Why Manchester City are slowly becoming the Premier Leagues most hated team

It seems like eons again now that Manchester City became the richest club in the world. It took the entire league by complete surprise when, on the final day of the 2008 summer transfer window, the club was purchased by the Abu Dhabi United group. That same day saw the club sign Robinho from Real Madrid for a then record £32.5m.

Click to read more ...

FOOTBALL TACTICS

Tactics are crucial to the game of football, as in any sport they determine strategy and prevent on-field chaos. The developments in sports science and a deeper understanding of the game over time has forced tacticians to move with the times and create new methods  in the way we play the game, just to keep up.

Click to read more ...

Half the World Away

The pre-season tour is a summer ritual that every club takes part in to improve match fitness and to ensure that new additions to the team have a chance to gel with the existing members.

Click to read more ...

The Modric Saga

The most serious piece of business that Tottenham will do this season is regarding the future of one of their own, Luka Modric. This saga, which has already gone on for several weeks, seems as if it will go all the way to September 1^st.

Click to read more ...

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.

Click to read more ...

English Clubs’ Champions League Gamble

There has already been £145,000,000 million spent this summer in the Premier League, with the likes of Phil Jones, David de Gea and Jordan Henderson moving for big money. To put this into perspective, last summer, approximately £400 million was spent in the entire summer of 2011, a figure that falls to around £260 million if you discard the spending of Manchester City, a club who are yet to really get going this summer.

Click to read more ...

Who will be top dogs next May?

With another Premier League season looming over the horizon, the typical question is yet again in hot debate amongst football fans; who will win this season’s domestic title?

Click to read more ...

Financial Un-Fair Play

The footballing aristocracy breathed a sigh of relief when Michel Platini outlined the Financial Fair Play rules for UEFA in these last few years, they were relieved because amongst the pantheon of established footballing giants, other, 'small' clubs managed to poke their heads in, and decided they liked it.

Click to read more ...

Life is still the same for long-life Gradi as he marks 70

Back in the summer of 1983, Dario Gradi was offered a route back into club football management after being cast into the wilderness as a result of failure at Crystal Palace. That June, he embarked on an unbelievable journey that begins its 28^th year at Gresty Road in charge of Crewe Alexandra.

Click to read more ...

How Do Tottenham Get Back In The Top Four

Tottenham Hotspur missed out on a Champions League place for the 2011/2012 season and will surely feel disappointed after their successful run to the quarter finals in the last campaign. So what do Spurs need to do to break back into the top four?

Click to read more ...

Will England’s Under 21 failure have ramifications for our Euro 2012 campaign?

Stuart Pearce’s men went to Denmark after weeks of speculation about whether his squad would be joined by England starlets Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll, in the end they did not and at that point Pearce’s men didn’t stand a chance in hell. Where did England’s young boys lack well, in the centre of midfield and up front… Two positions which they were let down in by the aforementioned boys.

Click to read more ...

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?

Click to read more ...

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.

Click to read more ...

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.

Click to read more ...

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.

Click to read more ...