10 January ~ Mark E Smith began his memoir Renegade by comparing the band members who deserted The Fall on a US tour a few years back with “the Beckham generation: that lot that fucked up so spectacularly in 2006 because they couldn’t do what they were paid to do; because they couldn’t spend time away from their birds; that lot who couldn’t stop crying.” This opinion of a squad lead by players such as Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard reflects a widely held view that while England’s serial failures over the past decade were nothing to cheer about, at least they afforded us the chance to spit with contempt at the spoilt and excessively affluent players who failed to live up to their publicity.

10 January ~ from Tony Nowak
"It's rare that my local Bundesliga team VL Bochum feature in a major talking point but here's one from just before Christmas, when Arjen Robben tried to win a penalty against them with one of the worst dives I have ever seen."

A new series of features on the WSC website begins today with the inaugural "I was there", in which Gavin Barber recounts the trip he made from Leicester to Paris to see one of the most unexpected long-range goals in football history

When you're totally skint, living in Leicester and you don't support Arsenal, the answer to the question “where shall we watch the Arsenal v Real Zaragoza Cup-Winners Cup final?” is unlikely to be “in the Parc Des Princes”.

9 January ~ A draw, three defeats and a fortuitous injury-time victory wasn’t the sort of Christmas present Leeds fans were hoping for. That this dire return over the festive period bears all the hallmarks of last season’s mid-term collapse hasn’t helped quell the growing calls for a change in both the boardroom and management at Elland Road. Had Ross McCormack not fired in from close range in injury time following a goalkeeping error to clinch an unlikely and unconvincing win against ten-man Burnley, Leeds may well have gone into their FA Cup third round clash with Arsenal tonight without a manager.

8 January ~ After their triumph in the Club World Cup in Japan, Barcelona return to domestic action tonight against their local rivals Espanyol. With Lionel Messi expected to win the Ballon d'Or tomorrow, it should be a big week for the club. Messi has been a phenomenon in the past few season, but there is a man in Barcelona's history who can boast an even better scoring rate for the club. George Pattullo, the Glaswegian, turned down the chance to play for Espanyol and remained at Barcelona an amateur throughout his time in Catalonia. To read more of the forgotten story of a man who scored 41 goals in only 20 games for the club, take a look at the Centrocampista blog.

6 January ~ While five consecutive seasons in the Premier League may represent stability and success in terms of Sunderland's recent history, the years since Roy Keane took over as manager in 2006 have been anything but calm. With Martin O'Neill's arrival, an incredible start and 13 points from the last six games, however, Sunderland fans another have new dawn to look forward to. The FA Cup third round this weekend has come at an ideal time for our new boss.

5 January ~ Tim Howard looked rather bashful when his defenders joined him to celebrate his wind-powered goal last night, but he should be proud to join a surprisingly large list of goalscoring keepers. The Coin Toss blog have compiled a few of their favourites, with this outrageous effort from a keeper in French Guyana the pick of the bunch.

4 January ~ As the votes are gathered for next week's Ballon d'Or award, soccer's most electable stars of 2011 are obvious. Barcelona and Lionel Messi's destruction of Santos in the Club World Championship saw the world's best manager, player and team peak in Tokyo. But Japan's involvement in the highlights of the last 12 months went a bit deeper than providing the scenery. The Women's World Cup winners of 2011 redefined "overachievement". The Nadeshiko, Japan's female international side and Asia's first ever football world champions, mock the gender-specific voting criteria with their ridiculous level of success back in June and July.