(AP Photo)

Galaxy 2 Houston 0

Game story.

It was a weird ending to a weird season that started with a franchise in shambles, a new coach, 16 new players, seemingly interminable and in some cases lucky draws and a very public spat between the team's two superstars.

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A couple of weeks ago, it was hard to know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic. Many commented that the general criticism of Arsenal post-West Ham was over-the-top.
But the problem was, that on the 29th of October 2008, at about 9.30, the season so far had provided enough to be pretty optimistic. Click to continue reading...

Are we a club in crisis? While I hate to disappoint the doom-mongers and mischievous press-men, it is a little too hasty to go down that route just yet.

Come the full-time whistle we ought to have a clearer idea of where we stand. Naturally, this being White Hart Lane, moderation is not welcome.

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This was a blatant dive. The clip above makes it look like a dive and it is the most forgiving angle. From the side one can clearly see Fletcher throwing himself down before any contact is made and the contact that is made is microscopic to say the least. The ref got it spot on and booked Fletcher for his gamesmanship. Click to continue reading...

Sport companies and clubs have, in living memory certainly, always gone hand in hand with advertising. Formula 1 has given much wide- spread criticised publicity to cigarette companies on the sides to their big red engines, cricket players are sponsored by airlines and football teams are sponsored by companies by all walks of life.

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Beleagured Benitez still has no solutions.Liverpool down to nine men were a shambles.Degen was sent off for a reckless lunge on Dempsey.Carragher brought down Zamora and also received a red card.Fulham ended the day with a 3 - 1 victory- the consolation goal for Liverpool coming from Torres.Next up is the crucial CL qualifier against Lyon and it's not looking good.

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Little to say after what promises to be one of the most surreal thirty minutes in recent memory.

Chronologically:

-Torres off, Ryan Babel on. Apparently uninjured. Maybe with the midweek Champions League fixture in mind...but after that first half stunner, tough pill to swallow.

-Goal Fulham.

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Ten insane events from the weekend. 1: England blast ref and security (BBC) England joined FIFA in 1905, and you'd think they would have got the hang of things by now. But in case this helps guys: everything FIFA does is a shambles, aimed to make a profit for those in power (well over £100m from this [. Click to continue reading...

I don't want to talk about 'it'.
Just too misery making.
What a shambles.
I didn't see the whole game but for once that feels like a consolation.
There is clearly some serious work to do with the England defence.
The key issue seems to be consistency. Click to continue reading...

Punters shouldn't have to pick up Setanta's tab... again As the fallout from the Setanta shambles continues, news agencies are this morning reporting that England's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine next Saturday will not be available live on any television channel. In a surprising turn of events, it will be available only online on a pay-per-view [. Click to continue reading...

Well its been quite the couple of weeks. Sorry about the lack of posting. The Offside did a update and it wasnt agreeing with my computer. But now all is well and you can expect to read my enlightened and grandious opinion once again from week to week.

So how was the week that past.

I guess that it started off sour and then turned out sweet.

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The ongoing saga between Kevin Keegan and Newcastle United reached a conclusion today with the 'winner' being Kevin Keegan. It was decided that the former Newcastle boss was constructively dismissed. In other words, the club owe Mr Keegan two million quid.

However, what's more revealing and possible a damning incitement at just how much of a shambles the club is, was revealed by Keegan's statement after the panel's verdict.

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- The QPR Report Messageboard: Visit - and even post on - the combination quasi-blog and messageboard for additional up-to-the-minute news about QPR, mixed with QPR nostalgia and items of general football interest.
- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!
- Excuse-Making at Cardiff
- Study Shows Manchester United DO seem to get extra time to win Games! Click to continue reading...

In what appears to be a fillip to divers everywhere, UEFA last night rescinded Eduardo's two match ban. The ban, retrospectilvey meted out for his theatrics against Celtic, was seen as an attempt to crack down on the cheats - this turn of events will only serve to encourage them... Or will it?

The strangest thing about this whole shambles is that UEFA say Arsenal have proved there was contact - how on earth have they done that?

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Let's get Saturday out of the way first with a bit of Q & A:

Was it a boring game? Yes

Was it a Penalty? No.

Was Rooney asking the ref for it? No. I had a good butchers at the replays and to me, Wayne's hands go up and he mouths something to Gerrard, not the ref (something along the lines of, "what kinda **** ball was that soft-lad!

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Just a year ago Harry Redknapp was still managing Portsmouth. Just a year ago Redknapp turned down a 12M pound offer from Monaco for his star playmaker Niko Kranjcar.
One year later, Portsmouth are in shambles, Harry is sharing the top of the table with Chelsea at Tottenham, and Niko has moved from Fratton Park to White Hart Lane for less than 3M pounds. Click to continue reading...

Old Foes

My attention on Saturday evening was drawn to the Coca-Cola Championship, or Division 2 as it was called up until BSkyB came along, and the clash between recently relegated West Bromwich Albion and Ipswich Town. Roberto Di Matteo and Roy Keane faced each other as players on numerous occasions during their careers, with one particular incident in the Charity Shield in 2000 leading to one of the 11 red cards Keane received during his Manchester United career.

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Three games and 12 goals should leave no room for complaint.
Yes, the opposition was weak at the weekend, but so what? I remember going to a string of games in January/February last season where we played fairly mediocre opposition and couldn't buy a goal.
Portsmouth might be a shambles, but we can only beat the teams put in front of us. Click to continue reading...

Let's get this annual shambles out of the way then.
ST's CUAS Predictions for the 2009/10 Premier League Season
1. Liverpool
I can't believe I've done this. Do I really think that Liverpool are going to finally win the title this year? Maybe I am. Before last year, it looked as though Rafa's priorites lay elsewhere, but they came desperately close last season and Fernando Torres proved what a wonderful player he is. Click to continue reading...

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

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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The new season of Mad About Futbol is on the air!!!
It's still preseason and much like the European sides, the guys still show signs of rust, but are still kicking the asses of many. The elite teams are in the US sharpening their tools and getting read for battle in the Old Continent. Argentina is in in shambles and we're trying to find a way as to how to get butts in seats at Miami FC. Click to continue reading...

Having dispense with l'affaire Terry, we're in danger of getting stuck in another rut, that of the shambles that is Tottenham Hotspur. But this was too good to ignore:

stop f****** around, Levy

That was part of a rant by Spurs striker Darren Bent using his Twitter account. Click to continue reading...

The CONCACAF Champions League is now, officially, the only important competition left for these cellar dwelling Red Bulls to play. In their way stands five time TnT Champions W Connection, who have overrun Joe Public as the premier squad out of the small Island Nation.

The Bulls will not be able to overlook their opponents, as most opponents have had the tendency to overlook them.

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It looks like Kolo Toure is transferring form Arsenal to Man City. He's a bit past his peak, but he's definitely been one of my favorite Arsenal players, and it's disappointing to see that he's proabably leaving.
I hope the other defenders play well enough to make it obvious that he's not missed, because Kolo has been great for several seasons - he was a key player when Arsenal went unbeaten a few years back. Click to continue reading...

The organisational shambles that is Newcastle United launched that terrible yellow away kit, this week, and just three people queued up on the launch day to buy it.
To get this straight, this is the city where it is practically impossible to walk around without seeing a Newcastle United shirt, and pretty much every fan has a replica shirt up there. Click to continue reading...

Perhaps you haven't seen this yet. Mexico is in shambles, and it's fantastic to see.

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Managing Director Derek Llambias was today scheduled for a flying visit to Newcastle from London. Derek Llambias - disastrous 12 month tenure at Newcastle for this man Derek has been Mike Ashley's right hand man in the shambles that has gone on at the club since the club were disastrously relegated just 5 weeks ago, and the [. Click to continue reading...

The Red Bulls are in shambles and calls for Juan Carlos Osorio's head are nothing new. But patience is wearing thin with the team's supporters, one of whom penned this letter to Red Bulls general manager Erik Stover, calling for the removal of both Osorio and Red Bulls technical director Jeff Agoos.
We reprinted it here with his permission. Click to continue reading...

Despite being also-rans for a large part of the season, one cannot help but thinking that the Premier League is beginning to open up for Chelsea for the 2009-10 season. While Guus Hiddink may now have left the club, the Blues will certainly fancy their chances under new man Carlo Ancelotti of regaining their title which has alluded them since the departure of Jose Mourinho.

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So the US dug themselves an early hole and then displayed some determination to eek out a win thanks to another Landon Donovan penalty kick (with that ridiculous routine of his, he is going to look like an idiot when he misses one) and a truly spectacular diving header from Carlos Bocanegra. Along the way, the US failed to dominate an inferior opponent. Click to continue reading...

This week has been nothing but rumor after rumor... and none of them were particularly happy for the Red Devils. "Reports" linking Vidic, Scholes, Slave, and Tevez away from Old Trafford were all over the place. Compounding the issue was/is the fact that there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of activity in the United front office as yet.

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West Ham's 'Sculpture Of Champions' on Barking Road.

When Gianfranco Zola got back on the team bus from Goodison Park yesterday he could be forgiven for thinking "Only one more week and we can get this club sorted out".

Gianfranco Zola is a legend of English football - particularly at West Ham's city rivals Chelsea.

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I have no axe to grind but only offer my thoughts on the game as i see it. Boy oh boy. Arsenal are in a shambles. On Tuesday they were humbled (and that is being diplomatic) by Man United and i really thought that they would try to make amends for ... Click to continue reading...

Arsenal 1 (Bendtner 70) Chelsea 4 (Alex 28, Anelka 39, Toure og 49, Malouda 86)
(Premiership)

Recriminations for this defeat are already being heard, far and wide, as so many seek to write off at least five players, and the manager himself. I'm not sure I've seen so many 'Wenger out' posts since I began this blog over two years ago.

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Chelsea vs Barcelona

What happened to the Holy Trinity & the Bullfighters at the Nou-Camp? I tell you what happened, they were out muscled by an excellent team performance by the Kings Road Bulls & Guus's tactical nous preventing them scoring for the first time this season.

It was terrible to watch, especially as I had a few goal scorer bets.

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