Thanks Alexia for the photo!

So he's not exactly the world's favourite man right now, but Titipo Henry has officially joined The Dona's recreational volleyball club after his handball against Ireland. Ok, instead of calling him a hypocrite like everyone, let's sit down and have a drink.

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Morning, morning.

Well can I just say:

FUCK YOU INTERLULL. I HOPE YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN BY A BUS. THEN RAPED BY A BEAR. IN THE FACE.

Leaving aside the fact we've had no Arsenal for two weeks the hysteria over last night's handball by Thierry Henry has been ludicrous. The ire of Ireland fans I can fully understand but the vitriol levelled at Henry from some quarters has been way over the top.

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Big Story
The surprising news that one of the greatest and highest-earning footballers of his generation, John Barnes, had somehow managed to end up bankrupt is superbly deconstructed in a piece looking at players' incomes and financial cluelessness by former Ireland star Tony Cascarino, as he considers how the likes of even recent Premier League stars like Eric Djemba-Djemba and John Arne Riise have somehow suffered a similar fate despite their massive pay checks.

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It is fair to say that Paul Tomkins is one of the leading Liverpool writers out there (Brian Reade, Oliver Kay, Tony Barrett and Tony Evans are the others), a reputation built over the years initially on various forums and then on the club's official website. He is also probably the most prolific author of books about Liverpool FC having published some eight books in the space of four years. Click to continue reading...

Big Story
England and the United States might be the favourites to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, but both countries have hosted a World Cup before: a fact Russia are counting on as crucial in their own bids. "Every tournament should be held in a country that has not previously hosted it," said sports minister Vitaly Mutko.

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There is nothing bright about Mark!

Now I am sure he is a smashing chap and all of that but can someone tell me the point of Mark Bright? How he keeps a job on the BBC (the nation's premier TV network) is beyond me. Is it just me that notices that most things he says are incorrect?

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The former Chelsea and Aston Villa striker Tony Cascarino believes Liverpool forward Fernando Torres is a better player now than when Inter Milan's Samuel Eto'o was in his prime at Barcelona.
The Spaniard leads the Premier League scoring charts with eight goals, five in his last two against West Ham and Hull City, and Cascarino suggests he is almost untouchable. Click to continue reading...

Former footballer Tony Cascarino believes that Glen Johnson's defensive frailties are responsible for Liverpool FC's poor defensive showing so far this season. Is he right or wrong?
Liverpool have conceded 7 goals in 4 league games this season. In his column, Cascarino argued:
"It's no coincidence that the Liverpool defence has conceded more goals since he [Johnson] has joined the club. Click to continue reading...

If there is one person who will always have a rant at Arsenal its Tony Cascarino. The former Chelsea striker is the first one to jump on the bash Arsenal band-wagon. It is his job, but with Cascarino it is always one way traffic.

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When we sold Adebayor and Toure, Cascarino was the first to jump on the anti-Arsenal bandwagon.

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Tony Cascarino, a football league veteran of over 600 games for the likes of Aston Villa and Chelsea, believes Liverpool are overly dependent on the fitness of Fernando Torres, and suggested they will need to add a top level striker should they wish to compete for the Premier League.
Speaking to footballpools. Click to continue reading...

Carlo Ancelotti has been Chelsea messiah for one day, but has already been crucified.England's press have passed a guilty verdict on the new man at Stamford Bridge before he has set down a single cone in a training session. Former Blues & Marseille striker Tony Cascarino even said he would be "amazed" if Ancelotti lasted a full season. Click to continue reading...

I'm sorry, but this was the worst kept secret in soccer. Everyone knew that Carlo Ancelotti was going to leave A.C. Milan and takeover as the new manager at Chelsea. I've finally found someone in Tony Cascarino who is willing to come out and say that he thinks like me in that this will be yet another failure. Click to continue reading...

The Times looks at where the final can be won and lost.

The Guardian interviews Dimitar Berbatov.

Tony Cascarino at The Times wonders whether Henry will get the better of O'Shea.

Don't forget to join the Republik of Mancunia Manchester United forum to discuss the final and all the recent news stories.

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"We had an interest in Joey (Barton) in January. There are obviously issues but he does play his football for somebody else so we need to respect that. We can't talk about other people's players."
Bolton boss Gary Megson, not talking about other people's players.

"He's been feeling his groin for a week now. Click to continue reading...

The Evening News player ratings for last night against Portsmouth.

The Mirror reflects on Paul Scholes' reaction to 600th appearance.

Martin Samuel at The Daily Mail also gives Scholesy a mention.

Tony Cascarino at The Times reckons we can win the title without breaking out of second gear.

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Poker is all about competition.  Its rush stems from the risk, reward, guile and ultimate satisfaction from conquering an opponent and, of course, the money. It sounds an awful lot like professional football, so it's not a great surprise that footballers would peruse the top poker sites or know where to find the best poker rooms. Click to continue reading...

Here's an interesting article that Tony Cascarino has written on the use of video replay in soccer. Tony makes some interesting points, but I disagree with the basic idea. Video replay can help to get certain calls right, and makes more sense in American sports where there are a lot of built in breaks in the game. Click to continue reading...

That is the question that Tony Cascarino poses in his latest blog post in the London Times and the simple answer to that question for me is no and the reason why is Thierry Henry. There is not reason why Theo can't become a more refined player over time just like Henry did, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, etc. Click to continue reading...

That title is possibly a bit misleading because I'm not quite old enough to cover since 1882 but I'll just go as far back as my memory will take me! I'll be looking at about the last 20 years or so.
5. Teddy Sheringham - Ok, I know whenever he signs for a new club it has always been his lifelong dream to go there but you can't argue with the player Teddy was for Tottenham. Click to continue reading...

Here is a link to another really good article by Tony Cascarino, the former Republic of Ireland forward from the London Times. Tony provides a good account of why Alan Curbishley had no chance of success at West Ham United and how now was the best time for him to leave.
The London Times also provides a listing of the candidates that West Ham are looking at to replace Curbishley. Click to continue reading...

I just wanted to include a link to another article from former Republic of Ireland forward Tony Cascarino that he wrote for the London Times where he comments on Robbie Keane's move to Liverpool and Shaun Wright-Phillips' move back to Manchester City. Cascarino gives an excellent analysis of Keane's problems settling in at Liverpool that makes for a very interesting read. Click to continue reading...

It's easy to think of Arsenal as a cliche - fancy boys who sulk when the going gets tough. That's also kind of true (that's team captain William Gallas having a sit-down protest on the halfway line during the game against Birmingham last season).
But a bigger problem than stereotyped (they are mostly French, after all) character flaws is Arsene Wenger. Click to continue reading...

Adebayor...21 goals last season
2007/8 Review
The common perception of Arsenal's 2007/8 team is that they over-elaborated, lacked penetration. Conventional wisdom says that this 'Playstation football' (as Tony Cascarino recently termed it) cost Arsenal the title. The trouble is, there really isn't much evidence to support that claim. Click to continue reading...

Another great article from former Republic of Ireland forward Tony Cascarino, where Tony questions the recent signings that Keane has made including Pascal Chimbonda, El Hadji Diouf, and Djibril Cisse. I disagree with Tony on his views though as I think Roy is doing the best he can within his resources to bring in players that can help make Sunderland a respectable team within the Premier League and keep them out of a relegation battle. Click to continue reading...

Here is an interesting article that for Republic of Ireland forward turned London Times columnist Tony Cascarino wrote about David Beckham's recent performances for the English national team. I completely agree with Tony based on the England games that I've seen live. The English team are tolerating Beckham purely for his ability on free kicks and corners, but they really do need a more complete player like a David Bentley or Aaron Lennon (if he can recapture his form). Click to continue reading...

Times columnist and former player Tony Cascarino has called Harry Kewell a football nihilist for being injured.
"[Harry Kewell] was an armchair player, spending more time off the pitch than on it."
(For those who are unfamiliar with the term "armchair", it essentially when applied to a person's character denotes someone who does not care about something as much as he should care or claims to care. Click to continue reading...