Despite no trophies in his 11 year tenure Moyes has rightly earned the accolade of Everton legend. Whilst the man himself has some big boots to fill, the boot’s he’s left at Goodison are pretty sizeable too. A few popular Everton FC figures have cropped up in discussion of the manager’s job in recent days, we take a look at their potential here…
There have been some unbelievable goals in the premier league over the last few months, but which was the best? We take a look at the runners and riders for Premier League goal of the season 2012/13
With the amount of money in football nowadays, many take it all too seriously. They forget that it is after all just a game. Not Luis Suarez. It’s questionable (and granted more than a little unlikely) that he chose to bite his opponent Branislav Ivanovic’s arm in yesterday’s match in a bid to get a few laughs. In response to yesterday’s incident we’ve compiled a top ten of football’s funny moments.
It’s that time of the season where outpourings of emotion are ten a penny and indeed, Alan Pardew and Papiss Cisse themselves were particularly exuberant in their revelry against Fulham just a week ago! It’s not just those in the north east who know how to celebrate though… here are the best football celebrations of all time!
Everyone who’s anyone has Twitter nowadays. In the world of sport it’s given fans a unique opportunity to interact with players, one like no other in history, but it seems both fans and players alike are still adjusting to it. In this article Oddslife gives you the lowdown on who to follow in the footballing world; controversy, humour, philosophy – you name it, there’s a player who tweets it.
Whilst it continues to delight by churning out names of cult ‘heroes’ long forgotten from the decade that brought us Google, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, this article sets about picking a few gems and finding out where are they now.
Undoubtedly the most bitter of London football rivalries the clash has taken on a more significant note in the past few seasons with the rise of Tottenham Hotspur and accompanying fall of Arsenal. As it stands four points now separate the two clubs with Spurs occupying fourth and Arsenal in fifth, albeit with a game in hand.
There’s undoubtedly a fair amount of subjectivity when considering which football kits are the best, but here are a few of the current numbers that ought to tickle your fancy. The more daring manufacturers tend to traverse a difficult line between fashion faux pas and magnificence, so hopefully these ten lean towards the latter.
In light of Carl Ikeme’s incredibly unfortunate injury this week (for those who don’t know, the Wolves goalkeeper injured himself punching a tactics board at half time, still angry at Dave Davis’ calamitous own goal in which he was culpable) we’ve compiled a list of the funniest football injuries ever. Get ready for sheer stupidity and embarrassment!
Whilst he may have preferred an alternative scenario to make his 1000th senior career performance, Ryan Giggs put in a typically strong and energetic performance in a game in which he was three years the senior of the next oldest player on the pitch; the referee. The Welshman recently signed a contract which will keep him at Old Trafford past his 40th birthday!
The 2013 January transfer window came to a relatively quiet end last week, although Premiership clubs still managed to spend £130 million – a full £70 million increase on last year’s total outlay! Despite this, David Beckham’s move to PSG rightly stole the spotlight, as he agreed to donate his entire 5 month salary to a Parisian children’s charity.
£90 million pounds. That’s the base figure in additional earnings that clubs receive for promotion to the Premier League. And, according to Adam Bull of Deloitte, this figure is set to increase with the league having secured a £3 billion deal for TV rights from 2013/14. This will mean even the club that finish bottom will receive over £60 million.
Reading have it all to do. Despite already climbing to the dizzying heights of nineteenth, they were bottom of the pile at Christmas and as the curse indicates, that means bidding the Premiership adieu at the end of the season.
It’s that time of the year where awards are thrown out with reckless abandon and the nitty gritty of league football is swapped for a glitzy ceremony in Switzerland. Among the prizes handed out on the 7th of January will be the much coveted Ballon d’or award, awards for the coach of the year, women’s player of the year, the fair play award and more. So first off, the big one:
Forget Christmas. The footballing festive period begins in January as managers throughout the country search for that missing link; a proven goalscorer, an undiscovered gem or a midfield dynamo. Whoever he is and wherever he plays is irrelevant; if he can make a difference in the latter half of the season then it’ll overshadow any gift a manager or true fan could have hoped to receive.
As the Premier League season nears the halfway stage, the scramble for points is really intensifying. QPR are finally off the bottom following their win against Fulham, and Man United are the team to beat with a 6 point cushion at the top. We start with QPR, who are starting to believe in the Great Escape!
Wenger went against his usual policy of trying out youngsters in the League Cup and instead fielded a strong line up which included such stars as Jack Wilshere, Cazorla, Podolski and Aaron Ramsey. The cost of assembling the Arsenal side totalled £65 million, the victorious Bradford team meanwhile cost just £7500.
On December 5th 2005 Harry Redknapp returned to Portsmouth tasked with saving the club from relegation to the Championship. At the time they were languishing in the relegation zone with just ten points from fifteen games. Despite this, he managed it, and in doing so cemented his place in the hearts and minds of Portsmouth fans for years to come.
Clubs are monitored over first two and then three year periods and are essentially expected to spend no more than they earn over that time-frame, with the first real analysis coming in 2013/14. It’s not meant to be an overt discouragement to clubs paying over inflated fees, but it certainly means teams have to watch their spending and make sufficient cash from TV money, commercial revenue, ticket sales etc. to cover expenditure.
It did not take long for clubs around the world to sit up and take notice when news filtered through that David Beckham is looking for one last challenge before retirement. Every club knows what signing Beckham means; they are not just acquiring a footballer, they’re also getting the brand that comes with him.
Charlton look set to announce Paul Elliot as the new club chairman in the near future. Elliot is a former Addick who also played for Celtic and Chelsea. After retiring he became a leading equality campaigner and received an MBE for his work with young players and involvement with anti-racism.
Roy Hodgson rose one or two eyebrows on Sunday when he added Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha to his 21-man squad ahead of Wednesday’s friendly with Sweden. The Daily Mail quickly reported with a hint of embellishment that Zaha saw himself only below Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the footballing hierarchy!.
The tide had turned. At least that was how observers painted the gains of Women’s Olympic football, in which Team GB saw off Brazil in front of 70,584! For a fleeting moment, gone was the derision, technical criticism and the pervading sexism that football was nothing but a man’s game.
Remember this for the next time you find yourself involved in a debate on football trivia; there are currently seven clubs that, since the conception of the Premier League in 1992, have never been relegated. Hold tight with that answer though cos come May the number may have fallen to six.
After that completely incredible tennis score at the Madejski last night it’s time to have a look at some of the highest scoring and most farcical results in recent history. We’ll try and keep things as ridiculous and improbable as last night’s cup tie, so if you like goals, this is the place to be – unless you’re a Reading fan!
The Australian Hyundai A-League received a big boost this summer with the addition of two famous and experienced former international footballers. Alessandro Del Piero joined Sydney FC, whilst Emile Heskey opted for a move to Newcastle Jets.
At Oddslife this week we have a copy of Fifa 13 to give away – the hottest video game on the market! If you haven’t already got it then I suggest you get straight onto the Oddslife website and predict a few of this week’s fixtures for free, as it could be yours!
In this day and age club boards and chairmen are often heavily criticised for their lack of faith and loyalty in the managers they select, as soon as a few results don’t go as expected. Chelsea are a case in point; they sacked Andre Villas-Boas after just nine months in charge and Di Matteo became their eighth manager in as many years.
Life without Nemanja Vidic was something Manchester United fans had to get used to in the latter half of last season, after he ruptured a cruciate ligament in a Champions League clash against Basle. The return of the club captain was much anticipated; he was set to be a crucial aspect of Ferguson’s plan to win back the title from the clutches of rivals Man City.
Most of you are probably oblivious to the fact Panionios FC beat OFI Kreta 2-1 in the Greek Super League on Monday. The Greek domestic competition has never been a particularly big draw for those outside Athens and with the overriding financial climate things are getting rather worse in that respect.
After a brief stint training with Fleetwood it became quite clear that Joey Barton’s immediate future was not to be found in the Barclays Premier League. A move to Olympique de Marseille, however, was one few would have predicted at the start of the summer. This year abroad will provide Joey Barton’s last chance to prove that he’s more footballer than thug.
This week on Oddslife we have a PS Vita to give away, a perfect prize with Fifa 13 little more than two weeks from release! The last iteration was the fastest selling sports game ever, smashing a huge selection of other sales records, and the early signs suggest this one will be even bigger.
With one final overzealous swing from Novak Djokovic’s racquet, Britain was in delirium, Dunblane’s finest was in a bemused trance and Kim, Judy, Simon Fuller, Sir Alex Ferguson and co. were jumping up and down like there was no tomorrow. That jubilation appears to have continued long into the night – at least for Murray’s entourage – while the man of the hour apparently enjoyed some victory lemonade.
At 21 years old a £32 million move to the reigning European champions and comparisons with one Lionel Messi are a lot to live up to, but Eden Hazard is not in the least bit fazed. As Hazard himself put it in an interview, he is merely looking to “succeed the Eden Hazard way”.
Often the subject of much European snobbery, it’s fair to say that Major League Soccer has had one of its brighter weeks since it was dreamt up in 1993. So what conclusions can we draw from the last seven days?
Without the drama of league football thrilling fans up and down the land week in week out, the summer transfer window is doing its best to keep the entertainment levels high. As always, their are player saga’s which lead to every club being linked as potential suitors and the inevitable optimism that your club are going to pull off a major coup to lead them to glory in the coming season.
Calling all tennis enthusiasts, Oddslife wants you to participate in the only FREE game of its kind this summer – Presenting Oddslife’s Wimbledon 2012 Predictor! The flagship event of the tennis calendar is here, and you can enjoy the 14 days of top level action right here with Oddslife.
Viv Anderson earned 30 England caps in his career, representing his country at two World Cups and two European Championships. Check out Viv’s predictions for the opening two rounds of Euro 2012 fixtures! Don’t forget to visit our FREE Euro 2012 Predictor and submit your own predictions, for your chance to win amazing prizes!
A week on from the SBC Spring Social and Oddslife Launch Party at Babble Bar, and the most ‘exuberant’ of our party guests are probably just about slipping back into work mode! The Mayfair Venue was the perfect location for a fun filled occasion, enjoyed by all the leading figures of the Sports Betting industry.
Several weeks ago this blog touched upon how deceptive football is as a medium to bet on. It focused on how the apparent simplicity of the game masks the inherent randomness that plays such an important part on the field and as a result causes havoc with the most well prepared selections.
Steven Gerrard has made his opinions on Liverpool’s season pretty clear: “The league position isn’t good enough, if we go on and win the FA cup we can look at the season as a success as far as cups are concerned”. Clearly, the Liverpool captain is happy with the Reds success in cup competitions, but realises it won’t make up for the fact they have underperformed drastically in the league.
The early Saturday kick off sees Leeds travel to Cardiff. The Yorkshire team has had a horrid time traveling to the Welsh capital and they haven’t won there in the last 4 visits. They also haven’t beaten Cardiff in the last 9 games at home or away. Leeds’ season ended a few weeks ago and the club have already released players from their contracts and agreed the signing of a player for the beginning of May.
When Arsenal beat Manchester City last Sunday and Manchester United recorded a straight forward victory against QPR, the gap at the top of the table had been extended to eight points in favour of Sir Alex Ferguson’s men and the title race seemed all but over. Roberto Mancini was resigned to a trophy-less season, and the red ribbons were readied for the trophy.
Oddslife may be alive and kicking, but there’s nothing like a launch party to seal the deal! On May 3rd, we are inviting a whole host of sports and betting partners, social betting advocates and gaming figures to our London celebration.
It’s not often that you get to enjoy a footballing feast, complete with first rate hospitality and in the company of genuine sports betting enthusiasts. On April 11th, Oddslife were handed this incredible opportunity, as Wigan Athletic completed stage one of their survival assault.
Skrill (Moneybookers) is a Digital Wallet that offers the safety and convenience of online payments with only an email address and password. Put simply, they represent the next generation of online payments! You can deposit and withdraw as much money as you like, with instant acceptance from virtually all bookmakers, poker rooms and casinos online.
Unfortunately, I feel fairly qualified to write about the horrible events that transpired at White Hart Lane on Sunday, having lost my half-brother to a similar kind of heart problem. While the details have yet to emerge on the exact cause of the Bolton midfielder’s collapse, the calls for more stringent testing to prevent the next Muamba have already begun.
When Warren Gatland named his squad for this weekend’s Six Nations clash with Italy, he cited the significance of naming his ‘Lions 2009 front row’ for the first time in quite a while. That got me thinking… How is our 2013 British Lions party shaping up?
It is somewhat refreshing to see England blessed in the full back department as Euro 2012 approaches, especially when you consider the unrivalled dominance of United right-back turned Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville. The Bury-born defender monopolised the number two shirt for the Three Lions, and despite missing the 2002 World Cup through injury he remained first choice from his international debut in 1995 right through to his ankle injury in 2007.
The late kick off on Saturday afternoon sees 2 clubs seeking promotion and a return to the Premier League go head to head. Leeds United welcome Southampton team that are unbeaten in 6. With that sort of form you would expect the travelling side to be favourites to take all 3 points but football is never that simple.
