Ahmed Bilal
Sports Editor
Football Manager 2011 Preview
Ahmed Bilal • Aug 11 2010Football Manager 2011 will be released shortly before Christmas 2010, and promises a raft of new features including real-time contract negotiation, a revamped training system and a number of match…
FIFA 10 Tricks (Xbox)
Ahmed Bilal • Aug 10 2010Practice, practice, practice, and make your opponents weep.
Ferguson: “You need more than just talent to play for United.”
Ahmed Bilal • Nov 8 2021Ferguson was talking about Federico Macheda and Javier Hernandez and their prospects this season at Manchester United, when he said something very interesting: “They give us the back-up we are…
Adidas and FIFA send Goalkeepers to defend Jabulani
Ahmed Bilal • Jan 11 2022Why are Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Oliver Kahn (Germany) and Sergio Goycochea (Argentina) talking to the press about penalty shootouts? On the surface, which where mainstream media reporting – here’s…
Rafa, Liverpool and some truth
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 26 2010Rafa Benitez and Liverpool. What a story, eh? Man gives club best years in last two decades. Man loves club. Fans love the man. And then, poof. In one bedraggled…
2010 World Cup Second Round Preview
Ahmed Bilal • Dec 7 2021The charm of the World Cup is in the anticipation that fuels the excitement in the latter stages. After a slowish start (at a par with any cup competition), South…
The Vuvuzela World Cup
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 16 2010The 2010 World Cup has effectively been rebranding as the Vuvuzela World Cup – for all intents and purposes, they are bigger than England’s dreams of fluking to another title,…
Manchester United – more than a club for Aon
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 17 2010Narratives on football sponsors and especially shirts sponsorship are usually limited to how that money is spent, how much a say that sponsor might have on the club and whether…
FlashForward: Spain Win The World Cup?
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 15 2010We’ve seen Germany produce the only first slick performance of the 2010 World Cup and we’ve seen the likes of Italy, France, Argentina, England and Netherlands (all pre-tournament outside favourites…
A football tactic you won’t see at the World Cup
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 12 2010The World Cup, coming as it does once every four years, provides an insane amount of anticipation and hype in the build-up, but like anything that you wait four years…
Arsenal reject Barcelona offer, refuse to play nice over Fabregas
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 3 2010Just hours after Barcelona said that they bad ‘entered formal discussions’ with Arsenal over Cesc Fabregas, and Xavi cheekily commented (in fairness, he answered the question posed to him) that…
Four Reasons Why £95m Rooney Isn’t Going To Real Madrid
Ahmed Bilal • Mar 1 2012Usually I’d trust the BBC to know the difference between bullshit and genuine transfer gossip when they see it but lately that’s not happening anymore. Today, during their live blog…
Aon and Manchester United
Ahmed Bilal • Jun 1 2010Today’s article on Aon was supposed to be about the numbers, a dry analysis of the pros and cons plus the usual refutations needed for every major sponsor – no,…
Hill-Wood: “Fabregas might stay, he might go, I have no idea”
Ahmed Bilal • May 27 2010Fabregas moving to Barcelona is by no means a done deal – Arsenal will presumably look for both a suitable fee and a nailed-on squad replacement before allowing the Spanish…
Mourinho: No one beat Chelsea and Barcelona like Inter
Ahmed Bilal • May 19 2010Jose Mourinho, speaking to the press before the Bayern Munich v Inter Milan Champions League final. On the importance of the game: “This game is the most important in the…