Rob Nichols

The Football League Cup (also known as the Capital One Cup or the Carling Cup or the Worthington Cup in recent years) has often been held in very low regard amongst managers and pundits alike. Notable examples include Sir Alex Ferguson referring to the competition as a “Mickey Mouse Cup” and Arsenal fans claiming that […]

Match Day 6 of the Champions League has come and passed. Besides winner take all clashes between Manchester City and AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico and Liverpool and Basel at Anfield, there really was not much drama on hand. Extremely weakened sides from Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid threatened to undermine the integrity […]

Once a month every fall, the dreaded international break forces itself on the domestic soccer calendar, and it always seems to foist the ages old club vs country debate into the limelight. Last month, Raheem Sterling was thrown into the limelight for complaining he was "tired" while on England duty after undergoing different recovery under Roy […]

When Italy won the World Cup in 2006, my father took me, then aged ten, to the Little Italy section of Manhattan to witness the celebrations. I thought it was the most electrifying experience, as I had never been to a celebratory parade before, but at the time I was too young to truly understand […]

Saturday’s early match pits Argentina and Belgium, two teams that required extra time to overcome their round of 16 opponents. Both come into this quarterfinal matchup on very little rest, but I do not expect to see much alteration in either team’s starting lineup, as neither team has any injury problems. Argentina are necessitated into one […]

Tuesday’s Noon ET/9am PT kick-off pits European dark horses Belgium against north African underdogs Algeria in both team’s respective group H opener in Belo Horizonte. Unlike many of the other World Cup venues, Belo Horizonte does not provide challenges in climate, and temperatures are supposed to be a comfortable 70F at kickoff. Both teams will […]

Before the introduction into European football of 'registration periods,' more commonly known as 'transfer windows,' you may remember that players could pretty much come and go as they please, right up until the closing weeks of the season. However, times have changed and now, in England specifically, the summer window runs from the last day […]

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will meet with his rebel striker Carlos Tevez tomorrow, in a bid to save the Argentine’s career at the club. The two haven’t spoken since Tevez’s representatives informed the City hierarchy that the forward wanted to leave, but Mancini is still hopeful of persuading him to stay. Speaking ahead of […]

I started watching soccer just one year ago. I was flipping through the TVchannels one night, bored, when I got to channel 124, some obscure channel I had never heard of called Fox Soccer Channel (FSC). I watched some of the match that they were showing. In the beginning, I would watch the beginning of […]

With Christmas fast approaching and the cold snap beginning to bite, let’s take a look at five films soccer related films that you can enjoy over the festive period without leaving the comfort of your house, thanks to the joy that is iTunes. 5. The Football Factory Based on a novel wrote by John King, […]

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has once again angered the clubs supporters after he sacked manager Chris Hughton. Despite Newcastle’s poor run of form, Hughton’s sacking does come as a major shock, and is incredibly disrespectful to the man who has helped bring the club back to the Premier League. Hughton had been a terrific […]

The dust is just beginning to settle on a week that could forever change the footballing world. The decisions to send the 2018 and 2022 World Cup’s to Russia and Qatar has left a sour taste amongst all the unsuccessful bidders. But was FIFA’s snubbing of bids from England and the USA all part of […]

The increasing pressure on Carlo Ancelotti has reached new heights after Chelsea dropped two more points against a stubborn Everton side. It was the fourth Premier League game without a win for the reigning champions, and just their fifth point from a possible 18 in recent weeks, but with Ancelotti’s side stuttering, could the Italian […]

One of the more strange departments of the Premier League, the Dubious Goals Committee is a group surrounded in secrecy. But how does it work? And more importantly what does it actually do? In a report that has the potential to be as earth shattering as the BBC Panorama documentary exposing FIFA bungs, let’s see […]

The problems at Chelsea continue to mount as a draw in the North East allowed Manchester United to overhaul the champions at the top of the table for the first time this season. With an important month in the title race about to begin injuries, backroom drama and poor performances have left confidence shattered at a club that has only collected four points from a possible fifteen.