By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 13 September 2011 Arsenal were the only team in Europe’s ‘big five’ divisions last season who were rated best in their division by statistical analysis but failed to win their domestic title, according to research just published by the CIES Football Observatory. Barcelona were rated by […]
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AFC Wimbledon: born in the wake of a theft, rising the right way – and now, as a Football League club, looking to move back ‘home’
By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 31 July 2011 From badly behaved millionaire players to corruption in the corridors of power, football has attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years. But next Saturday, 6 August, a small team owned by its fans in south London will embark on […]
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United’s rematch with Barca already a smash hit as football thrills USA
By Jeremiah Tittle In Washington 29 July 2011 If evidence were needed that America is turning on to soccer like never before – and that good quality teams can attract massive live audiences – then look no further this weekend than the Champions League final rematch between Barcelona against Manchester United at FedEx Field just […]
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Rio Ferdinand: ‘You’ve got to go out there cold. Emotion in a big match is detrimental’
. By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 15 May 2011 Manchester United’s point at Blackburn yesterday earned them a 19th English league title. In the run-up to the game, I interviewed Rio Ferdinand in Manchester for a feature (linked here) and another story (third item in the column linked here) in today’s […]
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The world’s most popular sports team? It’s not the Yankees, Barca, Real, Man Utd, Liverpool or the Lakers. It’s . . . Galatasaray
By Nick Harris 2 August 2010 Take a sample of the world’s population and ask them to nominate their favourite sports team and many experts would expect to find football’s Barcelona or Manchester United, or baseball’s New York Yankees or basketball’s LA Lakers at the top. Yet take a global sample of an enormous magnitude, […]
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ANDY COLE: ‘Argentina are so good that Mascherano can be a proper footballer again’
** By Andy Cole 30 June 2010 So now we know the World Cup quarter-final line-up, and two teams have really stood apart for me so far: Argentina and Brazil, in that order. Coming into the tournament there were so many questions and doubts about Diego Maradona’s team and about him, temperamentally. They didn’t qualify […]
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Portsmouth: why Thursday’s creditors meeting means so much to so many (not least the helpless fans)
** In the run-up to the next crucial meeting on Thursday of Portsmouth’s creditors at Fratton Park, Guy Thomas, Head of Insolvency at SA Law LLP , who has blogged extensively on Pompey’s woes, takes a look at the key players in the insolvency of Portsmouth City Football Club in its transition from Premiership club […]
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ANDY COLE: Brazil, Spain or Argentina? Who knows? Maradona may be bonkers but the quality at his disposal is frightening
By Andy Cole in Johannesburg 11 June 2010 The World Cup is probably going to be won by Brazil, with Spain and Argentina absolutely capable of lifting the trophy too. I expect the final to feature Brazil and one of the others. I think England, with a fair wind, could get as far as the […]
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JONNIE BAKER: New Zealand – what are you doing here? Really? Come on now, we’ve all had a good drink and we can all take a joke, but seriously, what’s going on?
By Jonnie Baker 10 June 2010 So then, where were we? The World Cup is where we were, second only to Christmas in the things I look forward to with an almost preternatural enthusiasm. And following my laser-like forecasting of the race for fourth I am prepared, in my position as a football expert, to […]
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ANDY COLE: ‘My mates in the England squad tell me Capello – Il Capo – isn’t interested in personal relationships with his players. He just wants a job done’
By Andy Cole 4 June 2010 Fabio Capello’s England squad held no surprises for me (Theo Walcott didn’t deserve to go), and just one disappointment: Darren Bent’s omission. The Sunderland striker could not have done any more at club level to warrant inclusion, having scored 24 Premier League goals this season, so I can only […]
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