The best football stuff this month... |
16 Scottish football legends have weighed into political territory by taking out adverts in
Scotland's tabloids arguing against the break up of the UK. This comes as the Scottish
National Party looks increasingly likely to be the largest party in May's Scottish parliament
elections. The legends, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Alex McLeish and the thinking woman's
Jeremy Paxman, Ally McCoist, state in the ads that they see no difficulty in being a
patriotic Scot and part of the UK. We can't wait for the next UK elections. A penny for
the thoughts of Kieron Dyer on the NHS IT cost overrun? Or Lee Bowyer on climate change?
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Sad news for the footballing world as it loses one of it's great characters, Alan Ball,
who died of a heart attack, aged only 61. The original midfield dynamo, Alan Ball was
part of the great Everton midfield trio alongside Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey, but was
most famous for the part he played in England's finest hour - the world cup triumph of '66.
In honour of a genuine football legend, we have
compiled a list of our
top 20 footballing Alans .
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Better news for the Gooners - the Queen's a fan, it's official ! Well, according to the Sun
Cesc Fabregas it's official, with the young Spaniard reported as telling the paper
"she told us she was an Arsenal fan. She appeared to definitely know who I was and
we exchanged a few special words". The paper follows it up with a quote from a senior royal
source claiming "Her Majesty has been fond of Arsenal for over 50 years. Her late mother
was a self-confessed Gooner, due largely to her admiration of their former player Denis Compton".
Her Maj has been added to our list of
celeb fans. Click here for the rest of the list.
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One of English football's highest profile directors, Arsenal's David Dein, leaves the club
with chairman Peter Hill Wood saying there were "irreconcilable differences between Mr Dein
and the rest of the Arsenal board". The differences are believed to relate to recent moves by
American billionaire Stan Kroenke to buy shares in the club, something Hill Wood has exclaimed
his horror at.
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FC Porto's Alan Osorio da Costa Silva tops our list of the most un-Brazilian named Brazilian
footballers, if that makes sense. To see the others,
click here.
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Lionel Messi scores a goal of Maradona-esque quality, albeit on a lesser stage, in the
club's Copa Del rey semi-final against Getafe.
Click here
to see it.
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There's a new entry in our
Fancy That ! section, as we discover
10 Surprising facts about Lee Bowyer .
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Argentina last just one month at the top of FIFA's rankings as they swap places with Italy
again and return to number 2. England drop down to 8th place, probably still too high after
the recent debacles.
To see the latest list
click here.
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The joint Poland and Ukraine bid beats off competition from favourites Italy and another joint
bid from Hungary and Croatia to land the 2012 Euro Championships. Well, Michel Platini implied
that he was going to mix things up a bit for the big boys, and it looks like he's keeping
his word.
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Sick and tired of Hearts being the only club in Edinburgh who conduct their business with
less decorum than a chimps tea party, Hibernian have decided to start falling out with each other.
A delegation of 'senior pros' went to see chairman Rod Petrie when manager John Collins was
out of the country to complain about the training regime, Collins' supposed aloof attitude
and the lumpy custard at the training ground canteen. Following Collins' return he undertook
a bizarre and widely derided press conference with assistant Tommy Craig, who provided
whispered prompts whilst pretending to eat a pear. With this PR triumph behind them Hibs
failed to beat SPL bottom club Dunfermline in a Scottish Cup semi final. On Monday the players
issued an apology for the turmoil, but this one will probably rumble on to the summer.
Or at least until Hearts' bonkers owner Vladimir Romanov wakes up from his sedation and does
something preposterous.
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Valencia 2:0 Sevilla. Cracking game at the Mestalla sees a David Villa brace give Valencia the
points against 2nd place Sevilla. Elsewhere in La Liga, a last minute own goal from Real
Mallorca hands Barca an undeserved 3 points and leaves the Catalan giants 4 points clear at the
top of the table. Real Madrid lose 2:1 at Racing Santander whilst Hristo Stoichkov enjoys his
1st game in charge of Celta Vigo when a goal from Brazilian striker Baiano gives them a 1:0
victory over local rivals Deportivo La Coruna.
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It's a big thumbs up from MD to new UEFA president Michel Platini as he prepares to shift
the European trophy presentations back into the stands rather than the current on-pitch
ceremonies. Expect much protesting from the media companies who have been handing over the
cash for the tv-rights and who like to see the players huddles together amidst the
fireworks and chaos as the cups are lifted.
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FA Cup Semi-Finals. As expected, it's going to be a clash of the heavyweights at the new
Wembley after Man Utd crush Watford 4:1 and Chelsea beat Blackburn 2:1 in extra-time. Jose
Mourinho and Roman Abramovich apparently embrace with the sheer joy of it, whilst rumours
abound that Sir Fergie and Chelsea counterpart text each other with messages of celebration.
MD wonders if they use text-speak like U WER GR8 and CUL8R M8 4 SUM WINE.
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Inter Milan 2:2 Palermo. Inter maintain their unbeaten season-long run in Serie A as
they share 4 goals with Palermo, moving them to with one win of the Scudetto.
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New section added to midfielddynamo -
Fancy That ! , the section will feature weird
and wonderful facts from the world of football, starting with
10 Surprising facts about Graeme Le Saux .
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Fulham sack Chris Coleman and temporarily appoint Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez until
the end of the season. A bit harsh on Coleman who has done a fantastic job keeping Fulham in
the Premiership, but Fulham's own prawn sandwich brigade have been having their say from the
stands and have now got their way.
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Man Utd 7:1 Roma. An incredible result from Old Trafford, especially with all the off-field
shenanigans going off. How many times has an Italian defence been whalloped with 7 goals ?
And there were some cracking goals as well. With the exception of Ronaldo, its
basically a British team, so why the hell cant any of the British national teams play
like this ?
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Romario, still seeking 'that goal', hits back at Vasco team-mate Amaral, after he complained
that all the media attention was affecting the team. "If responsibility is a problem then he
should go and play for a smaller club", said Romario, who is now sitting out away games in the
hope that he scores goal number 1000 at the Maracana.
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Michael Owen returns, and scores, for Newcastle in a friendly against Gretna. He plays for
just under 60 minutes and survives without pain. With Newcastle have nothing else to really
play for this season, surely they wont rush him back into the first team ?
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More controversy surrounding English referee Graham Poll, this time following Charlton's 0:0
draw with Reading. It's claimed that Charlton gaffer Alan Pardew spoke to Poll at half-time and
asked him to let him know if Alexandre Song was close to a 2nd yellow card. Pardew later subbed
Song after Poll 'gave him a look' during the game. Expect a rant and a whinge from Neil Warnock
the next time Poll refs one of his games.
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The much criticized Hristo Stoichkov resigns as Bulgaria's national manager and takes over the
reigns at Spanish club Celta Vigo.
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It's back to the bad old days in Europe as trouble explodes at the Roma:Man Utd game and then
the Sevilla:Spurs game. The trouble overshadows a fine 3:0 win for Liverpool at PSV, which should
be enough to book their place in the semi against either Chelsea or Valencia.
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A stag do in Barcelona for one of the md boys means a trip to the Barcelona v Deportivo
match, an awesome Nou Camp stadium tour, and, rather worryingly, the sight of his
brother-in-law in a dress. And loving it! A review of the match, Nou Camp tour and
www.footballencounters.co.uk
(who the match tickets and hotel were booked through) will appear in the
matches and
stadia
sections during April.
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Romario, who seems like he's been stuck on 999 goals since Christmas, fails to score in
Vasco de Gama's Copa Brasil match against a lower league team, leaving him still waiting. At least
he's had plenty of time to prepare his goal celebration.
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John Arne Riise, reputedly on around 50 grand a week, is declared bankrupt by Liverpool County
Court. Now we're not too sure what Norwegians are into, is it wood and herrings ? but 50k a
week would buy you a hell of a lot of it.
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FA Youth Cup Man Utd 4:2 Arsenal. Ok, so Arsenal lose an FA Youth Cup semi-final to Man Utd,
what's notable about that ? Well, Arsenal had 9, that's NINE, UK born players in the team.
No wonder they lost.
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JP Trophy Bristol Rovers 2:3 Doncaster Rovers. The battle of the Rovers - what a last game at
Cardiff. And nearly 60,000 watching it ! Incredible. Only in England could you get a 3rd tier
side playing a 4th tier side in front of a crowd like that.
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Bayern Munich 2:0 Schalke 04. Comfortable win for Bayern against the league leaders, the
notable thing about this game was that Oliver Kahn had one of his regular `moments' but only
got booked. In a classic split-second of rage, the great lumbering oaf took exception to being
challenged at a corner and wrestled Schalke forward Larsen to the ground. The best bit was that
in the middle of the fall he 'd realised he was in trouble and by the time the Dane hit the
pitch, Khan was already apologising. "It was more of an embrace, than a punch", chortled
Ottmar Hitzfeld afterwards.
Click here
to see the crazy fool in action.
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What we've listened to... |
| Keith Richards |
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Ok, so its not an album review, or anything to do with his music, but this news about
Keith Richards 'snorting' his dad's ashes deserves a quick mention. And Robbie Williams
thinks he's rock and roll.
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TV stuff... |
| The Peep Show (C4) |
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Our favourite current sitcom continues. It's doubtful whether any episode will manage to top the opener where
Jeremy and Mark 'help' his prospective father in law burn down the neighbour's barn. The neighbour who is
sleeping with said father in laws wife, who has also slept with Jeremy. As funny as any sitcom produced
this decade, Peep Show shows no sign's of flagging in its 4th series. One minor criticism has been the
lack of any Super Hans appearances thus far. If this isn't making any sense at all, start buying the DVD's.
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| Dead Ringers (BBC2) |
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As always with this show there are some great laugh-out-loud moments. At least 75% of it
is top notch stuff.
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Films we've watched... |
| Inland Empire (Cinema) |
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I'm sure some people will give this a 5 out 5 or a 10 out of 10, but after a hard week at
work I was needing something easy going, one thing I wouldn't describe this film as.
It's by David Lynch and if you've seen some of his other stuff (e.g. Mulholland Drive)
and struggled with it then this could drive you barmy. Its 3 hours of strangeness, with
characters changing into different characters, and time swapping around here and there
as the film dives in and out of strange little worlds. It would have probably made
more sense after several large glasses of Erdinger. Might watch it again on DVD and
re-review it.
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Books read... |
| Peter Swan: Setting the Record Straight |
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This is an excellent book, charting the life of the classy centre-half, best known for his
part in the infamous Sheffield Wednesday match-betting scandal of the early 60's.
Sent to prison and banned from football for life, as you read the book you cant help feeling
sympathy for the guy, who was an England regular at the time and would have been in his
footballing prime at the time of the 1966 World Cup. Its a really interesting book, and it
highlights how easy the modern-day footballer has it in comparison. For anyone who's recently
started to think that Neil Warnock is acually not as bad as everyone makes out, look out for a
bit towards the end of the book, where Swan goes to a benefit dinner for a former Sheff Utd
player. Without ruining it, lets just say that you'll probably start disliking him again.
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Previous month's stuff... |
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| March |
| February |
| January |
| December 2006 |
| November 2006 |
| October 2006 |
| September 2006 |
| August 2006 |
| July 2006 |
| June 2006 |
| May 2006 |
| April 2006 |
| March 2006 |
| February 2006 |
| January 2006 |
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| From the International Leagues |
| Name: | Marcelo |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Club: | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| Age: | 18 (12-05-1988) |
| Position: | Left Back |
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Attacking left back with a powerful shot, the inevitable comparisons with Roberto Carlos
have already been made, and only increased when Real Madrid paid Fluminense 6m Euros for him
in January. Talented, but temperamental, the 18 year old had played less than 30 games for
Fluminense last September when he made his international debut against Wales, and
celebrated the call-up by crashing a 25 yarder past Paul Jones.
Like that other fantastic Brazilian full-back Daniel Alves on the right-side, Marcelo
can dribble like a winger and has been tipped for a more advanced role in the future.
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| From the British Leagues |
| Name: | Martin Cranie |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Southampton |
| Age: | 20 (23-09-1986) |
| Position: | Right Back |
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A member of the Southampton team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005, he is also a member
of the England U20 team. Cranie, along with fellow full back Gareth Bale, has been tipped for big things
by manager George Burley.
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