Sport

By James Mackney @JimMackney Going into yesterday's opening clash I thoroughly expected to get hit for a cricket score despite Liverpool being a Suarez down. In actuality this was far from the truth and Saints gave a thoroughly good account of themselves with a high pressing and near-polished performance. The front line of Tadić, Pellé and Ward-Prowse are in an embryonic state but there were flashes of link up play that suggest that it will not take long for them...

By David Edwards  The home game against Palace saw Arsenal fans suffer the switchback of emotions common to football fans the world over. Some tidy pre-season transfer business and a trophy of sorts are enough to convince you that this is the season when we really are going to go for it. Ten minutes of sharp possession play whet the appetite, and then the passing and movement gets more stodgy, and after half an hour Palace score from their first...

Newcastle United’s season kicks off today against Manchester City and to celebrate we were going to do a top ten quotes from a current member of Newcastle’s staff, but Stephen Taylor’s “musings” aside, there isn’t much to go at. So here is Geordie legend Sir Bobby Robson’s top ten quotes, enjoy. RIP Bobby. 10. "When Gazza was dribbling, he used to go through a minefield with his arm, a bit like you go through a supermarket." 9. "Look at those...

By David de Winter - Sports Editor It seems only yesterday that the World Cup finished in Brazil.  That month-long feast of football was indeed a wonderful way to spend one’s summer getting acquainted with one’s sofa, but no sooner had Mario Götze’s volley hit the back of Sergio Romero’s net than the footballing public were getting bombarded with transfer gossip, pre-season friendlies and Louis Van Gaal.  Now I like football as much as the next chap but I can’t help...

Sport News 24/7 By Adam Drewery A fantastic 2013/14 campaign has brought a smile back on the face of every Evertonian who was worried how we would do without Moyes. Few – myself included – could have guessed such a turnaround in such a short period of time. A completely new style of football (or a reversion to the old ‘School of Science’?) coupled with new ‘have a go’ rather that ‘contain’ attitude has breathed new life into a team...

Sport News 24/7 By Andy Ollerhead It’s an emotional game this football lark (Or maybe totes emoshe, think it was added to Oxford dictionary today) and Liverpool fans had a typically divisive heart vs head moment last week with the news that Pepe Reina was swapping the sub bench splinters of Anfield for the heated, cushioned, probably built-in-Playstationed comfort of the subs area at Germanic trophy machine Bayern Munich. “He was one of us” has been the call from many,...

Sport News 24/7   By Ian Carroll It’s been an odd summer. After United finished the season well before everybody else, signing off with a 3-1 win at West Ham in January, this last few months have seen something very rare happen- Newcastle United have actually bothered to sign some footballers. Some, no doubt, better than others, but it’s hard not to be a little bit optimistic about seeing Cabella (loves a step-over, looks like he gets dressed in the...

By James Mackney  @JimMackney The problem with this season is last season…  The Saints did extraordinarily well last season. Highest points total ever in the Premier League, joint highest finish with the only bleak point being dumped out of the FA Cup to Sunderland with a whimper. We played exciting, attacking and prolific football that cemented the football club as everyone’s favourite second team much like Swansea had done a couple of seasons previously.  Then it all went a bit pear...

By Will Hermann Dear Deidre… I have a bit of a problem and I’m hoping you can help. You see, I spent last year with this racy little Italian thing and I’ve been trying to get him to commit to me all summer. He’s pretty beautiful and has all the assets I’m after – a nice turn of pace and a bit of class in the final third. He’s also proven to be a proper goer when it’s mattered –...