Jim White

It is an interesting assessment of their position that France are portrayed by many in the English media as a bunch of hopeless under-achievers. That would be the France who reached the last World Cup final and - while admittedly faring poorly in Portugal - at least qualified for Euro...More

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As team news goes, it was not an announcement that was likely to stir the blood of many a football follower. Apparently Mr A Suit has replaced Lord Blazer on the FA's World Cup advisory steering committee, while Sir Starched Collar has ceased to be an Executive Member of the...More

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Just as England arrive in Doha to play Brazil in a game Sir Alex Ferguson can hardly wait to watch, Manchester City are heading round the Gulf for a touch of Middle Eastern sun this week. They have a series of engagements in Abu Dhabi, where they are being feted...More

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Had he been around the American Midwest in the pioneering days of the nineteenth century, Bolton's chairman Phil Gartside would have no doubt appointed himself commander of any wagon trains heading towards the Californian gold rush. At the first hint of a problem - a wheel nut working loose, a horse going lame, a...More

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Last night Didier Drogba showed what an asset he is to Chelsea. Currently the second best centre-forward in the world after Fernando Torres, he was magnificent away at Atletico Madrid, personally securing Chelsea's qualification to the knock-out stage of the Champions League with two typically robust, muscular goals. It was...More

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Marlon King claimed in court this week that he hadn't assaulted a 20-year-old student in a night club, breaking her nose after she rejected his clumsy advances. It was, he said, a case of mistaken identity. If so, it wasn't the first time he had been involved in a such...More

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Assuming that the game does not succumb to the sort of contagion of hacking and spitting not seen outside the movie 28 Days Later, Chelsea will take on Bolton Wanderers in the Carling Cup tonight. The home side will be fortified against the arrival of the swine flu in the Bolton baggage...More

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It was not perhaps the terminology his manager might use, but Glen Johnson was accurate in his assessment of what Sunday's game against Manchester United means for his club's season. Speaking in Liverpool's training ground earlier this week, the England full-back described the fixture as "s*** or bust".His point was...More

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Never mind a stray black cat, the luck he is having Rafa Benitez must have run down an entire cattery on his way to work at Melwood. As if losing to a comedy blow-up goal was not enough to make him think the world was conspiring against him, last night's...More

148 comments