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WithLeather discover the most fantastically useless invention ever: the Treadmobile

London 2012 bosses are desperately trying to stop the Olympics plunging us further into financial turmoil
[SportsByBrooks]

After wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of Newcastle’s wage bill, Poor little lamb Joey Barton out injured for two months
[Football365]

Michael Ballack won’t face England this week, but is all set to play for Chelsea on Saturday. Hmmm…
[Bild]

Arsenal aren’t the only ones having doubts about their manager - Bernd Schuster’s Real madrid days are numbered
[Dirty Tackle]

Rant: Alan Hansen and co are horrible pundits
[Soccerlens]

Former Jermain Defoe lovers Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace and Charlotte Mears flee violence at a London awards ceremony
[Daily Mail]

The ten best teenage footballers in the world
[Caught Offside]

The top 10 girls of the 2008 F1 season
[Grid Crasher]

Sexy bonus: photo coverage of last week’s “Most Beautiful Bottom in the World” contest
[The Aussie Daily Telegraph]

Burnley end Chelsea’s quadruple bid on penalties

In case you missed it, here are some comments made by Chelsea assistant Ray Wilkins prior to tonight’s home penalty shootout loss to Burnley in which he explains why their Carling Cup policy is so much more effective than Arsenal’s:

“It’s all about winning trophies when you’re a big club.

“The fact we’ve won the Carling Cup twice in the last four years and Arsenal have won none justifies our policy.

“You enter a competition to win the competition. Why go into it if you’re not concerned whether you win it?

“Playing a young or weakened team undermines the value of the competition.

“And we have not and will not do that. We want to win it, big time.”

To recap: Arsenal’s kids eased past Wigan, who held both Chelsea and the Gunners in the league last season, while quadruple-chasing Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side, featuring Deco, Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba and substitute Frank Lampard, lost at home to a Championship side.

Abroad, a similarly shocking cup exit could prove enough to cost La Liga winner Bernd Schuster his job at Real Madrid.

La Liga champions knocked out of cup by minnows

Last night, Real Madrid beat Segunda División B Basque minnows Real Unión 4-3 at the Bernabéu, but crashed out of the Cope del Rey on away goals after losing the first leg 3-2. It represents the first time Los Blancos - who fielded many first team stars including Raul and Wesley Sneijder - have been knocked out of the cup by a third-tier side at home.

The Spanish press are claiming the defeat is the most shameful in Real Madrid’s long and illustrious history, and a poll on Marca’s website (which is a Madrid-based sport newspaper) shows that over 75 per cent of fans believe it is the biggest embarrassment the club has ever faced.

This is the type of defeat that would normally see a La Liga manager lose his job, and Bernd Schuster appears to be feeling the heat. After the game, he defended himself: “I’m not worried about my job, but it is understandable that others have doubts about my work.”

If Madrid do decide to appoint a new gaffer, they will undoubtedly pick one of the biggest names in the game, and probably someone who is currently employed elsewhere. Could Mr Benitez be heading back to his home city? Or maybe Mr Ferguson - we hear he is very popular in the Spanish capital…

Brazilian was intimidated by Raúl’s constant ‘morning glory’

Let’s hope the fourth official made Raúl tape that up before he came on.

Also, Bernd Schuster should make a concerted effort to avoid unintentional Nazi saluting in the future.

[Thanks to Sporno lover Jesús for the awesome submission]

Click here to see the full Sporno gallery

Miaow! One saucer of milk for Bernd, please

We all know that Robinho joined Manchester City for the money in order to advance his career with a top Premier League side, however, Bernd Schuster doesn’t quite see it that way. The angry German Real Madrid manager said yesterday:

“From a sports point of view, for me it is a disappointment because Robinho had everything here to triumph.”

“But you have to respect his dream to be a good player in a mediocre club in England.“

Schuster isn’t the only one to criticise his move to Eastlands - Pele (who oversaw Robinho’s development with Santos’ youth programme) has claimed the young Brazilian ‘needs counseling‘ following his decision to leave Los Blancos. Robinho, obviously spotting Pele’s penchant for making a fast buck, retorted by claiming the old timer would have made exactly the same move.

Is Herr Schuster correct in his assessment of City? Or has Robinho wisely joined the club at the start of their ascension to greatness? Let us know with a comment below.

Sincerely hopes club allows the rest of his body to follow

On the opening Sunday of the Spanish league season, Real Madrid’s problematic Brazilian Robinho prepared for the long slog ahead by calling an extraordinary press conference and announcing “My head is in Chelsea.”

While Madrid were getting ready to raise the curtain against Deportivo La Coruna in Galicia, Robinho was giving it to them with both barrels in the capital. “I’ve already told (coach) Schuster, Pedja (Mijatovic, Madrid’s technical director) and the club that I want to leave, and I’m saying it in front of the press again, as I have many times. The coach thinks he can get me back, but my head is in Chelsea.”

Besides being unable to keep their biggest stars muzzled, let alone happy, Real Madrid are also embarrassed by their own