The January Transfer Window in a Nutshell

The Transfer window come to a close today, January 31, 2011 and some major transfers were made, while some ended up being rumors. Read about which transfers went through this month.

January Transfer Window comes to a close

Another fantastic January transfer window has come to a close with a heaping of players changing the logos on their shirts. Ridiculous spending has given us ridiculous excitement through a multitude of transfer day story lines.

Another Survived Nightmare: Manchester United v Southampton

United found themselves down against Southampton today during the F.A. Cup 4th Round. This is the second time this week that United were losing at half time, the first one against Blackpool, where they were down by two, but came back to win the game 3-2. United found themselves in a bit of déjà vu in this match. The game started of pretty slow and United started off pretty sloppy. In this match they found themselves down by one as the man with the golden boots, Richard Chaplow drilled one into the back of the net in the 45th minute.

FA Cup 4th round Saturday review

Crawley Town crawl on, ugly Chelsea return, and Leyton Orient ring calls as the true pride of East London in an action-packed FA Cup matchday.

100 Minutes of Glory: Manchester United v. Blackpool

Manchester United faced one of their toughest opponents of the season yesterday, and surprisingly it was Blackpool. Blackpool have had a great season for a team who has just been promoted from the championship. I'm going to start off by saying; Ryan Giggs should have been in the starting line-up. He has been playing phenomenally for the past few games and with an undefeated record that United have, they must play the best possible line up at all times. On the other hand, every player needs to get their rest, and Ryan has been playing a lot since Valencia is out with an broken leg.

Score board Courtesy: Fox Soccer Channel

The departures of Richard keys and Andy Gray

News came today that football commentator Richard Keys resigned from his post with Sky Sports following his sexist remarks regarding female lineswomen Sian Massey. This comes after his broadcasting partner Andy Gray was sacked for the same reason. A recording of their conversation took place with them unaware. Now, both of these guys know a ton about soccer. I know a lot of people criticize Gray for occasionally seeming like an uneducated bloke but he knows what he's talking about on the pitch as does Keys. That being said, their complete ignorance and disregard in this situation is sickening and not surprising to me at all. Both have a history of sophmoric remarks as witnessed when they took over on fox soccer's coverage of the world cup here in the U.S. last summer.

I thought Keys dealt with the situation beautifully by calling Massey to apologize. He also, however, went into a long rant on the radio today about how these kinds of remarks go on at every corner of the game. The worrying thing with that is...I believe him. Footballers have been known for decades as "players" who tend to hang out with women that it's safe to assume are not the brightest. Many of them use this knowledge to assume that's what all women are like which is of course just as rediculous as saying all men are as intelligent as the average soccer player. I love the idea of second chances, and these two will surely get them in some form or fashion. But this is a situation where the outlandish behavior of these two men has finally caught up to them. Just to prove my point that this is not the first time Keys has acted like an idiot is my video below. Not trying to sit here as the ultimate moral compass. I just think this incident could be a fantastic moment to try to eliminate sexism from English soccer as racism has been for the most part done away with. That, however, will rely on a complete overhaul of footballing culture in the UK. At least, we have a start.

The joys of English football

I can't believe I'm saying this but last night's match at Bloomfield Road offered a great representation of why the English game is the best in all the land. Blackpool FC representing a seaside town on the coast of Lancashire, well known for its amusement parks, gave the football world a roller coaster of a game yesterday evening. While, the final result did not fall in the Tangerines' favor, they and every orange-clad fan in attendance had good reason to hold their head high as they left the park.

As last year's Championship season wore on, the Beachsiders looked destined to finish outside of the coveted sixth place position and a chance at promotion. However, wins in 6 of their final 8 games ensured 70 points, just one more than 7th place Swansea City. As great of a run as it was, most pundits within the game gave them little chance to win their first aggregate tie in the playoff against Nottingham Forest, a side that had seemed a sure bet for second place and automatic promotion all season. However, two wins over 'Forest' later and Blackpool were on to the Playoff Final against Cardiff City. One would assume that celebrations would ring out through the Welsh capital on the evening of the 22nd of May, directly after the conclusion of the final. But, songs were instead being sung by the Irish Sea. Blackpool were on their way to the top flight for the first time in an astounding 39 years.

And it was this grit and the long, at times dreary history of Blackpool that led to one of the more exciting games in the Premiership in quite some time. The Tangerines appreciated the magnitude of the fixture in ways that no fans from Chelsea, Man U, or Liverpool could possibly understand. Because of this, the home side put forth an effort worth mentioning even in defeat. I don't think anyone really thought that the game was even close to being won with the scoreline at 2-0 in Blackpool's favor at halftime. But for every minute that they kept that margin, belief grew inside "the road". That's the beauty of Blackpool and countless other teams throughout England. They keep believing whether they have a reason to or not.

So, as last night's game ended on the coast with an epic come from behind 3-2 victory by Manchester United, you know there was a father who lived through Blackpool's near dive toward the fifth division who told his son to wipe away the tears and smile. The Tangerines had just played Manchester United in the greatest league in the world. And they almost won! Belief is warranted indeed in Blackpool, England.

Up the Pool!
-twil

video courtesy: Daniel Fard and Glen Kirkham
photo courtesy: Blackpool FC official website