The shortest reigns in football management

With Mark Hughes on the verge of becoming Stoke Citys next boss, Jose Mourinho set to return to Chelsea and Manchester City having agreed a verbal deal for Malagas Manuel Pellegrini, all three of them will be hoping for a long stay in English football. However, Hughes has already had his first Hugh...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Portsmouth make late surge for the title

Portsmouth may be preparing for life in League Two but Pompey fan Peter Rendle still has a chance of ending the season with silverware following his points haul in our Predict the Premier League competition. Mr Rendle has pulled in an impressive 34 points to top the weekly chart and goes into the f...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Can Wolves or Portsmouth beat the boss to the title?

The Premier League season comes to an end this weekend and Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin already has one hand on our coveted Predict the Premier League trophy. Mr Melvin has been the man to catch all season and goes into the weekend a whopping 18 points clear of his nearest rival, Wolves fan C...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Bruce goes through Hull as the Championship season ends in drama

There are not many days in the course of the long football season that the glitzy farce of the Premier League is shuffled into the background like an ugly sister at a wedding. Usually, as the weekend rolls around every pundit, fan and newscaster is eagerly sharing their thoughts on Van Persie...

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The View Outside The Premier League: Hull City enjoy the rollercoaster but Peterborough lose out in musical chairs

To call it high drama doesnt even do justice to the last day of the Championship. All three major issues - promotion, play-offs and relegation went to the last minute. At the KC Stadium Hull City made sure they did it the hardest of hard ways before finding a way back to the Premier League. Going...

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The View Outside The Premier League: Barnsley battle on but it's over for Barnet and Aldershot

Barnsley comprehensively dumped on Hull Citys promotion party and gave themselves an excellent chance of beating the drop to League One - but later in the day Peterborough United also bagged three points to join the South Yorkshire side on 54 points and set up a nail-biting final day. It was the ...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: West Ham and Bolton are on the up

West Ham United beat Wigan 2-0 at the weekend to end any fears of slipping through the Premier League trapdoor and it was a double celebration for Hammers fan Mitch Waddon. Not only did our man toast the Irons win on the pitch and make a cameo appearance on Soccer AM, he has also been our top pundit...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Joy for Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers may have a battle on their hands to stay in the Championship this season but Wolves fan Chris Cox - and former Predict the Premier League winner - could end the campaign with something to celebrate as he is in second place and has moved nine points clear of Portsmouth in our ...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Birmingham City and Leicester City are on the up

Birmingham City are on course to finish in the top half of the table under Lee Clark and the Blues fans are optimistically looking forward to the 2013/14 season. Off the pitch its been a good time for the Bluenoses too, especially Squarefootballs Steve Coulter, who has been our top Expert over the ...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Aberdeen are out of the bottom three

Did you that Aberdeen - the only Scottish club to have won two European trophies - have not won a major piece of silverware since beating Dundee in the Coca-Cola Cup final way back in 1995? The Dandy Dons have been in the doldrums far too long but maybe the arrival of Derek McInnes will galvanise th...

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The Championship: Who's going up and who's going down?

The Championship is arguably the toughest football league in the world. Anyone can beat anyone on their day and a couple of wins can take you from relegation fodder to play-off material. There are only eight more games of this madness left before the crazy world of the play-offs get under way, so le...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Good times for Portsmouth

First let me apologise for the lateness of this update - its been over a month - but theres only so many hours in a day and this guy has only just discovered the wonders of Homeland and Claire Danes! So without further ado, lets get cracking. Liverpool 5 Swansea City 0 Liverpool gave Swansea Cit...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Blackburn, Portsmouth and Wolves in battle for second

Manchester United have blown away the rest of the Premier League to all but wrap up the title in March and so has Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin in our Predict the Premier League competition. Our leader is a whopping 33 points clear of his nearest challengers, Portsmouths Peter Rendle and Wolv...

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Predict the Premier League: Liverpool are on top of the pile

Its been almost a month since the scores for Squarefootballs Predict the Premier League were last updated, so without further ado lets get cracking. Liverpool 5 Swansea City 0 The Reds were braced for a tough game against the Capital One Cup finalists, but Michael Laudrups mind was already focused...

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The View Outside The Premier League: Late show saves Wolves and it's a League Two logjam

Saturdays game with Bristol City was a home encounter that Wolves simply couldnt afford to lose. Forget the term six pointer- everything was on the line in this one and after putting the Molineux fans through the wringer, the team scraped the victory. Its a measure of their plight that even with ...

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Championship: Can Wolves beat the drop?

Of all the clubs in the Premier and Football Leagues none is sitting in a more surprising position that Wolverhampton Wanderers. Last season Wolves were a Premier League outfit - in two months time they may well be plying their trade in League One. For Molineux fans of a certain age this is a parti...

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Classic League Cup Finals: Wolves 1 Nottingham Forest 0 1980

Wolves are currently staring consecutive relegations in the face, but lets look back at some happier times as we build up to this weekends Capital One Cup Final between Bradford City and Swansea City. The Molineux side took on Brian Cloughs legendary Nottingham Forest side, but came out on top than...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Schmeichel talks us through United’s trip to Madrid while Piers talks down to Owen

For me this past weekend’s football was filled to the brim with acute annoyances and irksome irritations. To start with it was FA Cup Fifth Round and all the best games were on ESPN, and as I’m still too cheap to upgrade it means I had to go without. On top of that, my beloved Leicester didn’...

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Why Royal Mail's Dream Team fails to deliver the goods

Royal Mail has assembled its Home Nations dream team to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Football Association. Legends of the game like Bobby Moore, George Best and Denis Law all feature in the special stamp collection, but eyebrows have been raised at some of the names who have missed out. H...

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QPR, Wigan, Villa, Reading or Southampton - who are going down?

The battle to beat the drop is really hotting up. With the promise of extra millions for clubs in the Premier League next season due to the new TV deals coming into play everyone is desperate to stay in the top flight. QPR, Wigan, Aston Villa, Reading and Southampton all picked up vital points at...

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The View Outside The Premier League: Concern builds at Nottingham Forest and Wolves but Sheffield Wednesday are buoyant

Nottingham Forest took a big gamble when they ejected Sean ODriscoll with the club on the edge of the play-offs and playing in a settled style - and Saturdays defeat by Birmingham City will have added to the concerns of Forest fans. The club are now in 11th spot and the 2-1 defeat at St Andrews c...

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Arsenal, Norwich, Liverpool, Newcastle: The top 10 FA Cup giant killings of all-time

Luton Town became the first non-league club in 24 years to beat a top flight side on Saturday as the Hatters beat Premier League Norwich City 1-0 at Carrow Road. Paul Buckles men rode their luck against the Canaries, but super sub Scott Rendell wrote his name in FA Cup folklore with a winner 10 mi...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Blackburn and Wolves narrow the gap on leader

Blackburn Rovers Terry Kennedy and Wolverhampton Wanderers fan Chris Cox have their sights on Predict the Premier League silverware and the current leader, Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin, will be looking nervously over his shouder. Both Mr Kennedy and Mr Cox cut the gap on Mr Melvin this past...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Squarefootball chief increases lead at the top

The festive period was jammed packed with football and this is the first update of our Predict the Premier League Experts table of 2013. We may be in a new year, but its the same old story at the top of our table, although there are changes at the other end. Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin rema...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Portsmouth get 2013 off to a flying start

2012 was another painful year for Portsmouth but hopefully they will follow Peter Rendles example in 2013 and not Dan Taylors. Mr Rendle was our top pundit over the festive period, picking up 39 points from a possible 117, to climb into the top four. It wasnt such good news for his fellow Pompey fo...

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Wolves: Will Saunders give the Molineux men teeth?

Its been a turbulent 12 months for the famous team in gold and black. On Monday Dean Saundersbecame Wolverhampton Wanderers fourth manager in a year. The bubbly Welshman faces a stiff task at Molineux.Wolves are 18th in the Championship and were dumped out of the FA Cup by Blue Square Premier ...

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The View Outside The Premier League - Hatters hammer Wolves and Wimbledon climb off the bottom

There was a heavily truncated league programme as the third round of the FA Cup occupied centre stage. Pride of place from Saturdays results went to Luton Town - semi-finalists in the 80s - who dumped out Wolverhampton Wanderers. Lutons win signalled the end of Stale Solbakkens unhappy time at ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Big Sam Hammers home his credentials as the FA Cup heralds Joe’s return

“On CV, who is there to beat me?” was the question. “Sir Alex?” came the reply. “Arsene; perhaps Rafa?” Not the bullish claims of Mourinho as you might expect. Not the mad rantings of Neil Warnock either. No these were the lofty claims of Mike Bassett… erm, sorry Sam Allardyce on Saturday ev...

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Whose name is on the FA Cup? Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man United?

The FA Cup Third Round gets under way this weekend and everyone is dreaming of Wembley. Even the big boys, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man United and Spurs will all be looking forward to a sunny day under the arch in May. But who will win the FA Cup this season? Chelsea are the current ...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Festive joy for Squarefootball chief, Wolves and Aberdeen

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City ensured there were points to be had this past weekend, but the Gunners and Citys slender wins, combined with Liverpool and Chelseas goalfest, meant maximum points were hard to get. Here is a rundown of who scored what on the weekend of December 22/23....

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Blackburn fall further behind the leader

The title race for our Predict the Premier League title was a two-horse one until recently. Ever since Blackburn hit the top spot the wheels have come off of Terry Kennedys juggernaut. As we prepare for Christmas dinner, Squarefootballs Antony Melvinis eight points clear. At the bottom, Aberdeens C...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Squarefootball chief extends lead over Blackburn

Squarefootballs Antony Melvin has extended his lead at the top of the Experts Predict the Premier League table to five points, but with a hectic festive period just around the corner anything could happen and Blackburns Terry Kennedy or Squarefootballs Hugh Larkin could easily be top by the time we ...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Great week for Leicester City

Leicester City were top dogs in the Experts section of our Predict the Premier League competition in Game Week 16. Chris Pettitt, our hilarious TV critic, was the only pundit to pick up double figures to top our weekly chart. His haul included two correct scores and four correct outcomes. Mr Pettit...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Blackburn, Leicester and Wolves hit form

We have three game weeks to run through here so lets not waste any time. Week 13 Sunderland v West Brom The Baggies beat Martin ONeills men at the Stadium of Light 2-4. At the time it moved them up to third. Eight of our experts expected an away win, but nobody thought it would be such a high s...

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Predict the Premier League - Experts: Blackburn are toppled and Aberdeen are off the bottom

Its been a few weeks since I had the opportunity to update the Predict the Premier League table and a lot has changed. For a start Blackburns Terry Kennedy has been replaced at the top by his long-term rival, Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin. Mr Kennedy and Mr Melvin have been the Manchester Uni...

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Predict the Premier League - the Experts: Aberdeen and West Ham top the table

The Premier League threw up a number of shock results at the weekend. Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton were all fancied for wins on the road at West Brom, Norwich and Reading but the big boys all left their destinations empty-handed. Even Fulham, who had only lost at home twice during 2012, ...

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Predict the Premier League - the Experts: Blackburn are still the team to beat

It was a poor weekend for points in the Predict the Premier League competition. Hot favourites like Chelsea, Everton, Fulham and Manchester United all let our pundits down following their shock defeats. So much so that our highest scorers this week were Aberdeens Colin Illingworth and West Hams Nige...

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The View Outside The Premier League: Wolves On The Slide And Hartlepool Fall Flat

Watford beat Wolves 2-1 on Saturday to send the visitors down to 16th place in the table and the Midlanders have now gone seven matches without a victory. This bad run has revived all the concerns about Stale Solbakkens appointment and the loss of key players as the campaign started. There wasnt ...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Birmingham, Portsmouth, West Ham and Wolves are perfect 10s

Cast your mind back to last weekend. Arsenal were left frustrated at home by Fulham, Manchester United came back from two down to beat Aston Villa, City beat Spurs, Newcastle United were beaten at home by West Ham United and Chelsea were held by Liverpool. Some of those results proved beneficial to ...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Gap closing on Blackburn Rovers

At one stage it looked as though our Predict the Premier League title race was going to be a two-horse affair. Blackburn Rovers Terry Kennedy and Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin were running away with it. However, we now have a new faction in the mix, Squarefootballs Hugh Larkin. Mr Larkin has ...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Blackburn's lead narrows

Blackburns Terry Kennedy stormed to the top of the table last week but all of that excitement must have gone to his head as he could only manage four points this week. This has allowed former leader and Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin to close the gap to just one point. This week belongs to Squ...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Squarefootball ace and Pompey top the bill

Squarefootballs Hugh Larkin was our top pundit this week, with a whopping 12 points, one point more than Portsmouths Peter Rendle. Mr Larkin, who is our expert on all things outside of the Premier League, managed to predict four games spot on to storm into the top three of the overall table. In a w...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: A feelgood Focus for Muamba is the highlight of the BBC’s wonky weekend of football

As ever it was a big weekend in the Barclays Premier League. This after another extraordinary week in football with those League Cup games ending in rugby scores, referees accused of all kinds of ungodly crimes, Andrey Arshavin actually being of some use, and even Ashley Cole managing to go ...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Blackburn and Leicester on top

Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City are fighting it out to win promotion from the Championship but both Terry Kennedy and Chris Pettitt should take a bow as they shared top spot in game week nine. Both Mr Kennedy and Mr Pettitt scored a whopping 13 points in that period, a tally that was enough to...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Top week for Bolton and West Ham

Bolton Wanderers may still be searching for their next manager but Bolton fan Dave Blackburn put that all behind him to share top spot this week in our Predict the Premier League competition with a jubilant West Ham supporter and Squarefootball writer Mitch Waddon. Both pundits pulled in an impress...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: Blackburn edge ever closer to top spot

While the Premier League title is fast becoming a three-horse race our Predict the Premier League Experts predictions competition looks like a two-horse race already. Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin Antony Melvin continues to lead the way, but his lead at the top continues to be chipped away at...

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Let's go back in time with the Birmingham Sports Argus

As a child we are filled with wonder. Questions pop in our minds constantly. I always wondered how dear old Father Christmas did the rounds on Christmas Eve. Even Sebastien Vettel would have his work cut out there. Another constant query concerned the Birmingham SportsArgus....

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Predict the Premier League Experts: No change at the top

There has been no change in the top three again this week as Squarefootballs Antony Melvin remains in the lead, closely followed by Blackburn Rovers Terry Kennedy and Sunderlands Sarshar Hosseinnia. However, Squarefootballs Hugh Larkin has climbed in to fourth place following his points haul of 11...

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Predict the Premier League: Squarefootball ace comes out on top

Squarefootballs Football League expert Hugh Larkin was our top pundit this past weekend. Mr Larkin pulled in 11 points and was the only competitor to get into double figures. His score not only give him the accolade of top pundit for week seven, it also pushed him up to fourth in the overall table. ...

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Predict the Premier League Experts: West Ham enter the top four

Squarefootball editor Antony Melvin extended his lead at the top by a point over the past weekend, but Blackburn Rovers fan Terry Kennedy remains his nearest challenger. However, it was West Ham United fan Nigel Telfer who was the biggest mover this week as he soared into the top four thanks to his...

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