• Press refresh or hit auto-update for the latest
• Email evan.fanning.casual@guardian.co.uk
• Or leave your comments below the line
• Keep up with all today's breaking news here
Just in case you thought that Sir Alex Ferguson "having a word" with Ashley Young about his diving was all good news, it's not, because the Manchester United has used the reprimand as an excuse to highlight the occasions his side should have had penalties this season. Interestingly he does this by highlighting the fact that they didn't complain at the time. A complaint wrapped up in a non-complaint. That's why he's the best in the business. "We didn't get one against Wigan during the week. We didn't scream from the rooftops about it. It happens," he said. "We got one given against us for Newcastle, we didn't scream about that either. You get bad decisions and good ones. Believe me, it does even itself out."
More on footballers' musical choices - my own take is that they are bad. I don't care what is it they are listening to, I know it's bad. Here's Matt Dony: "Unfortunately, Ryan Dunne, hip-hop has undervalued itself over the last decade and a half. What was once described as 'the black CNN' has diluted itself with its ubiquitousness and intolerance. Yes, there are still credible, socially conscious artists like Jay-Z making intimately more interesting music than Scouting For Girls, but there are far, far too many artists cynically spitting hateful rhymes because they know it'll sell in suburban America. The fact that so many footballers choose these artists is indicative, in part, of the standard level of education afforded to an average British player (below the level of their European counterparts), and an inability to see past the cynicism. Maybe they're trying to claim an 'exciting' culture for themselves, as they live sheltered, safe lives with wages their peers can only dream of. It's a sweeping generalisation, but largely true." Interestingly he signs this "Matt Dony out!" Maybe the "Steve Kean out" chants we've heard from Blackburn fans all season are merely a nod towards the days when old Keano moonlighted as a hip-hop artist? Probably not.
Sky Sports News reckon we're "approaching the business end of the season." Goddamnit if this isn't the business end of the season then when is it? What are we waiting for? A quick glance below the line sees a complaint - what else? - from EnidBlytonProdigy who writes: "No mention of the play-offs Evan! Cheltenham away at Crewe tomorrow in a six pointer. A trip to the new Wembley would be a nice reward to go with recent trips to the Millennium and the old Wembley, just before it was demolished." Well that's today's mention of anything outside the Greatest League the World Has Ever Seen. Ever. And We Mean Ever. Don't Bother Asking Your Parents What It Was Like Before. Trust Us. It Wasn't As Good otherwise known as the Barclays Premier League taken care of. Thanks EnidBlytonProdigy.
The massive, massive Paul Pogba news has been dominating discussion. Now Matt Dony has stuck his oar in: "Well, I've been (grudgingly) backing United for the title all along, but now I find out they face four games without Pogba on (or near) the bench, I just can't see how they can do it."
Note to any potential live blog or MBM writers: Don't give Ryan Dunne an opening to talk about hip-hop. Unfortunately I walked into this one: "Come now Evan," he writes, "aren't footballers famous for listening to hip-hop, a genre often undervalued for reasons other than its intrinsic merits or lack of same (analogous perhaps to the sniffy classism aimed footballer's way; as Simon Barnes has pointed out, footballer's wages are always given in "weekly" amounts as that's how those in e.g manual labour are paid, even though it's pretty unlikely that millionaire players are being handed envelopes of cash every Friday)? Tim Lovejoy - surely, despite the recent worrying, Sith lord style rise of Piers Morgan - representative of the worst kind of football fan, famously had a pop at footballer for not listening to the music that "everybody else" listens to - by which he meant bland indie p*sh. Give me Jay-Z over Scouting for Girls any day. Phil Collins still sucks tho. And, talking of headphones, did anybody else notice that Ashley Cole has swapped the stereotypical footballer Beats by Dre for 50's, presumably because they're closer to Chelsea blue? And people say Ash isn't loyal!"
In light of absolutely nothing happening I may as well bring you the weekend's Premier League fixtures in full.
Saturday's games
12:45 Arsenal v Chelsea
15:00 Fulham v Wigan Athletic
15:00 Aston Villa v Sunderland
15:00 Newcastle United v Stoke City
15:00 Blackburn Rovers v Norwich City
15:00 Bolton Wanderers v Swansea City
17:30 QPR v Tottenham Hotspur
Sunday's games
12:30 Manchester United v Everton
16:00 Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion
16:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City
Below the line. Blueflag wonders: "I was wondering who is likely to "benefit" most from the Arsenal-Chelsea & Barca-RM games tomorrow in terms of the game on Tuesday? The only slight advantage I see for Chelsea is that they will get about 4 hours more rest." Can such marginal amounts of rest really make a difference? Surely at the highest level of sport more telling factors come into play than four extra hours of sitting in a hotel room listening to insufferable music on over-sized headphones?
It's all happening at Manchester United this morning. Hot on the heels of the Anderson and Paul Pogba injury updates comes the news that Alex Ferguson has "had a word" with Ashley Young about the winger's theatrical approach to being tackled. "I have had a word with Ashley," said Ferguson. "He understands where we are coming from. Hopefully it makes a difference."
If you were wondering what the European press reaction has been to the midweek Champions League defeats for Real Madrid and Barcelona then wonder no more. Here is James Richardson's round-up.
Never let it be said that we don't hit the ground running. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that midfielders Anderson and Paul Pogba have been ruled out for the rest of the season with hamstring and ankle injuries respectively."Anderson is not going to play again this season and Paul got injured in Monday and he is out for the season," said Ferguson. "Ruled out for the season" is an very dramatic way of saying "missing the next four games", isn't it? Still, it's factually correct, and that's what we deal in here. Real, honest to God facts. Like these ones here.
Good morning. What a week it's been for the greatest league the world has ever seen, eh? After Barcelona were sent packing on a cold, wet Wednesday in London we can now look ahead to the resumption of Premier League fixtures with a mindset as blissfully shut-off to the outside world as if it was 24 November 1953 all over again. Whatever is going on elsewhere on the continent it can't possibly be as exciting as the race for the Champions League spot where, in theory at least, four teams - Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea - compete for two places.
All four are in action on Saturday as Arsenal host Chelsea in the early kick off while Tottenham travel across London to Loftus Road in the evening game. Newcastle host Stoke City at 3pm.
Then there is the small matter of the title race - Manchester United can re-open an eight-point gap over Manchester City if they beat Everton in Sunday's early game, while City face Wolves at Molineux late that afternoon.
Over the course of the day you can find everything you need to know ahead of all those fixtures - and anything whatsoever to do with the relegation battle - and more, so very much more, right here. Oh, and Barcelona and Real Madrid play tomorrow in La Liga. We may find time to mention that. Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
