England: How long would it take for Redknapp to become a national villain?

The opprobrium levelled Fabio Capello’s way was simply embarrassing. It was an insult to any football fan worth his salt. It was insult to a man who is renowned globally for his managerial skills and it was an insult to a four-year term served and executed far from perfectly, but at least acceptabl...

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England: Who will replace Capello as England boss?

Fabio Capello rocked the football world by walking out on England last night. The fiery Italian was always on a crash course with the FA following their decision to axe John Terry without his permission, but nobody thought the former Milan and Real Madrid boss would quit his £6 million a year job, e...

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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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The England captaincy saga: Did the FA make the right decision? Who will take the armband?

The breaking news last Friday was that John Terry will not be England captain at Euro 2012. After allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, with the case earmarked for July, the FA made the contentious decision to strip the armband from the defender. Evidently, there are several important poin...

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A Scott to be England captain . . . Why Parker is the right man for Fabio

So its official, John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy AGAIN! After previously having the armband removed as a result of his alleged affair with Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend, his latest dethroning comes as a result of the on-going race scandal involving Anton Ferdinand. Stripping T...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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England: The Group May Be Tough But Let's Be Positive!

Ah, the old draw. It was an interesting affair, as it always is. England have managed to avoid the two Groups of Death (which look insanely, absurdly hard) and have found themselves in an easier group than many other nations find themselves in. It is of course not easy, just easier. Sweden, de...

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England: Euro Draw Could Have Been Worse But This Will Not Be A Walk In The Park

Depending on your national orientation, emotions following last Friday’s Euro 2012 group stage draw will have been mixed. If you are Irish, you will presumably be quite gutted that, having qualified for your first major finals in 10 years, perennial powerhouses Spain and Italy were drawn in your gr...

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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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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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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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Beckham Strikes Silverware And Puts The Heat On Stuart Pearce

Who writes your scripts? is the famous comment by Graham Gooch about Ian Bothams legendary ability to take centre stage throughout his career. Something similar applies to David Beckham and he gave another example on Sunday by helping LA Galaxy win the MLS play-off final. This is probably the Engla...

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England: What Happens If Capello Loses Joe Hart?

The friendly against Sweden gave Fabio Capello a lot of useful information about players like Kyle Walker and Jack Rodwell, but he didnt learn a great deal about his resources in one key position - the goalkeeper role. Scott Carson came out of the international wilderness for the second half and di...

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England beat the World Champions Spain but what have they actually learned from the game?

After the dust has settled and the benefit of hindsight has reared its head, any number of positives can be taken from England defeating Spain on Saturday. Joleon Lescott put in a determined, organised performance; Scott Parker once again laid down his claim to be a starting midfielder in next y...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Spain conquered, but Fabio gets a reality check from a Spurs and England legend

I don’t know if you noticed but the greatest footballing nation of recent years popped over during the weekend. You could quite legitimately be forgiven for letting it pass you by though, as the life of an England supporter over recent times has left the vast majority of us bare husks, bereft of hop...

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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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Bent, Defoe, Welbeck, Sturridge or Zamora: Who should fill Rooney's boots against Spain?

So put Rooney in bubble wrap, cos without him were pretty crap. Thats a line taken from a song made by my mates about last years World Cup. Unfortunately, as brilliant as the song was, it never made the charts, but despite this it encapsulated the feelings of the nation towards our talismanic strik...

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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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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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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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Team of the Week and Weekend Wonders: Week eight

Welcome back, Premier League! After a thoroughly entertaining international break we were treated to even more spectacular football this past weekend, with a total of 32 goals being scored across the 10 fixtures. And once again I am on hand to discuss the controversies, the madness, and the sheer br...

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England: The Upward Rise Of Tottenham's Scott Parker

Summer of 2010 and Fabo Capello trims a 30-man training group to the 23players heading for the World Cup in South Africa. Among those chopped is West Ham midfielder Scott Parker, who had surprisingly few chances to press his case during Capellos pre World Cup warm-up games. In June 2010 it appeared...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Rooney and Savage liven up the tedious break in play

There are not many things that evoke a true hatred and frustration in my usually dreary and featureless disposition, in fact there are only three: anybody who thinks the enjoyment of a night out is heightened by the commencement of dancing, any television programme in which the words “Piers” and ...

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Scotland: Can Levein’s men shock the world champions Spain?

Scotland’s narrow win over Liechtenstein, combined with Spain’s 2-0 win over the Czech Republic, has given Craig Levein’s men a glimmer of hope of qualifying for their first major tournament since France 98. All they need to do is better what the Czechs do against Lithunia. Unfortunately their oppon...

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England: Does anyone know what is wrong with England?

Fabio Capellos England qualified for Euro 2012 last night with a point at Montenegro. Despite Wayne Rooneys red card and blowing a two goal lead, England fans will be travelling to Poland and Ukraine in mass in the summer. But in the build-up to the game the same tired questions were being asked ag...

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England: Would you welcome Arsene Wenger as England manager?

England take on the might of Montenegro tonight in a game that could seal their place at Euro 2012, however most of the talk building up to the match has been about who will follow in the footsteps of the Italian Fabio Capello after the tournament in Poland and Ukraine. Will it be everyone’s favouri...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Tevez, tantrums and Trigger? The pundits pull no punches when it comes to Carlos the Jackal

By the time this weekend came around I, like most, was sick to death of hearing about Carlos Tevez this, Carlos Tevez that, suspensions, fines, lip-readers, caveman, Aleksandar Kolarov, Argentina, Mancini. The whole overblown schism engulfed the country’s consciousness like some toxic mist and re...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Morning Glory could soon be a thing of the past for the guys at Soccer AM

Morning. The time of day when we, as human beings, fall into two distinct categories. On one hand you may be an enterprising, full-blooded marauder, charging about here there and everywhere with an unbounded vitality and zest for adventure. Alternatively, you might be a feckless layabout. Those of u...

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Squarefootball's Weekend Wonders in the Premier League

In a change to our regularly scheduled programming, our Team of the Week article has been revamped to become this new weekly fixture. Each week I, Mitch Waddon, will look through the best and the worst of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures in the hope to provide some insight into our favourite ga...

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Top 10 bizarre injuries to footballers

Swansea City’s vice-captain Alan Tate is set to miss most of the Swans’ debut season in Premier League after breaking his leg in a freak golfing accident. The versatile defender was a passenger in a golf buggy that lost control and Tate will have to watch the majority of the club’s rollercoaster adv...

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Who will replace Capello as the next England manager?

Fabio Capello has all but guided England to Euro 2012, but the Italian has stated that he will not stay on as England boss after the tournament – even if Rooney and co managed to win it. So who will take over from the former AC Milan boss next summer? Here is a look at the main runners and riders i...

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Give me Port Vale and Peterborough over England any day

What did you do last Saturday? Maybe you went shopping with the missus, did some DIY or watched some ropey film on ITV. If you follow a club in the Premier League or Championship it would not have involved watching your favourites in action, leaving the field clear for clubs in League One and Two. ...

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Who's Going To Be At Euro 2012?

The qualifying groups for Euro 2012 are reaching the business end and its becoming a little clearer which players will be in Poland and Ukraine and which ones will be spending extra time on the beach. Places Booked As usual Germany have headed the way in qualification. Aside from a sticky period a...

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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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Squarefootball's Fantasy football invitation

There is less than two weeks to go until the start of the 2011/12 Premier League season and time is running out for you to enter the Squarefootball fantasy football competition. Last season more than 100 teams competed for the Squarefootball title, which was won by P Oxenby and his team FC Poxo. He...

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What five things would you do before the season starts?

Isn’t it normally New Years Eve when you get a top 100 favourite moments of the year or top 500 best movie credits or some other poor excuse for a programme? Well I thought I would also use it as a poor excuse for an article, but rather than boring you all with a list consisting of 100 or more items...

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Football in 3D - A new risk to average attendances?

The world has evolved and developed a lot since the 1950s with the invention, evolution and development of everything from bladeless fans to electric cars and high definition broadcasts and beyond, but what have the boffins responsible for 3D been doing for 60 years since its inception? 3D today i...

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Would you like to write for Squarefootball?

Do you live, breathe and sleep football? Do you have a passion for writing and want your views to be read by a potential audience of millions? Then we at Squarefootball Towers would love to hear from you. Whether you follow Aberdeen or Accrington Stanley, West Ham United or Wolfsburg, we can offer ...

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England's penalty woe continues - Time to call on Le Tiss

Another major tournament for England ends by crashing out on penalties. Hope Powell’s England women’s team joined their male counterparts in failing to progress from the spot yesterday afternoon in the world cup to France. But when will England end their penalty hell? The men’s senior side have gon...

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England: Terry v Ferdinand – Who should be England captain?

You can never have too many leaders on the pitch at any one time, but Fabio Capello’s recent revelations in the Press that he may give John Terry back the armband from Rio Ferdinand may well destroy the harmony in the England camp. Terry was stripped of the captaincy 12 months ago following revelat...

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What next for Man City’s peripherals?

Although the score line reflects otherwise, Manchester City’s latest 1-0 victory against Bolton proves that Roberto Mancini is finally allowing expansive football to seep through their ultra-defensive exterior, but it’s still very much work in progress. The affluent City owners will certainly sanct...

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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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Villa fans should beware of 'next big thing'...

An integral part of Arsenal’s 2003-04 invincible set-up has returned to England as Gerard Houllier attempts to stabilise his new squad, and if any Villa fans are uncertain of Houllier’s 37-year-old coup they should glance back ten years or so for comfort. Robert Pires may be in his twilight but he ...

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Tottenham reach end of ‘that’ ten year cycle…

Bournemouth F.C. escaped dropping out of the football league in 1993, the man responsible for this was Harry Redknapp. This same squad also shocked Manchester Utd in the FA cup that season by converting the holders into also-rans. Tottenham were considered more a cup team before Redknapp took charg...

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