Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Arsenal Balls: Gunners Moved To Sign ‘Fabregas’ 6 Times
ARSENAL Balls: The Gunners are looking to sign the NEW Cesc Fabregas. As the Metro thunders:
Arsenal line up £9.6m transfer deal for ‘new Cesc Fabregas’ Sergi Samper’
Huzzah! Arsenal fans can now watch as the team bring on a budding young talent who then tells them his heart lies in Spain before leaving and returning to play for Chelsea.
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Posted: 11th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comment
Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck Leaves Manchester United With A Falcao-Sized Festering Sore
MATT Barlow asks Daily Mail readers if Manchester United were right to sell Danny Welbeck to Arsenal.
Louis van Gaal and Ed Woodward have allowed him to join a direct top-four rival, without ever knowing how good he was or can be, and without ever giving him an extended run in the central position he prefers.
How are United fans feeling?
[Welbek’s] move to London has left a sore festering in the red half of the same northern city.
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Posted: 10th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Raheem Sterling Is The Non-Running Overmars
HOW journalism works: a look at the Daily Mail’s repoting of Liverpool and England’s teenage tyro Raheem Sterling.
The Mail’s Neil Ashton watched Sterling play against the Swiss:
England played with speed and purpose when they surged forward. More of this please. Most of it was down to the mesmerising touches of Raheem Sterling. When Sterling spins off his marker, dropping deep to demand the ball off his centre-halves you know that he is comfortable playing at this level. These deep-lying missions are reminiscent of Zidane or Maradona.
Blimey, Sterling was that good.
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Posted: 9th, September 2014 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Manchester United Balls: Robin Van Persie Cuts Short His Career
THE Sun has the sensational news that Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie wants to play on until he’s 40.
It’ll cost you to read the story because the Sun is behind a paywall.
But it won’t cost you penny to read the same story in the Manchester Evening News, which in June reported that RVP wanted to play on til he’s 40.
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Posted: 9th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Marco Reus Joins Arsenal For £20m, Manchester City For £25m And Manchester United In January
TRANSFER Balls: Is Marco Reus heading to Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United or Real Madrid? Is she staying at Borussia Dortmund? Let’s see what the Daily Star is saying:
The Star has an “exclusive”. It says Manchester City and Arsenal will fight for Reus.
Paul Hethertington says “exclusively” – that Reus is Manchester City’s “top target”.
He’s fit again now though and has a buy-out clause in his contract which can be activated by any offer above £25 million from next summer.
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Posted: 9th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Ray Rice V Janay Palmer: Trial By Video And Show Me The Gun
DID you see the video surfaced of NFL player Ray Rice hitting his then girlfriend Janay Palmer so hard she fell unconscious? The couple married a month later. They must have waited a month until the bruises healed so as to look good in the wedding photos.
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Adrian Chiles Gets Ready For His Close-Up
ITV presenter Adrian Chiles at the St Jakob-Park Stadium, Basel, is ready for this close up.
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Posted: 8th, September 2014 | In: Sports, TV & Radio | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal Sign Adrien Rabiot Then Sell Him To Roma To Smash Manchester United’s Kevin Strootman Bid
TRANSFER Balls: A look at the utter rot passed off as fact in the mainstream media. Today, the Daily Express has news for Arsenal fans: Paris St-Germain are looking to offload midfielder Adrien Rabiot to Roma. PSG are after Roma’s Kevin Strootman, 24, who is also a target for Manchester United.
Regular readers of Tabloid Balls readers will recall that The Metro said Rabiot was already an Arsenal player.
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Posted: 8th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United Sign Arsenal Target Juan Cuadrado Who Agreed Barcalona Deal
TRANSFER Balls: A look at talkSport’s reporting on “Manchester United and Arsenal target” Juan Cuadrado.
Today talkSport has a boast:
Manchester United and Arsenal target Juan Cuadrado is on the verge of signing a new contract with Fiorentina… talkSPORT told you last week that Cuadrado had been offered a new deal by the Serie A side and it now appears that those talks have been progressing well.
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Posted: 8th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester City’s Micah Richards Chooses Style And Substance Over Cash
MICHA Ricahrds earsn £27,000 a week at Fiorentina. He was earning £65,000 (Telegrpah) / £75,000 (Mail) / £80,000 (Guardian) a week at Manchester City. City offered him a five year deal. He turned it down, opting for a year-long loan deal to live and work in a beautiful part of Italy.
Whilst not exactly struggling to make ends meeet, Richards shows us that it’s not all about the money…
Posted: 8th, September 2014 | In: Manchester City, Sports | Comment (1)
Euro 2016 Championships Qualifying Match: Gibraltar Field 2 Footballers Against Poland
PIES spotted this snapshot of what Gibraltar team palyers do when not taking on Poland in a Euro 2016 Championships qualifying match.
Polish player may care to keep on the right side of number 6…
More on Pies…
Transfer Balls: Manchester City Target Spurs Striker Jay Rodriguez
TRANSFER Balls: A look at football reporting. Is Jay Rodriguez heading from Southampton to Spurs or Manchester City?
The Sun on Sunday reports that Manchester City will battle Spurs to to sign Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez, 25.
Back on July, the BBC’S Ben Smith said Spurs had agreed to buy Rodriguez. Well, so he had “understood”:
The Guardian also “understood” things:
…it is understood personal terms have already been agreed in principle for a move to White Hart Lane.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 7th, September 2014 | In: Manchester City, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Watch Dock Ellis The Movie: ‘I Took LSD And Pitched A Perfect Game For the Pittsburgh Pirates’
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Dock Ellis expresses his sentiments about West Division Winners San Francisco Giants, after their win, Thursday, in this Oct. 1, 1971 file photo taken in Philadelphia, Pa.
DRUGS and sport is a familiar story. One school of thought says all drugs cheats should be banned. Another says that since cheating is rife, why not make the drugs legal.
Dock Ellis took drugs and played pro sports. He’s the subject of the film No No: A Dockumentary.
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Arsenal Balls: Giroud And Arteta Sign New Contracts And Leave Arsenal
ARSENAL Balls: A look at media reporting on Arsenal FC.
Today the Daily Mail reports that Arsenal are offering new contracts to Olivier Giroud and Mikel Arteta. The Mail also reported that same fact back in July.
In July the Times told readers that Arteta was for sale:
Arsenal are holding out for £6 million for Mikel Arteta after Fiorentina made an approach to sign the midfielder who has entered the final year of his contract….The 32-year-old Spaniard is unlikely to be offered a contract extension by Arsenal, who are trying to do their business early in the transfer window.
The Independent says Arteta is definitely leaving in the summer of 2015 because no new deal is in the offing.
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Posted: 7th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports | Comments (2)
Manchester United Balls: Klopp Replaces Van Gaal In May As Cuadrado And Vidal Arrive
MANCHESTER United Balls: a glance at terrible media reporting on United.
The Daily Express’ Jamie Anderson has a triple whammy of news:
Man Utd News: Klopp to succeed Van Gaal, Arturo Vidal transfer joy, Juan Cuadrado ignored
That headline in full.
We’ll consider each part of the triple scoop in reverse order:
Was Juan Cuadrado “ignored”? Did he tap Louis Van Gaal on the shoulder, shout “Louis, over here, mate” and receive only the cold shoulder? No.
La Viola executive president Mario Cognini said: “The club always had a firm intention of keeping him. Fiorentina never wanted to sell him and, anyway, an official offer for the player was never made to us from any club.”
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Posted: 7th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal And Manchester United Woo Virgil van Dijk’s Girlfriend From Celtic
TRANSFER Balls: Arsenal are going to fight Manchester United and Manchester City for Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk. No, really. We read it in The Metro. Today that paper reports:
Arsenal still keen on January move for Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk
Come again? Arsenal are still keen on buying Virgil van Dijk in January, which is still a few months away? Which begs the question: if they are that keen on him, why didn’t Arsenal buy him in the two-month long transfer window that just shut?
Arsenal are hopeful of sealing a January move for Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk after the Gunners missed out on a transfer deadline day deal.
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Arsenal Balls: Jack Wilshere In War Of Words With Jamie Redknapp And Robbie Savage
ARSENAL and England midfielder Jack Wilshere has been talking about Jamie Redknapp, the Sky TV (owner R. Murdoch) and Daily Mail pundit whose dad Harry Redknapp manages QPR.
The Times (oer R. Murdoch) says Wilshere is “furious with Jamie Redknapp”.
Jamie Redknapp made the to-deadline opinion that Wilhere would soon lose his place in the Arsenal team.
The Times says Wilshere replied:
“I listen to the people who I work closely with. With all due respect, I think Redknapp should have a little bit of respect and understanding — he was injured more than I was. It’s easy for someone to go on television and say: ‘He should be doing this, he should be doing that.’ But, if you look back, he was injured just as much as I was. Maybe more than I was. And he was never injured at my age as well. It takes a lot of mental strength to come back. I don’t need that. I listen to people like the boss here and Gary Neville, people who talk a lot of sense and can help me with my game. I’ll take criticism, it’s part and parcel of football. But when it’s just reckless and aggressive, I don’t listen.”
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Manchester United Balls: Louis Van Gaal Knew Arturo Vidal Was About To Be Injured
ARTUO Vidal has a bad knee. The man Manchester United chased all summer has a bad knee. We know this because the Daily Mail says Vidal has a bad knee.
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Posted: 5th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal And Manchester United Make Top Secret Moves For Barcelona’s Marco Reus
TRANSFER Balls: Is Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus heading to Arsenal to Manchester United? Or what about Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid?
The IB Times’Eduardo Fernandez-Abascal reports:
Real Madrid have secured first refusal on Arsenal and Manchester United target Marco Reus next summer, according to reports in Spain. The German international’s future at Borussia Dortmund has been questioned in recent weeks after it was revealed he had a special release clause in his contract which allows him to leave the team in summer 2015 for as little as £25m ($15m, €18.9m) [sic].
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Posted: 5th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Sports | Comments (2)
Leicester City Balls: Cambiasso And Upson Are Team’s Best Players This Season
FOOTBALL Balls looks at Arash Hekmat’s work for the Daily Mirror. He wants to praise Leicester City:
Leicester City have enjoyed an impressive start to the new campaign despite a run of tough fixtures, holding Everton and Arsenal to draws at the King Power Stadium.
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Posted: 5th, September 2014 | In: Sports | Comment (1)
Manchester United Balls: The Worst Daily Mail Article Ever
ON the subject of Manchester United’s loan deal for Monaco’s Radamel Falcao, the Daily Mail’s Jeff Powell is luminous with rage.
Now we have reached the scandalous point at which clubs the size of United are allowed to borrow leading players for a season or so, then why not for one match?
Answer: Because the rules forbid it, Jeff.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben, Thiago Silva, and Neymar are among those who have hinted that Old Trafford would be their preferred destination should they ever appear in the Premier League, one day. The way the transfer mania is going it could happen for all of them, for just one day each.
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Posted: 5th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: You’ll Never Believe Who Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Yeovil And Manchester United Didn’t Bid For
TRANSFER Balls: Did Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs or Yeovil (did we leave any out?) bid for Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar? The Daily Express has a scoop:
No Arsenal, Liverpool or Tottenham bid for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Yes. The Express saays that no club bid for Huntelaar. Yeah, not even Bounemouth made a cheeky bid.
Ben Jefferson spells out the facts:
This is the same Ben Jefferson who told Express readers that Liverpool and Araenal were going to war for the Dutchman:
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Posted: 5th, September 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Harry Redknapp Says England Should Play Leyton Orient
LAST night England defeated the mighty Norway 1-0 at a half-empty Wembley. It was dire. But such is often the way of so-called friendly matches, which are just pre-seaon warm-ups for the more comptitive fixtures. Writing in the Sun, Harry Redknapp, the media’s pick to be England manger before Roy Hodgson got the job, asks rhetorically:
What possible value is there in a total non-event against the worst Norway team we have seen for years”
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Newcastle United Balls: PSG ‘s New Line of Crisps Features A ‘Yohan Kebab’ Flavour
NEWCASTLE United marketing department hang your heads in shame. PSG have luanched a new line of crisps and snacks with an actual ‘Yohan Kebab’ flavour, named in honour of former Magpie Yohan Cabaye.
And, of course, the team’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic tastes of cheese…
Thiago Silva is the embodiment of salty petals.
Manchester United Balls: Louis Van Gaal Signed Arturo Vidal For £45m
THE Daily Star says Arturo Vidal is “all smiles despite missing out on Manchester United move”. The inference is that the Chilean star is putting a brave face on things having missed playing for Manchester United. Although he never did say he wanted to leave Juventus. And United manager Louis Van Gaal never did say he wanted the player.
In another of today’s Manchester United stories, the Star tells its readers:
THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY: Why Man Utd and Chelsea missed out on Juventus duo Vidal and Pogba
Well, Manchester United didn’t get Vidal becasue…
…Juve were demanding £40m for the 27-year-old midfielder, a fee United refused to meet.
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Posted: 4th, September 2014 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment (1)
