http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-hey-65-against-829948.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-hey-65-against-829948.html?r=RSS <p>It is the pub quiz final &ndash; which team was the only one outside England to win the FA Cup? (Cardiff City in 1927); which team won the Cup then held it for seven years? (Portsmouth in 1939 &ndash; there were no further finals until 1946). Neither club has won since, so today's final has a distinctly old-fashioned feel to it.</p> News & Comment Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sport-on-tv-write-or-wrong-dunphy-outshines-dull-rangers-829949.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sport-on-tv-write-or-wrong-dunphy-outshines-dull-rangers-829949.html?r=RSS <p>Eamon Dunphy, Millwall midfielder turned acerbic controversialist, is always good value &ndash; and so it proved on last Sunday's South Bank Show (ITV 1). In one of his occasional sporting forays Lord Bragg of the Big Quiff, Carlisle United fan turned Arsenal season-ticket holder, was exploring David Peace's dark, gritty novel about Brian Clough's 44 days in charge at Leeds, The Damned United.</p> News & Comment Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-if-you-get-to-wembley-seize-the-day-with-both-hands-ndash-it-may-be-your-final-chance-829973.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-if-you-get-to-wembley-seize-the-day-with-both-hands-ndash-it-may-be-your-final-chance-829973.html?r=RSS <p>Joe Jordan is the coach of Portsmouth and a key man in manager Harry Redknapp's pursuit of one piece of solid silverware to show for all his years of juggling the odds in the top flight of the English game.</p> News & Comment Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fans-flock-through-gates-at-record-rate-829150.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fans-flock-through-gates-at-record-rate-829150.html?r=RSS <p>Reports of football's demise appear to have been exaggerated. According to the phone-ins, fans are disenchanted with the monopoly of the "Big Four", with players' wages and behaviour, with ticket prices, with foreign owners, and probably with the quality of their half-time pie.</p> News & Comment Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/nwankwo-kanu-for-years-african-players-have-been-exploited-829156.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/nwankwo-kanu-for-years-african-players-have-been-exploited-829156.html?r=RSS <p><i>"Kanu is not only about Nigeria, Kanu is big across Africa" &ndash; Portsmouth midfielder John Utaka.</i></p> News & Comment Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/lord-coe-backs-ferguson-to-coach-olympics-team-828199.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/lord-coe-backs-ferguson-to-coach-olympics-team-828199.html?r=RSS <p>Lord Coe yesterday went public with his backing for Sir Alex Ferguson to manage the Great Britain team at the 2012 Olympics. Coe, the chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, confirmed holding informal discussions with the Manchester United manager but did not divulge whether the Scot was interested.</p> News & Comment Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-premier-league-or-proper-football-its-no-contest-827653.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-premier-league-or-proper-football-its-no-contest-827653.html?r=RSS <p>What a thrilling season it was in the Premier League, agree all the experts. But surely instead of thrilling, they actually mean pointlessly predictably relentlessly tedious. Almost every club has finished within one or two places of its designated position, in accordance with how rich it is. So the time must have come to reform the rules.</p> Mark Steel Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-gracious-grant-moves-quietly-towards-starring-role-to-leave-his-critics-humbled-827031.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-gracious-grant-moves-quietly-towards-starring-role-to-leave-his-critics-humbled-827031.html?r=RSS <p>How interesting, and rather telling, it was to see the reaction of Avram Grant almost at the very moment it was confirmed that a quite stunning achievement had been denied him. Gone too, of course, was the chance to lambast his critics in a show of rancour that could have surpassed easily anything seen in public life since Richard Milhous Nixon gained the White House six years after telling the fourth estate, "you won't have me to kick around any more."</p> News & Comment Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/treasury-relaxes-tax-rule-to-help-fas-2011-final-bid-827039.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/treasury-relaxes-tax-rule-to-help-fas-2011-final-bid-827039.html?r=RSS <p>The Football Association hopes to secure Wembley for the 2011 Champions League final after the Government agreed to give tax exemptions to players involved in the event.</p> News & Comment Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/uniteds-supreme-stylist-writes-new-chapter-in-champions-saga-826324.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/uniteds-supreme-stylist-writes-new-chapter-in-champions-saga-826324.html?r=RSS <p>Admit it: he's been brilliant. If last season was about Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, then this season has really mainly been about Ronaldo. His goal tally piling up game after game, the posturing around free-kicks and then the dispatching of those free-kicks, cannonball-style, into the top corner. The expectation that something will happen every time he gets the ball; the anticipation of having a real superstar on the pitch.</p> News & Comment Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-giggs-goal-cues-managers-familiar-dance-of-delight-826328.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-giggs-goal-cues-managers-familiar-dance-of-delight-826328.html?r=RSS <p>He itched, all through the thunder and the lightning and the lashing rain and the gathering tension, to make his dance. You know the one well enough. It is the football equivalent of the life-enhancing celebrations of Zorba, the one he produced most emotionally at the Nou Camp on the occasion of his first Champions League title.</p> News & Comment Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/book-of-the-week-football-dynamo-by-marc-bennetts-825864.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/book-of-the-week-football-dynamo-by-marc-bennetts-825864.html?r=RSS <p>A sign of Russia's boom times is that Zenit St Petersburg, bankrolled by the energy giant Gazprom, plan to take up their entire 13,000 ticket allocation for Wednesday's Uefa Cup final against Rangers in Manchester. But unlike many other Russian teams, they will take the field without one black player. "They have always known the fans would be against it," says a Zenit hooligan to Marc Bennetts. An Englishman who has lived in Moscow for over a decade, speaks the language and is an avowed fan of Russian football, Bennetts has produced an engrossing, authoritative account of the game in his adopted country as it makes a growing mark in Europe. Yet he does not shy away from the endemic corruption, racism and hooliganism, including a hair-raising account of how one team manager hired gun-toting thugs to attack five of his own players, whom he suspected of taking bribes to throw games. More Russian roulette than the beautiful game at times, it seems.</p> News & Comment Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sport-on-tv-when-a-world-cup-final-wasnt-an-alien-concept-825887.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sport-on-tv-when-a-world-cup-final-wasnt-an-alien-concept-825887.html?r=RSS <p>'Those Were The Days' (Wednesday, ITV3) provided a timely guide for all British football fans kicking each other's heels this summer while the rest of Europe enjoys Euro 2008. It was about people who somehow contrived to miss the 1966 World Cup final, who were not among the 33 million who watched it on British television. Their excuses were diverse &ndash; untimely weddings, foolish bets, German dads, plane hijacks...</p> News & Comment Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/nick-townsend-culpable-reading-pair-prove-nice-guys-finish-last-825891.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/nick-townsend-culpable-reading-pair-prove-nice-guys-finish-last-825891.html?r=RSS <p>Earlier in the season, there they rested, as contentedly as a cat snoozing out of harm's way. They had seemingly made themselves at home in the Premier League. Second-season security. For weeks on end they occupied 13th place. Occasionally 12th.</p> News & Comment Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-mcclair-we-wont-produce-a-group-like-beckham-butt-and-scholes-again-825440.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-mcclair-we-wont-produce-a-group-like-beckham-butt-and-scholes-again-825440.html?r=RSS <p>The business of dominating English football never stops. Which means that even if they beat Wigan tomorrow to seal their 10th Premier League title, Manchester United will ask themselves the big question: what next? Central to United's dynasty of success is the production of young footballers which, in the 50th anniversary year of the Munich air disaster, has never been quite so poignant.</p> News & Comment Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/brian-viner/brian-viner-the-naked-truth-about-football-not-a-pretty-picture-825491.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/brian-viner/brian-viner-the-naked-truth-about-football-not-a-pretty-picture-825491.html?r=RSS <p>Far be it for this column to blow its own trumpet, but here goes anyway. On 11 August last year, on the opening day of the Premier League season, it began thus: "You don't have to be Nostradamus, or even Eileen Drewery, to predict what is going to happen in the Premier League season, which begins today with no certainties except that Manchester United will win it, Chelsea will finish second, Arsenal will finish third and Liverpool fourth. That I know this before the season kicks off is of course dispiriting beyond belief, and means that as a source of excitement I must already focus on the relegation battle: any three from Derby County, Wigan, Birmingham City, Fulham, Reading and Sunderland."</p> Brian Viner Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/holloway-to-discover-fate-at-monday-mandaric-meeting-825503.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/holloway-to-discover-fate-at-monday-mandaric-meeting-825503.html?r=RSS <p>Leicester City's manager, Ian Holloway, will meet with the club's owner, Milan Mandaric, on Monday to resolve his future at the club. Holloway became Leicester's third manager this season when taking over in November but failed to stop the club being relegated to League One.</p> News & Comment Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-season-825504.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-season-825504.html?r=RSS <p>Today is a massive game for us, but whatever the result of our play-off games with Bristol City both clubs can hold their heads up. City were only promoted last year. While they were disappointed to miss out on automatic promotion it's been a fantastic year for them. It's been a terrific season for Crystal Palace too, and for me and the family. Here's a few reflections on the good, the bad, and the parking wardens.</p> News & Comment Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-will-wenger-salvage-the-building-blocks-of-survival-from-ruins-of-his-dream-team-825513.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-will-wenger-salvage-the-building-blocks-of-survival-from-ruins-of-his-dream-team-825513.html?r=RSS <p>Given the catchpenny ways of football, betrayal is probably too strong a word, but it is still extremely disheartening to see what the young team he so recently clucked over like an old hen is doing to Ars&egrave;ne Wenger.</p> News & Comment Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/blow-for-blatter-as-eu-rejects-65-plan-to-limit-foreign-players-824091.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/blow-for-blatter-as-eu-rejects-65-plan-to-limit-foreign-players-824091.html?r=RSS <p>The European Parliament dealt another blow to Fifa president Sepp Blatter's controversial plans to curb the number of foreigners in the game by voting against the proposals yesterday. EU lawmakers rejected Blatter's "6+5 rule", which allows no more than five foreign players to start a match, by 518 votes to 49 but most backed the "home-grown player rule" of the European game's governing body Uefa.</p> News & Comment Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/footballs-charitable-status-philanthropists-in-the-premier-league-821997.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/footballs-charitable-status-philanthropists-in-the-premier-league-821997.html?r=RSS <p>A certain cynicism usually descends whenever footballers' charitable projects are mentioned. For many people, a sport which pays its elite participants tens of thousands of pounds a week is never going to invest enough in the wider community. When it does contribute to society, the gesture is frequently dismissed as a publicity stunt.</p> News & Comment Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sam-wallace-yes-it-sounds-semidetached-but-fas-thinking-is-surely-on-target-822008.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sam-wallace-yes-it-sounds-semidetached-but-fas-thinking-is-surely-on-target-822008.html?r=RSS <p>In his faintly absurd programme notes for England's first game after the 2006 World Cup finals, the former Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson failed to mention once the frustration and disappointment of the team's exit from the tournament. In February this year he was at it again. England's previous game had been defeat to Croatia but before the friendly against Switzerland, Thompson signed off nine years as chairman of the FA with more banalities. The England team, meanwhile, had been at an all-time low.</p> News & Comment Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/noneu-football-stars-will-have-to-take-english-test-822149.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/noneu-football-stars-will-have-to-take-english-test-822149.html?r=RSS <p>Foreign footballers and managers will have to pass an English test before they are allowed to display their talents in this country under new immigration rules.</p> Home News Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-potters-promotion-stokes-memories-of-waddingtons-mastery-of-management-821640.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-potters-promotion-stokes-memories-of-waddingtons-mastery-of-management-821640.html?r=RSS <p>Tony Waddington, who was the manager of Stoke City for 17 years and has a crescent of new houses near the Britannia Ground named for him, would no doubt be delighted to know that the club he sweated over &ndash; most liberally when the Scotch flowed, as it invariably did, into the early hours of the post-match morning &ndash; is back in the top flight of English football after 23 years.</p> News & Comment Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/football-transfers-good-buys-bad-buys-821647.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/football-transfers-good-buys-bad-buys-821647.html?r=RSS <p>Peter Taylor, the talent-spotting half of the (Brian) Clough & Taylor partnership, used to watch potential recruits by donning a flat cap, dark glasses and scarf before taking his place on the terraces. Modern methods are more sophisticated. Clubs have comprehensive scouting networks, access to video and statistical analysis, and widespread television coverage of all four divisions and overseas leagues. Yet it is hard not to argue that few current managers are as successful as Taylor was.</p> News & Comment Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/beckham-strikes-twice-to-earn-draw-for-galaxy-821161.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/beckham-strikes-twice-to-earn-draw-for-galaxy-821161.html?r=RSS <p>David Beckham scored twice on Saturday, both trademark long-range efforts, as the Los Angeles Galaxy came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Real Salt Lake.</p> News & Comment Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-investigates-unusual-betting-on-bury-victory-821169.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-investigates-unusual-betting-on-bury-victory-821169.html?r=RSS <p>The Football Association "will look very closely" at Accrington Stanley's 2-0 home defeat to Bury on Saturday after some bookmakers stopped taking bets on the match having seen "an unusual amount of money" being placed.</p> News & Comment Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-veteran-campaigner-wages-psychological-warfare-to-win-allies-in-fight-against-last-enemy-821179.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-veteran-campaigner-wages-psychological-warfare-to-win-allies-in-fight-against-last-enemy-821179.html?r=RSS <p>If there is ever a small piece of psychological warfare, even a breath of it, left unused by Sir Alex Ferguson, be sure it will have no more value than a vice-president of the United States once attributed to his office. It was, he said, worth no more than a pitcher of cold spit.</p> News & Comment Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/mothers-and-sons-tears-that-betrayed-the-unbearable-grief-of-a-little-boy-lost-820694.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/mothers-and-sons-tears-that-betrayed-the-unbearable-grief-of-a-little-boy-lost-820694.html?r=RSS <p>The expression on Frank Lampard's face after he scored his goal at Chelsea on Wednesday was of such intense anguish that it seemed indecently intimate for the camera to linger on it. Here were the extremes of human experience, of love and loss. </p> This Britain Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-nick-townsend-column-every-underdog-has-its-day-as-chelsea-will-prove-820784.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-nick-townsend-column-every-underdog-has-its-day-as-chelsea-will-prove-820784.html?r=RSS <p>Chelsea are probably the only football club whose local residents regard a Bag for Life as one bearing Louis Vuitton logos and where it is not a rarity to discover Lamborghinis, let alone Porsches, in parking bays. As you wandered down Hollywood Road off the Kings Road, all posh nosh, smart bars and pricey art, after the Blues' progress to a Moscow final it was possible to reflect that the area mirrors the ostentatious quality of a team Avram Grant largely inherited from Jose Mourinho. For all the jibes hurled at the stolid Chelsea manager and his men, one senses they could be good enoughto undermine Sir Alex Ferguson's ambitions of a second Champions' League triumph, just as you always felt they would destroy Rafael Benitez's belief that there was another European final in his side.</p> News & Comment Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/avram-grant-out-of-the-blue-820382.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/avram-grant-out-of-the-blue-820382.html?r=RSS <p>At the conclusion of Chelsea's thrilling Champions League semi-final victory over Liverpool on Wednesday, the Chelsea manager Avram Grant sank to his knees, looking emotionally spent. Or at least as emotionally spent as that peculiarly inexpressive face allows.</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-hey-65-against-820389.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-hey-65-against-820389.html?r=RSS <p>In my time it used to be a dozen or so blokes with transistor radios pressed to their sweaty ears who would relay the news across the terraces. Now "real time" promotion and relegation updates are received via mobiles and hand-held computers.</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sport-on-radio-jaundiced-shades-of-green-obscure-the-picture-820390.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sport-on-radio-jaundiced-shades-of-green-obscure-the-picture-820390.html?r=RSS <p>What are radio football commentators for? To put the world to rights, fearlessly exposing the sick, dark heart of our national sport? To rage against the essential amorality of human nature? Or &ndash; radical idea, this &ndash; to tell the listener what's happening on the pitch?</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-viner-a-knight-to-challenge-sir-alex-in-footballing-derringdo-820392.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-viner-a-knight-to-challenge-sir-alex-in-footballing-derringdo-820392.html?r=RSS <p>How, I wonder, might we estimate the total number of column inches devoted in the national press this week to the exploits of Manchester United and Chelsea in reaching the first notionally all-English European Cup final, and to the achievements of their respective managers, Sir Alex Ferguson and Avram Grant (a total which I confess to boosting myself elsewhere in today's paper)? </p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-week-820400.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-week-820400.html?r=RSS <p>There has been an ugly rumour this week suggesting I cannot count. Actually, I knew one of the teams in the testimonial I refereed in Plymouth this week played 12 men in the second half. Being an experienced ref I had counted before restarting. I said to Tommy Tynan and John Clayton, who were in the 12-man team: "Do you think that's going to help?" They said: "We didn't think you'd notice, boss." I said: "I notice everything. The only thing I can't understand is why not put 13 on, the way you are playing."</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/redknapp-accuses-police-of-unlawful-raid-820402.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/redknapp-accuses-police-of-unlawful-raid-820402.html?r=RSS <p>Police who raided the home of the Portsmouth manager, Harry Redknapp, as part of a corruption inquiry were yesterday accused by his lawyers of acting on the strength of an unlawful warrant &ndash; and tipping off the Press in advance.</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-mcbride-strife-of-brian-820412.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-mcbride-strife-of-brian-820412.html?r=RSS <p>Should Fulham somehow extricate themselves from their present pickle &ndash; a stunt clearly conditional on success against Birmingham City this afternoon &ndash; many will trace their recovery to that melodrama at Eastlands last week, when they were two goals down with 20 minutes to go, and won. Others, perhaps those who know Fulham better, might well find its roots in a 1-0 defeat of Everton last month, when Brian McBride's first goal after an absence of nearly six months formally restored not only the club's attacking focus, but its very heartbeat. In turn, however, those who know McBride best might instead trace the revival to a cold afternoon in Illinois, two decades ago.</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-grants-most-haunting-of-pilgrimages-a-valuable-reminder-of-footballs-real-place-820463.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-grants-most-haunting-of-pilgrimages-a-valuable-reminder-of-footballs-real-place-820463.html?r=RSS <p>Frank Lampard scored a penalty and wept for his mother. His manager, Avram Grant, went to Auschwitz, where the mourning goes on for millions of mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts and all the children, some of whose faces look out in bewilderment and fear and, most heart-wrenchingly of all, in some cases hope, from the framed photographs which hang from what seems like the endless wall of a plain-washed corridor.</p> News & Comment Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldo-claims-another-award-820128.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldo-claims-another-award-820128.html?r=RSS <p> Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo was voted England's Footballer of the Year on Friday - only the second player to win the award in successive seasons since its introduction 60 years ago. </p> News & Comment Fri, 02 May 2008 13:06:31 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-extend-deadline-for-stamford-bridge-probe-820121.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-extend-deadline-for-stamford-bridge-probe-820121.html?r=RSS <p> Chelsea and Manchester United have been given an extra two days to provide information on last weekend's post-match scuffle between players and staff at Stamford Bridge. </p> News & Comment Fri, 02 May 2008 12:52:05 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-fergie-must-fight-chelsea-fire-with-skill-and-adventure-of-old-819616.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-fergie-must-fight-chelsea-fire-with-skill-and-adventure-of-old-819616.html?r=RSS <p>Frank Rijkaard, doomed but surely not dishonoured at Barcelona after winning one Champions League title of imperishable beauty with players like Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, may well have provoked the best of all possible scenarios when Manchester United and Chelsea collide beside the Moscow River in three weeks' time.</p> News & Comment Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/arsenal-managing-director-exits-emirates-819103.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/arsenal-managing-director-exits-emirates-819103.html?r=RSS <p> Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman is leaving the club &quot;in search of a fresh challenge&quot;, the club revealed to the Stock Exchange this morning. </p> News & Comment Thu, 01 May 2008 13:06:21 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldo-lays-low-as-police-investigate-prostitute-claims-818612.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldo-lays-low-as-police-investigate-prostitute-claims-818612.html?r=RSS <p>Ronaldo has gone into hiding after an encounter with cross-dressing prostitutes that prompted police to investigate whether to charge one with trying to extort money from the three-time Fifa Player of the Year. The Milan striker, in Brazil recovering from a knee surgery, cancelled two TV appearances, and local media said he will continue physiotherapy at his home.</p> News & Comment Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-drogba-stays-tall-to-banish-the-clouds-of-controversy-818867.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-drogba-stays-tall-to-banish-the-clouds-of-controversy-818867.html?r=RSS <p>Rafa Benitez's file on Didier Drogba was all to do with his diving, which was maybe not the least of the Liverpool manager's regrets as his team were swept off the road to Moscow and the Champions League final here last night. Benitez had to acknowledge that the real worry is when Drogba stays on his feet.</p> News & Comment Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldo-claims-extortion-by-transvestite-prostitute-817943.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldo-claims-extortion-by-transvestite-prostitute-817943.html?r=RSS <p>Police are investigating claims by the Milan striker Ronaldo that a transvestite prostitute sought to extort money from him following an altercation at a Rio de Janeiro motel.</p> News & Comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-messi-sets-shining-example-that-ronaldo-must-learn-to-match-818136.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-messi-sets-shining-example-that-ronaldo-must-learn-to-match-818136.html?r=RSS <p>The issue was always going to revolve around Sir Alex Ferguson's assertion that he had "boys" he could trust to carry him on the last steps of the road to Moscow. It was a big leap of faith, considering how United lost their way on the Fulham Road at the weekend, but then maybe the boy he had most in mind came fresh to the night that would shape Manchester United's season.</p> News & Comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-ronaldo-must-repay-his-manager-on-the-big-stage-and-bewitch-barccedila-tonight-817257.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-ronaldo-must-repay-his-manager-on-the-big-stage-and-bewitch-barccedila-tonight-817257.html?r=RSS <p>One of the most enduring qualities of Sir Alex Ferguson and his unique place in football is his willingness to remake both himself and his team, day after day, season after season. It means that if he was to walk away, in glory or defeat, at the end of this intriguing campaign it could be said yet again he had fought the good and most mettlesome fight.</p> News & Comment Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ban-referees-if-they-ignore-abuse-proposes-poll-817259.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ban-referees-if-they-ignore-abuse-proposes-poll-817259.html?r=RSS <p>Graham Poll has called for referees to receive three-match bans if they fail to clamp down on the abuse they receive from players. The former Premier League official believes the suspensions would help tackle the problem of disrespect on the pitch that has been highlighted this season.</p> News & Comment Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/bojan-krkic-united-must-beware-the-barccedilaboy-made-good-817260.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/bojan-krkic-united-must-beware-the-barccedilaboy-made-good-817260.html?r=RSS <p>Sir Alex Ferguson's dream of winning the European Cup again could be undone tonight by a player who was not even alive when the Manchester United manager lifted his first trophy for the club in 1990. The 17-year-old striker, Bojan Krkic, who was born three months after Ferguson got his hands on the FA Cup with United's replay win over Crystal Palace, has been breaking records and ripping up reputations all season. </p> News & Comment Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/united-claim-evra-was-called-immigrant-in-chelsea-scuffle-817370.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/united-claim-evra-was-called-immigrant-in-chelsea-scuffle-817370.html?r=RSS <p>Manchester United's statements to the Football Association on the Stamford Bridge fracas between their players and members of Chelsea's ground staff will detail allegations that Patrice Evra was racially abused.</p> News & Comment Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/mourinho-interested-in-taking-over-at-barcelona-or-madrid-816692.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/mourinho-interested-in-taking-over-at-barcelona-or-madrid-816692.html?r=RSS <p>Jose Mourinho has spoken enthusiastically about the possibility of taking charge of Real Madrid or Barcelona one day.</p> News & Comment Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/player-of-the-year-award-retained-by-freescoring-ronaldo-816727.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/player-of-the-year-award-retained-by-freescoring-ronaldo-816727.html?r=RSS <p>Cristiano Ronaldo was last night named the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year for the second season in a row. The Manchester United midfielder has enjoyed another outstanding campaign having scored 38 goals.</p> News & Comment Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-nick-townsend-column-talisman-gerrard-recalls-the-lone-heroics-of-haynes-816162.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-nick-townsend-column-talisman-gerrard-recalls-the-lone-heroics-of-haynes-816162.html?r=RSS <p>What makes a great player, a footballing sage once asked. He proceeded to list the qualities. "Superb control. When he passes the ball, he must make the minimum number of mistakes over any distance. He must have an accurate and powerful shot. He must be agile, strong in the tackle and able to get through a tremendous amount of work. He must be able to dribble and hold the ball against fierce-tackling defenders, and have great courage and great speed." </p> News & Comment Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-hey-65-against-815884.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-hey-65-against-815884.html?r=RSS <p>It is "squeaky bum" time in football, both in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge this lunchtime and in the vital match-ups in the Championship. In fact, if you put all the suffering managers together in a studio the collective noise would probably sound like Vivaldi's Four Seasons. </p> News & Comment Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-week-815902.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-week-815902.html?r=RSS <p>It appears we are in the middle of a promotion battle, but it doesn't feel like it at the moment. People say: "Are you playing it low-key because you're indulging in mind games, trying to get a psychological edge over the others?" I'm not, I just feel the lads are so enjoying training at the moment when they start playing games it's just a continuation of our training sessions. The young lads, like Scott Sinclair, Victor Moses, Sean Scannell, don't seem to have any fear anyway. I've told them all, young and old, "Don't worry if you lose a game, we've already had a great season even if we don't win another point."</p> News & Comment Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-football-reverts-to-true-status-as-lampard-deals-with-loss-of-mother-who-shaped-him-815905.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-football-reverts-to-true-status-as-lampard-deals-with-loss-of-mother-who-shaped-him-815905.html?r=RSS <p>If the grief of Frank Lampard over the loss of his mother Pat this week tells us about anything more than the devotion of a young man to the woman who gave him his life and some of his best and most fundamental values, it can only be that the richer, and more rewarding, sport becomes the less able it seems to resist emotionally the intrusions of real life and real death.</p> News & Comment Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/jose-mourinho-ronaldo-has-been-by-far-the-best-player-in-the-premiership-but-he-must-win-a-trophy-815907.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/jose-mourinho-ronaldo-has-been-by-far-the-best-player-in-the-premiership-but-he-must-win-a-trophy-815907.html?r=RSS <p>He does not look like a man who is missing the pressure. Today at 12.45pm, Jose Mourinho will settle down in front of his television at home in Setubal with a few friends and watch like the rest of us. He says he is relaxed and happy to be watching Chelsea against Manchester United from the settee rather than the dugout and, anyway, he says he knows Chelsea fans will always remember that his record against the reigning champions will take some beating.</p> News & Comment Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/jose-it-was-me-who-taught-chelsea-how-to-beat-united-815910.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/jose-it-was-me-who-taught-chelsea-how-to-beat-united-815910.html?r=RSS <p>Jose Mourinho is the last man Avram Grant will want to hear from as Chelsea embark on two crucial games to define their season, but the Portuguese coach last night broke his silence on today's pivotal Premier League game against Manchester United. Mourinho reminded his former Chelsea players that they were capable of beating United &ndash; because he taught them how to do it. </p> News & Comment Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-uniteds-current-crop-lack-keane-taste-for-battle-of-treble-vintage-815320.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-uniteds-current-crop-lack-keane-taste-for-battle-of-treble-vintage-815320.html?r=RSS <p>On his home turf at Old Trafford, Cristiano Ronaldo may look like the player he is supposed to be when the requirement is of the highest class, and the most natural-born commitment, and United may get more of a touch of the ball. Meanwhile, though, Sir Alex Ferguson is entitled to wonder whether the team on the verge of a Champions League and Premier League double have the decisive and defining quality of his boys of '99.</p> News & Comment Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/lampard-in-mourning-for-mother-815063.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/lampard-in-mourning-for-mother-815063.html?r=RSS <p> The mother of Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has died, it was confirmed this afternoon. </p> News & Comment Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:49:58 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-to-use-olympic-template-for-world-cup-bid-814591.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fa-to-use-olympic-template-for-world-cup-bid-814591.html?r=RSS <p>England's bid for the 2018 World Cup will gather momentum today when the Football Association board meets to decide on their campaign structure.</p> News & Comment Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fifa-told-to-think-twice-about-limits-on-overseas-players-814594.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fifa-told-to-think-twice-about-limits-on-overseas-players-814594.html?r=RSS <p>The European Commission has warned Fifa, the game's world governing body, not to seek "gentleman's agreements" to limit foreign players at clubs, which risk costly court cases like the Bosman ruling.</p> News & Comment Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-resolute-liverpool-find-their-strength-sapped-by-late-twist-of-fortune-814142.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-resolute-liverpool-find-their-strength-sapped-by-late-twist-of-fortune-814142.html?r=RSS <p>There is always, it seemed again last night, one certainty about schizophrenic, misdirected, and in some ways, let's face it, betrayed Liverpool and their quirky, indecipherable but, at least at the top of the European game, tactically brilliant manager, Rafael Benitez. It was that you just cannot shake them off when the stakes are at their highest. You can outplay them as coruscatingly as you like, as Arsenal did last week, but you cannot dispose of them.</p> News & Comment Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sam-wallace-winning-is-everything-in-latest-round-of-a-heavyweight-battle-813370.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sam-wallace-winning-is-everything-in-latest-round-of-a-heavyweight-battle-813370.html?r=RSS <p>A great occasion and a terrible game: it is what we have come to expect when Liverpool meet Chelsea at the business end of the Champions League. Nothing the two managers said yesterday could dissuade you from the feeling that tonight will be much the same; that these two teams approach one another like freight trains on the same line, rattling inexorably towards an almighty collision with the victor to be the one left with the least damage.</p> News & Comment Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-nick-townsend-column-wenger-must-be-wondering-what-would-fergie-do-812095.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-nick-townsend-column-wenger-must-be-wondering-what-would-fergie-do-812095.html?r=RSS <p>Yes, we know he was being magnanimous in victory, the old softy, even though it appeared out of character for the Manchester United manager, whose demeanour is generally as impenetrable as a granite work-surface. But if there is one thing worse than watchingyour team make the champions-elect look just a little bit ordinary for much of a contest, and still finding yourself finally ousted from title contention, it's a consoling arm from the Scot.</p> News & Comment Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-paris-prepares-to-fall-ndash-and-the-rest-of-france-cheers-811816.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-lichfield/john-lichfield-paris-prepares-to-fall-ndash-and-the-rest-of-france-cheers-811816.html?r=RSS <p>There is a mocking English football chant: "You're just a small town in London/Liverpool/Manchester". Paris, in football terms, may be about to become a small town in its own right.</p> John Lichfield Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-week-811831.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/neil-warnock-what-ive-learnt-this-week-811831.html?r=RSS <p>The treatment of football injuries has come a long way since the days when I would lie on the couch at Chesterfield while Ollie Thompson, the physio, rubbed Algipan into my legs in between drawing heavily on the fag he was always smoking. If it was a bad injury he would place his Anglepoise lamp low over the affected area to increase the heat. Then he'd say, "Run it off."</p> News & Comment Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/arabs-set-to-enter-the-battle-of-anfield-811332.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/arabs-set-to-enter-the-battle-of-anfield-811332.html?r=RSS <p>Undeterred by the latest public outburst by Liverpool's co-owner Tom Hicks, the Arab consortium Dubai International Capital is ready to buy out his partner George Gillett within six weeks when a legal bar on the sale of his 50 per cent stake is lifted.</p> News & Comment Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0100