Outside the Box – Football on TV: Adrian Chiles and The FA Cup try, and ultimately fail to make the Wimbledons common

We are taught from a very young age that all things essentially fall into one of two categories; good or bad; right or wrong; noble or evil; Gary Lineker or Joey Barton. Except the subtleties, the shades of grey that only creep into our ethics as adulthood tightens its relentless grip, prove...

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Arsenal, Spurs or Everton - Where will Joey Barton end up?

We can all remember the kid at school who would not take no for answer, who would run-a-muck among the majority of teachers who were too scared to discipline them. Without the appropriate discipline, self-imposed or not, things can quickly spiral out of control. We’ve seen this a lot in football, le...

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Prem Relegation Battle: Could history repeat?

Not since the 2001/02 season have all three promoted sides from the Championship – or indeed the old First Division - survived the following year playing with the big-boys. So, nearly a decade-on could history repeat? Newcastle have adapted the better out of the trio and don’t look out of place in ...

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West Ham United: Can Grant turn the Hammers’ fortunes around?

Avram Grant has spent the majority of 2010 at the foot of the Premier League table. He got relegated with Portsmouth last season and, unless there is a significant change of fortunes at the Boleyn Ground, he is on course to take West Ham United down too. If the Press is to be believed, Saturday’s cr...

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Mancini leads the way in the Premier League sack race

Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp was livid after his side’s midweek draw with Sunderland. However, it had nothing to do with the lack of commitment or effort from his players ‑ he thought they were terrific ‑ it was the fans’ decision to boo them off that enraged the Spurs chief so much. And yo...

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West Ham United: Is Avram Grant the right man for the Hammers?

It was one of football’s worst kept secrets but this morning (June 3) former Chelsea and Portsmouth boss Avram Grant was officially unveiled as the new manager of West Ham United. The 55-year-old Israeli penned a four-year contract with the club, subject to a work permit, to replace Gianfranco Zol...

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Chelsea: Who’ll Take Over From Grant?

Three moments from Avram Grant’s eight months at Chelsea stand out. The first was the sight of him a passive by-stander as John Terry gave the motivational talk to the team ahead of extra-time against Tottenham in the League Cup final, the second was the crowd telling him that he didn’t know what he...

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