Don't get your hopes up - captain for the night Stephen Craigan look forward to his fiftieth cap.Will it be déja vu all over again for Northern Ireland in Maribor?  Two years ago, in an Autumn World Cup game, Slovenia won 2-0 in the fortress city, condemning Nigel Worthington’s men to an uphill battle for qualification. Back then, in a gloomy, angry post I condemned the manager for allowing his team to ’regress to the mean’.  It’s a process which I contend is still ongoing. The belief which Lawrie Sanchez instilled in his group of players, the discipline and the professionalism he inculcated, did not disappear immediately after Worthington took over.  Instead it dissipated gradually, like sand running through the Ballymena man’s fingers. Now, following seven...

…Fabio. I haven’t said you were a “monster” either, just that you aren’t as good at the job as you and those that were sucked in by qualifying through a piss easy group – with some less than convincing displays against mediocre opponents that were glosses over by the scoreline – think you were and that when you faced a real side you’d be found out. Basically you’re just another Sven Goran-Eriksson. Something that’s made ever more evident by the team that’ll probably be picked to play Bulgaria tonight. Look at the side, think about the fact that if Lampard and Terry were available then they would be straight in the starting XI and therefore it would be exactly the same outfield ten who were thumped by German. Yes thumped...

It’s Friday, so it’s time for another coup. Here’s Darius… International breaks are a permanent fixture in the footballing calendar. For Arsenal players such breaks are Russian roulette, a dangerous game which may see their season wrecked through injuries suffered on foreign fields. As sure as taxation and death, we might as well get used to such breaks so I thought I’d touch on an issue affecting the future of the game; the evolution and changing culture of football, fields where Arsenal is ahead of its rivals. England’s capitulation in the 2010 World cup illustrates what can happen when vanity, ignorance, intransigence and lack of vision impede a footballing establishment from moving into the 21st century. There is always a clamour for drastic action...

The politics of football Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has revealed in his memoirs that he sought the advice of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on getting rid of Gordon Brown. Blair was eager to ditch his Chancellor, but was concerned about destablising his government. So he consulted Labour supporter Fergie, who he knew was no [...]...

The victims of the new rules 1. Jonathan Woodgate The notoriously injury prone Spurs defender played just three times last season. He continues to struggle with a groin injury, with Harry Redknapp claiming forthcoming surgery could be a last throw of the dice in an attempt to save his career. 2. Michael Kightly Despite playing non-league football with [...]...

An outbreak of sanity for the next few months, transfer targets remain more fanciful than they were in the summer as football turns its attention to the proper stuff. You know, the game itself. Amid tepid disinterest, the Premier League clubs announced their squads yesterday. Well, thanks for that I couldn’t work out the information from the clubs websites, conveniently structured into ‘First Team’, ‘Reserves’ and ‘Youth’ sections. The farcical nature of it all is highlighted by the 71 players registered by Arsenal. The arbitrary twenty-five man ruling by the Premier League serves little purpose. The wording is couched so loosely in their rules that there is no lower limit – theoretically, a club could submit a squad with no names and rely...

Arsenal and England star allegedly pestering girls in club Jack Wilshere, who was arrested and released on police bail on suspicion of GBH last weekend, had earlier been thrown out of a club for pestering girls. The 18-year-old had allegedly been annoying a group of 30 girls celebrating a 23rd birthday by attempting to take up-skirt [...]...

Two years ago myself and the Better Half spent a very pleasant week in Slovenia, ending up for a few days in Maribor. A swish apartment was rented, romantic walks along the river were made, delicious horse steaks and bottles of the local Chardonnay were dispatched. In fact the only dampeners on the whole week was that Northern Ireland was defeated 2-0 by the home nation and our recently...

Kit’s that time again The new England kit was always going to have to work very hard to impress OTP since we are still in love with the last one (despite the on-field disappointment). While it doesn’t offend us it doesn’t quite have the appeal of its predecessor either. Fair play to Umbro for not leaving themselves [...]...

…I didn’t even know it was open. One of the joys of not having Sky Sports News anymore is being able to let 6pm on August 31st pass without having to listen to Jim “hyperbole king” White frothing at the mouth over the loan move of Marcus Bent from Brum to Wolves. It was very easy to stay at a distance from this year’s deadline with the thought that what little business Spurs were going to do has already been done. Sandro had signed some time back and had finally turned up, Pletikosa finally arrived on loan after what seemed like years of will he, won’t he. And of course there is Gallas. But that was it, a bunch who were no where near the first team were either offloaded completely or let out on loan. Unfortunately the deal everyone wanted to see was...

They just had to get it out of their cistern Celebration specialists Stjarnan have allowed their work to go down the pan. The Icelandic outfit’s latest celebration is the Human Toilet, which sees a players take on the roles of toilet, toilet seat, cistern and man taking a dump while reading the newspaper (or possibly a [...]...

“Look, we won. Can I have the job now?” Aston Villa caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald has confirmed he would like the job on a permanent basis. He informed the club of his decision following Sunday’s victory over Everton. The Scot was still mulling over “is it what I want to do or is it not what I [...]...

Arsene Wenger had two tasks this summer if he was to build a title-winning team: strengthen the defence and sign a new goalkeeper. Oh, and keep Cesc Fabregas, which makes it three. The transfer window closed yesterday with two new centre backs, Fabregas staying and a new striker. Two outta three ain’t bad, as Meat Loaf crooned. It left Arsenal ‘as you were’ in May. Almunia is the Number One, Fabianski his reserve, Manonne and Szczesny the lower ranking goalkeepers. The received wisdom is that this is not how Wenger envisaged the transfer window or season panning out. Various bids were reportedly submitted for Mark Schwarzer, none of them satisfactory enough for Fulham whilst Eduardo and Pepe Reina also received the attentions of the Arsenal manager. How many of those...

As I’ve covered some football linked news as well as price increases I thought you might be interested in this bit of news that’s just come in. Sky Sports customers are looking at a subscription increase from Sept 1st (tomorrow) of £3 per month – Sky Sports and Sky Movies customers being hit with a £2.50 increase. The increased charges mean Sky customers will pay around £240m more for all TV services over the next year – that’s based on 9.78m Sky Subscribers in the UK and RoI What could you buy with a £240m windfall? Well, you could slam down the cash for Tottenham Hotspur (£241m) or Manchester City (£166m), according to valuations by Forbes. How about three Christiano Ronaldo’s (£80m), four Kaka’s (£56m) or seven...

OTP’s take on the last-minute moves 1. It’s just not a transfer deadline day without Robinho going somewhere, is it? 2. At least one Premier League outfit took our advice. Well done, Sunderland. 3. Roy Hodgson seems to be putting the final pieces of the jigsaw in place to consolidate a mid-table finish for Liverpool. 4. Just over [...]...

The KNVB has offered the opinion that Robin van Persie will be out for ‘at least a few weeks‘ having suffered a twisted ankle at Blackburn on Saturday. The timing is unsurprising; Euro2012 qualifiers take place this week and losing a player or two has become de rigeur for Arsenal in recent seasons. With the transfer window closing today, there have been suggestions in some quarters that the Dutchman cannot be relied upon, that Wenger should turn his attention to a new striker to reinforce the squad. It does van Persie a disservice; only in two seasons has he failed to play less than thirty games for the club. Key to this might be his scoring record, recent seasons have seen this lower from just over 1 in 3 games to close to 1 in 2. It apparently leaves Arsenal short in attack...

1. Penalties for Bent sportsmen were always likely to be high on the news agenda on Sunday after the cricket revelations, but Manchester City probably didn’t envisage it affecting them quite so badly. 2. Talking of betting scandals, you would have put your house on Carlos Tevez scoring that ridiculously straightforward sitter. Hang your head, Carlitos. 3. [...]...

Government to publish series of brochures for parents after children as young as seven found to betting during World CupThe Thai government is publishing a series of parenting guides on how to prevent children from gambling on football matches, after those as young as seven were found betting on the World Cup.The Guide to Watching Football With Your Children and Loved Ones will be the first in a three-part series to be distributed at schools nationwide in October, Thanakorn Komkris, a co-ordinator at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said today.The agency, which is part of the prime minister's office, is sponsoring the series that uses cartoon characters to convey that watching professional football can be a fun family activity that sometimes requires parental supervision."Now that...

…games like that. A team trots into town who last time they were in the neighbourhood shipped nine goals, to one in reply, and so far this season in their two previous games had conceded a total of ten, four of which were scored by a team new to the division. A couple of hours later they’re heading back up North with a clean sheet and their first three points of the new season and Spurs have lost their first home game in a while. First since the last bunch of no-hopers rolled into town. ‘Arry seemed to portion the blame between the team and the fans… These are not games you enjoy. People turn up here today and they expect you to walk all over them. After two minutes we give the ball away and it’s ‘Oooh!’ and they’re on your case -...

A great win at Blackburn, the players nullifying the physical threat offered by the hosts before imposing their passing game to take the three points. The Rovers goal was a poor one to concede, Koscielny found out the hard way that bluff does not always work, feinting to make a tackle is no substitute for a well-timed version of the real thing. That is a hard lesson to learn but in no way signals that he is not good enough. To cast aside an Arsenal career on the basis of one minute of action is a bizarre mentality. Almunia provided an answer to his critics, confident under pressure and turning his ‘Mr Nice Guy‘ on its head in his confrontation with Diouf. It does not provide a permanent answer to the belief that Almunia is the solution to the goalkeeping conundrum; that will...

Just to point you in the direction of a new blog about the Northern Ireland football team, run in conjunction with the supporters' website Our Wee Country.  It's up and running in time to chart the latest farcical goings on at the IFA and assess the team's chances of claiming some points in Slovenia on Friday.  Expect more on that game here...

• Arsenal midfielder was involved in an incident this morning• Spokesman says youngster is 'unlikely' to face chargesThe Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere was arrested in the early hours of the morning following a "fracas", according to a spokesman for the player.Wilshere, who came on as an 84th-minute substitute in yesterday's 2-1 win over Blackburn, was arrested but released on bail.The statement, issued by the Wasserman Media Group on behalf of the 18-year-old, went on to assert Wilshere was "unlikely" to face charges.The statement read: "Jack Wilshere was arrested by police in the early hours following a fracas but was released on bail later. The police have made it very clear that he is an important witness to the incident and played the role of peacemaker and is...

Roberto Mancini had reason to regret not bringing his famous blue and white woolly scarf to a cold and windy Wearside on an afternoon which offered a foretaste of what could be a harsh winter ahead for Manchester City.After failing to convert their early ascendancy into goals, Mancini's side were forced to withstand a second‑half onslaught from a seemingly reborn Sunderland who looked as if they had belatedly decided this was their cup final.It ended with the previously "under pressure" Steve Bruce performing a wonderfully uncoordinated dance of joy in front of City's dug-out after Darren Bent's 90th‑minute penalty gave his Sunderland team an inaugural win of the season as City conceded their first goal of the campaign.Undone by a teasing cross from Ahmed El Mohamady, a right‑winger...

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below• Follow all of today's action on our live scoreboard• Email all your thoughts to simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk18 mins: Pienaar hits the corner of post and bar with a lovely curling shot from the corner of the penalty area, Brad Friedel absolutely rooted. This time the full-back was the creator: Leighton Baines spotting the pass.14 mins: Dunne clips Beckford's ankles, and is treading a disciplinary tightrope already, not especially delicately.12 mins: Beckford totally does Dunne for pace, and although there was cover the big Irishman sticks out a stocky leg and Beckford goes over a massive thigh. Yellow card for Dunne.GOAL! Aston Villa 1 Everton 0 (Luke Young, 9 mins) Excellent run by Young, which nobody predicted or...

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below• Follow all of today's action on our live scoreboard• Email all your thoughts to simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk45 mins: Three minutes' stoppage time to be played here.43 mins: Holden, probably Bolton's best midfielder, creates a shooting opportunity for himself, the ball deflecting wide for another corner.41 mins: Bogdan, who curiously wears No1, has previously played one league game, on loan at Crewe against Bury last September. Crewe lost 3-2.38 mins: Johnson gets booked, though I can't be sure why. There appeared to be quite a bit of post-red-card jiggerpokery out there. Bolton will bring on their substitute goalkeeper, Adam Bogdan, for his Premier League debut for Martin Petrov, who is furious about coming off, and...

Only in the universe that surrounds Wayne Rooney could this summer be called a drought. Until he converted a first-half penalty here, the most naturally gifted footballer Old Trafford has seen since Bobby Charlton had not scored in more than 18 and a half hours of competitive football. The counting will cease and since Rooney's goals have always come in waves, there should be a frisson of anxiety among the Bulgarian back-four when he appears in an England shirt on Friday night.Statistics apart, Rooney was far from the central figure on what was not so much a comfortable victory as a cashmere-covered one over a West Ham side that have lost their first three League matches and struggled to overcome Oxford in the Carling Cup. Only Kieron Dyer, who struck the side‑netting in the first half...

Press F5 or use the autorefresher for the latest updates and email the catchy alan.gardner.casual@guardian.co.uk with your wit and whimsyAnd another one, from the FA Cup in 2001.Scenes the like of which we wont see again today but which may provide some small solace for Hammers fans.Preamble: I think we all have an idea about which way this one will go, don't we? West Ham, a side still seeking an identity under new coach Avram Grant, have lost two out of two in the league this season and fudged their way past League Two side Oxford in the Carling Cup thanks to a 90th-minute winner. United cruised past Chelsea in the Community Shield and then Newcastle on the opening day of the Premier League season before coming slightly unstuck against Fulham last weekend. Still, West Ham haven't scored...

The week ended with a flurry of activity, Sebastien Squillaci’s signing confirmed and the draw for the Champions League deciding that Arsenal had not travelled far enough in previous campaigns, send Wenger and the squad to the Ukraine in November. That draw could have been harder, no-one in the group is an obvious barrier to qualification and Arsenal’s history of failure in Ukraine, Portugal and Serbia should not be considered relevant either. Crucially, the fixtures have worked well in conjunction with the Premier League. The trip to Donetsk precedes the away match at Newcastle, arguably the ‘easiest’ fixture of the six following Champions League group encounters. Belgrade is less than three hours flying time which should not be a factor before Stamford Bridge...

The two giants of South American soccer Argentina and Brazil will face off in a friendly international at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha on November 17.Doha, within easy reach of Europe, is becoming an increasingly popular venue for international football friendlies and with many of the stars of both teams based in Europe the location makes sense. England played Brazil in a previous match last year.The match is an opportunity to showcase Qatar's increasingly impressive bid for the 2022 World Cup.Stars who might be on the field include Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Kaka.Like this post? Sign up for the Qatar Visitor Newsletter. Qatar Visitor Friends Qatar Jobs Doha Hotels Tags Qatar Doha...

…champions. So that’s Spurs’ lot in the Champions League draw then, Italians, Germans and Dutch. The current Champions League holders Inter Milan, who of course have lost the man who was probably more responsible for that victory than most and replaced him with a man who dissembled a side that won the trophy into the one which finished just scraping into the Europa League last season. The Italian’s season hasn’t started yet, will get a first look tonight in the Super Cup which will be atrocious anyway, but by the time we meet them on October 20th, away at the San Siro, he should have lost them a few league games, Italian and their first two CLs, demoralised the team and pissed off strikers by subbing them for defensive midfielders when goals were needed....

He’s fat, he’s round, he bounces on the ground, no wait that was Sammy Lee. This is the infinitely more mobile Darius: Even at this early juncture in the season, everybody is chipping in about Arsenal’s chances of grabbing some silverware.  From the self-proclaimed ‘special ones’ in the Iberian Peninsula to the landlord of the Britannia’s local public house; from smug pundits to the tea lady at White Hart Lane – the consensus seems to be that Arsenal still don’t have what it takes to shake off the ‘also-rans’ status hammered to our forehead. It’s the age old cliché about the spine we don’t have. The spine made of steel, grit, height and filled with Neanderthals built like brick shithouses – I sometimes forget what it is exactly we need.  If you...

I was invited to head to a football stadium to watch the Manchester City v Liverpool match on Monday. The stadium in question was the Sofa Stadium. Now, I’m not the biggest footie fan but even I know that there isn’t a sofa stadium (there isn’t is there?) – I’m aware of the Saddle Dome but that’s different. This particular stadium was designed from the ground up by Virgin Media and offers football fans a forum for banter while they watch Premiership football. I was more than happy to try out the social networking side of things but I needed a fan – someone that this particular bit of software is aimed at. Fortunately my buddy and football pundit for the night, Mr Neil Maguire, was happy to assist Sofa Stadium is aimed at those...

Hit F5 or tick the autorefresh button for the latest updates and email jacob.steinberg@hotmail.co.uk with your Joe Cole gags11 min: Liverpool's response since the goal has been risible. The game remains scrappy and they currently look very, very average. A bit like Fulham, you might say. Ngog is completely isolated and is being kept quiet by the Trabzonspor defence. 10 min: If Dirk Kuyt really does want to leave and go to Inter, he's really furthered his cause in the first ten minutes here. It was the plodding Dutchman, of course, who lost the ball in the build-up to Gutierrez's goal.8 min: Actually, Gutierrez, rather than 12 yards out when he scored, was further in that. Just thought you'd like to know. Liverpool fans - do you actually care if you go out tonight? Or is the aim of the...

• Click on auto-refresh for all the latest updates• Email barry.glendenning@guardian.co.ukIn the Sky Sports News studio: Simon Thomas in the chair, with guests Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Charlie Nicholas. Kicking back over in Monaco: Richard Keys and Andy Gray.4.35pm: After all their over-the-top celebrations for finishing fourth in last year's Premier League, it was disappointing to see Tottenham qualify for the group stages as this time yesterday, the sight of their players and fans wiping copious amounts of egg of face last night, was a far more amusing prospect than the sight of them getting landed in a group with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Rubin Kazan. But they've qualified now and it's nice to see a new English team contesting group stages that can often verge on the...

…we’re ‘aving a laff. Legends couldn’t deliver it, big European “flavour of the months” couldn’t deliver it, big Dutch blokes couldn’t deliver it. A twitchy, saggy dodgy geezer from Poplar did, in a little under two years. From bottom of the Premier League to the Champions League for real, not the qualifying stage the full thing. “Three nil and you fucked it up”. Just over a week earlier Young Boys were going to destroy the dream as they took a 3-0 lead after only 28 minutes of the first leg. Even with the two goals back the Swiss side could have, probably should have come to The Lane with more than a one goal lead. All of a sudden Spurs are getting the breaks. The next big break was the second goal last night. Needing a quick...

Possessive Greeks Fans of Greek side Panionios were so infuriated when they heard rivals AEK Athens were going to play a Europa League clash with Dundee United at their stadium they vandalised their own ground to stop the match going ahead. AEK’s pitch has been recently relaid and was not playable in time for tonight’s match. Panionios’s [...]...

Well they are Young Boys; schoolboy humour seemed appropriate 1. Tottenham come from behind Young Boys. 2. Jermain Defoe uses his hand to beat Young Boys. 3. Peter Crouch’s Young Boys threesome. 4. Crouch brings Young Boys to their knees. 5. Crouch enjoys evening with Young Boys (and he didn’t even have to pay)....

The Champions League group draw takes place this evening and given the Premier League fixture list, there are a few teams that Wenger will be hoping to avoid. A long distance flight by football standards cannot be ruled out, especially with pot 4 containing clubs in Israel, Turkey, Russia and Romania. All of the pots from which Arsenal’s opponents will be drawn have potential pitfalls; all have relatively straightforward opponents. None are teams that should be feared, respect will be the key to maximising progress to the knockout phase, a characteristic and outcome which has been shown in abundance before. Of course, there is the ‘preferable’ draw at the same time and influenced by the domestic requirements, the ideal draw is probably Marseille, Basel and FC Twente. The...

It amazes me the power of social networking and media at a time, and whilst everybody hears about cats in bins or snow, there are a lot of other ways in which people are gathering around each other to help causes. Of course, if there’s a cause you want to start, the barrier of entry is lower, with often a well constructed hashtag and a few select followers getting behind it and boom – you’ve got a phenomenon on your hands. One such tweet is a cause close to my heart – #nonleagueday. Non League Day is on 4th September 2010. Which is the first Saturday of the first international break in the football season. With the league’s top flights taking a week off to spank Estonia or whatever, Non League is encouraging you to attend a lower league game. Why? Well a...

If you’re an American Football fan and an iPad owner, then NFL 2010 is a game that you will have to see in action. Developed by Gameloft, this iPad title has most of the things that an NFL fan could want, so instead of writing about it too much, I’ll just get straight in to how the game works and how you get around it. From the main menu, you have three main options. ‘Quick Play’ allows you to get straight in to the action with two randomly selected teams, so you don’t have to take time setting things up before you can play. The ‘Game Modes’ option offers a little more to the user, as from here you can choose to play an exhibition, choosing the teams before going in to the game, a season, choosing the team that you want to take through a whole...