With Tottenham Hotspur experiencing their worst start to a season since 1912, it’s time for desperate measures at White Hart Lane. If you were in charge of the club, which players would you put on the transfer list, which personnel would you sack and who would you keep? Here are my picks: Sack them: Daniel Levy, chairman, Damien Comolli, sporting director, Juande Ramos, manager. Put them on the transfer list: Jermaine Jenas, vice-captain, Gilberto, David Bentley, Darren Bent, Didier Zokora, Michael Dawson, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Hossam Ghaly. Jury is still out: Luka Modric, Heurelho Gomes, Giovani Dos Santos, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Aaron Lennon, Fraizer Campbell. Keep them: Gus Poyet, assistant manager, Gareth Bale, Jonathan Woodgate, Chris Gunter, Alan Hutton, Tom......

I think we have seen Juande Ramos' last game in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. With Martin Jol at the helm Spurs were in much healthier shape, back to back 5th place finishes and a side that looked like they could play football together, but that wasn't good enough. Under Ramos, Spurs have managed just 2 points from the last 24 in the Premier League. What is keeping Wendy in charge other than Levy not wanting to look like a mug for courting him in the first place?Forget the excuses, forget Berba and Keane. The players at the club are the players Ramos wanted. He made the decision to make so many changes to the squad in the summer and with the money he had at his disposal, a return of 2pts is a joke.I'm not judging the man on 7 games, I'm judging him from the moment we won the Carling Cup....

To start with then, Cesc Fabregas has spoken of how the young gunners are keeping him awake at night. No, its not them playing with their little kiddie toys, its their class on the pitch that worries him, he reckons they will be after his first team slot soon and recognizes the fact that he has to raise his game;“I cannot go to sleep as one day or other they will want to play more and more and the manager will want them to play more. “I will have to be better and better. Wilshere, Ramsey, Merida — they all play in my position. This is great for me. I love competition. “If the players are so young you can feel your place is too secure. “So it’s fantastic to have competition — to wake you up and make you a better player.” Well if he raises his game he will be a...

After a Football Association appointed arbitration hearing ruled in the favor of Sheffield United earlier this week, lawyers in England must have smelled blood because now up to 12 Sheffield United players who were relegated at the end of the 2006/2007 season are seeking legal advice regarding the possibility of suing West Ham United for loss of earnings. And so they should. West Ham United and its fans should be very concerned about the financial stability of the club due to the way the club cheated in the 2006/2007 season when it lied to the Premier League about documents withheld regarding Carlos Tevez. With a damages hearing scheduled soon, West Ham may be forced to pay Sheffield United £30 million in compensation. This is in addition to the £5 million fine that West Ham has...

At least 10 players who were relegated with Sheffield United two seasons ago are considering legal action against West Ham over the Carlos Tevez...

Today It has been confirmed by Arsenal that young defender Johan Djourou has signed a new long term deal at the club. I think this is brilliant news because the kid has amazing potential and at one stage was a player the club kept very quiet about as they were worried other teams might snatch him off us, such is his potential. He has been getting better and better and is probably the long term replacement for William Gallas. Lets hope he lives up to expectations! Wenger has suggested that he may put out his youngest side ever tomorrow, Wilshere is expected to start whilst players like G.Hoyte, Merida and even Frimpong set to appear; “There is a possibility [it will be the youngest side ever],” said Wenger. “In the first team there are many players around 20. In the Carling Cup we...

Very, very quickly because I'm currently in a Typhoon in Japan, I'd like to remind you about Call and Return, the project Nikki, Stuart and I are doing as The Ludogeographic Society. We've just started the gameplay, and missions are here.It's the next stage of Emergent Game, and players will be in UK, Japan, and elsewhere. The main feature that has been emphasised this time is the process of the players generating the missions themselves. This was always an important aspect of the game, so now it is one of the first five missions, as well as the other four having been developed through workshops and previous discussions with players.Stuart will be in Bristol co-ordinating the igfest end of things, and myself and Nikki are at Dislocate in Yokohama. Will be interesting to see how it...

  The recent press reports linking Arsenal and other Premier League clubs to 14 year old  attacking midfielder Charles Renken whose sterling play for the US U-17 team in the Bradenton Invitational last year caught many eyes is terrifying from my perspective as an American football fan. Despite the success Arsenal has had in developing young footballers, Americans have had nothing but trouble when they go to England at a young age while enjoying relative success when going to continental clubs. This is not meant to knock English football. However the evidence is clear at least when related to players from this part of the world that they will only enjoy success in the British game when they enter the Premier League or SPL as finished articles. I get annoyed when I hear fans of the US...

According to an article on ESPNsoccernet, the Premier League will explore the possibility of implementing a rule that would require its 20 member teams to include at least two academy graduates from that particular club in the seven available substitutes on gameday. This was one of the options put forward this summer in addition to the 7-man bench, which is up from its previous five this season. Obviously it wasn’t introduced; the Premiership likely wanted to take things step by step and not make radical changes right away. Like FIFA and UEFA, though, the Premiership is in favor of increasing the amount of home-grown players on each team. To get this proposal passed, it would take the approval of 2/3 of the top flight’s 20 clubs (14, for all you math majors out there). I’m...

After a week of protest and criticism from fans and neutrals alike, myself included, current Newcastle owner Mike Ashley finally got the message: he’s not wanted anymore. Here’s the complete transcript of the statement he made earlier today: “I have enjoyed sport since I was a boy. I love football. I have followed England in every tournament since Mexico ‘86. I was there to see Maradona and his hand of God. I know what it means to love football and to love a club. I know how important it is to other people because football is so important to me. My life has been tied up with sport. It was the passion that I felt for sport that helped me to be successful with my business. That success allowed me to mix my passion and my business. I bought Newcastle United in May 2007. Newcastle...

I'm not jumping on the bandwagon, England have been disappointing me for years. My loyalties are somewhat divided in any case, my old man is Scottish but my Grandad played for England. I see myself as English though and there is nothing I like more than going out with mates cheering on the side in the big competitions.What does wind me up is people like Steven Gerrard constantly giving the ball away and blasting free kicks into row z for England, then going out for Liverpool 3 days later playing out of his skin and pinging free kicks into the top corner. I know players have off games but his performance in the last Croatia game was atrocious. Every time Ledley King has played for England, he's been immense, either Man of the Match or very close to it. That's what the country wants to see,...

IS that all? “OVER ONE-THIRD OF FORMER AMERICAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH MEN, STUDY CLAIMS” Indeed… A study of former high-school American Football players has found that more than a third said they had had sexual relations with other men. In his study of homosexuality among sportsmen in the US, sociologist Dr Eric Anderson found that 19 in a sample of 47 had taken part in acts intended to sexually arouse other men, ranging from kissing to mutual masturbation and oral sex. Here. Via The 47 men, aged 18-23, were all American Football players who previously played at the high school (secondary school) level but had failed to be picked for their university’s team and were now cheerleaders instead. Give Me a...

I am pretty glad that Sony has not given up the fight against the iPod when it comes to portable music, reviving the Walkman brand name by coming up with some pretty funky and functional MP3 players in the past few years. This time round, Sony has released three more Walkman players from the S, E and B series that ought to offer a little bit of something for everyone, no matter what their taste and budget are like. More on the three new players are available right after the jump. The S-Series Walkman players are sitting pretty on top of the high end spectrum, allowing owners to enjoy tunes from a variety of downlaod stores as well as personal music collections, allowing a simple “drag and drop” transfer method for non-DRM music, videos, podcasts and playlists. In addition, it...

Sony will be making available a quartet of new Xplod in-dash head units sometime next month, enabling iPod owners to hook up their beloved portable media players to the Xplod units while they’re on the road. The four models are the CDX-GT630UI, CDX-GT430IP, CDX-GT330 and CDX-GT130, and we’ll take a closer look at individual models right after the jump. The top-of-the-line unit (model CDX-GT630UI) is Sony’s first car stereo that can connect directly to iPod players, other digital music players and USB thumb drives via a USB connection. It also includes Sony’s unique ZAPPIN function, which offers a way of searching and listening to music. Providing several options for connectivity in the car, the CDX-GT630UI head unit connects to compatible iPod or other digital...

We just want a couple of proven quality players in midfield. Now we all think we could manage Arsenal in our own right and if i managed Arsenal i would buy Cana and Alonso. But, im not the Arsenal manager and we will probably get neither player!Arsene said at his press conference;“There are no names and there is no news,”“We do not have to worry about too many other players. I believe we have the needed squad and a strong squad. "Im sorry Arsene but we do not have the needed squad, if Fabregas gets injured again we are in the shitter, who can replace him? nobody. Who can even partially replace him? nobody. No, not even Eboue!Sorry, but this is starting to get a little fustrating!Arsene also said;“I do not know why we are always under pressure to buy £30 or £40m players,”Arsene...

Admit it. There are some players in the Premier League who get under your skin. The type of players you love to hate. But who are they and why do you hate them so much? Names of players who often get fans irate include: Ashley Cole (Chelsea) John Terry (Chelsea) Frank Lampard (Chelsea) El Hadji Diouf (Sunderland) Lee Bowyer (West Ham United) Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) William Gallas (Arsenal) Kevin Davies (Bolton), and Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United). Players are hated for numerous reasons. Diouf won no fans with his spitting, diving and constant bickering. Players such as Adebayor and Lampard didn’t impress anyone with the rumors of them possibly leaving their clubs. Defenders Terry and Ferdinand have won few fans because of their off the pitch incidents, and so on. Who are...

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is hoping to sign more players in addition to Djibril Cisse before 1...

AFTER the Spanish basketball players’ tribute to China, Spanish women tennis players pulling the pose, apparently in anticipation of their Federation Cup match against China in April. War is...

On Tuesday afternoon, the Premier League rolled out a massive new program entitled “Get On With The Game” that brought players, managers, chairmen and referees together to agree on common goals for the new season: to bring order back to the league and get on with the game. The Premier League’s PR machine was in high gear as three separate events in England launched the campaign, which were also televised live on Sky Sports. Quite comical were proclamations by John Terry and Gary Neville that they would bring order back to the league and their clubs. Both of these captains have had notable fiery skirmishes with referees in the past. Despite the good intentions of the campaign, the event is no more than a horse and pony show. Once the league kicks off and the pressure of...

A month or so back an article on the tens resulted in a fair amount of interest, and a couple of responses - initially one from Anne Bebbington from Taunton RFC. A particularly heartfelt part of Anne's contribution was not directly about the 10s but instead dealt with regional rugby and in particular:"the dire state of grass roots female rugby and the detrimental effect on it of the Regional programme".This resulted in a reply asking:"how it [regional rugby] has had a detrimental effect on grassroots? It's a genuine enquiry...what was the effect, also, what aspects of the program caused it? Could I also ask, would you have a proposal that might be better?"Rather than continue that discussion hidden away in the responses I promised to pull it out into the open so as to give it a greater...

Sport: Court of Arbitration for Sport rules that Fifa cannot force clubs to release players for...

At the risk of offending BB (see post below), I have decided to write on cricket anyway as I am poorly and feeling sorry for myself. So I am propped up in bed and listening to the rain. England's performances since the latter part of 2005 have, in the main, been dire, inadequate, or simply mediocre. The one good Test series, in my view, was the 2006 Pakistan series, won (now) 2-0: Strauss was an effective and efficient captain who led from the front: Panesar and Harmison put together a couple of good bowling performances and Chris Read looked to be getting his batting together.Then, of course, the selectors took the bizarre decision to hand the captaincy to Andrew Flintoff, and to bring back Geraint Jones, and the rest is history. Since then England have generally beaten poor sides and...

So with the Olympic torch set to be lit in five days I thought it might be a good time to have a look at how the football side of this global gathering will affect the Premier League when that kicks-off the following week. Well in fact the football side of things kicks-off two days before the Olympic torch is passed over for the final time and concludes on the 24th August. The tournament shapes up with four groups of four teams with the top two from each group advancing to the knock-out stages. Basically its exactly the same as Euro 2008, except without the full international teams. That concept was abandon after the first World Cup in 1930 and now as you may know the gold medal is contested between players under 23 with each side allowed to draft in three over 23 years of age. Four years...

Both Gus Poyet and Aaron Lennon have been linked with moves away from the club recently, (seems like most of our squad have been) but both have moved to quash the rumours in the last 24 hours.Since the departure of Carlos Queiroz at Manchester Utd, Poyet has been linked with the assistant's job there but it doesn't look like he's giving the rumours the time of day.Poyet told the club's official website: "It's nothing. It was a surprise to read it."I want to stay at Spurs, I want to stay with this manager, this group of players and this club because I'm very happy."When you are in England and you are lucky enough to be with one of the big teams you are always going to get speculation."It happens, that's football - I've been around long enough to ignore it!"This is great news for Spurs...

This year saw the birth of Indian Premier League cricket, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept it???s a shorten version of the regular game played by the best cricket players in the world with all the glitz and glamour you would never have associated with cricket ten years ago. In essence it was a million miles away from the traditional game, with cheerleaders and fireworks an aspect of cricket you would never see down on you local village green. The reason I have mentioned this is because the IPL had some very wealthy backers and to get the league off the ground they offered crickets best players sack loads of money to take part in the competition. I read an article which said that the average player taking part in the IPL would earn around ??250,000 for six weeks work....

I’m not a fan of field hockey and at first glance a post about Olympic eligibility on Slugger O’Toole didn’t greatly raise my hackles, but on closer examination I think the story highlights the manner in which the term Ireland is often wrongly viewed as analogous to the Republic of Ireland and demonstrates that this can have a practical effect in prescribing and limiting people who wish to exercise a plurality of identity. The crux of the story is that a change in the rules prevents Northern Irish hockey players, who have competed for the Ireland hockey team in competitions featuring separate England, Scotland and Wales sides, from representing the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team in the Olympic Games. In previous Olympic tournaments Northern Irish players have played...

England players will be banned from bringing women back to their hotel rooms on future tours abroad under a revised code of conduct....

The FBI says it has arrested about 300 property market players in a crackdown on mortgage fraud....

New Zealand police investigate a "serious allegation" against up to four England rugby players after an alleged incident in a hotel room....

FIFA recently approved the “6+5 rule” in a 155-5 vote among member nations.  The rule would mandate that clubs field at least six players from the nation in which they play.  By targeting wealthy clubs, particularly English ones, buying foreign players, FIFA feels they would revive national teams and achieve greater parity.  This policy would do neither. The rule is unworkable.  It is illegal in Europe.  The European Union forbids employee discrimination among member states.  Contrary to Sepp Blatter’s bleating, the EU is not going to change its laws to accommodate his whims.  Upon implementation, the rule would be challenged immediately by players or clubs under European Law and be overturned. It would cheapen the quality of the game.  Managers would be forced to base...