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Posts Tagged ‘ England ’

Desert Island Kicks: Chris Ballard

March 7, 2012
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Desert Island Kicks: Chris Ballard

“Desert Island Kicks” is a pale imitation of the legendary “Desert Island Discs”. I’m looking to nab answers from footie fans from all corners of the globe and all walks of life. You’re stranded on a desert island, what footballing memories would you take with you? I want you to pick a game, shirt, goal, player and piece of turf from a stadium to take with you to a desert island, oh and you’re allowed one luxury too. Next up on Desert Island Kicks is Chris Ballard, laconic and witty tweeter, and Co-Host of Around the League Extra at Champions Soccer Radio Network. GAME: In the few years I’ve been...

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The English Mess

March 2, 2012
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Paul-Gascoigne-got-his-ch-002

England lost 3-2 to the Netherlands this week. The reaction was very predictable. A swathe of journos and fans shrugged their shoulders and dismissed this as a crapulous England display. They noted that the Netherlands won without exerting too much effort whilst simultaneously not noting that England were understrength. The common opinion of many fans when it comes to England is that they are a degenerate mass of disappointment barely worth a sneer. Supporting England ranks only slightly higher than respecting Piers Morgan. People think that the red tops expect too much and that we have delusions of grandeur. People also like to blame the failures of the England Rugby team on...

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My Ultimate Everton XI

August 23, 2011
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Ed gives us his Ultimate Everton XI, and there are a few surprises amongst the more obvious names...

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How this World Cup could have been a Ghostbusters Tour

July 14, 2010
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How this World Cup could have been a Ghostbusters Tour

Spain: El Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ball When Fabio Capello first left Milan and went to manage Real Madrid well over a decade ago he was derided by many as a dour disciplinarian and the killer of tiki-taka. As the great Sid Lowe once wrote: “No side provokes such distaste in Spain as Italy, whose football is derided as cynical, dirty and boring, somehow illegitimate.” I’m sure Capello, seen as an anti-footballer by many in Iberia, would have loved to have had the chance to play Spain in this tournament. For me this World Cup has been tinged with a little bit of a disappointment, simply because...

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England: Just Like Watching Brazil

July 2, 2010
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England: Just Like Watching Brazil

World Cup 2010: England http://twitter.com/dixiessixty Germany 4-1 England. It was an escape from victory not Escape To Victory, a bust rather than Dambusters.   And soon after a stampede of familiar moans charged across the horizon:     “It was because we have a foreign manager” (forgetting how the last English manager performed) “They are overpaid” (forgetting how well the players did for their clubs) “We need a manager like Maradona” (I thought Capello’s appointment was needed to add discipline; to tame the wild English style) It is interesting that we compare England to Italy, Germany and France (“they would never employ a foreign manager”) when in reality there...

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Top 60 Everton Players:#7.Brian Labone

May 16, 2010
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 Brian Labone (1957-1972)  530 appearances, 2 goals  “One Evertonian is worth twenty Liverpudlians”  Everton’s consummate defender and captain, Labone was firmly ensconced in the England set up of the 60s; however, ‘the Last of the Corinthians’ turned down a place in Alf Ramsey’s 1966 World Cup squad to marry his wife. Both a modest and loyal servant, Labone’s relationship with Everton was monogamous, and light years away from the modern crazed transfer carousel where players put multiple club badges to their lips.

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Rooney – will he ever win them over?

May 7, 2010
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Rooney – will he ever win them over?

It’s by no means a new phenomenon. Moving from having nothing to having everything generates jealousy and hatred. And it’s by no means a bad thing. After all a chip on the shoulder and a burning competitive edge are the fuel that keeps the Rooney engine purring. But it’s still wrong. Ollie Kay was right to shine a light in the faces of the internet trolls posting nasty rumours in dark corners, but lots of the things written about another footballer, Wayne Rooney, are plastered over newspapers and no one questions them. After the Black Death, when society was tossed upside-down, privileged paymasters bemoaned the fact that upstart men...

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Top 60 Everton Players:#19 Ray Wilson

March 17, 2010
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19. Ray Wilson MBE (1964-69) 153 appearances “There wasn’t a winger who played against him who could claim to have broken even in the exchange, let alone come out on top.” – Alan Ball Wilson is not only the best left back in Everton’s history, he became a world champion in 1966. Wilson was 29 when Harry Catterick bought him from Huddersfield for £40,000 and England’s Alf Ramsey regarded Wilson to be the best left back he had ever seen. Hard in the tackle, and armed with the ultimate defenders’ get-out-of-jail-free card, raw pace, he improved under the more intense Everton training system. Wilson played a clean game, and...

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Premier League fixtures announced Weds 19 June, 9 am. Season kicks-off Sat 17 August

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