The Sin: When I was a kid, I didn't know Spielberg's The Goonies was one of the weirdest movies ever. I mean, the bad guys literally keep their "special" kin chained in the basement where he has absolutely nothing to do. As he was a pretty idle guy, it was fitting they named him Sloth.

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A lot of understandably miffed punters doing the rounds this weekend; message boards, phone-ins and blogospheres crammed to the skylights with Spurs fans giving their two cents on what was ultimately a dismal fist at beating our insufferable neighbours. Some, while still dousing their grazes in TCP, willing enough to put the result into context and move forward; others more likely to dance the fandango of doom, goat's blood smeared across their forehead, wailing until Harry Redknapp's hide is sent packing back to Sandbanks.

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I love starting off the weekend watching one of the big four take it in the rear [post]... apparently so do the Villains and they did just that, causing the Blues their second consecutive defeat away from home! Cop that! Match highlights: Older Aston Villa news: Results – 2nd / 4th May There's A . Click to continue reading...

Time to get back to work.

The international break is finally over congratulations, by the way, to Ghana for becoming the first African nation to win a major competition with a dramatic penalty shootout triumph over Brazil in the U-20 World Cup and Chelsea open the Premier League slate this weekend at Aston Villa.

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Seldom has a talented football nation witnessed the kind of humiliation that the Czech Republic has suffered in the entire last year. In a World Cup qualification campaign where they were placed in perhaps the most competitive of groups alongside Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, and Northern Ireland, perfection was almost always essential for the Czechs.

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When the Football Association launched their "Respect" campaign last year, it was met with a degree of derision on all sides. On the one hand, many felt that it didn't go far enough and, on the other side, there are those that would quite like professional football to become more like WWF wrestling with its pantomime villains and simplistic version of right and wrong.

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Ah, it feels good to have panto villains like The Drog, Herr Ballack, Mr Chelsea and Cashley back on the radar. Ballack has already wound up every single Man Utd fan with his blatant bodycheck (or "elbow", if you...

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I've often thought that in our worst moments, the American soccer community often resembles comic book nerds complete with heroes, villains, memes that make no sense to anyone else, bizarre costumes, fan-fiction, slash-fiction, pin-ups who aren't nearly as attractive as their fans think they are, questions that really deserve no answer, our own DC v. Click to continue reading...

Or, A Post Kind of Like The Last One, With Different Words

"The losers owe their loss to him and the winners triumph in spite of him. Scapegoat for every error, cause of every misfortune, the fans would have to invent him if he didn't already exist. The more they hate him, the more they need him."

- Eduardo Galeano, Soccer In Sun and Shadow

Referees lie at the center of the game's most cruel paradoxes.

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After John Carver's shock resignation this weekend, reported early on Saturday on ASN's twitter feed, there was a pessimistic attitude at fortress BMO Field. Toronto's bosses at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, once seen as providing the support needed for club management to succeed, were suddenly seen as the villains in a saga that saw Carver resign citing "personal reasons" after being fined last week by the league. Click to continue reading...

They had me going there for a minute. The grudge match today between Washington and Man Is It Going To Get Old Having To Type The Entire Word Each Time Louis Athletica? Better than we had any right to expect, considering the visiting team hadn't - you know, that thing where the little ball thing goes into that net contraption on the side there. Click to continue reading...

(highlights di Aston Villa-West Ham 1-1)
Le grandi devono ancora giocare, ma i risultati che arrivano dalla Premier League non sono meno importanti e meritano attenzione. Buon punto, in chiave europea, per l'Aston Villa. L'1-1 dei Villains contro il West Ham è deciso dalle reti di Heskey e Tristan. Click to continue reading...

diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WQwRwKiw0X4/SdexbNceZuI/AAAAAAAAALg/Axlf8-JMNnM/s1600-h/benayoun_celeb.jpg"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320916565785208546" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WQwRwKiw0X4/SdexbNceZuI/AAAAAAAAALg/Axlf8-JMNnM/s320/benayoun_celeb. Click to continue reading...

Former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan made his official debut with Aston Villa on Wednesday, starting between the pipe's in the English club's disappointing 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers in the third round of Carling Cup action.The 2007 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Guzan made four saves on the day for the Villains but was beaten decisively by a Damion Stewart header at the hour-mark. Click to continue reading...

Following an 8 hour bus ride to Pullman, WA and back, this is not what I wanted to come home to. Landon Donovan is my least favorite player in the history of The Major League Soccer. And its not even close. Growing up idolizing Barry Bonds probably did a lot to skew my view of "villains". [...] Click to continue reading...

Dean Ashton is a £12 million transfer target for ambitious Aston Villa, according to reports. The 24-year-old striker has been in good form for the Hammers, hitting a hatful of goals during pre-season and scoring both goals in the 2-1 win over Wigan on the opening day of the Premier League season. Villains boss Martin O'Neill took [. Click to continue reading...

So here are the fixtures for the weekend ahead. Note that Manchester United, by virtue of being Champions League winners, play in the Super Cup against UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg in Monaco tonight. It should be added for readers that don't know that the Super Cup is about as important as an NFL pre-season game. Click to continue reading...

So how much football do any of us actually watch in real life compared to what we watch on TV? And how much is our opinion informed through the football media lens rather than through our own personal experience and knowledge?
Much of what we know, or think we know, is based on the journalists, presenters, anchormen, and ex-professionals that populate TV, radio and increasingly podcasts. Click to continue reading...

Ok so hands up if you remember hearing a couple of years ago that Keele University in the Midlands was genuinely offering a degree course in ‘David Beckham Studies'? Christ that was depressing. He was also under 30-years-old at the time which made it even more ridiculous, but I guess in a world where 22-year-old Coleen, famous for only getting ploughed by a ugly Scouser, can have ‘written' two books, credibility just doesn't come into it anymore. Click to continue reading...

I want to do predictions. So I'm going to do them. You can lambaste me now or more appropriately, at the end of the season. Feel free to improve on my egregious decisions in the comments section.

-The Chelsea Offside 2008-09 English Premiership predictions-

1. Chelsea
Really, was there any doubt?

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Steve Gibson has moved to re-assure fans that the sale of Young to Aston Villa was best for the club. Young completed his move to Villa at around 10:30pm last night, and was very pleased with the deal. "This was too good an opportunity to miss," Young told The Villains official website. "I'm really pleased to be here [. Click to continue reading...

Basically, Carlos doesn't think teams should play SuperLiga if they can't behave better. But he also blames the structure of the tournament.
By the way, don't knock me for not knowing all the panelists names - I don't watch the show that often, but feel free to inform me if you know who they are. Click to continue reading...

The man every Chelsea supporter knew wouldn't play and didn't has finally move on (we hope). Sky, among numerous other outlets, are reporting that the Blues and Aston Villa have agreed a £5.5 million transfer fee for Chelsea reserves stud Steve Sidwell.

Cashley escorts Siddy out of town.

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HEROES Brian Howard The Barnsley skipper's late winner gave his side a shock 1-2 win against Liverpool at Anfield (in case you hadn't heard). Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...

HEROES Benjani Mwaruwari Scoring the winning goal in the Manchester derby is not a bad debut in anyone's books, even if you are only there for the money! Click to continue reading...