2006 June | eighteensixtyfive

Millwall (home)

11 Sep 2010

City Ground 15:00

Travel to the game by rail and find a hotel

Preston (away)

14 Sep 2010

Deepdale 19:45

Travel to the game by rail and find a hotel

Hull (away)

18 Sep 2010

KC Stadium 15:00

Travel to the game by rail and find a hotel

Thanks to Frank Barlow, who today moved on to take caretaker control of Hull, with a view to being Phil Parkinson’s number two if/when Hull and Colchester ever sort out his contract. Frank conducted himself with great dignity in the aftermath of Megson’s departure, and was obviously very popular with the players. Mark Arthur said [...]

Off-Topic: Loser

I heard a bit of Wimbledon on Radio 5 yesterday. Specifically, Tim Henman is through to the second round, to meet Roger Federer. I know little about tennis, but I do know that Federer is the best in the world at the moment. Henman is one of those who looks like he is going somewhere [...]

Spanish Byes: Spain 1 France 3

We have yet to see an upset in the second round, and it seems strange to be approaching this last match with the underdogs a team who were reigning World and European Champions at the start of the last World Cup, but the formbook shows that France have scraped through while Spain have made the [...]

Out For Africa: Brazil 3 Ghana 0

On paper the penultimate tie of the second round is the biggest mismatch, but Ghana have played well in beating the Czech Republic and USA in the group stages. They look like amateurs after five minutes here in Dortmund, however. The defence are nowhere and Ronaldo is gifted a ridiculous amount of space. He takes [...]

Ukraine, You Saw, You Conquered: Switzerland 0 Ukraine 0 AET (Ukraine win 3-0 on penalties)

Neither Switzerland nor Ukraine were particularly impressive in qualification, though it is worth remembering that Switzerland are yet to concede a goal in this competition, and Ukraine have a potentially devastating weapon in Andriy Shevchenko. The Swiss start the match brightly. Raphael Wicky unleashes a long-range shot after picking up a stray pass, testing Shovkovskiy [...]

Vengeance: Italy 1 Australia 0

Italy have lacked consistency while Australia have impressed, so this match is no foregone conclusion. Thoughts of the 2002 defeat by South Korea, with Guus Hiddink in the dugout, will be prominent in Italian fans’ minds as their nemesis faces them with his latest charges. The first few minutes are cagey, and Jon Champion is [...]

Chairman of the Board

Everyone’s favourite Chief Executive has been appointed as League One representative on the Football League board. He’s obviously serious about promotion.

Fair play to Sven

After my predictions of doom, things weren’t too bad on Sunday. Many people are saying it was more of the same, below par stuff from England, but I don’t think so. Carrick, for me, made all the difference. We held on to the ball. Kept possession. Made Ecuador work for it. The key indicator was [...]

Off!: Portugal 1 Holland 0

The evening match will decide England’s next opponents, so the nation watches with interest. Both teams have looked good in the groups, without being in any way outstanding. Maniche gets the first goal 23 minutes in, a skilful shimmy in the box outwitting the Dutch defenders. Portugal look comfortable in an uneventful half, until just [...]