_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_Grant in Egg-stacy-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Dundee united hailed his troups for holding out against a full strength Man United squad with P_Gallacher out injured. 9 skill points seperated the pair and countess stepped into the breach like a seasoned pro and held the defence together.

Grant went onto explain that the team had a change of diet before the match as Guiness was appearing not to be as good a pre-match meal as Pete @ Cardiff has let on. So, from Guiness, we changed breakfast to some scrambled eggs and this appears to have made all the difference. The players looked more lively and showed some great team spirit to take the win.

Uniteds win is also due, in no small amount, to the possession held by the dundee united midfield which overpowered the opposition. 2/3s of all play was recorded in dundee uniteds favour and this told in the final score line.

It was also good to see Thierry on the scoresheet as he has been sadly lacking in the goals dept. this season. However, im sure that one goal will lead to many more and Thierry will be looking forward to be the games top scorer for a 3rd consecutive season.

Cash Laden Arabs Look For A Star

Dundee united are actively seeking a new superstar to come into the tannadice ranks after a start to the season, best described as average. The double premiership winning team have taken 2 wins, a draw and a defeat in their opening 4 fixtures of the season, a start which is quite clearly not good enough for the scottish giants.

With over 48M burning a hole in the coffers of the tannadice clubs bank account, there is plenty room to get the calibre of player in which is required to make a hattrick of league successes. No targets have yet been named but it is understood that some former pbemff stars have been targetted.

Grant left the interview singing an Inspiral Carpets song.

...'This is what its like to be dundee
this is what its like to be small
this is what its like when your team wins nothing at all
Nothing at allll...............'

Rangers 3 - 1 Bradford City
- D_Drogba (46)

Bradford City slumped to their first lost points of the season away to a feisty Glasgow Rangers team. Three goals in the first half we enough to seal the points for the 'Gers and push themselves to third place in the table, level on points with the Bantams. Bradford manager Matt Birch "Obviously I am dissapointed with todays result but cannot be too downhearted about the display. We were well beaten for once. Rangers came out very strongly and we just had no answer to that. Once we were three goals down we stepped up a gear and totally controlled the rest of the match but by then it was far too late. Despite the loss I though our midfield and forward line played reasonably well. We were not firing on all cylinders today but Eadie played well yet again and Smertin was everywhere and the pair were unlucky to have a legitimate goal dissallowed late on. McCall and Jones did ok while Diddy scored his sixth of the season to keep him top scorer in all leagues.

Bradford City (4-4-2):
J_Moreira 4,
Alex 4, A_Smertin 8*, Ge_Jones 7, A_DeZeeuw 7,
S_McCall 7, F_Siriex 6, F_Fabregas 6, D_Eadie 7,
D_Drogba 8, L_Saha 6.
Subs: D_Weir 6, D_Recorbet 7, W_Tais n/a.

Back on Track

Derby County put their season back on track on Sunday after beating a
strong Middlesboro side at the Riverside stadium. Two goals from recent
signing Pires turned the match around after Derby had succumbed to an early
goal from the north eastern club. Up until that point, Derby had suffered
an indifferent start to the season, suffering defeats at Cardiff in the
league and to Brugge in the IWC. The defeat by Brugge being particularly
painful due the fact that County were by far the stronger side. However,
spirits were high after the win against Boro, and the startling performance
even led to calls by some for him to be named Player of the Month for the
Premiership. Derby will go into the midweek IWC match feeling more
confident, although they are still suffering the injury absence to star
middy Doni.

Portsmouth v PSG News

Pompey entertain PSG for the first time in the clubs history in a Group 4
european match.

Pompey who are currently the supprise early team top of the group, will be
looking to keep it that way with some tough teams in Group 4.

Pompey will be without two key players in the name of defender Oakins, and
top striker Cooper. L_Naylor looks as if he could step in to defence and
Johansson will replace Cooper.

Youngster N_Burdisso who has been brought into first team squad after an
impressive first few games could also make some sort of appearance.

Pompey boss Richard Locke told PSG News that he expects a tough game, PSG
will be at full strength and will be looking to pick up there first win of
the season, This is not going to be an easy game at all, But with the home
fans behind the team maybe we can get something.

Meanwhile Pompey have been linked with a number of players including a
player from Brit Prem, More to follow....

Bradford City 2 - 1 Brondby
A_deZeeuw (51), W_Tais (57)

A full house 25,000 fans welcomed Brondby to Valley Parade expecting to be entertained by good European football. Instead Brondby came into the match with all the vigour and aggression of a fleet of Scandinavian warriors and tried to batter Bradford City into submission. The full on attack certainly left the Bantams reeling early on with Jimmy Jones bundling in the opener. On the half hour mark the first of two Brondby sendings off swung the game in Bradfords favour and the Bantams ran in two goals before Rostoko was the second to be given his marching orders. Bradford ended the game comfortably with Moreira not having to make a single save after letting the first goal in. Bradford could have ended the game with a hatful of goals but it was not to be Drogba's day this time as he huffed and puffed but just could not extend his incredible scoring run.

Bradford City (5-4-1):
J_Moreira 3,
A_deZeeuw 10*, Ge_Jones 8, D_Recorbet 7, D_Weir 7, Alex 8,
F_Siriex 8, S_McCall 8, F_Fabregas 9, D_Eadie 6,
D_Drogba 7.
Subs: W_Tais 9, D_Prso 7, P_McGuire n/a.

Fulham Frustration

Derby County were frustrated this past weekend by their own inability to
score past a resilient Fulham defence. In a game which Derby would normally
have hoped to win, they came away with just a point from the encounter.
This result leaves Derby in desperate need of a win over rivals Auxerre
mid-week, to have any hope of qualifying for the next round. Derby, in
fact, have never beaten Auxerre, and will be doing everything in their
power to break this disappointing cycle. A win over Auxerre could catapult
Derby to third, or even second, place in group 8, and it would allow them
to leapfrog Auxerre. Derby will be very happy to welcome back 3 stars from
injury and suspension - Doni, Repka and star striker Franco Souza, and they
will be hoping that the addition of these three popular players will make
the difference in what promises to be a bruising encounter. The County
faithful will be watching with fingers crossed.

Locke wants to Ram it down Birch's Throat

Pompey have launched a complaint against Bradford boss Matt Birch after he
was reported to have been in a private meeting with an unnamed Pompey
player, The PBEMFF FA will look into the matter and more news to follow,

Meanwhile, As reported in the week, Pompey have signed defender L_Traore
from Man Utd for a fee of 26m. The news is gladly welcomed by Pompey fans
who have not been to happy with the team at the start of the season

Elland Road Hoodoo Lifted...

Dundee United have broken the hoodoo of Leeds United at Elland Road, often thought of as the graveyard of big teams. A last minute goal by the machine that is Thierry henry secured the 3 points in the IWC for the Tannadice team, moving them to the top of group 3, above Leeds and Valencia. After half the games gone and the tannadice club have shown better form than that of the league. It is back to the league next and a tough away day to the capital to meet arsenal looms. A tough day beckons with the newly promoted londeners looking to overcome the reigning champs....

Dundee united boss in keeper rage..

News filtering through today has put Paul Gallacher at the top of the blame list for united average start to the season. The keeper not only allowed himself to be hurt in an incednet a couple of weeks back but has been leaking goals like s a seive. Now, things have come to a head and Grant has put Gall up for sale. News that Inter Milan are interested cannot, at the moment, be verified but it is believed that a move to the san siro would suit gallacher down to the ground..... In any possible deal, Italian legend, Dino Zoff would get the chance to try his hand in the tangerines goal.

More news as we get !

Aberdeen Chairman Very Happy

" Aberdeen today announced a major signing. Midfielder I_Teever arrives from
fellow division 3 side Ipswich town. The deal saw teever and young defender
A_Riise arrive with S_Dean and A_Mavuba moving out. 12 million was also
added to the dons coffers as part of the deal. Manger stu watson is believed
to be pleased that long talks have finally been concluded with Ipswich and
is hinting on another Major player joining the ranks in the near future."

Teever Returns Home

" Aberdeen today were told that their recent deal with ipswich has been
cancelled. The deal which saw highly rated I_Teever come to pittodrie was
deemed "unfair" by the league chiefs after the manger stepped down from
Ipswich. Teever Riise and 12 million quid will now return to Ipswich with
S_Dean and A_Mavuba returning to Aberdeen."

Grant on top of tall building!

Dundee uniteds greatest ever manager, Andy Grant, was last night teetering on the top of a large building in aberdeen, wanting to jump after being let down by his charges in the league all season.


"a tall builing"

A talented group of players but they are just not performing and the strain starts to show on Grant. He was, on this occasion, talked down but concerns over his health continue. More news will come after the clubs match with West Ham and all fingers are crossed that Grant comes right and United start to win again

No Justice

This Sunday fans came away from Pride Park shaking their heads in disbelief
after watching Derby destroy Arsenal on the pitch, but without being able
to find the net. Derby had 68% of the possession, and managed a total of 28
shots, 17 of them on target, compared to Arsenal's total of 7 shots, and
yet they still couldn't find the net. Even Robert Pires, ex-Arsenal, got in
on the shooting spree, with 3 clear shots, but he also came away
disappointed. Manager Graham Frith praised his players commitment and
dominance on the pitch, but said they would definitely be practicing
shooting this week. The draw was even more painful because it allowed both
Cardiff City and Middlesboro to leapfrog Derby in the table. County's reign
at the top of the tree turned out to be short-lived.

SOUTHWICK:- WATSON'S SCARED OF ME

Norwich supremo Andrew Southwick has sensationally
claimed that Aberdeen manager Stuart Watson is scared
of facing his side this weekend

The remarks came after both Watson and Dundee United
manager Andy Grant attended Southwick's coaching
seminar at the local Strikers complex in Aberdeen, and
Southwick was left convinced the strain of facing
Norwich in the FA cup is clear for all to see.

The pressure appears to be a result of recent opinion
polls amongst the Dons support that they felt Stewart
Milne should have appointed Southwick as manager
instead.

The club then failed to back their manager up when
legendary skipper and now director of football Willie
Miller was quoted as saying last week "We didn't know
Southwick was available, if we had done I'm sure he'd
be our manager right now."

Southwick was too polite to comment on them claims,
but did adknowledge its all starting to take its toll
on Watson.

"When the draw was made I knew Watson wouldn't relish
facing me. He knows defeat will leave fans
questioning whether they have the right man.

"I was shocked though by the state of his health on
Sunday. He at first didn't want to appear. When he
did he avoided all eye contact with anyone and looked
visably shaken when I happened to mention the match to
him. He looked a broken man and I felt so sorry for
him.

"I take no pleasure in seeing a fellow manager under
so much pressure and I hope after this weekend results
go for him.

"To Norwich the cup game is nothing more than a break
from the league for us - but to Aberdeen it will mean
everything. The Dons have a proud cup record and they
dare not lose under Watson.

"I wouldn't want to be in his shoes if Norwich triumph
this weekend."

Flavour of the Month

Jose Filipe Moreira back in favour at Bradford
After a blast from the manager and the threat of relegation to the reserves following a string of poor performances, Jose Moreira finally found some form this month with three excellent games and three clean sheets in a row. Bradford have been strongly linked to a couple of keepers over the past few weeks with talks on-going with one party over their experienced international keeper and it is thought he will be signing in the next week or two. It is thought the new keeper will take the number 1 jersey so it's up to Moreira to keep up this good form and make sure he keeps the jersey for himself for as long as possible.

Bradford City 1 - 0 Norwich City
F_Fabregas (72)

Bradford City did just enough to stay in contention at the top of the table with a 1-0 victory over struggling Norwich City. Fabregas scored the only goal following good work from Diddy Drogba who showed that he can play for the team as well as banging in the goals himself. 4 Bradford players were yellow carded in a game that Bradford should have won by more but were happy to settle for the one as Norwich put up a titanic battle to try and stay in the game. Diddy Drogba just edged Arjan De Zeeuw out for man of the match as he showed a totally different side to his game than the goal machine he's been up until now this season.

Bradford City (4-4-2):
J_Moreira 8,
A_deZeeuw 8, Ge_Jones 7, D_Recorbet 6, Alex 7,
D_Weir 7, A_Smertin 7, F_Siriex 7, S_McCall 7,
F_Fabregas 8, D_Drogba 8*.
Subs: W_Tais 6, P_McGuire 6.

He played a number of times for Charlton last season as they marched to the Div 2 title. The Zambian born Whitley is a Northern Ireland international, he's scored two goals for his country including one aginst Wales last Autumn.

He also stuck 2 finger up to his old manager saying "he was a plank and never got the best out of me, im sure mr Green can do this i have a lot of time for him"

Feyenoord boss Terry Leighton was more decipherable than his chairman despite being an Aussie convict "Fuck Diego, Fuck Bradford, Fuck the lot of you. We can do without him, I've bought better than him to replace him so fuck it all."

Bradford boss Matt Birch "I'm absolutely delighted to be getting Diego back next month. I did not want to sell him in the first place and had a massive but unsuccesful fight to keep him at the start of the season but in the end his fate was out of my hands. I can't wait to pair Diego up with Diddy as I reckon having the more experienced partner with him will really help the lad. It's like we are getting a new signing and what a signing it will be. The fans and I are delighted"

Diego was unavailable for comment but is thought to be relieved to be able to team up with former boss Matt Birch after the assurances he has recieved and after his dream move turned sour.

Bradford boss Matt Birch "This was a must win game and we battled very hard for the victory. Results today have really turned this division into a three horse race for the two promotion spots and even though it's still early days, it's vital that we try and keep on top."

Bradford City (4-4-2):
J_Moreira 10*,
P_Mcguire 9, A_deZeeuw 7, Ge_Jones 7, D_Weir 7,
A_Smertin 9, S_McCall 7, D_Eadie 5, F_Fabregas 8,
D_Drogba 6, L_Saha 8.
Subs: None.

Birmingham City fans were ecstatic this week as the Blues finally broke
their Inter Wing Cup duck, beating their Div Three colleagues Crystal Palace
in a hard fought game. Although it is too late now for the Blues to qualify
for the next round of the Cup, Birmingham boss Chris Knight urged his lads
to maintain their momentum and try and pull off another surprise when they
face AS Monaco in the last group match next week. "But before then we
entertain Arsenal in the FA Cup, and the mood around St Andrews is very
hopeful. We think we can get something from the game, and give the
Premiership side something to think about." stated Birmingham's defiant
manager.
It has been a hard couple of weeks for Birmingham, with star midfielder
J_Gray being injured for two matches, and subjected to much media
speculation and debate. Surprisingly, newly signed-up youth defender
J_Kilkenny05 was also the subject of many column inches, but he responded on
the pitch with some solid performances and now has his plaudits, hailing him
as a potential star in the making. Several player contracts were indeed
terminated this week, and in a surprise move young striker C_Morrison was
dropped to the reserves for more match practice.

Clinically Insane ?

" life long aberdeen fan and norwich city gaffer Andy southwick was today
banned from pittodrie after a shamefull incident in the tunnells after his
team lost 3-0 to aberdeen. The unstable southwick lunged at Stu Watson with
fists clenched screaming that stewart milne was his bitch and he had the
rightfull place as aberdeen manger.


"straight jacket needed? Southwick says wibble"

Weirdo southwick has recently released untruths to the press about watson in
the lead up to the fa cup clash and has seemingly flipped after watson
quashed rumours of his sacking with an impressive victory over the carrow
road outfit.
chairman stewart milne said
" Southwick is visibly insane and I hope we have put an end to this
ridiculous rumours hes been spreading. He is NOT in the frame for the
aberdeen job and he is NOT welcome through these gates any more. We have
full confidence in our current manger and would like for him to carry on the
good job hes doing here. We hope that southwick can regain his sanity and
take norwich up the leagues. Hes a decent manger but clearly has some mental
problems at the moment.

GET WELL SOON"

Dundee Uniteds baffling cup form continues to confuse analysts and fans alike. Another win, this time in the FA Cup, sees uniteds record looking at 6 won, 1 drawn and 1loss, due to a problem with aol. If only the form could be shown in the League! Tannadice is still a happy place for the lads to come into and the spirit within the camp is still high even with the squad awaiting new faces to enter at the end of the IW Transfer window. Cash laden Dundee United are lining up at LEAST 2 stars who can fit straight into the tannadice starting XI. This is leaving a number of first teamers worried about their future with the premier champions. No names have been mentioned but it is thought that a strong defender and younger talented forward are being lined up.

The terrors loanies are finding it hard to adjust to life in the lower leagues but have been told that they either make it work or will not be registered by dundee united next season. Slackers and under performers won't be allowed to get paid for nothing in the tannadice revolution and a 3 consecutive league title win, which would make pbemff history. This is still a long way off from fruition and united are not well placed to make this dreama reality but it has been made clear to all at tannadice what needs done.

It is a focused, talented squad which leads the way into the second half of the season and it is now time to show their true worth to the patient, tannadice

MAYBURY LEAVES FRATTON PARK

Mybury have joined Fulham for a fee reportedly worth 9.3m, He completed a
medical in time to play for fulham in there next league game. Maybury was
frustrated at lack of first team football so he felt a move was needed.
Pompey boss Richard Locke said he was sorry to see him leave however, we
have recently had a little cash injection into the club and we wanted to
generate a pot of money to use on new players. Things have been the same
here for a while so we are desperate to make changes.

Reports also suggest that Paul Parry is set to follow, Nothing has been made
official but its been reported that he handed in a transfer request

SOUTHWICK DENIES LIVERPOOL LINK

Norwich manager Andrew Southwick has urged fans to
ignore speculation linking him with a move to
Merseyside giants Liverpool.

With the impending departure of Matt Egan from the
Anfield hot-seat after another no show at the weekend,
Southwick has been named as the Liverpool board's
first choice.

Southwick himself was quoted only a few weeks ago in a
discussion on the British wing message board that he'd
love a move to Anfield to take on the challenge of
pulling the reds back up to their once mighty
position.

However Southwick claims Norwich fans have nothing to
worry about.

"I won't deny I made those comments, they're still
there for everyone to see afterall," said Southwick.

"I'd say though its more a case of the right job
coming along at the wrong time.

"I'm only four games into my Norwich career and it'd
be unfair on my new signings to leave them in the
lurch straight away.

"I came to Carrow Road with the intention of taking
the team places, and of course there'll always be
bigger jobs out there but I owe it to Delia Smith
especially to stay at least until the end of the
season.

"I can assure the Norwich faithful I won't be applying
for the Liverpool job, or any oher job for that
matter, at the moment."

The Scottish legend also spoke of his dissapointment
at only claiming a point against Celtic.

"It was a great chance for us to get our first win.
Celtic have a good side but they've been struggling to
score goals and I knew we'd have a great chance
against them, especially at home.

"We kept their main players quiet despite playing
three at the back but we never created enough up
front. We've got to produce more at the other end of
the park.

"We've only scored once this season in four games and
thats not good enough, however two clean sheets in a
row is fantastic."

Real Sociedad 0 - 1 Bradford City
D_Drogba (89)

Bradford City returned to winning ways in the Inter Wing Cup last night following their first defeat of the season on Sunday. Bradford took a defensive stand for most of the game, restricting Sociedad to limited chances and killing the game before a treble second half substitution turned the game on it's head and Bradford powered on to snatch victory at the death. Diddy Drogba kept up his amazing goal scoring form since his transfer from Auxerre, scoring in his fourth consecutive game for the club and taking his tally for the season to seven and clear top goal scorer.
Bradford boss Matt Birch "This was a thoroughly professional performance and a deserved victory for the lads. After the defensive lapses at the weekend it was important that we shut out the opposition and not get into the trap of being complacent so I was pleased with how we handled the opposition. I always thought we could grab a goal ourselves but I have to say that I was worried when Diddy missed from the penalty spot. After the run he's had so far I thought he might struggle to keep that going but he didn't let the miss get to him and he popped up with the winner at the death and broke the curse of the POM award. Thats 4 games in a row he's now scored in, 7 in 4 games and a Player of the Month award... what price for him now?"

Bradford City (4-5-1):
J_Moreira 8,
A_deZeeuw 6, Ge_Jones 5, W_Tais 6, D_Recorbet 5,
D_Weir 6, A_Smertin 7, Alex 8, D_Eadie 6, F_Siriex 6,
D_Drogba 8*.
Subs: S_McCall 8, F_Fabregas 6, L_Saha 6.

Today, Derby County launched an official accusation of drug abuse against
match official A_Dali after their shocking match against Chelsea in the
IWC. Manager Graham Frith is quoted as saying, "He had to be smoking
something before the match because he came out with red eyes, and
hyperactivity. I have never in all my days seen such a disgraceful
performance by a referee. I mean, come on, have you ever seen a match
official give 3 red cards in the first seven minutes of a match." Derby
County feel that the reactions of the referee in in giving out 3 red cards
in the first 7 minutes of the match, as well as Mr.Dali's strange
appearance, should be enough to encourage the relevant authorities to
investigate the situation further. Those three red cards were also
accompanied by a further red in the 80th minute for Derby's star striker,
Franco Souza, which will mean that he, along with Repka, who also received
a red, and Doni, who is injured will miss the next match against high
flying Fulham. Derby await reaction from the football league authorities to
their serious allegation.

United on track to success

After a dissapointing week, riddled with allegations of cheating from spain, Dundee United finished the week in some style. With doubts over Spurs temporary manager, Grant put his team out with some style and Craig Easton led the team in style, popping up with a goal as well as Henry getting back into scoing ways.

A good performance with good abs dished out to the lads. Fans and officials alike will be looking for a similar performance in the weeks to come at a critical time in the season

Aberdeen supporters club today announced their players of the month awards.

Obviosly the team has been struggling this month but we've picked out the
sweets from the maure pile. First of all the young player of the month award
goes to A_Mavuba. He was playing in the reserves but great performances
there saw him promoted where hes carried on the form.
The player of the year was hard as most of the first team qualify for the
young award. We finally plugged for keeper D_Preece as he has took command
of the young defence. his vitality showed with him missing the 6_3 defeat by
leeds. Congratulations to these two players.

ARSENALS SEASON SO FAR

Arsenals season so far hasn't been so bad but they haven't set the world on fire either. siting 3rd in the prem with a massive 6-1 win over rivals man utd and a draw with west ham puts them on 4 points after losing on the opening day to boro.
in the iwc arsenal are looking to retain there title and where drawn in a very tough grp8 with giants such as derby and club bruggue. after the first 3 games arsenal sit in 2nd place behind bruggue and allso clocked up a massive 8-2 win over fellow Brit wingers Aston villa.
on the transfer front things have been fairly quite but the odd transfer with the goal to reduce age have been made.
Arscott cant be to displeased with the season so far as they were tipped to struggle in a very tough premiership but they seem to have held there own so far.
this is what Steve had to say about the season so far:
well i cant be too disappointed were in 3rd place in the prem and 2nd in iwc grp 8. we've been awesome at times but dodgy at the back far to often but thats to be expect when trying to train up a young youth prospect in defense. I'm very happy with Nowakowskas progress but wish he could control his temper at times. we have some tough opponents coming up but we will continue to do our very best so ensure we don't slip back down to the lower divisions. thank you
well he seams happy enough with things at highbury and the fans are happy to be back in the top flight once.

Bradford City extended their good run of form this season with a narrow 3-2 victory over Manchester City in the Inter Wing Cup. The win extends their position as favourites to progress from group 7 leaving them five points clear of third place with three games left to play. Man of the Match once again was Diddy Drogba who helped himself to another two goals taking his season tally to nine while Stuart McCall took his tally of assists for the season to an impressive five.

The match was far from plain sailing though with Man City taking a first minute lead from a free kick following a foul by Darren Eadie. Bradford equalised with McCall setting up Drogba before substitute for the injured Fabregas, Recorbet gave Bradford the lead through a wonderful solo effort. Man City then equalised virtually from the kick off after an unbelievable ball from Roy Keane set up Lovenkrands before Drogba latched onto a loose ball just before half time to take the lead once more. The second half was just as intense as the first half but there was no further score and Bradford ran out worthy winners.

Bradford boss Matt Birch "Another day, another victory and two more goals for Diddy. Got to be happy with that. I'm also pleased that Cesc will be available for the match this weekend, when he was stretchered off we feared the worst but it turns out the injury was minor and he's already up and about as normal. I was dissapointed with Eadie today though, he's going through a bit of a bad patch and will now be suspended for Sunday so hopefully the rest will bring him back to his best again for next week. I was also dissapointed with Moreira between the sticks... he's really let himself and the team down over recent weeks and if he keeps this up I may well be looking into the transfer market to bring in another keeper. Niko Vaesen is doing well in the reserves mind so it could be that he gets his chance sooner rather than later instead.

But looking ahead, we have IWC qualification in our own hands now and one more victory should see us through so we can start concentrating on the league and hopefully we can catch up the Saints and really push for promotion."

Bradford City (5-2-3):
J_Moreira 3,
A_deZeeuw 4, Ge_Jones 6, A_Smertin 7, D_Weir 6, Alex 6,
F_Siriex 7, S_McCall 9,
D_Eadie 4, F_Fabregas 5, D_Drogba 9*.
Subs: D_Recorbet 8, W_Tais 5.

Peacock looking for victory over Cardiff

Middlesborough manager Matt Peacock has said he will not be happy with anything other than a win against Premiership leaders Cardiff. He said, "We really need this victory. Our league start has been a bit shaky, and we need to come through with a win over Cardiff. We need to bring our IWC form back into the league. We have a full strength team ready for the game, and it will be close."

Grant in doldrums

The up and down season continues at tannadice with ANOTHER upset happening in the league. After clawed his way to the top of the IWC group, Grant had to sit and wonder at his teams lack of interest in the bread and butter games. It is expected that grant will push forward with plans to mix up the squad and to help compete this season. So far, the league has been a dissapointment for the tangerines support seeing them slip to an unacceptable 3rd bottom!

Things cannot stay as they are and the sooner the players realise this, the better. Grants chairman has also freed funds, reported to be in the regoin of 50m to help the rebuilding of a depleted squad.

Pompey boss has been given a cash injection to strengthen his squad, after
quite an interesting first part of the season, Pompey are within touching
distance of qualifying from the Inter Wing Cup, and have bounced back from a
disasterous start to the league season. We have climbed back up the table
and are now only 2 pts from second, We have been playing well but not
scoring, we have dominated games but have not taken the points, I will use
the money wisely and hope to strengthen certain areas.

Boot Boy ?

" Norwich manger Andy Southwick was today being touted as joining Aberdeen
as boot cleaner. The rookie manger has not been quiet in his desire to join
Aberdeen but director of football willie miller is in no rush to let go of
current manager stu watson.
Southwick was seen at pittodrie kissing millers boots begging for the job of
assistant manager and is believed to have even offered to throw the fa cup
1st round clash on sunday in aberdeens favour. The offer was rejected as
Aberdeen are capable of winning the match anyway but the position of boot
cleaner is open if he desperatly wants to join the club."

Stars visit.......

Sassy saskia and Mikosi took time out of the big brother house to visit 'fortress' tannadice. The 2 buxom beauties were invited by team manager, Andy Grant, to raise spirits and after a few drinks, they allowed the team to get hold of their trophies...only if united did likewise. The ladeez had there hands on 3 premiership trophies. Its the first in a long line fo proposed visits to tannadice, aimed at keeping spirits high and allowing the lads to meet some fine totty. Several first teamers are finding it hard to adjust to life in the leagues top club and it is thought that a good woman would help them to settle in. Further visits are planned by Abi Titsoot, after her eviction from Celebrity love island, Gordon Ramsay, who will teach them to be nastier and Tommy Lee, who is taking time off of Motley Crues latest tour to spend some time drinking with the lads.

Team spirits will rise, the teams performance will rise and united will be on for a 3rd consecutive premiership title....eclipsing any achievement by any other manager in pbemff history. Well thats the plan, said Grant, who took some more of his valium tablets

A dissapointing and dull 0-0 draw as Bradford controlled the game but could not put the ball in the back of the net. Matters were not helped by the sending off of Alex and an injury to Siriex but the main contributing factor to the awfulness of the game came from Porto's strange tactics of just throwing piss-poor reserve players out onto the pitch willy-nilly and having them run around like crazed fools. The result virtually guarentees Bradford progress through to the next stage, only a single point from the last two matches will suffice.

Bradford City (5-4-1):
J_Moreira 9,
Ge_Jones 9*, A_deZeeuw 7, D_Weir 7, A_Smertin 8, Alex 6,
S_McCall 6, F_Siriex 7, F_Fabregas 7, D_Eadie 8,
D_Drogba 6.
Subs: D_Recorbet 7.

Bradford City (3-5-2):
J_Moreira 4,
A_deZeeuw 7, Ge_Jones 7, D_Recorbet 6,
D_Weir 6, D_Eadie 6, S_McCall 6, A_Smertin 7, F_Fabregas 7*,
L_Saha 6, D_Drogba 6,
Subs: W_Tais 6, P_Mcguire 6.

Last night, Derby County's dream of progressing in the interwing cup died.
Wins by rivals Auxerre and Barcelona meant that even a win by Derby would
be insufficient to keep the dream alive. However, to their credit, County
went out with the attitude that, even though qualification was nigh
impossible, they would give their fans a show to remember, and that is
exactly what they did, achieving their best result the season so far. As
early as the first minute, the Rangers defence was penetrated by Craig
Moore, who found just-back-from-injury Paolo DiCanio, and he calmly slotted
the ball home. On 23 minutes, midfielder Doni scored a classy solo goal,
and then 9 minutes later, he turned provider for Sean Gall to make it three
nil. Just before half-time, veteran Figo had a beautiful goal disallowed,
but the margin was further increased after 51 minutes with another classy
solo goal by man-of-the-match Doni. And that is how it finished - 4-0.
Derby manager Graham Frith said the feeling was 'bitter-sweet' -
disappointment at going out, but deep satisfaction at such a quality
performance. Derby will be hoping to take that form into the week-ends FA
tie at Everton.

Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne was today forced into
a grovelling apology after a twisted joke by his
manager Stuart Watson backfired - with sunday's cup
game nearly postponed as a result!

Watson had joked earlier in the week that Norwich
manager had been begging for a job at Pittodrie, with
him even set to take the job of boot boy.

Although the joke was laughed off by all at Carrow
Road as a poor attempt at humour to hide the fear
currently coming from the Pittodrie manager's office -
the claims that Southwick had offered to throw the
match were taken much more seriously.

The Kellet brothers imediately were set to postpone
the game and start an investigation before Milne had
to apologise and admit Watson had made it all up.

The whole episode is another embarassment to the
Watson era. In recent weeks they've announced
signings - then had to report they've not been signed
at all.

Watson has also slagged off his players, suggesting
they are one of the weakest sides in PBEMFF, despite
spending large sums of money on his squad this season.

As a result the players have reportedly lost
confidence in their manager and appear to be joining
the fans in wanting Watson, nicknamed "the ugly one",
sakced in favour of someone else.

With his jacket already on a shoogly peg, the pressure
is on Watson big time for the make or break cup clash
with Norwich. Rumours in the Granite city suggest
Southwick will be offered the job on monday if his
side cause an upset this weekend.

Southwick though is unlikely to accept, having told
Delia Smith he will remain at the helm until the end
of the season when his contract expires - and has not
ruled out extending his stay with the club after that.

There was a huge sigh of relief at Pride Park on Sunday as Derby County
finally showed that they can be successful in a cup competition. After
going out of the IWC cup disappointingly in midweek, todays confident
result came as a welcome relief to the Derby faithful. However, things did
not get off to a good start as County went down 1-0 to a spritely Everton
side inside two minutes. But faith was restored when crowd favourite Franco
Souza equalised a minute later with a rocket of a shot from distance. Then,
on 24 minutes, DiCanio showed the crowd what he can still do with a solo
goal to put County 2-1 up. From then on, it was plain sailing for Derby,
with midfield maestro pulling the strings in the centre of the park. Just
after half-time, Doni set DiCanio up for number three with a sweet shot
into the corner, and then Doni sent the through ball to Franco to score his
second of the night. The only disappointment was the unnecessary yellow
picked up by the enthusiastic Souza on 30 minutes. Derby will feel
confident going into round Two.

Leeds United 0 - 1 Bradford City
St_Burton (116)

Bradford City kicked off their FA Cup campaign in solid style with an away win at current holders, the Premiership's Leeds United. The game was never going to be a classic example of flowing football with the two teams boasting so much local rivalry and it was a tight and tense affair with both sides battling hard not to concede the first goal and both defences in top form. The match went all the way into extra time but it was one of the Bradford substitutes that made the difference just before the 120 minutes were up as Steve Burton scored the only goal of the game.
Bradford boss Matt Birch "I am delighted with today's result. We were without Siriex today but had the rest of the squad all available and they did not let anyone down. Moreira played out of his skin, as did the whole defence but the pick of the bunch was Alex who played like a man possessed. It was also nice to see Cesc back on top form. We would have liked to have wrapped the game up earlier than we did but it was always part of the gameplan to keep it tight and to keep it mean. The important thing was to win the match and get through to round two. Obviously the further we go in this competition the better but we'll be taking it one game at a time and just hoping that we get a kind draw as in the last 3 seasons we've not had a single home game in the cup!"

Bradford City (6-1-3):
J_Moreira 9,
A_deZeeuw 8, Ge_Jones 8, A_Smertin 9, D_Weir 8, Alex 10*, D_Eadie 8,
S_McCall 8,
F_Fabregas 9, D_Drogba 7, L_Saha 7.
Subs: St_Burton 10, JD_Tomasson 6, Marquinho 7.