QPR Win "Double" By Gaining Promotion as Champions and Avoiding Points Reduction

QPR achieved something of a "double" yesterday when the won promotion to the Premier League as champions of the Championship but also avoided a points reduction despite being found guilty of breaking transfer rules by the FA.

Having found the club in the wrong in two of the seven charges brought against them, fans of the club then breathed a sigh of relief as the FA decided that an £875,000 fine was punishment enough and that a points reduction was not needed in this case.

Village Football President Banned by the FFF after Audacious Bid For Lionel Messi

The President of a French village side has been suspended for six months by the French Football Federation after he launched an incredible bid to bring none other than Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi to his club!

Cedric Enjolras, otherwise known as President Buch, decided to make the audacious bid for the little Argentinean after a few drinks with friends one evening. The President, who describes himself as handsome as a god, mounted like a horse, as smart as Einstein and a hero like Messi, obviously thought that the FFF would see the funny side.

Unfortunately, they did not and promptly banned him for six months.

Tottenham Hotspur Beats AC MIlan to Qualify For Champions League Quarter Finals

Tottenham Hotspur are through to the Last Eight of the Champions League after drawing with AC Milan at White Hart Lane tonight. The Lilywhites, 1-0 up after beating the Rosseneri at the San Siro, held their austere counterparts to a 0-0 and are now just four games from a scarcely believable Wembley final.

Barcelona Move For Cesc Fabregas and David Villa Leaving The Door Open For Arsenal To Move For Ibrahimovic or Toure

Barcelona are on the verge of a sensational double signing after the Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas told Arsene Wenger that he wanted to return to his spiritual home. The Catalan side have now opened talks with the adviser's of Fabregas and David Villa over proposed moves to the Nou Camp, while Barca also made it known that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has an escape clause in his contract if an English Premier League team places a bid for him.

The highly ambitious move to sign two of Spain's best players came mere hours after Barca claimed their 20th La Liga title with a record 99 points. It is believed the transfers were sparked byLa Blaugrana's exit from the Champions League at the hands of Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan side.

Ibrahimovic was widely criticised for his lack of effort in the Champions League games against Arsenal and Inter Milan where statisticians were able to point out that at the Emirates he ran for only 450m when the average is over 10,000m and that against Inter Milan Victor Valdes, the Barca 'keeper, actually ran further than the striker.

From then on, the giant Swede found himself on the bench and was little more than a spectator as La Blaugrana closed in on the title.

Ibrahimovic was supposed to be "Plan B" if their fluid passing game did not work. However, his shocking performances against Inter Milan left Pep Guardiola, Barcelona's manager, highly unhappy, especially as he had paid Samuel Eto'o plus £47 million for his strikers services.

This defeat to Inter has caused Guardiola to move quickly in an effort at re-building his team with winning the Champions League in mind.

When their backs were against the wall against the 10-men of Inter Milan Barcelona struggled to create anything of real note. Having been robbed of the sublime Andres Iniesta through injury all Inter Milan had to do was shut Xavi out of the game, with the Spanish international in shackles the supply route to Lionel Messi was effectively shut off.

Cesc Fabregas' signing would repair this immediately. The Arsenal midfielder weighed in with a highly impressive 19 goals and 19 assists before his season was ended with injury, somewhat ironically against Barcelona which could turn out to have been his last game in the red and white of the Gunners .

The ties between Fabregas and the Catalan side are well known and it is generally accepted that it is only a matter of time before he returns to the team where he began his career. Such is Fabregas' stock in Catalunia that the youth side he played for is still referred to as the dream team or class of '87.

Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi who have progressed to the first team are also noteworthy graduates from the conveyor belt at La Masia.

David Villa's move to the Camp Nou makes a lot of sense when you realise that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is unwanted by Guardiola. He is probably the best striker in the world at the moment and is one of the first names on the team sheet for Spain.

He was on the verge of a move away from Valencia last year but chose to stay and help the Mestalla based team to finish a highly impressive third in La Liga this season, and in effect has secured the financial future of the club.

The 28 year old has been in blistering form for Valencia over the last five seasons, scoring 108 goals in just 168 league games and is only moving into his prime now. At a believed £30 million he would be a far cheaper and better option than Barcelona's Plan B, the injury prone £50m rated Fernando Torres.

His signing will prompt Barca to offload Ibrahimovic. La Blaugrana have just announced that the Swede has an escape clause in his contract whereby he can be sold to a team in the English Premier League if they agree to pay a certain fee for the player, clubs in Italy or Germany would have to pay far more.

With that in mind, Ibrahimovic could become a pawn in the transfer of Fabregas if Barcelona can convince Arsene Wenger to take the striker.

It could be a good option for the Gunners who really struggled for goals when the injury prone Robin van Persie missed almost half the season with ankle problems.

The Dutch striker only averages 25 games a season at the Emirates and Wenger could look at the extra options Ibrahimovic could bring.

Marouane Chamakh will join the club on a free transfer from Bourdeaux, but he is more a right sided forward than the central figure the club require. Van Persie naturally drifts out to the left so a triumvirate with Ibrahimovic at it's centre could be highly attractive to Le Prof, especially if he is also given another £20million to £30 million for Fabregas. This would enable him to replace his captain immediately and with a player at almost the same standard.

However, the most likely situation to occur will be Barcelona offering Yaya Toure plus money for Fabregas' signature, but that could depend upon whether the Ivorian wants to leave or not.

The next couple of weeks will be crucial to Fabregas and Villa. Outgoing President Joan Laporta has told the fans he wishes to leave them a parting gift; Fabregas? The incoming candidates have all focused on either Villa or Torres as the centre piece of their campaigns and with Real Madrid expected to bring in a new manager, possibly Rafael Benitez , and spend another fortune La Blaugrana have made the first move.

The World Cup has yet to start and already the summer is shaping up to be one to remember.

KPMG; Liverpool FC On The Verge Of Administration After Massive Rise In Debt

The season that just keeps kicking gave Liverpool and it's many fans the worst news imaginable after it emerged that the club have sunk deeper into debt . Yesterday's financial report from Kop Holdings revealed a record loss of £54.9 million over the course of the last season meaning that the clubs total debt now stands at £472.5 million.

Accounts for the club's holding company for the year ending in July 2009 show spiralling interest payments of £40m, wages breaking the £100m-a-season barrier, a record loss of £54.9m and an increase in the club's debt of £51.5m.

At the end of last season, after a record profit of £10 million, Liverpool's debt stood at £350m. Urgent negotiations with RBS and a refinancing of the loan reduced the deficit to £237 million, and the British Government owned bank are now expected to come back and seek their money.

Liverpool now stand £351m (net) in the red. Some £233m of that is owed to the British government-owned RBS and the US investment bank Wachovia, while another £144.4m is owed to Hicks and Gillett's parent company, Kop Cayman.

KPMG were brought in as financial auditors to survey the wreckage on show at the Anfield based club.
They found that Liverpool's debt had grown but, just as alarming, also found that Kop Holdings were also in debt for £42.6 million.

KPMG had warned Kop Football Ltd of the "material uncertainty" of their product. In other words, should Liverpool fail to bring the EPL trophy or the Champions League trophy home in the 2009/10, then the debt would increase substantially, as there would not be any monies available to pay off their debt.

With the current findings we can see that that is exactly what has happened to the once great club.

Liverpool have until the end of July to pay RBS and Wachovia their debt, but this looks increasingly unlikely. Already ahead of the curve, the EPL and UEFA summoned new Chairman Martin Broughton to their headquarters to discuss Liverpool's participation in in their respective tournaments next year.

Their greatest fear being that the now Government owned bank will have no where near the level of sympathy for the club that they had last year. RBS restructured their core business after the EU allowed to company to redesign itself after the biggest tax payer bail out in Europe during the financial crisis, some £100 billion.

The EU’s top competition enforcer, Neelie Kroes, warned that if the bank failed to meet 2013 targets to restore healthy, natural order to its balance sheet, her successor Joaquin Almunia would not hesitate to take fresh action.

The fact that the goalposts have now shifted for RBS means that the bank will almost definitely come looking for Liverpool to repay their debt. There is no sympathy for football clubs who spend beyond their means in the current climate and Liverpool will do well to garner support from political parties because their debt is essentially tax payer money.

Broughton has been quick to talk of the proposed £81 million four year sponsorship deal with Standard Charter and how it will help to reduce the debt. However, it would now seem that the level of sponsorship depends upon Liverpool's success during that period.

One theory on Broughton's role thar has begun to surface is that his appointment to the role of Chairman is only window dressing to appease RBS, to make it look as if the club are actively looking to reduce their debts, but are in actual fact threading water with no serious buyers on the horizon.

This would seem to go with the EPL's recent talks with Broughton about their commitment to meet every fixture next season.

"I expect to be chairman until we sell, so a matter of months,” Broughton said. “There’s no fixed price, there’s no agreed price — it’s a willing buyer, willing seller trade. We have willing sellers and there are willing buyers out there — that will determine the price," which all sounds a little bit desperate.

With the club now losing £110,000 a day through interest alone it looks as if Broughton, RBS, and the UK Government will have much to discuss over the next two months.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia have been forcing Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to move Liverpool’s borrowings away from them and on to Hicks' Cayman Islands-listed parent company, Kop Cayman.

Many fans rejoiced last year when Liverpool appeared to reduce their bank loan from £350 million to £290 million, but that was only because their offshore parent company increased its loan to the club by £86.2 million to £144.4 million. That loan, on which Liverpool has to pay 10 per cent interest, is likely to have increased over the last 12 months, explaining these new devastating figures.

Only this week Rafael Benitez eventually agreed to meet Martin Broughton about the Spaniard's future at the club. There has been a huge amount of speculation about his future role at the club, with stories emanating from Italy every day with new links to Juventus.

Benitez has played a polital chess game with Hicks and Gillett in the corridors of power at Anfield and he has become part of the fabric at the club with his people in virtually every position of power regarding the football side of the club.

He has called upon the owners to lavish him with money, or he will leave. He has told them not to sell Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard, or he will leave. Rafa knows the club lies on the edge of a financial precipice and has made demands that he knows sound impossible given the level of debt.

During his six years at the club he has spent some £210 million on 49 players whilst bringing in some £125 million for 80 players.

With the news that Rafa is now saying he needs at least six new players to challenge for fourth it would seem that Rafa has spent quite poorly over his time in charge. To say he needs six players for a decent team after six years in charge in nothing short of Benitez admitting wasting Liverpool's money.

The biggest rise however has come in the wages bracket at the club,where Benitez has almost doubled the clubs wage bill since taking over.

2004- £66m, 2005- £65m, 2006- £68m, 2007- £75m, 2008- £79m, 2009 - £101m (£453m total)

For the second year running KPMG have given a brutal audit on all that is wrong with Liverpool FC. Citing "material uncertainty" yet again...

"These conditions indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast doubt on the parent company's ability to continue as a going concern," it said.

Liverpool are on the verge of becoming the next Leeds, the EPL think so, UEFA think so, and KPMG know so. The next two months are vital for the club.

Challenging for the title is gone, keeping Benitez at the club looks less and less likely every day, Fernando Torres has intimated that he wants to leave English football, and Steven Gerrard has just endured his worst ever season in a red shirt.

Liverpool will not earn Champions League money next season, they will not challenge for the league title, their best players could leave, and their manager could go to Italy.

Next year couldn't be any worse than this one, could it?

NIC, NAC, NEC; Steve McClaren's FC Twente Nick The Dutch Title With Win Over NAC As Ajax Beat NEC

Former England manager Steve McClaren has guided FC Twente to their first Dutch Title in their history with a last day win away to NAC Breda. Twente win the league by one point from Martin Jol's Ajax Amsterdam who also won on the final day at home to NEC .

Ajax had beaten NEC 4-1 to move ahead of the Tukkers by two points, but a 2-0 win over the ten men of NAC gave them the title on a history making day for the new Champions.

The goals that won the league for Twente came courtesy of Bryan Ruiz and Chelsea midfielder Miroslav Stoch who has enjoyed an incredible season with the Tukkers.

Not only is their first title in their 45 year history, but McClaren also becomes the first English manager to win a domestic trophy on foreign soil since Bobby Robson won the league with Porto in 1996.

It is a triumph made all the more remarkable by Ajax's incredible goal difference, +86 after 34 games, winning all 14 of their remaining fixtures, but in the end it was Twente's discipline and only losing twice all season that captured them the title.

		| Home					| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	FC Twente	34	16	1	0	37	10	11	4	2	26	13	40	86
2	Ajax	34	16	1	0	64	4	11	3	3	42	16	86	85
3	PSV	34	13	4	0	40	13	10	5	2	32	16	43	78
4	Feyenoord	34	9	6	2	32	14	8	6	3	22	17	23	63
5	AZ Alkmaar	34	11	2	4	33	16	8	3	6	31	18	30	62

Dutch football has been dominated by the trio of Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord for as long as anyone can remember and for one of the smaller clubs to break that monopoly, never mind to actually win the title is nothing short of miraculous.

FC Twente follow in the footsteps of AZ Alkmaar who won the league last year, but following the collapse of Dirk Scheringa's fortune and Louis van Gaal's exodus to Bayern Munich they completely collapsed and ended up finishing a distant fifth.

Twente contain the three best stories in Dutch football this season, in the title winth, the redemption ofSteve McLaren, and 19-year-old Luuk De Jong beating his Ajax playing brother, 21-year-old, Siem De Jong to the title.

Both youngsters have become important parts of their respective machines as the season wore on, and many pundits are now calling for Siem to be a starter for Holland when the World Cup starts.

McClaren brought Twente to finish second last year, his first at the club, and he has now gone one better.
"Today we made history. It's more than miracle," McClaren said on Twente's official website.

Speaking to Dutch broadcaster NOS, he added: "What a fantastic bunch of players.
"I said at the beginning of the season I don't know if we have a team, I couldn't tell.
"They grew and grew, they deserve it. They deserve it."

Speaking last week McClaren talked about his time as England coach and how it has changed him for the better.

"I don't think a day goes by some aspect of that experience doesn't come flashing into my mind. I felt I let down a nation,"

"But being a manager is what I do. Generally I've been quite successful in what I do, but you can't win every time. Sometimes failures come, and this was a big failure.

"I had to learn from it, be strong and move on."

He certainly has, the road to redemption for Steve McLaren is in full swing, bring on the Champions League.

Alex Ferguson's Rooney Gamble Backfires As Bayern Munich Beat Manchester United in Champions League Quarter Finals

Alex Ferguson gambled on Manchester United's season by picking an unfit Wayne Rooney against Bayern Munich, and like all poor bets, it did not come off as his team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Louis van Gaal's team. Bayern fought back from 3-0 down to 3-2, putting them through on the away goals rule after the tie had finished at 4-4.

Before the match all the talk was of whether Wayne Rooney would even make the bench. As it was the English international was parachuted into the team in place of the lacklustre Dimitar Berbatov, as Ferguson sent the strongest message possible that he had conceded the English Premier League title to Chelsea and that he had completely lost faith in his Bulgarian striker.

By playing an obviously unfit Rooney, Ferguson gambled that the striker would have enough ammunition to see his team through to the Champions League Semi-Finals with Lyon who beat Bourdeaux 3-2 on aggregate.

It also means that the striker is highly unlikely to be fit enough to play against Blackburn in Ewood Park on Sunday, and knowing his star player was going to miss the next league game it means that Ferguson has pretty much conceded the title to Chelsea as he has no one to replace Rooney's goalscoring feats.

Alex Ferguson rarely gets his team as wrong as he has done so in Manchester United's last two games, two losses to Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Fans of the club had hoped that he was going to pull it out of the bag and send out a team that were going to steamroll Bayern and get their floundering season back on track.

His starting XI for tonights match was highly questionable to say the least.

Rafael came in for Gary Neville which was understandable given the veterans abysmal displays in United's last two games. A half fit Rooney was considered better than a fully fit Berbatov, while the strangest decision of all was Darron Gibson starting in central midfield beside the static Fletcher and Carrick.

With those three in the Red Devils engine room United were always going to find it hard to keep and gain possession of the ball.

Gibson, the young Irish international is an extremely limited footballer. He is quite slow, is not a great passer of the ball, lacks creativity, and finds it hard to close down the opposition. Saying that, he does possess an absolute rocket in his right foot and it was his calm finish in the third minute that put United into the driving seat.

Valencia's quick break from midfield and his ball into the centre found it's way to Rooney who teed it up for Gibson on the edge of the box. His side footed finish found it's way into the bottom corner and United were in front 1-0 on the night.

Four minutes later and Luis Nani put United 2-0 up as the Red Devils threatened to run riot in the first ten minutes. Bayern Munich looked shell-shocked but their experience gave them a foothold in the match as the half wore on.

Valencia again the provider as his whipped cross was met perfectly by the little Portuguese who backflicked the ball expertly into the far post. Nani making up for his poor performance in Munich last week.

The subtlest of changes happened to the tide of the game in the 24th minute as Rafael flicked out a boot to catch Mark van Bommel after the Dutchman had fouled him. A yellow card was the reward for the most selfish and impudent of actions by the young Brazilian.

One minute later and Wayne Rooney showed the first signs of how unfit he actually was as he started hobbling.

As the half wore on United began to tire from the exertions of applying so much pressure and Bayern eked out their first real chance as Edwin van der Sar saved brilliantly and bravely at Muller's feet.

From the clearance United managed to gain possession as Rafael threw the ball to Valencia. The muscular winger easily fought off the attentions of the fantastically named Budstuber and his perfect cross was met by Nani who fired home his second and United's third.

A sea of red scarves melted in with yellow and green as United's fans tore the roof off Old Trafford. At 3-0 up the Red Devils were as good as through, and it would take United to take their foot off the pedal, combine it with good luck for Bayern, bad decisions by the referee, and world class finishing to deny them on this European night...

Less than one minute later and Michael Carrick served up the first part by completely switching off and allowing the workaholic Ivica Olic through. His finish from the tightest of angles giving Bayern the slimmest of hopes as the two teams went in for half time.

That glimmer became a beacon on 50 when Rafael fouled Franck Ribery to earn himself a second yellow card and a sending off. In previous times the referee might have been allowed to use common sense and just award the free-kick with a warning for the young Brazilian, but the letter of the law decrees that the offence carries a card, and the devastated youngster, who was always a liability, walked off the pitch morosely.

United re-jigged, Rooney came off, Nani went up front by himself, John O'Shea came on at right full, and Berbatov stayed on the bench...

It was the bitterest of blows to lose Rooney with an aggravation of his injury, and it will be in the lap of the Gods to see how quickly he returns. Without him, Manchester United are simply not the same team.

All Bayern needed was one more goal. The wind was in their sails, they were up against a United team who had stopped playing completely and their midfield was non-existant. Surely a goal was only a matter of time in coming?

Sensing they were trapped, United sat back and allowed Bayern to come onto them. Only using the outball provided by Nani with rare occasion.

Ribery and Gomez both went close as van der Sar and the crossbar saved United in quick succession. By this stage Manchester United were beaten in everything but the scoreline.

Players like Carrick, Gibson, Nani, and Valencia were little more than spectators as Bayern's greater desire and mobility took over. The goal they deserved and craved came from the boot of the imperious Arjen Robben with 15 minutes to go.

A deep corner by Ribery was met by an unmarked Robben on the edge of the box, he positioned himself perfectly and met the volley with perfection and crispness, and the ball found it's way into the bottom corner of the far post with van der Sar rooted to the spot. There is not a 'keeper in the world that would have been capable of saving the shot.

With the scores at 3-2 on the night, 4-4 on aggregate, Bayern Munich were through on the away goals rule. Ferguson had one last throw of the dice and turned to the player he had snubbed to save his season. Dimitar Berbatov.

It is hardly surprising to see that the Bulgarian's influence was negligible after Ferguson's message without words.

In the end Bayern closed out the game in the kind of professional manner that United should have shown at 3-0 up. It leaves us with a Champions League semi final bereft of English talent for the first time since 2003.

It is a sad night for fans of English football and more importantly, fans of Manchester United.

United were incredibly poor in the final against Barcelona last year and needed to rebuild their team in almost every position.

Carlos Tevez, enjoying life at Manchester City, was allowed to leave while Dimitar Berbatov was kept at the club. Tonight Ferguson all but admitted that he let the wrong player leave.

For some time now Manchester United's midfield have been in decline. The incredibly important central berth is populated by players who are either too old or too static to influence matches of the highest calibre. Tonight they were found out yet again.

Nemanja Vidic obviously wants to leave the club, Ferdinand and Neville have aged terribly this season, and van der Sar, who has been brilliant all year, is old and needs to be replaced.

In short Manchester United are in trouble. Given their financial predicament and the imminent rise of Manchester City, it might be no exaggeration to see United relapse into previous malady and go some years without another trophy.

The warning signs are there for all to see and while the Red Devils still have a chance at winning the league this year, the malaise needs to be repaired and the only thing that will do that is a cold hard cash injection.

Profiles Of The Great and Good: Arsenio Erico Finally Comes Home To Paraguay, 32 Years After His Death

32 years after he was laid to rest in Buenos Aires, Arsenio Erico, finally returned home to Paraguay. Thousands of fans showed up to pay tribute to the 'greatest striker in Argentinian league history' as they celebrated his repatriation.

Big Sam To Rafael Benitez: I'm Under Your Skin, I Don't Like You And You've Blown Liverpool's Chances Of Reaching The Champions League

Just when you thought it was safe to go back out on the pitch. Big Sam and Rafa are at it again. Fresh from Benitez's Barcelona jibes, Big Sam has hit back by claiming he has got under Rafa's skin, that he doesn't like him, and that the Liverpool manager has blown his clubs chances of reaching the Champions League.

This round of their constant belittling of each other started on the eve of Blackburn's trip to Liverpool where Sam Allardyce claimed that Rafa had turned Liverpool into a modern day version of Bolton.

An unhappy Benitez decided to bite his tongue on that occasion, but hit back in the press conference following the Reds 2-1 win over Rovers.

An angry Rafa said: "We can win on the pitch but some people have to talk before and after the game because they find it difficult to do a football job. I am sure he is a model for football all around the world. I am sure Barcelona are thinking about copying their style of football," amongst other things, but that was his most damning comment.

It appeared to be the final say on the matter, this season, but following Liverpool's shock 1-0 loss to Wigan at the DW Stadium, Big Sam has returned with a few choice words of his own.

"It was a good cover-up by Rafa (jeering Blackburn's style of play) because he knows how bad his side were and that was repeated against Wigan on Monday night.

"He's got personal with it for many, many years now.

"That's why I don't like him and the feeling is probably mutual.

"I don't get personal with him; I get into him and under his skin, yes, but that's all part of the game.

"The tit for tat between me and Rafa will probably go on until one of us is no longer a Premier League manager. I've managed to psyche out one or two here and there and that's how the Premiership has evolved over the last 20 years. But no, Pep Guardiola has not been in touch yet!"

He went on: "The last time one of the big four didn't finish in the top four it was Liverpool - Everton got that spot - and I think this time it looks pretty difficult having lost against Wigan.

"They are having to rely on other teams slipping up now. They have a wealth of experience and that may be a telling factor when the nerve ends start jangling. We saw what happened to Tottenham a few years ago with the famous 'poisoned lasagne' scenario - and they let it slip.

"But I think it might be more difficult for Liverpool this time around because there are more teams involved. There's Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham in there and if Everton keep rolling on you might be surprised to see them making a late run."

Allardyce insists that Liverpool's losses to Wigan and Lille prove that he has won the psychological battle. He said: "You do it to try to get your team in a position to get a result. Personal criticism is not the road I go down, and I don't personally criticise Rafa Benitez but I clearly get under his skin and that can be a benefit to my side when we play them."

With the two of these guys going at it hammer and tongs you could almost believe they were rival boxers rather than managers of football teams.

Pity they won't meet again until next year...

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Aaron Ramsey Thanks Stoke City's Glen Whelan for Helping After Horrible Injury

Speaking for the first time since suffering a horrific leg break last week against Stoke, Aaron Ramsey insisted that he would come back better than ever. He then reserved special praise for Glen Whelan, the first player to react and help him as he lay on the ground in agony.

Ramsey, 19, said, "I remember what happened clearly and after the tackle went in I saw that my leg was broken and hanging at an angle. I have seen images of the aftermath again but I don't want to dwell too much on the challenge as I can't change what has happened."

The Welsh youngster broke his leg in a challenge with Ryan Shawcross. The Stoke players heavy first touch opened the ball up to interception and as Ramsey stretched to prod the ball away, his studs became caught in the ground.

Shawcross, who was called into Fabio Capello's England squad this week, then made an extremely heavy tackle when there was little need to do so.

Missing the ball completely, he caught Ramsey just above the ankle and shattered his leg.

When asked if he had anything to say to Shawcross, Ramsey fell understandably quiet.

He said, "It is difficult for me to take everything in at the moment."

Ramsey added, "I thought I had been progressing well this season so, of course, this is a real setback. I had an operation last weekend and while it will take time for my leg to heal, I am determined and focused on overcoming this injury and hope to be back fitter and stronger than before. I am young and have time on my side."

Ramsey is one of the hottest prospects British football today. Having pulled off a major coup by snapping up the kid from under the noses of Manchester United and Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger sees the youth as the future of the club.

Many feel that he is the obvious heir to Cesc Fabregas, especially as the Spaniard has signalled that he wishes to return to Barcelona some day.

An emotional Ramsey then went on to thank Stoke City's Irish midfielder, Glen Whelan.

Whelan was the first player to react after the horror challenge and comforted the stricken youth as he lay on the ground. Simple gestures from Whelan such as shielding Ramsey from seeing his damaged leg while gently talking to him in an effort to calm him down have not gone unnoticed by the Arsenal player. Whelan also called to other Arsenal players to help their teammate before letting the medical staff takeover.

"Glenn Whelan was especially kind and I really appreciated his immediate assistance on the pitch," said an grateful Ramsey.

He added, "I have also been overwhelmed by the terrific support I've received from so many people, including fans from many different clubs.

"In particular, I would like to thank the medical team here at Arsenal for their efforts as well as the staff at both hospitals, and the medical support from Stoke City.

"I also want to say thanks to Arsenal for helping my family this week.

"Last, but certainly not least, I have been blown away by the fantastic messages of support from the Arsenal fans. I am proud to be an Arsenal player and your support has been incredibly touching.

"I also want to wish my teammates all the best for the remainder of the season. I know we are capable of winning a trophy and I will be backing them all the way."

Arsenal are one of three teams with a real chance of winning the English Premier League this season, and with only nine games to go and a relatively easy run in, they have every chance.

Ramsey had made 18 appearances for the Gunners this season before it was cut so cruelly short. He has received much support in wishing him a speedy recovery.

One of the players who has wished him well is another Irish Stoke midfielder, Rory Delap. Over the past couple of seasons he has become something of a bane for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal as he possesses one of the fastest and longest throws in world football. Aided with such a weapon he has contributed four assists for Stoke against the Gunners alone.

In 2006, Delap suffered the exact same injury as Ramsey but made a full recovery and returned to action almost eight months later, faster and stronger than ever.

Arsenal fans will hope for a speedy recovery.

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Premier League Rejects Playoff Proposal

Premier League chairmen have rejected the idea of a introducing a play-off to decide who takes the fourth UEFA Champions League place. The motion was beaten after it failed to gather the 14 votes it needed to pass.

The controversial idea of introducing play-offs for the final Champions League spot was proposed last month. Under it's premise teams finishing between fourth to seventh place would then go into a playoff to decide the leagues last place in the Champions League.

At best the proposal received a mixed reception from Premier League managers with some very much for the idea while others were dead set against it.

The idea was examined by Premier League chairmen at their meeting on London on Thursday after Peter Scudamore brought forward a mandate for the proposal and they have voted against it, meaning the status quo will stay as is.

While managers from Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool were vehemant opposers to the proposition, they were the four clubs with the most to lose, they were also somewhat ironically the four clubs who would have gained most.

Given the finances that the four clubs enjoy over every other team it is highly unlikely that any of these clubs would have finished outside the top seven positions in the short to medium term future.






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Rafa The Klingon Twists The Knife On Big Sam After Liverpool Beat Blackburn

The Klingons have a saying; Revenge is a dish best served cold. After years of thinking that Rafael Benitez was an emotionless Vulcan, it would appear that he is actually a first cousin of Worf...

Mere moments after Liverpool vanquished Blackburn 2-1 at Anfield, Rafa couldn't wait to stick the knife into Big Sam and twist. Of course, his comments were a direct reaction to Allardyce's claims that he had turned Liverpool into an expensive version of Bolton.

The relationship between the duo has always been strained, but now it is absolutely poisonous.

Blackburn for their part received five yellow cards during the game, and were lucky not to see Chimbonda and Nzonzi get red after two awful challenges. But Sam defended his team's discipline by saying that the referee had been swayed by the Anfield crowd.

Allardyce pointed out that Liverpool had committed 25 fouls without being punished with a card, while Blackburn had only made 10 fouls.

“If we had possessed a goalscorer, we would have won,” he said. “It is not often you come to Liverpool and create more chances than them but we don’t have a goalscorer and they have Gerrard and Torres.”

Rafa for his part was pretty unrepentant and left his most vicious comments 'til last.

“It doesn’t matter, we won,” was Benitez’s retort when that was put to him about Liverpool's current style of play.

“We prefer to play football. If they play the way they play under this manager, it is difficult but it is their decision. When you have won you don’t have to think about how you played...”

“We have four or five players bleeding because of studs,” said Benitez. “We can win on the pitch but some people have to talk before and after the game because they find it difficult to do a football job. I am sure he is a model for football all around the world. I am sure Barcelona are thinking about copying their style of football.”

Ouch...

Look out for their next bout in 2011...

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Diego Maradona's Jewelry Seized by Italian Police as Palermo Play the Diamond Formation

DIEGO MARADONA'S reluctance to pay tax while he played for Napoli in Italy has come back to haunt him. Owing the Italian Revenue some £35million, the Italian government seized all of his jewelry on a recent visit to the country...

The jewels were then auctioned off to help pay towards an estimated €35m tax debt, but it seems Maradona will now be reunited with at least one of his prized possessions, a diamond earring after a mystery buyer bought the piece and gave it back to Diego, free of charge... step forward Palermo striker Fabrizio Miccoli.

Although it was an unknown woman who was at the auction to buy the earring for €25,000, Miccoli says she was acting on his behalf.

It is now believed that Miccoli intends to give the earring back to its rightful owner, although it didn't stop him wearing it during Palermo's 3-1 win over Lazio last Sunday...

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Big Four Monopoly To End? English Premier League Clubs To Vote On Proposed Champions League Playoffs in April

The monopoly that Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea have enjoyed for the last ten years looks set to end. The Premier League are considering the introduction of a playoff for the last Champions League place, meaning a team as low as 7th could play in Europe's foremost trophy.

Premier League sources have confirmed that the play-off system proposal was presented to all at the most recent meeting of EPL clubs, on 4 February. As with his mandate of Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, now has until the next meeting in April to produce a proposal that would be acceptable to the teams of the EPL.

Under the proposal, a playoff would be played at the end of the season between the teams that finished 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. The matches would take the form of two semi finals and a final, with the winner progressing towards the Champions League as reward.

One major obstacle that the likes of Liverpool and United will hope to exploit is the lack of fixture time between the end of the league season, the start of May, and the traditional end of the season, the FA Cup Final.

The proposal is still in it's infancy but with 16 teams backing the initial plan, it looks as if a solution should easily be found around the sticky situations of home and away legs, or seeding.

Or even God forbid if England's UEFA co-efficient should drop and only three, not four teams were eligible for Champions League football.

These topics will be picked over by Scudamore over the next month as he readies his proposal.
The move has been met with open arms by the vast majority of clubs plying their trade in England's upper echelon, with only four dissenting voices to be heard, those of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea...The four clubs with the most to lose.

It is not known which chairman raised the issue but it is safe to say that he was not from one of the leagues top four teams. And only needing a majority of 14 it looks as if this proposal could be implemented by as early as next season.

The move was sparked by the aforementioned clubs domination of the the league since the Premier League's inception in 1992.

Since then debt has spiralled out of control in English football, but in the Premier League in particular.

As it stands the 20 teams in the EPL owe around £3 billion in debt, with £2 billion of that total being spread amongst the monopoly on top. Manchester United, famously in debt for £716m recently set up a £500m bond trust to push them further into debt.

Chelsea were smarter and used slight of hand to remove their £700m debt by giving Roman Abrahmovich sole ownership of the club, as owner the debt is now his, and as the Pensioners owed him the money in the first place the slate is wiped clean...

Liverpool came within hours of going under last summer only for RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) to baulk at the last moment and give them a one year reprieve. The Reds now have until June to find over £100m from a £290m debt.

The Gunners have been more spendthrift than their rivals but are still in debt to the region of £400m with a £25m mortgage to pay on the Emitates stadium for the next 24 years. This despite a recent £150m share issue that saw Bank of Ireland take on shares at the club to quash their debt.

Should other plans by Michel Platini come into fruition then Arsenal could be further plunged into debt as their property company Arsenal Holdings is struggling under the debt they accrued in the development of apartments at Highbury.

Meaning that the other £1billion is spread between the other 16 clubs. When you realise that newly promoted sides like Birmingham and Burnley are reletively debt free it shows that the leagues leading clubs have been allowed to exploit their stature by going further into debt and that the rest are playing an impossible game of catch up.

The fact that these four clubs are the only opposing faction speaks volumes of how this little clique see themselves as being above every other club. Their flat refusal to share the spoils of European football is pure indication that their monopoly is under threat and that the EPL are moving to breakup their strangle hold for the good of the game in England.

Ironically this latest move by the EPL comes as Manchester City enter the fray as the world's richest club and as such are insulated against giant debt. On top of that, Liverpool's traditional placing at the top of the EPL table is under threat from three different sources for the first time in decades.

The top fours opposition to the playoff system is obviously driven by self interest, but their argument that such vast rewards should not be given to a team as low as seventh do not wash as Liverpool themselves won the trophy whilst finishing in fifth place in the league. Add this to the fact that very few champions have actually won the Champion League and finishing seventh is no different than finishing fourth.

The proposal  will of course have massive implications for both the Carling and FA Cups and the relevant teams who have enjoyed their stay at the top of the league.

The two cups have already been devalued by almost every team in English football, attendances show that from the FA Premier League all the way down to League Two that gates have reduced for the cups by almost 20 percent since the 80's.

The new proposed playoff system means a further devaluation to the once great trophies, as EPL teams will now have very little incentive to win the cup as finishing seventh could bring greater glory than winning a cup.
But why introduce a playoff system after almost 20 years of Premier League action?

Is it a reflex reply to the scathing criticism that the 39th game received? In a way one could easily come to this conclusion.

The EPL is the most watched league in the world and the introduction of a "cup" involving four teams with everything to play for at the end of the season would be sure to spark major interest around the world.

At the moment the Championship Playoff Final is labelled as the most lucrative match in world football with an estimated £40m waiting for the winner. How much would the Champions League Playoff be worth?

Currently the top fours budgets earn almost 15 percent of their turnover from the Champions League. Just on television rights alone a trek to the final could be worth almost £40m, and that is before prize money and gate receipts are taken into account.

This season Liverpool were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages and were dumped into the Europa League. Should Liverpool win every match in Europe's second trophy and lay claim to the trophy, nine matches, they will still pick up less money than they would have earned from playing in the CL Last 16 alone.

In short, the Champions League is huge, and the money earned there is massive. Little wonder that the top four are obsessed with keeping the league in it's current status quo.

If there is one competition that is more drenched in money than the English Premier League, it is the UEFA Champions League.

And now the lower lights in the EPL want their say, will they have the moral courage to break such a powerful monopoly?

Doing it in paper is one thing, doing it on the pitch is another...

Harry Redknapp Dismisses Latest Tax Investigation as Farcical

Spurs' manager Harry Redknapp has moved to play down claims that HR Services and British Customs are taking action against him for tax evasion in 2007 while manager of Portsmouth.

A statement issued last night by Redknapp's solicitors BCL Burton Copeland read: "Harry Redknapp is extremely surprised and disappointed to have been informed that HMRC intend to institute proceedings against him in the week commencing 11 January, 2010.

"We believe that the decision to commence proceedings will, in due course, be shown to have been totally misconceived."

Irish Peterborough Owner To Quit After Racist Abuse From Own Fans

Irish millionaire Darragh MacAnthony has signalled that he is willing to part company with Peterborough after coming in for some racist abuse from irate fans over the clubs recent poor run.

Harry Redknapp Launches Scathing Attack on Spurs Squad Players

Spurs sit in fourth place after getting off to their best start to a league campaign in some time. But Harry Redknapp has indicated to his team that he is not prepared to sit on his laurels by lashing out at certain squad members for complaining to the clubs Chairman about not playing enough.

Carlo Cudicini's Misfortune Opens The Door For Pompey's David James To Move To Spurs

Carlo Cudicini's career hangs in the balance this weekend after a horrific motorcycle crash that saw him fracture both his wrists and badly injure his pelvis. The 36-year-old Tottenham Hotspur 'keeper was pulled from the mangled remains of his BMW motorbike after a collision with a Ford Fiesta.

The Lisbon Treaty and the 6+5 Rule Combine to Change Football

This week, Sepp Blatter met with the European Parliament Vice-President, Pál Schmitt, to discuss the imminent ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and how it will impact on the footballing world as FIFA begin to implement their 6+5 rule.

Emmanuel Adebayor looks set to be handed a lengthy ban for the manner of his provocative celebration and for his vicious stamp on Robin van Persie in Manchester City's 4-2 victory over Arsenal.

The City striker scored late on against his old team and then turned and raced over 100 yards, avoiding his own team players, before sliding on his knees before the irate Arsenal fans at the far end of the pitch.

The very same fans he celebrated with last season...