The fourteenth round of the Torneo Apertura ended on Monday. Relegation strugglers Racing claiming a hard-fought win over the champions of South America, Estudiantes de La Plata, thanks to a goal from a former Estudiantes player. Estudiantes' city rivals Gimnasia tore Huracán to shreds, running out 4-1 winners in a match which saw two superb [. Click to continue reading...

After the 35th round of Brasileirao, one thing is clear: the champion will be red and black. The only thing that remains unclear is if it will also carry the white of Sao Paulo, or it will have just the two colors of Flamengo.

The two sides took advantage of Palmeiras' tie against Sport and look ready for the title.

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Phil Gartside's plan to revolutionise the Premier League (any personal gain from which to him or his club Bolton Wanderers would, of course, be entirely coincidental) has failed, for now. The issue of relegation from Premier League Two can be stored away for another day (in December 2010, to be precise), and Bolton Wanderers can get on with the small matter of avoiding the relegation that Gartside is so scared of.

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This week the Premier League rejected a proposal by the Bolton chairman to include Celtic and Rangers in a two-tiered Premier League with the Guardian saying that 14 clubs voted against it.
There are two ideas here that want to handle separately. First is the Celtic and Rangers problem. Clearly, they have outgrown the SPL and its financial limitation, chiefly television rights fees. Click to continue reading...

Big Story
The headline story in this piece on the Premier League's consideration of Bolton chairman Phil Gartside's proposals for restructuring the league focuses on the nix put on the idea of Rangers and Celtic joining the Premier League, with that immediately ruled out now and forever.

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The tragic death of German goalkeeper Robert Enke has given us all some much-needed perspective. As much as top professional players are glorified, they are still people like you and me.

Enke threw himself infront of a train on Tuesday night, after suffering from depression since 2002.

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! Article Start >Chris Hughton has been speaking about Andy Carroll, relegation, and the chances this has given to Newcastle United's younger and more inexperienced players in the wake of the great exodus of 2009. Hughton concentrated mostly on Gateshead hitman, Carroll. The 20 year old is now one of the more 'experienced' of the [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool hosted Birmingham City on Monday, November 9, 2009 in the English Premier League. The Reds needed a victory after they've been struggling while Birmingham is in a fight against relegation. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Liverpool draws with Birmingham City 2-2 Video Highlights

Liverpool had a strong start but was inconsistent on Monday against Birmingham.

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Ryan Guy's goal against Shamrock Rovers proved to be the lifeline that St. Patrick's Athletic needed to avoid relegation, while Chris Konopka featured for Sporting Fingal in a defeat to Athlone Town. Click to continue reading...

It was the Friday before the start of the Premier League season and I was on a plane home. The two gentlemen next to me starting talking and the conversation soon moved to football. One of them was lamenting Southampton's relegation into League One, he then said to his friend, "So it's four years without a trophy now then?

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One of the players playing extremely well at the moment is Genoa fantasista Raffaele Palladino. Palladino has always been a player that could do things with the ball that others could only dream of doing, but he never had the consistency to show that talent at a high level.

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Twice a year, Phil Gartside lays bare his most inner fears. Bolton Wanderers may some day be relegated from the Premier League, and Phil doesn't like the idea of that. He is scared that they will relegated and that they won't be prepared for life back in the Footbal League. He's right to be.

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Phil Brown has been talking a storm about Jozy's "Twittergate" this week, including gems like this:

Asked if Altidore had put the twit in Twitter, an unimpressed Brown replied: "I'd have put an 'a' in it."

Now that is the kind of comment Maradona would be proud of!

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Pompey mount revival. Following a miserable season start of 7 losses, conceding 13 goals and netting just 3 in the process, the South Coast club, rooted in last place, were everyone's early season pick for relegation. But how quickly things change in football. In the last 4 matches, Portsmouth have scored 10 goals, conceded just 2 and amassed 7 crucial points on the way to Premiership survival.

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More than a decade before "The Full Monty", the decline of the city of Sheffield and the effect of the collapse of the city's steel industry was already well documented. This week's Video Of The Week goes back to 1984. "Steel City Blues" traces the decline of the city and ties it together with Sheffield Wednesday's attempts to get back into the First Division for the first time since 1970.

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After a disappointing start to the season that sees them sitting above the League One relegation places on goal difference, Brighton & Hove Albion have parted company with their manager, Russell Slade. This in itself isn't much of a surprise, but it does provide us with a reasonable case study on the psychology of football supporters and the pressure under which clubs find themselves.

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The Daily Mail reports that Hull have been blessed with debts of £27m and a wage bill of £40m.
This ranks them among the highest payers in the Barclays Premier League and leaves them facing financial meltdown if the season ends in relegation.
"In a report compiled by their accountants at Deloitte, Hull have been warned that their uncertain financial position threatens the club's ‘ability to continue as a going concern' and have been told they will need to generate a £23m surplus just to meet their existing liabilities should Brown's team go down. Click to continue reading...

Wellington Júnior

While Botafogo's professional side continue to run the risk of relegation to Série B this year, the Rio outfit's junior teams continue to produce potential stars.

A number of Botafogo's youngsters are attracting interest from European teams and may bring in some much-needed revenue for the cash-strapped club.

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Steve Bruce has already shown what he is capable of after immediately transforming Sunderland from the eternal strugglers to the league's surprise package. The Black Cats have ensured that the Stadium of Light remains a fortress this season as they have not lost at home since their opening home fixture against league leaders Chelsea.

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When somewhat forgotten Ian Holloway took Blackpool over this summer, few people believed that this charismatic motivator will do anything more than traditional and boring survival fight. The team from English popular summer resort on Lancashire coast have been in financial problems for a long time now and in the last few seasons they struggled to make the team for the Championship.

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Is it such a shock that Southend United are facing the prospect of administration?
On the face of it, most definitely. But delve a little deeper and perhaps the answer will change.
For the first time in a long time, the Blues appeared to be moving in the right direction. Buoyed by a committed management team, the Shrimpers enjoyed their most successful period between 2003 and 2008, with meagre resources. Click to continue reading...

I've written that Garber keeps his ideological cards close to his chest, but in fining DCU Prez Kevin Payne $5000 today for calling a spade a spade—that the onfield product in MLS is not good enough and won't draw in more fans until it is—means that the guy isn't hearing what needs to be heard.
This is really not good, especially in light of the fact Payne didn't even mention bringing better players with more money, everyone's favourite MLS bugbear. Click to continue reading...

‘Mr. Nice Guy', ‘Pinocchio', ‘a lovely man but a terrible manager' these are all the ways former Middlesbrough boss, Gareth Southgate was described. "The Rookie" on Boro bench got sacked even though he was only one point behind the leading teams. In spite of the 2:0 win over Derby, president Steve Gibson made the decision that must be respected.

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Our friends at The Spoiler expertly dissect the latest creation of mad idiotic genius, and one time Dogging enthusiast, that is Stan 'The Very Crazy' Man

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These two relegation battlers both needed a win but ended up playing out a predictable draw.

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There was always a fair bit of discomfort every time that Michael Owen returned to Liverpool in the past. Those calls asking what he was doing in Istanbul we're initially funny but eventually the feeling was that they gave way to some serious spite in his direction. Some clearly enjoyed his injuries and the way that his career spiralled downwards hitting the low point of relegation with Newcastle last term. Click to continue reading...

That week was a tough week as I only got 6 out of 10, which keep me around 66% for the season. If you think you can do better than I can then go to http://scorefive.com/index.php/Register.html and register as a player (its free). After you login, it will ask you for the password to join a league.

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That week was a tough week as I only got 6 out of 10, which keep me around 66% for the season. If you think you can do better than I can then go to http://scorefive.com/index.php/Register.html and register as a player (its free). After you login, it will ask you for the password to join a league.

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It seems Palmeiras is doing everything possible to lose a championship that seemed in the pocket. Last night, for the 31st round of Brasileiro, the side headed by Muricy Ramalho was defeated 2-0 by Santo Andre, candidate to relegation. Nunes scored the two goals that handed Palmeiras its third defeat in a row.

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After 27 years supporting Middlesbrough Football Club, I could be forgiven for thinking I had seen it all. Cup finals, relegations, promotions. Liquidation, Europe. Memorable victories and crushing defeats. I thought nothing about the club would ever truly surprise me again. Tuesday night, I was proven wrong.

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Why now?

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Middlesbrough have announced that manager Gareth Southgate has been 'relieved of his duties'.

Boro have endured an in-different start to the Championship season following relegation from the Premier League last term.

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by abrinsky

Welcome to Ask the Oppo! Perry Groves' Lovechild is being held by the Tottenham Revolution Army so today Eldo71 talks to Stan Ferris from Dudley, West Midlands, ahead of this afternoon's match against Birmingham City.Â

Eldo71: At last, Brum have some real dosh after the Carson Yeung takeover.

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I remember reading in the FourFourTwo season preview that around half of fans wish for the season was that their club would be taken over by a foreign billionaire.

There are plenty of examples where clubs have improved greatly under new investment, whether from abroad or overseas.

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As the international week goes on, its time for me to look ahead to this weekends fixture at home to Birmingham. One which I would usually refer to as "run of the mill" where by it doesn't really excite me when I get up on Saturday morning to head off to the game.Â

I'm sure most people can relate that once you've been going "Up the Arse" for a period of time, not every game is that exciting anymore and these sorts of games help fill the gaps between the big matches.

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There will never be promotion and relegation in Major League Soccer. At least not in the traditional, European sense. The franchise fees are too high to risk what would be perceived by American audiences as a demotion to a minor league. No, there will never be promotion and relegation in the MLS in the traditional sense.

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