Today In Sport

There is growing speculation that Sir Alex Ferguson will soon be retiring from his post as Manchester United supremo.  So, I have decided to start a campaign to get Jasper Beardly the job as Sir Alex’s successor.

I have been able to obtain a copy of Jasper’s rules for the locker-room and they are frighteningly similar to SAF’s own list of demands and expectations.  So without further ado, here is Jasper Beardly’s list of things that will earn you a paddling.

1. Turning up late to training - that’s a paddlin’.
2. Complaining about lack of playing time - that’s a paddlin’.
3. Missing a shot from the six yard box - oh you better believe that’s a paddlin’.
4. Bringing up the name David Beckham - that’s a paddlin’…..and a boot in the face.
5. Bringing up the name Eric Cantona - c’est une paddlin’.
6. Taking your shirt off after scoring a goal - that’s a paddlin’…..unless you are Ryan Giggs.
7. Attempting to shoot from a 40 yard free kick when your name is not Cristiano Ronaldo - that’s a paddlin’.
8. Being named Cristiano Ronaldo - that’s a paddlin’ and a transfer to anyone who will pay us a ridiculous amount of money.
9. Being a goal scoring machine for another club but not for Man Utd - Dimitar, prepare for your paddlin’.
10. Not knowing when you are too old, too cranky and too drunk to continue managing the club - that’s a paddlin’.

Hopefully he gets the job soon.

With the arrival of former Gunner, Patrick Vieira at Manchester City to join up with other ex-Arsenal players including Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, there is now talk that they will change the club name to North Arsenal.

More on this to come.

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was travelling to training with his Togo team-mates in preparation for their first African Nations Cup match in Angola when the bus was attack by local freedom fighters/terrorists.  The gunmen fired on the bus for 20 minutes, killing three team members and injuring some others.

There are reports that Adebayor ran the length of the bus to celebrate in front of the gunners.  More on this story to come.

I will say straight up that I am a huge Aston Villa fan and have been since I was a little tacker and it was with great delight that I watched The Villa beat Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time since 1983.  But the big talking point to come out of the game was United boss Sir Alex Ferguson complaining yet again about the time allocated at the end of the game.

It really comes down to whether Man U are leading or behind at the 90th minute as to whether Sir Alex complains there is too much or too little added time being given by the officials.  Someone really needs to take away his watch so he has nothing to point at whilst arguing with the fourth official. (continue reading…)

Well the draw for the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa has been completed.  A few countries should be able to book their hotels for the Round of 16 but some other top teams might be looking at an early exit.  Let’s have a look at the groups shall we.

Group A

South Africa

Mexico

Uruguay

France

South Africa will be trying not to be the first host country to not make the second round.  But to do this they will need to get out of a fairly difficult group for them.  France made it into the WC via a playoff with Ireland and the infamous Hand of Frog goal.  They look to be a class above everyone else in this group and should advance easily.  Uruguay have great pedigree but once again they have struggled through the qualifiers and only just scraped in.  Should be good enough for second spot though.  Mexico can run hot and cold and will have to be right on their game to make it to the next round. (continue reading…)

Yes, we all know that Thierry Henry handled the ball in the move that led to the goal that put France through to the World Cup at the expense of Ireland.  For anyone who has been living on Mars and don’t what I am talking about, here it is.

But, earlier this year Ireland were on the receiving end of a dubious refereeing decision (ie blatantly wrong) when the assistant referee flagged Robbie Keane as offside, which he clearly was, before the referee five seconds later awarded a penalty for a foul in the box.  He dismissed the protestations of the Georgian players and refused to consult with his assistant.  Here it is.

As the old adage states, what goes around comes around.

Dejan Stankovic of Inter Milan this week made Genoa goalkeeper Marco Amelia look a little foolish after his ill advised clearance fell straight to the Inter player who volleyed it back from the halfway into the empty net vacated by the unfortunate shot stopper.

Also here are the Top Ten goals from the NHL for the past week.

After his goal on debut for Sunderland against Liverpool on the weekend, the red beach ball is now being sought after by Premier League club Manchester City and also La Liga club Real Madrid.  The two big spending clubs are entering into a bidding war for the services of the new striking sensation.

Figures being released by sources put the asking price for the beach ball at an over inflated $40 million US.  This would make him the most expensive beach ball in history if a deal was to eventually go through.  Even big spending Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich decided early on that this was not a bidding war he wanted to be a part of. (continue reading…)

Last week I was lucky enough to win a competition that gave me two tickets to the Australian Socceroos versus Oman Asian Cup Qualifier in Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.  But not only that, it also gave me two passes to the final closed training sessionthe day before.  The media was kicked out ten minutes after the session started and it was all left to myself and the nine other winners and their lucky friend.

We arrived to be greeted by Melbourne Victory captain and former Socceroo, Kevin Muscat who gave us a tour of the lockerroom area and talked about what the players go through in their preparations before a match.  Some players like to joke around and have music playing and others just like to be left alone to focus.

We then wandered out onto the Etihad Stadium pitch and then took our seats on the sideline to await the players coming out for their warmup.  As the players ran out and were being put through their paces by the assistant coaches, Australian Head Coach Pim Verbeek came over to have a quick chat with us. (continue reading…)

VERSUS

Well the match we have all been waiting for and in reality the matchup we have wanted since round 14 is finally just around the corner.  St Kilda and Geelong will face off for the biggest prize in Australian football, the AFL Premiership Cup.  Who will win and who will have wasted another 12 months?  I can only hope and pray that The Saints get up and win.

That’s right, I am a Saints fan and proud of it.  Not that I dislike Geelong and the run of good form they have had over the last three years or so but I just want my team to finally win the prize that has eluded them since 1966.  Geelong already has broken their premiership drought, let us break ours. (continue reading…)