TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Roberto Mancini: Robinho can 'write himself into the history of Manchester City' Manchester City manager insists Brazilian can still live up to his price tag at Eastlands, despite failure to deliver for Mark Hughes. telegraph.co.uk |
City and United semi-final clash postponed as deep freeze bites • Carling Cup semi-final called off because of bad weather• Blackburn v Aston Villa at Ewood Park also postponedThe Carling Cup semi-final first leg between Manchester City and Manchester United at Eastlands tomorrow evening has been postponed because of the bad weather.The Manchester region saw heavy snowfall this morning and the game was called off today in order to avoid confusion on the match day. The tie will now take place on 19 January, which was originally the date for the second leg. That match will now take place on Wednesday, 27 January.United had been hoping to bounce back from their FA Cup defeat against Leeds United on Sunday but Sir Alex Ferguson will now have to wait until Saturday's game against Birmingham City at St Andrew's to see whether his players can regroup and keep the pressure on the Premier League leaders, Chelsea.Manchester City's next game - and Roberto Mancini's fourth in charge - will now be against Blackburn Rovers at Eastlands on Monday. The club were today forced to close their ticket office and city centre shop due to the adverse conditions.The first Carling Cup semi-final first leg between Blackburn and Aston Villa was called off earlier today, the hosts saying: "Whilst the Ewood Park pitch is playable we believe it would be unadvisable to expect fans, staff etc to attempt to get to the match. Even if fans are able to get to Ewood Park we would not like to speculate on what type of journey home they may face at 10.00pm tonight when temperatures will be sub-zero."Meanwhile, Stoke's Premier League game against Fulham tonight will go ahead.Carling CupManchester CityManchester UnitedWeatherMarcus Christensonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cheering for the U.S. at World Cup CBCSports.ca senior writer and soccer expert John Molinaro, born and bred in Canada, admits he'll be rooting for the United States at the World Cup. cbc.cacbc.ca |
The Fiver | The British Hugh Hefner In Stack Heels; and Secondary Cup Subscribe here for your own daily copy delivered to your inboxWALLOP! WHAT A JACKETIn an attempt to further cultivate his reputation as the British Hugh Hefner in stack heels, spank impresario David Sullivan has taken to gadding about tahn sporting a burgundy velvet smoking jacket with black trim. It's a striking look for sure, although one that's less international playboy, more commissionaire of Soho cinema who's just had his epaulettes ripped off in a minor stramash instigated by a misunderstanding over the phrase "clip my ticket". One message it certainly does succeed in conveying, mind you, is a passion for West Ham United. Or Aston Villa. Or Burnley. Or Torino.Anyway, Sullivan turned up at Upton Park today, wearing his Burnley bongo blazer, to complete his joint purchase, with David Gold, of 50% of West Ham, the rub-a-dub club the two East Enders supported as farcking nippers int'cha. Stepping out of his cobalt blue limo - a vehicle which clashed badly with his Torino Tux, and towered above him, even in those stack heels - he looked wistfully up at the famous Boleyn Ground facade. It was almost as if he was thinking: phwoar, look at the pair of turrets on that. Hold on, no. It was almost as if he was thinking: all this is now mine. And how soon can we get those turrets replaced with big pink wobbly jugs?Everything Sullivan actually said aloud was sadly drowned out by his Villa Velour. Gold, however, wasn't dressed like a two-bit playboy, and was capable of normal conversation. "The club is in an incredibly bad situation, but fans were terrified they would lose their best players ... we can assure them that is not going to happen," he promised, without explaining exactly what he meant by "best players", and how such a concept can be applied to his new club.With that, the one-time owners of the club formerly known as Bongo FC went off to discuss changing the name of their new outfit to something that reflects both the team's c0ckney heritage, and where the Sullivan and Gold millions come from. Copyright issues surrounded their initial preference - Bristol City - so it looks like they're going to settle for Wrist Ham.QUOTE OF THE DAY"At the high court today Mr Justice Newey dismissed an application from Portsmouth City Football Club Limited for a winding-up petition to be struck out" - it's nice to know the high court has got a handle on the details of Pompey's massive tax problem, especially if City become the first Premier League outfit to be forced into administration as a result of this enlightened decision.ENGLAND'S THIRD CITY, ENGLAND'S SECONDARY CUPAt last the myth that Sir Alex Ferguson considers Secondary Cup a secondary tournament can be laid to rest. Even after Manchester United's triumph last year, there were those who argued that Ferguson's decision to field Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson and Danny Wellbeck ahead of Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs and Anyone Else in the final showed he didn't view the trophy as a priority (even if everyone was banging on about a Quintuple - a ha ha ha ha ha - at the time). Ahead of tonight's semi-final first leg against Manchester City, however, there has been a marked shift in his thinking."You have to recognise they [City] are a competitor now," Ferguson commanded this morning to a room full of people who have been doing precisely that for some time. Just three months ago, of course, the United manager had been happy to dismiss the same team as "noisy neighbours", but back then City were only fifth in the league and through to the third round of Secondary Cup. Now, of course, they're still fifth in the league, but also playing in the semi-final of Secondary Cup. Against an increasingly looking secondary United team.City, of course, reached this stage under their previous manager, Mark Hughes, but while his successor Roberto Mancini is relatively new to English football, he has needed little time getting to grips with this tournament's historical importance. "We must finish in the [Premier League] top four," he honked, confirming that he did indeed see that as more important than winning a tournament Coca-Cola deemed to be less commercially beneficial than League Two.Still, United care, sort of, and none more so than Patrice Evra. "Every year I win two or three trophies," declared Evra, admiring his Form 3B 10m egg-and-spoon certificate. A man so overwhelmed by Secondary Cup's importance that he was physically unable to play in any round before this one, Evra is looking at the big picture. "It's an important game against City but I only talk about it because I want to have a chance to win a trophy," he parped. "Maybe that's the difference: we play to win the cup, they play to win against Manchester United." This is, of course, the same Patrice Evra who told Manchester United TV last year that before a big game he likes to go to Burger King, so he could just be lying.Join Scott Murray for MBM coverage of Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United from 7.15pm.FIVER LETTERS"With David Sullivan's past business activity, should the West Ham Ladies be worried about where they may be asked to blow bubbles from?" - Rob Sheehy."Good to see David Sullivan not forgetting his past, proudly announcing today 'it is nice to see that we beat off two foreign investors' for West Ham ownership" - Michael Hunt."Further to the comments from fellow disgruntled Liverpool fans, I have recently decided to renounce the club, and the sport as a whole. I emailed teams in other sports to offer my services as a fan, in the hope that I would receive a nicer email back than that Tom Hicks Jnr one. And I did. And I'm blogging about it. Blogging: the last refuge of the Liverpool fan" - Richie Jones."Most definitely not a 'glory-hunter', Peter McKnight (yesterday's letters) bravely admits to following plucky underdogs Liverpool FC since the dark days of 1977; a year when they could only muster Big Cup glory for the very first time, some 12 months after the crushing disappointment of their second Euro Vase triumph in four years, on top of the despair that comes with a second consecutive league title. Yet, still he comes back for more, suffering 'rubbishness on and off now for 20 years' in the form of five major domestic trophies, two Big Cup finals and victory in Euro Vase by the odd goal in nine. Peter: such meagre rations - just how do you stick with it?" - Phil Harris (and 1,056 others)."With Kyrgiakos, Skrtel and Ngog in the side, is it any wonder that Liverpool are a consonant source of disappointment?" - Richard Clarke."I usually enjoy reading your emails and take them as they are meant to be taken - tongue in cheek. However your comments regarding Must (Manchester United Supporters' Trust, yesterday's Fiver) were so far off the mark and damaging to anything that the organisation may be trying to do that I felt compelled to do what I would never normally encourage anyone to do - take the bait. Must is not currently 'plotting one of those completely pointless Liverpool-style Big Group Of Fans Marches From A Pub They Were Going To Be In Anyway To A Match They Were Going To Anyway protests prior to Manchester United's Big Cup home game against Milan'. This was one of several ideas suggested. But don't let facts get in the way of shoddy journalism, eh? Don't mention the political lobbying, the different suggestions for mass protests inside the ground. And certainly don't bother mentioning the fans who were thuggishly thrown out of the ground for holding up an anti-Glazer banner! Oh and incidentally, should such a march occur, a large proportion of marchees would be boycotters who have not set foot in Old Trafford since May 2005. If you had made the effort to perhaps contact someone at Must (something many other journalists have managed to do since Saturday afternoon) you may have been able to write something with a little more factual content than the average Sunday Express sports article. Making a stance is better than doing nothing. How dare you belittle the hard work of the volunteers who make Must and Imusa (Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association) work, we need the support of the average Manchester United fan now more than ever and your poor excuse for an article hopefully won't put anyone off. Try and do your job properly next time" - Emma Parish.Send your letters to the.boss@guardian.co.uk. And if you've nothing better to do you can also Tweet the Fiver now.BITS AND BOBS'Arry Redknapp admits Tottenham are interested in bringing Ruud van Nistelrooy to White Hart Lane. "It's not impossible ... if it was right we could be interested," declared Redknapp. Ryan Babel is in Liverpool's squad to face Spurs tomorrow after apologising to Rafa BenÃtez for tweeting that he'd been dropped last week. "He knows he has made a mistake and for me that is enough," said BenÃtez.Mali have lodged an official complaint to CAF over the 0-0 Africa Cup of Nations draw between Angola and Algeria that knocked them out of the tournament. "The second half of this game was a total non-match, the two sides systematically refusing to play in order to maintain the score at 0-0 which was sufficient for qualification," wrote Mali Football Federation president Boubacar Thiam. "This anti-sporting behaviour is contrary to the ethics and the fair-play policy put forward by Fifa and CAF must condemn it with the utmost vigour."Plans for a permanent training base for the England team - St George's Park - have been unveiled as part of the FA's 330-acre National Football Centre (NFC) at Burton-upon-Trent. "This has got to be England-centric and Burton is easy to get to from anywhere in the country and very accessible from a number of airports," chirped NFC chairman David Sheepshanks.Zico has left his fourth managerial post inside two years after being given the boot by Olympiakos.The Republic O'Ireland will face Brazil in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium on 2 March.And Levski Sofia have suspended their Moroccan international Youssef Rabeh for a second time, amid reports he'd been boozing in a trendy Kavarna nightspot during the club's training camp. "I can't say a bad word about his footballing qualities but there's no place for him at Levski from now on," admitted coach Georgi Ivanov. "He has exhausted his limit."A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORSIf you fancy David Sullivan and David Gold to weave the same magic that they did at Birmingham a couple of years ago by, er, getting them relegated, take a look at our 7-2 quote that the Hammers take the plunge into the Championship. Tonight there's Carling Cup semi-final action and we're finding it hard to split the Manchester pair, though have City as narrow 6-4 favourites. We're offering free bets to anyone who correctly predicts who will be the first player to be booked tonight. Check out our Twitter site to see how you take part. Open an account with Sportingbet and we'll match your first deposit up to £50.STILL WANT MORE?Patrick Vieira stars as Pat Butcher and Father Jack Hackett in this week's Gallery.Northern Rock's decision to use taxpayers' money to sponsor Newcastle United is an outrage, reckons Louise Taylor.Proper Journalist David Conn goes all nostalgic in reminiscing about all things Dennis Tueart and 1975.And join Gregg Roughley now for MBM coverage of the Burkina Faso v Ghana Africa Cup of Nations clash.SIGN UP TO THE FIVERWant your very own copy of our tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox for free every weekday? Click here to sign up for the Fiver today. And also, heaven forfend, if you want to unsubscribe.'COMMUNISTS!'Scott MurrayPaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Perth charging toward finals Eugene Dadi endured a nightmare homecoming as Perth Glory notched a 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in a fiery A-League clash at ME Bank Stadium on Friday night. foxsports.com.au |