Still trying to decipher the Joe Cole enigma

The rebuilding process is underway for Liverpool, started in January with the acquisition of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, it has continued into the summer with a ringing endorsement from owner John Henry, who said that his club will prioritise the future, and not just look for short term benefit.

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England - The Green Shoots of Promise

Suffice to say that following England’s catastrophic demise in last year’s World Cup, any hope that any England side would win a major tournament anytime soon, all but disappeared.

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Team selection: Now we’re thinking clearly

Yes, you heard it right. In a rare moment of clear-thought at Premier League HQ, the men in suits have finally allowed common sense to prevail, by relaxing the rules on team selection. As of the coming season, Premier League managers will be free to select their matchday squads from their registered squad of 25 players, plus under-21 ‘home-grown’ players, without restriction as to which combination of players the manager selects.

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Ambition Needed as Arsenal Face Losing Stars

The winds of change are certainly blowing through the Emirates Stadium this summer as Arsenal face perhaps the most pivotal off-season since Arsene Wenger took over in 1996.

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Is Daglish flooding the midfield to his demise?

Liverpool ended the 2010-2011 campaign on a high, sure they hadn’t reached Europe but after a disastrous start and the sacking of Roy Hodgson miracles could not be expected from King Kenny in such a short space of time. Hodgson left Anfield in a poor state, his summer acquisitions bar one were extremely poor notably Cristian Poulsen and Paul Konchescky.

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Can Young be the One

Young, 25, will suit his new club due to his explosive pace and dead-ball ability, but one has to question that final delivery into the box. In that sense, he is not on the same level as someone like Antonio Valencia.

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Plymouth Argyle Plan For Life In League Two

What happened to Plymouth Argyle? It wasn’t so long ago they were gracing the top half of the Championship and flirting with the play-off positions. Their rapid decline through the football leagues, including administration and a 10 point deduction has placed the club in it’s most perilous position in it’s 125 year history.  

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Black Cats Pounce Early

Sunderland have stated their intention in attempting to improve last season’s league table position of 10^th by looking to invest heavily in their squad.

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Pay the Price for Premier League Success

Despite there being two months remaining of the transfer window, this is hotting up to be one of the closest-fought Premier League title races in recent years. The amount of money spent has been more ‘sensible’ compared to recent years, coupled with some interesting deals in the pipeline between the teams who want the crown, and of course, not forgetting January’s action. Who really is in pole position to go all the way, or crumble under the weight of expectation?

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England – Giants in Slumberland

For a nation that produces the Cream of the Crop in genuine footballing talent , it is seriously a wonder why such massive quality has not translated to much success on the Big Stage save a 1966 World Cup Final extra-time 4-2 win against Mighty West Germany and a semi final 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia in the 1968 European Championship Finals.

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Tis the season for speculation

June to August; the time of the year where the words “exclusive”, “a source” and “the breaking news yellow ticker bar thing” (seriously, what is the name for that source of misinformation?) are used as liberally as fake tan at an Only Way is Essex convention. Yes folks, its transfer rumour silly season.

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Best season yet to come?

Perhaps next season will be the start of a new chapter in recent Premiership history where there is no longer the untouchable top four clubs. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool , other than the last two years have been the top four teams in the 2003/2004 season as well as in 05/06, 06/07, 07/08 and 08/09.

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The most important summer for Ferguson and United?

For the past few years, being a Manchester United fan during the transfer market usually goes as follows:

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Is Alex McLeish really the right man for the Aston Villa job?

Alex McLeish became only the second ever manager to manage both Aston Villa and Birmingham, the other Ron Saunders, after deciding to accept the post vacant at Villa Park last week. The appointment of McLeish was met with uproar from both sides of the Midlands with Birmingham and Villa fans outraged after learning he would become the new manager of Aston Villa.

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Turning of the Managerial Tide

In the last week, the top of the Premier League has been strengthened considerably, with André Villas-Boas (I don’t know if you’ve seen this mentioned, but he used to work with Jose Mourinho) and Ashley Young joining Chelsea and Manchester United for similar amounts of money respectively.

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