Top 10 impossible goals

Arsenal v Middlesbrough

Arsenal could be without Theo Walcott (thigh) again after he missed the draw at Wigan but Emmanuel Eboue is back after a three-match suspension.

Kolo Toure and Robin van Persie are fit again and pressing for starts but Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby are out.

Afonso Alves (illness) and Jeremie Aliadiere (ban) return to the Boro squad for the trip to the Emirates.

Andrew Taylor played an hour for the reserves in midweek after a foot injury, but the game has come too soon.

Team From

Arsenal

Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, van Persie, Adebayor, Lehmann, Song, J Hoyte, Senderos, Gilberto, Denilson, Bendtner.

Middlesbrough

Schwarzer, Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Huth, O'Neil, Boateng, Shawky, Downing, Tuncay, Mido, Alves, Turnbull, Rochemback, Johnson, Grounds, Cattermole, Taylor, Aliadiere.

About the Match

Champions League and Premier League chasing Arsenal are highly likely to have been knocked off the top of the table by the time this teatime kicks off gets underway. Manchester United play away to rock bottom Derby two hours earlier and victory for the visitors will mean the Gunners will have to improve on three successive draws to recapture top spot.

Middlesbrough are the only club to have beaten Arsenal in a league clash this season, and will have to notch a first away victory in 2008 is they are to pull off a first double over the Gunners in 70 years.

No club has scored a higher proportion of their Premier League goals in the first 15 minutes than Middlesbrough (seven of 26, 27%), and no club has scored more goals in stoppage time than Arsenal (seven).

Arsenal beat Middlesbrough 7-0 at Highbury on 14 January 2006. By comparison, the three subsequent home and away meetings have produced seven goals in total.

Head to Head Details

Middlesbrough last beat Arsenal home and away in the same season in 1937-38, with two 2-1 victories.

'Boro have recorded only one victory on Arsenal turf since the Second World War. Their only maximum in 29 league visits was 0-3 on 14 April 2001 when they were assisted by two own goals.

Home and away
League (inc PL): Arsenal 57 wins, Middlesbrough 29, Draws 29
Prem: Arsenal 15 wins, Middlesbrough 5, Draws 5

at Arsenal only
League (inc PL): Arsenal 36 wins, Middlesbrough 6, Draws 15
Prem: Arsenal 7 wins, Middlesbrough 1, Draws 4

UEFA Champions League

FC BARCELONA ALREADY PLANNING FOR 2008 -2009

The Barcelona based Sports daily "Sport" has published an articlewere they give a glimpse into the new look FC BARCELONA projectfor 2008 - 2009. According to them, Barça is well advanced in its planswith many players on their agenda & with pre-agreements. Here is therun down of who will go & who will replace in each blocks. Remember these are the media speculations however attractive they wish to sell them.According to "Sport" , Barça directives have the following names uptheir sleeves:Defense: Zambrotta will leave at the end of the season for AC Milan:players on list to replace him - Dani Alves (30-35M€), Willy Sagnol& Phillip Lahm ( both these last two have pre-agreements with Barça)Thuram will leave at the end of the season; replacement in mind EzequielGaray ( Santander) or Martin Caceres (Recreativo).Midfield: In case Deco leaves, very likely, Barça have in mind Diego(Werder Bremen, although Atletico & Real Madrid are in there as well),Luka Modric (Dynamo Zagreb), Xavi Alonso (Liverpool FC) & FrankLampard (Chelsea FC).Forward: Barça has a few players here in mind Frank Ribery (BayernMunich, will be difficult), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla, but player talking withReal Madrid), Benzema (Lyon, very though & unlikely) & Drogba (Chelsea,although Real Madrid & AC Milan in there as well)

English Premier League and UEFA champions league

Javier Mascherano has been named in Liverpool's squad for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash against Inter Milan at the San Siro.

The Argentine midfielder limped out of last week's 4-0 win over West Ham with a groin injury but he has recovered.

However, Steve Finnan will miss the game because of a hamstring problem.

Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fit after a knee injury, but Marco Materazzi is suspended and Christian Chivu (shoulder) is a minor doubt.

Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher will play his 100th European game - as the Reds seek to join Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool (from):

Reina, Arbeloa, Aurelio, Hyypia, Skrtel, Carragher, Riise, Pennant, Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Babel, Benayoun, Lucas, Crouch, Kuyt, Torres, Itandje.

Head To Head Details

Three weeks ago, on 19 February, Liverpool beat Inter Milan 2-0 at Anfield in the first leg.

The only previous European encounters between Internazionale and Liverpool came in the semi-finals 43 seasons years ago. The home side won 3-1 at Anfield on 4 May 1965, only to lose 3-0 in the return leg eight days later.

Player and Disciplinary Info

Marco Materazzi (Inter) is suspended for this match, following his two yellow cards in the first leg at Anfield. It was the first time Materazzi had been sent off in a Champions League match.

Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) will be suspended on receiving another yellow card.

Julio Cesar has started and completed all of Internazionale's CL matches this season.

If selected, Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia will be making their 50th Champions League appearances in the main tournament - all in Liverpool shirts.

Jose Manuel Reina and Jamie Carragher have started and completed all of Liverpool's CL matches this season.

Other Miscellaneous Facts

Internazionale are one goal short of scoring 500 in European competition. They also need to net five to reach 100 in the Champions League main tournament.

On Saturday, Inter beat Reggina 2-0 to collect their 19th Serie A victory of the season and stay top of the table, six points ahead of AS Roma. The Italians have lost only four matches this season in all competitions: 0-1 to AS Roma for the Italian Super Cup in August 2007, 1-0 against Fenerbahce in their first CL match of the season in September, 2-0 in the first leg against Liverpool on 19 February and 1-0 at Napoli on 2 March.

Monday morning aticles

Dave Coulson of Sporting News has an article about coaching changes in FCS/I-AA this year.

Speaking of coaching changes, a number of former UMass coaches lost assistant coaching jobs this year.

Former UMass coach and player Bill Durkin, was replaced after new Richmond Coach Mike London brought in his own staff.

Former UMass assistant coaches John Strollo and Brian Sherrod were replaced when former UMass coach Ted Roof was fired as head coach at Duke. Roof was hired as defensive coordinator at Minnesota.

In other news, Ricky Santos had his number retired at the UNH football banquet(with some bonus coverage of UMass hockey).

The football king >>>P<<<

Finishing the season with Southampton

Unfortunately the finish of the season was not successful as I had expected. My Southampton took only 12th place and I got again under fire of fans and board. But that was a great luck not being sacked this time! Board decided to give me one more chance with the club.

Poor 12th place (8 points away from promotion playoff zone) was caused by two factors:

• Weak players, especially forwards
• Ineffective tactical approach with standard 4-4-2 scheme

Therefore we get the following results in the last matches of the season:

I decided to forgot these experience with standard 4-4-2 and try to create totally new attacking tactics with 3 forwards. Another my task for the new season is creating of the team buying a lot of new players and selling many old ones. So its human resources revolution is coming to Southampton! :)

And, for sure, I could not set season expectations lower than promotion to Premier League. Any other result will be considered as total failure!

Chelsea to miss Cech once again

Poor old Petr Cech, he seems to be picking up injuries just as you would pick up girls in a nightclub! Chelsea manager Avram Grant has admitted that the Czech international goalkeeper will be out of action for at least a week.

Cech sprained his ankle in training and missed Chelsea’s midweel win over Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League and would also miss Chelsea’s next two game which are against Barnsley and Derby County.

Although Grant is confident that Cech will be back for next weekend’s match against Sunderland, his words cannot be taken at face value. One wonders what’s the problem with Cech with all these frequently occurring injuries.

Comedies in Football

Watch it,,, a cool collection...

Arsenal outclassed AC Milan with a style that suggested they can reach a second CL Finals

Arsenal outclassed AC Milan with a style that suggested they can reach a second Champions League final in three seasons
Can they get to the Final again. Ancelloti agreed that his team was Outclassed by Arsenal. Does this mean that this Arsenal this is unbeatable especially when they are complete. You can actually count the number of games they have lost this season on your finger tips.
In all these games, they team lost , they was always an injury crisis, or resting of players for a different championship. Ofcourse by the time the big players are deployed it was usually over.
Yesterday we saw an Arsenal team without Kolo Toure and Van Persie make history in San Siro. Doing what no English tem has ever done and in Style. Though it is too early to say, but Is this another run to the final for Arsenal?

Constraint Theory of Offense

A common question is: what kind of offense do you run? Often someone – both fans and coaches – respond and say: I run a system with bubble screens, play action passes, screens, and draws. This person – coach or not – would be completely wrong. These kinds of plays are not your offense; your offense consists of the zone-read, the dropback passes, or your base runs and passes. Those other plays are sort-of conditions precedent to your offense; they work as constraints on the defense. What do I mean by this?

At least in the most abstract sense, your “offense” is that bread and butter stuff you can draw on the whiteboard that should always work in a perfect world. It is the pass play that always works against Cover 3, it is the run that will always burst free against a “Bear” front. Yes, it is what works on paper. But we don’t live in a perfect world, right? Well the “constraint” plays are designed to make sure you live in one that is as close as possible.

For example, the safety might get tired of watching you break big gains up the middle, so he begins to cheat up. Now you go play action and make him pay for his impatience. The outside linebackers may cheat in for the same reason. You throw the bubble screen and the bootlegs to make them pay for their impatience. The defensive ends begin rushing hard upfield; you trap, draw, and screen them to make them pay for getting out of position. If that defensive end played honest your tackle could block him; if he flies upfield he cannot. So you have to do these “constraint plays” to keep them in check. Once they get back to playing honest football, you, in essence, go back to the whiteboard and beat them with your bread and butter.

Now, in a given game your offense might look like it is all “constraint” plays: all gimmicks, screens, traps, draws, fakes and the like. Maybe so. If the defense plays too aggressively, so what. But a coach must not lose sight of how his offense is truly structured. A great offense is structured around a core idea or a few core ideas that puts the players in position to succeed every time. The triple option can be this for some teams, a well designed dropback pass game for another. The constraints are alternatively given too much and not enough weight. But they nevertheless are what make an offense go.

So the better you are at dropback passing, the more you need these constraint plays because teams will go out of their way to prevent you from chucking it all over them. Similarly if you’re a great run team. Safeties and linebackers will all cheat by formation and post-snap effort to stop your run game. You must have the counters, the screens, the bootlegs, and the quick passes (because quick 3-step passes, at core, are most effective when used to simply take advantage of a loose defensive structure). All this comports well with a game theory approach to football. Similarly, these constraint plays will be even more important against the best teams because they will put the biggest premium on stopping your primary threat.

The upshot of all this is that when you are designing an offense you must (a) find those one or two things which you can hang your hat on and beat just about anything doing when the defense is playing honest, and (b) get good at all those little “constraint” plays which keep the defense playing honest. You won’t win championships simply throwing the bubble screen, but the bubble will help keep you from losing games when the defense wants to crash your run game. Same with draws and screens if you’re a passing team. You find ways to do what you want and put your players in position to win and score.

ADDENDUM: Fair question from the comments: Does the theory work in the other direction? What if your offense is based only on bubble screens and then you just run the ball or throw the ball as a counter to your bubble screen offense?

Response: The difference is that the bubble screen is a play that really only works when the defense has made a structural choice or is out of position. Most commonly, you'll run when the bubble only when the defense has but two defenders to cover three receivers. You thus block the two defenders and the receiver has free yards. If the defense puts a third defender there they can take the play away, intercept it, or make the tackle.

Conversely, a well designed dropback pass play, a triple option play, or certain base runs will work every time you face a normal defense. The only time the play stops working is when certain defenders cheat on their assignments, either by alignment or aggressiveness.

Here's how they fit together: You're an option team. You come out running the option, you read the defensive end and the linebacker, and you tear them up. Now the safety or outside linebacker cheats in. He blows up your play. But, voila, now they are not covering your outside receivers, so you bubble screen them.

Similarly with a play action pass. You send a receiver deep down the middle or the seam. If the safety plays honest he should drop back and take it away. But if he comes up for your run play you use his aggressiveness against him.

The distinction is subtle, but important. It relates to the idea of base plays and counter plays. The bubble is simply not a base play. It will not work against a simple and sound defense, but works great against defenses that aren't structurally sound or balanced. On the other hand, "base plays" defeat balanced "whiteboard" like defenses, but can get blown up by defenses that cheat or play games. Thus the relationship between "base plays" and "constraint" plays (or "keep-em-honest plays). The bubble, while limited in use, will have a profound influence when the defense gets out of position.

Magic of Maradona...

Maradona...

More money than you can shake a stick at

If you think Alex Ferguson was pissed the last time Real Madrid were making headlines trying to tempt winger Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United, then he will go red when he hears about their latest tactics.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is all over the Spanish media telling anyone that will listen that he still has a chance to sign his dream-boat. And this time we are not talking huge transfer fees, the latest attempt to lure Ronaldo will go right to his pocketbook in the way of making him the highest paid player in the world.

To fuel speculation, Jorge Mendes who is Ronaldo’s agent, has been meeting with Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic. While he claims its for other matters, don’t believe it. Real have a history of destabilizing players thru the media and the love affair with Ronaldo has not lasted the better part of 3 years. Let's just say the meeting wasn't exactly private.

The proposed salary: over 8m pounds per year, and with income tax in Spain about half that of England it would roughly equal 200,000 pounds a week were he being paid within the Premier League.

Ronaldo has scored a whopping 29 goals this season for United and signed a new 120,000 pound a week deal for 5 years. It’s more than likely that Mendes is trying to renegotiate terms and squeeze a few more quid out of Old Trafford, and why not? A winger that can score 30 goals in a season should be the highest paid player in the world.

At the moment Brazilian international Kaka is the highest paid player in the world, where AC Milan shell out 130,000 pounds a week.

I doubt Ronaldo would like to leave, I would imagine Manchester making him top of the salary heap will quiet Madrid.

Are Spurs and Chelsea moving in opposite directions?

Tottenham's Carling Cup win over Chelsea yesterday didn't seem to surprise anybody. In the days leading up to the final, they were well fancied. People argued that they'd turned a corner, that they could just sense that a form-bending win over local rivals Arsenal and subsequent improvements against Manchester United left Spurs ready to turn Chelsea over.

There was also a theory which shows White Hart Lane supremo Juande Ramos in an impressive light: under him, Spurs never get done twice. The suggestion is that he takes a game to suss out the opposition, and then engineers a noteworthy improvement next time out. A draw with United and wins over Arsenal and now Chelsea would appear to bear this out.

Spurs and Chelsea have both changed managers this season, to starkly differing effect.

This season began with Jose Mourinho managing Chelsea and Martin Jol gunning for fourth spot with Tottenham. Things worked out rather badly in both cases, and the managers were quickly walking the plank. Jose worked wonders at Chelsea, and was a victim of circumstance, Shevchenko and backstabbing. Jol suffered a similar fate for similar reasons, though his performance was undoubtedly questionable at the beginning of the current season.

Jose Mourinho's departure from Stamford Bridge led to the all too predictable appointment of Avram Grant, former manager of Israel and friend of Roman Abramovich. Grant has promised expansive football, and has been credited with improvements in Chelsea from the last days of Mourinho's tenure.

It seems to me though that the new manager has received an inordinate amount of good press. There has been nothing more than a flash of that exciting football, and even Mourinho used to provide it once in a while. The other argument is that Chelsea, just about, have stayed near(ish) the title race. Let's face it, though, Mourinho put together a team of supposedly world class players. So, in effect, Grant has done nothing.

And when you consider the hash he made of yesterday's match - religiously sticking to 4-3-3 despite possessing two of the best strikers on the planet - maybe it's best he doesn't try to put too much of his stamp on things. With his ineptitude and the attitude of the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard, combined with the imminent loss of Didier Drogba, it could well be that Chelsea will be in a battle for fourth next season unless Ranieri-type money is spent once again.

The future for Spurs, though, looks bright. Ramos' ability to observe and alter was alluded to earlier in this post, and shows a coaching aptitude absent at Chelsea. And without wishing to put too fine a point on it, it doesn't look like he'll take any shit. Much has been made of the combined weight loss of the Spurs squad since Ramos came in and ordered them to shed some pounds.

Their fitness is beginning to tell, and the manager seems to have an unerring ability to get the best out of good players. Dimitar Berbatov spoke after the final of his desire to stay at the Lane. Jermaine Jenas has dragged himself from obscurity to vitality. Signing the right players - i.e. tackling a defensive shambles by bringing in Alan Hutton and Jonathan Woodgate - indicates that Ramos will be no mug in the transfer market. In short, he's made a mighty impressive start.

It's entirely possible that Spurs and Chelsea will pass each other on the white way up and the blue way down, and it will be wholly due to differing managerial appointments made by two clubs with good squads.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge

Things aren't too rosy at Fulham Broadway, it seems. The back of the Evening Standard made entertaining reading today, running the headline 'Chelsea stars losing confidence in Grant' in reference to manager Avram being out of his depth by some distance. The only surprise is that anybody didn't make this assertion instantly upon his appointment.

I've already made the comparison on this blog between Grant and Spurs boss Juande Ramos since both were appointed early this season. It seems that Chelsea players and fans are finally asking the very same question.

Grant has shown nothing to suggest he has a clue what he's doing at Stamford Bridge. As discussed on this week's Football Weekly podcast from The Guardian, Grant's Chelsea have played Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea... and not scored a single goal. The myth-making about Grant 'proving his doubters wrong' is just that. He took on a team with a few world class players, and a few good results and general reasonable form is only to be expected. He has achieved a grand total of nothing at Chelsea, and the players are wising to it.

Still, the players' attitude is, as usual with Chelsea, questionable in the extreme. There's been much coverage of a row between coach Henk Ten Cate and John Terry (pictured getting a much-deserved kick in the chops, from The Sun) and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole have thrown their toys out of the pram, as has Frank Lampard recently. Their dispicable behaviour does not end on the pitch, it seems.

Whichever camp has your sympathy, there is no denying that Stamford Bridge is besieged by tension and in-fighting. Long may it continue.

New tactics = new perfomance. Wigan matches of October and November (FM 2008).

After the weak start I changed tactics of Wigan totally. 4-4-1-1 was replaced on 5-2-1-2 with two fullbacks covering the whole flanks. Then I began to tune new tactics scheme trying different individual settings and different players on positions (I will describe my new tactics in one of the next post). As a result I'm glad with the performance of my at the moment. In October and November we had row of the following matches in the Premier League:

There is only one annoying match with Portsmouth where we could do nothing to resist with dignity. The performance in the other games was very keen. Though in half of matches we suffered a lack of class for gaining a needed result. For example, Arsenal - Wigan after the first half - 1:2 and than 4:2 in the end. By the way it was very principal match for me (as for the former manager of Arsenal) :)

Another example of game lost on class is Bolton - Wigan. We could win there but again got a ball in the net on the last minutes. Lack of concentration? May be... We'll see... Anyway you can believe that playing style of the current Wigan looks very well! Nevertheless our place in the Premier League table is a bit sad:

But having already played games with grand clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester I'm sure we will get good pack of points on the weaker opponents in upcoming fixtures. If I don't get those points I will be sacked as manager of Wigan:

You see the board confidence is of poor opinion about Wigan's progress in the competitions. And I understand them, especially recalling that I set official goal to achieve middle table position during the first season.

Spurs run out deserved winners

Goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Jonathan Woodgate was enough for Spurs to win their first trophy in over nine years. Didier Drogba had put Chelsea in front but Juande Ramos' men weren't going to be beaten.

Terrific displays from Woodgate and Robbie Keane today but a lot of credit has to go to Spurs boss Juande Ramos. They are simply a different team ever since he has come in and this has been shown by the sides terrific form in recent months.

Congragulations Spurs!

Hazelton has surgery to repair torn stomach muscles

USC wide receiver Vidal Hazelton played the 2007 season with what he thought was a groin injury, leading the team with 50 receptions for 540 yards and four touchdowns.

But it turned out he played the season with a more serious injury -- two tears of his stomach muscles .

Hazelton recently underwent abdominal surgery for the injuries and is expected to be fully recovered in time for spring practice, according to Los Angeles-area media reports.

The surgery was performed in Philadelphia by Dr. William Meyers of Drexel University, according to reports. While USC usually doesn't send its student athletes east for treatment, Hazelton's family insisted upon an expert in abdominal surgery performing the procedure.

Great Read on Former Charger Dave Misfud

Band of brothers
Close-knit Pioneers have thrived
Terry Foster / The Detroit News
FERNDALE -- Five days before Dearborn's season opener, Pioneers coach Dave Mifsud called a private meeting with his team captains and key senior players. On the surface it seemed like just another football meeting that hundreds of coached have around the country.
But the talk was not about football. That weekend, Mifsud's brother-in-law, Chris Mayone, 44, died suddenly while training for a marathon. The Mifsud family was devastated. Mayone was his best friend and the brother of his wife, Corrine.
As the words rolled from their coach's mouth, a transformation began within the players.
For weeks they spoke about becoming more of a family. The day they were eliminated from the state playoffs last season they felt a disconnect. This goal of bringing whites and Arabs and blacks together was not working the way they wanted.
They vowed to become a band of brothers because deep inside, they felt love for one another, even during turbulent times. They talked about becoming blood brothers. They made up T-shirts that said "14-0" and "2006 state champions." They dreamed of being a family and riding that bond to a state title and gaining friends for life.
Team becomes a family
But this news changed everybody. Now it was more than putting words on T-shirts. Now it was time to put actions before words. From that day, the Pioneers turned from boys to men. More importantly, they learned the essence of being a family.
If you ask anybody why this team will face Warren DeLaSalle (10-2) in Saturday's Division II state semifinal at Ferndale, they will tell you the Pioneers became more than a team and a dream. They became a family.
The Pioneers (11-1) used that bond to avenge a loss to Allen Park, 21-7, to advance to Saturday's game.
The heartfelt talk was a defining moment. Players knew what their coach was going through. Earlier this summer, Mifsud's dad and Pioneers super fan, Joe, suffered a stroke in his home state of Florida. And the rehabilitation has been long and difficult. The players did not want to be a burden. They wanted Mifsud to focus on his own family and not worry as much about the team.
Assistant coach Jamie Griegnon offered to take a bigger role and reminded his friend to remember the three 'F' 's that mean so much to him -- family, friends and football.
"When something happens to your family I will be there to take care of the football aspect of it," Griegnon said he told Mifsud. "You just tell me what you want."
There were a couple of incidents early in the season that might have divided this team. But players and assistants took care of it. They kept it so close and fixed the problem so cleanly not even Mifsud is clear of all the details.
"They (players) took care of it right away," Griegnon said. "This was the kids' way of saying we are focused."
Little things mean a lot
The simple things counted.
It might have been as simple as linebacker Amir Rustom saying a prayer in Arabic just as he would if this were his own family member. It was as simple as defensive tackle Mike Ajami and wide receiver Danny McKae making sure there was peace in the dressing room or nose tackle Mohamad Kassab preaching brotherhood. And it was as simple as the rest of the players going up to quarterback Anthony Mifsud, Dave's son, or their coach and just asking how they were doing. They no longer talked to Anthony or Dave as a coach or teacher or teammate. They spoke to them as family.
"We did not want that to affect coach, so we had to step up as leaders and put more responsibility on senior leadership," Ajami said. "We wanted to make sure coach had an easier time in practice and he could stick to the basics."
Pioneers have matured
But this is something the team had to learn. Two years ago, many of these players were freshmen and sophomores or reserve players watching Dearborn reach the semifinals. Last year, they were too immature and divided to make the same run.
This year, things changed.
"It was like when we were on the practice field we were not white, black, Arabic or whatever," Joe Jakcsy said. "We were all Dearborn Pioneer orange."
Kassab's house often is a gathering place for players. He teaches his brothers Arabic so they can communicate in his household and to open them to his culture. He also learns from the other cultures in the dressing room.
"You have to trust each other off the field," Kassab said. "All this brotherhood leads to being a good team."
Like any other team, there were other mishaps. Rustom thought his season was over when he injured a shoulder. He might still require surgery but will return.
Jakcsy won't play in the DeLaSalle game because he suffered a broken leg in the second round of the playoffs, but he goes to each practice on crutches. Both were showered with love during their darkest moments.
"After I got hurt I never felt so much love from a group of guys," Jakcsy said. "Two of my brothers gave me a kiss on the cheek to show me how much they appreciated everything I had done up to that point."
Dearborn athletic director Roy Gurk said the family extends to the staff. He said at least two dozen teachers and administrators have asked to chip in and help Mifsud, whether it is watching a class or offering food.
"People have come out of the woodwork for Dave," Gurk said. "They ask, 'What can I do for Dave?' "
How tight are the Pioneers? Safety Scott Abramouski has a photo of him and Rustom tackling a Fordson player with the caption of, "Me and my brother making a tackle."
That is what makes this team work. Through the course of death and illness, pain and suffering the Pioneers learned that blood is thicker than water.

How much do you bet ?

The majority of sports bettors lose in the long run basically because they do not follow a sensible betting staking strategy. Professional gamblers manage to stay professional mainly because they adhere to a staking management system.

In general,soccer bettors increase the size of their bets too quickly whether they go on a winning or losing streak. Without a system, one is more likely to place too much of his winnings or chase his losses on the next game's to the benefit of the bookmaker. Undue risk is put on individual bets when you do this.

Following a betting staking plan inherently instills discipline in your betting patterns. A systematic method of increasing your bets progressively protects your betting bank and ensures long-term profitability.

1. Nominate a fixed sum of the funds you have available for betting. This will be your Betting Bank. (We recommend setting up an actual bank account for this.)

2. Divide your total Betting Bank into 100 units.

3. When your wins adds your bank up to 125 units or more, divide this total into 100 units again, to the nearest euro (or dollar). This will be your new Betting Bank with an increased size per unit.

4. Do this every time your Betting Bank reaches 125 units.
Assume your initial Betting Bank is 1,000 euro.
Dividing this by 100 makes each betting unit 10 euro.
After 10 bets, your total funds available for betting (including your wins) become 1,250 euro which is 125 units according to your Betting Bank.Divide this 1250 euro (your new Betting Bank) into 100 units.The size of each of your betting unit is now 12.5 euro. (You may choose to round this up to 12 euro or 13 euro.)

Notes

If you choose to be less aggressive, you may want to wait until your betting bank becomes more than 120 units before you increase the size of your betting units. For example, 130 units or 150 units. The reverse is true for this betting strategy in the unlikely event that you suffer losses. If your initial Betting Bank goes down to 75 units, you divide the 75 by 100 and your decreased betting unit is now7.5 euro in the above example

Average player leaves Tottenham for Birmingham

Birmingham have agreed to pay Tottenham 6m pounds for Egyptian striker Mido. The distinctly average striker has left permanently when a loan deal was expected. Incredibly, Spurs stand to profit on the sale after signing the striker for 4.5m pounds in 2006.

Don’t hold your breath though. Personal terms have yet to be agreed which could easily break the deal. Should he sign, Mido would be Birmingham’s seventh transfer since winning promotion back to the Premier League.

Birmingham should think twice about this. Mido has fallen out of favor at every club he has been with and has a history of bad temperament and falling out with managers.

He started only seven games and made five further appearances as a substitute last season after a promising start at the club. He is now further down the pecking order after the expensive signing of Darren Bent.

For Birmingham this would be a record signing. It could turn out positively, without any competition for a place; Mido could settle and score goals. He has always been capable but hindered but a mighty high opinion of himself. Maybe a dose of reality will get him back on track.

Chelsea star linked with £25 million switch to Gunners

According to today's Times, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has decided to leave the club and he could be the subject of a £25 million bid for London rivals Arsenal.

Drogba has outlined his plans to quit Chelsea in the summer and there have been many rumours about his future, with sides like Real Madrid and AC Milan linked with the Ivorian striker.

Arsene Wenger is said to be a big fan of the 29-year old and although he rarely spends big, Wenger may yet splash the cash on Drogba, although personally I feel it's unlikely.

I think, although Drogba is a terrific player that scores loads of goals, he may be a bit old to be spending £25 million on. I feel Wenger will look to Lyon star Karim Benzema and spend £16 or so million on him instead and in my mind that would be a terrific move for the Gunners.

Arsenal vs Fulham

Whats happening to arsenal?How come they lose a game they should win easily?
This is becoming a big problem for arsenal.It has been the story of this season for arsenal.They need to win and be on form for the porto match in the champions league.Its a crucial match that they need to win otherwise they could be out of the champions league.
Sometimes they lose because of the refs and sometimes because they cannot score a goal after making loads of chances.And the fixtures are coming very rapidly this month.They need to have some strong players like patrick veira.

Average player leaves Tottenham for Birmingham

Birmingham have agreed to pay Tottenham 6m pounds for Egyptian striker Mido. The distinctly average striker has left permanently when a loan deal was expected. Incredibly, Spurs stand to profit on the sale after signing the striker for 4.5m pounds in 2006.

Don’t hold your breath though. Personal terms have yet to be agreed which could easily break the deal. Should he sign, Mido would be Birmingham’s seventh transfer since winning promotion back to the Premier League.

Birmingham should think twice about this. Mido has fallen out of favor at every club he has been with and has a history of bad temperament and falling out with managers.

He started only seven games and made five further appearances as a substitute last season after a promising start at the club. He is now further down the pecking order after the expensive signing of Darren Bent.

For Birmingham this would be a record signing. It could turn out positively, without any competition for a place; Mido could settle and score goals. He has always been capable but hindered but a mighty high opinion of himself. Maybe a dose of reality will get him back on track.

Chelsea star linked with £25 million switch to Gunners

According to today's Times, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has decided to leave the club and he could be the subject of a £25 million bid for London rivals Arsenal.

Drogba has outlined his plans to quit Chelsea in the summer and there have been many rumours about his future, with sides like Real Madrid and AC Milan linked with the Ivorian striker.

Arsene Wenger is said to be a big fan of the 29-year old and although he rarely spends big, Wenger may yet splash the cash on Drogba, although personally I feel it's unlikely.

I think, although Drogba is a terrific player that scores loads of goals, he may be a bit old to be spending £25 million on. I feel Wenger will look to Lyon star Karim Benzema and spend £16 or so million on him instead and in my mind that would be a terrific move for the Gunners.

English FA and Player's Agents still in dispute

The English Football Association will introduce itsnew agents regulations on Saturday despite protests from the Association of Football Agents that player's agents still hadn't been properly consulted. "It's extraordinary that the FA intend to hold a press briefing to explain their new regulations this week when they have made such little effort to consult the agents concerned. It's a disgrace that the FA have never sat down and discussed their reforms with a union representing well over 25 percent of agents," Mel Stein, spokesman for the AFA, told the Daily Mail. However the newspaper reported a response from the FA that it had "engaged in an extensive consultation process with all sectors of the game, including players, clubs and agents" and the AFA had "been consulted on an ongoing basis over the past 18 months."

The agents have four main areas of dispute. These are the tax ramifications of all payments to agents representing a player having to be made by the player himself; the threat to agents of players, under contract to an agent, still being allowed to represent themselves; agents not having to be paid money relating to a former contract if a player signs a new deal without them; and agents acting for a player having to wait for a year before subsequently representing a club over the same player.

Korea's LG pours money into European football

LG Electronics, South Korea’s second-largest electronics maker, is promoting an aggressive premier marketing campaign from mobile phones to LCD TVs in Europe in a way to intensify its brand image. "Sports marketing seems another must-win card for LG to raise its brand recognition in European markets," observed Kim Yoo-chul in The Korean Times. In July, the company signed a three-year shirt sponsorship agreement with English Premier League club Fulham. The move is in line with the company’s continued effort to step up its marketing drive in Britain where LG’s monthly sales had exceeded $100 million last year. "The multi-year sponsorship agreement will offer us an important opportunity to strengthen our premium marketing in Britain," said Na Young-bae, an executive for LG’s British business.

The electronics maker also held the friendly football "LG Amsterdam Tournament" in Ajax stadium, the Netherlands, from 2 August bringing together Ajax from the Netherlands, Arsenal from England, Atletico de Madrid from Spain and Lazio from Italy. LG said the one-time show helped the firm raise its brand image to European football fans.

International event on 3rd-party player ownership

Latin American lawyers will speak alongside sports lawyers from South Africa and Europe on third-party ownership of players at ‘The Global Game: Ownership of Football Clubs & Players’, a World Sports Law Report event, sponsored by sports law specialist Clintons, on 25 September at the Selfridge Hotel in London. Such ownership contracts are commonplace in Latin America, but have caused widespread concern to national football organisations, clubs, fans and the media about who controls clubs and players.

The English Premier League’s Rule U18 bans clubs from entering contracts that allow third parties ‘to acquire the ability materially to influence its policies or the performance of its teams’. This created problems for West Ham United in signing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and for Everton in attempts to sign Manuel Fernandes, and has resulted in club executives, such as Manchester United Chief Executive, David Gill, suggesting that FIFA should clarify its rules on third party ownership of players.

However, FIFA has no rule expressly prohibiting third party ownership of players and in Latin American countries, third party ownership of players is common.

Miguel Remmer of Estudio Beccar Varela in Argentina, Jose Carlos Meirelles of Pinheiro Neto Advogados in Brazil and Agustin Mayer of Ferrere Abogados in Uruguay, will explain exactly how football transfers involving third parties work in practice. Michael Murphy of South African firm Garlicke & Bousfield Inc will highlight the issues surrounding the transfer of players from Africa into Europe, while a separate session will tackle Asian player transfer issues.

Essential to football transfers globally are football agents, who are becoming increasingly regulated by football’s governing bodies. The English Football Association has recently passed new regulations governing the use of player agents, and FIFA is to revise its player agent regulations by 1 January 2008. We will examine possible areas of conflict between the international and national regulation of player agents.

Concern has also been expressed over control of clubs and their finances, prompting the EPL and English Football League to defend their ‘fit and proper persons’ tests, which govern who can own a football club. UEFA’s Manager of Club Licensing, Andrea Traverso, will explain how UEFA’s Club Licensing System addresses these concerns.