19/09/2004 6:50:07 pm

PREMIERSHIP REVIEW

EVERTON 1
Quedrue o.g.
MIDDLESBROUGH 0

A brave display from Everton in this heated affair at Goodison Park, I'm surprised that nobody was sent off by referee Howard Webb. This game was rearranged due to Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup commitments against Banik Ostrava. Marcus Bent scored a scrappy goal to win the match that may have deflected off Franck Quedrue. Everton up to third as they're best ever EPL start gets even better. My next match report will be on Wednesday night as Everton hope to reach the Carling Cup 3rd Round by beating Bristol City.

19/09/2004 10:59:19 am



joke of the week

ms word for blondes 1.0

18/09/2004 8:31:13 pm

today's paralympics medals:

cycling track - womens 1km time trial:
G: GREAT BRITAIN
S: UNITED STATES
B: AUSTRALIA

cycling track - mens 1km time trial:
G: GREAT BRITAIN
S: AUSTRALIA
B: CZECH REPUBLIC

judo:
G: CUBA, JAPAN, FRANCE, GERMANY
S: JAPAN, SPAIN, BRAZIL, FRANCE
B: UKRAINE, HUNGARY, FINLAND, CHINA, GERMANY, RUSSIA, CHINA, RUSSIA

shooting:
G: GERMANY, CHINA
S: SOUTH KOREA, MACEDONIA
B: GERMANY, AUSTRIA

wheelchair fencing:
G: HONG KONG, HONG KONG, HONG KONG, THAILAND
S: CHINA, POLAND, HONG KONG, HONG KONG
B: POLAND, UKRAINE, HUNGARY, POLAND

so, a good start for great britain with two golds in the track cycling, which in the paralympics uses the tandem (bike for two people) and is open to people of all disabilities

18/09/2004 11:27:29 am

i will be updating you once a day about the medals presented at the athens 2004 paralympic games, it wont be as thorough as with the olympics, but i will note all of the major results:

here are the sports being held this month:

archery
athletics
boccia
cycling
equestrian
football (5-a-side)
football (7-a-side)
goalball
judo
powerlifting
sail ing
shooting
swimming
table tennis
volleyball (sitting)
wheelchair basketball
wheelchair fencing
wheelchair rugby
wheelchair tennis

i will try and explain more about the kinds of disabilities taking part in the sports, and what the sports are all about during the results round up every evening

great britain are represented in these sports:

archery
boccia
cycling road
cycling track
equestrian
sailing
swimming
table tennis
wheelchair basketball
wheelchair rugby
wheelchair tennis

16/09/2004 5:51:12 pm

UEFA CUP

MATCH REPORTS

Shelbourne 2-2 Lille
An excellent result for the Irish side who are having the season of a lifetime so far, they came from 2-0 down to get a chance of getting through back in France.

Millwall 1-1 Ferencvaros
Another good result for Championship Millwall this evening, they have a decent chance of winning in Hungary in two weeks.

Newcastle 2-0 H. Bnei-Sachnin
A dodgy game for Newcastle on Graeme Souness's first game in charge, they had Nicky Butt sent off and will have their game televised back in Israel in a fortnight.

Hearts 3-1 Braga
An excellent result for a side in a dire situation at the moment. They will have a big advantage going into the away leg at what is the weirdest stadium in Europe.

Middlesbrough 3-0 Banik Ostrava
I watched this match, and Middlesbrough were naturally nervous in the first half of their European debut, but Banik caved in in the second half to give Boro the win.

Maritimo 1-0 Rangers
Alex McLeish's head is certainly on the block as Rangers were the only British side to lose this evening in Madeira.

THE SECOND LEGS ARE IN TWO WEEKS TIME ON 30TH SEPTEMBER

16/09/2004 5:38:34 pm

the match sponsored by cm5

quote:

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The Match pits a team of celebrities against a Premier League Legends XI in an effort to raise money for two deserving charities.


Eighteen celebs will spend a week training with a top team of coaches, headed up by former England manager Graham Taylor, committed to winning. The stars will eat, sleep and train together in an intensive programme designed to prepare them to beat a team of soccer giants.

The celebrity squad will be honed in all aspects of fitness, focus and footy skills in preparation for the biggest match of their lives. And at night they can carry on the dream of Premiership stardom, hitting the nightspots and living the life.

But not all the celebrities will make it onto the pitch. Each night, three of the squad will face being dropped from the squad by public vote. After just 48 hours three celebs that have failed to impress the manager will be put 'on the bench'. The public must then vote for the two celebrities they want to remain with the squad. At the end of the live show, the unlucky player with the least votes packs up his kit and goes home.

Awaiting the celebrity squad is a team of football legends including some of the greatest players ever to have graced the beautiful game. Can a team of celebrities who have never played together before take on board enough expert coaching to match a team that boasts hundreds of England caps?

You have to admire the bravery of these boys for being prepared to measure themselves against a side featuring the tough tackling of Bryan Robson, the silky passing of Paul Gascoigne and the wizardry of Matt Le Tissier. Plus they'll be doing so in front of a packed St. James' Park and millions of viewers.

Every night on Sky One, The Celebs can be seen being put through their paces at the Training Camp in a show featuring the best action from the previous 24 hours. The show will also include live action from the camp, where the strains of living together on camera are sure to produce fireworks.

But aside from bringing together football, celebrity and glamour, The Match is also one of the biggest charitable fund-raising events of the year. All of the revenue from each phone call, text message, pledge and ticket sale will be placed in a charity 'matchpot'.

Coverage of every kick, tackle, gruelling run and red carpet premiere will available through live streaming. And Soccer Sunday will feature total interactivity on your red button, allowing you to watch the action from Sky's array of camera set-ups, including Player Cam and Dugout Watch!

The winners of The Match not only get to lift the Match Trophy but also help donate a huge amount for charity. With that in mind, the show is certain to provide groundbreaking entertainment for both football fans and celeb spotters alike.

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15/09/2004 10:23:01 pm

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

WEDNESDAY

GROUP A

Deportivo 0-0 Olympiakos
The Spaniards were expected to win this one, but came away with a point, in this group, home games will count and the trip to Athens is never easy.

Liverpool 2-0 Monaco
Like Porto, Monaco have been rather broken up since last year's final, and lost at Anfield thanks to Cisse and Baros.

GROUP B

Leverkusen 3-0 Real Madrid
Probably the best match of the evening, this result certainly wasn't expected even though it was on German soil. Real really need to get something from their away games, as Roma and Kiev are not easy places to go.

Roma A-A Dinamo Kiev (0-1 after 45 mins)
This match was abandoned at half time due to an injury to the referee, it was a bizarre situation and there is a thread here.

GROUP C

Ajax 0-1 Juventus
This game was obviously going to be close, but Juventus are the slightly better side and came out on top. Ajax and Bayern will battle for second place but Juve should cruise it.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0-1 Bayern Munich
I watched this match, and like Shakhtar yesterday, Maccabi were very lively. Bayern performed better than Milan did last night though, despite only taking victory from a Roy Makaay penalty.

GROUP D

Lyon 2-2 Manchester United
Man Utd and there usual stuffy ways come away with a draw. They were 2-0 down at half time, but Van Nistelrooy scored two in five minutes early in the second half to rescue the points.

Fenerbahce 1-0 Sparta Prague
The two inferior sides in this group meeting here, and the on form Pierre Van Hooijdonk scored to give the Turkish side the victory.

TOMORROW

UEFA CUP

Shelbourne v Lille
Hearts v Braga
Milwall v Ferencvaros
Newcastle v Hapoel Bnei Sachnin
Maritimo v Rangers
Middlesbrough v Banik Ostrava

I think Middlesbrough is the only televised match on Channel Five, but I might be wrong.

14/09/2004 10:33:15 pm

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

GROUP E

PANATHINAIKOS 2-1 ROSENBORG
Battle of the minnows here, both should crumble under Arsenal and PSV, although the Greeks should pick up the UEFA cup spot.

ARSENAL 1-0 PSV EINDHOVEN
An own goal winning this game for Arsenal, who will probably top the group at the end. Interesting to see how they'll fare away from home.

GROUP F

SHAKHTAR DONETSK 0-1 AC MILAN
I watched the whole of this match, and Milan's lack of practice showed against the lively Ukrainian outfit. AC lucky to come away with 3 points thanks to Clarence Seedorf.

GLASGOW CELTIC 1-3 FC BARCELONA
Henrik Larsson comes back to haunt the Hoops as Celtic succumb to Frank Rijkaard's side. Celtic will probably finish third in this group, they will rarely get ahead of Barca and Milan, but should beat Shakhtar to the UEFA cup spot.

GROUP G

VALENCIA 2-0 ANDERLECHT
An expected home victory from Claudio Ranieri's side against the Belgians. I don't think Valencia have what it takes to win it though. Quarter finals at best.

INTERNAZIONALE 2-0 WERDER BREMEN
The Bundesliga champions beaten at the San Siro tonight. I can see them doing much better at home, but they will probably have to settle for the UEFA cup spot.

GROUP H

PORTO 0-0 CSKA MOSCOW
The holders were really expected to win this one, but with their squad as broken up as it is, they may even succumb to PSG and fail to qualify for the knockouts.

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 0-3 CHELSEA
Didier Drogba scored two back in France this evening as Chelsea cruised to the biggest victory of the night. PSG may challenge Porto for second place this time round, and CSKA may step in as well.

TOMORROW

I'm watching the Liverpool game tomorrow night, but here are your other options:

GROUP A
DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA V OLYMPIAKOS PIRAEUS
LIVERPOOL V MONACO

GROUP B
BAYER LEVERKUSEN V REAL MADRID
ROMA V DINAMO KIEV

GROUP C
AJAX V JUVENTUS
MACCABI TEL-AVIV V BAYERN MUNICH

GROUP D
FENERBAHCE V SPARTA PRAGUE
OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS V MANCHESTER UNITED

14/09/2004 5:55:33 pm

champions league review will be tomorrow / thursday
uefa cup review will be on friday

in the meantime, as the release of the fm2005 demo is very close, here is a blog from the guardian online on the topic

quote:

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from the guardian gamesblog

A real Champions League-style clash is coming this winter as Eidos pitches its Championship Manager 5 footie management sim against Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 2005. For those unaware of the political intrigue here, Sports Interactive created Championship Manager back in the early nineties and developed the series right up until the recent CM4 Season 03/04, with Eidos as publisher. However, the two companies split up earlier this year and Eidos retained the Champ Man brand, handing over development duties to a new internal team. SI meanwhile, purchased a classic license – Football Manager – and set about building a new game around its award-winning footie database, game code and engine.

Well, I don’t know about CM5 yet, but I’ve been playing the Football Manager beta demo all week, and I think it’s going to be a truly astonishing game…

Okay, so I have to come clean here. I can’t really claim to be entirely objective. I edit The Official Football Manager magazine for Future publishing – a mag dedicated to Sports Interactive’s games. However, I took that job because I loved the Championship Manager series. It has stolen countless hours of my life and is responsible for some of my fondest gaming memories. I know enough about it to appear on the recently dumbed-down Mastermind among other chumps answering questions on EastEnders and Star Wars figures. So I think I can speak with some authority when I say that Football Manager 2005, looks set to be a stunning example of its faintly maligned genre. Perhaps the pinnacle achievement so far.

Just surfing around the excellent new menu system, checking out the vast player database (over 200,000 professionals, each digitally reconstructed with over 40 stats) and tinkering with the complex tactics screen has got those twangs of addiction reappearing. There are now over 50 countries to manage in and 2351 teams to control. All of the English sides have full youth and reserve teams (so have many of the major European sides), so you can judge immediately how your team is going to grow and develop over the next few years. It’s nothing short of a football stat treasure trove. No wonder real managers are already approaching SI about getting access to this information base.

There are some really interesting new gameplay features in here, too. The manager mind games element looks like it might be immense fun. You can select any other manager in the FM world and release a comment to the media about him, choosing from a vast selection that let you criticise his team’s recent performances, boast about your chances when your sides meet on Saturday, or even declare your admiration for him. It’s all part of the psy-ops that dominates real football, and could really humanise the whole experience (even if, currently, I have no idea how it affects things on the pitch – although SI assure me it does).

With team tactics, you have truly deep and thorough control over how your side performs on the pitch. FM features slider bar controls for elements such as width, defensive line, creative freedom, etc, so you can intricately set-up your side, to either sit back and defend with a Rorke's Drift mentality, or charge up the field like maniacs, each member of the squad concentrating only on his own creative abilities. Most likely, you’ll end up somewhere in between – it is up to each and every player to decide exactly where. I like the way its also possible to quickly change your tactics with a single button press. If you’re desperate for a goal in the dying minutes, you can go to your tactics screen and click on a button that makes all your players hoof every last desperate pass up to your lofty danger man, for that classic route one finish.

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14/09/2004 5:55:17 pm

CONTINUED FROM ABOVE...

quote:

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Navigation has clearly been influenced both by Mac Os X and the latest website design theory. There are multiple ways to get around, using the main menu bar along the top, a tree-style menu on the left, and a ‘bread crumbs’ menu on the bottom of the screen (which traces your route to the screen you’re currently on so you can easily backtrack through the game) – all of which interact and feed off each other. It’ll take hours to find your own way, but when you do it should become second nature – unlike the way you had to grapple with the interface in CM3, fighting your way through illogical menu screens. The aim with the entire design is to give you as easy access as possible to the increased complexity and sheer range of gameplay components. Transfers, loans, training – all are logically presented and packed with options.

And, most importantly, it all looks like its leading to a realistic simulation of the sport itself. As Manchester City, I had a brilliant pre-season, firing in goals for fun, watching little Shaun racing along that right wing feeding Anelka with pin-point passes. But now, in the premiership, City are mis-firing, mistakes are occurring; watching the 2D match engine, I can see that gaps the size of small oceans are appearing between my stumbling back four. It’s time to bring in support, time to hit that database, send out my scouts (who now act intelligently, checking out other players in the games they watch – not only the type you’ve asked them to study). It’s time to bash out a few complex contracts, making the most of my meagre resources with sweeteners, bonuses and salary deals.

The AI-controlled Assistant Manager is there to let you know who’s not pulling their weight in the current squad, who needs to be placed on extra fitness training with your toughest coach. He’ll also pick your team if you ask him to, and let you know about any new stars rising through the youth and reserve ranks. I am told your trusted right-hand man may also keep you up to date on dressing room gossip – the inter-player muck-spreading that no gaffer is directly privy to. SI says that player personalities will play a bigger role than ever. It will be easy to upset the moodier members of your first XI by criticising team performances to the press, or selling one of their mates. I’m not sure if there’s a, ’refuse to speak to media after important international win’ option, though.

Football, increasingly, is a sport about personality and psychology, ego and expectation – games are won and lost in press conferences and on the back pages of the red tops. From my eight or so hours with this beta code, it seems SI has really caught the essence of this modern malaise – without sacrificing the purists’ love of the tactical game.

So yes, I am biased. But I feel – if the game speed is kept up to scratch (it seems much faster than CM4 in this demo), and the initial release is as bug free as possible - that this is going to be the greatest management game Sports Interactive has ever written. I think maybe my social life is over.

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