Friday, 15 August 2008

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

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

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.

Villa agree £7.8m fee for Cuellar


Aston Villa have agreed a £7.8m fee with Rangers for their highly-rated Spanish defender Carlos Cuellar. Villa invoked an exit clause in the player's contract for that amount after Cuellar, 26, made it known he wanted to play in the English Premier League. "My ambition has always been to play for Spain and I believe that playing in the biggest league in the world will help me realise that," he said.


Cuellar began his career at Spanish Tercera División side Calahorra before moving on to Segunda side Numancia. He spent two seasons in Numancia, making over sixty appearances, and then got his big move to La Liga side Osasuna. He became an important part of the Javier Aguirre side that finished fourth in the league in season 2004-05 and reached the final of the Copa del Rey. A few seasons later they reached the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2007, knocking Rangers out en route. During that same UEFA Cup 2006-07 campaign Cuéllar scored a first minute goal in the quarter finals at the BayArena against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in April, that was the fastest goal of the tournament that season.

Cuellar moved to Ibrox from Spanish side Osasuna last summer and enjoyed a superb debut season for the club, helping them to the Uefa Cup final and winning both the Clydesdale Bank SPL and Scottish Football Writers' Association player of the year awards.Cuellar is set to become Villa's sixth signing of the summer following manager Martin O'Neill's capture of Curtis Davies, Steve Sidwell, Luke Young, Nicky Shorey and Brad Friedel.

Friday, 8 August 2008

Chelsea make Robinho bid


Chelsea have made a £19.7m bid for Real Madrid's Brazilian striker Robinho, BBC Sport understands. In a statement on their website, Chelsea confirmed they have made an offer for Robinho, although they did not reveal the size of their bid. The 24-year-old former Santos star played a key role in helping Real secure the Spanish title last season. But he is believed to be keen to join fellow countryman Luiz Felipe Scolari at Stamford Bridge.

Robinho was born in Parque Bitaru, a poor neighborhood of São Vicente in Santos, where he began playing football at an early age. When he was six years old, he was signed to the Beira-Mar, a local footballing academy; his team won the championship in his first year. One of his teammates at the time was Marcelo, currently Robinho's teammate at Real Madrid. In 1993, at the age of just nine, Robinho scored 73 goals for the Portuários futsal team. He later joined Santos' youth program, which at the time was overseen by Brazilian football legend Pelé.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said on Saturday that, although talks with Real had stalled, he remains hopeful that a deal for Robinho would go through. Kenyon believes Madrid's eagerness to secure a replacement is the only factor preventing him from moving to Stamford Bridge.

Monday, 4 August 2008

This weeks Premier League transfers 28th July to 3rd August


3 August
Omar Alieu Koroma [Banjul Hawks - Portsmouth] Undisclosed
Jan Lastuvka [Shakhtar Donetsk - West Ham] Loan
Danny Simpson [Manchester United - Blackburn] Loan

2 August
Carlos Villaneuva [Audax Italiano - Blackburn] Season-long loan

30 July 2008
Tal Ben Haim [Chelsea - Man City] Undisclosed
David Bentley [Blackburn - Tottenham] Undisclosed
Amaury Bischoff [Werder Bremen - Arsenal] Undisclosed
Steed Malbranque [Tottenham - Sunderland] Undisclosed 29 July 2008
Lee Cattermole [Middlesbrough - Wigan] Undisclosed

28 July 2008
El-Hadji Diouf [Bolton - Sunderland] Undisclosed
Anthony Gardner [Tottenham - Hull] Loan
Robbie Keane [Tottenham - Liverpool] £20.3m
Mustapha Riga [Levante - Bolton] Undisclosed

So the cheque books are now open, Sunderland sign another Spurs player and take another step towards becoming the Tottenham 'B' team. Liverpool capture the hard working Robbie Keane. A few hard up teams invest wisely in some loan players and the dirtiest player in the game decides to move the the team ran by the ex dirtiest player in the game. Nice... lets hope Man U and Chelsea follow suit soon.

How would the Premier League table look if refs got all the key decisions right?

The Right Result - Football's bad decisions and incidents