AHEAD OF THE GAME
Alpha mail. The only truly useful football e-mail
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Friday, September 28, 2007. 1600 BST
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The news in 60 seconds
USMANOV UPS STAKES
Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek billionaire whose jowls are as fat as his bank account, has upped his stake in Arsenal to 23 per cent. He paid a jaw-dropping £10,200 a share as he closes in on a dastardly "blocking share".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article2549975.ece
RAFA EXPLAINS HIS MEDDLING
The Bearded One has defended his dizzying rotation policy. Rafael Benitez says he doesn't need Fernando Torres's speed against Birmingham City, he needs it at the end of the season, when all hope of Liverpool winning the league has gone. He didn't say the last bit.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article2551664.ece
SHEVCHENKO JUST ONE OF BOYS
Andriy Shevchenko, who is buddies with Chelsea's billionaire owner (who was allegedly coaching Michael Essien last week), has said that he won't get any special treatment from the new manager because he hardly knows him. Without a trace of irony, he's also demanded that the players stick together.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article2552000.ece
CELTIC'S HOME AFFAIRS
If those "Neds" - yobs who sit around drinking lager and hurling abuse at the players - think they get a hard time from Gordon Strachan, they could be in for a shock. Celtic have named John Reid, the former hard-line Home Secretary, as their new chairman.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2552567.ece
Sir Alex Ferguson has refused to write off Chelsea in this season's title race. As statements go, it's about as adventurous as his Manchester United team have been this season, which is not very. He also thinks Arsenal have played well, so far.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article2552215.ece
FORSSELL BLUES
This is likely to be the only time Mikael Forssell is compared to Michael Owen, but sadly it's because of injury. The Birmingham City forward, who finally looked to be back to his best after three unfortunate years of injuries, needs a hernia operation and will be out for a month.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/birmingham/article2550471.ece
PLAYING FOR KEEPS
Big Sam has given himself a goalkeeping headache. After Shay Given won the man of the match award for his display against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, the Newcastle United manager is worried the Ireland keeper will throw his toys out of the pram if he is dropped for Steve Harper.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article2547167.ece
PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEWS
Mark Viduka is back for Newcastle United, Owen Hargreaves could feature for Manchester United, Didier Drogba returns for Chelsea, while Roy Keane has fresh problems at Sunderland. All the latest news, as it's released.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2537229.ece
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>>>>>FANTASY FOOTBALL WITH BRAINS<<<<<
* Register today for PlayTheGame, the sharpest operation outside of Dr Ulrike Muschaweck's surgery
* It's free and you can still enter
* Win monthly prizes and tickets to the Euro 2008 final
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/playthegame
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If you've got another couple of minutes
CUT-PRICE SPURS
Tottenham fans may be wondering why their shares are stuck at a lowly 135p each when Arsenal's are going for an astonishing £10,200 apiece. That works out at roughly 7,400 times more than shares in Spurs - or about half the price of a week's maintenance charges on one of those Highbury apartments. After a quick chat with our betters on the business desk, we were disappointed to discover there's a (relatively) simple explanation. Spurs have issued a lot of shares, whereas Arsenal haven't. As a result, Arsenal's are worth more. And we thought it was just because Martin Jol was a rubbish manager.
SHORT-SIGHTED WENGER
Still, Arsene Wenger - cue obligatory mention of degree in economics and careful deployment of words such as urbane, erudite and French - is right to be worried about the "soul" of football. He said today that he's worried about big business and the way that some clubs are mortgaged up to their eyeballs. "The biggest threat to English clubs is that people buy clubs by loaning money from banks," he said. "This is what the Glazer family did with Manchester United."
Funnily enough, he didn't mention that Arsenal owe £260 million, borrowed to pay for the Emirates Stadium, or that Alisher Usmanov is stockpiling shares like an, err, arsenal. Is it another case of Wenger's famously selective eyesight?
SHUSHBALL
Arsenal may have left the Highbury library, but it seems North Londoners still prefer their football to be played in the deferential silence of a reading room. Referees at a five-a-side league in Camden have been joined by noise marshals after residents complained to the council about the din. Officials have been issued with "low-velocity whistles" and players at the league in Chalk Farm have been warned that they shouldn't raise their voices.
Ahead of the Game is pleased to see that the authorities are taking a firm line on seal clubbing. The defender who brought Kerlon, the Cruzerio forward famed for his seal dribble, to a violent halt has been banned for 120 days. Coelho, the Atletico Mineiro hatchet man, sparked a brawl when he walloped the cheeky teenager. He has promised to appeal because, and we paraphrase, he thinks the cocky little forward got what was coming to him. The Mineiro coach accused "Foquinha" (or the Little Seal) of breaking an unwritten code of ethics. Here's the incident in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBXv5FISzjg
And here's a clip of a real seal in action (not sure why): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0z2JyMssSo
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Number of Arsenal old boys who could feature for West Ham United tomorrow. Freddie Ljungberg, Matthew Upson, Richard Wright and Luis Boa Morte.
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A quickie before you go, sir?
IT'S JUST LIKE WATCHING BRAZIL
When it comes to the women's World Cup, Ahead of the Game has been accused of being more chauvinistic than a Jim Davidson TV appearance, more bigoted than a Slovakian football crowd and more old-fashioned than a 3pm Saturday afternoon kick-off. All of which is true. But on this occasion we've had to take off those sepia-tinted glasses and doff our flat cap to Brazil's women. These highlights of the 4-0 semi-final victory over USA show that the beautiful game (and no, it wasn't meant like that) lives on.
http://www.fifa.com/womenworldcup/video/videolist.html
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>>>>>THE TABLOID SCANDAL<<<<<
BEER-BAITING - The Sun
What you need to know: 1) The Jeremy Kyle Show was accused of sinking to a new low yesterday after supplying an alcoholic with LAGER. 2) The show, which taunts its guests more than Robbie Savage winds up opponents, has been criticised by a judge for being similar to bear-baiting, hence the nifty pun in the headline. 3) The BBC says it was OK to hand out the booze because it was medicinal, but that doesn't wash with us - not even party-king Adriano would try to get away with that.
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In TheGame
Walter Gammie , our non-league expert, explains why he's interested in Debenham - and it's got nothing to do with cheap suits and the cut-price department store.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/09/minnows-relishi.html
In TheGame Podcast , Thierry Henry talks to Guillem Balague about the rise and rise of Cesc Fabregas. Matt Dickinson, Alyson Rudd and Bill Edgar join Gabriele Marcotti and the gang.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/thegame/article2520529.ece
Martin Samuel kicked up a storm when he had the temerity to ask whether Chelsea are really a big club. He answers his bulging postbag in TheGame debate .
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/09/the-debate-ma-2.html
In Fanzine Fanzone , our Spurs man says it's no wonder that Martin Jol is not so jolly at the moment, while our Chelsea fan has been trying to get in contact with Roman Abramovich for a bit of a chat...
http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/
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>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
* Drogba in U-turn - Daily Express
* You butchers! Rafa fears for his new star Torres - Daily Mail
* Gunners Red October: Usmanov ups his stake - Daily Mirror
* Revealed: the real reason why Mourinho left Chelsea - The Independent
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Fantastic. I sit next to a Villa fan and have just given him a picture of Curtis "mine's a pint of Courage" Davies and a Gola kitbag containing an ill-fitting Villa shirt, a pair of mouldy unwashed boots and a pair of shinpads. And there goes any hope of silverware at Aston Villa for another year, priceless!
Steve from Buckinghamshire on the plight of Curtis Davies after the Aston Villa defender compared himself to a pub player yesterday
Sometimes you just say it better than we do, which is why we've dedicated a small corner of this e-mail to your views and boos. Send your opinions to sport@timesonline.co.uk
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- The Fink Tank reports from the football laboratory
- Previews for all the Premier League and Fizzy-Pop matches
Andriy Shevchenko to celebrate his 31st birthday tomorrow by scoring the winner against Fulham - and dedicating it to Jose Mourinho and all the boys. Yeah, right...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2187217.ece
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Anonymous tips, suggestions, funnies, fan mail and complaints: sport@timesonline.co.uk
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