[What are the chances that the West would do it two weeks in a row? Were they pacing themselves? Whatever the case, the West went 3-1-1 against the East this week, resulting in the conferences drawing level with four sides each residing in the playoff spots. But it's still those Hard Hats that are looking unbeatable at the moment, even without their talisman . Click to continue reading...

Well, it's top of the league for Arsenal with a 3-1 win over Bolton.

Games up there are rarely dull and yesterday was no exception. We started brightly but found ourselves a goal behind early on as our central defensive weakness was exposed again. From a corner William Gallas stood watching as Kevin Davies ran off him, leaving Kolo Toure with two men to mark, and the Bolton man got to the ball first to head his side in the lead.

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The Top 5 Things Learned From The Previous Round of WC Qualifying: Ghana on the brink The Black Stars could be out of qualifying.  In Group 5 of Round 2 WC African Qualifying, Ghana sits in 3rd place behind 1st place Libya and 2nd place Gabon only trailing Gabon on goal differential.  Their talisman Michael Essien is out [. Click to continue reading...

The best player of these early days of the calcio season is without a doubt Antonio Di Natale. In the first day of the season Di Natale scored 2 wonderful goals vs. Palermo and yesterday he saved Italy with 2 goals vs Cyprus. (That makes 9 goals in 22 appearances now for the Azzurri)

Di Natale is a late bloomer.

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Here we go with the second installment. In this preview we'll look at Fiorentina, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Lazio, and Lecce.

FIORENTINA

2007/2008 was a good year for Viola fans. Well, it wasn't just a good year, it was a great year. Fiorentina, led by great performances from key players like Frey, Gamberini, Montolivo, and Mutu, ended the season in 4th place, gaining Champions League qualification for the first time since the days of Batistuta and reaching the semi-final of the UEFA Cup.

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Reading online today and by the sounds of things, Juande Ramos has told Daniel Levy, Spurs chairman, that Berbatov has to go. The missing talisman was nowhere to be found versus Sunderland on Saturday and considering this performance, his replacement best soon be in the picture as two straight losses early on could scuttle Spurs hopes of top fourdom. Click to continue reading...

Name – Robin Hood

Affiliation – Nottingham Forest

Colour – Caucasian skin pink

Animal – Homo Sapien

Missle Most Commonly Pelted With – Cheap Nerf bow-and-arrow sets

It probably didn't escape most people's attention that last season the once-mighty Nottingham Forest earned promotion up into the Championship, and took the first step back towards the greatness that they were associated with for so many years.

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Sir Alex badly wants this Tottenham talisman but there could be one rather large obstacle in the way of the move! Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager! Manchester United are stepping up their bid for Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov. The Observer says United's summer-long pursuit of Berbatov "is back on the . Click to continue reading...

As if this summer hadn't been bad enough for Arsene Wenger already! With Flamini and Hleb choosing to move on to what they regard as bigger and better things and Emmanuel Adebayor seemingly doing everything he can to get away as well, Wenger could have been forgiven for thinking that things had got as bad as they were going to get. Click to continue reading...

Bill pointed me to this post on BigSoccer from a Red Bulls fan.

Ben Olsen is to DCU what Babe Ruth is the the Yankees.

While it's great to see Olsen getting respect from a Red Bulls fan, the analogy betrays a lack of understanding of the history of both DC United and the New York Yankees.

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Bill pointed me to this post on BigSoccer from a Red Bulls fan.

Ben Olsen is to DCU what Babe Ruth is the the Yankees.

While it's great to see Olsen getting respect from a Red Bulls fan, the analogy betrays a lack of understanding of the history of both DC United and the New York Yankees.

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Wayne Rooney's honeymoon in Las Vegas, in the daylight hours at least, seems to consist of endless hours of the newlywed slowly poaching in the hotel swimming pool like a big pink salmon, whilst drinking beer and smoking ciggies.

Dare we hope that our talisman might be putting in an hour or two a day in the hotel gym keeping up his fitness? Click to continue reading...

Perhaps not the most shocking story of the summer is that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be chasing his former talisman Frank Lampard. The vice captain has always made his feelings toward the ‘Special One' clear, and him stalling over a new contract seems to suggest he could be on his way. Click to continue reading...

FORZA ITALIA

There was no skullduggery, no conspiracy theories and no underhand tricks last night as Holland beat Romania 2-0, despite MvB making nine changes. Italy beat France by the same score to join Holland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.

After France's defeat, Chelsea's midfield talisman Claude Makelele announced his retirement from International Football for the umpteenth time.

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Onward The Brave Ukraine travelled to Hampden Park looking for a win to keep their slim chances of qualifying for EURO 2008 open, however within ten minutes Scotland were two up - what a dream start that was. Shevchenko was gifted a chance through slack defending in the 24th minute and the game ended 2-1 [...] Click to continue reading...