Celebrate Friday with an avalanche of inadvertent man love…

Cheers to Simon Bagel and eRe. The rest after the jump…

Hull boss believes his side’s 1-6 versus Liverpool was ever so similar to Fiorentina’s 2-0 victory

To the layman observer of professional football, Liverpool’s last two matches have been a little different. On the one hand, a porous defence seemingly intent on allowing Fernando Torres the match ball, ends up on the receiving end of a 6-1 lamping. On the other, the home side restrict Torres to scraps, and emerge comfortable winners with a 2-0 scoreline that flattered Benitez’s boys. Phil Brown however, is no layman. He understands better than us.

Commenting on the Tigers triumph at Anfield last Saturday, Brown explained:

“I got the boys in on Sunday to analyse and dissect what went on on Saturday. The most important thing was that I knew the gameplan was right. I watched very closely Fiorentina do exactly the same gameplan and it paid off.”

In other words, the 6-1 was certainly not his fault, and so convincing was Hull’s performance, that former Serie A Coach of the Year Cesare Prandelli only went and pinched Brown’s tactical strategy.

There is no great genius without a touch of madness. At least that is what Aristotle believed. And probably Phil Brown too.

A night of mixed fortunes for the English in Europe

Fiorentina 2/ Liverpool 0
“I have never seen us struggle so badly as in the first half - it was a poor performance.” A damning indictment of Liverpool’s performance in Tuscany last night from Rafa, as Stevan Jovetic - dubbed “The Montenegrin Messi” - bagged a brace. Liverpool now have some catching up to do in Group E.

Arsenal 2/ Olympiakos 0
Despite total dominance over the Greeks, the Gunners left it late to claim three points: RVP struck on 78 minutes, while Andrei Arshavin sealed it with a suspiciously offside effort on 86. Olympiakos boss Zico didn’t accuse the officials of being biased, but did note that three of them were French.

Romanian still struggling to pay ridiculous £14.6m fine

Adrian Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 on account of his cocaine abuse, and was given a seven month ban and a £20,000 fine by the FA. When he signed for Juventus (via Livorno) as a free agent during this mandatory exile period, the Blues demanded £9.6m from the player to compensate for the initial transfer fee.

Mutu soon regretted hiring a lawyer he saw running down the street after an ambulance, as the fine was increased to £14.6m after two appeals to the very same Court of Arbitration for Sport who recently banned Chelsea from transfer activity.

Some might say that the transfer ban helped to restore karmic balance following Chelsea’s lack of compassion towards the Romanian, but the point remains that £14.6m is a penalty that only a handful of footballers could realistically afford to pay. In his latest bid to avoid the angry Russian debt collectors, Mutu has written an open letter to FIFA and his former employers. Sky Sport Italia printed the highlights, which Goal.com roughly translated:

“To Chelsea, the FIFA disciplinary committee and FIFA president Josep Blatter

“I write this letter

Also appearing on a computer near you…

Can you say “irony”, Dwight Yorke?
[Pies]

FHM trains with Blackburn Rovers. Badly.
[FHM]

Best. Haircut. Ever.
[The Offside]

Cesc Fabregas is winning his fight for fitness for the Manchester Utd game
[F365]

UEFA FAIL!
[Dirty Tackle]

Chelsea make a last ditch £57m bid for Franck Ribery
[Daily Mail]

Kaka ain’t afraid of no English teams
[The Telegraph]

Fiorentina rebuff Chelsea’s advances for ‘unsellable’ youngster Stevan Jovetic
[Goal.com]

Spoiler promotion: Fancy a free punt? Of course you do, silly billy! Check out hundreds of pounds worth of free football bets at
OLBG Sports

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Michael Turner to Tottenham
As Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson struggle to find full fitness, The Mirror suggest ‘Arry will bring in the Hull centre-back. Apparently, Pascal Chimbonda plus cash would equate to a deal worth around £8m.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: In light of the injury list, Tottenham do need to look beyond Corluka for centre-back cover, and sources suggest Turner could be, er, turned for the right price. The thought of wearing that ugly 80s throwback Hull shirt for an entire season must be playing on his mind too.

Emmanuel Eboue to Fiorentina
Another rumour from the prolific Daily Mirror, who are suggesting the Ivorian will be the latest star to leave the Emirates. Wenger has reportedly given Eboue permission to speak to the Serie A side, who would be expected to pay around £9m.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Statistically, he is an extremely effective player, however

A further helping of transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies 

Gokhan Inler to Arsenal
With primary target Melo almost certain to join Juventus, Arsenal have been forced to look elsewhere for a new midfielder. However, reports suggest Arsene Wenger is restricting his search to Serie A and now wants to sign £10 million-rated Gokhan Inler from Udinese.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Arsenal were linked with the Swiss international a lot last summer so hopefully this doesn’t drag on as long as the Andrey Arshavin saga did, especially as this transfer window has been fairly interesting and unpredictable so far.

Tuncay to Everton or Aston Villa
Middlesbrough’s local paper the Evening Gazette states that Aston Villa are looking to complete a £20 million double deal for Stewart Downing and

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Carlos Tevez to Chelsea
Carlo Ancelotti is “demanding” that his new side land the services of the clubless Argentinean, say the Daily Mail. Both Chelsea and Manchester City have matched the £25.5m asking price, but Abramovich may have to let a couple of his yacht staff go if he wants to compete on the wages front.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: As exciting as a move to another big four club sounds, we’re not convinced Tevez will be willing to leave Manchester. He would be guaranteed regular first team football at City, and he has just enrolled his daughter at a posh private school near his home.

Steven Defour to Everton
The Independent believe David Moyes will follow up the Toffees’ rejected £9m bid for the Standard Liege midfielder with an improved £13m offer.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Defour has indicated