October 2007 Archives

They like their English football in Spain but few Iberians would be familiar with Blackpool FC!

There were many who doubted Arsenal's ability to mix it with the top sides in the Premiership this season believing the success of Arsene Wegner's young side was fleeting.

As if Merseyside derby's are volatile enough now Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard is at the centre of a major storm brewing between his club and Everton.

Evertonians claim that the England midfield star intentionally influenced referee Mark Clattenburg to send off defender Tony Hibbert after he had fouled Gerrard to give away a penalty on Saturday.

Television pictures show Clattenburg immediately reaching for a yellow card after the offence took place. Gerrard walks towards the referee and says something to him. Seconds later Clattenburg puts the yellow card back in his pocket and instead brandishes the red one.

If the inevitable happens and Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton is axed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) this week you may well see dancing on the streets of Dublin.

Getting over defeat in a World Cup Final takes time. But when the English management and players eventually put that loss to South Africa behind them they'll fully realise that in a few short weeks they've reinvigorated rugby in England.

If any sport doesn't mind the odd spot of drama then it's formula 1 racing.

Sometimes you get the feeling that it even plays up the odd scandal or two just to make sure it has space on the back pages.

You know the one "It's Setanta, not sultana.....". Makes you not want to have the service because the ad is so bloody annoying. In fact makes you want to heave out the contents of your stomach.

To reach the last four in the world cup of rugby is a truly astounding feat for any nation.

The likes of Ireland for example have never made it past the last eight at the showpiece of the sport and so the achievement of Marcelo Loffreda's Argentina in France this year is simply out of this world.

The Pumas have arguably played the most exciting rugby at this year's tournament and they still have another opportunity to shine when they take on France in the third place play off game, a repeat of the opening game in this year's world cup which Argentina won.

And all of this from a proud nation where football is by far the number one sport and on par with a religion.

It's business as usual this weekend with the Premiership resuming after the International break.

Leaders Arsenal have on paper a comfortable fixture when they welcome a struggling Bolton side to the Emirates stadium.

A massive 17 points separates these two sides and that will surly be extended to 20 by 5pm on Saturday.

Chelsea lost 2-0 at Villa Park earlier this season so Manchester United who trail Arsenal at the top of the table by two points won't be taking anything for granted.

This could be the clash of the weekend with Villa themselves in flying form. A draw here would be far from a surprise.

The city of Liverpool will come to a standstill when the bitter rivals Liverpool and Everton lock horns in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

Fernando Torres is fighting against time to be fit for the clash having injured himself while training with Spain this week.

Away from the pressures of International football Sven Goran Eriksson is thriving at Manchester City and he'll be expecting Elano, Petrov and co to deliver another three points when Birmingham city visit the city of Manchester stadium.

With just a handful of games remaining in the European Championship qualifiers both England and Scotland stand on the verge of booking their flights for Austria and Switzerland.

On the back of three consecutive 3-0 victories Steve McLaren's England are looking in good shape to qualify.

On Wednesday they face Russia in Moscow knowing that a win would ensure they make the competition.

England will be without Ashley Cole and John Terry for the clash of the giants, a game which Russia need to win if they are to finish in the top two.

Elsewhere Scotland without four first choice players travel to Tbilisi in a game they simply must win if they're to send shockwaves across the continent and deprive either current World Champions Italy or former World Champions France a place at the finals.

Scott Brown, Lee McCulloch, Paul Hartley and Garry O' Connor are all missing for the trip to Georgia.

After beating the Ukraine 3-1 at home last Saturday the Scots will be aiming to take all three points here. If they manage that then a draw at home in the last game of the group to Italy would be enough to send Alex McLeish's side through and start one hell of a tartan party!

By Graham Clifford

Just over a month ago in the Stade de France a South African team brimming with confidence flattened England on the humiliating score line of 36-0 to send out a clear message of intent to the world. The win ensured the Springboks were in the driving seat of Pool A and the performance of the English as well as the result was supposed to have signalled the end for the reigning World Champions.

England overcame the odds to beat Australia 12-10 in Marseille in the quarter-final clash of the Rugby World Cup, but can they now go on to retain their crown?

Pinnacle Sports has England best priced at 222/29 to hold on to their title.

If they do it looks like they will again have to rely on the boot of Jonny Wilkinson who kicked all 12 points against the Wallabies.  England will also be the first team to win the World Cup without winning all their matches as they lost a match in their pool.

After four years of mediocrity England may be on their last legs but the World Champions believe they have what it takes to break Australian hearts again in the Rugby World Cup. The finalists of four years ago lock horns in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille tomorrow to compete for a place in the semi-finals and a possible meeting with the mighty All Blacks. While England have limped into the last eight Australia have reached it with an element of ease thought Wales did put them under a degree of pressure in Cardiff. It would be the shock of shocks if Brian Ashton's side were to dump the wallabies out of the tournament and England will more than likely be parting company with the Webb Ellis trophy tomorrow evening.

The entire nation breathed a sigh of relief today when it emerged that Lewis Hamilton would not be deducted points after an allegation of erratic driving at the Japanese Grand Prix. Now the 22 year old star from Hertfordshire is on the verge of capturing the Formula 1 driver's championship at the first time of asking. It would be a truly astonishing feat and one that will go down in racing history as one of the most impressive.  Today's ruling leaves Hamilton 12-points ahead of his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso with just two races to go. The first of those takes place this weekend in Shanghai, China on Sunday.

After another successful week in Europe Arsenal return to the Premiership looking for their 7^th win out of 8 games on Sunday when Sunderland make their way to the Capital. Sunderland languishing 14 places behind the 'Wenger boys' in the table will have their work cut out for them against a side who have found the back of the net 16 times this season as opposed to the Black Cat's 8. Roy Keane may have had some famous days at the old Highbury but he'd settle for a drab goalless draw at the Emirates in a game his side are severe underdogs to win. Sunderland travel with the task of ending a 10-match losing run of Premier League trips to London, and have not won a top-flight match in the capital since beating Chelsea 4-2 on 17 March 2001.