Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton has been speaking in the aftermath of yesterday evening's friendly victory against Hartlepool Town. In the interview, Hughton reiterated that he wasn't "desperate" to bring players in just for the sake of it, but that he would assess any opportunities that come up. Click to continue reading...

So what's going on? Well hey guess what this evening Kieran Gibbs has picked up the now mandatory injury playing in the England U21 qualifier away to Lithuania. We await further news, but who thought, when we lined up for the season with three left-footed left-backs, that where left-backs were concerned, we were a touch over-subscribed?

Click to continue reading...

Danny Simpson left Manchester United under a bit of a cloud after mistakes in his personal life saw Sir Alex Ferguson ship him out to Blackburn Rovers. The move was supposed to be as a favour to Paul Ince but Danny struggled to get in the team and the move became a bit of a waste of time.

Simpson is enjoying himself a lot more at Newcastle though and reckons he would sign for them if he was asked in January or at the end of the season.

Click to continue reading...

On the surface Van Persie's� latest setback is a major blow to our team. Dare I� say it, it could prove to be even more significant than Cesc's injury last year which ruled him out for 4 months.

We've played without either Arshavin or Cesc in games this season. Yet it is only the Carling Cup where Van Persie� hasn't featured.

Click to continue reading...

I wrote the following before I got the news that "Van Persie has torn his anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament, and his anterior talofibular ligament has unfortunately snapped- hes out for the rest of the season." No club confirmation yet, so let's hope this is just some little journalist jumping the gun. Click to continue reading...

Just for the sake of it, see below a pic of the most famous phone booth in Scotland, used in the best movie ever made by a Scottish director that is in fact the best movie of all time!

The plans, drawn up by Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, are intended to bridge the financial gap between the Premier League elite and the rest of the game, but they are thought to have little chance of being accepted by a majority of club chairmen.

Click to continue reading...

The morning after a team gets knocked out of the playoffs there's always a good deal of finger pointing, blame seeking and what-iffing.
As dutiful, diligent, longtime fans of the Beautiful Game, we all know perfectly well that blaming a loss on any one play or one call is simply unfair.
What about this or that pass or this or that shot or this or that run that someone did or didn't make? Click to continue reading...

Tom Anselmi defended his decision to extend Mo Johnston's contract by saying, and I quote: "Our expectation was to not make the playoffs the first three years. We didn't think we would."
Bra. Vo.
Not expecting Toronto FC to qualify for the playoffs? In a league where half the teams move on to the post season? Click to continue reading...

Be honest, you didn't give the early Copa del Rey round a second thought. Why bother? The juggernauts and quasi-big teams alike would dispatch of the small teams early and the likes of 'underdog' would be bestowed upon Real Betis, or some other amply funded disappointment. For god's sake even Aletico Madrid won their [. Click to continue reading...

I'm not overly keen on criticising our own players but sometimes it's hard to avoid it. I got a lot of stick for criticising Cristiano Ronaldo last season but it's rare that I would really lay in to one of our own players.

I'm afraid I have to get something off my chest today though.

Rio fucked up massively a few years ago and I was more than happy to voice my dislike of him.

Click to continue reading...

Foreign fans rejoice! The 2009 leg of the Bucks for Becks World Tour™ is on. Having already run through Australia, Asia and Canada in off-seasons past, the Galaxy are spending this Thanksgiving in Europe...kind of like that rich kid you went to school with who always rocked Lacoste and had cool parents who would let him have wine at dinner. Click to continue reading...

Ali Al Faraj has made headlines all over the world the last few weeks with his purchase of Premier League club Portsmouth.� Ironically, the head of the Saudi Arabia league, Dr. Hafez Al Medlej, claims that until just as� recently as the public eye� he never knew who� Al Faraj even was:

I hope Al Faraj has success, but we never heard of this guy.

Click to continue reading...

Tomorrow marks the 114th meeting between Liverpool and Chelsea since 2005, with both clubs looking to take advantage of the two points dropped by United earlier today.

For efficiency's sake, I point you to every other source on earth that has previewed tomorrow's match.

Guardian
Telegraph
Sky Sports
Liverpoolfc.

Click to continue reading...

As a goalkeeper for Arsenal, Bob Wilson captured the heart of many Gooners. He gave 11 years service as a player before another 28 years as a goalkeeping coach. The word 'legend' is thrown around a lot these days, but it is a title Wilson richly deserves. But it doesn't stop there...

Wilson is a family man through and through.

Click to continue reading...

I'm beginning to think - and I'm not the only one - that the two-horse race hardly matters if every week we can see Ronaldo doing this and then Messi doing the other over at Barcelona. And then there's Kaká, for heaven's sake. Click to continue reading...

Roberto DiMatteo is wrong for defending Thomas in much the same way Mark Hughes was wrong. This kind of blind defending of the players on the part of managers does neither the players and managers nor the game itself any good. Following the match, DiMatteo spoke with the BBC and said:

[.

Click to continue reading...

• Adidas and Puma, founded by two feuding brothers, buried a 61-year-old grudge by playing a soccer match this week [NY Times]

• Some relevant Carling Cup injury news from Tuesday's matches. Stoke's Ricardo Fuller injured his groin, while Burnley's heroic goalkeeper Brian Jensen also went off due to injury [Sky] and [Sky]

• England's one cap wonders.

Click to continue reading...

It's not often I'm happy to see Man United win, and while a draw yesterday in the Man City derby would have been a better result for Arsenal, the fact that Man U won 4-3 meant I was £150 richer for the sake of a £1 bet and Mark Hughes now knows how it feels when the officials fuck up and it costs you the game.

Click to continue reading...

while, in other news, the pigs from Orwell's Animal farm flew around the earth.

Carlos Tevez seems rather confident that he will get a good reception at Old Trafford (assuming he shakes off his injury and makes it). "I expect to have a good reception. While at United, I always gave my best and I had good relations with the fans," he said.

Click to continue reading...

It took a Paul Scholes header to get us past Besiktas the other day, in what was otherwise, a mind-numbingly stodgy match. Passes went astray, Rooney left isolated frustrated, even wingers failing to provide a cutting edge consistently; all in all, a classic away European performance from the runners-up.

Click to continue reading...

San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Darren Huckerby has told an English newspaper he is "99% sure" that he has played his last competitive game, likely forced into an early retirement because of a hip injury that required surgery last week.
Bursting onto the American scene last July, Huckerby went on to total six goals and four assists in 14 appearances, earning 2008 MLS Newcomer of the Year honors along the way. Click to continue reading...

A few sources have stated that the TOA (Team Owners Association) is meeting with MLS this week and both groups are trying to make some deal that might create every promotion/relegation lovers wet dream... MLS2. I must point out that no one has come forward and confirmed this news yet. I bring it to you only for the sake of argument and will leave the breaking story (if in fact this meeting took place) to the actual journalists. Click to continue reading...

Just a few bits and pieces tonight. I've gotten a couple thoughts on some club's playoff chances along with some info on Blanco's future in the Windy City and some thoughts on an interesting interview with Peter Wilt.

First up the playoff talk. Most of you know I mention Sportsclubstats.com when I talk about playoff chances for each club.

Click to continue reading...

-
- For additional up-to-the-minute news about QPR, mixed in with "retro" lookbacks at QPR; along with some items of general football interest: Visit the combination blog and messageboard, QPR Report Messageboard. A site without the messsageboard ad-hominems, all perspectives genuinely welcomed! Click to continue reading...

Adebayor casually walks away after stomping RvP's face.

When I saw that cunt score the third goal yesterday, I felt physically ill. His entire performance yesterday was so classless it should remind us all why he doesn't belong at Arsenal. He kicked off the week with an interview where he insulted us Arsenal supporters and American and Jamaican supporters in general.

Click to continue reading...

London is one of the greatest cities in the world but the level of homelessness you see out on the streets is really sad. This poor woman has to wear clogs and sport socks for goodness' sake.

Oh, no wait. This isn't a down-and-out lady dealing valiantly with destitution, poverty and strife: it's Nicola McLean* on an "off day", waiting to catch a taxi after getting her hair done at Inanch salon in London.

Click to continue reading...

London is one of the greatest cities in the world but the level of homelessness you see out on the streets is really sad. This poor woman has to wear clogs and sport socks for goodness' sake.

Oh, no wait. This isn't a down-and-out lady dealing valiantly with destitution, poverty and strife: it's Nicola McLean* on an "off day", waiting to catch a taxi after getting her hair done at Inanch salon in London.

Click to continue reading...

If you saw Cornell Glen's miss and Rico's wonder strike, you saw the game. In fact, I'm jealous of you if that's all you saw.
Nevertheless, yesterday was as good a day to be an American as it was a lousy day to be Argentine or Northern Irish.* Bottom-lining it, the very worst case scenario is needing a draw at home to Costa Rica to go directly to South Africa. Click to continue reading...

1. England. Damn.

2. Argentina. Damn.

3. In light of the wild reversals of fortune seemingly or I would actually think obviously brought about at their respective teams by Capello and Maradona it's a mystery to me how someone like Simon Kuper could argue with a straight face that a manager is a figure of little real importance who could be replaced by a Polish Lowland Sheepdog with no ill effects, since even Steve McClaren seemed to bring with him a whole parcel of ill effects, and regardless of your opinion of Steve McClaren he is presumably a few notches higher on the grand scale of being than even a very well-trained Polish Lowland Sheepdog, although for the sake of argument we have to consider the possibility that England would have been exactly where they are now under Steve McClaren, that all the team were waiting on was some mysterious gelling process and an improvement in Aaron Lennon's crossing, the end result of which would have seen them playing those little plinky through balls to devastating effect regardless of who was on the sideline, whether Steve McClaren or a Polish Lowland Sheepdog, or even Alan Shearer, but to me the whole point is that under Steve McClaren they never actually tried those little plinky through balls, but then what do I know, never having sat in on a single pitch meeting about how Freakonomics could be applied to soccer.

Click to continue reading...

Tamas Kadar will need to put his international career on hold for the sake of Newcastle United, and he doesn't mind that one little bit. Tamas Kadar - wants to help Newcastle to promotion The 6′ 2″ defender was set to be called up by Hungary for the prestigious Under-20 World Cup in Egypt in late September, [. Click to continue reading...

Say there's a violin prodigy. He's 10 years old, and he plays Mozart the way other kids play Halo. He gets accepted to the music school near his house, where he's immediately the best student. He works hard, and in a few years, the schools offers him a spot in its conservatory, which is a feeder for the local symphony.

Click to continue reading...

If it seems like the biggest change Schellas Hyndman has made since taking the reigns of our fair club last June was the ever-revolving door installed on the locker room, you're absolutely right. Here is a quick look at the current members of the team so you can keep up at home, divided according to whether or not they came here under Schellas or not. Click to continue reading...

If it seems like the biggest change Schellas Hyndman has made since taking the reigns of our fair club last June was the ever-revolving door installed on the locker room, you're absolutely right. Here is a quick look at the current members of the team so you can keep up at home, divided according to whether or not they came here under Schellas or not. Click to continue reading...

Today, as we all know, is the final day of the summer transfer window as this closes at 5pm. Many clubs are a hive of activity as final reinforcements are added to squads, however Liverpool are not expected to be doing much on this day, if anything at all.
Most of the Premier League title rivals are all expected to be fairly quiet today as most of the business that they would've wanted to do has been done already. Click to continue reading...

It's here. 2 weeks without any Arsenal. Normally I'd say this is a good chance for our players to get healthy, but so many of our players (even players who are injured, like Cesc and Rosicky) are playing for their national teams that we'll probably be more banged up in 2 weeks than are at the moment.

Click to continue reading...