The Football Addick

In the closing stages of the January transfer window, arguably one of the most charismatic and controversial footballers departed the Premier League to return to Italy . There had been rumours throughout the transfer window, but on the last day of the transfer window the deal was sealed, and Mario Balotelli had traded Manchester City for AC Milan in a £19 million move. Often known for his off field antics rather than his performances on the pitch, the Italian still managed to score 30 goals in 80 appearances in a light blue shirt. But 'Super Mario' will undoubtedly go down in history for his incredible antics off the field during his time in England , and I will list his top 5 most memorable moments during his 3 seasons at Manchester City . Top 5 most memorable Mario moments: 5)'Because I am rich' Caught for speeding, when pulled over by a policeman, it was recognised that the Italian was carrying £1000 in cash with him. When asked by the policeman why Balotelli...

* I did not attend the game today due to illness, all information is based on those that attended and participated in the game on the CPR team. CPR's next test was an away trip to rock bottom Liss Athletic, who CPR demolished 9-0 in the reverse fixture back in January. Liss had endured a torrid time in the league this year, not being able to pick up a single point prior to this game, as well as leaking 26 goals in 8 games. The team lined up as follows: GK: Kevany LB: Finlay CB: Ross CB: Honeywood RB: Marsh CM: Adolphous CM: Rolt LM: Parslow RM: Lloyd-Bisley CF: Dunnage ST : Rice Subs: McMillan Despite going into the game overwhelming favourites, CPR still had to do a job, with their task made harder by a long list of absentees. Goggin, Stroud, Barby, Hastings , Nott and Morris were all unavailable for numerous reasons, leaving CPR’s strength in depth severely weakened. Due to not being at the game, I cannot provide an in depth analysis on the games events. However what...

The unthinkable happened. CPR played a game. Due to adverse weather conditions causing chaos on the fixture list, CPR played their first game for 6 weeks, and what a game it was. CPR travelled to Farnham to take on a Bourne side, who after seeming like the whipping boys in the early weeks of the season, had fought back and achieved comfortable 5-1 and 7-3 victories over Camberley Town and FC Bracknell respectively. Bourne had scored 12 goals in their last 2 games which meant they were dangerous opponents, and with this lingering in the back of the CPR players minds, they knew Bourne Blades were not a team who could be taken lightly. The team lined up as follows: GK: Kevany LB: Barby CB: Nott CB: Hastings RB: Honeywood CM: Adolphous CM: Rolt LM: Parslow RM: Stroud CF: Dunnage ST : Rice Subs: Goggin, Ross, Finlay, Lloyd-Bisley, McMillan The only absentees were Morris, who was away on holiday, and Marsh, who was the unlucky man to have been left out due to number restrictions....

Catastrophic. Just one of the words that perfectly sums up the calamities of last summers transfer window. It's no secret that Liverpool needed to strengthen their squad, and the January window was a perfect opportunity to rectify their mistakes and strengthen the squad. Liverpool had a fairly active transfer window in comparison to some other of the Premier League clubs, spending roughly £20 million, which was only outdone by struggling QPR and Newcastle United.  Dempsey chose Tottenham over Liverpool... a sign of Liverpool's recent demise? Liverpool were left perilously short of attacking options after failing to sign the American, Clint Dempsey, at the end of the Summer transfer window. This left only Suarez, Sterling , Borini and Downing as the only real attacking options, and this has turned out to be a real mistake. This awful situation intensified when Borini broke his foot and was out for 3 months, and consequently the Merseyside’s have paid the price, drop...

On the 26th January, Brendan Rodgers celebrated his 40th birthday. The former Reading manager has endured both the good times and the bad since departing Swansea to join Liverpool in July 2012, but he has managed to overcome some early season woes and his side now sit in a comfortable 7th position. With only being 7 points behind 4th placed Tottenham, and 6 points behind rivals Everton, Rodgers has firmly put Liverpool in the mix for a possible top 6, and has done it in style. His passing philosophy was slow to implement, but now the club has begun to reap the rewards for his persistence and they now find themselves firmly in contention to return to where they belong; the Champions League. To celebrate his 40th birthday, I will evaluate 4 categories out of 10, (transfers, cup competitions, man management and Premier League) to come to an overall score based on his performance as Liverpool manager out of 40.  new signing Coutinho has the potential to be a pivotal figure for Li...

On the 23rd January 2013, one of the more bizarre and shameful incidents happened on a football pitch which brought back memories of that infamous karate kick by Eric Cantona on a Crystal Palace fan 18 years prior. After becoming increasingly frustrated at a ball boy whose aim it was to 'time waste,' Eden Hazard kicked the boy in frustration, which left the referee with no choice but to red card the Belgian winger. With the incident dominating Thursday mornings back pages, it could be debated who was in the wrong: the ball boy or Eden Hazard.  Hazard's boot makes contact with the ball boys ribs In my opinion, the situation could easily have been avoided and Hazard and the ball boy must both take blame for their part in the incident. The ball boy indicated on his twitter page that he was 'the king of ball boys' who's job it was to 'time waste,' and conveying his willingness to make an incident like this occur. If he, the ball boy, whose job it ...

First of all, I'd just like to say sorry for the lack of articles I've been able to post during the exam period. I finished my exams on the 23/01/13, and therefore will look to post regularly again. Another thing is that the 9th saw my 1 year anniversary on blogger. I'd just like to say thank you to each and every one of you that has shared, liked or even read my blog, it means a lot.  Abramovich is reluctant to offer Lampard a new contract  Frank Lampard has been attracting a lot of attention in the media recently, with his contract set to run out in June. Despite pledges that he'll cut his wages in half, Lampard's future is very much in doubt. 12 years worth of loyalty to the club, 583 appearances and 195 goals have seemed to have gone unnoticed by Roman Abramovich, who seems more then happy then to watch the club legend leave on a free transfer. However at 34 years of age, it is questionable how much the legendary midfielder has got left to give, an...