My mates who are City fans are right browned off about Sven’s sacking; in fact it’s taken this for them to register even a smithereen of disdain for Thaksin Shinawatra. “He may be an abuser of human rights you know,” I’d say. “Who cares? We’ve got Elano,” came the reply. “Here, he’s sacked Sven...” “What?!?!?!?! Someone call Geneva - you can’t treat people like that.”

Russell Brand - Enthralled by a giddy mist of climactic hysteria - The Guardian

As one Italian observer remarked, perhaps cruelly: “England do not just need an Italian coach - they need an Italian team.”

Lincoln City’s climb away from the foot of League Two has brought an unusual reward. Manager Peter Jackson asked for the office to be redecorated when he joined the club last year. Chairman Steff Wright suggested an incentive scheme, providing carpet tiles for every point the Imps won.

“We’ve gradually been putting the tiles down”, said Wright, “and over the past couple months the colour of the floor has changed from worn-out green to bright blue tiles.”

From: BBC

Over here, people think Italian football is dirty, cynical, talentless and boring. Few Italians have succeeded in Spain because they are rubbish, they say, while few Spaniards have succeeded in Italy because the football is rubbish - and full of cheats.

...this week, 16 Scotsmen played in the Champions League. Only 14 Englishmen could say the same. And three of those - Peter Crouch, Owen Hargreaves and Theo Walcott - were substitutes.

From: Guardian Unlimited: Sport blog: The killer stat that demands a response

Martin Jol’s reign as Tottenham Hotspur manager looked to have ended last night after he accepted a £4 million compensation package to leave the club. An announcement is expected this morning. Juande Ramos, the Seville coach, has accepted the job but may not be in place until the start of next season.

The Times Online

Spurs were reported to have met the Ramos camp over the weekend before telling Jol his job was safe providing he delivered Champions League football.

From: BBC - Ramos ‘snubbed huge Spurs offer’

Martin Jol has turned the club from an average mid table club into the most likely challenger to the almost impenetrable ‘big four’ of Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

All the Spurs’ board have achieved is to undermine their manager.

Referees’ chief Keith Hackett says Rob Styles will not take charge of a match next weekend following his performance during the game between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday.

You can have sympathy for officials who fail to see a offence, but when they see the incident and get it wrong it is probably time for them to have a rest. Maybe we need substitutions for referees…

From: The Telegraph

In an interview with Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, he says:

“It was too high for me and I stuck out my fist.

However, rather than cheating, it seems it was a statement in the fight against imperialism.

From: Maradona and Chávez laugh over ‘hand of god’ goal on chat show

Cardiff City’s main financial backers have initiated legal proceedings against the club over claims they have not repaid more than £30m in debts.

The Cardiff board has been accused of financial mismanagement, and of misleading the public to the extent of the debt. The £30m sum is the combination of the original £24m loan, plus £6m in interest. The club had indicated that the £24m debt, which was raised when Ridsdale took over from Sam Hamman, had been written off for equity in the club.

Ridsdale has said:

“The statements released… seem to be an ill-informed mixture of fiction and general confusion.”

Ridsdale also claims that the club have been unable to speak to their creditors as they do not know who they are, and that previous chairman Hammam acted as go-between, refusing to reveal their identity.

See: BBC - Cardiff facing court over £30m and Guardian - Ridsdale fights back as Cardiff are hit by writ over £30m debt