David Ackerman

Former England, Manchester City and Mexico manager Sven Goran-Eriksson did not become director of football at Notts County “for the money.” Nor, apparently, did he go for the prestige or mild degree of difficulty. Eriksson inherits a club that finished 19th in League Two last season, essentially the worst club in England that can be […]

For those not emotionally invested, the sale of a prominent Premier League club is chum in the water. We want easily caricatured nutballs in charge, huge transfer budgets, grandiose schemes destined to fail and decimations of the club’s staff. We want entertainment. Given that context and the club’s unique penchant for disaster, West Ham’s sale […]

This is not the worst team in the Premier League. It is the least valuable. This team would incite the masses with talent, with name recognition and with expense. They would then fail pathetically. This team could be composed entirely of Newcastle players, but we thought we'd include a few others to keep things interesting. […]

Facing the sobering reality of a fourth season without a major trophy, Arsenal fans have been disappointed. The disenchantment has created a culture of negativity around the club, which Arsene Wenger lashed out at on Friday. "When you look at people assessing the situations of the clubs, it has become ridiculous," Wenger said. "You sit […]

With their typical class, Chelsea players and staff asserted their belief, following their 1-1 agg defeat to Barcelona, that UEFA conspired against them to prevent an all-English final in the Champions League. Players, such as Didier Drogba, displayed their sentiment by all but physically assaulting the referee as he left the pitch. Manager Guus Hiddink […]

Those who would purify English football believe the current debauchery and debt stems from foreign ownership. That is not necessarily true. American billionaire Stan Kroenke bought out the Carr family shares in Arsenal for about £45m, increasing his stake in the club to 28.3%, the largest individual holding. Despite the Guardian’s assertions that this is […]

Major League Soccer has announced Everton as the opponent for this year’s MLS All-Star game. "We are very excited about Everton FC agreeing to be the opponent for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game," MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a league statement. "Everton is an elite European club that features many world-class players, including former […]

Premier League footballers make extraordinary salaries. The common implication from this is that they make too much money. Players are the scapegoat for the endemic money culture that has invaded football. It’s held as common sense that salary caps and other punitive measures are the only way to save a game gone wrong. This sentiment […]

This just in – Premier League clubs are big money businesses. Forbes released their list of most valuable soccer teams. Here are some of the more interesting findings for the Premier League. Three Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool – are worth over $1 billion, joining Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in that […]

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has the “it” quality as a manager. Not “it” in the genius sense like Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson. Southgate has it in the Raymond Domenech sense where he could strip naked, smear himself with his own fecal matter and reenact the Monty Python Silly Walks skit down the touchline […]

Newcastle has been in a rudderless malaise for most of the season. Kevin Keegan resigned and nearly every potential replacement rejected the offer. The club pulled backdated Joe Kinnear out of retirement, gave him the full time job and then watched him succumb to heart trouble. Chris Hughton took over as a caretaker, and the […]

Stoke City are a newly promoted side from the Championship, and they certainly play like one. The operating procedure has been physicality, holding the line at home and hoping for some magic from Rory Delap’s wicked throw-ins. It has worked with a modicum of success. They are sixteenth in the table on 32 points. Form: […]

Until late October, Portsmouth seemed destined for a mid-table season. After a rough August start against Chelsea and Man United, the trophy-winning club won four out of seven matches, looking frisky once again. Then Harry Redknapp left for the Tottenham and the seam exploded. Tony Adams had no perceivable managerial skill. Financial problems forced the […]

Sunderland rose to the Premier League two seasons ago with Roy Keane’s magnetism, and it was the same presence that kept them afloat last season. The reform movement lost steam when Keane left, and Sunderland have been rudderless since Ricky Sbragia transcended the interim label. The club is in fourteenth place, but just three points […]

Hull City surprised everyone at the start of the season, winning six of their first nine, knocking off an over-confident Arsenal. The club lost composure. Phil Brown lost his sweet goatee, and perhaps his sanity. Hull won just two of their next 21 games, drifting from a solid European challenge to treading above the relegation […]