bmd16

Many Chelsea fans must be wondering whether this is the end of the line for Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge, with Andre Villas Boas saying he will “do what is best for the team”. The midfielder seemed to suffer a dip in form last season, which coincided with several injury problems, including a hernia issue which required surgery. It was no coincidence that Chelsea’s bright early-season start fell away as Lampard was absent, although the midfielder still managed to chip in with 12 goals... Read Full Story

This season’s Europa League has so far been an exciting affair – although the best is yet to come. With 48 teams remaining in the competition, there is still a long way to go to see who will be crowned the UEFA Europa League champions of the 2011/12 season. In this particular article I will give the 2 teams I feel have the greatest chance to get to this year’s Europa League final. The first, and the highest skilled team, has to be the Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur. The Europa League... Read Full Story

Manchester City midfielder Owen Hargreaves says he is delighted that he is now back in the game after a three year injury nightmare. Hargreaves made his debut for new club Manchester City on Wednesday night, opening the scoring in their 2-0 Carling Cup win over Birmingham. Those following the on-line betting will have been impressed. Hargreaves lasted just short of an hour by boss Roberto Mancini who is understood to want to keep the former Bayern Munich man fresh as he seems him as a... Read Full Story

Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has admitted he is thinking about his future in football and whether he will remain a Blues player. The Stamford Bridge manager Andre Villas-Boas has revealed the striker looks set to leave the London outfit when his contract expires at the end of the current Premier League campaign. Anelka is battling in competitive attacking line-up with the likes of Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku all vying for a place in the starting XI... Read Full Story

On a cloudy day in mid-April, Owen Coyle led his Bolton team out at Wembley to play Stoke in the FA Cup semi-final. The match was to be the culmination of eight months steady progress under the Scot, who by then was one of the division’s most highly-rated managers. Most people who bet on the FA Cup had tipped the Lancashire club to reach their first final in 50 years. But the performance of the players failed to live up to the occasions and the manner in which they crumbled to a 5-0 defeat... Read Full Story

Steven Gerrard. Remember him? That question isn’t quite as foolish as it comes across. There would surely have been more than a few Premier League (and non-Liverpool) fans across the country this week who were just a little surprised to see the name of the great man hitting the sport pages once again after the Englishman’s six month absence from the game. After all, this is a man who was once deemed so crucial to Liverpool that the team’s odds to win a game would immediately plummet if team... Read Full Story

Ian Holloway is a man who likes to come across as being a little bit different. You could tell that from listening to just two minutes of the average press conference he gave last season while Blackpool were in the Premier League. Now, though, Holloway has arguably turned from a man with a tendency to come across as slightly strange, to one who may be putting at risk the long-term stability of the club he manages. This judgment comes on the back of just one piece of news, and that is the... Read Full Story

The Carling Cup was the first trophy Jose Mourinho won as Chelsea boss, so should Andre Villas-Boas attempt to copy suit to ensure his place in Blues history? Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge in June 2004 and secured his first trophy by winning at the Millennium Stadium against Liverpool 3–2, a game in which the Portuguese boss caused controversy by putting his finger to his mouth in the direction of Liverpool fans who have previously taunted him. Those following the Carling Cup betting... Read Full Story

With the frustration of burning injustice still raging in their minds, Craig Levein’s Scotland managed to re-capture enough focus to beat Lithuania and keep their Euro 2012 hopes alive. It was suitably damp and dark night in Glasgow, not befitting most people’s image of early September, but one that perhaps reflected the mood among the supporters who watch football live at Hampden after a vital win over the Czech Republic was snatched away from them thanks to Jan Rezek’s dive and referee... Read Full Story

When the news broke this summer that Alex McLeish was set to leave recently-relegated Birmingham City to move across the city to take over the reins at Villa Park, there was anger amongst both camps of fans. The City supporters felt that McLeish owed them at least one more season to get them back into the Premier League; the Villa fans felt that having failed in the top-flight with their biggest rivals, McLeish had some penance to pay. But as things have transpired, McLeish seems to fit... Read Full Story