I was extremely sad to read about the demise of Sir Bobby Charlton. Sir Bobby was a former international football player and, after retirement, manager of several European clubs and the England national football team. His professional playing career as an inside-forward spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for just three clubs – Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and briefly for the defunct Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals.After his playing career he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal, earning trophies in England and Spain, and taking England to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup.
His last management role was as a mentor to the manager of the Irish national football team. Robson was created a Knight Bachelor in 2002, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town. From 1991 onwards he suffered recurrent medical problems with cancer, and in March 2008, put his name and efforts into the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a cancer research charity.
Rip Sir Bobby (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009)
Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Belgian stopper Thomas Vermaelen on Friday evening. The deal is reported to be around 10 million pounds. The 23-year-old defender joins from Ajax Amsterdam on a long-term contract and has plenty of experience having played 143 matches for the Dutch team.
I watch English Premier League matches on a regular basis and as much as I am a die hard Arsenal supporter, I am not oblivious to the charms of some of the other wonderful football clubs in England. Or in Spain, Italy, Germany & Holland for that matter. But due to many reasons, I’ve been able to follow the English league in more depth than the others. So it saddens me to know that two clubs with a rich history & colourful players & fans – Newcastle United & Middlesborough – might get relegated after the final round of games tonight. I’m also including another club, Sunderland, who happen to be local rivals of the aforementioned two.
I myself can’t imagine anything more English than having a pint or two at the pub with your mates and then heading over to watch late afternoon/evening football matches. Imagine the disappointment for the fans of these clubs if they do go down and get relegated. Sunderland have the advantage as, due to superior goal difference, they will get relegated only if both Boro & Newcastle do win tonight. With 36 points at the moment, Sunderland were tipped by many at the start of the season to go immediately. The departure of Roy Keane before Christmas didn’t help stability and, having spent most of the year in lower mid-table, they would consider themselves unlucky to be relegated.
What can I say about Newcastle United? Traditionally a big club with massive local support, not long ago they were in the Champions League. This season they have suffered from local favourite Kevin Keegan being out of favour with the owner and leaving in September. Joe Kinnear took after as coach after Keegan’s departure and seemed to be an able replacement, until heart trouble in February brought an end to his term. Messiah & former star captain Alan Shearer came on board with just 8 games left. The club have big name stars like Michael Owen & Mark Viduka but have failed to build on their success in the first half of the decade.
Arsenal rested most of their big guns in view of the important mid-week match but still proved to be too good for Portsmouth and costed to victory.
Stating that this would a perfect preparation for his side, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side beat a relegation threatened Middlesborough 2-0.
When I heard the half time score of 1-0 to Wigan, I was afraid that Arsenal would succumb as they had been doing to much less talented teams as they been prone to in the last year.
I got the chance to see an in form Arsenal beat Manchester City 2-0 at the Emirates stadium today evening. Togolese striker Emmaneul Adebayor was the main instigator for the Gunners as he scored a brace of goals, both being set up by a returning Cesc Fabregas.
Desperate for goals and a win in the Premier league. No club has gone 4 consecutive games without scoring a goal – will Arsenal be the first? Sorry people, we cannot help you there. Arsenal outclassed a gritty Blackburn and rode out a 4-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal had failed to score in their last three Premier League games at The Emirates, but it took them only 75 seconds against Rovers to end that barren run.