TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Jose Mourinho feels the love as Chelsea somehow beat Fulham without him Jose Mourinho loves Chelsea. Almost as much as he loves Jose Mourinho, finds the Daily Bung ... telegraph.co.uk |
Reading 1 Liverpool 1: match report If Liverpool are to salvage anything this campaign it will be in spite of themselves on this evidence of Reading's draw. telegraph.co.uk |
FC Twente lead rise of the outsiders Familiar names dominate the English, Spanish and Italian leagues but elsewhere lesser lights are breaking throughWhile English football goes weak at the knees at the prospect of a gatecrasher to the top four, and the names piled on top of each other in Spain and Italy are familiar enough for Joe Schmoe to recite in his sleep, it can be tempting to wonder whether an outsider will ever again win one of the marquee European leagues.Almost a decade has passed since such an oddity last occurred. Some Roma supporters were so paranoid about cursing their Serie A prospects in 2001 they dared not even utter the word scudetto during the run-in, referring instead to the nebulous "trukke trukke" until the title was secured. A year earlier Deportivo La Coruña conquered La Liga for the only time in their history. The Premier League must rewind further still, back to an extraordinary title for Blackburn Rovers 15 years ago (although you could argue it was as recently as 2005, when Chelsea's first league for almost half a century ushered them into the establishment thanks to the Abramovich-Mourinho axis).Tales of the unexpected are not, however, so uncommon in Europe's lesser leagues. Last season there was the arrival of Rubin Kazan and Wolfsburg, new names on the honours list in Russia and Germany, while Bordeaux and AZ Alkmaar triumphed in France and Holland after a lengthy spell on the periphery.At the midway point of this season, a decent number of races are being led by clubs chasing their first domestic title. FC Twente, under the enterprising stewardship of honorary Dutch linguist Steve McClaren, have been pushing the pace in the Eredivisie all season. Braga, who have 11 Brazilians in their squad, are holding their own in Portugal. In Turkey, Kayserispor, a club whose development was signposted by a cherished victory in the Intertoto Cup in 2006, are playing smart enough football to lead a pack of usual suspects on goal difference. And Bayer Leverkusen are in a promising position at the head of the Bundesliga, even though history would suggest their fans may need to find a German translation of "trukke trukke" in order to keep their nerve as the second half of the season gets under way.Leverkusen are one of the few teams in Europe to be undefeated domestically so far. Presumably somebody in Liverpool may just have noticed that the man orchestrating their defence, somebody excelling sufficiently to earn the award of best defender in the Bundesliga for the first part of the season, happens to be a 36-year-old by the name of Sami Hyypia.It is no surprise that one of the other unbeaten sides is Barcelona. But credit is due in the Dutch league where the top two – Twente and PSV Eindhoven – are both yet to lose. It makes an interesting comparison with the number of defeats amassed by the top two in, for instance, France (nine), England (eight), and Italy (five).The winter break has given the hopefuls a breather, as well as a chance to reassess the condition of their squads. FC Twente are keen to import some attacking reinforcements, with a nimble striker from Azerbaijan already signed and Arsenal's teenage tyro Jack Wilshere on the radar.If anyone coming in can be half as successful as the forwards McClaren bought in so shrewdly in the last transfer market — the Costa Rican Bryan Ruiz has a tremendous scoring record of 13 goals from 17 games so far, while Miroslav Stoch, the Slovakian on loan from Chelsea, is also faring well – Twente might fancy their chances of holding off PSV and company.As those familiar with the legend of Bayer Neverkusen know all too well, it is one thing setting the pace, but to cross the line you need all the class, and all the courage, that you can lay your hands on.European footballFC TwenteEredivisieBayer LeverkusenBundesligaAmy Lawrenceguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cost of TV sport to tumble as Ofcom turns screw Regulator's price cut will bring good cheer for armchair sports viewers, but it will create tension between Murdoch and the ToriesArmchair sports fans will soon have something to cheer, with the cost of watching live football, cricket and rugby on Âtelevision set to plunge as rivals attempt to end the dominance of Rupert Murdoch's Âsatellite broadcaster BSkyB.BT and Virgin expect to capitalise on plans by the media watchdog, Ofcom, that will force Sky to drop the price it charges rival broadcasters for its Sky Sports channels in the biggest shake-up of sports TV for almost two decades. Prices should drop in time for the 2010/2011 Premier League football season.But while viewers are likely to benefit from a price war that would challenge the hold Sky has had since it bought its first football rights in 1992, Ofcom's move could present David Cameron with a major headache.If the Conservative leader wins the general election, the timing of Ofcom's intervention in sports broadcasting would result in one of his first choices as prime minister being whether to take the unprecedented step of overturning the decision of an independent regulator or to let it stand and risk infuriating the ÂMurdoch empire, one of his party's most powerful supporters.The Ofcom board is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the level of the proposed cuts to the wholesale price of Sky Sports. It will make a formal announcement in March, perilously close to a potential election. The satellite broadcaster is expected to launch an immediate legal attack on any moves to cut its prices but the regulator will use its powers to introduce the measures while the lawyers make their arguments.Ofcom is well aware Sky has used the courts as a delaying tactic before: almost two years ago the competition authorities told the broadcaster it must sell at least half its controversial 17.9% shareholding in ITV. It still owns the entire stake.Once the price cuts are announced, BT hopes to start offering Sky Sports 1 to customers of its BT Vision service for £15 a month. Sky customers currently pay at least £25.50 for the channel and most satellite households are paying upwards of £36 a month for a full complement of sports and premium movie channels. "The case is crystal clear – the customer benefits if they get more choice," said the head of BT's retail division, Gavin Patterson.Virgin Media, which already provides Sky Sports to its cable TV customers, is also expected to undercut Sky's own prices once Ofcom's price cuts are introduced. Sir Richard Branson has already said he expects the price of Sky Sports 1 to fall by a fifth for cable subscribers.Ofcom has been investigating the pay-TV market since 2007 in a process that has involved three separate public consultation exercises and dragged on for so long that one of the broadcasters that sparked its inquiries – Setanta – has gone bust.Last summer, in its initial findings, Ofcom decided Sky must be forced to wholesale its premium channels, dropping the price of Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 from the £13.48 it currently charges ÂVirgin Media to somewhere within the range of £9.41 and £11.24 per channel, while a bundle of both channels and Sky Movies – which currently costs Virgin £23.40 per subscriber – should come down to between £16.98 and £20.43, a 27% discount on current prices.For Sky, the price cuts would allow its bitter rivals to mount a challenge to the commanding lead in the British pay-TV market it has built up using sports rights over the past two decades. From Premier League football and rugby's Heineken Cup to the US Open tennis and the most recent Ashes series, Sky has much of the content on any sport fan's must-watch list. As a result, it is on track to sign up its 10 Âmillionth subscriber this year, while ÂVirgin Media has fewer than 4 million and BT's hybrid Freeview and broadband TV Âservice BT Vision has just 436,000 after two years and a multimillion pound Âmarketing campaign.Sky has made no secret of its resentment that its rivals are looking to piggyback on the billions of pounds the Âcompany has invested in sports rights over the years. "We invest almost £1bn a year to create a top-quality sports service," said a Sky spokesman. "It would be perverse to force us to sell it on the cheap to competitors who have shown no appetite to invest in content or support British sport."But Ofcom is desperate to prove itself as the consumer's champion at a time when the Conservatives have made it clear they would dramatically reduce its ability to set policy if they were in power.When the Sun switched allegiance to the Tories last year, there was little doubt among some of the Labour frontbench it was part of a secret deal with the Murdoch empire. Last year the culture secretary, Ben Bradshaw, accused the Tories of "subcontracting" their media and broadcasting policy to News International.The Conservatives, however, do not appear interested in reversing any decision by Ofcom concerning Sky. Shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told the BBC's Newsnight on 26 November: "On pay-TV … and Ofcom, we explicitly said that is something that should be decided at arm's length from politicians".OfcomBSkyBSports rightsTelevision industryRupert MurdochConservativesRichard Wrayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Thriller earns Villa final spot Aston Villa booked their first Wembley final appearance in a decade after a 6-4 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. foxsports.com.au |