All posts by h79snht.top

England defender Matthew Upson has played down the divisions that have reportedly ripped Fabio Capello's squad to pieces.

In the wake of the poor display in the 1-1 draw with the USA and dismal fare produced in the grim goalless stalemate with Algeria, rumours spread suggesting the England players were unhappy with Capello's stewardship.

However, West Ham United defender Upson, who comes into the team for the vital match against Slovenia as Jamie Carragher is suspended and Ledley King injured, said:"We were disappointed after the (Algeria) game but we had some spare time the following day in Cape Town and we all went off and had a bit of reflection on what happened.

"But with football, you have to put that behind you and we have to move on to the next game, which comes very quickly.

"You can't dwell and, as a group, we have to move on and I think we've done that. It's out of the system and it's all down to the game on Wednesday.

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"We need to get the best out of ourselves, as individuals and as a team. We need to make sure we're in the right frame of mind, let it flow and let it happen."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

At just under a month away, the start of the Championship season is drawing closer and as ever, it’s going to be a stormer.

As many will tell you, the excitement of the league lies in its unpredictability. Who will go up? Who will go down? Because you don’t get the financial chasms that you see in the Premier League each team is competitive, from those coming up to those coming down. It is a gamblers nightmare, but a treat for the purists.

Last season was a little different, before the August it seemed like Newcastle were going to be clinching the title, and so it proved. But there was still much to keep people interested. Who would have expected Blackpool to gain promotion? Who’d have thought that Ipswich and QPR would under perform and Leicester and Nottingham Forest over perform?

So, who is going to win it this year? Well, according to the bookies Middlesbrough, Forest and Burnley are the favourites, but QPR, Reading, Leicester and Cardiff will have something to say about that. Leeds and Norwich, two big names coming up are sure to be in the mix also. If you asked people to guess next years Premier League top three, I would wager they would be identical. Ask the same people to do the same with the Championship and they’ll all be different.

This year is also going to be interesting for Hull, Portsmouth and Burnley, the relegated three. Burnley have kept their finances in check, so perhaps look best suited to bouncing back, but it won’t be easy. You can get odds of 50/1 for all three to come straight back up, a bet that I certainly will not be backing.

The problem the Championship has is the distance that the Premier League has moved in the last 10 years. Because it is so financially dominant teams that go up struggle to compete, so it is seen as a lesser league, which is simply not true. If I were to put my money where my mouth is I’d take Boro, with the addition of Kris Boyd, to nick the title with Cardiff finishing second. The playoffs? Well, that’s anyones guess!

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Written By Karl Sears

Manchester City have confirmed that out-of-favour striker Craig Bellamy has agreed to join Cardiff City on a season-long loan.

The 31-year-old Wales international has been frozen out of the first-team picture at Eastlands and had been linked with a number of other Premier League clubs, as well as SPL giants Celtic.

However, Bellamy has instead opted to join his hometown club to try and help them realise their dream of reaching the English top-flight.

He recently told reporters:"I've always wanted to play for Cardiff.

"My wife and kids live here and I've missed them for the last five or six years. So that would have more of a pull more than most. I certainly wouldn't rule that out.

"Would I love to get Cardiff into the Premier League? Of course I would, I would have more of an impact doing that than playing 100 games for Wales.

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"For us to move forward as a nation football-wise, we do need a Premier League team to come from Wales, either Swansea or ourselves."

Bellamy joined the Citizens in January 2009 from West Ham United and has since scored 16 goals in 51 appearances.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

‘New season. Same Goal.’ That’s the slogan of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) who have been actively campaigning against the Glazer family regime and their running of the club since 2005. The group set up the popular ‘Green & Gold Campaign’ in February in a bid to unite supporters against the Glazers through mass demonstrations and protests, boycotting season ticket sales and backing the Red Knights takeover bid. The overall goal is to remove the Glazers from power and replace them with owners who have the same vision for the club as the fans. While that goal may be achieved one day, the protest could cause more damage than good if the club’s performances on the pitch start to suffer.

Revolutions are very rarely quiet, peaceful affairs and MUST continued to voice their concerns over the club’s current owners throughout last season’s campaign. However the discontent remains a dark cloud hanging over Old Trafford as United attempt to win back the Premier League trophy from Chelsea. It is certainly not the intention of fans that support the Green & Gold campaign to cause unrest at the club. United supporters simply want to voice their disapproval of how the club is being run under the Americans. Yet when MUST decided on a prolonged, organised and structured campaign against the Glazers they would have been aware of the negative publicity it would create for the club. MUST however believe the end justifies the means and are prepared to publicly boycott the club until the Glazers relinquish their power. Many supporters have swapped their season tickets for semi-professional club FC United and the protest shows no sign of slowing down just yet.

Fans didn’t want the Glazers at the club from the start. The Americans angered fans after they bought the club using high-interest loans secured against the club’s assets. Since the 2005 takeover the club’s debt has increased to over £700m while ticket prices have soared from £487 to £722. United’s fans have every right to be angry and to take a stand against the club’s owners. The green and white scarves and banners, representing the club’s Newton Heath origins, were a visible presence at Old Trafford last season and will again be an embarrassing reminder for the club’s owners of their deep unpopularity amongst United fans this season. Sir Alex Ferguson has publicly backed the Glazers claiming they are doing a brilliant job running the club and have backed him unconditionally in the transfer market.

Manchester United boss Ferguson remains stuck in the middle of the two warring parties and has attempted to act as the peacemaker between the fans and owners. Ferguson understands United supporters’ concerns about the level of debt piled onto the club and a part of him deep down probably agrees with their rebellion against the Glazers. Yet Ferguson has to remain diplomatic when dealing with the issues surrounding the club’s ownership and cannot appear to be backing the fans’ anti-Glazer stance. They do employ him after all. The Scotsman is however worried about the ongoing dispute and has called for fans, players and owners to unite ahead of the new season and back his side.

Ferguson wrote in his programme notes ahead of Newcastle’s Monday night visit to Old Trafford:

“There is one situation that clouds the new season and that is the continued opposition to the Glazer family, our owners.

“I have no problem with the green and gold campaign. Fans are entitled to protest but not, I suggest, to the detriment of the team.

“The fact is that the Glazer family own the club and until such time as they decide they want to sell they will stay regardless of the protest.

“I don’t want United mired in so much controversy that it deflects from winning matches.”

The Scotsman knows the problems off field troubles can bring and has moved to unify supporters ahead of the new campaign. They only have to look at old enemies Liverpool’s dire campaign last season, mired by fall-outs between supporters and the club’s owners. Ferguson remains a step ahead however and his voice of reason will help ease the increasingly tense stand-off at the club. Ferguson is genuinely concerned about the protest and with the owners refusing to enter into discussions over the sale of the club, the saga looks set to roll on for a while yet.

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Ferguson knows his squad must be focused on their goal this season however and that is to win titles.

Theo Walcott insists Arsenal are remaining grounded despite hitting Blackpool for six at the weekend.

Walcott helped himself to a hat-trick in Saturday's 6-0 rout of the newly-promoted side at Emirates Stadium.

But despite an unbeaten start to the new Premier League season, the England winger claims nobody at the north London club is getting ahead of themselves.

The third-placed Gunners finished 11 points adrift of champions Chelsea in last season's final Premier League table.

"We won't get ahead of ourselves with this result," explained Walcott.

"Everyone expected us to beat Blackpool, and fair play to them they came and played a bit of football at times and their fans were loud throughout the whole game, just like ours, so I think they'll do okay this season.

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"We want to be winning these games and the most important thing is how we react to Blackburn next week in an early kick-off.

"They are the games we need to be winning, the games that might have let us down last season so that's where we will show our character."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Roberto Di Matteo hailed the progress West Bromwich Albion have made in a short space of time following Saturday's 3-2 victory over Arsenal.

The Baggies were given a footballing lesson in a 6-0 mailing by Chelsea on their return to the Premier League last month.

However, they have improved since their opening day horror show and Di Matteo claimed they fully deserved their surprise victory at the Emirates Stadium.

Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara and Jerome Thomas fired the visitors into a three-goal lead before the Gunners reduced the deficit in stoppage time.

"We got a hammering at Chelsea and it wasn't a pretty week after that, but we've learned," said Di Matteo.

"We've cut out those mistakes and that gives us a chance to stay in a game and win things.

"We go into games believing we can win. It was the way we won, we were not lucky. We played some tremendous football and defended well too.

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"I would say we deserved it, the way we played, the way we created chances, scored goals and played very well.

"We pressed them very high, we pressed them all over the pitch. We managed not to let them play their usual way and, when we had the ball, we passed it very well and created chances ourselves."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Birmingham City striker Nikola Zigic has laughed off speculation linking him with a January exit.

The giant Serbia striker joined the Blues from Valencia in a £6million deal two months ago.

Zigic has started just two Premier League games after been used mainly off the bench by manager Alex McLeish.

However, he has dismissed reports claiming he could be on his way to Sporting Lisbon when the transfer window reopens in January.

"I was aware of the speculation about Sporting Lisbon and I found it quite amusing," said Zigic.

"But really I am a Birmingham player. I enjoy being here. I am certainly going to try my best for the club and something I want to do is progress my career here.

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"You always get some speculation from other clubs and what have you.

"But I am a Birmingham player, I signed a contract in the summer, I enjoy playing with the boys, we are a good squad and I'm more than happy being here."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Chelsea head coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted that his club are highly motivated to try and reach the Champions League final this season.

Ancelotti was speaking after seeing the Blues reach the knockout stages with a 4-1 win over Spartak Moscow at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea eager to reach the showpiece finale which will be staged at Wembley this season.

The Italian commented:"There will be a long race getting to the final.

"When you reach the first aim, which is to win the group, the next aim is to reach the final and then to win that.

"I don't know if we can do this, but we have a possibility. We have the motivation to do this, but sometimes you have to be lucky also.

"We are working to play the last game at Wembley. In the final.

"It is important to start well and it's still important to finish in first place in this group.

"But I think that the decisive time for the Champions League is in February and March. Then we have to be ready. Now we're in a good moment and we're hoping to avoid injury and keep people fit.

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"Every one of us has motivation. There are a lot of things to think about – a final in London and the fact that no London team has won the Champions League. I think that helps to improve the motivation.

"It is the same for all of us. I'm not English. I'm working for Chelsea and have a particular feeling for this club. If there is a final, it's an extra motivation for everyone, not just the English players."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

For a man that is known to speak a lot of hot air Robbie Savage has come out today and spoke rationally and reasonably. Savage brings our attention to the black clouds currently looming over Newcastle manager Chris Hughton’s head. Hughtons future seems uncertain considering other managers are being linked with his job and the board have only issued a short statement eluding that Hughtons situation will be clarified in the New Year.

Savage proclaims that “Newcastle’s treatment of Chris Hughton is out of order.” I would have to say that I agree with the former Wales international. Newcastle “United are ninth in the table and have scored more goals than anyone outside the top three. Their manager is turning Andy Carroll from a raw-boned kid into a man,” all the while showing real signs that he is the correct man to secure Newcastle’s Premier League status for another season.

The doubt that surrounds Hughton is completely unjustifiable. Hughton has done a fantastic job with United, taking a club that was in total disarray back to the Premier League at the first attempt is know small feat. A quarter of the season has come and gone and United also find themselves in the top half of the league. It seems obscure to think that Hughton is in any danger of losing his job.

Following the teams 4-0 loss to Arsenal in the Carling Cup the United board did release a short statement saying that “Chris is our manager and will remain our manager; it is our intention to renegotiate his contract at the end of the year.” Call me stupid but does this technically just mean that he is effectively being put on a two-month trial for his job. “What a joke. No wonder the bookmakers suspended betting on him being the next Premier League manager to go.”

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This weekend Newcastle host bitter rivals Sunderland at St. James’ Park and it is thought that if the result is not a positive one for Hughton then he faces the axe. It’s a sad state of affairs when a young, gifted manager is sacked after two negative results. Robbie Savage and I are not alone in our thoughts, Steve Bruce Sunderland manager explains that “management, it is never easy, and what he has done at Newcastle, for someone who has never managed a club before, is outstanding.”

Hughton is gaining support right left and centre and as an outsider looking in it would certainly appear that Hughton maybe in the process of being hung out to dry. You would expect that having achieved what he has at Newcastle that common sense would prevail and the softly spoken Londoner would be left to carry on doing a great job. Common sense and football however do not always go hand in hand and you would hope that if Hughton was sadly to lose his job that there would be correct and valid reasons.

If you like what I’ve written why not follow me on Twitter

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Founded in 2002, the Chinatown Soccer Club is a diverse collective united by their passion for soccer. They converge on New York City’s Chinatown year-round in all weather and seasons for friendly morning games before work in downtown Manhattan. The team also happens to be made up of New York’s top cultural and artistic icons. From key editorial photographers to notable NY artists, this is the soccer melting pot for New York’s young “who’s who” crowd with a passion for the sport. A big part of the team is their mysterious leader, a man that trains with them that is simply known as “Kang.” No one on the team seemed to know much about Kang except for rumors about possible healing and magical powers. What was clear was that Kang was a source of inspiration; a mystifying team member that was admired by all. After hearing all about the legend of the Chinatown Soccer Club, we decided to break the language barrier and find out exactly how he became so badass.

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For an insight into the We Are Eleven series check out our interview with producer Santiago Stelley.