Oh dear - Barca boys Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure have been diagnosed with H1N1, more commonly known as swine flu. The club's medical staff are doing everything they can by way of treatment as well as prevention for the other players; but other reports suggest that Rafael Marquez may have already caught it. Click to continue reading...

Thierry Henry has backed calls for a replay of the Ireland-Italy World Cup playoff he helped decide with his now infamous handball, even though FIFA has already rejected a request for a replay.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry.

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Thierry Henry has backed calls for a replay of the Ireland-Italy World Cup playoff he helped decide with his now infamous handball, even though FIFA has already rejected a request for a replay.

"Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry.

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Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

Ahead of Barcelona's match against Athletic Club Bilbao the team was handed another blow going into a very important week for the team. Eric Abidal was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus also known as "swine flu" on top of already being sidelined for up to three weeks with a leg injury.

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This week's Shit Shot Mungo sees the financial crisis at Heart of Clackmannanshire deepen still further, as the £30 fine imposed by the authorities for playing a match when their entire squad knowingly had swine flu proves to be the final nail in their coffin. The club is forced to put all of its players on part-time wages, but one man (who has been earning £190,000 per week for as long as anyone can remember) may be able to save the day.

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Turkish International player and Galatasaray team captain Arda Turan tested positive for HI NI virus. Galatasaray official site wrote "Our football player was examined, as he suffered snuffle, high temperature, common ailment, he was tested positive for H1N1 virus. He was informed about the state of his health. Click to continue reading...

This is not a hoax. Atletico Madrid coach Quique Sanchez Flores has Contracted the dreaded Swine Flu virus. According to his clubs website, the former Valencia Coach was feeling a little bit under the weather on Monday and subsequent tests that were carried out to check if he was suffering from the common cold came back negative.

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After the World Cup he says he's done.

"I cannot play when I am 50."

I thought he would. Though he's only 33, and I've been under the impression that he's been in his 40s for a while now.
Oh well, to the links:

• Scotland fires head coach. [FourFourTwo]
  
• Neville wants an elite pool of refs.

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The ball from the infamous Tottenham-Liverpool match earlier in the year was sold online.
400 pounds to charity. Good stuff.
Did you buy it?
To the links:

• Poor form in selecting your team Bob. [NSC]
  
• Maradona banned for two months. [Reuters]
  
• Happy birthday to a blog bud.

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Bayern Munich forward Miroslav Klose is being told to stay home.
His kids have swine flu, so the team is putting the 31 year old on quarantine.
Is that virus still around? Glad I missed it (knocks on wood).
To the links:

• Sir Alex gets two-game sideline ban.

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After last week's swine flu debacle, Heart of Clackmanannshire Football Club find themselves in court in this week's Shit Shot Mungo, accused of deliberately and maliciously spreading the virus through playing an infected team in a recent match. A draconian punishment awaits them, unless Mungo McCrackas or Sir Roddy Bulbs can save the day.

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Worrying news that has come from the weekend is the emergance of Swine Flu within the ranks of the Blackburn Squad and staff. Of course they were at the Bridge on Saturday and some of their players missed the 5-0 thrashing, but Sam Allardyce has warned Chelsea that a Swine Flue outbreak is inevitable at the Bridge! Click to continue reading...

Bless you At a time when swine flu threatens to cause havoc to the football world, OTP can only call Sven's actions deeply irresponsible. The Notts County director of football makes his entrance after 37secs if you want to avoid Geldof and co.

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FIFA vice president Jack Warner got a gift from the England World Cup bid people.
Needless to say, he had to give it back once people found out. Don't make your favoritism in awarding the next World Cup too obvious.
Fair and balanced, eh Jackie?
Now some links:

• Nigerian youth ages quickly.

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1. 'FAT burgers' -- via The Offside
2. 'Swine flu UCL viewers' -- via Dirty Tackle
3. 'Israeli WTF jersey' -- via Unprofessional Foul
4. 'Plymouth Argyle mascot' -- via Who Ate All the Pies?
5. 'Adoring Adriano poster' -- via Futbolita
6. 'Lost in Google translation' -- via The Spoiler
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Swine flu fever has overtaken Heart of Clackammanshire this week but new manager Gary Burns isn't going to let that get in the way of the club's best winning run in years, in this week's episode of "Shit Shot Mungo", which also lays bare the truth of Mungo McCrackas Lemsip addiction. This week's Mungo is brought to you by Ted "The Neck" Carter (who, if you were wondering how he got his nickname, fell through a roof and broke his neck a little over three years ago, in case you were wondering he's okay now, but he's not allowed to go on rollercoasters any more), and is available in a higher resolution here.

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Literally, Nope, not drink induced, although that's how it feels. I have an inner ear infection which basically means I can't move without falling over. Under Doctors orders I'm confined to bed to keep my head as still as possible which in itself is causing problems as my neck stiffens up and threatens to bring on a full blown migraine.

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Ahhhhhhhh some of the fans took off their club issued masks! Swine flu! SWINE FLU!!!!!!!

[Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images]

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Gerrard actually misses Xabi Alonso. Which is kinda cute.
Don't forget to re-acquaint yourself with this beauty.
But Liverpool still sucks.
Now some links:

• More Bulgarian craziness. [Unprofessional Foul]
  
• Police use water cannon at German riot. [SI]
  
• Carlo loves him some Didier Drogba.

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St. Etienne, of the Ligue 1, has reported that it has been faced with a second case of the H1N1 virus. With Brazilian striker, Ilan hospitalized on the 30th of last month, the club was forced to be quarantined. Now, the team is saying that yet another player has been diagnosed with the virus.

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When we beat the Mancs last week, everyone including his pet rock was jumping with joy I am certain. Everyone except those in the clueless bandwagon. Then, afterwe lost to Fulham, the dam burst further!

How do some fans miss the obvious I do not know. We have been overachieving with Rafa at the helm and yet these people scream murder and want Rafa to be sacked.

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All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

The derby match between St. Pauli and Hansa Rostock once again brings fire and violence and police involvement, this time inflamed by St. Pauli's Deniz Naki. [101gg]

Every fan attending the Dynamo Kiev v Inter Champions League match will be given masks to protect against the terrifying dangers of swine flu.

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With the swine flu doubt cleared up, Paris Saint Germain picked up their first win since the 30th August on Sunday, beating Sochaux 4-1.

After years of struggling the Paris side finally had a good season last year, finishing 6th and only missing out on a Champions League place due to their very poor form in the last league games, picking up only 4 points from a possible 15.

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So Jozy Altidore was dropped for showing up to a Hull City game late. Then he was fined for tweeting an apology for being late.
Not a good day for the youngster.
Maybe some links will cheer him up.

• Ryan Giggs wants to coach Wales. [UK Press]
  
• A mass brawl in the Bulgarian league.

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After today's bizarre defeat to Fulham which defies description, I have to take a look at the Liverpool's injury list to explain things away.
We were missing Danny Agger, Martin Skrtel, Alberto Aquilani and David Ngog to a virus, not the swine-flu, but a virus nonetheless.
We were also missing Captain Steven Gerrard to a groin injury, Glen Johnson to a calf injury and Fernando Torres wasn't fully fit. Click to continue reading...

Video goal highlights from the Manchester United vs Blackburn Rovers game on October 31, 2009. Kicks off at 17.30 UK time from Old Trafford, Manchester. United beat Barnsley in their midweek Carling Cup tie, while swine flu hit Blackburn were too strong for Peterborough, managed by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson's son Darren. Click to continue reading...

Miss Cleo asked for the week off after her dismal performance last week of only getting two games right on the calender. This week your favorite false prophet is busy with the holidays and all (what could be scarier then a thousand dollar phone bill) , so I'll try to help out in our prophets absence.

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After the effective, if not inspiring, performance of the second string in the Carling Cup earlier in the week, normal service resumes this weekend as United face Blackburn in the Premier League.

Rovers enjoyed a relatively safe passage into the quarter finals of that competition that none of the big guns tend to take very seriously the League Cup themselves on Tuesday night although Saturday should prove a much tougher hurdle for Sam Allardyce and his swine flu-hit charges to negotiate.

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With Liverpool preparing to play Fulham at Craven Cottage in a matter of hours, injury problems continue to plague the the Anfield club. Captain and perennial talisman Steven Gerrard will not play due to his nagging groin injury, while fullback Glen Johnson will miss action because of a thigh strain.

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The matches to watch after you realize that playing football while wearing a cape might be the most awesome thing ever.

Saturday

Arsenal v Tottenham at Emirates Stadium North London derby. While Spurs are a little depleted at the moment (Defoe, Lennon, dos Santos, and Modric all out), this is still the match of the weekend.

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There's an unstoppable groin-pocalypse going on at Lyon right now and no one is immune to its devastation. From Reuters:

Olympique Lyon have been hit by a series of groin injuries with keeper Hugo Lloris, defenders Jean-Alain Boumsong, Aly Cissokho, Mathieu Bodmer, Cleber Anderson, Cris, midfielders Cesar Delgado, Jeremy Toulalan, Kim Kallstrom and striker Lisandro Lopez all suffering from the same problem before their trip to arch-rivals St Etienne on Saturday.

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By Gareth Freeman

United's Carling Cup win over Barnsley was encouraging in the fact the ‘squad' players came in and gave a decent account of themselves. Michael Owen's goal was vintage Owen, he showed neat skills and a cool composure to send the ball into the net but, with all due respect to Barnsley, he should have registered a goal against the opposition.

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After beating Barnsley 2-0 on Tuesday, Man United carries on with they're Premier League duty against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. Blackburn has been one of the main football clubs who have been suffering with Swine Flu (obviously not the club themselves but the players). Click to continue reading...

Chelsea faces a tricky away trip to the Reebok Stadium to take on Bolton on Saturday. The two sides just clashed this midweek in the Carling Cup with Chelsea running out 4-0 winners. Carlo Ancelotti has been delighted with his side's start to the season, but Bolton has long been a bogey team in the Premier League for the Pensioners.

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11am, live in the US on Setanta
Last 4 head-to-head:
1-0 Liverpool (a) 04.04.09
0-0 (h) 11.22.08
2-0 Liverpool (a) 04.19.08
2-0 Liverpool (h) 11.10.07
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-2 Arsenal (a); 2-0 United (h); 1-2 Lyon (h)
Fulham: 2-2 City (a); 1-1 Roma (h); 2-0 Hull (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Torres 9; Benayoun, Gerrard, Kuyt 3; Babel, Johnson, Ngog 2
Fulham: Duff, Murphy, Zamora 2; Dempsey, Gera, Kamara, Konchesky 1
Referee: Lee Mason
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Degen Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Benayoun Aurelio
Torres
Still can't get around those injury concerns. Click to continue reading...