Hoyte-y toity The undoubted highlight of Sunderland's extra-time FA Cup victory over local rivals Middlesbrough last night was this bizarre slide tackle on Boro defender Justin Hoyte from a pitch invader. A couple of morons ran onto the pitch. One of them lost his footing behind Hoyte and ended up sliding through the back of [.

Feliz Futbolitinos! We kick off this weekend's edition with Santos' studs Ganso and Neymar who were the centerpiece of the selecao's latest national team kit unveiling yesterday. You all know that Pele signed up to be on this but they couldn't find the right goalkeeping outfit which said "O perfeito" (The Perfect One) for him.

By Chris Wright

In which, shortly before scoring the winning penalty in Man City's at-the-buzzer victory over Tottenham yesterday afternoon, Mario Balotelli for reasons unknown quite obviously rakes his studs down Scott Parker's Tibetan Fox face...

Not our Mario's finest moment.

I don't think they come lower than Pepe. Even animals have a sense of fair play. This man if you can call him that should be banned from the sport for life. Leo Messi goes down after colliding with Callejon and while he's down, Pepe strolls casually over and deliberately plants his studs on Messi's hand.

By the standards used to judge recent red-carded tackles like Vincent Kompany's against Manchester United and Jay Spearing's against Fulham, on Wednesday night Glen Johnson at the very least put himself in a position where seeing red was a very real possibility. Maybe even the most likely possibility.

By Chris Wright

"You got once chance, mon frere!"

It was a bit of a strange, suffocating old game but, thanks principally to Kenny Dalglish switching to a flat-back nine for the majority of the second-half, Liverpool came away from the Etihad with the slimmest of advantages (City's first back-to-back home defeat since February 2008) to take back to Anfield for the second leg.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is confident Yohan Cabaye will not face retrospective punishment from the Football Association for his horror tackle against Liverpool.
The Frenchman avoided any action from referee Lee Probert in the 3-1 defeat at Anfield on Friday night despite leaving Jay Spearing in a heap with a studs-up challenge.

All it took was an embarrassing Champions League loss to Basel, and fantasy managers have been awarded with the ultimate (early) Christmas present the return to form of the 'automatic' fantasy footie studs Nani and Wayne Rooney. We ... Continue reading →

Thank heavens for Wojciech Szczesny.

Well, that was pleasant, wasn't it? A team full of reserves and youngsters faced off against a determined, full-strength Olympiakos side determined to get the win, in any way possible. With a ravenous home crowd egging them on, this game turned out to be a bit of an ugly affair, with studs flying at different times and resulting in some nasty tackles and unsightly scenes.

By Chris Wright

After entering the game tied with Brian McBride on 36 goals, Clint Dempsey became the highest-scoring American player in Premier League history when, in the 85th-minute, he pounced on Pepe Reina's fumble to tap home the winner for Fulham at Craven Cottage.

By Chris Wright

After entering the game tied with Brian McBride on 36 goals, Clint Dempsey became the highest-scoring American player in Premier League history when, in the 85th-minute, he pounced on Pepe Reina's fumble to tap home the winner for Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Hi everyone,
If you have seen this weekend's games, you must have noticed that the referees did make some questionable decisions.
I am going to start off with the Newcastle - Chelsea game which ended with Chelsea winning 0-3. The controversial decision there came in the beginning when Daviz Luiz pulled down Demba Ba when he was going clear on goal.

Turkey's U-17(16)'s started the match in very shaky grounds and sat in their half of the field whole first half of the match and than after with ten men they played a lot more better in the second half but lost the match in the last minutes of the match!
In 2010 ,Turkey beat USA, 2-1 and won the Nike International Friendlies Tournament.

Is 'King' Kenny Dalglish building one of the most unpleasant teams in Premier League history? You'd better 'king believe it.

His team's performance against Manchester City on Sunday was nothing short of scandalous. We've all known for a while that Martin Skrtel, their caveman-esque centre back, is a thug.

The National has the latest on Paul Pogba's contract situation.

United Rant talks about youth ahead of Wednesday night's game.

The Daily Mail talks about Beckham writing off City's chances.

The FCF remembers our 6-2 win over Arsenal in the League Cup.

Dirty Tackle has pictures of Real Madrid's top banner.

In the wake of the Galaxy's MLS Cup triumph Sunday, the first 2,011 season ticket holders to have their picture taken with the trophy at Home Depot Center also received a 1'x1' piece of the field the Galaxy won their third MLS championship on, including care instructions. (Thanks to loyal reader Studs for the picture).

United Rant previews tonight's game against Benfica.

Surreal Football shows a graph of feelings between United fans and Wayne Rooney.

MUFC Info has stats ahead of our game against Benfica.

The Express talks about Danny Welbeck's new contract.

The Daily Mail has pictures of Phil Jones' new Aston Martin.

There are a few infractions which earn automatic, walk-off-the-pitch-before-the-referee-even-reaches-for-his-pocket red cards. Pretty high up that list is the studs-on-face move. Somehow, Riku Riski of the Finland's u21 squad seems baffled by this decision, despite his 'tackle' making Nigel de Jong seems the posterchild for innocent stud placement.

In Week 9 of the 2011 fantasy football season, we definitely saw our share of studs. If any of the below fantasy players were on your team, you are likely celebrating a Week 9 victory. Here's our look at the top fantasy football studs at each position:

QB Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Philip Rivers threw three interceptions and the Chargers lost.

OK so there was a lot of action in the first 30 minutes or so. But by the 2nd half the game had flatlined. Everyone was exhausted including the referee.
Someone wrote of one of my blogs, probably in season 1, 'don't read this if your name is Ben Williams.' Now I can see a bit more of what Williams is trying to achieve as a ref.

Djourou will be up against a much leaner player today

On we go to the next game. It's the visit of Stoke, an opponent that will unite Arsenal fans. 2 years on but the animosity between both sets of fans still exist. I can't say for certain if the players are on the same thought process as we are and as professionals, I wouldn't expect them to be.

Crazy red card Talk about a studs-up challenge! Maccabi Tel Aviv player Yoav Ziv reinvented the term when his gave the linesman the boot during last night's Europa League clash at Stoke. But his foot wasn't even attached to the boot at the time. Ziv's left boot came off when he was trampled over by [.

The Telegraph writes in praise of David de Gea and so does The Guardian.

Football365 has the latest on the Evra vs Suarez race row.

Soccerlens reminds you of the ban the FA gave Evra for being racially abused.

Studs Up looks at why Rooney's ban should be reduced.

"RoM Reads" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

By Chris Wright

Making his second Pies appearance of the day, he we see Thiago Silva up-ending Neymar with a ninja leg sweep after the latter attempted to buffet the Milan centre-half for leaving his studs in during a knock-around earlier in the session...

So satisfying.

The adidas adiPower Predator - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

17 years ago, Adidas released the first model of its Predator range of boots. This year, the German manufacturer has released its 11th model, the adiPower Predator TRX FG, and if you're in the market for a new pair of football boots, look no further.

Why foreign dishes are a recipe for saving Britain's pubs and there must have been a misprint on Joorabchian's conference invite

So, European courts looked at the issue of pubs showing Premier League games beamed in from abroad and acted appropriately. Like visible studs in a tackle and a striker's advantage in an off-side situation, no one ­understands the ruling.

Why foreign dishes are a recipe for saving Britain's pubs and there must have been a misprint on Joorabchian's conference invite

So, European courts looked at the issue of pubs showing Premier League games beamed in from abroad and acted appropriately. Like visible studs in a tackle and a striker's advantage in an off-side situation, no one ­understands the ruling.

Why foreign dishes are a recipe for saving Britain's pubs and there must have been a misprint on Joorabchian's conference invite

So, European courts looked at the issue of pubs showing Premier League games beamed in from abroad and acted appropriately. Like visible studs in a tackle and a striker's advantage in an off-side situation, no one ­understands the ruling.

Why foreign dishes are a recipe for saving Britain's pubs and there must have been a misprint on Joorabchian's conference invite

So, European courts looked at the issue of pubs showing Premier League games beamed in from abroad and acted appropriately. Like visible studs in a tackle and a striker's advantage in an off-side situation, no one ­understands the ruling.

By Chris Wright

A shiny hapenny and a bag of liquorice is on offer to those who can successfully guess the identity of the recently-retired mole-eyed, ginger ankle-hacker who wants the record to state that, despite being the worst tackler in the history of organised sport, he could actually tackle all along and that he was actually just 'getting people back' by tearing off chunks of their thigh flesh with his studs on a semi-regular basis:

"Of course I can tackle.

Our recent performances have been more positive I think. We're still desperate for that elusive Premier League win but I'm feeling much happier than I was a few weeks back. Tomorrow's going to be a tough game to watch though. We'll all be on edge the longer we go without scoring and should we go behind, well I think it might get ugly.

Goals:
Carroll 71'
Suarez 82'
The referee will be the focal point, so we'll start with the controversy. Yes, Rodwell didn't deserve a red. Yes, Liverpool deserved their win regardless.
In fact, Liverpool should have taken an earlier lead, especially since Kuyt is usually automatic for the people from the spot, and the sending off actually helped Everton until the players inevitably tired.

Today's Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool has been jeopardised as a spectacle thanks to this ridiculous decision from referee Martin Atkinson. Toffees midfielder Jack Rodwell was sent-off midway through the first-half for this challenge on Luis Suarez. The England Under 21 international's studs are not particularly up and he wins the ball cleanly.

I had the opportunity to head to New York this past week to check out the all new Nike T90 Laser IV. Nike did a pretty awesome job, giving us a full presentation of the boots technology, followed by the opportunity to actually test out a pair on one of the oldest soccer pitches in New York (the Met Oval in Queens).

Here we go. Another weekend of Premier League football. We're here to give you all the tips from a fantasy footie perspective: studs, duds, top matchups, and everything in between. I. Bolton @ Arsenal: All eyes are on the Gunners ... Continue reading →

Surreal Football reckons this United squad is so good we no loner need Sir Alex.

Stretty News talks about Paul Pogba.

Oliver Holt writes for The Mirror about what the fan reaction to Torres' miss means.

Daniel Taylor writes for The Guardian to ponder Michael Owen's future.

Studs Up takes the piss out of Torres.

American midfielder Stuart Holden will make his official return from a broken leg on Tuesday, as he has been selected to start for Bolton in their Carling Cup clash against Aston Villa.

Holden has been sidelined for six months since suffering a broken leg on a studs-up challenge from Manchester United defender Johnny Evans.

Kenny Dalglish refused to criticize referee Mike Jones for sending off two of his players in Liverpool's heavy defeat to Tottenham.
Dalglish had met with referees' chief Mike Riley last week to discuss his grievances with a number of decisions in the 1-0 defeat at Stoke.
He argued with Jones at half-time yesterday while the official's decision to send off Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel helped swing the game in Tottenham's favour.

By Chris Wright

As you would expect, Sir Alex Ferguson has been quick to out Ashley Cole's shin-high tackle on Javier Hernandez as 'shocking', adding that the Mexican striker is now likely to miss the next fortnight with a 'numb leg' see what you make of it...

Remarkably, Cole actually was booked for fouling Hernandez in the area, though somehow escaped a penalty call with referee Phil Dowd stating that the ball had gone out of play a split-nano second before the Chelsea left-back planted his studs into his opponent's calf.

By Chris Wright

As you would expect, Sir Alex Ferguson has been quick to out Ashley Cole's shin-high tackle on Javier Hernandez as 'shocking', adding that the Mexican striker is now likely to miss the next fortnight with a 'numb leg' see what you make of it...

Remarkably, Cole actually was booked for fouling Hernandez in the area, though somehow escaped a penalty call with referee Phil Dowd stating that the ball had gone out of play a split-nano second before the Chelsea left-back planted his studs into his opponent's calf.