The Start of A Long and Winding Road

So, Fabio Capello has announced his first REAL squad. There are some surprises!
With no Gerrard, Hargreaves or Carrick, the Don has pick Jimmy Bullard in the midfield
There is no space for Michael Owen, Crouch or Shaun Wright Phillips. Roon, Defoe, Heskey and Walcott! I don't get it. Of course, bloody Jeramine Jenas is in the squad again!!
Here is the squad in Full

England squad to play Andorra and Croatia:
Robinson (Blackburn), James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham); Lescott (Everton), Bridge (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Upson (West Ham); Barry (Aston Villa), J Cole (Chelsea), Lampard (Chelsea), Bullard (Fulham), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Downing (Middlesbrough), Bentley (Tottenham), Jenas (Tottenham); Walcott (Arsenal), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth), Heskey (Wigan).

Your thoughts gentlemen?

An Interesting Day of Footer

Saturday has rolled around again and I'm here in LOB central manning the blog controls and looking forward to a full schedule of games today, including several intriguing looking Premiership fixtures as well as my beloved LUFC at home to Bristol Rovers. Join me for all the action throughout the morning.

Manchester United vs. Zenit St. Petersburg Live!

It's that rare footie nibble at the end of a long workweek. Join me as United take on UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg in the FIFA World Club Championship Cup Final thingie.

Champions League Draw!

Here's your draw for the Group Stage of the Champions League:

Group A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, CFR Cluj

Group B: Inter, Werder Bremen, Panathanaikos, Anorthosis

Group C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shaktar Donetsk

Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid

Group E: Man Utd, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg

Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina

Group G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev

Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, BATE Borisov

Your thoughts, gents?

Day 3 in Denver

Frank Rich wrote this weekend that it was the "last call for change we can believe in." After two nights of licking wounds and fighting old battles, it's high time for the Dems to land some punches on the Republicans. The best bet for that is on that old Senate pugilist Joe Biden to come out swinging. Let's hope so.

Hillary Night at the DNC

Yes, Mark Warner will give the keynote address tonight but the events really belong to the First Couple from Hope, with Bill introducing Hillary Clinton.

Will it be enough to assuage the Hillary holdouts? We'll see.

Pop Trivia of the Week

Right, lads, who exactly is the former pop idol pictured at left?

(No Google cheating, please!)

Good luck!

The DNC - Day 1

The Democratic National Convention kicks off in Denver tonight with Michelle Obama headlining the show. I'll be glued to it. If you are too, drop in for a chat.

My Favorite Olympic Moment

Maybe you enjoyed the "Redeem Team," perhaps Nastia's gold was your cuppa, but for me this clip was the best bit of the Beijing Olympics that ended today. Just how do you react to a bad official's decision? If you are Cuban and a Taekwondo expert, the answer appears to be - kick the umpire in the head. Enjoy!

Saturday Once Again!

Ah, yes, it's Saturday once again and we've got a packed schedule on offer. I've got the new cable installed and FSC up and ready to go, so join me to celebrate the true meaning of Saturday morning - a good, strong cup of coffee, a tasty bagel and some good footer on the telly.

Steve van Klaren?

If you haven't seen this clip of Steve McClaren discussing his new club FC Twente's prospects in the Champions League against Arsenal in a ridiculous faux-Dutch accent, have a good laugh at his expense. Enjoy!

Obama's Veep Choice

The big campaign question this week is who Obama will pick for his running mate ahead of the Democratic National Convention. I think the canny choice is Kathleen Sebelius from Kansas but I fear that Obama will whiff on it and pick either Evan Bayh or, worse, Joe Biden.

Your thoughts?

England vs. Czech Republic Live!

To John McCain, England's opponent today is Czechoslovakia, but real footie fans know better. It's England vs. the Czech Republic at Wembley in another in the series of inane early season friendlies played solely in order to crock a few crucial players.
Join me if you're paying any attention.

Premiership Sunday

It's the first Sunday of the new season and we have three tasty morsels on offer, starting with the new-look Chelski led by Big Phil Scolari taking on an always tricky Portsmouth side. That's followed by Citeh at Villa and finally the match that Dave has been waiting for all summer - his beloved United taking on Newcastle. Who'll be the happiest manager at the end of the day - Scolari? Fergie? Martin O'Neill? Harry Redknapp? King Kev? We'll soon see.

ENGURLUND

England squad to face Czech Republic on Wednesday at Wembley Stadium:

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers), Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Tottenham Hotspur), Frank Lampard (Chelsea),David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe(Portsmouth), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)

The Prem is Back!

Yes! The boys are back! Even in a European Championship summer, it always seems like an eternity waiting for the new season to start up again. So pull up an easy chair and join me for some new season chatter.

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

With a new Premiership season just around the corner, it's time to fire up the LOB trivia machine again:

"Who are the top ten Premiership goalscorers of all time? Which teams did they play for? Which are still actively playing in the Premiership?"

Good luck, lads!

Carling Cup First Round!

I've barely caught my breath from the start of the Football League and suddenly we're straight into the first knock-out competition of the season - the first round of the perennially undervalued Carling Cup.

The plebs are up today, with Leeds kicking off away from home again at Chester. Not surprisingly, there's no coverage on FSC but I'll be manning the LOB at around 2:45 this afternoon for all of the action. Join me for a natter, eh?

I Am The Blue Devil

Gatorbob is dead - I am now The Blue Devil, mascot of my new school SUNY Fredonia. I may occasionally post as the Gator - in the case of inevitable future national championship wins - but since I'm leaving The Swamp behind this week for the frozen tundra of upstate New York, I'll now be posting as the Devil.

Football League set for kick-off!!

So the season has finally arrived. I am looking forward to the Community Shield live on FSC on Sunday but also keeping a look out for the start of the Football League on Saturday
.
Best of luck Bob. Let's hope Leeds start off just as strong as last season and run away with the league.

Any predictions for the Championship and Leagues 1 and 2?

Up Your Nose Dahlgren!!

I will stay at Man Utd - Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that he will remain a Manchester United player for "at least one more year".



SO, what do you have to say about that!

I was always confident

UWS

Olympic Footie on Telly!

Just when we were reaching critical levels of footie withdrawal, the Beijing Olympics are riding in to rescue us. Sure, Tibet should be free and all that, but more to the point, there will be world class footie on our sets for the next fortnight. The coverage starts tomorrow and you can get the full schedule by cutting and pasting the following link into your browser.
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/nbcs-olympic-soccer-schedule-on-tv-and-online.html

Are Spurs the New Chelski?

For a club who hasn't won anything in donkey's years, Spurs are certainly splashing the cash around these days. Okay, their ridiculous price tag on Robbie Keane more than made up for the Luka Modric deal. But now they're close to signing Arshavin for £21 and are still in for David Villa and countless others? Where are they getting all the lolly?