Here is my latest post for The Big Lead.  The title explains fairly, what the article is about.

 Will Robert Kraft Purchase Gillett’s Share of Liverpool? | EPL Talk.

Here is my latest post for EPL Talk

The Big Lead » Blog Archive » A “Social Experiment” Fools the Soccer Media.

My latest post on The Big Lead about the Masal Bugduv affair.

Robinho’s tenure in England keeps getting better, for those quasi-humorously writing about it.

West Yorkshire Police arrested the 25-year-old Brazilian, over allegations of “serious sexual assault” Jan. 14 at the Space nightclub in Leeds.

Robinho cooperated, and was released “pending further inquiries.”  He returned to training and was in the lineup for today’s match against Newcastle.

The arrest comes a day after Robinho returned from an unauthorized jaunt home to Brazil, for which he was fined the maximum £320,000.  His trip was not a coincidental flit of fancy.  His birthday was on Sunday.  He also had expressed frustration about City’s failure to land Kaka.

Rare for a Brazilian footballer, Robinho is known to like the ladies.  At an October 2007 party for the Brazilian National Team party, he reportedly asked a subordinate to bring him 40 condoms.  Presumably, (or hopefully) the sheaths were not entirely for his personal use.

Robinho’s involvement in the assault case is unclear.  What is clear is that, despite performing well on the pitch, 12 goals in 19 appearances, he’s not the happiest camper at Eastlands, and the club hasn’t been particularly enamored with his antics.

Unfortunately for both, he will be at City for a while.  No club, in this economic climate, will approach his £32.5m transfer fee.  No club will pay nearly £160,000 per week salary.  Such is the folly of paying top dollar.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has taken legal action against the Sunday Times  for libel.

The British paper published this story, written by their business editor John Waples, claiming that Abramovich was considering selling Chelsea.  The club wants an injuction to prevent repetition of the report. 

Waples accused Abramovich of meeting with wealthy Arabs to gauge their interest.

Abramovich has been trimming expenses at Chelsea, after reporting billions of pounds worth of losses in the latest credit crisis.  The club received a miniscule transfer budget compared to previous years, he has also been allegedly charging players for their lunch.

Sir Alex Ferguson acts like he’s been there before after the Carling Cup Semi-Final Win. (Off the Post)

Maurice Edu blames US Soccer for placing too much pressure on Freddy Adu. (Tribal Footall)

Arsenal will make the Emirates Stadium much more technology-savvy. (Arsenal Mania)

Emerson thinks Kaka should move to Real Madrid (The Beautiful Game)

MLS is not pleased with Sports Business Journal over wording. (LA Times)

I must agree with Kickette.  The smooth shoulder roll at the beginning is amazing.

Bicycle kicks are normally overrated.  This one was pure skill.

Oft-troubled Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has accepted a temporary loan move to Portsmouth, to play for former Arsenal teammate Tony Adams.  Pennant deflected interest from AC Milan and Real Madrid, originally preferring to stay at Liverpool, despite not playing.  Who wouldn’t want a player with that type of ambition?

Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness’ raging jealousy of AC Milan has lingered after the Dubai trip.  Upset by the audacity of Milan’s 120 million euro valuation of Kaka, Hoeness has tried to one-up them, by claiming Franck Ribery is worth 150 million!  Unfortunately for Bayern, Ribery does want to leave eventually, possibly for free when his contract expires in 2011.

Talks between Arsenal and Zenit St. Petersburg for Andrei Arshavin have hit an impass, with Zenit demanding that the London club raise their bid from £10m to £15m.  Five million pounds is a substantial sum, of course.  So is the £40m they would lose by not qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Lukas Podolski will return, as speculated, to his former club FC Koln, with Koln essentially returning the £10m Bayern paid for him in 2006.  However, there’s still a solid six months of awkwardness before that happens, as the clubs will not consummate the deal until July 1.  The 23-year-old should have a fabulous sulk party on the bench with new signing Landon Donovan. 

Manchester United’s new home shirt. (EPL Talk)

Arsene Wenger doesn’t want to talk about winning the title, which is convenient because everyone knows they are out of the race. (Arsenal Mania)

Can Hoffenheim continue their dream season without Ibisevic? (Unprofessional Foul)

Manchester United have only come from behind in a second leg once. (Chickendinner)