La Manga - That's Spanish for 'Footballers getting smashed and raping young women'

As I'm jetting off to La Manga on Friday on Footy Tour, I thought I'd do a tincy wincy piece on the place Footballers love to go and do naughty things.

Now, one thing I won’t be doing is what these lovely people did in March 2004. That’s Matthew Elliott, Keith Gillespie, Frank Sinclair, Paul Dickov, Richard Scowcroft, and Lilian Nalis for those of you who were wondering. They all appeared in court on allegations of rape, but got away with it. They’re Footballers so duh. They’re obviously gonna be found innocent.

Relaxing by the pool, playing Table Tennis, lying in the sun, having endless kickabouts, and drinking Sangria sounds like a much better idea to moi.

La Manga resort is notorious for it’s first-class Sports facilities. Leicester are one of dozens of teams who have visited the resort for pre-season training camps and friendlies in the last decade. Sheffield United were there at the start of this season, amongst other clubs.

Unfortunately it’s also notorious for Footballers getting smashed, and we all know when you do that, you end up with a jumper over your head. Bad times.

Upton Park update

Awful scenes at Upton Park.

Crowd trouble marred an excellent win for West Ham over Millwall in tonight’s Carling Cup 2nd round tie. A 44-year-old man has been stabbed, but is currently in a stable condition in hospital after crowd violence broke out outside Upton Park.

A 29-year-old who witnessed the incidents unfold said: “It’s the last thing you expect to see. There were West Ham fans on one side, Millwall fans on the other, both being separated by the Police. Bottles and bricks were being thrown and hitting people on the front. There were bloodied faces everywhere”.

The Police have described the violence as “pre-planned” and “high-level”. The trouble broke out after Junior Stanislas scored the first goal. Hundreds of West Ham fans ran on the pitch, prompting the Millwall players to leave the pitch immediately. One fan even ran past a Millwall player, who clearly tried to advise him to get off the pitch, and stuck his middle finger up at him.

That particular situation was diffused in time for the match to continue, but outside the violence showed no signs of relenting. Riot Police have gathered at the local tube stations prepared for ongoing violence as people depart the ground.

One very moving scene at the end of the game was a tearful Jack Collison. Collison lost his Father in a motorcycle accident at the weekend, and as he was shepharded off the pitch he burst into tears. The remaining West Ham fans all stood to Collison and gave him an emotional round of applause.

Obviously very disturbing scenes at Upton Park tonight, and it wouldn’t be the first time Millwall fans have been involved in such an incident. It’s not good for the game, and the thugs and hooligans that are involved in the incident should be banned for life and locked up.

Carling Cup Round 2 Roundup

No big ’shocks’ in today’s 2nd round ties.

Portsmouth got their first win of the season by thrashing Hereford United 4-1. Goals from Piquionne, Utaka, Krancjar, and Hughes securing Pompey’s place in the next round.

Blackburn saw off League 1 side Gillingham with goals from David Dunn, David Hoilett and Morten Gamst Pedersen. Gillingham scored through a Simeon Jackson penalty.

Hull City also saw off League 1 opposition in the way of Southend United. A 3-1 win saw Jozy Altidore claim his first goal for the Club, and other strikes for youngster Tom Carney and Geovanni gave Phil Brown’s men the win. Franck Moussa scored for Southend.

Burnley scraped past Hartlepool with a 2-1 victory after extra time. Steven Fletcher scored both the goals for Owen Coyle’s side, but a brave effort from League 1 Hartlepool.

Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers were other PL teams to make it through to the third round draw. The Blues saw off the challenge of Southampton, a potentially tricky tie, while Bolton beat Tranmere Rovers with a Mark Davies strike.

Wolves have seen off Swindon Town, but just. 0-0 after normal time, and extra time, but Wolves won 6-5 on penalties.

West Ham United beat Millwall 3-1 after extra time, but the Football was overshadowed by severe crowd trouble outside the ground. Update to follow. Junior Stanislas got the late goal for the Hammers in normal time after Neil Harris’s opener. Stanislas then netted from the spot in extra time before Zavon Hines rounded off the performance with a 3rd.

Other 2nd Round results:
Peterborough United 2-1 Ipswich Town
Port Vale 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Preston NE 2-1 Leicester City
QPR 2-1 Accrington Stanley
Reading 1-2 Barnsley
Leeds 2-1 Watford (aet)
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Middlesbrough (aet)
Swansea City 1-2 Scunthorpe United (aet)

Violent scenes at Upton Park

Typical. Just after posting an article on how well things are going at West Ham United, this happens. Although it’s not really a fault of the Hammers.

Millwall were the visitors to Upton Park this evening for a Carling Cup tie, but unfortunately it’s not the Football that’s making the headlines. A man has been stabbed and violent battles have broken out outside the ground between rival fans who failed to get tickets for the match.

Reports are that “hundreds” of fans are involved in the incident, and officers have made two arrests. Police say the stabbing is connected to the fighting and the man is currently being treated by paramedics.

It’s same old same old as far as Millwall fans are concerned. They’re renowned for their trouble and violence both home and away, and there are no signs that they will relent in the near future. We obviously hope that there will be no fatalities linked to this violence.

Update as soon as we get more news.

Zola continues Italian Job

It’s been a tough 12 months for the boys at Upton Park. A row between the board and manager over the sales of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney to Sunderland lead to the resignation of Alan Curbishley. That was followed by major sponsors ‘XL’ going bust, and then an ex-Chelsea player taking over as manager. Not ideal for West Ham fans, but it seems Zola was indeed the right man to take on the role.

Zola arrived at Upton Park last season a unknown quantity. He’d never managed a side before, let alone a PL team with European aspirations, and everyone was rather sceptical. But he slowly and surely stabilised his side and guided them well clear of the drop in his first season. Now, with the new season underway, he’s quickly changing the outlook of his side to suit his style.

The Hammers are close to capturing the signing of Livorno striker Alessandro Diamanti, a 26-year-old who scored 16 times in Serie B last season. Perhaps a bit of a gamble for Zola, as Diamanti doesn’t really have a proven track record in a decent League. However, perhaps Zola knows something we don’t. Diamanti could be a superstar in the making, and if anyone would know about it, it’d be Zola.

Another player that has recently been linked with a move to the East London Club is AC Milan’s Right-Back Massimo Oddo. The Italian International spent the whole of last season on-loan at Bundesliga side Bayern Munich after struggling to hold down a place at San Siro. Now he claims that West Ham have made an inquiry for his services.

Oddo is now 33 years old, and that coupled with the fact he can’t get a place in the Milan side suggests that he could be on his way out. However, Oddo has made it clear that he wants a permanent move rather than a loan move away from Italy.

“I have already had an experience on loan, which is not ideal for a player. Hence, I don’t want to go away and then come back to the same conditions as I was in the previous year. I have to look not only at my interests but that of my family. To go away for a year with young children and face a new culture doesn’t seem the ideal situation.” He obviously gets homesick, our Massimo. If he was English he’d jump all over the chance to get out of here for a year or so!

If Oddo does make his desired permanent move to the Hammers it would be part of an exchange deal with Frenchman Julien Faubert. Faubert started his career in London with an injury that kept him out of action for the first 3 months of the season, and since recovering he’s never really made an impact. A move to San Siro may just revitalise him and kickstart his career.

Having watched West Ham take on Spurs at the weekend it’s plain to see what Zola has done with his side. They play good Football, they’re a strong side especially through the middle, and their fanbase is second to none. A push for Europe is a definite. All that’s left to say now is: Bravo Zola, siete una leggenda! Safe.

Pressure mounts on Benitez as Liverpool fall to 3-1 defeat at the hands of Villa

I'll keep this short and simple.

Liverpool only lost twice in the entirety of last season, but with only 3 games gone in the 09/10 season, Rafa's boys already find themselves with 2 defeats against their name.

Villa turned up at Anfield today having lost their first and only PL game of the season, a home tie v Wigan, but they showed no signs of that against a sloppy Liverpool side. An open first half ended with Villa 2-0 up, after Lucas slotted one past his own 'keeper, before Curtis Davies headed home just before the whistle. Fernando Torres netted for the Reds with 20 minutes to go, but hopes of a comeback were short lived as Steven Gerrard brought down Nigel Reo-Coker in the box, allowing Ashley Young to slot home from the spot.

The match ended with boos from the Liverpool fans, clearly frustrated at another defeat in a game that they really should have won. Pressure continues to grow on Rafa Benitez who has failed to bring home the PL trophy in the 5 years he's been at Anfield. A squad that lacks depth, unstable owners, and a whole lot of question marks surround the Spaniard, and if the team don't start winning soon, the door could well be open for Rafa to pack his bags and leave.

England bring the Ashes home

Can we play you every weeeeeek, can we play you eveeeeeery week?!

England have won the Ashes! Ah the pleasure in typing/thinking/saying/shouting/singing that is indescribable.

Andrew Strauss and his boys have done the nation proud in regaining the little urn, by thrashing the Aussies in our own back yard. England have won the 5th and final Test by a massive 197 runs. Graeme Swann took 4 wickets on the final day, while Steve Harmison cleaned up the tail with 3 quick wickets. Emotional and jubilant scenes followed, as not only have England brought back the Ashes, but Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff has bowled his last ball in a Test match. Not his greatest match, but his run-out of Ricky Ponting was definitely a turning point in the afternoon. Ironic for such a great all-rounder that his final contribution in the whites is a run-out from mid-off. Gotta love the man.

England got off to a flyer by taking the wickets of Simon Katich (43) and Shane Watson (40) early on in the day, but Captain Ricky Ponting (66) and Mike Hussey (121) dug in for the tourists, until that decisive Flintoff run-out. From then on in, wickets continued to fall throughout the afternoon, until Alastair Cook clung on to the winning catch off Mike Hussey. Graeme Swann taking the last wicket of the series.

Andrew Strauss was given the award for England's player of the series, while Michael Clarke won Australia's award. Stuart Broad won man-of-the-match for his wonderful spell of 5-37 in the first innings, plus some important runs down the order. So Freddie gets the greatest send-off he could have hoped for, and the celebrations have begun.

"I'm gonna take the mrs out for a meal tonight and then spend the day with the family tomorrow", he claims. As if! As Ian Botham said, "he'll be taking the mrs out for a Bacon & Egg roll at five in the morning!". Great scenes at the Oval, and the great thing is, they'll be at it again in 18 months time!