England and the Media in a Hodge-Podge

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Following England’s 1-1 draw with Montenegro, James Dutton assesses the managerial capabilities of media darling Roy Hodgson…

“I thought we hung on well and finished strongly but during their good spell they got an equaliser and robbed us of a victory. All things considered, we mustn’t be too disappointed,”

- Roy Hodgson, March 2013.

Sound familiar? We’ve heard it all before from Roy. This time a 1-1 draw in Montenegro, snatched from the jaws of victory following a second half that encapsulated the passive style that Roy Hodgson sides display.

It’s the same story, just a different day. Continue reading

A Brief Meditation on Wesley Sneijder (& his deriders)

John Guillem takes a brief look at Dutch maestro Wesley Sneijder, once the best player in world football…

Wesley Sneijder used to be the best player in the world. No, really. By which I mean he was the key performer for the most successful team of a specific season (perhaps you know what I’m talking about) as well as joint top-scoring in the World Cup for the beaten finalists. Certainly there was an element of fortune to some of those goals (one against Brazil in particular springs to mind), and his performance was a little overhyped in that tournament, but in the 2009-10 Champions League he was excellent (and in Serie A and the Coppa Italia, only less so), and – if not then, then certainly by now – his performances for his club that year were overlooked. Continue reading

Capello’s Russia Rock ‘n’ Rolling

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The False Nine’s Russian correspondent, Andy Shenk, looks at Fabio Capello’s promising start in the Russian national team hotseat after seven months in charge…

Almost eight months have passed since Russia crashed out of Euro 2012, falling 1-0 to the Greeks on June 16 in Warsaw and failing to advance from a group with Poland, Greece and the Czech Republic. Four years earlier, a nearly identical squad had reached the tournament Semi-Finals. Continue reading

Ciao Mario

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As Mario Balotelli departs English football, James Dutton bids a fond arrivederci…

And so with barely a whimper he was gone. Mario Balotelli has departed these shores, seemingly, for the final time. He returns to the fashion capital Milan, this time to parade around in the red and black, not the black and blue, where his flamboyant hats will be accepted.

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The Future of Ukrainian Football – who can replace Andriy Shevchenko?

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The False Nine’s David Dodds assesses the state of the game in Ukraine and asks who can fill the shoes of the legendary Andriy Shevchenko…

Euro 2012 was a prime opportunity for Ukraine to have the international football media spotlight shined on their tantalising Premier League and the development of domestic football within it during the past couple of decades. Instead, coverage of the country was dominated by explorations, investigations and exposés of racism in their stadia. Continue reading

TFN Looks Back at 2012: Part 2

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Here’s the second part of our 2012 Q and A. Happy New Year!

1. Favourite moment
2. Favourite player
3. Favourite Euro 2012 moment
4. Favourite goal
5. Favourite match
6. Young player
7. Breakthrough team
8. Joey Barton moment
9. Favourite album
10. Favourite gig

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TFN Looks Back at 2012: Part 1

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It’s undoubtedly been a fantastic year for sport and not least football. We asked our writers and friends ten questions that we hoped would sum up 2012 and offer a wide range of memories on the year past. Happy New Year!

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