Early Doors - Your morning briefing blog

This evening, the world will be glued to its TV set to watch a long, drawn-out selection of numbers, chosen in a potentially life-changing but ultimately random manner.Is it just ED, or does the World Cup draw resemble Deal or No Deal rather too closely for comfort?Much as the popular...More

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Earlier this week, Barcelona's Lionel Messi became the latest star to win the Ballon d'Or, the award voted for by football journalists from around the world for being rather good at the game. Meanwhile, a small clothing firm in North London is embroiled in a monster legal battle with the...More

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Was it anger, frustration or merely embarrassment that led to Arsene Wenger storming off down the tunnel at Eastlands without shaking Mark Hughes's hand? Wenger's misplaced belief in his latest crop of youngsters was shown up as Arsenal lost 3-0 to Manchester City in their Carling Cup quarter-final, their third...More

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There are still two days to go before the World Cup draw is made, but already FIFA have got the anticipation stoked up nicely. The seedings for Friday's draw came out, with England incorporated into the top eight seeds, presumably by virtue of them doing the double over Kazakhstan. Meanwhile,...More

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Alex Ferguson had dubious cause to be smug last night after his young Manchester United side beat Tottenham 2-0 in the Carling Cup quarter-final. It may have been the night of the Eurosport Christmas party, but ED eschewed the chance to see if an entire coach really could make it...More

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The FAI need to draw a line under Ireland's World Cup qualifying bid before all goodwill drains away. As was correctly pointed out by users on this morning's post, most Irish people just want to move on - it is only the country's football association that is continuing this futile fight. They were royally screwed...More

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Ireland's flagging campaign to go to the World Cup got the political shot in the arm it so desperately needed yesterday when it received the backing of Dublin's greatest son. A man who heals the sick, protects the children, cures the lepers and gives succour to the poor. An inspiration and a figure of hope...More

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Sean Fay and Dan Quarrell join Alex Chick to discuss Chelsea's win at Arsenal, and who is in the frame for relegation. ...More

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As soon as Jimmy Bullard sat the Hull team down and started giving them a talking-to after he scored his penalty on Saturday, Early Doors pressed the button marked 'Goal celebrations list feature'. So here it is. Bullard's late goal gave Hull a 1-1 draw at Manchester City, and he aped the same fixture last season...More

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Some pretty irritating characters have got their hands on the World Cup over the years - Rudi Voeller, Franck Leboeuf and Rivaldo spring most readily to mind. But none have been as unpleasant as Zimbabwean 'president' Robert Mugabe, who took time out from wrecking his country's economy to lift the trophy as the World Cup's tour...More

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