Media twist footballers words again

Early this month I had a rant about Arsenal and their lack of leadership. So imagine my glee when hearing on the radio on my drive home the headline that Gallas believes that the Gunners' young stars that they are "not brave enough" to challenge for the Premier League title.

However after I got home I actually read his interview in full and it read to me that is was a true rallying call by a man out to prove a point.

"We are not brave enough in battle.

"I think we need to be soldiers. To be champions, you have to play big matches every weekend and fight."

Speaking to the Associated Press, he added: "We are coming up against teams who are not scared to play football against us, who are not scared to take us on at our place, and this is becoming dangerous for Arsenal.

"We have to be warriors. That is how the team will forge their character and experience."

Enough said.......

The friendly arguement

Germany v England

That alone looks impressive

Germany v Endland (friendly)
not so?

In my opinion I don't think it matters. It is the old rivals. Also I believe that friendlies are a good thing. We need to test players and formations out so we can be prepared for the next world cup. The nation needs to win a trophy, we need some passion and pride back in the national squad.

If you don't belive me then belive the England captain-

"I can assure you the game certainly means a lot to us as players. I know there are a couple of injuries and a few people have pulled out, but the squad is coming here to win and the manager has stressed that from day one."

Terry added that matches against Germany will always carry extra significance given the history between the two sides.

"You go back to the World Cup final of 1966 but in my time, the 5-1 win over Germany in Munich really sticks out," said the Chelsea defender. "That was a fantastic night for English football.

"Everyone involved here this week is coming here to win the game and we know the relevance of the game for everyone.

"There is no such thing as a Germany-England friendly given the history of the fixture."

Another weekend of football goes by...

So Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool provided no shocks with their victories over the weekend, however Arsenal's inability to put together any kind of run is really starting to effect even the most ardent Gooners faith that they can win anything this year.

So what is the problem?

They have the world class players, they have the world class amateurs and they have certainly the worlds best youth players. Personally I believe they don't have a Tony Adams or Martin Keown to lead, true they do have experienced players such as Galas and Fabregas but they are not heroes amongst the team. This January Arsenal need to buy a potential captain..... does anyone know John Terry's number?

Sunday, 16 November 2008

Everton	1-1 (HT 0-1)	Middlesbrough
Yakubu 65		O'Neil 8
		Bookings: Digard 65 Pogatetz 69

---

Hull	2-2 (HT 1-2)	Man City
Cousin 14 Geovanni 60		Ireland 37 Ireland 45
Bookings: McShane 25 Marney 88		Bookings: Ben-Haim 11 Wright-Phillips 83 Ireland 84

Saturday, 15 November 2008

Arsenal	0-2 (HT 0-0)	Aston Villa
		Clichy o.g. 70 Agbonlahor 80
Bookings: Denilson 10 Fabregas 19		Bookings: Friedel 44 Barry 55 Agbonlahor 81 Sidwell 90

---

Blackburn	1-2 (HT 1-0)	Sunderland
Samba 45+2		Jones 49 Cisse 71
Bookings: Warnock 33 Khizanishvili 54 Mokoena 70		Bookings: Tainio 25 Ferdinand 29 Collins 39 Jones 54

---

Bolton	0-2 (HT 0-1)	Liverpool
		Kuyt 28 Gerrard 73
Bookings: Nolan 63		Bookings: Carragher 86

---

Fulham	2-1 (HT 1-0)	Tottenham
Davies 33 Johnson 70		Campbell 81
Bookings: Zamora 16

---

Man Utd	5-0 (HT 2-0)	Stoke
Ronaldo 3 Carrick 45+1 Berbatov 49 Welbeck 84 Ronaldo 89
Bookings: Evra 63		Bookings: Fuller 43 Delap 47

---

Newcastle	2-2 (HT 0-1)	Wigan
Owen 80 Martins 87		Taylor 3 Bramble 89
Bookings: Beye 49		Bookings: Boyce 16 Bramble 50 Palacios 57
		Sent off: Boyce 54

---

West Brom	0-3 (HT 0-3)	Chelsea
		Bosingwa 34 Anelka 38 Anelka 45+1
		Bookings: Terry 52 Bosingwa 57 Ivanovic 78

---

West Ham	0-0 (HT 0-0)	Portsmouth
		Bookings: Pamarot 39

Andorra 0-2 England

When McClaren's England won 3-0 against Andorra many fans and pundits attacked the manager and team for not winning against a poorer opposition, tonight Cappello's England only managed a 2-0 victory.

So does this mean that once again that England will struggle and even fail to qualify for a major tournament? Not according to Capello, in a post match interview he said he was satisfied with his teams performance.

England started well. Walcott certainly was a good choice to begin the match as he had two chances in the first three minutes. However Andorra defending with nine men sat behind the ball began to frustrate England. Downing's crossing was poor and Defoe was muscled off of every ball he had by strength and numbers. England struggled to find space and the travelling English fans to voice their frustration with the manager and team at the 0-0 score at half time.

At half time Capello showed his tactical know how by completely changing the style of his team by bringing on Hesky (who played well) and Cole whose attacking prowess achieved two goals for England. England where a different team in the second half and found it alot easier to find space against the tight and dogged nine man defence of Andorra.

It was also good to see Capello try different things such as Beckham in middle and constantly telling Cole to stay forward and stop chasing every ball like a six year old. So all in all I believe it was a good performance because Capello was man enough to realise his tactics where so wrong in the first half that he made drastic changes to win the match.

Capello at the end of his post match interview stated that he was confident of the upcoming match against Croatia. Certainly England's next match is the match that will test Capello's skills to the limit, personally I am begging to the football gods for an emphatic victory!

McClown forgets everything about England, even his accent

Just when I thought my respect for Steve McClaren couldn't get any lower he goes and gives the most bizarre interview ever to a Dutch TV channel.... For some reason he decided to speak to the commentator in a broken English accent! I can only think two things have happened here; either McClaren has started to lose his grasp of English after only being in Holland for 8 weeks or he believed the interviewer so stupid that he decided to mimic their broken English accent.

Certainly the second option is more likely even though the first one is funnier. However this has led me to believe that McClaren is more ignorant and stupid than I could of imagined. Ignorant because of the way he conversed with the commentator and stupid because he forgot to realise that the Dutch TV channel would put subtitles up on the screen, so he really didn't need to put on that teribble accent.

Here is the interview, so make your own opinions on it- click here

The Premier League and its proud history

Thank God the Premier League starts again this weekend, so Man U are creeping closer to Liverpool's crown of most successful English club ever but will any other records be broken?

Take a look at the records below, thanks to Wikipedia (I love you guys!)

Records in this section refer to The Football League from its founding in 1888 through to 1992, and to both the Premier League and The Football League from 1992 to the present.

Titles

• Most League titles: 18, Liverpool (1900-01, 1905-06, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1946-47, 1963-64, 1965-66, 1972-73, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1989-90)

• Most consecutive League titles: 3, joint record:
  • Huddersfield Town (1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26)
  • Arsenal FC (1931-32, 1932-33, 1933-34)
  • Liverpool FC (1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84)
  • Manchester United (1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01) (only time this has been achieved with the same manager)

Top Flight Appearances

• Most Appearances: 107, Everton (1888-1930), (1931-1951), (1954-current)
• Most Appearances before playing outside the top flight for the first time. (i.e. the last team never to have played outside the top flight): 68, Sunderland A.F.C (1890-1958)

Wins

• Most wins in the top flight overall: 1710, Everton
• Most consecutive wins without conceding a goal: 9, Stockport County (League Two, 2006-07)
• Most wins in a season: 33, Doncaster Rovers (Third Division North, 1946-47; final record P42 W33 D6 L3)
• Most consecutive wins: 14, joint record:
  • Arsenal (Premier League between February 10, 2002 and August 24, 2002)
  • Bristol City (Second Division, 1905-06)
  • Preston North End (Second Division, 1950-51)
  • Manchester United (Second Division, 1904-05)

• Most consecutive wins from the start of a season: 13, Reading (Third Division, 1985-86)
• Most consecutive wins from the start of a season in the top flight: 11, Tottenham Hotspur (First Division, 1960-61)
• Most consecutive home wins: 25, Bradford Park Avenue (Third Division North, 1926-27)
• Most consecutive away wins: 10, Tottenham Hotspur (First Division, 1959-60)
• Fewest wins in a season: 1, joint record
  • Derby County (Premier League, 2007-08); final record P38 W1 D8 L29)
  • Loughborough (Second Division, 1899-1900; final record P34 W1 D6 L27)
• 100% home win record in a season:
  • Liverpool (14 games; First Division, 1893-94)
  • Sheffield Wednesday (17 games; Second Division, 1899-00)
  • Brentford (21 games; Third Division South, 1929-30

Draws

• Most draws overall in the top flight: 947, Everton
• Most draws in a season: 23, joint record:
  • Norwich City (from 42 games, First Division, 1978-79)
  • Fulham FC (from 46 games, Fourth Division, 1986-87)
  • Hartlepool United (from 46 games, Third Division, 1997-98)
  • Cardiff City (from 46 games, Third Division, 1997-98)
• Most consecutive draws: 9:
  • Southampton (Championship, 2005-06)

Losses

• Most losses overall in the top flight: 1320, Everton
• Most losses in a season: 34, Doncaster Rovers, (Third Division, 1997-98; final record P46 W4 D8 L34)
• Fewest losses, season: 0, joint record:
  • Preston North End (First Division, 1888-89; final record P22 W18 D4 L0) Preston were also unbeaten in the FA Cup
  • Liverpool (Second Division, 1893-94; final record P28 W22 D6 L0)
  • Arsenal (Premier League, 2003-04; final record P38 W26 D12 L0)

Points

• Most points overall in the top flight: 4911, Liverpool
• Most points in a season (2 points for a win): 74, Lincoln City, (Fourth Division, 1975-76)
• Most points in a season (3 points for a win): 106, Reading, (Championship, 2005-06)
• Most points in a season for a top-flight-team (2 points for a win): 68 (30 wins 8 draws), Liverpool, (First Division, 1978-79)
• Most points in a season for a top-flight-team (3 points for a win): 95, Chelsea, (Premiership, 2004-05)
• Fewest points in a season (2 points for a win): 8, joint record:
  • Loughborough (Second Division, 1899-00)
  • Doncaster Rovers (Second Division, 1904-05)
• Fewest points in a season (3 points for a win): 11, Derby County (Premier League, 2007-08)

Unbeaten runs

• Longest unbeaten League run: 49, Arsenal (Premier League between May 7, 2003 and October 24, 2004)
• Longest unbeaten League run at Home: 82, Chelsea (Premier League 2004 to Present)
• Longest unbeaten run at Home: 85, Liverpool (all competitions between January 21, 1978 and January 31, 1981

Appearances

• Most career league appearances: 1,005, Peter Shilton (1966 to 1997)^[1]
• Most career league appearances by an outfield player: 931, Tony Ford (1975 to 2002)
• Most career league appearances at one club: 770, John Trollope (Swindon Town, 1960 to 1980)
• Most career league appearances for consecutive games: 401, Harold Bell (Tranmere Rovers, 1946 to 1955, including 26 FA Cup Appearances)
• Oldest player: Neil McBain, 51 years and 120 days (for New Brighton v. Hartlepool United, March 15, 1947)^[2]
• Youngest player: joint record, 15 years and 158 days:
  • Albert Geldard (for Bradford Park Avenue v. Millwall, September 16, 1929)
  • Ken Roberts (for Wrexham v. Bradford Park Avenue, September 1, 1951)

Goals

Individual

• Most career league goals: 433, Arthur Rowley (619 matches, for West Bromwich Albion, Fulham, Leicester City and Shrewsbury Town, 1946 to 1965)
• Most career top-flight goals: 357, Jimmy Greaves (516 matches, for Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, 1957 to 1971)
• Most goals in a season: 60, Dixie Dean (Everton 1927-28)
• Most goals in a game: 10, Joe Payne (for Luton Town v. Bristol Rovers, 13 April 1936)
• Fastest goal: 4 seconds, Jim Fryatt (for Bradford Park Avenue v. Tranmere Rovers, 25 April 1964)
• Fastest goal on a League debut: 7 seconds, Freddy Eastwood (for Southend United v. Swansea City, 16 October 2004)
• Fastest hat-trick (time between first and third goals): 2 minutes 20 seconds, James Hayter (for AFC Bournemouth v. Wrexham, 23 February 2004)
• Fastest goal by a substitute: 1.8 seconds, Nicklas Bendtner (for Arsenal v. Tottenham Hotspur, 22 December 2007)
• Most own goals in one season: 5, Robert Stuart (Middlesbrough, 1934-35)
• Most hat-tricks in one season: 9, George Camsell (Middlesbrough, 1926-27)
• Longest goalkeeping run without conceding a goal: 1103 minutes, Steve Death (Reading, 1978-79)
• Chris Nicholl of Aston Villa once scored all four goals in a 2-2 draw, against Leicester City in 1976.

Team

• Most league goals scored in a season: 134, Peterborough United (Fourth Division, 1960-61)
• Most top-flight goals scored in a season: 128, Aston Villa (First Division, 1930-31)
• Fewest league goals scored in a season: 18, Loughborough, (Second Division, 1899-1900)
• Fewest home league goals scored in a season: 10, Manchester City, (Premier League, 2006-07) They did not score a home goal after January 1, encompassing their final 8 home league matches.
• Most league goals conceded in a season: 141, Darwen (Second Division, 1898-99)
• Most goals conceded by a single goalkeeper: 85, Paul Robinson, (Leeds United, 2003-04)
• Fewest league goals conceded in a season: 15, Chelsea (Premier League, 2004-05)
• Most consecutive games without scoring: 13, Hartlepool United (11 league, 1 FA Cup and 1 Autoglass Trophy, 1992-93)
• Most goals on one day: 209 goals in 44 games, Saturday 1 February 1936
  • This included 9 hat-tricks, 3 players grabbing 4 goals, and some interesting scorelines of Chester City 12-0 York City and Crewe Alexandra 5-6 Chesterfield. There was only one nil-nil draw: Aldershot 0-0 Bristol City

Scorelines

• Record win: 13-0, joint record:
  • Stockport County 13-0 Halifax Town (Third Division North, January 6, 1934)
  • Newcastle United 13-0 Newport County (Second Division, October 5, 1946)
• Record away win: Port Vale 0-10 Sheffield United (Second Division, December 10, 1892)
• Record away win in English top division: Newcastle United 1-9 Sunderland A.F.C. (First Division, December 5, 1908)
• Most goals in a game: 17, Tranmere Rovers 13-4 Oldham Athletic (Third Division North, December 26, 1935)
• Highest scoring draw: 6-6, joint record:
  • Leicester City 6-6 Arsenal (First Division, April 21, 1930)
  • Charlton Athletic 6-6 Middlesbrough (First Division, October 22, 1960)
  • On October 1, 1991, the Zenith Data Systems Cup First Round tie between Tranmere Rovers and Newcastle United ended 3–3. A further six goals were scored in the 30 minutes of extra time, resulting in a 6–6 draw, before Tranmere eventually won 3–2 on penalties
• Most double figure league wins by a team: 5, Birmingham City (12-0 v Walsall, 17 December 1892; 10-2 v Manchester City, 17 March 1894; 10-1 v Blackpool, 2 March 1901; 12-0 v Doncaster Rovers, 11 April 1903; 11-1 v Glossop, 6 January 1915) (all Second Division)

Attendances

See also: Record attendances of English football clubs

• Highest attendance, single game: 83,260 Manchester United v. Arsenal (at Maine Road, First Division, 17 January 1948)
• Lowest attendance, single game: 469, Thames v. Luton Town (at West Ham Stadium, Third Division South, 6 December 1930)
• Lowest number of paying spectators: 13, Stockport County v. Leicester City (at Old Trafford, May 7, 1921)^[3]

Disciplinary

• Most red cards in a single match: 5, joint record:
  • Chesterfield (2) v. Plymouth Argyle (3) (February 22, 1997)
  • Wigan Athletic (1) v. Bristol Rovers (4) (December 2, 1997)
  • Exeter City (3) v. Cambridge United (2) (November 23, 2002)
• Most red cards in a career (individual): 13, joint record:
  • Roy McDonough (Walsall, Colchester United, Exeter City, Southend United),^[4][5]
  • Steve Walsh (Wigan Athletic and Leicester City)^[5][4]
• Fastest red card: 13 seconds, Kevin Pressman (for Sheffield Wednesday, 13 August 2000)
• Fastest red card for a substitute: 0 seconds, joint record:
  • Walter Boyd (Swansea City, 12 March 2000),
  • Keith Gillespie (Sheffield United, 20 January 2007)

Both players came on as a substitute and elbowed/pushed an opponent before the game had been restarted.

Transfers

See also: British football transfer record

• Highest transfer fee: £32 million, record:
  • Andriy Shevchenko, from A.C. Milan to Chelsea (May 2006) (estimated)

Charity Community Shield: History, past winners and runners up

1908	Manchester United	Queens Park Rangers	1-1
replay	Manchester United	Queens Park Rangers	4-0
1909	Newcastle United	Northampton Town	2-0
1910	Brighton and Hove Albion	Aston Villa	1-0
1911	Manchester United	Swindon Town	8-4
1912	Blackburn Rovers	Queens Park Rangers	2-1
1913	Professionals	Amateurs	7-2
1914-	1918 Not Played
1920	West Bromwich Albion	Tottenham Hotspur	2-0
1921	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley	2-0
1922	Huddersfield Town	Liverpool	1-0
1923	Professionals	Amateurs	2-0
1924	Professionals	Amateurs	3-1
1925	Amateurs	Professionals	6-1
1926	Amateurs	Professionals	6-3
1927	Cardiff City	Corinthians	2-1
1928	Everton	Blackburn Rovers	2-1
1929	Professionals	Amateurs	3-0
1930	Arsenal	Sheffield Wednesday	2-1
1931	Arsenal	West Bromwich Albion	1-0
1932	Everton	Newcastle United	5-3
1933	Arsenal	Everton	3-0
1934	Arsenal	Manchester City	4-0
1935	Sheffield Wednesday	Arsenal	1-0
1936	Sunderland	Arsenal	2-1
1937	Manchester City	Sunderland	2-0
1938	Arsenal	Preston North End	2-1
1940 -	1945 Not Played
1948	Arsenal	Manchester United	4-3
1949	Portsmouth	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1-1*
1950	World Cup Team	Canadian Touring Team	4-2
1951	Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle United	2-1
1952	Manchester United	Newcastle United	4-2
1953	Arsenal	Blackpool	3-1
1954	Wolverhamton Wanderers	West Bromwich Albion	4-4*
1955	Chelsea	Newcastle United	3-0
1956	Manchester United	Manchester City	1-0
1957	Manchester United	Aston Villa	4-0
1958	Bolton Wanderers	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4-1
1959	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Nottingham Forest	3-1
1960	Burnley	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2-2*
1961	Tottenham Hotspur	F.A. XI	3-2
1962	Tottenham Hotspur	Ipswich Town	5-1
1963	Everton	Manchester United	4-0
1964	Liverpool	West Ham United	2-2*
1965	Manchester United	Liverpool	2-2*
1966	Liverpool	Everton	1-0
1967	Manchester United	Tottenham Hotspur	3-3*
1968	Manchester City	West Bromwich Albion	6-1
1969	Leeds United	Manchester City	2-1
1970	Everton	Chelsea	2-1
1971	Leicester City	Liverpool	1-0
1972	Manchester City	Aston Villa	1-0
1973	Burnley	Manchester City	1-0
1974	Liverpool	Leeds United	1-1**
1975	Derby County	West Ham United	2-0
1976	Liverpool	Southampton	1-0
1977	Liverpool	Manchester United	0-0*
1978	Nottingham Forest	Ipswich Town	5-0
1979	Liverpool	Arsenal	3-1
1980	Liverpool	West Ham United	1-0
1981	Aston Villa	Tottenham Hotspur	2-2*
1982	Liverpool	Tottenham Hotspur	1-0
1983	Manchester United	Liverpool	2-0
1984	Everton	Liverpool	1-0
1985	Everton	Manchester United	2-0
1986	Everton	Liverpool	1-1*
1987	Everton	Coventry City	1-0
1988	Liverpool	Wimbledon	2-1
1989	Liverpool	Arsenal	1-0
1990	Liverpool	Manchester United	1-1*
1991	Arsenal	Tottenham Hotspur	0-0*
1992	Leeds United	Liverpool	4-3
1993	Manchester United	Arsenal	1-1**
1994	Manchester United	Blackburn Rovers	2-0
1995	Everton	Blackburn Rovers	1-0
1996	Manchester United	Newcastle United	4-0
1997	Manchester United	Chelsea	1-1**
1998	Arsenal	Manchester United	3-0
1999	Arsenal	Manchester United	2-1
2000	Chelsea	Manchester United	2-0
2001	Liverpool	Manchester United	2-1
2002	Arsenal	Liverpool	1-0
2003	Manchester United	Arsenal	1-1**
2004	Arsenal	Manchester United	3-1
2005	Chelsea	Arsenal	2-1
2006	Liverpool	Chelsea	2-1
2007	Manchester United	Chelsea	1-1**
2008	Manchester United	Portsmouth	0-0**

* Each team retained Shield for six months
** Won on penalty kicks

From 1974-2000, the then FA Charity Shield was played at Wembley.
Between 2001-2006 (inclusive) the match was been held at The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
In 2007 The FA Community Shield match returned to the new Wembley Stadium.