The Psychology Of World Cup Penalties

Judging by Germany 2006 and, well, pretty much every other major tournament, the England football team are, um, not very good at penalties. David Batty, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce are all testimony to that fact.So the England team need all the help they can get if it comes down to sudden death at the World Cup 2010.Luckily some sports psychologists with rather too much time on their hands http://bit.ly/cProzQ

Tottenham vs Chelsea Preview

Tottenham’s Niko Kranjcar will miss the remainder of the season with an ankle injury, but Chelsea left back Ashley Cole is back in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.
Cole, who has been missing through injury since February, will be on the substitutes bench with Yuri Zhirkov the most likely starter at left back for Chelsea.
Still out for the [...] http://bit.ly/aGNKFH

Stoke City vs Bolton Match Preview

Tony Pulis’ Stoke City side have a number of injury worries ahead of the visit by Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers.
Matthew Etherington and Ricardo Fuller both face late fitness tests, while Ryan Shawcross and striker Mamady Sidibe are definitely sidelined.
Coming back into contention is James Beattie, who has finally overcome the knee injury that has kept [...] http://bit.ly/bOQecd

Sunderland v Burnley Preview

Sunderland will be without influential midfielder Lee Cattermole, while Burnley manager Brian Laws could name an unchanged side at the Stadium of Light.
After defeating Hull City 4-1 last time out, Laws is set to keep faith with his starting eleven. This means Steven Caldwell, Andrey Bikey and Robbie Blake will all have to be content [...] http://bit.ly/bowQox

Fulham vs Wolves Match Preview

Defender John Pantsil is back from a knee injury and could start for Roy Hodgson’s Fulham.
However, forward Clint Dempsey and winger Simon Davies picked up knocks in Fulham’s last Premier League match and both face late fitness tests. Jonathan Greening and Erik Nevland are the most likely replacements.
Better news is that, despite a niggling achilles [...] http://bit.ly/adiELG

Blackburn Vs Everton Preview

Chris Samba is rated doubtful for Blackburn Rovers, while Everton’s Johnny Heitinga is facing a late fitness test ahead of this match.
Heitinga suffered a foot injury in the midweek draw with Aston Villa and manager David Moyes will give the Dutchman until the last possible moment to prove his fitness.
Definitely out for Everton, however, are [...] http://bit.ly/9JH1Bn

Birmingham v Hull City Match Preview

Goalkeeper Joe Hart returns for Birmingham City, while Iain Dowie’s Hull City have a number of injuries to contend with.
Winger Stephen Hunt is the latest addition to those players that will be out for the remainder of the season. The Ireland international has a foot injury and has recently undergone surgery.
Also out for Hull are [...] http://bit.ly/bpVDeP

Man City vs Man Utd Preview

Manchester City welcome back a number of key players ahead of the visit of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to the City of Manchester Stadium.
Among those in contention is left back Wayne Bridge, who has recovered from a hernia operation; Stephen Ireland who has overcome an ankle injury and Patrick Vieira, who is fit again [...] http://bit.ly/auGQRT

Liverpool Up For Sale

Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have put the club up for sale after admitting it would require new owners to take the club to the “next level”.
The duo, whose own working relationship was difficult, have appointed businessman Martin Broughton, the deputy president of the Confederation of British Industry, as Liverpool chairman [...] http://bit.ly/dgKg9c

Seymour Pierce May Seize Birmingham City

Investment bank Seymour Pierce are threatening to seize control of Birmingham City FC unless £2.2million in fees that are owed by Carson Yeung’s company are paid by May 27th.
The fees relate to advisory work that Seymour Pierce undertook in the early stages of Yeung’s takeover of Birmingham City.
Spokesman Neil Bennett is quoted as saying:
“Seymour Pierce [...] http://bit.ly/dne3K2

PFA Nominations Announced

The PFA Player of the Year nominees list has been announced, with Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney installed as favourite.
The list also includes Carlos Tevez, Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas while both Rooney and Fabregas are on the Young Player of the Year list alongside Joe Hart and James Milner.
Should Rooney win the main prize, he [...] http://bit.ly/cQon5y

Wigan v Portsmouth Preview

Emmerson Boyce returns for Roberto Martinez’ Wigan Athletic, while Portsmouth boss Avram Grant has a number of niggling injuries to contend with.
Doubtful for Portsmouth are Kevin Prince Boateng and Hassan Yebda, who both have ankle injuries, Nadir Belhadj, who has a knee problem and Tommy Smith, who has a broken nose.
Back, however, is defender Anthony [...] http://bit.ly/cLuEZu

Aston Villa vs Everton Match Preview

Despite Richard Dunne’s sore achilles, Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neil may name an unchanged side from the one that was comprehensively beaten by Chelsea last time out.
This would mean another start for Norwegian John Carew in place of England striker Emile Heskey, who will be on the bench.
Everton will be missing influential midfielder, Mikel Arteta, [...] http://bit.ly/cqpYKJ

Tottenham vs Arsenal Preview

Ledley King could return for Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur, while Robin Van Persie is back for Arsenal.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp does have a number of injury concerns ahead of this derby, with Niko Kranjcar out with an ankle injury, Wilson Palacios suspended and Aaron Lennon still not fit.
Palacios could be replaced in the centre of [...] http://bit.ly/9LLI1w

You Only Sing When You're Winning

Despite Fabio Capello banning England from recording an official World Cup song (for which, I for, thank him deeply), the tradition of the World Cup song is alive and well.Just check out the prosaicly titled World Cup Song website, which has a bunch of unofficial World Cup songs. View at your own risk, though, as some of them, are, well, shall we say, crap!However, there are some gems - http://bit.ly/bhkxoc

Tevez Unhappy With City Training

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has questioned the training techniques used by boss Roberto Mancini.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Tevez believes that Mancini’s twice per day training sessions are too much towards the end of the season.
Tevez is quoted as saying:
“The players are not happy with this. We are at the end of a [...] http://bit.ly/aL8azE

Chelsea vs Bolton Match Preview

Chelsea duo Joe Cole and Deco are being rested for tonight’s visit of Bolton Wanderers to Stamford Bridge.
Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti has stated that Michael Ballack and Salomon Kalou will start in their place.
Back in contention is defender Branislav Ivanovic who will return to the right back position after overcoming a knee injury.
Still out, however, [...] http://bit.ly/ccGJ8N

Adebayor Quits International Football

Togo and Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has announced his retirement from international football.
The decision has come in the aftermath of the attack on the Togo team bus at the 2010 African Cup of Nations.
Adebayor is quoted on the official Manchester City website, saying:
“Following the tragic events during January’s African Cup of Nations, in which [...] http://bit.ly/dgrl31

Capello Has A Cunning Plan

Fabio Capello has proved himself to be a great manager whereever he has been - he's won trophies in Spain and Italy and guided England to comfortable World Cup qualification. His credentials are not in doubt.And part of the reason for his success is not just his ability to mould a squad into winners on the pitch, it's that he takes care of the off the pitch stuff too.More subtle than, say, Sir http://bit.ly/b11iKZ

Portsmouth To Appeal UEFA License

Portsmouth FC are to appeal to the Football Association in the hope of gaining a license to play in the Europa League next season.
Due to the club being in administration, they have not been allowed to apply for the relevant license from UEFA.
However, under normal circumstances, Portsmouth would have already qualified for Europe, as their [...] http://bit.ly/9zjvXI

Hunt Set For Foot Operation

Hull City winger Stephen Hunt is to undergo an exploratory foot operation to ascertain the extent of the injury that has kept him out of the side for the last month.
Hull boss Iain Dowie commented:
“He’s got a sharp pain in his foot again and we need to have a look at it in an [...] http://bit.ly/cC0Nmw

Blackburn vs Man Utd Preview

Wayne Rooney is missing for Manchester United’s trip to Blackburn Rovers.
Rooney is out with an ankle injury that flaired up again during United’s Champions League match with Bayern Munich. Dimitar Berbatov is set to take the England striker’s place upfront.
Coming back into contention for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side will be veteran trio Ryan Giggs, Gary [...] http://bit.ly/bvJBCW