Luis Suarez, Patrice Evra Racist Comment Ban: Timeline of the Entire Saga

The Luis Suarez race comment saga looked like it was coming to its end on February 11 when Liverpool traveled to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in the latest game of the two clubs' great rivalry. All Suarez had to do was shake Patrice Evra's hand. Instead he blanked the French star, and the whole affair looked like it was to begin anew.

Suarez's actions drew wide condemnation from all over the football world with Sir Alex Ferguson labeling the player a "disgrace" while others wondered how Liverpool FC could have let this happen.

The ugly affair began on October 15, 2011 when Manchester United traveled to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the latest chapter of one of English football's great rivalries...

Man United 2-1 Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish's Full Interview With Sky Sports Geoff Shreeves

Kenny Dalglish in his after match interview with Geoff Shreeves from Sky Sports said his team deserved credit after giving United a 2-0 lead. He said, "I thought that, obviously, with the two goals coming as close as they did that it made it really difficult for us to get anything from the game.

Frank Lampard Has No Future at Chelsea Under the Misfiring Andre Villa Boas

Frank Lampard's future at Chelsea under Andre Villa Boas has been up for debate since the start of the season. As his manager puts his own personal stamp on the club and shifts the shape of the team in favour of his own footballing philosophies it looks like the England international will be surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.

The soon to be 34-year-old midfielder has seemingly struggled in his 34-year-old managers 4-3-3 system this term, and if rumours are to be believed the club legend is now available for transfer.

English Premier League: Team of the Year 2011

Who have been the best players in the English Premier League during 2011?

We all know there have been a number of outstanding individual displays over the past year ranging from Wayne Rooney's wonderful performance against Manchester City last February to Yakubu's four goal haul for Blackburn against Swansea in December to any number of performances by Newcastle's goalkeeper extraordinaire Tim Krul, who has been outstanding since the beginning of the current season.

However, when all is said and done the cream always rises to the top although picking a Premiership XI is no easy task. There are numerous factors to consider when putting together any list, particularly one as divisive a best team of the year, so in gathering together my XI I have considered consistency, general all around play, whether the player has improved over the last 12 months significantly and last but not least their skill level.

So without further adieu, the EPL 2011 Team of the Year...

Hold the Back Page PODCAST: EPL Winners and Losers of 2011

Hold the BackPage - The year that was... by bpfootball

In the final Hold the BackPage podcast for the year, Neil Sherwin, Ger McCarthy and Willie Gannon look back at 2011 in the world of football, while the latest Premier League action also gets dissected.

Hold the Back Page - Remembering Gary Speed - Man City / Liverpool / Luis Suarez / Rio Ferdinand / Euro 2012 Draw / Steve Bruce / Sunderland

Hold the BackPage returns for another edition with Willie Gannon back on board to join Neil Sherwin and Ger McCarthy in assessing the game’s recent talking points including the tragic passing of Gary Speed, the antics of Luis Suarez, Rio Ferdinand and Steve Bruce's sacking at Sunderland and, of course, no pod would be complete without a mention of the one and only Mario Balotelli...

It’s a rather sombre opening to this week’s podcast as the lads discuss the tragic passing of Gary Speed and share their memories of a fantastic player who has excelled for both club and country during a career which spanned more than two decades.

Hold the BackPage - Remembering Gary Speed by bpfootball

Hold The Back Page - Skinheads in Skirts - Man City / Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool / BRFC 4-3 Arsenal / Shamrock Rovers / The Rooney Rule / Gasperini

Hold the BackPage - Skinheads and Skirts by bpfootball

Hold the BackPage returns for another edition with Neil Sherwin again taking the lead and he is joined by Ger McCarthy and Willie Gannon to sift through the latest Premier League action. 

The lads discuss Manchester City losing their 100 percent record, Tottenham hammering Liverpool 4-0 and Blackburn beating Arsenal 4-3 as well as a number of other hot topics including Shamrock Rovers in Europe, the Rooney Rule, Gasperini being sacked at Inter Milan and Turkey’s innovative new measures to combat hooliganism...

Hold The Back Page Podcast - Champions League / Manchester Domination of the EPL / Spurs / Dalglish and Liverpool / Peamount Utd

Hold the BackPage - Manchester Mania by bpfootball

The podcast is back for another edition as Neil Sherwin is joined by Ger McCarthy and Willie Gannon to discuss the opening round of Champions League action as well as the latest goings on in the Premier League as the Manchester clubs continue to lead the way.

With no vested interest in this year’s Champions League, Ger McCarthy is the perfect man to discuss the opening round of the competition as both Manchester sides picked up points. City were very much hit and miss at home to Napoli while, as Willie Gannon explains, United were far from convincing in their clash with Benfica. There’s also a look back at last night’s results for Chelsea and Arsenal as well as a round up of the rest of the games played.

Part 2 sees attentions turn to the Premier League with the possibility of a two horse race for the title developing. There’s a look at Liverpool who faltered against Stoke, while questions are asked about the possibility of Tony Pulis’ side qualifying for Europe this season through the league. Asamoah Gyan’s money grabbing antics also come under scrutiny and to round off the pod, Willie gives us the heads up about a massive game for Peamount United in the UEFA Womens Champions League.

Don’t forget, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS!

Also if there is anything you would like to hear on the show in future simply drop us an email, tweet or comment on Facebook.

10 Things We Learned From Wayne Rooney vs. Kun Aguero and EPL Week 4

Manchester United and Manchester City dominated proceedings once again as the two sides continued their own private "anything you can do..." battle as both Wayne Rooney and Kun Aguero scored hat-tricks for their respective teams.

Liverpool traveled to Stoke for what many regarded as Kenny Dalglish's first real test of the season, which says a lot about how Arsenal are now perceived.

Speaking of the Gunners, they entertained Swansea at the Emirates as their struggling North London neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur, took on Wolves at Molineaux with Harry Redknapp entrusting his future to Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker...

As with every Premier League weekend there was a multitude of talking points, so lets begin by going to the Emirates...

10 Things We Learned From Manchester v North London and EPL Week 3

We're just three weeks into the new English Premier League season and we have already seen two of the greatest team performances of recent times, two of the worst team performances of recent times, and two clubs in crisis.
All in all it was a good day for Manchester as they beat North London 13-3 and the scary thing is, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero are only going to get better as the season goes on.

Premier League Predictions: Champions, Top Four and Relegation

The 2011-'12 Premier League season is already promising to be one of the most exciting of all time. For the first time ever there are six teams who can actually win the title and there are at least ten teams who could end up getting sucked into the relegation zone thus making the league one of the most competitive in recent years.

Here we take a look at the title race with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea and the race for fourth with Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as well as the relegation battle which could in all reality almost involve the rest of the league!

Manchester City Etihad Stadium Deal: Evading Financial Fair Play?

Liverpool's managing director Ian Ayre has joined up with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Liverpool's owner John W. Henry in criticising Manchester City's recent £400 million sponsorship deal with Etihad Airlines.

All three have now called for the sponsorship deal to be investigated by UEFA as it now looks as if the stadium sponsorship monies will allow Manchester City to balance their books, thus falling in line with UEFA's new Financial Fair Play rules which will come in from next season.

Robbie Keane Biography: 14 Years of a Legend Being Taken for Granted

To say that Robbie Keane is much maligned would be something of an understatement. The ex-Leeds, ex-Inter Milan, ex-Liverpool and quite possibly the soon to be ex-Spurs striker has had to suffer more than his fair share of "slings and arrows" during his 14 year career.

It is, however, more than worth noting though that Keane is his country's top scorer of all time with 51 goals in 108 games for Ireland.

He is also the ninth highest goal scorer in Tottenham Hotspur history with 121 goals from 291 matches and the 10th highest scorer of all time in the English Premier League with 123 strikes.

Keane is the 10th highest scoring European international footballer of all time, the 27th highest scoring international footballer of all time, and, probably, most importantly he is the most prolific international striker of all time from the British Isles.

Which isn’t bad for someone who many feel isn't exactly a great player.

Liverpool's Chances of the Champions League Evaporate as West Brom's Chances of Survival Improve

Roy Hodgson returned to haunt Liverpool yesterday as his West Brom side virtually killed off any slight outside chance the Reds had of Champions League football next year.

Two penalties from Chris Brunt after Martin Skrtel had opened the scoring for Liverpool were enough for the Baggies to deservedly claim all three points and thus extend their unbeaten run under the ex-Liverpool boss to five games.

Roy Hodgson Takes Over at West Brom in the Hope of Getting England Call

Ex-Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has taken over from Roberto Di Matteo as manager of West Bromwich Albion after the Italian was sacked following a disastrous run of results that saw the Baggies lose 13 of their last 18 games. It will be the 63-year-old's 21st management job in a football career that has spanned 46 years.

The move back into the dugout for has come much quicker than anyone expected, including Hodgson. From being unceremoniously sacked by Liverpool after just six months it was assumed by the watching football world that the well liked manager would take a well deserved break from the game.

However, it would seem that his desire to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager next summer after the Euro 2012 finals would be the main catalyst to a quick return to the game.

Luis Suarez to Liverpool Could be the First Step in Fernando Torres Leaving

Liverpool FC is closing in on the signature of the Ajax centre forward Luis Suarez. However, the signing immediately begs two questions:

1) Why sign Suarez when the rest of team needs undoubted strengthening? And maybe more importantly,

2) Does Suarez coming in speed up the departure of Fernando Torres?

Premier League Sack Race: Odds For Every Manager

Who will be the next manager to get the sack in the English Premier League? Are Avram Grant’s days numbered? Does Wenger have to win a trophy? Can Roy Hodgson turn Liverpool around?
You wait around all season for the first EPL manager to be sacked and then two happen within the space of a week.


Chris Hughton’s and Sam Allardyce’s removals were both strange to say the least, as neither man was doing what would normally be considered as a bad job.

Whichever way you look at it, the money is the owners at the end of the day and they have the right to decide upon who takes the key roles in their organisation.

In the end, they make their own beds and have to lie in them…

Premier League Sack Race: Odds for Every Manager, Hodgson-Wenger-Mancini-Ancelotti-Grant

Who will be the next manager to get the sack in the English Premier League? Are Avram Grant’s days numbered? Does Wenger have to win a trophy? Can Roy Hodgson turn Liverpool around?

You wait around all season for the first EPL manager to be sacked and then two happen within the space of a week.

Chris Hughton’s and Sam Allardyce’s removals were both strange to say the least, as neither man was doing what would normally be considered as a bad job.

Whichever way you look at it, the money is the owners at the end of the day and they have the right to decide upon who takes the key roles in their organisation.

In the end, they make their own beds and have to lie in them…

Here we take a look at the odds for each manager and assess whose job is safe, or not.

Liverpool Fans Should Be Careful of What They Wish For Because It May Come True

As Liverpool slumped to yet another defeat, in this, the most wretched of seasons, their fans chanted the name of the man they want to replace Roy Hodgson. None other than Kenny Dalglish. However, the very fans chanting that name should be careful of what they wish for.

There is no denying; Liverpool FC has endured a brutal start to the season. 16 points after 13 games with a goal difference of -4 is not something that is generally equated with the once great club. Anfield has enjoyed nights where league campaigns were won and lost, it has seen some of the greatest European football nights of all time and has had some of the games greatest managers pound it's touchlines as they screamed orders to sides brought up on trophies and professionalism of the highest order.

To see their side struggling so must be painful. It is hard to bear but it is the price the club must pay for 20 years of bad management at the highest level of the club.

Liverpool FC: NESV's Plan for the Future

Barely two weeks since John Henry and the New England Sports Venture took over Liverpool FC, they have begun to put their stamp on the club.

Not only has Damien Comolli been placed between the Directors at the club and Roy Hodgson, but co-owner Tom Werner has also made it known how NESV will try to exploit the club going forward.