theflatbackfour

When Steve Bruce ended his playing career, everyone seem to know that the next logical step for him was to have a career in club management. His no-nonsense and inspirational defender's display was supposed to provide a springboard for him to inspire, motivate and drive a club forwards as manager. Even when other former players are finding the transition to club managers difficult, Steve Bruce has proven himself to be a very good Premiership-level manager. Over the past ten years, Bruce has... Read Full Story

I had been waiting and waiting for Rafael Van der Vaart to grace the English Premier League stage but the wait kept getting more and more frustrating. The reason? Well, I wanted to feature Sylvie Van der Vaart, Rafael's wife. She is THE WAG of all WAGs. See for yourself in this video by Vuicy.com . And she looks real happy in Spain in this video by sporTVyou when Rafael signed for Real Madrid. Will the Dutch equivalent of The Beckhams ever show up in a Premiership club? I hope so, a super... Read Full Story

In his second match for the North Queensland Fury, Robbie Fowler showed that even in the twilight of his career, he has not lost a single bit of his agility when it really mattered. What was truly amazing about this ninja kick was that it went unpunished. I checked officially and Fowler did not even get a yellow card. The stuff of legends! Here is the video of that ninja kick taken from Footy Blog . Fowler now captains North Queensland Fury and they are currently lying last in the A-League... Read Full Story

Athletic Bilbao’s 16-year-old forward Iker Muniain became the youngest scorer in La Liga when he earned them a point in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Real Valladolid. Muniain, who turns 17 in December and was a second-half substitute, picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area in the 77th minute and his snap shot was good enough to beat Jacobo Sanz in the Valladolid goal for the second equalizer. That goal made him the youngest goalscorer in La Liga, at 16 years 289 days. Iker Muniain has been... Read Full Story

Beleaguered French boss, Raymond Domenech is questioned widely in the French football circles for his tactics and abilities to guide France to the World Cup Finals in 2010. France is struggling to reach the Finals and may have to go through the ordeal of a play-off to get to South Africa. Though vilified by fans and players, one person remain an ardent admirer of the French national team manager. Her name is Catherine Ringer and she has immortalised Domenech by penning a song about him in... Read Full Story

Argentina boss, Diego Maradona in his desperation has called up Martin Palermo into his Argentine squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Peru and Uruguay. The last time Palermo was called up was ten years ago, when he was 25. To say this is a waste of national caps may be too judgemental but I would have thought that there could be better alternatives to Palermo as replacement for the injured Diego Milito. Even then, Martin Palermo is a larger-than-life personality and perhaps that... Read Full Story

Oh how different one week makes...last week's review had me raving about Liverpool's form and their attacking potency, I then had the displeasure of watching Liverpool lose in the Champions League against Fiorentina and the gut-wrenching loss to Chelsea, the team I disliked the most. The media is already writing off Liverpool's chances but I will defer my opinions until after the Christmas/New Year matches. You see, Liverpool typically have a stronger second half of the season and besides... Read Full Story

Israel have produced wonderful midfielders over the years...Avi Cohen, Ronnie Rosenthal, Eyal Berkovic and Yossi Benayoun. After four matches and three goals for Bolton, you can add Tamir Cohen onto that list. Tamir Cohen joined Bolton in January 2008 for a mere fee of £37,000 from Maccabi Netanya. He was Gary Megson's first signing to try and add depth to a then thin midfield squad. Since joining Bolton, he has struggled with injury and has played in bits and pieces for Bolton until this... Read Full Story

After the away defeat against Manchester City, Zola had stated that the team including himself will have to bring the thunder back. This basically means that the players must show desire, motivation and fighting spirit if West Ham are to start winning again. If the Manchester City loss can be considered an "acceptable defeat", then this weekend's match against Fulham is rightly labelled as "the Cup final". Personally, I doubt it's as serious as that but for sure, a win looks vital even at... Read Full Story

As Liverpool prepares for the trip to Stamford Bridge to face arch rivals Chelsea in Sunday's Premiership match, it would be fair to think of Chelsea as the favourites. Considering that Liverpool had a terrible European night losing to Fiorentina, they would want to put things right against Chelsea. The Blues also have the added incentive of putting the Wigan defeat to rest and will hope to rise to the occasion. Since this will be played at the Bridge, Chelsea should start as slight... Read Full Story