The man who will neutralize Cesc Fabregas today, Javier Mascherano
Butt's Brain
this week from around the footie world wide web:
- Exceptional goals of the year so far [A Football Report]
- Very interesting theory - is Shay Given NOT a good goalkeeper? [Football Corner]
- Valencia defender Miguel mocks his coach from the bench [Off the Post]
- Wigan have a new midfield star, and he's only 4.
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goalpost.tv 28 January @ 04:40 AM EDT
Wayne Rooney headed an injury time goal to put Manchester United in the finals of the Carling Cup
and settle scores with rivals City. The aggregate read 4-3 in favour of United after they lost to
City last week at Eastlands 2-1. But second half strikes from Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick sent
shivers down [.
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Off the Post 20 January @ 08:53 AM EDT
Everybody want to look like City boss Manchester City keeper Shay Given gives his own Donegal twist
to the Roberto Mancini scarf craze that is sweeping the blue half of Manchester.
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According to his column in the Mail on Sunday, Gary Lineker reckons Newcastle's very own Steve
Harper can be the next Steve Bull. Well not quite, but he does believe that Fabio Capello should
cast an eye to the Championship doldrums, if he's worried about his World Cup custodian as he faces
a dearth in [.
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EPL Talk 31 December @ 12:50 PM EDT
For me, there is only one English goalkeeper that can be England's number one for South Africa
next summer and that man is Paul Robinson. After being so badly treated at Tottenham under Juande
Ramos and unfairly blamed for giving away a soft goal for England against Croatia, Robinson has
finally got back to his best.
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EPL Talk 29 December @ 05:40 PM EDT
So what makes a great goal? I know it seems a easy question but honestly, what makes a goal
truly great? Is it the goal that keeps a side up or a lob from the half way line? The goal that
drags a side back in to a game when they're 2-0 or a last minute winner in injury time? Everyone
has a different variation on what they judge to be a great goal or what the ingredients are that
makes some goals stand out above all others.
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goalpost.tv 28 December @ 11:00 AM EDT
Roberto Mancini couldn't have asked for more when he signed to become the manager of Manchester
City. Manchester City's win on Saturday helped the manager make an impact on his very first outing.
Manchester city fans have already given him the title of the perfect replacement for Mark Hughes.
Manchester City's 2-0 win over Stoke City [.
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EPL Talk 20 December @ 08:04 AM EDT
So it's official now, Manchester City's owners have shown there true colours with yesterdays
sacking of Mark Hughes and replacing him with Roberto Mancini. Rumours had been circling Hughes
since Saturday morning, with several British papers stating that the game against Sunderland was to
be his last.
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goalpost.tv 07 December @ 05:43 PM EDT
Manchester City took the game to Chelsea, increased the pace, steadied the momentum and won the
match to win every City heart at the City of Manchester Stadium in Eastland's. City did answer back
at every critic and showed the world that they can raise their game against the best opponents and
came up with [.
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With the game level at 2-2, Spurs won a penalty vs Everton in stoppage time. And so it was
Jermain Defoe of England taking the penalty vs Tim Howard of the USA. Defoe put it straight down
the middle and the American keeper saved with his feet. Not a great start to the England vs USA
buildup.
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Footy Factor 04 December @ 03:25 PM EDT
The balls have barely been pulled out of the glass bowls... but we're already delivering some
immediate reaction from today's star-studded draw in Cape Town for the 2010 World
Cup.  Sepp Blatter and football fans alike should be very pleased: there are goingÂ
to be some mouth-watering encounters at next summer's tournament – England v
USA, Brazil v Ivory Coast and Germany v Ghana to name
a few.
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Fisted Away 01 December @ 09:34 PM EDT
Following FIFA's refusal to grant Ireland an unprecedented 33rd spot at next year's World Cup
in South Africa, ITV have revealed that the FAI have now sensationally requested that Jedward be
reinstated into the occasional singing contest X Factor.
Simon Cowell appeared at a press conference yesterday to read out a prepared statement in
between bouts of laughing into his hand.
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Below is a list of teams with some quality players which will unfortunately miss the World Cup
next summer:
Ireland- The Irish team may not be the most talented to miss out on
qualification but certainly was unjustly eliminated by France. The Ireland squad is not as deep as
other but has talented players such as Aiden McGeady who plays as a winger and/or forward for
Celtic.
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EPL Talk 20 November @ 01:42 PM EDT
The appetite for commentary on the farce in Paris still seems strong, and I thought Arsene
Wenger had a very wise take on the entire situation today. Wenger is, obviously, a French
supporter and very close with Henry. In fairness to the Irish fans, the world football community,
and for the sake of Henry, he called for the game to be replayed.
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WorldCupBlog 19 November @ 08:10 AM EDT
Without getting into a great deal of opinion, or any at all for that matter there's surely
plenty of that floating about it would probably be prudent to look into the words on each side of
the divide from those who were there, at the game and directly impacted. (What with it being one of
the most controversial games in World Cup Qualifying history and all.
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Not yet, Trapa. Hope is alive and well. The Republic of Ireland and France will face each other
in the first leg of their competition for a place in South Africa in 2010 tomorrow at Croke Park in
Dublin. Being that it's my birthday and I'm Irish by heritage, I think it's only fitting that fate
allows [.
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The Republic of Ireland will take on France in the World Cup play-offs which commence next
weekend in what will be an intriguing clash between the shrewd Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni
and the much-maligned French national team coach Raymond Domenech.
Trapattoni's record speaks for itself with successful spells almost everywhere he coached yet
his most notable job prior to taking over Ireland ended in miserable failure with the Azzurri.
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Steve Harper has been a top player for Newcastle this season, and he's certainly taken the chance
offered to him, when Shay Given left Tyneside for Manchester City last January. Steve Harper - in
great form this season And of course the other motivating factor for Steve  is certain Ditch
youngster, Tim Krul, who will no doubt become [.
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Are we the only ones who now find it hard to watch somebody like Newcastle legend, Shay Given, when
he plays for Manchester City? Shay Given another world class display yesterday Every time we watch
the Premier League now we think of how things were. And to see Shay Given give a world class
display yesterday against [.
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goalpost.tv 19 October @ 09:38 AM EDT
Shay Given came to the rescue of a 10-man Manchester City and helped Mark Hughes' men to secure a
point against Wigan at the DW Stadium. Final minutes of the game saw Given made an excellent save,
as he didn't allow the home side to win the game, which they deserved from the Kick Off. Charles
N'Zogbia [.
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Speaking about the key presence that Given has become since his signing from Newcastle last
January:
"Shay's been more than I could have hoped for in terms of his presence on the
field.
"He's got a calming influence on the back four. That's made a marked difference to the way the guys
in front of him have been able to defend.
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Shay Given ,who left Newcastle last January, because he just couldn't stand the stupid antics of
owner Mike Ashley is pleased to see his former club of 11 years at the top of the Championship.
Shay Given - when at Newcastle Shay talked today about how pleased he is to see Newcastle doing so
well [.
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Off the Post 08 September @ 06:31 AM EDT
Which one of these people will be at Thomond Park, Limerick, tonight? Someone in the FAI marketing
team has been watching re-runs of Bullseye because *clears throat* this is what you could have
won... if you had bought tickets to a World Cup qualifier instead of a friendly. Republic of
Ireland fans who print off the FAI's [.
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Off the Post 24 August @ 03:01 AM EDT
1. Everton must be getting to the stage now where they would consider paying Joleon Lescott to
leave and get back to some sort of normality. 2. Another convincing Arsenal win seems to have
announced their return as a major title race contender. Roll on next week when we see how they cope
with the reigning [.
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European champions Barcelona ended their dominant pre-season with a frustrating 1-0 defeat at
the hands of a defiant Manchester City side in front of around 90,000 fans at Catalonia's huge Camp
Nou Stadium. While I will stay consistent with one of my previous articles by conceding that
pre-season results carry little materiality, tonight's game should go a long way in demonstrating
just how foolish it is to write off Mark Hughes' flamboyant, new-look Sky Blues.
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Off the Post 17 August @ 04:12 AM EDT
1. Arsene Wenger definitely saw that! 2. Some beautiful goals to ring in the new season. Take a bow
Hugo Rodallega, Denilson, Didier Drogba and Mark Noble. 3. Didier Drogba's last-gasp winner for
Chelsea against Hull put paid to any musings on whether Stephen Hunt likes kicking Chelsea when
they are down.
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EPL Talk 15 August @ 12:23 PM EDT
For as many times as Richard Dunne and Shay Given collided today, you might have guessed that
they had never played together before in their lives.
Dunne's defensive woes today nearly overshadowed the lightning-quick start to Manchester City's
season. In the third minute, Emmanuel Adebayor served up a through ball from the center circle that
released Shawn Wright-Phillips far down the right wing.
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goalpost.tv 13 August @ 03:30 AM EDT
.
Thomond Park hosted Ireland and the Socceroos last night in a
game that Ireland should have taken in their stride. Cahill got the Aussies in front after 38 mins.
Giovanni Trapattoni had obviously given a good pre match speech because Ireland
did give it all they had , but with so many premiership players on the pitch it was definitely a
night of "Could have done better".
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It's not often that another team in England, let alone in Manchester, hogs the headlines more
than Manchester United. But it's not often that a British team gets bought over by an Abu Dhabi
investment group, although football clubs are starting to replace private islands and super-yachts
as the new playthings for the filthy rich.
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EPL Talk 10 August @ 05:55 PM EDT
If I was an Arsenal fan, I'd be fed up already listening to people saying that Manchester City
were obviously going to usurp them as one of the "Big Four" sides. It's
amazing what spending money does to peoples judgement when it comes to football and Manchester City
have certainly caught more than their fair share of attention over the summer.
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Shay Given, our great ex-goalkeeper, has given a few statements on the current state of the club-a
club he still has affection for. Shay Given-Would still be at Newcastle if not for Ashley Shay
Given commented on current state of Newcastle United, "I know the players are determined to get
back [.
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Shay Given is yet another former great player at the Newcastle club, who has today urged Mike
Ashley sort out the complete mess he has made at Newcastle United. Shay Given sell the club and
then install Shearer as manager And the first thing he tells the People is that the very first
thing any new [.
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EPL Talk 20 May @ 02:38 PM EDT
When Mark Hughes agreed to replace Sven Goran Eriksson last summer, no doubt he knew things
would be interesting at Manchester City, it very rarely isn't in the sky blue half of Manchester,
but I doubt he'd have expected anything like the events that ultimately played out. What with the
takeover and the crazy final day of the summer transfer window, with City making 10 bids of over
£15 million for players, it was probably the maddest 24 hours the City faithful could remember in
years.
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Man United and Man City met at Old Trafford today in what was a clash of two in-form sides. It
was expected to be a fairly tight, hotly contested affair with little margin for error. It turned
out quite different, in a match in which Carlos Tevez made a huge statement towards Alex Ferguson
regarding his future at the club.
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