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February 2012
The Archives
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02.29.12London calling for The Special One?International fixtures are what's on the menu this week for many a footballer and football fan. But Real Madrid manager José "Special One" Mourinho began his week by taking a flight to London on Tuesday morning and, according to Madrid-based sports newspaper AS, went house hunting in the English capital alongside his wife, Matilde. Is he leaving Real Madrid? He may well do. Despite Madrid's current league advantage over rivals Barcelona, Mourinho has not had the easiest of relationships with club president Florentino Perez or indeed some of the Spanish press - some of whom quite publicly do not respect Mourinho's work ...
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02.24.12Things go from bad to worse for El NiñoWhere did it all go wrong for Fernando Torres? Well, some might argue it all went wrong the moment he signed for Chelsea from Liverpool on January 31st last year. I'm sure the Chelsea faithful will justify try justify the £50 million their club spent on the striker, but he has not been producing the goods whatsoever. And now, for the first time in years, he has been dropped from the Spain squad. "Torres isn't doing well, and we've decided that in this case he won't come," Spanish national team coach Vicente Del Bosque said, who has instead chosen to include ...
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02.20.12The story of Winston Bogarde and THAT infamous Chelsea contract.Have you ever seen the movie Lost In Translation? There certainly must have been some Lost In Translation-moment when former-Ajax, Barcelona and AC Milan player Winston Bogarde was undergoing his medical in order to join Chelsea in 2000. When the injury-prone defender insisted his knee-injury was 'recovering' rather than 'recurring', all parties happily agreed to a four-year contract worth a whopping £2 million per season. It would be a contract (the pre-Abramovich) Chelsea would deeply regret signing. When coach Gianluca Vialli (who purchased Bogarde) was replaced by Claudio Ranieri just weeks after the Dutch international''s move, it was Ranieri that wanted him ...
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02.19.12What the hell is happening at Arsenal?It's been one of Arsene Wenger's worst weeks as Arsenal boss. After the midweek 4-0 demolition at the hands of AC Milan, Wenger watched Arsenal slump out of the FA Cup against Sunderland on Saturday evening. While his peers and his players believe otherwise, Arsenal fans generally believe that it's time for a managerial change at the Emirates. It may not be the worst thing that could ever happen to the club. Let's face it, he's idolised by the Gooners faithful. And rightly so. He's brought in quite an amount of silverware including the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield numerous times - not ...
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02.15.12Champions League last 16 round-upLyon coach Rémi Garde had been disappointed by Saturday's defeat by Caen and looked to freshen his side up by making four changes in their Champions League game on Tuesday against APOEL FC. One of these was the hot prospect Alexandre Lacazette and it was his 58th minute goal that secured the French side's a vital home victory. Also on Tuesday was Bayer Leverkusen who played hosts to current holders Barcelona. And despite it being Valentine's Day, Barça showed the Germans no love or no mercy. Alexis Sánchez scored twice as the Catalans took a giant step towards a place in the quarter-finals. Michal Kadlec did ...
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02.15.12Welcome to Manchester – again!So Carlos Tevez arrived back in Manchester with an appointment with City's club doctor. This comes after three months of unauthorised leave in his native Argentina. Roberto Mancini, who once said that he was "finished" at the club, is now welcoming back Tevez. Even though this week he has said that he was treated "like a dog" by the Italian manager. Will his return make an impact at City? Well, the fans might boo him for what happened in Munich (even though Noel Gallagher publicly asked the City faithful not to) but the mood in the City camp isn't one of division - ...
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02.09.12So what next for England?So Fabio Capello resigned as manager of England and, of course, the English media were quick to speculate who could take over the reigns (José Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were just two names mentioned on TV literally within minutes of his resignation). But who will be the next England manager? How will England fare with a new boss just months before they embark on another major tournament. [caption id="attachment_1662" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=""Arrivaderci, Inghilterra""][/caption] Well, the FA chairman David Bernstein said in his press conference that he is "not prepared to rule out anything but an Englishman or British person would have a good ...
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02.05.12Eamon Zayed: Roy of the Rovers in TehranImagine being two-nil down with ten men. In the country's biggest derby in front of 80,000. With a further 20 million watching on TV. And then scoring a very late hat-trick to win the game. That is exactly how Dublin-born Eamon Zayed introduced himself to fans of his new club Perepolis in the Sorkhabi derby against Esteghal - only the second time he turned out for the Tehran club. The goals were decent too (especially the first one) - check out the video below. “It was Roy of the Rovers stuff,” Zayed said after the game, “fairytale stuff really and everything since ...
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02.01.12Transfer deadline day chaos (or the lack of it)Ah, the last day of January. A day many spend the evening by staring at Jim White and his colleagues on Sky Sports News for the usual drama of transfer deadline day. Last year Andy Carroll joined Liverpool for an astonishing £35 million and Fernando Torres joined Chelsea for £50 million. Social networks went crazy that night. What could happen tonight? Will Chelsea make another massive signing? Could Gerard Pique (and girlfriend Shakira) make Manchester their new home? Could Carlos Tevez join Liverpool and then Everton only moments later? Will it be the most exciting day in footballing transfer history? The ...
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