News & Comment

Blades begin compensation case over Tevez

Sheffield United today embarked on their final legal challenge over the Carlos Tevez affair in an effort to win compensation for being relegated a year ago.

Inside News & Comment

United report Real over Ronaldo

Monday, 9 June 2008

Manchester United have lodged an official complaint with FIFA over Real Madrid's relentless pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Book of the Week: England Managers by Brian Glanville

Sunday, 8 June 2008

There were misgivings when the Football Association appointed a manager with a strange accent and an imperfect grasp of the English language, but in Brian Glanville's estimation Alf Ramsey became the best of England's 12 full-time man-agers to date "by a nautical mile". In his long journalistic career, Glanville has not only observed them at work but has also known them well too. He is not a man plagued by self-doubt, yet his analysis is hard to fault – Don Revie was "almost pathologically thin-skinned", Graham Taylor was "tactically compromised", Terry Venables was appointed "too late" and Steve McClaren was the "reductio ad absurdum of England managers". He expresses his views in elegant style, spiced (some would say a little too richly) with a sprinkling of Italian phrases. It comes as no surprise to learn he has known Fabio Capello "for some 35 years", and is a fan. Let us hope his judgement of the present incumbent is as acute as his view of the previous 11.

The Nick Townsend column: No delays allowed for Hughes on the Sky Blue runway

Sunday, 8 June 2008

When, by Tuesday night, it became apparent that Roman Abramovich did not see his club's former striker as the man to galvanise last season's serial runners-up, Mark Hughes had a simple decision to make. Should he, as the saying goes in Thailand, birthplace of Manchester City's owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, escape from the tiger and into the crocodile? Should he opt for what amounts to Chelsea Lite, with that similar insistence on instant success; the promise of significant investment to back the procurement of key personnel; world-class players sought (and one already bought) with the new manager in absentia; and the installation of a high-profile executive chairman as a go-between for manager and foreign owner?

Match of the Day: Football weddings weren't always this flash

Sunday, 8 June 2008

It will be one of the most expensive weddings ever, estimated to cost a staggering £5m. But this is not about royalty, film stars or supermodels. It is about a pair of 22-year-olds from Liverpool, and how they are taking footballers' weddings to a new level.

Footballer charged after children die in crash

Sunday, 8 June 2008

Footballer Luke McCormick was charged today with causing the deaths of two young boys by dangerous driving.

Slaven Bilic: We know smaller teams can win – and I fancy our chances

Saturday, 7 June 2008

Let's be honest: the gap in football is getting smaller. The gap between the big football nations and the so-called smaller nations is closing and at this European Championship is smaller than ever. It is what makes this tournament more exciting than ever and it is what gives hope to every team, my Croatia side included.

Platini attacks 'cheats' United and Chelsea

Saturday, 7 June 2008

Michel Platini, the Uefa president and most powerful man in European football, has launched an extraordinary attack on British football, accusing heavily indebted Chelsea and Manchester United of being "cheats" who win tournaments on the back of their debt.

Brian Viner: Absence really can make a fan's heart grow fonder

Saturday, 7 June 2008

On the pavement outside The Rocket, a pub near Euston Station, a message on a blackboard invites punters to "watch Euro 2008 here – at least England can't lose!" There's no arguing with that, indeed from where I'm sitting, in seat 1, row A, of my living-room, there's a great deal to be said for a tournament in which, whatever happens, not a single Englishman will direct a penalty with deadly precision into the goalkeeper's arms, or against the crossbar, or into the phalanx of photographers behind the goal, before sinking in agonised disbelief to his knees while 11 foreigners run around leaping on one another.

Sport on TV: A dive into the past provides perfect Euro visions

Saturday, 7 June 2008

At last I see the point of the digital revolution. All this week BBC Interactive have been showing a loop of golden moments from previous European Championships. It makes for a couple of hours of high-end nostalgia.

Foreign player limit could get FA Cup trial

Saturday, 7 June 2008

Lord Triesman, the Football Association chairman, has professed a desire to turn the FA Cup into a trial for Sepp Blatter's proposals to limit the number of foreign players each club can field.

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