Tag Archives: leicester city

The Top 50 Football League Players: 50-41

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Leicester City v Manchester City

TFN’s Chris Francis runs down his top 50 players outside the Premier League…

50. David Nugent (Leicester)
You either love this guy, or he’s never played for your club. The Nuge continues to show that is a better player than many give him credit for, as his work-rate, persistence and finishing continue to impress. He is a senior professional now and he is an example to the younger members of Leicester’s title chasing squad. 16 goals so far this season.

49. Gary O’Neill (QPR)
O’Neill is a highly experienced box to box midfielder who has played for most of his career in the Premier League. He is tireless, and has been strong this season as QPR have ground out rather than dazzled. A wise head as we move in to the tough stuff towards the end of the campaign. Continue reading →

TFN’s Pre-Season Picks

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Huddersfield Town pre-season training at Canalside.

It’s that time of year again. Players are returning to their clubs to start training and pre-season has begun. The False Nine have scoured the schedules of clubs up and down the country and picked out some of our favourite pre-season friendlies…

1. Whitehawk vs. Brighton and Hove Albion – 6th July, The Enclosed Ground

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Brighton won many plaudits last season for the attractive football played under Gus Poyet and new manager Oscar Garcia has promised to maintain this style. As a former Barcelona player and youth manager, Garcia is no stranger to attacking, free-flowing play. In his first friendly at the helm, Brighton take on Whitehawk, a local non-league side who won promotion to the Conference South last season. Recently, a plan was floated to change their name to ‘Brighton City’ in order to put them on the map but for now they remain as Whitehawk. Does this represent something of a local ‘Brighton Derby’ then? Ties between the clubs are not uncommon and Whitehawk are managed by former Brighton winger Darren Freeman. Continue reading →

Reebok Effect Fails To Rub Off on Benik Afobe

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Hugo Greenhalgh asks where it went wrong for Benik Afobe at Bolton and looks ahead to his new club, Millwall…

He was the boy who at the age of 16 was wanted by Barcelona. Three years on, Benik Afobe is about to embark on a make or break loan spell at Millwall. This follows a highly disappointing half a season with Bolton Wanderers where the young English striker hit the mark just three times in 23 appearances. Not so long ago, the Reebok was the go-to destination for promising youngsters; indeed, two of the Premier League’s brightest stars in recent weeks cut their teeth in the North West – Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge. So what went wrong with Afobe’s time at ‘finishing school’? Continue reading →

“Brantastic!” – Guy Branston Interview Part 2

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In the second and final part of The False Nine’s exclusive interview with on-loan Bristol Rovers defender, Guy Branston, editor, Andrew Belt, gives space to Guy’s thoughts on a number of aspects of the modern game…

Around a fortnight ago, I spoke on the phone to Guy Branston for TFN’s first exclusive interview. Anticipating a limited time with the footballer and All About Ballerz businessman, I was instead afforded close to an hour and a half with Branston and found the chat entertaining and revealing from a football point of view.

Continue reading →

In Defence of Emile Heskey

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Emile Heskey – wrongly maligned?

Last week The False Nine brought you an assessment of the ‘false nine’ role in football. This week editor James Dutton looks at one of the most-maligned proponents of the old-school centre-forward…

Have you heard the one about Emile Heskey? Continue reading →