The hysteria surrounding the England job is quite simply laughable, mainly because in my view, whoever you put in charge of the national team, the current set up and set of players does not stand a prayer of even getting close to winning a tournament in the near future.
Anyway, rather unsurprisingly, following the jury's decision to find Redknapp guilty of tax evasion, combined with the sudden resignation of Don Fabio, the Droopy looking one has found himself firmly at the front of the queue for the England job perhaps sooner than expected.

What a game in store for us this afternoon. As was said earlier this week a barometer game. A resurgent Sunderland looking to continue their very surprising run against an Arsenal team confident as a result of last week's big win.

And yet, in my opinion both appear to be skating on thin ice.

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott has dedicated his team's recent 7-1 mauling of Blackburn Rovers to their under-pressure manager Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners dominated the relegation-threatened side last weekend, which was the first time that they collected all three points this year. The lopsided victory means that Arsenal are now just three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who threw away a three-goal advantage against Manchester United on Sunday.

Poka, Pav
It has been one hell of a busy fortnight in the world of Tottenham Hotspur – and not a whisper of any of it from The Boys From White Hart Lane. For shame.
So, in a desperate attempt to catch up - and stay relevant – TBFWHL is taking a look back at 14 days in which Spurs stumbled into the fifth round of the FA Cup, re-entered the title race after a brief remission and brought in a couple of battle-hardened veterans at the expense of a cult hero.

Editor's Note: This piece filed last week by Eric Giardini. The editors at TSG idiotically missed it floating in inbox ether...

Pirlo, the LL Cool J of Serie A...Reader's choice: "Don't Call It Comeback" or "Doing it and doing it and doing it...well."

If there is any weekend to pick-up your Serie A match watching, this is the one.

Let's get the obvious out of the way up front, shall we? There is not currently, nor has there ever been, a full, traditional system of on-field-merit-based promotion and relegation in any American pro soccer endeavor that I'm aware of[1].

With that said, the essence of promotion and relegation, the ability to move between levels of a nebulous pyramid, does exist, and has for more than a decade[2].

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that lukewarm nature of the recently concluded winter transfer window is a clear sign that European clubs are now unable to match their previously sky-high spending levels.

The veteran Gunners boss compared the business conducted in January 2012 to the spending frenzy that took place same time last year, when more than £100 million were splashed by Chelsea and Liverpool on the purchase of just a handful of players.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that lukewarm nature of the recently concluded winter transfer window is a clear sign that European clubs are now unable to match their previously sky-high spending levels.

The veteran Gunners boss compared the business conducted in January 2012 to the spending frenzy that took place same time last year, when more than £100 million were splashed by Chelsea and Liverpool on the purchase of just a handful of players.

Signing of the season?

So one of the most exciting days of the season is over, and Jim White's excitable gossip-hungry clone can go back into suspended animation until next year. Yet spending is down nearly 70% versus last year's January deadline, where Torres and Carroll dominated the headlines.

So says Duncan Castles on Twitter.

In which case:

• why have Fulham sold an important player to a rival?
• why is there no obvious replacement in place, even though we are not safe from relegation?
• why did we only receive £4-6m for a player who is in or around the England squad?

German forward Lukas Podolski, who has been linked consistently with Arsenal in recent weeks, has chosen to focus on his future in the Bundesliga rather than talking up a move to the English top flight.

The 26-year old Podolski appeared on Arsenal's radar in this month's transfer window after disagreements with FC Cologne's management late last year.

The tripartite nature of footballing rivalry in the north-east of England means that this afternoons FA Cup Fourth Round match between Sunderland and Middlesbrough has a hint of being a local derby about it without fully appearing to be the real thing.

Still, supporters of both of these clubs have cause to give a wry smile this afternoon.

Tim Ream, whom Bolton acquired from the New York Red Bulls this week, is a quality defender and very nice young man who should help the team in its struggle against relegation. Bolton fans should just be advised against expecting too much, too soon. I watched Ream closely the last two seasons at..

Two pieces of excellent news for the lovers of integrity in football.
I spent yesterday afternoon with two very senior officials from HM Revenue & Customs.
This was a most fruitful discourse.
Aside from matters relating to the current spheres of reality, off the record we touched on two other matters, Rangers FC and the trial of Honest Harry Redknapp.

Queens Park Rangers apparently can't afford Alex. Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, certainly can. I guess that solves that then, in my skewed mind at least.

A reunion?

The protracted transfer of Alex away from Chelsea drags on.

News today arrives in two parts.

Granada have hired former Atletico Madrid coach Abel Resino to replace the sacked Fabriciano Gonzalez and try to save the La Liga strugglers from making an immediate return to the second division.

"Granada CF announces the hiring of Abel Resino as the red and whites' new coach until next June 30," the club said in a statement on their website.

There are all kinds of chaos almost every day ,on Turkish TV's and Turkish News Papers, about Turkish football match-fixing scandal while Turkish Super League is going on.....
Jam packed fixture in the Turkish Super League, is very disturbing too...
There are games almost every day, in the league.

Championship side Leeds United have accepted a bid from Norwich City for their club captain Jonny Howson.
The midfielder, who is out of contract in the summer, is a product of the Leeds academy and has made 225 for the club. The Leeds skipper is currently on the sidelines through injury, but it is thought he will open contract talks with the Canaries this week.

Goals:
M Davies 4'
Reo-Coker 29'
Bellamy 36'
Steinsson 50'
So is this what FSG feared when appointing Dalglish? A manager that should be, hopefully, exempt from criticism, but there has been so much to criticize in tactics, personnel, and transfer dealings lately.

By Gareth McKnight

As Blackburn Rovers languish towards the bottom of the Premier League, manager Steve Kean continues to be backed by the club's Indian owners: The Venkys Group. Despite the current trend in the game of sacking underperforming managers prematurely, fan protests outside Ewood Park and the total inexperience of Scottish coach Steve Kean at this level, Kean still remains on the Lancashire side's bench.

My dear beloved Forest, what on earth has happened to us? We used to have such great times and were so happy together and now we just seem to be drifting apart. Your flowing moves used to excite me to the point of distraction, and the climax to those moves was often unbelievable. Your passion and commitment used to warm me on a cold Saturday afternoon when we spent time together, but now your caresses have become cold and uncaring.

My dear beloved Forest, what on earth has happened to us? We used to have such great times and were so happy together and now we just seem to be drifting apart. Your flowing moves used to excite me to the point of distraction, and the climax to those moves was often unbelievable. Your passion and commitment used to warm me on a cold Saturday afternoon when we spent time together, but now your caresses have become cold and uncaring.

Rescue teams have said they are abandoning their search for survivors of the passenger ship Nottingham Forest which sank off the coast of Leicester last night [...]

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Chasing the Big Leagues Greuther Fuerth (Bundesliga II) is a post from: Just Football

Tales from Tier Two is a new series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe's major leagues at the halfway point of 2011/12.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland Premier League 14th January 2012

Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien returned to first team duty for Chelsea against Sunderland on Saturday, making a welcome substitute appearance after missing the first half of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.

Lazio welcome Atalanta to the Eternal City hoping that last week's humiliation at Siena was a freak performance. Down to 10-men after the sending-off of first choice ‘keeper Albano Bizzarri's , the Biancocelesti were thrashed 4-0 by the relegation-threatened Robur. It was nothing less than they deserved.

West Bromwich Albion have been struggling near to the wrong end of the table and know the next few weeks could define whether they are safe in mid-table or battling Premier League relegation in the closing stages of the season.
Roy Hodgson's men are three places above the dreaded bottom three but do have the safety of a six-point cushion between them in 15th and Bolton in 18th.

To those of you who missed it there was a really good program on BBC 1 last night based on depression in sport. The show was presented by and based mainly upon Freddie Flintoff and his own battle against depression whilst very much in the spotlight playing cricket for England.

Flintoff said how there was a lot of pressure on him to be the leader of the cricket team and to motivate others and lead them to victory but there were times when he felt so low that he wasn't able to do this, yet felt unable to admit to his issues in front of his team-mates.

It's a puzzling time at Forest, that's for sure. In fact, the only certain thing about the club at the moment is that nothing much is known for certain. So many questions remain unanswerable: Was the performance at Ipswich an improvement for the goals we scored or a step back due to the shambolic way we defended?

So Hibs decide to say farewell to Victor Palsson, the young Icelandic player they signed from Liverpool this time last year.
Contract terminated with immediate effect.
Or contract bought out in a mutually agreeable way to free up some wages for what is, at this stage in the transfer window, a rather slow-burning rebuilding job at Easter Road.

by Adam Bate

Jordan Rhodes has certainly got the Premier League's attention. As many as eight top flight clubs were represented at Huddersfield Town's game against Wycombe Wanderers last week. And they are likely to have been impressed – the striker bagged five goals in a remarkable display.

Well that did take long. About 48 hours after firing Neil Warnock, QPR have hired Mark Hughes as their new manager.

Hughes told QPR.co.uk:

"It's a great feeling to be back in football and to be the manager of QPR. I'm fully aware of the challenge in the short and long term and I am genuinely excited about the ambition of the owners.

Well that did take long. About 48 hours after firing Neil Warnock, QPR have hired Mark Hughes as their new manager.

Hughes told QPR.co.uk:

"It's a great feeling to be back in football and to be the manager of QPR. I'm fully aware of the challenge in the short and long term and I am genuinely excited about the ambition of the owners.

Looks like George John is getting the best of both worlds.

The FC Dallas center back will soon be playing at Upton Park as part of West Ham. But it won't be as part of a full transfer as previously believed. Not just yet, at any rate.

I don't have many details, but it looks like the first step here is a loan to West Ham through the end of February.

Mark Hughes is the big favourite in the football betting to take over at Queens Park Rangers after Neil Warnock was sacked on Sunday.
Warnock was relieved of his duties after a run of eight Premier League games without a win. He leaves with QPR sat 17th in the table.
QPR chairman Tony Fernandes said: "Sadly, our recent run of poor form has seen us slip alarmingly down the table and the board felt it was the right time to make a change.

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-Compilation of Photos from MK Dons vs QPR
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("Photo" by haqpr1963)
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HAPPY NEW YEAR, BUT NOT SO HAPPY TURKISH FOOTBALL
First,over the years, people who has follow me here,I would like to wish all of you Happy New Year and thank you, for following my blog...
The year 2011, was UGLY for Turkish Football!
The scandals,allegations,TFF's backtracks and uncertainty in Turkish Football, carried over to 2012!

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway always has nice things to say about Liverpool, but as his latest comments show, he clearly holds some deep-rooted resentment towards the club over the transfer of Charlie Adam.Writing in his column for The Mirror, Holloway suggested that the negative impact of the transfer speculation over Charlie Adam actually contributed to his side's relegation last season:"