Now it has become political. Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen has asked President Nicolas Sarkozy to step in to insist the World Cup qualifier between their two nations be replayed. Mr Cowen has talked of the moral imperative, of the need to demonstrate the primacy of the rule book, of showing young people around the world that cheats do not prosper. And, though such a decision really should be nothing to do with him, Sarkozy probably agrees. Replaying the match would benefit everyone. ...
It is an interesting assessment of their position that France are portrayed by many in the English media as a bunch of hopeless under-achievers. That would be the France who reached the last World Cup final and - while admittedly faring poorly in Portugal - at least qualified for Euro 2008. Unlike some. ...
It is an interesting assessment of their position that France are portrayed by many in the English media as a bunch of hopeless under-achievers. That would be the France who reached the last World Cup final and - while admittedly faring poorly in Portugal - at least qualified for Euro 2008. Unlike some. ...
As team news goes, it was not an announcement that was likely to stir the blood of many a football follower. Apparently Mr A Suit has replaced Lord Blazer on the FA's World Cup advisory steering committee, while Sir Starched Collar has ceased to be an Executive Member of the Sub-Committee (Strategy) and has instead been appointed a full voting member of the main Strategy Sub-Commitee with particular responsibility for advisory steering. ...
Just as England arrive in Doha to play Brazil in a game Sir Alex Ferguson can hardly wait to watch, Manchester City are heading round the Gulf for a touch of Middle Eastern sun this week. They have a series of engagements in Abu Dhabi, where they are being feted by their new owners, paraded like a collection of prize show dogs. ...
Had he been around the American Midwest in the pioneering days of the nineteenth century, Bolton's chairman Phil Gartside would have no doubt appointed himself commander of any wagon trains heading towards the Californian gold rush. At the first hint of a problem - a wheel nut working loose, a horse going lame, a passenger eating a few too many beans for breakfast - he would have had the wagons quickly formed in a circle, the better to repel any attackers real or imagined. ...
Last night Didier Drogba showed what an asset he is to Chelsea. Currently the second best centre forward in the world after Fernando Torres, he was magnificent away at Atletico, personally securing Chelsea's qualification to the knock-out stage of the Champions League with two typically robust, muscular goals. It was apt pay-back for the suspension he earned himself with his comedy perfortmance after last season's semi final. ...
Marlon King claimed in court this week that he hadn't assaulted a 20 year old student in a night club, breaking her nose after she rejected his clumsy advances. It was, he said, a case of mistaken identity. If so, it wasn't the first time he had been involved in a such an error. For a start, there was the time Stve Bruce paid £3million for him in the belief he was a Premier League striker. Clearly it was someone else Bruce was thinking of. King's case was particularly shocking. ...
There is something magnificently perverse about Arsene Wenger, a brilliant contrariness which gets more marked as he reaches an age where he will be gifted his free bus pass. His latest revelation is that he would not be the man - or indeed the manager - he is today were it not for his upbringing in an Alsatian pub. ...
Rafa Benitez may have pronounced himself mystified. Long-term Liverpool watchers like Iain St John might have wondered aloud if they had ever seen a worse performance from their team than that in the first half against Fiorentina last night. The Florence side's coach Cesare Prandelli might have added to the growing sense that the sharpest tactical minds in the game are those emanating from Italy. ...
Phil Brown rescued a woman this week. She was alone on the Humber Bridge, looking down into the swirling waters below, contemplating suicide. Brown was up there taking his squad for a bonding walk when he saw her. And he sweet-talked her out of it. Though he didn't have to do much talking. Apparently from the moment she saw Brown and his squad it dawned on her: she realised that, no matter how bad things get in life, there is always someone worse off than you. ...
If you are one of the boundary-pushing million to have signed up for internet coverage of England's game in Ukraine, and assuming you have a broadband connection sufficiently substantial to cope with buffering and disconnects, and assuming you haven't been unplugged by aggrieved junior members of the family anxious to get back to poking their friends, then you are in for an unexpected treat. ...
So would you miss them? Would, in your opinion, the tournament be reduced by their absence? Or are you so one-eyed in your affection for England the fewer obstacles in their way the better? The fact is, if things do not go their way over the next few days, there is a very real chance the World Cup will kick off next June without the participation of the two finest current protagonists in the world game. ...
Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor are likely to start for England against Belarus this evening, with both Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon beetling down the flanks. Rightly so. If Fabio Capello's expressed managerial intention to pick his England team on form rather than reputation is to have any meaning, then they must get their chance once proper circumstances allow. ...
For most clubs in the Premier League, a visit to Blackburn would represent the trip least likely to excite the masses. Most fans scour the fixture list when it is printed to check out the date of visits to Old Trafford, Anfield, the Emirates and possibly this season, that home of the new Harlem Globetrotters, the Blue Camp, the City of Manchester stadium. ...
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