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The Bhoys from Seville
I’d bet the majority of you would remember 2003 with relative ease. I was only 11 years old when the football season came to an end, but it was one of my most vivid memories of that year. I started secondary school in 2003, the same year as the start of the war in Iraq and when Australia won the Cricket World Cup.
Living in the west coast of Scotland I was brought up supporting Celtic Football Club and 2003 was a successful year for the club, in European terms at least. They missed out on the SPL title to bitter rivals Rangers by just one goal. The Ibrox side also clinched the League and Scottish Cups. They defeated Celtic 2-1 in the first Cup Final of the season, with first-half goals from Claudio Caniggia and Peter Lovenkrands before Henrik Larsson’s effort after 57 minutes. They then clinched a famous treble following a 1-0 victory over Dundee thanks to a goal from defensive stalwart, Lorenzo Amoruso.
So Celtic, domestically, had a season to forget, but the UEFA Cup run that the squad put together was simply fantastic. We actually got knocked out of the Champions League Qualifying Round by FC Basel, on away goals I might add. But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
The Bucket List, part eight
8. These are the Champions de de de de de deeeee
Welcome to the Headers & Volleys Bucket List. World football is a big place and sometimes there seems almost too much to see. In this series we will be looking at the top things to see and do, before you pop your clogs. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section below, or contact us here and we will feature the best entries on the site.
Ryan Leverton of SportsLeviathan.com concludes his journey through his own Bucket List with today’s final instalment. Here, Ryan looks at one of the world’s most prestigious club competitions, the Champions League.
The Premier League: Some things we learned this week
Here’s the next installment of Headers & Volleys alternative look at the Premier League table. This week, Tevez upset after bench row, Out of the frying pan, into… another frying pan, Lost in translation, Warnock’s finger on the pulse, Three defenders does not a back-four make and Follow the Ewood Park Road….
The Premier League: Some things we learned this week
Here’s the next installment of Headers & Volleys alternative look at the Premier League table. This week, Geographically speaking, The Perfect Game, He killed them with their love, What’s in a striker?, Efficiency not productivity the key and of course, the latest instalment of Who is Martin Jol?
Tune in later today for our window watch where we will probably watch a window.
The Premier League: Some things we learned this week
Here’s the next installment of Headers & Volleys alternative look at the Premier League table. This week, You can’t win anything with kids…, Kick a man whilst he’s down why don’t ya?, Just don’t tell Roman, What week is this? along with the latest installment of Just who is… Martin Jol?
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The Premier League: Some things we learned this week
Welcome to our new weekly Premier League table update. We’ll be posting the team standings each Wednesday and also imparting some really thorough insight into what is going on behind, in front and to the side of the scenes at each of England’s top clubs. This week; ‘Aguero in ‘can play football’ shocker‘, ‘Military Intervention-on-Trent’, ‘Liverpool’s Tactical Revolution’, ‘Wenger Sees’ and ‘The Steve Bruce Whispers… Episode 1’.
The summer so far: Liverpool
by Zarif Rasul
To accurately reflect upon Liverpool’s summer so far, one must look back to the summers of 2009 and 2010, as well as the recent January transfer window. In 2009, the reluctance of the cancerous Hicks and Gillett to release funds meant that Rafa Benitez was unable to sufficiently strengthen his title-challenging squad of the previous season. Benitez’s misguided decision to replace Xabi Alonso with an injured Alberto Aquilani (irrespective of the Italian’s undoubted quality) contributed greatly to Liverpool’s abysmal start to 2009/10, a start from which they never fully recovered.
Only at the right price
The rumours abound; this player is desperate to leave, that player desperate to sign. For footballing reasons, for personal. He’s not for sale, of course he can go – but only at the right price. The close season always initiates the elongated, mind numbing transfer sagas the likes of which we have seen in the past with Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo and, this year, with Cesc Fabregas (not to mention last year, and the year before) and Samir Nasri. Add to this, Manchester City’s captain Carlos Tevez’s stated desire to leave to be closer to his family and you have a developing narrative to satiate the lonely hearts of football fans, throughout the cold hard months between seasons. What though, is the best way to manage the exit of – or cling on begrudgingly to – these disaffected players?
Why Andy Carroll is worth £160,000,000
It’s transfer deadline day in January. Yes, that day of the footballing year where fans look excitedly towards the BBC (or Sky if you’re that way inclined… you sexists) for their rolling online coverage of the movers and shakers in these final hours of 31st January. It’s the time where the bigger clubs gobble up the better players of the smaller clubs at over-inflated prices, where Manchester United refuse to come out and play and where panic buying takes on a whole new multi-million pound meaning.
Last chance saloon for Cole
Joe Cole vs Switzerland, February 2008
Subject to a medical, Roy Hodgson today secured the free transfer of England International Joe Cole. Free agent Cole becomes Liverpool’s second signing of the summer, signing a four-year deal on a reported £90,000 a week. This can be seen as a great bit of business for Hodgson, under severe financial constraints due to the necessary austerity measures in place at Liverpool and the continued search for a new owners by Tom Hicks and George Gillet. However for the England player, 28, this move represents a last chance at the greatness so often promised over the last twelve years.
