Together. Diving. We Stand

“It’s a man’s game”. Yeah right! Do we really want this to be the slogan of the FA? For one thing the women’s game is growing and should be given all the financial backing that can be thrown at it so it can continue to grow.

Click to read more ...

Wenger must go?

You could also argue that he has changed the youth system at the club and give it 3 or 4 years and Arsenal will be atop the league with an average age of 13. How often though have you heard that with Arsenal? For years and years I have heard that amazing players will come through and dominate the team but since then Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are the only key players to emerge from the youth setup.

Click to read more ...

Football works in mysterious ways

Two stories have gathered momentum during this early part of a breezy, cold and grey week: An alleged e-mail sent from Manchester City CEO Garry Cook to a City player’s cancer suffering mother, and a fallacy relating to Steed Malbranque retiring from the game to care for his ‘ill son’.

Click to read more ...

Transfer window winners and losers

Slam; that’s the sound of the transfer window shutting for another six months leaving Jim White, Dharmesh Sheth, Andy Burton, David Craig and all the rest in need of a good lie down. Perhaps later they’re decide to drop their “sources” who gave out as much misleading information as a broken compass.

Click to read more ...

The Mystery of Transfer Deadline Day

31^st of August and 31^st January are two days each year which could easily gain national holiday status. Across the country men and women of all ages are gripped from the minute they wake up till the minute they go to sleep by the transfer deadline day saga. All PCs, televisions and phones are tuned into Sky Sports News showing live updates with a dramatic aura.

Click to read more ...

Whatever happened to…centre forwards playing at centre half

Tactical innovation happens all the time without one even noticing it as it is all about organic growth; refinement and tinkering to come up with the optimum set-up for a team.

Click to read more ...

Liverpool must improve

The beginning of a new season of expectation. Champions League qualification? Easy, they said. King Kenny is the man. Top four? Champions, they enthused. And so it came to pass. The reds of Liverpool came out, all guns blazing, quick passing, plenty of movement and attacking intent. Certainly in the first half, Liverpool raised the bar. Unfortunately not the cross bar. If they had the score would have been 3-0 at half time. If's and but’s. Small words with big meanings.

Click to read more ...

Premiership Review S - W

Having attracted much praise during their relatively brief stay in the Championship for their free-flowing style of football under the tutelage of three different young managers, Swansea City finally achieved their top flight dream last season via the play-off lottery.

Click to read more ...

Premiership Review N - S

On the face of it, Newcastle’s pre-season looks like an unmitigated disaster.  Their captain has been sold, other star performers have vented their frustrations at the way the club in run on Twitter as well as three players being refused entry to the USA for the pre-season tour.  Not exactly what you call plain sailing.

Click to read more ...

Liverpool Revolution?

It’s been quite a season for those associated with Liverpool Football Club. In October, new owners were brought in to try and stabilise the rocking ship that was once a dominant force across Europe, while in January, fans witnessed the return of a club legend, to take the place of Liverpool’s shortest serving manager.

Click to read more ...

Experienced Defenders Join Black Cat Revolution

These are exciting times on Wearside, with Wes Brown and John O’Shea becoming Sunderland’s eighth and ninth summer signings.

Click to read more ...

Bargains So Far

You never know if a transfer will come off. There have been so many flops and so many bargains every single season. So, here is my attempt at picking out some of the best buys so far.

Click to read more ...

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.

Click to read more ...

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.

Click to read more ...

Can Connor Cut It

Last week Sunderland won the race to sign highly-rated 18 year-old Ipswich Town striker Connor Wickham. The Black Cats saw off interest from Premier League giants Liverpool, who Wickham has supported all his life, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal to secure the teenage sensation’s signature.

Click to read more ...