The week in football

Howdy listener,

just to give you a heads up about this week's podcast. With Tom Thom(p)son away on his travels we welcome new host Paul Paulson (he's a Chelsea fan). On this week's show:

• Gabriele talks Champions League and the fickleness of fans
• Luigi in Spain tells us about managerial changes at Zaragoza and the topsy-turvy race for La Liga
• Paul Paulson and I review the Champions League action, including Arsenal's great win in Milan
• We preview the FA Cup fixtures, especially Chelsea's sure to be easy win over Barnsley (haha)
• And we look ahead to the Premier League fixtures this week

Remember that we're always looking for your contributions to the podcast, so if you have any comments, suggestions or anything else just email podcast@oleole.com

cheers

John Johnson

Good evening fans of the week in football. This week's podcast is truly action packed, let me tell you.

• We have discussion of the Carling Cup final and the horrific injury suffered by Arsenal's Eduardo
• In Spain Luigi tells us why and how Barcelona are just two points behind Real Madrid now
• Gabriele in Italy tells us all about the homo-erotic Catania goal celebrations
• Plus we meet Tom Thom(p)son's replacement Paul Paulson as we preview this week's Premier League action

To check out The Week in Football episode 46 simply click here.

Howdy OleOle-ers, on this week's The Week in Football we'll be discussing the proposed foreign round in the Premier League. I'm sure you've read all about it by now but what do you think?

With OleOle members from all over the world we'd love to get your comments for this week's show.

Is it a terrible idea that will start the game on a slippy slope from which it might never recover?

Is it a great idea that will allow fans from all over the world to see their favourite teams in the flesh?

Will it damage local leagues?

Is there a fair way of making the draw for the 39th game? 

Would you pay to see United v Arsenal or would you pay to see Derby v Sunderland?

Whatever you think about it leave a comment here on the blog or email your comments to podcast@oleole.com and we'll discuss them on this week's show.

Thanks in advance,

John Johnson and Tom Thom(p)son.

Happy Thursday to you all, here's a quick peek inside this week's The Week in Football.

• We're in Ghana again to talk to Teo about the football and an incredible booze shortage caused by Ghana's win over Nigeria
• Who are Almeria? Why are they beating the likes of Real Madrid and Valencia in consecutive weeks. Luigi in Spain tries to find some answers
• Gabriele tells us about a book being written about the match fixing scandal in Italy a couple of years ago. Interestingly it's written by the Chairman of Bologna, a team very heavily affected by the whole scandal.
• Tom and I look at Capello's bow as England coach, the ongoing search for the Republic of Ireland manager, there are some of your emails about last week's Champions League discussion plus our usual round-up and look at the Premier League.

So there you. Don't forget - if you've got comments, suggestions, complaints or questions just email us - podcast@oleole.com. We're always happy to hear from you.

Mostly because we're very lonely but does it really matter why once we're happy? Exactly.

Hello all, and by all I mean Trevor. I know he's the only one who ever reads this blog. And I don't even know anyone called Trevor.

Anyway, just to give you a rundown on what's in this weeks "The week in football".

• A chat with Teo who's in Ghana for the ACN. We talk about the football, the players, and what the experience has been like for him over there covering the tournament for OleOle.
• Gabriele tells us about controversy surrounding Roma's win last weekend and a player who once kicked a balboy up the arse
• From Spain Luigi talks about Valencia manager Ronald Koeman receiving the dreaded 'pañolada' from the home fans. How long can he last in the job after they got beaten by lowly Almeria?
• Tom Thom(p)son and I go over your emails, chat about the format of the Champions League and proposed restrictions on the 'big leagues', discuss the week's Premier League results (Tom is not a happy camper due to Liverpool being a bit crap) and we look ahead to this weekend's fixtures and make our predictions.

As always we're more than happy to hear from you so feel free to comment here or email podcast@oleole.com

Cheers,

John Johson 

Well, not us but just a heads-up about podcast coming up this Thursday. As I'm sure you all know OleOle's correspondent Teo is in Ghana covering the tournament and we'll be talking to him about the football, which players we should be watching out for and some behind the scenes info on the tournament itself.

That's the Week in Football, this Thursday.

JJ

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blogging around these parts. We've had cruciate ligament injuries of the fingers but we're better now, oh yes.

Secondly, Podcast 41 is on the way and it features a lively discussion about the merits, or lack thereof, of the Carling Cup. Gabriele tells us about controversy surrounding league leaders Inter Milan in Italy while Luigi has news of the managerial and off-the-field problems for Valencia and Real Zaragoza.

As well as that we look at the latest Premier League transfer news (are Fulham really going to sign Jari Litmanen?) and we preview the upcoming FA Cup games this weekend.

And that's not all. We respond to a couple of listener's emails and questions and we'd love to hear from any of you who have questions/suggestions/comments about The Week in the Football. You can leave comments here or send us an email to podcast@oleole.com

The podcast should be live this afternoon, enjoy.

John Johnson

Hello dear reader (yes, that's singular). Apologies for the lack of blog posts in recent times.

Now that that's out of the way can I recommend you listen to podcast32 for a very interesting chat with Gabriele, our Italian correspondent, about the tragic events in Italy last Sunday and the state of Italian football. It's very honest and there are obviously some serious problems to sort out there.

The podcast will be available later today from the usual place.

And don't forget if you want to drop us a line you can do so by emailing podcast@oleole.com

cheers

John Johnson

In this week's podcast we discuss the tragic death of Antonio Puerta, Glenn Davis is back to talk about MLS and why David Beckham is struggling at LA Galaxy, there's the story of a manager getting kicked up the arse in Italy, plus our usual look at the Premiership.

Check out the podcast page - the new one should be live soon.

Podcast 19 should be out any time now so check out the podcast page for that. Also, if you fancy getting in on the predictions game please feel free.

Last week we got 6 right each. Like Manchester United neither of us is off to a winning start. Here are this week's fixtures and our predictions. Can John Johnson see off the evil and did I mention evil Tom Thom(p)son?

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Birmingham v West Ham - Tom says Birmingham. John says draw.

Fulham v Boro - Tom says Fulham. John says Fulham.

Newcastle v Villa - Tom says Newcastle. John also says Newcastle.

Portsmouth v Bolton - Both Tom and John go for a home win. 

Reading v Everton - Tom says Reading. John says draw.

Spurs v Derby - Home win for both John and Tom.

Wigan v Sunderland - We both went for an away win here.

Blackburn v Arsenal - Tom says Blackburn. I say Arsenal. Boooo, Tom.

Man City v Man United - Tom says home win. John says draw.

Liverpool v Chelsea - Tom fancies his beloved Pool. John thinks Chelsea will win. 

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So there you have it. Do make your predictions in the comments and we'll find out who amongst us in the most psychic over the weekend.