Jamil Fearrington will patrol Roskilde's central defense as they seek to head into the winter break on a winning note when the team hosts 12th-place FC Fyn on Sunday afternoon. Click to continue reading...

   photo by ISIphotos.com

If you have been anxiously waiting to see midfielder Maurice Edu get back on the field, you may not have to wait much longer.

According to the Rangers club website, Edu is expected to return to full training for Rangers next week, and he could be back to first-team action after November's international break, when the U.

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          photo by ISIphotos.com

by FRANCO PANIZO

If you have been anxiously waiting to see midfielder Maurice Edu get back on the field, you may not have to wait much longer.

According to the Rangers club website, Edu is expected to return to full training for Rangers next week, and he could be back to first-team action after November's international break, when the U.

Click to continue reading...

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by FRANCO PANIZO

If Manchester City attacker Robinho's hidden desire is to play for Barcelona then he is not doing a good job at keeping it a secret.

On Monday, Robinho told a Brazilian radio station he is happy with the interest Barcelona has in him, and that he thinks it is much easier to become the world's best player with them than with Manchester City.

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by FRANCO PANIZO

If Manchester City attacker Robinho's hidden desire is to play for Barcelona then he is not doing a good job at keeping it a secret.

On Monday, Robinho told a Brazilian radio station he is happy with the interest Barcelona has in him, and that he thinks it is much easier to become the world's best player with them than with Manchester City.

Click to continue reading...

Utility player wanted by La Liga strugglers.

Madrid Atletico Madrid are having difficulties in the Spanish league are interested in the French midfielder from Lyon, Jeremy Toulalan, and Arsenal's Ivorian defender Emmanuel Eboue, according to sports daily As on Thursday.

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The German Bundesliga had the highest attendance of any European domestic league in the 2008-09 season. This season is no different with the league averaging well over 40,000 per match. While the Bundesliga does not have the television revenue of the English Premier League, they contain very strong loyal fans.

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Sampdoria are top of the table alone for the first time in 18 years. A week ago I wrote an article saying that Sampdoria could be the surprise of the season, and right now that hypothesis is still holding up. While it's almost impossible for them to win the scudetto and considering the fact that Gigi Del Neri's teams usually suffer a drop in form after the winter break, they should be challenging for a spot in Europe next season, whether that be Europa League or Champions League that remains to be seen.

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The missus and I were in Boston this past Saturday afternoon with some time to kill, so I thought we'd try and find a place to catch the West Ham v Liverpool match. Our journey began in Cambridge, around Harvard Square. Perhaps it's because the kids at that institution are too busy planning winter break ski vacations in Austria or copying MySpace to make millions or splitting the atom or whatnot, but there aren't too many bars in the yard.

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Bulgarian shot stopper Nikolay Mihaylov almost joined Eredivisie giants PSV on deadline day. The Liverpool goalie, currently on loan at Twente, claims that the Eindhoven side made a last minute approach for him, but that the Tukkers refused to let go of him.
"Liverpool and PSV had already reached an agreement, but Twente coach Steve McClaren refused to let me leave," was Mihaylov quoted as saying by Bulgarian medium 24chasa. Click to continue reading...

Afternoon all,

the build up to the big kick off could not be any slower, the players have flown out all across the globe to play for their countries in pointless internationals where no doubt at least three of them will return injured.

I really don't see the point of pre-season international games, what are they going to achieve?

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A summer season for Scotland? John Boyle, chairman of Motherwell, raised the prospect once again as he advocated a switch to a summer season and a long winter break.

This adds to the support for the move from Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, and Gordon Smith, the SFA chief executive, but Boyle was far more assertive in making the economic argument for the move saying "To be candid, I think the financial case for summer football has overrun the football case.

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Bolton Chairman Phil Gartside has called for a two-tier Premier League with no relegation to the Football League.

This controversial idea could offer hope for some of the clubs languishing in the Championship but cut adrift those clubs in League 1 and 2.

It seems that this will make the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

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Yesterday the Lega Calcio announced the dates for the 2009/2010 Serie A season. Serie A begins the weekend of August 23rd and will end on May 16th to give the national team enough time to prepare for the World Cup. There will be 4 midweek rounds (September 23, October 28, January 6, and March 24).

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Rafael van der Vaart is not impressed with the new big names at Real Madrid. He'll fight for his chance until the winter break. "That's a good moment to make up my mind." Van der Vaart is curious to learn what his new coach - Manuel Pellegrini - wants. "Villareal, where Click to continue reading...

In a season of unusual league winners (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia getting "first" league winners, AZ winning in Holland) we can add another to the list as unfancied Wolfsburg took their first ever Bundesliga title on Saturday after a 5-1 demolition of Werder Bremen. Winning an unprecedented 14 out of their 17 games after the winter break, Felix Magath's side (although it is no longer Felix Magath's side as he's off to Schalke) take the title for the first time in their 64 year history. Click to continue reading...

Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, who lead the league at the winter break, have revealed their new 2009-10 home and away shirts. The new Hoffenheim trikots ( shirts) are manufactured by Puma, and are available to buy for a price of €69.95. The home shirt is primarily blue in colour, while the away outfit is white. Click to continue reading...

Week 35
Tuesday May 12, 2009
Stade Municipal de Gerland
3 P.M. (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

The images of OL's disgraceful 2-1 defeat to Nantes in their last meeting- back in week seventeen, right before the winter break- just popped-into my head and my stomach is getting queezy.

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Here's a quick rundown of the last 10 league games, or, as I've taken to calling them, "the complete repudiation of all we are and stand for."

L at Udinese 0-1: We actually had more of the ball a rare accomplishment this season but only got one shot on target. Joep Mommers scored before halftime and, utterly Joeped, we never got back into the match.

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It happens very occasionally (in fact this is the first time it's happened this season) and when it does I either have to front up and pretend it never happened or 'fess up and admit that it has. I am, of course, talking about missing the Bundesliga highlights on TV. I won't go into the whys and wherefores of the circumstances behind my missing the programme for fear of turning this blog into a rant about Setanta's Scheduling Team. Click to continue reading...

At the winter break, most people had already hypothesized that Chievo would be returning to Serie B next year. But with the arrival of coach Domenico Di Carlo, the Flying Donkeys have played with a reborn spirit in this second half of the season, and have racked up 21 points since the winter break (only Inter, Juve, and Milan have earned more).

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Several leagues around Europe are now on winter break - Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La and Serie A to name four. But no English Premier League. Despite constant complaints from players and managers about fixture congestion, English football plays on in the cold. Bringing added meaning to the phrase "stiff upper lip". Click to continue reading...

Here are the highlights of Manchester City's 6-0 demolition of Portsmouth. Come and watch the Robinho shuffle! I'm also including a link to an article from the London Times that describes how Robinho and Shawn Wright-Phillips are feeling liberated playing for Manchester City. They are without doubt the most compelling club in soccer right now as everyone waits to see who they will sign during the winter break and even over the next couple of years with the influx of money into the club. Click to continue reading...

Last year the winter break lasted six long agonizing weeks. This year it will be seven. The break has been controversial for some time as even the Kaiser has called for the abandonment of this "luxury". It is too long a layoff for the players and fans. Meanwhile, this year the Ligapokal was [...] Click to continue reading...

In the figurative sense, as in: good news. In reality it's actually less sunshine and more snow. And If you factor in global warming, it would be less sunshine and more rain. But that's OK. The bosses of all 36 Bundesliga clubs have met and decided that the winter break is too long and needs shortening; [. Click to continue reading...

Here's the third installment of the Serie A preview. In this part we take a look at Milan, Napoli, Palermo, Reggina, and Roma.

MILAN

This is the year Milan has to redeem themselves. The Rossoneri had a season way below expectations last year, based on a mix of injuries and a terrible summer transfer market.

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Another frustrating move by a European club with an American player as Fulham are loaning Eddie Johnson out to Cardiff City. Eddie Johnson barely had an opportunity to play for Fulham, having joined the team during the winter break last season as they were in the middle of a relegation battle. His chances to play were few and far between and now he will be going down to the English Championship League, which is one division lower then the Premiership. Click to continue reading...

English league football returned in glorious fashion last weekend and was swiftly followed by the Premier League, note FA lawyers - I did not say Premiership, on Saturday just gone. It's that exciting part of August as all major European leagues are resuming after the winter break.  Pre-season tournaments such as Feynoord, Ajax and Arsenal ones [. Click to continue reading...

RICHARD ‘Baldrick' Scudamore, the contumacious Premier League chief executive behind the much-criticised proposal for an ‘international round' of matches, has drafted a revised plan designed to sidestep opposition from FIFA and the Football Association. Scudamore was forced to bin his original plans after Sepp Blatter indicated such a venture would undermine England's 2018 World Cup bid, [. Click to continue reading...

A quick note to let you know that during the 2008 winter break (that's summer for our northern hemisphere readers!), the page formerly known as 'squad lists' has been renamed 'transfers', and will contain a list, updated as frequently and accurately as I can manage (but please bear with me) of all the ins and [. Click to continue reading...

As an English football supporter, the notion of a Christmas break is a total anathema. After all, what does every right thinking English person want on Boxing Day? To get the hell out from under the families feet and down to a football match before you choke the mother-in-law to death on a mixture of bubble & squeak and strychnine. Click to continue reading...