A great story from the BBC today. Apparently, 10 workers at a bar in Manchester, England have all applied for an official name change. Their new name? Wayne Rooney.
That’s right everybody. In their support for the England during the World Cup, staffers have all changed their name to Wayne Rooney. Except for one that is. The bar manager has changed his name to Fabio Capello. This makes sense considering he is the bar manager and Capello is the England manager.
The BBC story says, “Barmaid Wayne Rooney, aka Katie Hyett, told the BBC her family had yet to hear about her new moniker. ‘I haven’t told them yet, it’s still a surprise,” the 24-year-old said. But my boyfriend is a bit shocked I’m now Wayne. He’s a Liverpool fan so he’s been sleeping on the sofa in protest.’”
Check out the full story here: Manchester bar staff in Rooney name change
With the TimesOnline reporting that Liverpool is offering Rafa Bentiez 3 million pounds to walk away, it is only a matter of time before Rafa is out and someone new is in.
This can’t be considered a surprise after Liverpool finished 7th in Premier League this year, but a lot of Liverpool fans will not like this change. First, Rafa brought them European glory with a UEFA Champions League victory in 2005. He had minor success in England, winning an FA Cup in 2006.
In the end, Benitez was a superb European manager but a relatively mediocre Premier League one. He should have done better on domestic soil. The real issue here becomes Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and their next steps. The duo are already widely unpopular with the Liverpudlians and shoving Rafa out the door will only anger the fans even more. However I see this as a move that had to be made. It’s time to shake things up at Liverpool, focus on winning some domestic silverware again before tackling Europe.
Landon Donovan played the full 90 minutes for Everton against Chelsea as he helped lead his team to a victory over the league leaders. Donovan played quite well, and delivered an excellent corner kick to the near post which saw Louis Saha get on the end of it to open the scoring for Everton.
Check out the highlights above. Donovan’s assist comes in around the 1:30 mark. Then watch as Donovan takes a pass beats a defender with one touch from a pass and gets taken down in the box for penalty.
By now, the world knows. The story has permeated throughout mainstream media across the world. John Terry has been removed as captain of the England National soccer team.
The story, for those few that do not know, goes a little like this: John Terry married with two children, began having an affair with another woman. As if the affair was not bad enough, it was clouded even more by the fact that the affair was with a woman named Vanessa Perroncel. Perroncel happened to be the long time girlfriend and mother to the child of Terry’s close friend Wayne Bridge. To muddy the waters even more, Bridge was not just Terry’s friend, he is also a professional soccer player teammates at both club Chelsea (Bridge has since transferred to a different club) and with the England National team.
So that’s pretty much the story. The moral, personal, and professional issues that come into play in this situation are complicated. First, you have Terry, captain and leader of England, getting vilified in press worldwide, dealing with resolving his personal life, under what I can only imagine to be impossible stress. Second, you have teammates, both club and country who have spent years building professional and personal relationships with both players. There are, as to be expected, players taking sides both publicly and privately. Lines are drawn, team chemistry goes out the window. Finally, you have the sticky situation in which the coach, Fabio Capello, and team administrations find themselves faced with.
What to do?
There has been no shortage of Manchester United fan protests since the Glazer family took over ownership in 2005. The protests have been over many different concerns, but the one that most often shines is the debt situation at the club. The Glazers, it seems to me, have used the club as leverage to raise significant amounts of money to use over their various business ventures. Manchester United’s debt continues to grow and grow, yet at the same time, United continues to keep winning.
It’s hard for protests to be heard and felt when the club has enjoyed such rousing success over the Glazer tenure: three successive league titles, two league cups, two community shields, and a 2008 UEFA Champions League title.
However the latest movement is quite interesting. Fans have taken to wearing the colors of green and gold. These colors were that of Newton Heath Club, the very team that went on to become Manchester United. It will be fun to see how this attempt to protest works out.
Thanks to the crew over at the original winger for pointing this one out.
Jozy Altidore scored his first goal in a league match for Hull City in a 2-1 victory over Manchester City. The goal was a beauty. A nice one touch finish in the lower corner to beat Shay Given.
Tottenham Hotspur captain and forward Robbie Keane has been loaned to Celtic on the final day of the transfer window.
Keane has recently lost his starting spot to the likes of Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe. Spurs coach Harry Redknapp said about the move, “It’s a good move. Robbie needs to play. He’s too good a player not to be starting here regularly. He wants to play all the time.”
Other big moves on the final transfer day include South African forward Benny McCarthy from Blackburn to West Ham and French forward Diomansy Kamara loaned from Fulham to Celtic where he will be joining Robbie Keane in efforts to lead the Old Firm club to another Scottish Premier League title.
For all the transfers and loans check out the full list, found here.
photo credit: CanadaPenguin
I, personally, have never watched a soccer game on TV in 3D. I’ve never watched any sporting event in 3D yet. But with ESPN announcing broadcasts in 3D and with more and more movies going the route of the 3rd dimension, it is only a matter of time before I will get my chance to partake.
Fans in England, however, got their chance to witness a televised match in 3D as Sky Sports sent a 3D signal to nine various pubs around the country viewing the Manchester United vs. Arsenal game.
The reviews are in, and well, they are mixed. The Guardian and Daily Mail both ran stories about the new technology.
Get the details after the jump…
Wayne Rooney scored again for Manchester United in a 3-1 victory over nemesis Arsenal. Manchester United now sits one point behind Chelsea in the Premier League standings.
Check out the highlights below, Rooney scores on a fantastic strike for United’s second goal. I’ve said it before, but he is definitely making a case to be called the best player in the world. If he keeps this form up through the rest of the season and at the World Cup, there will be no doubt.
On a sour note for US fans, if Rooney continues on his hot streak, England will be that much tougher of a test come June.
Jozy Altidore returned to action for Hull City this week after being given time off due to family members affected by the Haiti earthquake. He was quick to make an impact, delivering an assist to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (what a name!) in the 11th minute. He followed up a good bit of play early in the second half drawing a penalty which Hull’s Stephen Hunt converted.
Check out the highlights.
What do you think? The assist anything to write home about? Feel the penalty call was a little weak? I do. But the assist was class. You can’t see it in the video, but Altidore had to take the ball down while shielding off a defender with his body. The work forced another defender to cover and opened Vennegoor of Hesselink to an easy finish.
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