Author Archives: John Nicholson

There’s always much debate in the English media about who is to be England captain. It seems as though Capello is sticking with Ferdinand, after Gerrard’s successful stint with the arm band. Is Rio a good captain? Who knows? How … Continue reading →

As Liverpool have gone 20 years without winning the top division, especially to a younger generation, the enormity of LFC has probably never seemed quite powerful as it does to those of us who grew up with the club as … Continue reading →

International breaks; like taxes and the poor, they are always with us; always hanging around the street corner waiting to disrupt our domestic contentment. Just when things have settled into a nice groove; just when the season’s drama is beginning … Continue reading →

Seeing Kevin Davies name in an England squad may be a shock to some people, indeed it may be a shock to Kev himself. Is it some sort of madness by Capello? Is he really so desperate for strikers that … Continue reading →

Something great happened to me this week, my latest book We Ate All The Pies: How Football Swallowed Britain Whole was listed for the William Hill Sports Book Of The Year 2010 prize; the most prestigious sports book award in … Continue reading →

Controversy about fielding ‘weakened’ sides in the League Cup looks set to rage on after this weeks patchy results for Premier League teams. Increasingly it is starting to look like a very bad idea, not so much in principle because … Continue reading →

As Rangers walk out at Old Trafford today, old timers will recall when clashes between English and Scottish clubs were some of the biggest, most vibrant, most electric games imaginable. The European Cup semi-final clash between Leeds and Celtic in … Continue reading →

As England get set to play Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday a large section of the UK media will be sharpening its knives ready to plunge them into Fabio Capello. There is a sizeable majority of the media who would … Continue reading →

A lot of football fans and football people in general disregard the Europa League as a status-free, unwanted distraction. The argument goes that it offers neither the financial rewards nor the glamour of its flashy cousin the Champions League and … Continue reading →

As news that Turkish club Besiktas are prepared to take Robinho off Manchester City’s books for a cool 16 million British pounds with ten million more on offer in performance-related payments, it raises an important question. Just how poor does … Continue reading →

Not many seasons ago the tackle which Joe Cole got sent off for yesterday would not have been a red card, it would probably not even been a yellow card. This would have been because his intention was to block … Continue reading →

Sometimes you just luck out in life. Sometimes everything just goes right. Things you usually have to struggle to achieve just fall in your lap without you even trying. Sometimes you’re just on roll, the universe has briefly aligned itself … Continue reading →

After the World Cup, being an English footballer is hardly something to brag about. For many critics the term ‘English footballer’ is a by-word for over-paid and over-rated. However, those critics will be dismayed by the new UEFA home-grown rule … Continue reading →

We all like a couple of weeks off work don’t we? Time to kick back, do sod all and have a few beers; time to de-stress your self from the daily grind. Yeah, we all need a holiday from time … Continue reading →