DO OR DIE

Aberdeen this weekend travel to a do or die match v ipswich. the dons sit top of the league on 21 points with a very talented ipswich sitting in 3rd on 15. The game is a real 6 pointer and a win would go a long way to securing promotion for aberdeen. defeat would close the gap to just 3 points between success and failure so the game is absolutely vital. both teams go
into the game with a full squad and the game could really go either way.
" Ipswich are a very threatening side and are one of the favourites to go up so it will be a very tough match. Hopefully though if we dig in and play to our potential we can go there and get a result. athe season has taken a dip at the moment but a victory would give us the confidence back and set us up for a very good shot at promotion."

Turbulent week at Valley Parade

Bradford City ended a turbulent week with a 2-4 defeat at home to Dundee United. Rumours were rife that manager Matt Birch was about to take a high
paid move to Club America. It had been confirmed that Club America made a massive contract offer to Birch as well as a EUR30m plus pay off to Bradford City. Talks broke down at the last minute with Birch having second thoughts after having trouble applying for a work permit.

Press release from the South Coast

Southampton manager Jim Leslie was delighted with a victory over Wolves at the weekend. "It was a great one nil win for us. Especially the own goal. That was a bonus for us. We will be hoping for a few more of those before the end of the season. We only need 4 more points until we are assured of our division one status again for next season. With four games left I am certain we will be able to draw all games concerned. It
may be a tough task when we have to play some top teams like Charlton and Man Utd, however, if we play enough defenders then there will be a few 0-0 draws in there. And with it looking like York City hopeful of
promotion we will be guarenteed 6 points next season." Leslie also commented on the fact that Leeds United got their first league victory of the
season. "They used to be my bogey team, but this season we have changed that. Now they are going down to division 2 where they belong, I always
said women couldn't manage. Which is why its such a suprise to seeYork City doing so well. It is something B_Zamora mentioned during his loan spell here after joining from York. That he ran like a lady and
enjoyed going down in training. He didn't specify whether he meant diving or some other form of 'going down' but we all knew what he meant. I don't know how, we just knew"

MAD DONS

Aberdeen were left reeling after their 1-0 defeat to Ipswich as a player fielded was believed to be ineligible to play. striker Charisteas completed a late loan switch from arsenal but the dons were not nformed of this. The move was done by the book though and the 1-0 defeat stands.The game started with both teams trying to break through before the dons started to take control of things. In the 12 minute bellamy broke through on the keeper only to be hauled down by od cock. the ref judged it to be a foul
but only brandished a yellow for the last man challenge. The dons continued to break forward with no real chances being created. just before half time
maccarone was booked for a foul on chareates meaning that he would be missing for the next 3 games.
The second half started much the same as the first with both teams failing to get behind the defence until J_Mann was booked in the 58th. In the 72nd
minute disaster struck for aberdeen when bentham played a pass back to strong for esson which ended in the net. This was the beginning of the end as ipswich shut up shop bringing on 7 defensive players. one minute later though the villain bentham was up the other end. he rounded keeper coupet and was all set to make up for his mistake when the keeper stuck out a hand to bring him down. the reds awaited the inevtable penalty and red card from the ref but he amazingly only brandished a yellow for the second time in the game. The penalty was awarded only for cruz to snatch the ball from pen taker maccarone and screw it wide. That was it as far as action goes and the dons were left furious about losing a vital game and more importnatly ground on the title. They face reading next in a game they must win to keep alive
the title.

ARSENAL CRASH OUT OF IWC

Arsenals run in the iwc has come to a end. going up against top euro side AC Millan who arenal beat in the final to gain cup glory is season 7 was never going to e easy and with the youth players still plying there trade is was going to be even tougher. Tempting as it was to go and defended for the whole match arscott decieded to play a more attractive style of passing football but ac where proving to strong for them and matched there every move. arsenal held there own though but let in a unfortunate goal lote in the second half. AC where pileing on the preasure but arsenal held out and ran out the game losing 1 nill after AC had a defender sent off which did give a glimer of hope. Van Persie allso left the game early after picking up a injury which will keep him out the game for up to 3 weeks.

Arsenal cant be too dissapointed though after coming though a tough group to gain valuble experience for his youth player who we hope will be stars of the futre. youngsters Helb, Lauren and Troure will find out the fate shortly when there sat down with the head youth couch after game 11 with dundee utd.

Terrors rip opposition apart

Dundee united have all but confirmed the winning of the premiership title. With 2 games and 6 points left, united hold a 6 point lead with a goal diff which is 6 to the good. It is unlikely that a strong derby side can catch them with injury ravaged united go to pride park. A point will see the title moving, once again, back to Scotland.

United gaffer was dismayed to learn that 2 of his players will be out for the remainder of the season, with D_Ralph, pbemffs brit wing, top goalscorer also out injured for 1 match. It is a sad time for the arabs who miss out on these talented lads for the deciding game. However, everybody at tannadice is upbeat and ready to get going once again. It is thought that grant knows the tactics he will choose and only small changes in the formation are expected

CAN ARSENAL SURVIVE?

Arsenal went into this weeks league match with derby knowing that if they lost they could well be relegated with still 2 matches to go. top striker van persie was still recovering for a injury so arsenal where lacking in the firepower department for sure. Derby who needed a win to keep up pace with Dundee utd at the top came out to attack arsenal from the offer to try and over power them with the multi talented stars but arsenal seemed tough to break down and seemed to be creating chances of there own. early in the first half a chance fell to on loan striker who has been in talks with a permanent move Diego and he put it away for the gunners to give them a 1-0 lead. Arsenal then shut up shot. cacapa who was in a defensive midfielder role fell back into defence and arsenal played the long ball tactic to try and frustrate derby and hold on for a win and pick up the points and that they did. the game finished 1-0 to the arsenal and survival was now a realistic target. things didn't go to plan else where though as both Everton and Bradford picked up wins in there matches which then brought Cardiff into the dog fight at the bottom

the division is now looking very tight at the bottom with 4 clubs fighting it out. Bradford, Cardiff Everton and arsenal will go into game 13 knowing that if they lose there prem status could well be taken from them and face a season in div1 next season.

Arsenal will face fellow strugglers Cardiff in Cardiff this weekend which will be amust win match for both teams. Arscott will then take his arsenal side to face Everton at goodison on the final day. Every thing is in arsenal hands and its there's to win or lose but it will be tough for them to pick up the points with a sqd which is playing youth players to gain experience for next season.

can arsenal stay up?? we will find out in the next fortnight im sure

Judgement day looms large for Bantams

On the eve of the final week of the season, Bradford boss Matt Birch spoke candidly to the press on a season of mixed fortunes "It's been a strange one, we knew it would not be easy in the Premiership but we never expected to struggle so badly. We just cannot understand what went wrong. We have had excellent form in the cups but we are looking like being relegated in the league behind teams we should have beaten and have beaten in the past with a
weaker squad. We need a minor miracle to stay up and relegation will set us back on our long term plan. I think if I were to look back over the past few
seasons, maybe we should have not been so quick to gain promotion to the top flight, we need a few seasons to build up our resources in order to compete
for the top prize but on the other hand if you ask the fans if they would swap the last few seasons for a more controlled growth I think they would take this rough patch in the knowledge of the amazing achievements we have made along the way. Three league titles and an FA Cup are already more than
this club ever dreamed of and if we have to take three or four seasons out before being ready for top honours then so be it. We've made our name and teams now come to Valley Parade in fear. The future is still bright and the long term plan is still in sight."

ARSENAL SURVIVE

Arsenal survive to to live another season in the prem on the last day of the season. they travelled to Everton in search of the point they needed to stay up confidant a win could be achieved. A very attacking formation was preferred to a safe defensive one as arsenal hoped to gain the early advantage but Everton came out all guns blazing also. Arsenal got the goal they need early in the second have and changed formations to try and shut Everton out which was working until the 85th minute when Everton finally broke arsenals defence down. they game finished 1-1 which was enough to keep arsenal up as both Cardiff and Bradford fail to pick up all 3 points.

This means arsenal have survived the season of transformation and will have another shot in the prem next season with a much better set of players and will be hoping for a push at the title its self after the prem lost two big boys in Cardiff city and Bradford city. even though the premiership was won comfortably by Dundee utd arscott still seemed sure his side would be able to put up a fight next season. this is what he told us after the game:
hi guys. yes im happy with that performance and glad to be staying up. it wasn't looking good after the first 8 games but we rallied together and pulled our fingers out and got the results we needed to secure safety and another season in the top flight. next season we will have a much changed sqd of players with much more attacking flair which will put us in good stead in trying to peg back the mighty Dundee utd. ive got faith in my players and our fans are all ways fully behind me and my team which is fantastic to see. tnx

well he seems happy with that and imp sure a respectable position can be achieved next season under arscott watchful eye

The Aberdeen supporters club today announced their player of the season
awards for the championship winning season 9

" first of all, the young player award. The award was hotly contested by a
very young defence this year. All performed very well but the man that held
them together was club captain C_Bentham. A very very consistant season
where he showed he has an old head on young shoulders. bound to be a future
stalwart for the club.

This award was again hotly contested. close contenders were, djetou, stuart
and bellamy but we agreed that the award had to go to DelPiero. He was our
top scorer without even playing up front for the majority of the season and
was the difference between success and failure this term.

Birch "I'm staying".

Bradford boss Matt Birch spoke to the press to ease the fears surroundinghis comittment to the club. Birch "It is always difficult when a club comes to you offering to quadruple your wages. I seriously considered the offer but after having a chat with my chairman and with a representative of the FA I decided to turn the offer down. Club America are potentially the biggest
team in the game with the right manager and I think we could have done great things together but my heart is here in Bradford and there is a lot of unfinished business to take care of."

The York City manager Richard Newbould today hit back at claims from the Southampton manager that he was "hopeful of promotion".

"It's total bollocks" said Newbould. "I am not hopeful of promotion at all as Jim is clearly going into the Premiership to be beaten every week by at least 6 goals. Good luck to him, he's an idiot. As for York, we are determined to stay in division 2 for another season to allow the squad further time to develop before going up to division 1 to beat Southampton at least twice a season for the next few seasons."

In response to the further alligations of him being a woman the York manager replied, "Just because I turned him down he gets all upset about it. He should get over it. And that Zamora fellow - nothing ever happened between us. It's all the work of fiction by the newspapers. Ooooh, I must mop this floor later and bake a cake. I am looking forward to getting 6 points against him in the near future before knocking him out of both cups."

Recent arrive McGurk signed for York after brief contracts for a fee believed to be over £2 million. The York manager commented on fans beliefs that the club should devlop it's own young players rather than sign them from outside. "York want the best players," said the York manager. "The Southampton manager Leslie told me that he'd seen some fantastic young kids in the park the other day and that he had some photos to send me, and after that I saw McGurk and invited him up here to train. Shortly afterwards he signed for us."

Allegations of paedophilia are being investigated. This is not the only police investigate currently happening. The Dundee United manager has been accused of being Scottish

NORWICH ROCKED BY BUST-UP

Norwich City manager Andrew Southwick has shocked fans by dropping R_Green to the reserves.

The highly rated keeper has been an ever present this
season with the exception of two games out with
injury, and once again had been expected to start this
Sunday. However Southwick has shown his ruthless streak by dropping Green to the reserves after his horror show against York last week.

The move has resulted in a huge bust-up behind the
scenes, and R_Green is now training by himself. Canaries gaffer Southwick explained: "He's been making a fair few mistakes recently and perhaps he's becoming complacent.

"We didn't field out strongest team last week, but to
lose five goals to a s**** York team is taking the
biscuit. "He's in the reserves until further notice. New
signing Craig Gordon will play instead."

Bradford lose part one of the February Derby threesome.

Bradford City's Inter Wing Cup hopes were dashed by a single goal defeat to Derby Couty. City who's cup form this season has far out-done their league form kept the might rams relatively quiet but failed to make enough chances for themselves and will be dissapointed. Bradford face a replay of this fixture in the league next up and with big name players being rested it is expected this result will be far harsher. City can only hope to keep the big guns fit for the FA Cup semi final in a couple of weeks time, again against
Derby County, the third meeting between the two teams in four games. Bradford boss Matt Birch revealed his key tactic for this tie "The FA Cup
has become our main target this season so all our efforts have been concentrated in building up to this match. I'm praying we can keep everyone fit and not suffer from any suspensions when the time comes for the big one but I've also told the boys to play it very dirty and try and husstle and bustle Derby and hope that their old age pensioners suffer some bruising and
pulled muscles. I wouldn't wish them any serious injury of course but something to keep them out of just our cup match would be fine. I've also got a little something special lined up for the match. It'll have taken two
matches and a hell of a lot of preparation but it should be worth it. We've specially prepared some fans and the players over the first two matches to perform certain actions in each match and we're hoping to then catch Derby out by causing a number of Deja-Vu distractions, mystifying, hypnotising and bamboozle-ifying their players into submission."

Manager of the month…..

Dundee uniteds Andy grant is being tipped by the bookies as the premierships manager of the month. Ladbrokes have him at 2-1 on that he will pick up the monthly award and have odds of 5-1 that he will pick up the seasonal award for his work this season. His monthly record so far goes: 5 games played, 5 games won, 11 goals scored and 2 scored against, with 1 match to play. Also in the running for awards are Joachin and Ralph, both gearing up for the players award, although it is thought this will be a tougher category to decide on.

All awards which come to tannadice are greatfully received and take pride of place in the players lounge, as a constant reminder of the levels expected of the players. Senior players such as C_Easton and P_Gallacher have commented that it is great motivation to live up to the levels set by some great players like C_Doni and P_DiCanio.

ARSENAL UP TO USUAL HIGH TRANSFER ACTIVITY

Arsenal are reported to have confirmed a number of transfers already before the season even ends and they know if there prem status will be saved. reports have been released that a number of big name players have signed pre contracts with the London club and will be wearing the arsenal colours next season.
one of the players is said to be inter goal scoring machine Ronaldinho who is regarded as one of he top strikers in the whole game even if he is coming to the end of his days in the game. the striker who has bagged 23 goals this season already was said to be very happy to be joining the brit win and hoped arscott would keep faith in him and let him finish his playing days at Highbury. Arscott has a bit of reputation for buying top players and then selling then on just weeks later for more that he paid which has angered many players and managers alike.

Arscott had this to say about the ronaoldinho stories:
of course im over the moon to have signed such a high calibre player and I don't blame him or the fans for being a bit worried about his future at the club. I know this isn't the first time we've signed a top player only to sell him on after he's only played 2 or 3 games but that's what needed to be done at the club at that time. now I feel we've a much better and younger set of players to work with and I cant see any reason why I should have to sell him on to improve my team. thank you

well it seems like Arscott believes he could be a long term arsenal player but its to early to tell what will happen. I for one hope he stays for as long as possible as there no doubt he's a top notch player with a great eye for goal.

HOPE FOR ARSENAL FANS

After a season struggling at the foot of the table arsenal have finally pulled them self out of the relegation zone in time for the last game of the season against Everton. Arsenal had a tricky away tie again Cardiff this weekend witch was going be the make or break match of arsenals season so far. Arsenal went into the came all guns blazing to try and get a goal early on and they did just that when defender zeno popped up to put arsenal into a 1-0 lead. Arsenal then reshuffled and deployed a L tactic to try and sit on the 1 goal advantage and it was too much for the Cardiff strikers to handle. Cardiff then gave away a sloppy penalty and Diego slotted it home to make the scoreline 0-2 to arsenal and the 3 points where in the bag.

Arsenal are now in 6th place going into the last game of the season against Everton with their prem status well and truly in their own hands. a win against 5th place Everton who have injury problems of there own would mean arsenal get to live another season in the prem and play against the league elite once more.

Pride at Pride Park

After a disappointing few weeks, having surrendered the Prem title to rivals Dundee Utd, and losing out in the IWC cup semi-final to Inter Milan,
Derby County finally brought some pride back to Pride Park. At tonights prestigious FA Cup Final, against Southampton, Derby County brought home
the silverware in their first ever cup final appearance. Having beaten teams such as Dundee Utd and Bradford on the way, County were coming into
the match with a full squad to choose from and a lot of confidence, despite the disappointments of recent weeks. However, Derby also showed alot of
respect to lower division opponents Southampton, and put out their strongest team available. The match started in the best possible style for County, with a goal that stunned the Saints in the first minute - a Sean
Gall goal from a Zanetti pass. Southampton decide to shuffle the pack, and began to get back into the match. DiCanio hit the post, and then Gall was carried off injured, with what proved to be a non-serious injury. But this seemed to galvanise the Saints, and after 18 minutes the equaliser came from a penalty after a rash challenge from veteran keeper Seaman. Juninho
thought he had regained the lead on 30 minutes, only to see his goal disallowed from a dubious off-side call. In the second half, County decided to up the attacking pressure, and deserved winning goal came on 67 minutes - a delightful solo effort from Patrick Kluivert after Valente had put him through. After that, the County defence shut up shop, and allowed the Pride
Park faithful a memorable night of celebrations after this first cup success in a match that will be long remembered, and which put away the isappointments of this season.

ARSENAL INVESTIGATED OVER TRANSFER IRREGULARITIES
Arsenal have been revelled to be under investigation by the F.A after they have been accused of illegally approaching certain players over possible transfers without the clubs permission. It is thought that Arscott has been having secret meetings with star players from several clubs to try and perswayed them to put in transfer request. It is thought that new signing Ronaldinho was approached before he was given permission to talk by manager Tobias Stronge.

If found guilty Arsenal could be forced to cancel all of there agreed transfers and be relegated to the bottom division and could even lose a lot of there star players as wages would have to be cut drastically. a spokesman from the F.A Mr Kallat had this to say about the matter:

We are investigating Mr Arscott and his transfer activity and keeping a close eye on how he does business. We have had official complaint from several mangers with in the league and we are taking it very seriously. If he is found guilty Arsenal will be forced to go down 3 divisions and fight there way back through the leagues to become a top club again but it would be made very difficult as all top players would be sold to pay the hefty fine that would be given out. We will conduct our investigations over the next week and a announcement will be made on the 16th of March concerning the future of Mr Arscott and Arsenal football club. Thank you