AHEAD OF THE GAME
Alpha mail. The only truly useful football e-mail
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007. 1600 BST
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The news in 60 seconds
FERGUSON'S DODGY DOSSIER
Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed he's compiling a dossier of the abuse he suffered at the Emirates Stadium last weekend, which proves nothing except the esteem in which he holds the North London club. He says it's the worst thing that has happened to him since he took the 9.53am to Euston.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article2819023.ece
FLASH IRELAND IS PANTS
Cheeky Stephen Ireland may be the butt of all the jokes (ahem) but he's expected to avoid an FA rap despite pulling down his shorts after scoring the winning goal against Sunderland last night. Reports say the pants were emblazoned with a Superman logo, but we think it was probably Supregran.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article2818334.ece
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DEAL
OK, the BBC won't be showing the FA Cup or England home matches anymore, but at least it will be able to bring you Charlton Athletic versus Bristol City on a chilly Tuesday night. The Bloated Broadcasting Corporation will show live coverage of ten Premier League matches after a deal that has helped the Football League to double its money.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article2817593.ece
QUINN WON'T GET SHIRTY
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley can wear what he wants when he comes to Sunderland on Saturday - including his club shirt. "I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it, but I don't know what the police would say," Niall Quinn, the Sunderland chairman, said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2819233.ece
JOHNSON SIGNS ON
Andrew Johnson will be winning penalties at Goodison Park until 2012 after signing a new contract with Everton. The forward, who had been linked with a return to London, has quashed the speculation by putting pen to paper on a new five-year deal.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/everton/article2817631.ece
SOUNESS TO WIGAN?
Third from bottom, six defeats in a row and with an assistant manager stepping up to replace an assistant manager (which makes him an assistant assistant). What else can go wrong for Wigan Athletic? Graeme Souness is being lined up as their next manager. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/wigan/article2814029.ece
MONEY DON'T MATTER TONIGHT
Liverpool face Besiktas in a few hours' time with their Champions League fortunes hanging by a thread, but The Bearded One says that he's not worried about the cost of failure. Benitez says that £10 million here or there is no big deal, which if nothing else helps to explain the signing of Ryan Babel...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article2814093.ece
GRANT BACKS LAMPARD
Avram Grant is so confident that Chelsea will qualify from their Champions League group that he took time out from the press conference before this evening's match against Schalke 04 to tell Steve McClaren how to do his job. He says England would have won in Russia if they'd picked Frank Lampard.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article2814091.ece
CELTIC FAN FLAMES
Gordon Strachan has called on the fans to help Celtic turn over Benfica in tonight's must-win match. Shunsuke Nakamura will miss the game with injury but Strachan can call on the longest name in football, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article2814412.ece
LATEST TEAM NEWS
Fernando Torres is poised to return for Liverpool, Gary Neville is out of Manchester United's squad with a calf strain and Arsene Wenger has left Cesc Fabregas, Kolo Toure, Tomas Rosicky and Alexander Hleb out of the squad to face Slavia Prague. All the latest team news.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article2813448.ece
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>>>>>FANTASY FOOTBALL WITH BRAINS<<<<<
* Register today for PlayTheGame, more entertaining (and less streaky) than Stephen Ireland's underwear
* 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
FANTASY BECOMES REALITY
Ahead of the Game thought MyFootballClub - an online project that aims to replace dugout dictators with footballing democracy by letting fans pick the team over the internet - had about as much chance of success as Britney Spears' custody lawyers, Pete Doherty's rehab and any club managed by Graeme Souness. But it looks as though the fantasy football could be about to become reality after the club revealed that they were on the verge of buying a club.
"We've agreed terms in principle for the purchase of the football club, and the due diligence process has started," it told its members this week, although they haven't dished the dirt on which impoverished club it will be. Instead, they will go public with the name of the club in a few weeks' time. That means that for the cost of £35 (and the small matter of the sport's integrity), fans will soon have the chance to pick their own team, make their own substitutions and order tactical changes. The only thing they won't be able to do is sack the manager.
NEVILLE IS 86TH BEST IN WORLD
It's possibly the most shocking statistic since we saw John Arne Riise's payslip. Gary Neville, who can only just lay claim to being the best player in his family, is the 86th best player in the world. And that's not the verdict of Phil. According to the Association of Football Statisticians - who must do their calculations on a broken abacus - Neville snr is better than Denis Law, George Best and Eric Cantona. Still, it's not the most controversial inclusion: Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals for Iran, is 26th - ahead of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Gabriel Batistuta, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and a lot of other mystified footballers. Micah Richards doesn't even make the list.
THEGAME PODCAST
Ahead of the Game can't decide who this reflects worse on, but Guillem Balague has revealed that nasty Jens Lehmann has been making Manuel Almunia cry. We always knew that Calamity Jens was one glove short of a pair, but now we know that Manuel Almunia is soft too. Balague doesn't tell us whether Almunia has nightmares, leaves the light on and believes in the Sandman - but he does reveal that Lehmann has been teasing the Spaniard about his performances.
Also on TheGame Podcast, Kia Joorabchian, the only man in football to understand third-party deals (because he set most of them up), clears up the confusion around Javier Mascherano's move to Liverpool, while Gus Poyet, the new Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach, talks about his new role at White Hart Lane. Gabriele Marcotti leads the debate while Bill Edgar has a stat about Graeme Souness that will warm the hearts of Wigan fans.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/thegame/article2792288.ece
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1
Goals scored by Andrew Johnson for Everton since the end of March.
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A quickie before you go, sir?
THE FERGIE YEARS
Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, celebrates the 21st anniversary of his reign today and we have put together a collection of highlights.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article2812014.ece
FREE PREMIER LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS
See Stephen Ireland keep Manchester City flying high with a sumptuous volley in last night's 1-0 victory over Sunderland. Plus highlights from all of the weekend's Premier League matches.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2236741.ece
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>>>>>THE TABLOID SCANDAL<<<<<
MACCA'S SMACKER - The Sun
What you need to know: 1) It looks like Teddy Sheringham is not the only veteran still looking for a match. 2) Paul McCartney, 65, has been pictured planting a tender smacker on a beautiful married millionairess. 3) He shared beach strolls, breakfast and a "tender kiss" with the "wife of a mega-rich lawyer". 4) It's on pages 1, 4 and 5 and there are lots of pictures, so it must be good.
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In TheGame
In Fanzine Fanzone, our Wigan Athletic man asks whether Chris Hutchings is carrying the can for other people's mistakes - and urges the club to look beyond Graeme Souness. Elsewhere, Wyart Lane bemoans the fact that Lady Luck has taken her leave of Tottenham Hotspur, while Chris Smith, our Derby County fan, asks whether any club has finished a season having had more chairmen than they've scored away goals.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/
Bill Edgar explains why Premier League chairmen don't rate Chelsea - at least judging by the sacking of Chris Hutchings.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/11/chelsea-then-pe.html
Gerry Sutcliffe picked the wrong week to have a pop at footballers, says Martin Samuel. John Terry's wages may or may not be "obscene", as the Sports Minister claims, but at least he's paying tax - and that's more than can be said for a certain Formula One driver. Join the debate .
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/the_debate/index.html
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>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
* Maccy Mouse: Steve travels to LA to check Becks but misses game - The Sun
* Ferguson call to bring in cap on foreign players - The Guardian
* I'll never quit: McClaren won't step down if England Euro bid fails - Daily Mirror
* Wigan planning a Jewell heist - Daily Mail
* Chris chop now Souey - Daily Express
* We can afford to go out of Europe, says defiant Benitez - The Independent
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Joe Bloggs' Soapbox
Re: Claudia Winkelman's suggestion that MK Dons could host 2018 World Cup games [yesterday's AOTG] ... it'd never work. Too many roundabouts.
Ben Graham
What a lovely gesture from the Reading players to pay for 350 fans to go to Manchester City. With Reading's away support, though, surely they'll get enough change to buy a decent pair of goalkeeper gloves for Marcus Hahnemann.
Rangerboy, London
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Tomorrow's news today
- Could Spurs groundshare with West Ham?
- Wenger hits out at quota system
- Martin Samuel reports from Anfield, Matt Hughes watches Chelsea and Celtic aim to bully Benfica
And expect...
Manuel Almunia to burst into tears and call for his pacifier.
Spread the word. It's like pyramid selling but without the hassle. Click on the following link if you (or your friends) want to subscribe to this newsletter:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2187217.ece
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