Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel scored an unbelievably awful own goal while playing for Slovakia against Greece in today's World Cup qualifier. To be fair, it really wasn't Skrtel's fault, but his name will go on the scoresheet as the player who scored the OG. Skrtel made a harmless pass back to Slovakia goalkeeper (and former […]

The debate this week about the potential use of naturalized players of non-English descent in the England national team has flared up once again. For me, it is partly an ugly debate that has elements of xenophobia in it but also a glorious debate demonstrating a nation and people determined to maintain standards of fair […]

Normally only one man can outshine the constellation that is Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi has been able to do that remarkable feat for the past four years, but no other player has been able to eclipse the excellence of the Portuguese sensation. No man other than Messi has come close to surpassing Ronaldo. But on […]

International weekends are often a bit of a downer. But at least this weekend we’ve got some pretty decent, competitive fixtures to look forward to, rather than the pointless friendly games that regularly punctuate the domestic calendar. It helps too when we’re at the final knockings of a World Cup qualifying campaign. Some nations have […]

Galatasaray President Unal Aysal says that the club are willing to sell highly-rated striker Burak Yilmaz to Chelsea in January if an offer comes in for the Turkish footballer. Galatasaray's president said: "If Burak wants to go and Chelsea are interested then of course the deal will happen. "I favor Turkish players going to Europe to […]

It’s hard not to pull a look of bemusement when you hear how former Arsenal player Gervinho is faring after his transfer to AS Roma. In his seven matches so far, he has already scored three goals and provided one assist — three if you count drawing two penalties. During his two seasons in the […]

Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay was asked to resign as manager of the club prior to this week, according to a club insider that was interviewed by The Daily Mail newspaper. There are very few details known, but what we do know is that Cardiff City's head of recruitment Iain Moody has been removed from the club, […]

Malcolm Best flies solo this week in another addition of The Football Special, as we see an inspirational prediction by Nostradamus ahead of the international fixtures this weekend. Plus Sepp Blatter is unable to hide his true feelings regarding Qatar 2022 and a Arsene Wenger sat nav leads a certain Jose Mourinho astray. Jim Daly […]

Adnan Januzaj is the latest youth sensation to sweep the Premier League, and his two goals against Sunderland made everyone take notice, even the English FA. They have been in contact with David Moyes about Januzaj's potential eligibility when he qualifies for residency in 2 years. However, he's not going to play for England. Jack […]

When you compare the Premier League against La Liga tables from the past 10 years, you can see some intriguing data points. For example, while the top two positions in the Premier League and La Liga are very predictable, with the average points difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid also exactly mirroring the points difference […]

If you ever wondered what it used to be like in a dressing room either before a match, during half-time or after the match was over, here's some eyeopening footage of Peter Reid when he was Sunderland manager during the 1996/97 Premier League season. The footage is part of a longer documentary about Sunderland's season […]

It’s that time again. The final set of World Cup Qualifiers. Time has come for celebrations and heartache. Some of the usual suspects have already booked their tickets to the World Cup – Brazil, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Netherlands, Italy, United States and Argentina – along with a couple of teams who are not so […]

USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann says that the USSF is in talks with England regarding a potential friendly to be played before the 2014 World Cup, according to an interview in Sports Illustrated. Earlier this week, World Soccer Talk revealed that the United States are planning a pre World Cup tournament to be played on US […]

When I worked as the communications officer for the second division North American Soccer League, I was often asked by English friends why so many players from the British Isles gravitated to the lower leagues of North American soccer. To look at this phenomenon, we must first understand that no players are leaving Premier League […]