Month: December 2010

Given yesterday’s developments, it would be ridiculously easy to ‘play to the gallery’ and paint Newcastle owner Mike Ashley as some kind of slavering, cack-handed, tactless, abhorrent, manipulative, back-stabbing, flesh-pressing…

It has become a near inevitability that Bayern will be fighting for only the Deustch Pokal and a Champions League position this season – but some die hard fans still have hope that they can pull off a miracle, and become the first team in the Bundesliga to come back from seventeen points to win the league.

In this article I shall discuss what needs to be done over the winter, if there is to be any hope of such a sensation.

One of Manchester United’s Barclays Premier League pseudo rivals has parted ways with their manager, which should reaffirm the supporters they are very fortunate to have Sir Alex Ferguson as their boss. Somewhat shockingly, Newcastle United’s Chris Hughton became the second manager in England’s top-flight to fall victim of the pressures to win-at-all-costs mentality that is bestowed on them unrealistic, off-base businessman owners.

Danny Blind………wasn’t he that Dutch bloke with the dodgy perm who brought down Paul Ince for the penalty at Euro 96? It seems the current AFC Ajax Director of football…

For the first time since 1989, one single club can boast the honour of employing all three players named on FIFA’s 2010 Ballon d’Or shortlist. 21 years ago, AC Milan…

Word is filtering down from highly-prominent FA sources this morning that Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is a leading contender to replace incumbent Fabio Capello as England manager when the Italian’s…

Barcelona’s great run of form almost came to a “Messi” end on the weekend after the Catalan club almost failed to show up against Osasuna! The La Liga champions had…

After they were given an unexpected break in the Barclays Premier League this weekend, Manchester United should be well-rested as they host to Valencia at Old Trafford with the top spot in Group C on the line. Both clubs have already secured their births for the very lucrative UEFA Champions League Knockout phase in the last round, but the Reds only need to avoid defeat against Los Che to advance as the group’s No. 1 seed.

With Manchester United out of action this weekend, rumors have unsurprisingly started to swirl that a couple of their long-serving, living legends are set to announce their unwanted, but inevitable retirements. Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that both Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, who, along with Paul Scholes, are only on single-year contracts, may not have their respective contracts renewed at season’s end.

With 13 minutes to go in yesterday’s games, things were looking oh so sweet for the relegation zone trio. Palace were winning at Elland Road, Boro were heading for a…

A lot of criticism has been shelled at Blackpool for not going above and beyond to ensure that their match with Manchester United was played this weekend, but is it really justified? Prior to this season, Blackpool were Barclays Premier League virgins, so their stadium, Bloomfield Road, did not have an adequate under-soil heating system, which caused the pitch to be frozen in some areas.

If Russia’s 2018 bid was seen as high risk in terms of delivering a FIFA World Cup of technical brilliance then the decision to stage the tournament in Qatar is…

5 games are postponed but 14 hardy sides will be getting on with it despite “The Big Freeze”. The chill will be particularly icy for Roy Keane and Darren Ferguson;…

England 2018’s resolute failure to schmooze their way into FIFA’s good books earlier in the week have left relations between the two camps at an all-time low, with the English…

Unless we’re watching an International friendly, the days of a football team donning the traditional 1 to 11 numbering system is long behind us. Since the Premier League switched to…

A rather bleak November has ended, with important games coming up for Arsenal.

Madrid might boast one more club in La Primera than Barcelona, but at the moment is is the Catalans who are coming out on top. The thrashing of Real Madrid…

The fall-out from FIFA’s utterly predictable decision to chase the World Cup Gaz-ruble/Petro-dollar has begun in earnest this morning, with the English media’s reaction swathed in varying hues of frothing…

Welcome to Fergie Time, a roundup/newsletter type deal that delivers news, opinion and links directly to your screen. As the name suggests, there will be some exaggeration, nsfw moments, canceled…

Back in the 1970s, a life-long Red transplanted to New York from England, and nearly 20 years after landing in America, he finally took the onus to establish the Manchester United Supporters Club USA (MUSCUSA). With no professional league in the United States since 1984, America was starving for some sort of connection to football, so Peter Holland took the initiative to complete all of the necessary groundwork to establish this as the official branch in 1991, and it has been growing the Manchester United fan-base here ever since.

Manchester United takes the short trek north to Bloomfield Road where they will to take on Barclays Premier League newcomers, Blackpool, in what should be another feisty Lancashire encounter. In their last Premier League outings, United scored an impressive 7-1 over another North West foe, Blackburn, while Blackpool disappointingly allowed two late goals in their two-all draw with then fourth-placed Bolton Wanderers.

Cheer yourself up with a listen to the latest entertaining episode of 3 Up Front! Despite their disappointment at England’s failure to land the 2018 World Cup, host Adrian Clarke,…

It’s tempting to claim that bribes, favours, politics and financial opportunity determined the fates of World Cups 2018 and 2022 long before the staged drama of bid presentations yesterday and…

One round left and Fluminense kept the leadership under its arms to play the title decider against relegated Guarani at home on Sunday. However, discussion raging in Brazil nowadays is…

Cheer yourself up with a listen to the latest entertaining episode of 3 Up Front! Despite their disappointment at England’s failure to land the 2018 World Cup, host Adrian Clarke,…

Jason Steele to Arsenal “The story is complete nonsense. We have no intention of selling Jason for £4m or any other fee” So that sounds like a no from Boro’s…

Sitting through the four respective last-ditch World Cup 2018 pitches this morning was nigh-on insufferable at times, as if trapped in a hellish junior management sales exposition that was doomed…