The Football Association is living in an ivory tower, so far out of touch with reality and has already made a massive mistake in the hiring process for the new England manager's position.

Because they're so gripped with fear of making an aggressive mistake this time around, they've decided to spend a boatload of money on hiring consultants to help manage the search. This is the type of decision that a bureaucratic corporation would make. In football, we don't have time to dawdle.

While the FA thinks its taking the right steps in its international search for a manager (scouring the earth according to Brian Barwick), the one manager who is perfect for this position has reportedly expressed an interest in the job yet no one has contacted him. That person is, of course, Jose Mourinho.

The FA needs to have balls. They need to make a bold move by getting The Special One to take the position. Instead, they're pussy-footing around by trying to appear patient and doing things in an orderly fashion. In the business world, this can work at times. But, to me, this is more about supply and demand. The demand is there to capture an England manager. The supply is small. Really there's only one manager who's perfect for this job who would be able to make dramatic changes and rock the boat. And once that supply is gone (i.e. Jose Mourinho), England and the FA have major problems.

The writing is on the wall. The FA will continue to dawdle. Jose Mourinho will take a top managerial position with a European club side. The FA will find someone to take the manager's position after several months and it'll end up being another disappointment.

Yet again I say that the FA needs to step down. They're incompetent. They're in the process of botching another campaign. They're ruining the international game in England and the people who will suffer the most are the fans of the England national team who will continue to be disappointed until a major upheaval occurs within the FA.

On a daily basis, I read over 20 different soccer blogs from around the world to stay on top of the English game. Here are my top 10 favorites:

1. Bobby McMahon's Blog - Light on quantity, full of quality. Who doesn't love Bobby?
   
2. The Offside - Dependable, daily and would be number one if Bob was still around.
   
3. Du Nord - Very U.S. centered but many links of wisdom to stories about English game.
   
4. Pitch Invasion - Visually stunning and unique stories.
   
5. Maple Lions - A gem in the rough.
   
6. Hudsonia - Audio clips and poetry from Ray Hudson.
   
7. Some People Are On The Pitch - Aesthetically pleasing and interesting analysis.
   
8. Soccerlens - A good source aggregating some of the better football related stories.
   
9. Squadgod - Fantasy football tips and recommended reading, plus refreshing design.
   
10. Odds and Sods - Haikus, rants and inciteful observations from BillEShears.

What soccer blogs are your favorites and why?

The EPL Talk Podcast is fast approaching its 100th episode. Since launching the podcast in April 2006 (the website kicked off in November '05), we've brought you the only soccer interview show on the Internet featuring interviews with some of the biggest names in football from all walks of life within the sport.

I've got a couple of ideas brewing for the 100th episode, but I need your advice. First, I'm looking for a volunteer who would be interested in compiling a "Best Of" episode by taking excerpts from the best and funniest moments and putting them together as an MP3 file. I'm envisioning a special 2 hour episode, and the content would be completely up to you. If you're interested, email me at thegaffer[at]epltalk[dot]com and we can send you a special soccer gift in return for your hard work.

Second, I'm thinking of doing a special holiday episode (which may end up being the 100th episode if the "Best Of" episode doesn't materialize). The question is who would you like to have featured on the episode and what topics would you like to cover with it being a holiday episode/end-of-the-year special?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Harry Redknapp can kiss his chances of becoming England manager goodbye. He was arrested earlier this morning as part of several raids conducted by police and was being held on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

According to The Guardian, "Attention will focus on the transfers of Faye from Auxerre to Portsmouth in 2005 and Portsmouth to Newcastle in 2006. Mandaric was the chairman at Portsmouth when Faye moved there, while McKay acted as agent for the deal. Redknapp was the Portsmouth manager when Faye was transferred to Newcastle. Faye has since signed for Charlton and this summer joined Rangers on loan."

You may remember that Redknapp was linked to bungs in the BBC Panorama episode last year. At that time, Redknapp's feedback on his appearance on the hidden camera from Panorama was "I spoke to this bloke for about five minutes, if that. He told me he had some world-class players to bring to England and I said 'Good luck to you'...We chatted while all the Portsmouth apprentices sat around and that was about it."

The plot thickens.

With MyFootballClub creating a dream for so many football fans out there by allowing them to be a part owner of a non-league football club with the hopes and aspirations of seeing them rise up the divisions into the Football League, I had a similar dream last night.

In the past week, The Blame Game has been at full force to explain why England didn't qualify for Euro 2008 and why the future looks bleak. Robert Green blames Playstations. Alan Hansen blames the kids. David Pleat blamed the tactics. And so on and so forth (including many reporters blaming the amount of foreigners in the Premier League who are "ruining the game" and, of course, Steve McClaren for his ineptitude).

But surprisingly little blame has been aimed at the FA (Football Association).

• The FA was the one who hired Steve McClaren in the first place.
• Before the 2006 World Cup, the FA butchered the whole hiring process and allowed first choice Luiz Scolari to leave.
• The FA made a fool of themselves with the building of the new Wembley by being finishing massively over budget and over one year late in completion.
• After Sven Goran Eriksson was sacked, the terms of his severance was that the Swede would be paid $13,000 a day until he found a new job.

Birmingham City looks set to name Alex McLeish as their new manager in the morning. While this is a huge coup for the brummies, it give us a good indication of the money and allure that the Premier League has over international football.

After all, and no offense to Birmingham City, but McLeish did give us his position as manager of his country to take the job at St Andrews. And prior to ten to fifteen years ago, international football was a lot more respected than it is today.

In the Premiership manager merry-go-round this season, we've seen 6 out of the 20 clubs in the league make changes (Chelsea, Wigan, Derby, Birmingham, Bolton and Spurs). That's 30% of the clubs changing their managers.

And because Derby sacked Billy Davies, when will the patience run out for the other managers who are near the foot of the table? Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough and Sam Allardyce at Newcastle.

One name that hasn't mentioned too often in relegation talk is Roy Keane at Sunderland. While the club has been playing a lot like Watford from last year (coming close to getting wins and draws but always falling at the last hurdle -- the game against Everton excepted), you have to take a long look at Roy Keane and give him the chance of getting things right in the January transfer window. Otherwise, it'll be time for him to go based on the current trend of chopping managers.

Don't leave out Reading's Steve Coppell and Fulham's Lawrie Sanchez from the witch hunt list (as Arsene Wenger calls it). Both Reading and Fulham are only three points above third from bottom Sunderland.

There's so much more money on the table this season that chairmen of Premier League clubs are getting greedy and fighting for Premiership survival.

That said, I can sympathize with all of the clubs that have sacked managers. The chairmen made the mistakes of hiring Sammy Lee and Chris Hutchings -- and the other managers had lost their skill in getting the best out of players (such as Jose Mourinho, Martin Jol and Billy Davies).

Where chairmen of Premier League clubs need to do a better job is hiring the right managers for the clubs. Alex McLeish, I believe, will do a better job than Steve Bruce. Gary Megson will battle Bolton out of the relegation zone to safety but isn't a good longterm bet. Avram Grant is boring compared to Jose Mourinho, but his team has a new lease of life without Jose. And Juande Ramos, given time, will adapt to the English game and will be a great opportunity for Spurs.

Clubs that need to be careful are Derby (Paul Ince is not a Premiership manager; let him earn some plaudits in the Championship first), Wigan (they're doomed under Steve Bruce), Middlesbrough (a hopeless cause under Southgate but who would they bring in instead -- a returning Steve McClaren perhaps?) and Newcastle (I believe Allardyce can turn it around, but will the fans and chairman be patient enough?).

Fulham, despite their poor form, are playing some good football and are creating chances. They'll be okay.

Reading is another story entirely. Their back four still looks extremely leaky and they could really have a fight on their hands to stay up unless Coppell buys well in the transfer window.

Ever since I arrived in the States in 1984, I've been dreaming of a day when I can watch shows from the British TV networks. That day is coming, and hopefully it'll mean more soccer coverage.

BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have announced an on-demand service which will debut in 2008 and will provide free programming to watch via the web. The possibilities are endless but in terms of soccer coverage, we won't be able to watch any televised matches via this service (due to rights issues) but there's a good chance we may be able to see some of the football programs such as Football Focus in its entirety instead of clips that we currently see on their website.

Hopefully Channel 4 should provide some analysis of Serie A, while ITV could provide analysis of the Champions League.

Fingers crossed

In a recent poll of EPL Talk readers, 46% of those who responded think Harry Redknapp should be the next manager of England.

The Portsmouth manager is way ahead of the pack. With the way he's been able to turn around Portsmouth and his proven experience at West Ham United, Redknapp remains a favorite with many soccer fans. Whether he's capable of working his magic at an international level is a completely different story though.

Here's who the rest of you voted for:

Fabio Capello, 26%
Martin O'Neill, 17%
Luis Scolari, 6%
Guus Hiddink, 1%
Alan Shearer, 1%
Marcelo Lippi, 0%

Derby County has announced that Billy Davies has left by "mutual consent" (the most over-used and illogical phrase since "weapons of mass destruction.")

In other words, Derby sacked Davies due to the club's poor run of form this season (with just one win and that was at home against Newcastle). After Saturday's loss to Chelsea, Davies was interviewed by phone on Sky Sports where he said that his club need six new players in the transfer window to help avoid the drop.

Whether it was those words that put a final nail in the coffin for Davies is unclear. But maybe it was cemented by Saturday's horrible first half performance against Chelsea where Derby looked like they belonged in Division One (not the Championship) with a woeful performance against the Blues. Thankfully, Derby looked much stronger in the second half and caused Chelsea quite a few headaches. Kenny Miller's disallowed goal was a cruel blow for Derby and Billy Davies especially since he was definitely onside.

What is it about Chelsea and their effect on teams? For example after Wigan lost to Chelsea at home, Chris Hutchings was sacked. Now the same thing has happened to Davies.

Whatever the final reason was for Davies getting the heave-ho, it's the correct decision by Derby County. The club's performances have been getting worse not better, and a more experienced manager would be able to get more out of his players (not that much, mind you, the side is weak in so many areas).

Derby's defensive weaknesses were ripped apart during a recent match where Setanta Sports's Pat Dolan and Paul Dempsey pinpointed a big mistake in the back four for Derby, and that's Davies's insistance that the players man-mark instead of playing zonal marketing.

The other weakness for Davies was his resistance to put players on the pitch such as Robbie Earnshaw and Benny Feilhaber. Both are experienced international players. However they spend most of their time warming the benches for Derby County.

Derby needs a miracle worker to help the side. Even if they do go down, hopefully they can go down fighting with a boss who will get them to play a much improved brand of football.

In the manager-go-round world of the Premier League, let's see who the next Derby boss will be. Paul Jewell, Alex McLeish, Chris Coleman or someone else.

Good news for web surfers who are soccer fans. Next summer's Euro 2008 will be the first major international tournament to be broadcast in its entirety over the Internet. UEFA has developed a platform to show matches via pay-per-view according to computing.co.uk.

For web surfers in the UK, the cost will be 1.50 GBP per match. Presumably the cost for viewers in the United States will be roughly $3 per game.

This is promising news and, if the cost does equal $3, it's reasonably priced to discourage people from using sopcasts and to watch it legally. In comparison, Fox Soccer Channel charges $4.99 for surfers to watch Premier League matches over the Internet on tape-delay.

The reaction to Jack Bell's column and the lively debate this past weekend in the comments section got me thinking. A lot of the debate is whether Fox Soccer Channel should target the die-hard soccer fan as a viewer or the mainstream American who may only have a passing interest in the sport.

My answer is that it's neither. Fox Soccer Channel is trying to please the advertisers, not the fans.

It may be hard to digest. After all, we spend so much time watching the channel that we feel as if we can have an important say into what the network should or shouldn't show. But it's really the advertisers who have the clout. Sure, the viewers are important. After all, without them, there'd be no viewing figures for Fox to share with its prospective advertisers.

Regarding Bell's comments that he'd rather have American personalities on Fox Soccer Channel so the network can avoid the Britishisms in its speech, that's ridiculous. Rather than make it a debate about whether to use English announcers or American, it should be whoever provides the best quality coverage, not their nationality.

Don't forget that Fox has tried MLS shows in the past. MLS Wrap with John Harkes and Sean Wheelock bombed although the concept was good. The first episode of "MLS Saturday on Fox" with Todd Grisham, meanwhile, was an abortion which was the fault of the production crew and not the wrestling announcer.

If Fox does want to improve their network, here are five recommendations:

1. Leave the TWI feeds of the Premier League matches as they are and don't cut in with your FSC personalities immediately as the half-time whistle or full-time whistle blows. You're currently not adding any value by doing this and a couple of minutes of additional wrap-up from the English commentators would be far preferred.
   
   
2. Trim Fox Football Fone-In from two hours to one. Two hours is just agonizing. One hour will make the show that much tighter.
   
   
3. Make Fox Football Fone-In a debate show and less glitzy. Keep Steven Cohen and replace Nick Webster with someone that's more opinionated and less smarmy.
   
   
4. Create a weekly football analysis show. Fox desperately needs a thinking man's show that dives deep into match and player analysis, which will help educate the viewers on the technical aspects of the game. The show will also give the viewers an opportunity to hear intelligent debate about meaty topics and learn more about the history of the game at the same time. Two hosts spring to mind: Bobby McMahon and Christopher Sullivan (although the latter needs to be reigned in to keep him more focused).
   
   
5. Put Super Sunday + out of its misery. The show didn't work on a Saturday and it doesn't work on a Sunday either. Possibly the best thing going for it is the set and that's really sad.
   
   Bonus Tip: Develop a MLS show that is quality. Maybe it's time to call Sean Wheelock again and pair him up with someone else to make this formula work. I agree with Bell that a news and highlights show is needed to create more interest in the league.
   

What ideas do you have for how to improve Fox Soccer Channel? Post them below by hitting the 'comment' link.

The draw for the 2010 World Cup qualifying has been made, and we have all of the European groups listed over at our new sister site, World Cup Buzz (www.worldcupbuzz.com), which aims to keep fans updated on everything World Cup between now and the summer of 2010.

New York Times soccer columnist Jack Bell has written a column regarding how the sun has set on English soccer. But rather than use his column to focus on criticizing (deservedly so) the England national team, its tactics, Steve McClaren and the Football Association, Bell unbelievably decides to take some jabs at the Premier League and Fox Soccer Channel.

According to Bell, "The Fox Soccer Channel, an otherwise invaluable resource for live Premier League, Serie A and other leagues from around the world (not to mention Major League Soccer matches) compounds this problem. FSC, part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, seems forever locked in an embrace of the Union Jack, obviously because Murdoch’s Sky Sports has the domestic rights to E.P.L. games.

So what do we get over here? Endless highlights of the English game, replete with announcers with English or Scottish accents, speaking in what they claim are soccer terms — pitch, kit, football, gaffer, brace, tapping up — but are really creeping Britishism.

For all its value, which is not to be underestimated or denigrated, FSC should be more, much more, to the game in North America. It is oh-so-easy to push a couple of buttons and dump highlights on viewers, that’s fine. Why can’t FSC ween itself from all things England and do a better job covering the sport in the United States?"

Since Jack Bell has a disdain for using British terms to describe different aspects of soccer, let's use an English term that describes Bell and examine why the New York Times writer is a wanker:

First, there's a massive reason why Fox Soccer Channel covers the Premier League (other than the vastly sum it pays for the TV rights each season). The quality of play in the league far surpasses Major League Soccer. The EPL is the most popular sports league in the world for a reason. It's much more entertaining.

Second, Rupert Murdoch and his Sky Sports corporation does own some of the domestic TV rights to the Premier League in the United Kingdom, but that has no relevance why Fox Soccer Channel shows the matches in the States. Buying the TV rights in the United States to show the Premier League has nothing to do with England. Fox, even though they're part of the same global corporation that Murdoch runs, has to win the U.S. rights fair and square.

Third, Fox Soccer Channel does an admirable job of covering Major League Soccer after paying a large sum of money this season for coverage of MLS matches.

Fourth, most Premier League matches are played in the morning hours or early afternoon during the midweek, so Fox Soccer Channel doesn't favor Premier League coverage over Major League Soccer in terms of timeslots. What does Bell expect Fox to do on Saturday and Sunday mornings? Show reruns of Major League Soccer??

Bell later tries to make another point in his column by saying "The on-air personalities at FSC were as crestfallen over England’s elimination as the thousands of fans who trudged home from Wembley last Wednesday after the Croatia game. But FSC’s viewership is hardly composed exclusively of expatriates."

True, expats are a sizeable and influential percentage of the Fox viewership but the majority are true-blooded American viewers. What Bell fails to realize however is that there are many Americans who watch Fox who support the England national team. Sure they want the United States to succeed too, but many of them feel an affinity to England after watching many of their rising stars since Fox started showing the Premier League in the late 90s.

Rather than criticizing the Fox Soccer Channel for its favoritism toward the Premier League over Major League Soccer, maybe Bell and The New York Times should focus on how they can improve their coverage of Major League Soccer? The New York Times has 28 different podcasts. Not one of them is focused on soccer.

Some of you may remember Phil from the Soccer Shout podcast that was a daily listening ritual for many of you around the world. At the end of last season, Phil decided to hang up his podcasting boots to devote his time to a new venture. A social networking site for soccer fans entitled Clever Football.

The site has gone through many itterations during the past several months as Phil has continued to test and tweak new features that soccer fans will appreciate. The technology behind the site is Ning, which was created by Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame. So the amount of features available are pretty impressive (and intuitive).

With Clever Football, you can create your own page and add:

• Videos,
• A blog,
• Photos,
• RSS feeds,
• Comments,
• Friends,
• Message forums,
• and much more.

A couple of Clever Football's unique features include a match ratings system that allows you and other fans to vote on the Premier League matches just played to tell people whether they're worth watching or not (perfect for fans who tape games via DVR).

Another feature is called Chunter, which sounds a bit foreign, but is a way for you to decide which fellow soccer fans on Clever Football that you'd like to 'listen' to so you can read their updates. To me, it's a better feature than Facebook's friends. With Facebook, you see all of the updates from your friends no matter what. With Chunter at Clever Football, you can decide which of your friends you want to receive updates from rather than all of them.

Clever Football faces some tough competition in the 'social networking for soccer fans' category including Ole Ole and FanBanta, but Clever Football's advantage is that it's running on the Ning network which is one of the most cutting edge social networking platforms.

Give Clever Football a test drive by signing up today and creating your own page -- and add your friends. And when you get a chance, take a look at EPL Talk's page on Clever Football.

Visit Clever Football - A Social Network for Football / Soccer Fans

I had a chance to do something today which I rarely get to do anymore. That's to sit and watch Fox Soccer Channel for several hours in a row on a day other than a Saturday or Sunday (when I'm usually glued to the Premier League).

Of course, like many of you, it was a crazy day in my house today as I ran around getting the food and festivities ready for my family (and my wife's family). But in between washing dishes (aye even The Gaffer has to get his hands wet sometimes), I managed to watch bits and pieces of Staines Town against Stockport County in a live FA Cup match and the 1999 FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Newcastle.

Despite the criticism the network receives, Fox Soccer Channel's choice of reruns often seem very timely. Prior to the Israel against Russia match last Saturday, Fox showed the 1979 match between England and Scotland at the old Wembley Stadium. It was my first time to see the game on TV since the first time I saw it live in the summer of 79 on British television.

The Thanksgiving Day treat of Man United against Newcastle was timely especially seeing Steve McClaren on telly as the assistant manager of Man United. He looked happy, content and full of hope. Quite a contrast to his demeanor from yesterday's defeat against Croatia.

The biggest treat of Thanksgiving Day for me was seeing non-league Staines Town beat Stockport County on penalty kicks (after extra time). The quaint ground was packed with fans. Just a small band of them were crammed behind the goal lines, but you could tell they were all swept up with the passion and enthusiasm of the FA Cup and seeing a Football League club come to town as well as the Sky Sports cameras there for the live TV broadcast.

That was the other thing that was so special about the FA Cup broadcast. Because the FSC announcers were taking Thanksgiving Day off, I'm sure just a skeleton crew were at the Fox studios running the network. That meant that we were able to see the Sky Sports coverage of the match uninterrupted including the pre- and post-shows as well as half-time. And what a pleasure it was to have someone as experienced as Martin Tyler commentating the match.

During the past few weeks, EPL Talk ran a poll on this blog to find out how readers like you experience the Premier League -- whether you watch it live, catch up with just the highlights, etc.

Here are the results with 86 people voting.

Question:
How do you typically watch your Premier League matches?

Answers:
Live - 45%
Don't watch any of the games - 28%
Delayed via DVR (or VCR) - 23%
Only watch highlights show - 3%

Surprisingly, 28% of the readers who voted don't even watch Premier League matches. What?!? I can only assume that they follow it but don't have time to watch the matches. Or they don't have Fox Soccer Channel or Setanta Sports. If you can think of other reasons, please shine some light on this (click on the 'comment' link below).

Forty five percent of you watch matches live which is pretty impressive given the busy lives we all lead. What this says to me is that a large percentage of you readers are die-hard fans who support Premier League clubs.

Thanks for voting in the poll.

Now we can turn to the next one. Please take the poll in the left column and let us know who you want as the next England manager.

By Jeremy Lay

After two weeks with no matches, most of us are dying to get back- finally we have a weekend to look forward to!

This week, I’d like to remind you about two sets of double fixtures that are coming up. As the league has done a better job at scheduling this year, there are fewer of them this year- make sure that you capitalize on these while you can!

In Gameweek 14, both Blackburn and Aston Villa play twice. As these are both strong teams, you should have no shortage of players to choose from. Friedel, Bentley, Santa Cruz, Barry, Laursen, Agbonlahor and Young are all solid possibilities, and none of them costs more than £7.6m!

Don’t forget to plan for next week either, where Arsenal and Newcastle will face each other in an extra fixture. At the risk of offending the Newcastle fans in our midst, I would recommend limiting your choices to the Arsenal side, unless you’re looking for a bargain in NZogbia at £5.3m. I just don’t see many points to be had from playing Arsenal, even at home. One last note- for those of you who were considering dropping Fabregas this week because of his suspension, remember that you’ll get that game back next week!

Depending on your situation, you might also consider making some extra transfers this week- the double fixtures could more than compensate for whatever points penalty you have to take.

Till next week, good luck!

Editor's Note: No EPL Talk Email Newsletter this week due to most people having tomorrow (Friday, 11/23) off work. We'll back on a regular weekly schedule starting November 30th.

Here's the most updated schedule for Premier League matches on U.S. television between now and February 2008. The schedule is subject to change and the matches between December and early February are incomplete.

Bookmark the EPL TV Schedule for the latest updates.

Saturday, November 24
Newcastle United v Liverpool, 7:45am ET, Setanta Sports
Bolton Wanderers v Manchester United, 10am ET, Setanta Sports
Arsenal v Wigan Athletic, 10am ET, Fox Soccer Channel
Everton v Sunderland, 10am ET, Setanta Xtra
Derby County v Chelsea, 12:15pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday, November 25
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8:30am ET, Setanta Sports
Fulham v Blackburn Rovers, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Tuesday, November 27
Sevilla v Arsenal [Champions League], 2pm ET, Setanta Sports
Manchester United v Sporting [Champions League], 2:30pm ET, ESPN2

Wednesday, November 28
Rosenborg v Chelsea [Champions League], 2:30pm ET, ESPN2
Liverpool v Porto [Champions League], 2:30pm ET, Setanta Sports
Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa, 10:15pm ET [tape delay], Setanta Sports

Thursday, November 29
Tottenham Hotspur v Aalborg [UEFA Cup], 2:30pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Saturday, December 1
Chelsea v West Ham United, 7:45am ET, Setanta Sports
Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United, 10am ET, Setanta Sports
Wigan Athletic v Manchester City, 10am ET, Fox Soccer Channel
Portsmouth v Everton, 10am ET, Setanta Xtra
Aston Villa v Arsenal, 12:15pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday, December 2
Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers, 10am ET, Setanta Sports
Tottenham Hotspur v Birmingham City, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Monday, December 3
Manchester United v Fulham, 2pm ET, Setanta Sports

Wednesday, December 5
Everton v Zenit St Petersburg [UEFA Cup], 2:30pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel
Newcastle United v Arsenal, 2:40pm ET, Setanta Sports

Thursday, December 6
Anderlecht v Tottenham Hotspur [UEFA Cup], 2:40pm ET, Setanta Sports
Red Star Belgrade v Bolton Wanderers [UEFA Cup], 2:40pm ET, Setanta Sports

Saturday, December 8
Aston Villa v Portsmouth, 7:45am ET, Setanta Sports
Reading v Liverpool, 12:15pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday, December 9
Middlesbrough v Arsenal, 8:30am ET, Setanta Sports
Blackburn v West Ham United, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Saturday, December 15
Fulham v Newcastle, 12:15pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday, December 16
Liverpool v Man Utd, 8:30am ET, Setanta Sports
Arsenal v Chelsea, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Tuesday, December 18
Blackburn v Arsenal [League Cup], 3pm ET, Setanta Sports

Wednesday, December 19
Chelsea v Liverpool [League Cup], 2:45pm ET, Setanta Sports

Saturday, December 22
Arsenal v Tottenham, 7:45am ET, Setanta Sports

Sunday, December 23
Man Utd v Everton, 7am ET, Setanta Sports
Newcastle v Derby, 9am ET, Setanta Sports
Blackburn v Chelsea, 11:10am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Wednesday, December 26
West Ham v Reading, 8am ET, Setanta Sports
Portsmouth v Arsenal, 12:45pm ET, Setanta Sports

Thursday, December 27
Man City v Blackburn, 2:45pm ET, Setanta Sports

Saturday, December 29
Everton v Arsenal, 12:15pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday, December 30
Derby v Blackburn, 8:30am ET, Setanta Sports
Man City v Liverpool, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Tuesday, January 1
Fulham v Chelsea, 7:45am ET, Setanta Sports
Aston Villa v Tottenham, 12:20pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Wednesday, January 2
Bolton Wanderers v Derby, 3pm ET, Setanta Sports

Sunday, January 13
Sunderland v Portsmouth, 8:30am ET, Setanta Sports
Bolton v Blackburn, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday, January 20
Wigan v Everton, 8:30am ET, Setanta Sports

Tuesday, January 29
Sunderland v Birmingham, 3pm ET, Setanta Sports

Wednesday, January 30
Man United v Portsmouth, 3pm ET, Setanta Sports

Sunday, February 10
Man Utd v Man City, 7am ET, Setanta Sports

In December, be sure you don't miss the big matches on Setanta Sports including Liverpool v Manchester United, Chelsea v Liverpool and Arsenal v Spurs. Sign up for Setanta Sports via DISH Network today at http://www.soccerondish.com or via ITVN.

Here's a prediction of what's going to happen in the search for England's next manager.

Currently, Jose Mourinho is the 4-1 favorite to be the next England manager according to the bookies. In the next 48 hours, expect Jose Mourinho to rule himself out of the running for the job. At this stage in his career, Mourinho could be a club manager at any of the biggest clubs in the world such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan or any other side, so why would he want to associate himself with a second tier of football?

With the rise of club football due to the Premier League and Champions League, international football has become a second tier of football management. Even most of the fans out there, myself included, prefer club football to international football which illustrates the shift in power.

When Mourinho rules himself out of the running, the race will be narrowed to Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi, Slaven Bilic, Sam Allardyce, Martin O'Neill, Luis Scolari and Guus Hiddink.

Capello, the former Real Madrid manager, has already expressed an interest in the position. After what happened with O'Neill and Scolari in the search for the last England manager, I don't see the FA considering either of those two candidates seriously especially since the same FA regime is in place.

While Bilic is interested in managing in the Premier League, I don't see him taking the England manager position especially with the prospect of guiding Croatia through the rounds of Euro 2008 where they stand a good chance of doing well.

Sam Allardyce's popularity rating has declined sharply from one year ago due to his tough start at Newcastle United. Many of us expected Big Sam's tenure at Newcastle to be difficult based on the mess that Glenn Roeder and Graeme Souness left for him.

Marcello Lippi, the former Italy and Juventus coach, is available for the position (after turning down the laughable request from Birmingham City this past week).

Lastly, Guus Hiddink - the current Russia manager - is a contender. However despite Hiddink's success for PSV Eindhoven, South Korea, Australia and many other clubs, I don't see Hiddink taking the position. Like O'Neill and Scolari, Hiddink was wrapped up in the last opportunity to become England manager and the Dutchman seemed overwhelmed (as Scolari did) by the media circus surrounding the position.

If It was a betting man, it would be a toss-up between Lippi and Capello to be the next England manager. My vote would be for Lippi based on him leading Italy to the 2006 World Cup title, while Capello -- despite being a qualified manager -- would be a close second if Lippi decides not to take the job.

It's official. Steve McClaren has been sacked as England manager just one day after the country's exit from the Euro 2008 qualifying process.

To be honest, there are many England fans and journalists who are happy this morning. They're pleased because "Second Choice Steve" (as The Guardian dubbed him after Scolari turned down the job offer) has finally gotten the sack. The public at large weren't too pleased when he became England manager in the first place. And after a dire period of results including a late win against Andorra, the fact of the matter is that the former Middlesbrough boss should have been sacked months ago.

Of course, these fans and journos would be more pleased if England had qualified.

Now more than ever, the Football Association (FA) needs to make the correct decision in selecting the new manager. Many football fans are calling for the FA to resign, but the more likely decision is that the FA will take their time and hopefully learn from their mistakes of last time and handle the whole procedure more professionally.

Expect the next few days to weeks to months to be filled with articles in the English press with rumors of who will be the next England manager. The press themselves undoubtedly contribute to the pressure by focusing so much on the next coach and trying to outdo their rival newspapers that it creates a hysteria.

Rather than create a cauldron of press activity, it would be more advisable for Fleet Street to take a step back, let the FA get on with their job and allow the whole process to happen in an efficient manner. Fat chance of that happening though with the British tabloids smelling blood.

McClaren only managed one football club in his career and that was at Middlesbrough. He earned most of his respect as assistant coach to Sven Goran Erikkson at England, and then as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

His biggest achievements at Middlesbrough was a FA Cup semi-final place in 2005 and a spot in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final. In both matches, his side lost.

Expect McClaren to take a long time off work. I don't see him surfacing from this one for quite some time.

In this week's EPL Talk Podcast, I warned listeners that Croatia would love nothing more than to visit Wembley and steal a win putting their country on the back pages of sportspages worldwide and making manager Slaven Bilic look like a mastermind (and a future Premier League manager). Well, they did it by beating England 3-2 in an unbelievable second half knocking England out of qualifying for Euro 2008.

Just days earlier on the BBC Sportsweek radio programme, people like Peter Taylor, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton and John Barnes were way over their top in the praise and outlook for the England team. All of them predicted an England victory. So too did the pundits on BBC TV today including even Alan Hansen.

At this point, McClaren has to be sacked and the FA needs to think long and hard about how to fix the system which is definitely broken. Ironically it was goalkeeper Scott Carson who contributed to England's downfall tonight, but instead of criticizing England too much, praise has to be heaped on Croatia for a strong performance on a difficult pitch.

The question is: Who should the next England manager be? Marcelo Lippi? Martin O'Neill? Slaven Bilic? Jose Mourinho? What do you think should get it?

England's biggest match since the 2006 World Cup quarter-final is today when the Three Lions take on Croatia at Wembley (kickoff is 3pm ET). Becks and Robbo have reportedly been dropped to the bench to be replaced by Wright-Phillips and Carson.

The anticipation for this match is reaching a fever pitch.

Yet in the United States, you'll be hard pressed to find that many people who will be able to watch the game.

That's because of the arrangement made between Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel. In their agreement, the match will be available in two ways. Setanta Sports will be showing the match at select pubs and restaurants throughout the United States via closed-circuit TV. To find what pubs are showing the match live, use the Setanta Sports pub finder. Note that the pubs will charge a cover to get in to see the match (usually $10-$20).

The other option is to watch the match - thanks to Fox Soccer Channel - on pay-per-view. The cost will be approximately $25 but is determined by your local cable service.

The challenge is that Setanta Sports has two sets of customers to try to keep happy: the pub owners and the soccer fans. Unless it's a friendly or a World Cup or Euro 2008 tournament, we here in the States are unable to watch England matches live on TV unless we're willing to fork out $10-$20 to watch the match at a pub or $25 to watch it at home. For the most part, England is not worth that kind of money.

Isn't it time though that Setanta and Fox Soccer Channel get rid of this draconian arrangement and show it on their channels? We can watch football on the Internet. We can watch a ton of 24/7 soccer networks. We're able to even watch it on our mobile phones. But if it's a competitive match involving England, we have to fork out between $20 and $25 for the privilege to watch it and then go through the hassles of driving to a local pub or watching it on pay-per-view.

BBC's Grandstand was a sports programme that aired on Saturdays and provided football fans from across the country with the latest scores running across the screen.

In the 80s when the technology, called a vidiprinter, became popular, I remember watching the flashing cursor scroll across the screen hoping and wishing that a favorable score was listed for my team. The technology in those days was cutting edge. Now it seems quite hokey in comparison.

I haven't been able to track down any original footage, but I did find this impersonation of Grandstand host Des Lynam and the vidiprinter. Enjoy.

EPL Talk has tracked down Toby Charles from Soccer Made In Germany fame and has released an exclusive interview. Be sure to download it today via iTunes or listen to it from the EPL Talk Podcast page.

Whether you're familiar with Mr. Charles or not, I think you'll enjoy this interview as we walk into the past and discuss memories of some of the best German soccer players (yes, it's a different topic for an English centric podcast).

Thanks to Phil Bonner in Germany for helping me connect with Toby. After all, I had been trying to locate the whereabouts of Mr Charles for almost two years.

An international break is a perfect time to take a step back and look at the Premier League season thus far. Without a doubt it's been one of the most exciting ones in several years. Despite this, the number of teams that are playing like relegation candidates is perhaps greater than ever. By my count, it's 50% of the clubs in the league -- from positions 11 down to 20, beginning with Newcastle United and ending with Derby County.

Last week, we asked you -- the readers -- to rate EPL Talk TV and let us know what we could do to improve. EPL Talk TV is the latest innovation from us which features five minutes of Premier League news delivered to you via video each weekday morning.
Surprisingly only 4% of you watched EPL Talk TV on a video iPod player, but most of you watched it via the blog with 61% of you experiencing it that way (although the number is probably skewed quite a bit since the survey was on the blog, and it's less likely that the people who downloaded EPL Talk TV via the podcast stream who go online and vote via the blog since they're using two completely separate mediums).

Several months ago, EPL Talk published an article featuring the MySpace pages for celebrity footballers and commentators. While MySpace's popularity is starting to fade and more people are embracing Facebook, we thought it'd be good timing to point out which famous footballers are on the cutting edge of social networking and who have their own Facebook pages.

1. Peter Crouch, Liverpool and England
2. Aaron Lennon, Tottenham and England
3. Wes Brown, Manchester United and England
4. Gareth Bale, Tottenham and Wales
5. Jay DeMerit, Watford and United States
   
6. Charlie Sheringham, Crystal Palace
7. Lewwis Spence, Crystal Palace
8. Sam Ricketts, Hull City and Wales
9. Lewin Nyatanga, Barnsley and Wales
   

Some of you reading this post may be second guessing whether these are in actual fact the real Facebook pages for the footballers. But based on our research and reviewing the profiles, we believe all of them are the real players.

If you know of any famous footballers that aren't on the list, add them to the comments with a link to their page or email me at thegaffer[at]epltalk[dot]com

Be sure to add the EPL Talk group to your Facebook account today to stay on top of the latest news and videos from EPL Talk.

This Monday night, EPL Talk will interview the legendary Toby Charles from "Soccer Made In Germany" fame.

The host and commentator of the show, which ran from 1976 to 1988 on PBS stations in the United States, is one of the pioneers for soccer in the United States. Ask the majority of soccer fans who grew up with the sport in the late 70s and early 80s, and you'll hear stories of nostalgia about Toby Charles, his voice and the brilliant one hour show that used to air on early Saturday mornings.

I've spent approximately 18 months tracking him down only to find that he's currently living in Florida, the same state where I reside.

But I need your help. Please post your questions for Mr. Charles here under the comments section or email them to thegaffer[at]epltalk[dot]com before Monday night November 19, 2007. And if I ask the questions on -air, I'll mention your name.

Labels: soccer made in germany, toby charles

Steve McClaren must be the luckiest man on earth today. In injury time between Israel and Russia in the Euro 2008 qualifier today, Russia had a shot that struck the post. If it went in, it would have been 2-1 to Russia and would have signaled England's downfall. But, luckily for England and McClaren, the ball hit the post and went out for a goalkick. A few inches to the right and England's hopes would have vanished.

On the counter attack, Israel then went ahead and scored a 92nd minute injury time winner after some horrible defending by Russia.

England now goes into Wednesday's match against Croatia at Wembley knowing that a draw will be enough to qualify for Euro 2008. Thanks to Israel's Omer Golan, England is now just 90 minutes away from qualifying and McClaren still has a job for another week.

When was the last time so many millions of people around the world were so interested in watching what will seemingly be a boring match between Israel and Russia? Of course, we all know there is so much at stake in this game, especially for England.

In the first and probably last time, Israel will be featured on the EPL Talk Chat on Saturday at 1pm ET in their match against Russia. So wherever you are in the world, join fellow EPL Talk readers from around the world as we agonize, laugh, celebrate or cry over what happens in this match.

You can find the EPL Talk Chat, hosted by BC John, at http://www.epltalk.com/chat

This one will be one you can't miss!

By Kent Darcy

Why don't football clubs employ baseball models (i.e. sabermetrics) for evaluating talent? As a football and baseball junkie, I'm more than aware of the fact that both sports are entirely different. But, it seems to me that baseball is on to something when clubs like the A's and Twins (and many others) are able to evaluate talent aside from "the name" of a player and able to save marginal revenue by signing Player X (70% as good as Player Y, 1/25th the price) over Player Y (Better than Player X to be sure, but W-A-Y more expensive)...I could give you scores of examples, but hope that you see where I'm going.

I've been wondering lately, why more football clubs don't employ methods a la Arsenal or Manchester United or, better yet, Portsmouth or Blackburn? Or, do they and I'm not aware of it? No, not buying the highest priced youngsters on the market, but buying reasonably priced youngsters on the market.

Of course there are "can't miss" players like Ronaldo or Essien that always fall to the clubs with money. But, most clubs in Europe can't afford those players. That they try to compete with the signings of the biggest clubs in Europe is just stupid; it's also economically impossible. Think Sevilla or Villarreal try to compete with Real Franco or Barcelona with money? Hell no, they find inequalities in the system and untapped resources (i.e. failed Premiership players). So, where in the hell are the majority of Premiership clubs with this approach?

This to me seems oh-so-obvious, especially when one considers the fact that football has a player pool massively larger than baseball and spread throughout the globe. I'm mean all the freaking money in England (or Europe) right now and why aren't more teams scouting Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Africa, or Asia for players as good as Lee Bowyer or Pick-Your-Fulham-Or-Boro-Player for less money and more upside?

I'm a West Ham fan. For the life of me I can't figure out why West Ham (i.e. a club with status for its football academy) would ever sign players like Dyer, Parker, Solano, Ljungberg, Boa Morte, and Neill. Yeah, these guys are okay, but they're injury prone and/or old(er) and/or not THAT much better than youthful depth. Hell, I'd take youthful depth from Championship sides and an Anderson or Babel over the lot that I just gave you. I mean, is a squad assembled at Portsmouth or Blackburn THAT difficult to figure out? No, not it's not. And I tell you what, when an American fan watching from afar and reading his World-Soccer-Daily-inspired Four Four Two can see and predict teams' stupid signings...well...that's saying something.

It seems to me that a hell of a void is out there when it comes to assessing value for production and most Premiership sides are not doing a very good job of using their sizeable resources to properly assemble a competitive side.

Since there's no Premier League action this weekend, we'll skip the release of the EPL Talk Email Newsletter until next week, but for those football fans who are actively involved in fantasy football, we have a fantasy football tip for you from Jeremy Lay (see below).

Pretty remarkable news in the Premier League today as:

The latest episode of EPL Talk TV discusses the injury crisis for Chelsea and England, Gordon Brown wants to meddle with the Premier League, the winner of the book contest and why next week's England against Croatia match will be must-see TV for all the wrong reasons.

It's almost a year to the date since I traveled to England for a 10-day EPL Talk tour taking in six matches on a grueling journey from Miami to Manchester and then through the cities of Liverpool, Blackburn, London and back to Manchester.

Along the way, I released a daily audio podcast, snapped hundreds of pictures and wrote passionately on my blog each day. It was an experience I'll never forget.

And now I've got that travel bug again (as if I ever lost it)!

I'm considering taking a journey in the early part of next year to Europe for 9-10 days on a similar mission, but this time in search of the soul of European football. I'm contemplating traveling through Europe to find myself among the football crowds in places such as Prague, Berlin, San Sebastian, Amsterdam and other towns and cities.

But, just as with the first EPL Talk tour last year, I'm asking for your opinion and recommendations of what cities (and clubs) you'd recommend I visit. I've been to continental Europe several times but have never experienced a football match in person on that soil.

One option is to go during a Champions League week (first knockout rounds are scheduled February 19-20 and March 4-5). Of course, we won't know who will be playing who until late December.

But looking at a trip between February 15-24, here are some of the interesting matches that will be available throughout Europe (of course, feel free to suggest any that aren't listed here):

Saturday, February 16: Bundesliga, Eredivisie, FA Cup 5th Round, Czech league
Sunday, February 17: Serie A, La Liga, Eredivisie, Ligue 1
Monday, February 18: None
Tuesday, February 19: Champions League matches (TBD)
Wednesday, February 20: Champions League matches (TBD)
Thursday, February 21: UEFA Cup matches (TBD)
Friday, February 22: Eredivisie
Saturday, February 23: Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Ligue 1, Premier League, Czech league
Sunday, February 24: Serie A, La Liga, Eredivisie

My gameplan is to mix travel with soccer so I can explore the sights and atmosphere of towns and cities by day and watch football in person by night (or during the day for weekend matches). And of course report back to you regarding my findings.

I welcome any and all suggestions/recommendations.

MyFootballClub announced today they have agreed to buy Ebbsfleet United, a non-league team in England with hopes of being promoted to the Football League for the first time.

Despite MyFootballClub's track record of acting very professionally since they launched their site in late April, businessman Will Brooks and his team at MyFootballClub are guilty of making five mistakes that could have easily been avoided:

1. The Independent newspaper knew who the club was before the MyFootballClub members did.
   
   In an article printed in Tuesday's edition but released online on Monday night U.S. time, The Independent dropped a major hint who the club was. Why and how did The Independent newspaper know before paid members?
   
   
2. What happened to MyFootballClub members being allowed to vote whether or not Ebbsfleet United was a club that members wanted?
   
   Fans were allowed to vote on what clubs they would like to see purchased. However Ebbsfleet United weren't included in the top 15.
   
   
3. Ebbsfleet United was presumably chosen because of its close proximity to London (where the MyFootballClub creator lives).
   
   It would have been more preferable to select a club around the center of England to make it fair for fans across England to support. Stafford Rangers, for example, would have been a perfect choice being not too far from Birmingham.
   
   As a side note, when EPL Talk learned about the major hint that The Independent dropped on Monday night, we were able to narrow who the mystery club was down to one of four teams by excluding those clubs who had been in the Football League before and ruling out the clubs too far from London.
   
   
4. People who expressed an interest in MyFootballClub but who didn't sign up were informed who the mystery club was before the paid members were.
   
   In EPL Talk's example, we signed up for MyFootballClub under two email accounts. One where we paid the $70 membership a few months ago and another where we didn't pay the membership fee. When the news was announced this morning via e-mail, the one to paid members was sent approximately ten minutes after the non-paid member email.
   
   It's not a huge issue, but it's the principle that counts.
   
   
5. MyFootballClub's websites were ill-equipped to handle the amount of traffic to the site today and crashed.
   
   The organization has seen the incredible amount of press and rise in popularity since the launch in April. However, they weren't equipped to handle the flood of traffic coming from links on the BBC website to MyFootballClub.co.uk
   
   For an organization to have seven months to prepare for this and then shut down the forums because of technical problems is inexcusable. On the biggest day in the history of MyFootballClub when fans from around the world want to share the excitement, it's a bad first impression for technology not to be working.
   

Let me add that I'm in support of MyFootballClub and wish them the best of luck, but I do hope they learn from their mistakes and create a football club that we can be proud of. This is just the start of an interesting journey and all eyes will be on MyFC and Ebbsfleet United over the coming weeks.

Ebbsfleet United's next match is this Saturday away at Oxford United at 10am ET.

Listen to EPL Talk's interview with MyFootballClub from May with Tim Glynne-Jones.

Labels: myfootballclub, myfootballclub.co.uk

Episode 5 of EPL Talk TV features news about David Beckham and whether he's going to England or not, who the next Wigan manager may be, why Jens wants to quit Arsenal, a famous footballer says he's sorry and MyFootballClub announces a club takeover. This plus much more in 5 minutes of Premier League news delivered to you each weekday morning.

Pop question: Which two Premier League clubs have executives who are currently in the United States on business?

If you answered Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County, you're correct. During the Spurs against Wigan Athletic match on Sunday, commentators Gary Taphouse and Tony Gale mentioned that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is currently in Florida on business. Tottenham's current owners, the ENIC Group, owns many entertainment businesses worldwide and was the owner of an entertainment complex in Orlando, Florida named Church Street Station.

Derby County's chairman Adam Pearson, meanwhile, is in the United States on a fundraising opportunity according to Sky Sports's Through The Night programme. The question is who would be interested in investing in Derby County given the current predicament of the club and the weak value of the U.S. dollar?

Levy and Pearson aren't the only football-related Brits who travel to the United States. Many of the top players and executives visit the country throughout the year either on business or pleasure. Thierry Henry visited Miami last year as did David Dein (on a separate trip). West Ham's Anton Ferdinand infamously took a trip to South Carolina recently.

Out of the two biggest Euro 2008 matches scheduled this Saturday, Fox Soccer Channel will be showing one of them -- the crucial Israel against Russia match live (1pm ET). The other one, Scotland v Italy, is only available on ESPN Deportes and RAI for viewers in the United States.

Sure, there are plenty of other Euro 2008 qualifiers on TV, but the one between Israel and Russia is an enticing match. If Russia wins, England's chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 are practically over and Steve McClaren will undoubtedly get the sack.

MyFootballClub, the revolutionary website that launched earlier this Spring, is preparing to announce that it has agreed in principle to purchase a non-league football club.

According to The Independent newspaper, MyFootballClub will announce that an agreement has been made with a club from the BlueSquare Premier (aka Conference National, which is one league below League Two in England). The newspaper dropped a major hint by mentioning that the club in question has never played in the top four divisions of English football before and has aspirations of being promoted to League Two.

That rules out Cambridge United, Aldershot, Torquay, Exeter, Kidderminster, Northwich Victoria, Oxford, Rushden & Diamonds, Halifax and York. All of those clubs have played in the Football League before.

That means that one of the following clubs is the mystery team that MyFootballClub will purchase: Altrincham, Burton Albion, Crawley Town, Droylsden, Ebbsfleet United, Farsley Celtic, Forest Green Rovers, Grays Athletic, Histon, Salisbury City, Stafford Rangers, Stevenage Borough, Weymouth or Woking.

So which club is it? We don't know. MyFootballClub has done an excellent job at keeping the secret under wraps, but despite the fact that they've been in discussions with Cambridge United and Halifax Town - among others - it can't be one of those clubs if the major hint dropped by The Independent is true.

Labels: myfootballclub, myfootballclub.co.uk

EPL Talk TV is back with a 5 minute review of the highs and lows from this past weekend's Premiership action.



We'll return tomorrow morning (and each weekday morning) with the latest news from the Premier League.

The football-related violence that happened on Sunday is a perfect example of how epidemic the hooliganism problem is in Italy. Incidents occurred throughout Italy in Serie A and lower leagues after Lazio supporter Gabriele Sandri was accidentally killed by police earlier in the day.It was only last February when similar violence erupted in Italy and resulted in a police officer being killed and all of Italian football being suspended.

This past Saturday was a perfect example of the gulf between the pundits on Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports.

Labels: fox soccer match day, keith costigan, nick webster, pat dolan, Paul Dempsey, setanta sports

Please take 3 minutes and complete the EPL Talk TV survey and let us know what you think about it thus far. If you haven't watched an episode yet, take a look at http://www.youtube.com/thegaffer

Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback which will help shape the future of EPL Talk TV to bring you the best quality product.

If soccer fans in the United States want to see more Premier League clubs visit the country each summer for friendly matches, there's only one thing they need to do: Convince corporations in the U.S. to sponsor Premiership clubs!

That's what sponsors in China and Thailand have done after deciding to invest approximately $40 million in Manchester City. As a result, the chances of City playing friendly matches in the Far East, especially China, has increased significantly. And the club is already making moves to set up training academies on that continent.

In today's modern world, the lure of money can make clubs travel around the world. Finding sponsors in the U.S. who are interested in expanding their brand worldwide through a top Premier League club would be an excellent business move.

While the 2007-2008 Premier League season isn't even half over yet, there's already talk about some English clubs visiting the States next summer for friendlies. Liverpool has been tipped as one side likely to visit. It's been a few years since the Merseyside club last toured North America.

Liverpool's Merseyside neighbors, Everton, may be likely to return to the United States again after a short successful trip this past summer. It seems that every time the club tours the United States during the summer, the team has a strong start to the season.

The question is whether most Premier League clubs will travel to Asia next summer again leaving the United States in the cold? Don't forget that many players will be involved in Euro 2008 held from June 7-29 in Switzerland and Austria so because of the shorter summer break, many clubs may want to stay closer to home rather than traveling around the world.

That said, expect the two Manchester clubs to tour Asia separately, where they both have growing fanbases.

The latest episode of EPL Talk TV is live featuring five minutes of Premier League news including:

• Is Chelsea doomed with their new injury crisis?
• Could Wigan Athletic be more childish regarding finding someone for their new manager's position?
  
• And is the Champions League boring? Harry Redknapp and Wayne Rooney think so.

EPL Talk TV features five minutes of Premier League news delivered daily via this blog, YouTube, Facebook and to your iPod/iTunes.

Labels: Champions League, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united, Wigan Athletic

People often write to me at EPL Talk about where they can buy the Premier League anthem or theme song. They usually ask about the classic one remixed by DJ Judge Jules, and sometimes the most recent one by Peter Lawlor.

Thanks to a tip from reader Charles Hurley, we can now reveal that you can buy the Premier League anthem from Amazon.

Four versions are available (each at a very reasonable 99 cents). The versions are:

• Handshake mix - the "formal" anthem that was played as the teams came out on the pitch
  
• Full mix - a remix of the above version
  
• Judge Jules 2005 mix - slow tempo and is the version used by Sky on its broadcasts, and
  
• Judge Jules 2006 mix - used in last season's EPL Preview/Review shows.
  

In a previous post from EPL Talk, we provided more details about the history of the Premier League Theme song and the artist himself, Judge Jules.

Additional note: According to EPL Talk reader JeffyHash, the songs are also available via iTunes. And the iTunes versions of the songs are higher quality (256K instead of 128K) and DRM free.

Labels: dj judge jules, premier league

Regarding the EPL Talk Podcast, one of the many enjoyable benefits of interviewing some of the top (and most interesting) people on the topic of football is that I'm often learning more about the sport (and its impact on people) at the same time that you are too.

So whether it's previous interviews with Chuck Culpepper about Portsmouth FC, professor Tom Cannon about the financial side of the Premier League, refereeing with Jeff Winter or Graham Poll -- or a host of other fascinating topics and/or guests, I enjoy the episodes as much as I hope you do too. And there are now over 90 episodes in existence with some of the biggest names in soccer (all available via archive).

Another fascinating topic the EPL Talk Podcast explored in this week's episode is the true story of soccer hooligans from Manchester United named The Perry Boys who explored the world of violence and fashion in the early 80s.

To be honest, I had no recollection of the Perry Boys movement before hearing about the book. Attending matches in the UK in the early 80s as a teenager, I vividly remember the different gangs dressed as punks and mods, but I don't recall the hairstyles and fashion code of the Perry Boys ever spreading as far as South Wales, where I grew up.

The fashion aspect of the Perry Boys is extremely enlightening to me. Stan Smith Adidas sneakers/trainers, wedge haircuts, Fred Perry polo shirts and Lee jeans. And the music that fueled the movement which was made up largely of David Bowie (especially the influential "Low" album) and Roxy Music.

During the interview with Ian Hough, author of Perry Boys, all of the above topics and more are uncovered as well as comparisons between the United States and United Kingdom (Hough emigrated from Manchester to the United States many years ago). One of the interesting observations by Hough during the interview (which unfortunately got cut out of the final podcast version because the episode ran out of time) was his belief, which I share, that most American men don't discuss fashion with one another. In the UK, the topic of fashion and what clothes and accessories men admire comes up quite often. In America, it seems, only women can talk about fashion.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to the interview with Ian Hough, I encourage you to listen to it. Other than hooliganism and fashion, Hough also discusses topics such as his experiences at Hillsborough a few weeks before the tragedy happened, and the differences between attending a match in the Premier League these days compared to a First Division match 20 years ago.

Learn more about The Perry Boys and Ian Hough via his blog at http://www.thenamelessthing.com

Labels: hooligans, ian hough, manchester united, perry boys

Peter Kenyon, chief executive at Chelsea, has snubbed the G14's invitation to join the organization. It looks very likely that the G14 wlll be disbanded, not because of Chelsea's snub but because of UEFA and specifically Michel Platini, the new UEFA president.

With the power struggles in the past between the G14 (an elite organization featuring some of the top and most powerful clubs in Europe - except Chelsea) and UEFA, it appears that UEFA has taken the lead and has formed a "G14 of its own" with a UEFA Strategy Forum.

During the past few years, the G14 has threatened UEFA and warned them about the possibility of the top clubs in Europe forming a European Super League so clubs such as Real Madrid, Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United, AC Milan and others would disband their domestic leagues and play against each other in a true league format instead of the "Champions League," which is a prolonged cup tournament.

If the G14 does disband, this deals a devastating blow to the chances of a super league forming. If so, this is a huge victory for UEFA and Michel Platini so early in his presidency.

I still believe that a European Super League will happen in the future especially with the potential for the huge amounts of money that could be made similar to how the Premier League formed and broke away from the Football League in England.

Editor's Note: There'll be no episode of EPL Talk TV today due to server issues, but we hope to return tomorrow morning (Thursday, 10/8/07) with another five minutes of Premier League news.

Yesterday EPL Talk looked at the highest average attendances in the Premier League so far this 2007-2007 season. Today, we take a closer look at the 20 clubs to see which grounds have the highest average attendances based on the capacity of their ground.

For example, Arsenal's home matches in the league this season have resulted in an average attendance that's 99.32% of their capacity. All matches are sold out but a large factor for the Gunners and the other clubs below is how many seats the away fans fill -- which could help or hurt a club's attendance depending who it is.

1. Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, 60432 capacity, 99.32% average attendance as % of capacity
2. Manchester United, Old Trafford, 76212, 99.21%
3. Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane, 36247, 99.07%
4. West Ham United, Boleyn Ground, 35089, 98.23%
5. Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, 42449, 97.92%
6. Liverpool, Anfield, 45362, 97.14%
7. Newcastle United, St. James' Park, 52387, 96.93%
8. Derby County, Pride Park, 33597, 95.76%
9. Reading, Madejski Stadium, 24200, 95.71%
10. Portsmouth, Fratton Park, 20888, 95.35%
11. Aston Villa, Villa Park, 42719, 93.52%
12. Everton, Goodison Park, 40170, 91.08%
13. Fulham, Craven Cottage, 24700, 90.32%
14. Manchester City, City of Manchester Stadium, 47300, 89.38%
15. Birmingham City, St Andrews, 30009, 88.09%
16. Sunderland, Stadium of Light, 49000, 85.52%
17. Middlesbrough, Riverside Stadium, 35049, 76.49%
18. Bolton Wanderers, Reebok Stadium, 27879, 75.49%
19. Blackburn Rovers, Ewood Park, 31367, 74.43%
20. Wigan Athletic, JJB Stadium, 25023, 73.69%

Impressively, the top 13 clubs all have average attendances that are 90% or higher of the capacity of their grounds. Wigan, again, ends up bottom of the list with only 73.69% of their seats being filled on average.

After six successive defeats in the league, Chris Hutchings has been sacked as manager of Wigan Athletic. His last match in charge for Wigan was the 2-0 home loss against Chelsea on Saturday.

Wigan's decision to appoint Hutchings in the summer to replace Paul Jewell was a poor decision. The same applied to Bolton's decision to appoint Sammy Lee in place of Sam Allardyce. Rather than rushing into decisions, which both clubs did, both Bolton and Wigan would have been wiser to appoint managers with more experience than Lee and Hutchings.

Bolton and Wigan now find themselves second and third from bottom respectively.

While Bolton signed Gary Megson to replace the fired Sammy Lee, Wigan have an opportunity to find a manager that will not only keep the club alive in the Premier League but one that will play the type of football that so many fans adored during the 2005-2006 season. Because of their low attendances, Wigan is an easy target for some pundits who consider the club not being worthy of being in the Premier League.

An ideal manager would be someone who could walk into the JJB Stadium, stabilize the squad so they start winning matches and then bring in some quality players in the January transfer window who can play football well and win matches for the club.

Unfortunately for Wigan, the side that excelled so well in the 2005-2006 season got pulled apart during the summer of 2006 as Pascal Chimbonda joined Spurs, Jimmy Bullard moved to Fulham and other integral players moved elsewhere. During the 2006-2007 season, Wigan struggled despite playing a decent brand of football and escaped relegation on the last day of the season.

So who should Wigan target to be their next manager? Paul Jewell is an obvious choice although I'm not sure if he wants to get back into fighting relegation again.

The manager that Wigan chairman Dave Whelan needs to target is Gary Johnson at Bristol City who has achieved significant success at Yeovil Town previously. Johnson has Bristol City playing attractive football and should be interested in taking the step up to manage a club in the Premier League.

If you wonder why clubs such as Portsmouth, Chelsea, Spurs, Everton and Liverpool are planning or considering moving into new stadiums in the near future, take a look at the chart below featuring the average attendances in the Premier League for the 2007-2008 season, as of November 5, 2007 (Happy Guy Fawkes Day, by the way):

1. Manchester United, Old Trafford, 75,614
2. Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, 60,021
3. Newcastle United, St. James' Park, 50,778
4. Liverpool, Anfield, 44,065
5. Manchester City, City of Manchester Stadium, 42,278
6. Sunderland, Stadium of Light, 41,906
7. Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, 41,564
8. Aston Villa, Villa Park, 39,950
9. Everton, Goodison Park, 36,587
10. Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane, 35,910
11. West Ham United, Boleyn Ground, 34,469
12. Derby County, Pride Park, 32,172
13. Middlesbrough, Riverside Stadium, 26,809
14. Birmingham City, St. Andrews, 26,434
15. Blackburn Rovers, Ewood Park, 23,346
16. Reading, Madejski Stadium, 23,161
17. Fulham, Craven Cottage, 22,310
18. Bolton Wanderers, Reebok Stadium, 21,047
19. Portsmouth, Fratton Park, 19,727
20. Wigan Athletic, JJB Stadium, 18,439

The average attendance so far this season is 35,901.

It's interesting to see a club such as Sunderland, who have a very passionate and loyal fanbase, are above teams such as Chelsea, Spurs and Everton. Part of the reason is because Sunderland play in a ground that has a 49,000 capacity, while Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton can't fit any more people in their grounds.

At the bottom of the chart, it's no surprise to see Wigan who continually struggle to bring fans in as many of the residents in the area prefer rugby league to soccer.

So Dimitar Berbatov's agent is to hold talks with Tottenham's director of football Damien Comolli today to discuss the player's future.

It was most probably Berbatov's agent Emil Dantchev who leaked the news to the press, and by doing so, we can assume he wants to send a strong message to Tottenham's board that the player is dissatisfied. At the same time, the news also alerts the other clubs out there that Berbatov could be open to a move away from White Hart Lane if he doesn't get what he wants.

While it must have been frustrating for Spurs fans and Berbatov to see the Bulgarian sitting on the bench for the last two league matches, I don't blame new Tottenham boss Juande Ramos for wanting to play a different attack against Middlesbrough this past Saturday. The Spaniard wants to try different players so he can see firsthand whether or not they'll fit into his system that he's building.

While today's meeting between Berbatov's agent and Comolli will undoubtedly resolve any issues the Bulgarian may have with not playing, the question is how much longer will Berbatov stick with Tottenham? As is often the case, top players in the league are plucked away by larger clubs. For examples from one club, Man United, they swooped in to take Louis Saha from Fulham and Michael Carrick from Spurs in recent years.

It's only a matter of time before Berbatov leaves Spurs.

When Berbatov does move away, Manchester United will be the likely suitor especially seeing that Berbatov appears to be the natural successor to Ruud van Nistelrooy. A player who can sit in front of Wayne Rooney or Carlos Tevez to knock the ball into the back of the net.

Of course, Berbatov has much more to offer than just being a fox in the box. The player has incredible heading experience especially to knock balls on to Robbie Keane. The Bulgarian also has an incredible pace and given half an opportunity will likely score in the narrowest of angles.

Other than Man United, Chelsea could be a fruitful destination for the player especially considering that Didier Drogba will be playing in the African Nations Cup in January. If Chelsea was able to offload Shevchenko in the January transfer window and pick up Berbatov as a replacement, the club would be unstoppable in the league and Champions League.

Within reason, Spurs needs to do everything they can to keep the striker in North London. But ultimately money talks and if Tottenham is offered a princely sum to let Berbatov move away from White Hart Lane, I don't think the club will ignore the offer even if Juande Ramos wants Berbatov to be a large part of the future of the club.

Why does Rafa Benitez persist with Dirk Kuyt especially considering the Dutchman's current form? It wasn't just Kuyt's performance today against Blackburn. Kuyt has been lacking form for several weeks now.

Kuyt was dreadful against Blackburn today wasting several clear-cut chances to put three points in the bag for Liverpool. The final score at Ewood Park was nil-nil.

While Kuyt's shooting skills and confidence have been floundering, Peter Crouch remains on the bench except for late starts in matches now and again. Every time Crouch comes on the pitch, he makes a dramatic difference such as he did today when he came on in the 70th minute. He teams up better with Gerrard than Kuyt does. Plus Crouch had a header cleared off the goal line by David Bentley.

Benitez's decision to keep faith in Kuyt is damaging Liverpool's chances to close the gap against clubs like Arsenal and Man United. The sooner the Spaniard drops Kuyt and starts Crouch, the more likely it'll be that Liverpool will regain their form.

In what was heralded as the biggest game of the Premier League season thus far, Arsenal scrambled a late equalizer by William Gallas to tie the match 2-2.

United took the lead near the end of the first half with a goal by Wayne Rooney that was ironically deflected into the net by Gallas. However soon after the second half begun, Cesc Fabregas got the equalizer for Arsenal after being left completely wide open in front of goal to knock the ball into the net past Rio Ferdinand standing on the line.

Manchester United must have thought they had won the game near the end when Cristiano Ronaldo tapped in a goal after an pass from Patrice Evra (after a imaginative pass by Louis Saha). The United fans were ecstatic and soon were singing "Stand up for the champions."

Just when everyone thought that Man United had wrapped up the 2-1 away win, William Gallas volleyed the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble. For Arsenal, the 2-2 scoreline was well deserved after a close match between both sides.

Apart from the exciting finale to the match, the game failed to live up to the hype. The first half was largely uneventful except for Gallas almost scoring on a header from a Fabregas free kick and the aforementioned goal by Rooney late in the first half.

The action in the second half picked up considerably as more space opened up for both sides especially in midfield. However, there were far too many speculative shots from the 35 yards territory (Anderson, Fabregas, Rosicky, etc).

For United, Giggs surprisingly had a poor match where his lack of control was completely evident on numerous occasions -- which is so unlike him.

Overall, though, while the game lacked a lot of style, the excitement level was there, which leaves the Premier League title race completely wide open.

Arsenal v Manchester United, Setanta, Saturday, 8:45am ET/12:45pm GMT: Last season's encounter at Ashburton Grove was a classic with the Gunners getting a late winner from a Thierry Henry header. Will this one live up to the hype?

If you're searching for a way to experience the match between Arsenal vs Man Utd online, join the EPL Talk Chat hosted by bcjohn.

We'll have Gunners, ManUand neutral fans from around the world chatting in real-time about the biggest match of the season. We'll also be able to tip you off regarding Arsenal v Man United radio coverage and how to listen live (depending on what part of the world you live in).

Experience the match online with other fans from around the world on the EPL Talk Chat.

For the week ending October 27, here are the ten most visited soccer websites in the UK:

1 Liverpool Football Club, www.liverpoolfc.tv, 5.16% market share
2 Manchester United, www.manutd.com, 4.10%
3 TEAMtalk Football, www.teamtalk.com, 3.67%
4 Arsenal.com, www.arsenal.com, 2.65%
5 Premier League, www.premierleague.com, 2.24%
6 FootyMad.net Message Boards, boards.footymad.net, 2.03%
7 Tottenham Hotspur, www.tottenhamhotspur.com, 1.98%
8 Leeds United, www.leedsunited.com, 1.87%
9 Full Time, full-time.thefa.com, 1.65%
10 Football365.com, www.football365.com, 1.18%

There are some interesting observations from this chart:

• Despite Man United and Arsenal having two of the best websites in the UK, Liverpool's inferior website is in first place. After all, the chart is based on traffic, not aesthetics.
  
  
• The FootyMad message boards are more popular in terms of traffic than clubs such as Leeds and Spurs.
  
  
• Where's Chelsea's website in this list? Of all of the clubs in "The Big Four," Chelsea is not even in the top 10.
  

Stats are courtesy of Hitwise.com