AuthorManchesterM We have another new guest writer this week join the Football Outcast ranks. ManchesterM has submitted his thoughts on the weekend EPL and FA Cup action just gone (17-18th March 18).
Over to Manchester: AuthorSports Billy So this past week or so has seen Hollywood movie plot-like drama play out in Salisbury, England, of all places, with poisoned former Russian spies, nerve gas and alleged Russian involvement in it all.
This has sent politics in to overdrive both here and around the world in condemning Russia for their alleged actions, as well as plenty of discussion around what sanctions are to be potentially imposed on the perpetrators. Given this is a World Cup year and it just so happens that Russia is hosting this year’s edition, it’s been suggested that the England footy team should boycott the tournament in response to what’s happened. AuthorJeffEyesRimmer We have said previously that the path for young managers is blocked not by foreign managers coming into the league but by the same tired, old British managers, you can read our take on it here.
So it was inevitable that with Southampton parting ways with Mauricio Pellegrino this past week that another familiar name was in the running for the vacant Saints job. Mark Hughes is the favourite to be named the new man in charge at the St Marys and that would take his tally of Premier League Clubs to six! AuthorJay Hiza The date was May 1st 2005, Frank Rijkaard gave a few instructions to the diminutive young man before sending him onto the pitch, and as Samuel Eto’o reached the sidelines, the Lionel Messi Era officially began at Barcelona. It was fitting perhaps, that his first goal – a now trademark chip against Albacete – was assisted by the man he was groomed to replace – Ronaldinho. The Argentine’s quality was clear from the start, but surely nobody truly expected him to become the legend that he is today. Despite his teammates raving about his ability, none of them could have foreseen that Lionel Messi would become – perhaps – the greatest footballer in the game’s history.
AuthorJeffEyesRimmer After the humiliating defeat in the League Cup final against Manchester City many fans and pundits alike questioned Arsene Wenger’s managerial abilities. It wasn’t just the defeat that was the problem; it was the manner of defeat that had fans frothing. It was lame and directionless and two subsequent losses since then now leave Arsenal unlikely to finish anywhere near the haloed top four.
In fact at the time of writing they are closer to Bournemouth in 12th than Liverpool in 2nd. Burnley are now only five points away from Arsenal and they had their first win in 12 games this past weekend. That speaks volumes for the kind of form Arsenal have been in. There have been plenty of calls for Wenger to step down as manager. Here at Football Outcasts HQ we have always been of the opinion that coming consistently 4-6th in the EPL, providing occasional trophies, being financially solvent and being in Europe consistently was something for fans to laud rather than moan about. However, the key question for us has always been – Who do you replace Wenger with if you sack him? AuthorJeffEyesRimmer The new season of the Chinese Super League begins this week and it was confirmed that another of the leagues so called big name imports will be leaving the league, likely before the season kicks off.
This week Alex Teixeira was placed on the transfer list by his club Jiangsu Suning and it is widely reported he will be heading back to Brazil with Corinthians. It marks the end of another big name foreign import in the Chinese Super League that has failed to make the grade. Has the cashed up clubs bubble finally burst, have the clubs been burnt enough now to know throwing $50million at a player will not make the club or league a better product really? AuthorJeffEyesRimmer Quite a number of fans, including us here at Football Outcasts, are not the greatest lovers of the International friendlies that seem to interrupt the domestic season.
Well it seems UEFA have taken this to heart and come up with a competition that they hope will replace the meaningless friendlies and generate more interest from fans. Its call the Nation League and it will provide a back door entry into future European Championships too, so it’s worth understanding its permutations. So what is the Nation’s League? AuthorJeffEyesRimmer Late last year the Spanish League La Liga signed a deal with the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia (GSA) and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), the governing body for football there.
It was a deal that seemed to go a bit under the radar at the time but with the transfer window in January now open this deal has been thrust into the spotlight a bit more. A total of nine Saudi Arabian players have been loaned to Spanish clubs all within the space of a few days (so far). So what was this deal? AuthorJeffEyesRimmer We have often discussed our ideas on how to improve the game generally and even improve the English Premier League but there is a league much closer to home that needs improvement and that’s the A-League.
The A-League has gone from strength to strength over the past 10 years, this season has seen some wonderful football (especially from Sydney FC) but there seems to be a consensus among fans that this season has been a bit flat and bit stale. So what are some of the changes that could and in my opinion should happen to improve the game in Australia: AuthorJeffEyesRimmer ESports has become very popular across the world, so much so that currently the global market was recently valued at nearly $493 million.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that just before Christmas the A-League here in Australia announced that they will be holding the first E-League later this year that will use EA's FIFA gaming franchise as the basis for the competition. |
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