Outside the Box – Football on TV: No handshake for Evra and no love lost between the partisan pundits at Sky

Think about this for a second. How many times do you think you have seen Luis Suarez’s hand this weekend? Ten times? Twenty? A hundred? I’m sure I’ve seen his wandering hand more than I’ve seen my own two in the past 48 hours, such has been the swirling media-frenzy since he refused to settle his di...

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Predict the Premier League: Portsmouth bring the title race to life

Portsmouth may be in the middle of another financial crisis but that hasnt stopped our Pompey Expert from Australia, Peter Rendle, closing the gap on Blackpools Phil Trow at the top. Mr Rendles points haul over the past two weeks has seen him move up to second place, one point ahead of Birminghams ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Serious lessons to learn from Fashanu’s footballing family

I’m fairly certain we can all agree that football has its fair share of problems. If it is not the shady transfer dealings of murky agent types skulking around the bins at Tottenham’s training ground, it is the ignorant grunts of ill-informed morons as they boo a man purely for being the brother of ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A prosperous week for Liverpool in the cups but off the field is a different story

The days leading up to the weekend’s FA Cup Fourth Round ties were not particularly pleasant for many football fans, a week in which the unseemly and murky face of football was glaringly apparent. Many column inches were devoted to the tax-evasion trial of Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, as well as th...

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Predict the Premier League: Blackpool's lead is coming under real scrutiny

A few weeks ago it looked as though Blackpools Phil Trow was going to erase last seasons heartache of just missing out on the Predict the Premier League title by having this one wrapped up by Christmas. The Seasider had stormed to the top of the pile and nobody ever looked like catching him. Howeve...

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Predict the Premier League: Poor week for the experts

There were 30 points up for grabs this past weekend in the Predictions League but not even one single pundit could muster even a quarter of that figure. Chelsea, Liverpool, Fulham and West Brom were the biggest coupon busters as the Blues drew a blank at Norwich, Liverpool were thrashed by Bolton,...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Confusion reigns at City as Coleman fluffs his lines

Have you played Football Manager 2012? You may wonder how a game brimming with data, facts and incalculable statistics comes to contain such a dearth of information. Well, in the early stages of the games development, some spotty oik is charged with the task of finding someone close to each of the 7...

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Predict the Premier League: Birmingham and Portsmouth close in on leaders Blackpool

Blackpool have led the Predict the Premier League Experts section for most of the season, but is the pressure of leading the title race starting to get to Seasider Phil Trow? The Tangerines have seen their lead at the top cut to just three points, as Birminghams Steve Coulter and Portsmouths Peter...

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Predict the Premier League: Birmingham and West Ham toast successful week

Birmingham and West Ham United are riding high in the Championship and Steve Coulter and Mitch Waddon have done their teams proud by recording the joint highest scores of the week. Blues fans Steve got his points tally courtesy of four perfect score predictions and three correct outcomes - the same...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: An incident-packed week at the BBC leaves Savage short of support and Lineker lost for words

They say a week in football is a long time and it can certainly be said that there was enough controversy, incident and wonder crammed into the last seven days of football to keep Joey Barton’s Twitter account going for years. The fallout from the Manchester derby, the return of Scholes and Henry, t...

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Racism is in the spotlight but what is being done to tackle homophobia?

The FA stamped down on Luis Suarez’s racism towards Patrice Evra. And it’s quite right that they did, isn’t it? For when we look back into the past, and certainly in football’s past, we see things that are shockingly vile. In the seventies and part of the eighties, black footballers were subjected ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Manchester disunited but the magic of the FA Cup is alive and well

The much talked about magic of the FA Cup was present in abundance this Sunday during the huge third round Manchester showdown, in fact there was more magic contained in the 90 minutes than during a Paul Daniels swingers party. Chris Foy’s card tricks, a disappearing City captain and most mystifying...

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Predict the Premier League: Blackpool are top but Portsmouth are closing in

The festive period produced shocks galore in the Premier League with the leaders Manchester City, the champions Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all losing games they would have expected to have won. Trying to predict the outcome of the games from Boxing Day up to January 5 was as tricky as t...

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Predict the Premier League: Portsmouth and Fulham lead the way

The Christmas and New Year period may now be a distance memory as we get back to work but its a period that Portsmouths Peter Rendle and Fulhams Russell Goldman wont forget in a hurry. Our Portsmouth pundit from the land down under came out on top following a great festive period with a score of 23...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A football overkill but Fabregas’ Barcelona adventure keeps us watching

At the top of this article you will see, if you can get past the crass, self-congratulatory overuse of my own name, that the tagline for this column mentions that there isn’t enough football on the TV. Obviously this pithy line is actually nonsense as there is in fact far too much football clogging ...

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Predict the Premier League: Great Christmas for Rochdale

There were goals aplenty in the Premier League in the run up to Christmas. Manchester United hit Fulham for five, QPR and Sunderland and Newcastle and West Brom played out five-goal thrillers and Aston Villas Albrighton scored the leagues 2,000 goal in the Premier League. However, Rochdales Matt Tur...

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Predict the Premier League: Blackpool stay top but Rochdale are closing in

Blackpools Phil Trow was at the top of the Experts section of the Predictions table at Christmas, a position that traditionally indicates who will be celebrating in May. However, former runaway leader and Rochdale fan Matt Turner is back. His 13-point haul this week has put him back within touching ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Stelling and his merry mates bring festive cheer and genuine fear in the absence of any football

If we boil it down, there are two distinct ways to spend the festive period. You either endure the holiday wallowing in a pit of desperate desolation, alone with no hope of joviality, good tidings or communal kinship. Sat crestfallen in front of Eastenders on Christmas night, nursing a bottle of gin...

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Predict the Premier League: Leicester are on the march

Nigel Pearsons Foxes may have lost at the weekend but Leicester fan Chris Pettitt was a clear winner in the Predict the Premeir League Experts section. The wily old Fox scored 12 points this week to top the weekly table and climb his way up the overall chart. Maximum points were obtained by correct...

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Predict the Premier League: Bad week for Blackpool but they remain on top

Blackpools Phil Trow only managed to record three points this week but he remains 13 points clear of his nearest challenger, Birminghams Steve Coulter. Leicester Citys Chris Pettitt was this weeks big mover, climbing up to third after recording 12 points. Its not so good news for Middlesbroughs Su...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A battle of wits ends in defeat for Worthy’s warhorses, but football marches on

Let’s face it. Our footballing heroes don’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to brainpower and academia do they? A cautionary glance at the post-match interviews every week on Match Of The Day show us superstars struggling to grasp the complexity of questions such as, “How do you feel the ...

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Predict the Premier League: Blackpool stretch their lead at the top

Blackpools Phil Trow has been the Manchester City of the division this season, but, unlike City who were gunned down by Chelsea on Monday, there appears to be no stopping the Seasider. The leader scored 10 points this past week to extend his lead at the top to 18 over his nearest challenger Birming...

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Predict the Premier League: West Ham riding high after Reading debacle

The Premier League results this past weekend resembled a knocking shop . . . there were simply no draws! We had wins for Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Norwich City, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea and Wigan, a number of which were nailed on favourites. Squarefootball edito...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A love-in for O’Neill as marvel Martin ruins Rovers’ day

It was clear at 1pm on Sunday what the overriding theme of the day was going to be on Sky Sports’ Live Super Sunday. Ed Chamberlain, growing more and more comfortably into the role of football anchorman, opened the afternoon’s football coverage by loudly proclaiming, “Sunderland’s new era begins tod...

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Predict the Premier League table - Experts: Blackpool open up a huge gap at the top while Leeds crash to the bottom

Blackpool fans may have been happy at the weekend as they beat Championship rivals Reading 1-0, but Seasider Phil Trow has another reason to celebrate as we head into the festive party season . . . He has now opened up a 13 point lead at the top of the Experts table. Phil, who came agonisingly clos...

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Predict the Premier League table - Experts: Blackpool enjoy another great week

Blackpools Phil Trow has extended his lead at the top of the overall Experts table following another brilliant week for the Seasiders. Phil topped the charts with a score of 12 thanks to two correct scores - QPRs 1-1 draw with West Brom and Wolves 2-1 over Sunderland - and six nailed on results. H...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: The rise and fall of the sprightly Savage is far from a waltz in the park

Do you remember the first time you ever saw Star Wars? That intoxicating and bedazzling rush of pure unadulterated excitement as you sat slack-jawed, unable to wrench your eyes away from all the bright lights, whizzing space ships and questionable acting? And perhaps you also remember the desolate f...

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Predict the Premier League table: Great week for Blackpool and Leicester

Leicester City claimed the three points when Blackpool visited the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night, but Foxes Chris Pettitt and Seasider Phil Trow had to share the points in the Predict the Premier League table this week. Both Chris and Phil recorded the games top score of 12 points each thanks...

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Predict the Premier League table: Blackpool pull away at the top

Blackpools Phil Trow extended his lead at the top of the Experts table this week thanks to an impressive score of 12. The Seasider is now nine points clear of his nearest challenger, Aston Villas Lynette Ranson, although the race for second place is really hotting up with just three points separatin...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A hair-raising spectacle on Saturday turns to sombre reflection on Sunday

Take a look around you. Chances are that if you are reading this in a public place; a library, at your office while you should be working or perhaps even on the Tube, then someone close by is displaying some facial hair that seems to be a little out of place. These moustachioed menfolk are either un...

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Get your Christmas football books here

With Christmas around the corner, attention will be turning the old chore of shopping for the festive period. The dreaded question is about to raise its ugly head. What do I get for the football fan in my life? As usual the great and the good of the football world are telling their story. There ar...

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Predict the Premier League table: Rochdale are back with a bang

Rochdale may be hovering above the drop zone in League One but Dale fan Matt Turner was clear out in front this weekend in the Predict the Premier League table. The one-time leader was back with a bang as he correctly predicted three scores bang on, along with five correct results. Those 14 points h...

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Predict the Premier League table: Blackpool lead the experts but Birmingham and Rochdale are in hot pursuit

Blackpools Phil Trow remains the expert everyone wants to beat, but Birminghams Steve Coulter and Rochdales Matt Turner are breathing right down his neck. Phils points haul of nine this week - the same as Steve - was enough to see the Tangerines stay at the top, but Matts tally of 14 has propelled ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A test of comedy quizzing is passed with help from the inspiring Irish

Ok, before we go any further let me first congratulate the Irish team on their impressive qualification for the European Championships next summer. There was the inevitable party mood for the second leg of the Republic of Ireland v Estonia match last Tuesday and I’m sure there are not many that begr...

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Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Birmingham: What game would you like to erase from your club's history?

I think it is safe to come out from behind the sofa now. The trick and treaters have gone into 12 months of hibernation, giving the nation’s doorbells time to recover. The BBC can put the series of Halloween movies back into cold storage. Just how many were there? As football fans we too have exper...

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Stoke City And Greece: Why Should 'Pretty' Success Matter?

The European Championships 2004. Ah, what a tournament. The Greeks told every single one of us that fairy tales can come true. They defeated France and Portugal along the route to triumph and won a major international tournament for the very first time as rank outsiders. Unfortunately, what came...

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Predict the Premier League: Leeds, Leicester and Rochdale share top spot

Simon Graysons Leeds United beat managerless Leicester at the Walkers Stadium on Sunday in the league but it was honours shared in the Predict the Premier League competition. Leeds fan Phil Bundy and Leicester City fan Chris Pettitt managed to record top scores of 11 points alongside former leader ...

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Premier the Premier League: Blackpool extend their lead over Birmingham and Aberdeen

Blackpool have led the race in the Experts section for a few weeks now and this weekend they extended that lead to four points. Phil Trows tally of 10 points enabled him to put clear distance between Birminghams Steve Coulter and myself. Unfortunately Phil, who has also jointly led the whole compet...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: ITV begin to repay their debt with a feast of Man City delights

It’s the 12th June 2010. Seven thirty-four on a warm summer’s evening. My friends and I are huddled around my television, just as a million more expectant eyes are doing at the same moment up and down the nation. Then pffft … nothing. A moment’s darkness was followed by some guff about Hyundai cars ...

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Predict the Premier League: Blackpool stay top but Birmingham and Aberdeen cut the gap

Blackpool fan Phil Trow may not have too much to shout about at Bloomfield Road this season but he can continue to hold his head high as he remains on top of the Experts table for yet another week. Phil only picked up an average five points this weekend, but that was enough to keep him at the top o...

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Could ex-players as referees ever work?

Ah, referees. Nasty men in black, the forever stern officials of our game, often painted to be rather humourless beings who get out of the house on Sundays to escape their nagging wives and only serve to annoy us. There is a theory, which Roberto Marinez brought up back in January of this year,...

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Predict the Premier League: Double joy for Fulham

Fulham beat Wigan 2-0 at the weekend and it was a double celebration for Fulham foot soldier Russell Goldman. His points tally of 12 was the best of the weekend, four points more than Aberdeens Colin Illingworth and West Ham Uniteds Nigel Telfer. Russell correctly predicted Manchester City and Spu...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A bad week for JT just gets worse and worse as the news hacks attack!

It’s been a bad old week for Chelsea and England captain John Terry hasn’t it? The on-going racism row between Terry and his accuser Anton Ferdinand has been front and back page news since the incident occurred a week ago and the story shows no signs of halting. Like most I have seen the footage...

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Arsenal, Coventry and Leicester: Can a new ground be blamed for a lack of success?

It has been a traumatic decade for followers of Coventry City. The Sky Blues were relegated from the Premier League in 2001 and in the proceeding 10 years the Midlands club have rarely threatened a return to the big time. You could argue that the club’s move to the Ricoh Arena has hindered their pro...

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Manchester United got off lightly: Here's five of the worst results ever

Manchester City rocked the champions at Old Trafford, hitting Fergies men for six, but Hugh Larkin recalls five of the worst beatings of all time. As Chris Pettit reminded us elsewhere on this site - Manchester Citys spectacular 6-1 victory at Old Trafford was the second jaw-dropping scoreline of t...

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Predict the Premier League: West Ham show the Experts how to do it

West Ham climbed to second in the Championship on Monday night with victory at Brighton and it was a double celebration for Hammers fan Mitch Waddon as he was the top pundit in the Predictions League this weekend. The youngster pulled in a remarkable nine points to move within 12 points of the summ...

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Predict the Premier League: Blackpool stay top as Leeds narrow gap at the bottom

Blackpools Phil Trow remains the man to beat in the Experts section. His points haul of five didnt really pull up any trees this weekend, but it was enough to open up a four-point lead over Birminghams Steve Coulter. The former runaway leader, Rochdales Matt Turner, was back in action but could onl...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Mancini’s Manchester magicians spoil the party… and this column

Why always me? This week I was going to talk to you about the light-hearted Sky Sports knockabout quiz Take It Like a Fan. I was armed with reams of faint praise for the show and was readying my keyboard for a glittering review and even a possible recommendation for you all to check it out. But al...

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Can any player, including Messi, be considered 'the greatest'?

Ah, the Champions League. Bringer of drama, stopper of dreamers, platform for Ray Wilkins to say ‘my word’ 50 hundred thousand times. And there are other things that are nearly always discussed, certainly when seeing the two dominant Spanish sides play. The great debate has moved from trying to ...

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Predict the Premier League: Portsmouth show the experts how to do it

Portsmouth may have lost their manager Steve Cotterill to Championship rivals Nottingham Forest but that didnt stop Pompey fan Peter Rendle from topping the Predict the Premier League experts section this weekend. The man from the land down under pulled in 13 points, one more than Birminghams Steve ...

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