest transfer-related news of the day might actually be something that's not related to an actual transfer.

With Arsenal star Samir Nasri being ruled out for an extended period of time due to a broken leg suffered in training today, we could see Arsenal become a lot more active in the market in the coming weeks before the season gets underway.

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Reading Football Club is an association football club, based in the English town of Reading, in Berkshire. They will start the 2009/10 season in the The Championship after losing to Burnley in the semi-finals of the 2008/2009 Championship play-offs. Earlier today, the Royals launched their Puma 2009/10 home strip, goalkeeper kit and training wear lines. Click to continue reading...

Talk about being handed a career lifeline. Instead of getting one last go in the Premier League with Everton, Aston Villa, or Hull City, former Liverpool star Michael Owen is reportedly getting the golden opportunity of golden opportunities to get his last hurrah at the top.

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Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Teaching Ideas

The summer transfer window is upon us which, of course, means that clubs are allowed to buy and sell players for a fixed period of time. In this teaching ideas post we take a look at the language of football transfers.

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The Republic of Ireland international striker Kevin Doyle arrives at Molineux for an undisclosed fee. Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed the signing of Kevin Doyle from Championship club Reading as they prepare for life in the Premier League. A statement on the club's official website reads, "Wolves have today swooped to complete the signing of much sought-after striker [. Click to continue reading...

The Republic of Ireland international striker Kevin Doyle arrives at Molineux for an undisclosed fee. Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed the signing of Kevin Doyle from Championship club Reading as they prepare for life in the Premier League. A statement on the club's official website reads, "Wolves have today swooped to complete the signing of much sought-after striker [. Click to continue reading...

Monday came and went without all that much big news (certainly not what was expected to filter through the presses during the day), but there is still plenty to report on from the day, including a couple of new signings to add to the confirmed summer transfer lists today (updates will be complete by the afternoon) and a few more that will be added in the next couple of days.

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