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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Brave Blackpool Preparing for New Battle

Rarely has a team relegated from the Premier League been praised unanimously from all corners.  Seldom has a manager been touted as a serious candidate for manager of the season despite seeing his side slip into the second tier of English football. However, bizarrely, this is a situation Blackpool and their manager Ian Holloway have just experienced.

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Ten Transfers That ARE Going To Happen

The Champions League final closed the curtain on what has been an eventful season of football right across Europe. Once again, it was the dazzling dynamos from Barcelona that set the pace, capping it with the win at Wembley. The side has grown over many years into something beautiful. That wasn't a football game – that was a work of art. Man Utd were left straggling, and ultimately, the only side that could beat Barcelona - couldn't. So as the players jet off for a week or two, where will they be next season? “Silly Season”, as it is known, has begun, and come midnight on September 1^st, it could all be very different. So here's a list of ten transfers that are looking on the cards in the Premier League.

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End Of Season Reports For Clubs

And just like that we’re done with another Premier League season. It seems only yesterday that Manchester United were dropping points at Everton, Spurs were thrashing Inter Milan and Sunderland were dreaming of Europe. Since a very hasty super-injunction has legally prevented any levels of actually insight or analysis in RPO we’ll just make do with a teacher’s review of each club:

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What Survival Sunday means financially

Survival Sunday ™; five teams battling to avoid two relegation places. Ninety minutes that will decide where who from Blackburn, Wolves, Birmingham, Blackpool and Wigan will be joining West Ham in the Championship next season. Cue crying fans, broken heaps of players, managers putting a brave face on things and owners frantically phoning up the accountants.

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International Retirement

England stars continue to desert the national setup when things don’t go their way.

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Diary of a BBC Sports Reporter

My month started with a trip back to The Valley, the ground where it all began for me on BBC Final Score two seasons ago. My last visit was a memorable one, after I parted with my hard-earned cash (albeit very little) to have a small wager on the game (it’s difficult not to as there’s a bookie’s stand just inside the Millennium Suite).

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Former Gunner to return to the Emirates?

Former Arsenal star Alexander Hleb is keen to reunite with old club Arsenal.

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Ruling out new financial regulations

Never in the politics of the governance of football has there been a time when rank hypocrisy has been in evidence. Ok, apart from differing punishments for Torquay and Herford compared to West Ham (regarding Carlos Tevez) for essentially the same crime

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Roy’s Boys the Baggies are Bouncing, Boing Boing!

What a job Roy Hodgson has done, it was only a few months ago he was under intense pressure at Liverpool, his stress levels were raising the roof. He was then relieved of his duties before becoming manager of strugglers West Bromwich Albion in a relegation dog fight.

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Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City

Blackburn held on to a vital point last week at the Emirates and Rovers fans will be hoping that the performance will give their players confidence into their weekend game against Birmingham City.

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Football Bad Boys

Since arriving at Eastlands Phil Taylor wannabe Mario Balotelli has put forward a great case for starting a stretch at Lancaster Farms Young Offenders Institution let alone making the starting line up for Manchester City.

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Who will avoid the drop?

So, from Aston Villa to Wolverhampton Wanderers, here are my A-Z of teams still looking to book their place amongst the elite next season:

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A lesson in football attire

So remember if you’re at a football match anytime soon and you see your manager wearing a dog eared, muddy tracksuit, you march right over and tell him to go change and stop being so uninspiring!

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