Stephen Lucey

Gary Neville is many things to many people: a legend; 'a red who hates Scousers' in the eyes of United fans; an insufferable manc in the eyes of opposition fans; and to that list you may well add 'bootlicker' – kissing the feet of his manager, expressing his 'views' to present a-fan's-view-that-conveniently-supports-that-of-his-boss. Carlos Tevez's candid description of his former […]

Jermain Defoe hit five goals yesterday in Spurs' demolition – the word doesn't seem strong enough, at times – of Wigan Athletic, but has he done enough to merit a place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad next summer? Many pundits and people in the game, including 'Arry (who would of course be a neutral observer […]

Almost everything is going wrong for Liverpool. I say 'almost', because last week they beat Manchester United at Anfield, and the gloom was temporarily lifted. "Liverpool have turned a corner... This will kick-start their season... etc" in the end, it hasn't. Liverpool's continued struggles share similarities with those of the aforementioned United in the 2004-05 […]

February 2nd 2002 was a pretty non-descript day in the History of Football, or indeed the history of anything – Prince Willem -Alexander of Orange, heir to the Dutch throne got married, Euro-Monarchy Fans will tell you (and, er... wikipedia) – but that aside, Manchester United stayed atop of the Premier League with a 4-1 […]

There is history, here. England's two greatest football clubs lining up on the hallowed turf of Anfield, some of the World's greatest players are there; two of the World's greatest managers are there; but this is worth more than simply names and people: this is about bragging rights, this is to prove which is actually […]

For “Collymore closing in…” in 1996, you can read “It’s Michael Owen…” in 2009. Both games were littered with brilliant goals, pathetic defending and some of the most exciting football the Premier League has seen. Now though, two days on from “The Greatest Manchester Derby in the History of Anything Anytime Ever”, it is surely […]

Arsenal Fans Can Have No Excuses Emmanuel Adebayor is Public Enemy Number One at the moment, partly for his stamp on Robin Van Persie, and mostly because of his goal celebration in front of the Arsenal fans. "Inciting a riot". Of course it was ill-advised – he must have Ashley Cole's Public Relations officer – […]

In the short time since Chelsea were found guilty of inducing Gael Kakuta to breach his contract at RC Lens, and banned from the registration of new players until 1st Sept 2010 – i.e. two transfer windows away – a lot has been written, blogged, said and alleged – some fact, some fiction. Let's separate […]

The year is 1996. The All New Manchester United juggernaut has just driven relentlessly to the Premier League and FA Cup double, sneering past the wheezing, spluttering, broken down Alfa Romeo of Kevin Keegan's Newcastle on its way. The chance arises, that summer, to buy a young starlet from France, Zinedine Zidane. While there is […]

United and Liverpool "Back on track" After big recent wins against Stoke and Wigan – those bastions of consistency – the general consensus amongst the pundits is that Manchester United and Liverpool are "back on track" after defeats at Turf Moor and White Hart Lane. Just one problem with that though: I thought it was […]

The 2000-01 Premier League season was a bizarre one, ranging from the mundane to the improbable: On one hand, Manchester United won the title by 10 points, on the other hand, it was delivered with a poor Middlesbrough side winning 3-0 at Highbury. Whilst Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool were the top three, Peter Reid's […]

What a start to the Premier League season... for precisely half of the Premier League clubs. For the other half, it has not been good at all. The reason? Every single game this weekend has ended in a positive result for someone, i.e. there have been no draws. This fact alone is not necessarily positive: […]

The last dance of the season, of every season, the FA Cup Final is the jewel in the English Football Crown. Last year's final between Cardiff and Portsmouth was arguably the exception, but this year's certainly isn't: Underdogs Everton come into the final for the first time in 14 years, since Joe Royle's infamous 'dogs of war' […]

I think it's fair to say that the Barcelona 'passing carousel' was out in force last night. Even fairer to say that the United midfield wasn't really out in any force. After a bright start, where Anderson looked to have the energy that could light up United's midfield, the Champions capitulated. Whereas Barca were looking […]

West Brom: A season of Ifs, Buts, Maybes and Not Quites for The Baggies this season, but it was nevertheless extremely entertaining. Tony Mowbray will not leave, nor should he, and he has created a side who played some of the most exciting football this season. Sure, they lack a quality centre half – Meite […]