When your girlfriend (or boyfriend) dumps you, the first instinct will always be to try to win her back. It doesn't matter if you know it's not working out, you don't want to be dumped, so you'll say anything and do anything to win her back. Then maybe you can end it on your terms. Åge [...] Click to continue reading...

If your beloved club was to be bought out by an bajillionaire, would it be better to spend insane transfer fees on a number of players or bring in a coaching staff that could make the West Ham reserves play like Milan's Dream Team of the late 80's and early 90's. So why not build [...] Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you blame your erratic driving on your spilled beer....... Zola on the field, great; Zola off the field, gamble. (Guardian Unlimited) Future stars of the Bundesliga. (SoccerLens) Another suggestion for cautious optimism in England. (Reuters Soccer Blogs) Slaven Bilic's psychological masterstroke and Capello's countermove. Click to continue reading...

Croatia reacts to England's World Cup thrashing by hailing 'Fabio the Great'

Croatia's media poured lavish praise on a reinvigorated England and their new manager Fabio Capello, who gave home coach Slaven Bilic a humiliating lesson for his 40th birthday.

From Telegraph.co.uk

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England beat Croatia as Slaven Bilic's team hit the dirt as Walcott peppered them with some fine marksmanship. Walcott walked off with three goals and a porn star in hand. But this is better news for Arsenal as it needs Walcott to pull the trigger more often.

Capello's men forgot to hit the self destruct button as they entered the Maksimir Stadion.

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The Searchers

I'll say one thing about West Ham - they do nothing quietly. Or with anything approaching competence.

First, the club announce a list of 30 candidates, which they whittled down to 5 within about twenty minutes, presumably after calls to Barack Obama, the Sultan of Dubai and President Bartlett et al were answered with a loud guffaw. Click to continue reading...

By JAMES CLARKAll reports out of England indicate that ex-Chelsea striker and Italian international Gianfranco Zola (pictured above top, twice) will be named as West Ham's first foreign manager within days, if not hours. There has been a subtle uproar amongst Hammers supporters -- mainly due to Zola's Chelsea connectons, but also as we try to get over the fact that Europe's manager du jour, Croatia's Slaven Bilic, won't be returning to his one-time Upton Park home. Click to continue reading...

The path to the West Ham manager's desk appears to be clearing for Gianfranco Zola after Michael Laudrup and Slaven Bilic fell out of the running for the job. Denmark legend Laudrup was expected to be interviewed by Irons chief executive Scott Duxbury and technical director Gianluca Nani on Monday, only for Russian giants Spartak Moscow [. Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you hide a sawed off shotgun in your baby's stroller........ What the billionaires in the EPL mean for La Liga. (Guardian Unlimited) The refreshing fiscal responsibility of the Bundesliga (Deutsche Welle) Andorra's moral victory. (SoccerLens) "Has the Prem become a farce?" (Reuters Soccer Blogs) The secret to Slaven Bilic's success lies abroad. Click to continue reading...

Slaven Bilic's foreign legion growing in strength

He may have announced his own intention to stay at home for two more years, but Slaven Bilic is convinced that one of the main reasons for Croatia's recent success is the willingness of his players to seek their fortune in foreign leagues.

From Telegraph. Click to continue reading...

Gianfranco Zola has today emerged a front runner for the West Ham job after Alan Curbishley parted company with the club on Wednesday. The former Italian international is now considered one of the favourites to take the hot seat at Upton Park, after the likes of Stuart Pearce and Slaven Bilic ruled themselves out of the running last night. Click to continue reading...

Former West Ham striker Paolo Di Canio has this afternoon confirmed he is interested in the vacant position at Upton Park. The Italian legend spent five very successful years at the East London club, where he became a firm fan favourite during his time at the club.

After Alan Curbishley's departure on Wednesday, several of the bookies favourites have ruled themselves out of the race for the managerial post, including Slaven Bilic and Stuart Pearce. Click to continue reading...

Green Street Hooligans filmini izleyen herkeste bir WestHam sempatisi oluşması doğaldır. Zira film WestHam taraftarlarını anlatıyor. Konuda diğer ismi geçen ise Euro2008 öncesi hem rock dinliyor / çalıyor hem de küpeli diye basınımızın epeyce hoşuna giden Slaven Bilic. Bilic deyince benim aklıma önce attıkları goldeki çiğ sevinçleri sonra milli takımın golündeki surat ifadesi en son da hakeme okkalı sallayışları geliyor. Click to continue reading...

A knee-jerk reaction to the Premierships 1st casualty. After their best start in 9 years, my beloved West Ham have again made another balls-up by losing yet another manager. West Ham released this Statement an hour a ago: "West Ham United can confirm that Alan Curbishley has tendered his resignation as manager and that it has been accepted. Click to continue reading...

Club versus country is a perennial struggle. I used to play for England, suffer an injury and the letters from Liverpool fans would question me for putting my country first.

It seemed harsh at the time, especially when I was nursing a broken ankle, but they had a point: I was being paid by Liverpool and missing matches through injuries collected in an England shirt. Click to continue reading...

Croatia's coach Slaven Bilic announced a 22-man squad on Wednesday for their opening World Cup Group 6 qualifiers next month. Croatia play two matches in Zagreb, hosting Kazakhstan on Sept. 6 and England four days later. Goalkeepers Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow), Vedran Runje (RC Lens) Defenders Vedran Corluka (Manchester City), Dario Simic (Monaco), Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), Josip Simunic (Hertha [. Click to continue reading...

Coach Slaven Bilic led the Croatia National Team superbly to the Euro2008 quarterfinals. After they were knocked out by the Turks, Bilic strongly considered quitting. He later revealed to the press, "When I saw all my players crying in the dressing room I thought, that is it, I've had enough ... Click to continue reading...

Friday 20th June As there is a delay in my writing of these blogs by a couple of days it's now Saturday and I'm sat on an Easyjet flight back to England. I really don't feel like writing much as I'm so depressed over Friday nights events, so, if you don't mind readers we'll skip Thursday and move straight to Friday. Click to continue reading...

Saturday 21st June I'm writing this article sat, post shower, in the room of our hotel by Vienna Airport. I still cannot comprehend how we've lost a game we dominated and scored in the final minute of. It does not make sense. It must be wrong, it is surely us in the semi final against Germany. Isn't it? Click to continue reading...

Steve's Stats: Analysis of Goalkeeper Performance at the Quarterfinal Round for 20 June 2008: Croatia x Turkey
by Steve Amoia for Keeper Skool

Croatia cruised through the first round, winning all three games, and only conceded one goal. Turkey gave us one of the most exiting games of this tournament during their last match against the Czechs.

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Go up a goal against Turkey at your peril. Because you will lose. Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and now Croatia.

After 122 minutes of a grueling match, it was suddenly over in a flash. Semih Senturk's last second equalizer seemed to have drained all the life out of Croatian legs as the penalty shootout unfolded.

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It's the underdogs vs. the under-underdogs.

Unless your name is "fan of Slaven Bilic" or "England," (or perhaps "Kranjcar Fangirl"), you may be surprised to see Croatia in the quarterfinals with the likes of Italy, Spain and Germany. This is their first time to ever make it out of the group stage at Euros.

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Vatreno Ludilo (Fiery Madness) has begun
Originally uploaded by TranceVelebit Futbol, Rock and Roll y bellas mujeres, esto es lo que contiene esta entrada .

Escenas como esta se repitieron en el abrumado Croacia, jubilosos aficionados salieron a la calle después de la fantástica victoria sobre 2:1 al equipo alemán en la EURO 2008 y la calificación a cuartos de final. Click to continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo or Michael Ballack? Flying Dutchmen or Russian youth? Croatian dark horse vs. um...Turkish dark horse? World Cup Champs Italy or "Let's not choke yet" Spain? Which teams will advance to the semis?

We've made it through the group stages, and now we're heading into the quarterfinals.

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Tuesday 17th June The day started slowly as we hadn't actually get to bed until 4-30am. Thankfully we don't need to get to the media centre until 1-30pm for the press conference so we can have a bit of a lie in. The first surprise of the day comes just as I return from the shower, I knock on the door of potting shed number one and instead of hearing drunkenness/arguing/snoring I walk in to find Atto and GZ sharing tips on moisturising. Click to continue reading...

Monday 16th June Today we'll be making the trip over to Klagenfurt for what for us is a dead rubber against the Poles. In the interests of saving cash we've decided to drive straight back after the game. It's a decision Zitko isn't entirely happy about as he has to do all the driving meaning his drinking will have to take a hit for one night. Click to continue reading...

Sunday 15th June Sunday is traditionally a day of rest, however when the BACF boys are in town rest is the last thing on the agenda. The other journalists might be taking things easy, however for us it's another day of blogging, report writing, analysing and sniffing out the next big story. Or that's what we SHOULD be doing; the reality however is stranger and much less professional. Click to continue reading...

Steve's Stats: Analysis of Goalkeeper Performance at Group B for 16 June 2008
by Steve Amoia for Keeper Skool

This is the last game of the first round, and co-hosts Austria were still alive. As I mentioned a few days ago, any Austrian who scores a goal receives a lifetime supply of beer.

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Saturday 14th June I arise early, shower, shave and bound back to Potting shed number one, ready for another day's cutting edge journalism. I'd left the other boys last night with the understanding that we'd be getting a full day's work in today so am somewhat surprised to see the curtains drawn and the door locked. Click to continue reading...

Portugal have been in the papers a lot lately, and not necessarily for what they're doing on the field.

There's the constant - and I mean constant - speculation around Cristiano Ronaldo's future. Latest rumours have Real Madrid offering to stuff £300,000 a week in his pockets. There's also Deco knowing that every good performance at Euro 2008 increases his price tag and makes a move away from Barcelona that little bit harder.

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Friday 13th June The morning after the night before. From Klagenfurt to Zagreb, yesterday was an amazing day. Croatia not just beating a top team but pretty much spanking them into next week has got everyone in the ‘Potting Sheds' (BACF HQ for anyone not in the know) chuffed. The guys got back around 12midday, not bad considering they got to sleep at 3am. Click to continue reading...

Thursday 12th May As I board the bus with the other journalists to Klagenfurt the feeling is that tonight's game will provide a real indication of how far Croatia can go in Euro2008, Although no one thinks Bilic will sit back and try to get a draw its likely that he'll be satisfied with a point, however if they could somehow grab a win it could set them up for a run to the semi-finals and possibly beyond. Click to continue reading...

Tuesday 10th May Our first full day as part of media pack and this is certainly the life. No 9-5 slog for the BACF boys, instead its up at 10am, a mosey into Oberwalt for some schnitzel in a roll, cash some traveler's cheques and then back to the media centre for out first press conference. Click to continue reading...

First of all, apologies for not having put anything up on here yesterday. I am currently in the middle of working out the details for the new Twohundredpercent, which will open for business in about three or four weeks time. Secondly, I do feel rather that the content on here over the last week or so has been rather dry. Click to continue reading...

Undoubtedly the first shock of Euro 2008 came yesterday in Group B as Croatia beat tournament favourites Germany 2-1.

The Croats roared on by a bank of red and white checked shirts, raced into a two goal lead, before is he a German or a Pole, Podolski pulled one back for the ineffective Germans. Click to continue reading...