Wikipedia suggests Mailian has a rather high strike rate

Say what you like about Malian defender Djimi Traore, but a strike rate of 96.4 goals per international game is bloody impressive.

Check it out here, before the Wiki party poopers take it down.

[The Offside]

Collaborative website merks another victim

Ahead of Manchester City’s UEFA Cup tie with Omonia Nicosia, the first port of call for information on the Cypriot club would have been Wikipedia. Curious fans would have been met with the following nugget of information:

“A small but loyal group of fans are lovingly called “The Zany Ones” - they like to wear hats made from discarded shoes and have a song about a little potato.”

Finding nothing strange or incredibly made-up about the sentence above, Daily Mirror journalist David Anderson plunged it straight into his match preview, which appeared in the online and print versions of the publication.

It turns out that Omonia Nicosia fans tend to wear shoes on their fee, and do not care enough about starchy vegetable to warrant any kind of chorus, and the Wikipedia page has now been updated to reflect the error.

In the future, Mr Anderson would be wise to look elsewhere for his research.

Spoiler bonus: Why not take in a lecture from Professor Wikipedia after the jump…

Delicate fans, look away now…

Newcastle fans, does this man have what it takes to lead your team right back to the top half of the table? Judging by his Wikipedia page (pictured) he has at least one trait slightly lacking from the Keegan armory.

Joe Cole glad he ignored Al Gore when choosing motor

Big Phil Scolari officially started work at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground yesterday, and he almost did so a man down. On the way to training, Joe Cole’s Range Rover became rather too well acquainted with a 40-ton lorry:

“[Cole] dashed to the aid of another driver trapped in his Vauxhall Signum.

“The Chelsea winger’s £50,000 4×4 took the full impact of the Scania lorry - and careered into the Vauxhall.

“Driver John Jury was knocked unconscious - and came to with Cole banging on his window.”

The dent in the plush Chelsea tractor doesn’t look particularly life threatening, but the other driver claims Cole would not have survived if he had been driving a sports car, or one of those hybrid efforts that obnoxious people drive to let people know they are better than everyone else. Absolutely no one who lives in or around London needs a 4×4, yet it seems the winger and his bride-to-be Carly Zucker have done the right thing in completely disregarding their carbon footprint.

Spoiler bonus: it looks like someone has been playing tricks with Joe Cole’s Wikipedia entry…

[click image to enlarge]

… according to Wikipedia

[click image to enlarge ridiculously small text]

If I suddenly gained the ability to travel into the future, one of my first acts would be to inform Wikipedia readers of the result of future games. A time/ space continuum-shattering Glasgow Rangers fan has obviously had the same idea, and has kindly saved us the effort of watching tomorrow night’s UEFA Cup Final:

“A battling performance from Zenit St Petersburg proved to not be enough in the UEFA cup Final against a much more superior Glasgow Rangers side on May 14th 2008 when Zenit succumed to a 2-1 defeat at the City Of Manchester Stadium, goals from Jean Claude Darcheville and Barry Ferguson on the 21st and 65th minute proved to be enough for the teddy bears to secure their first European trophy in 36 years.”

If you have faith in the Scottish Nostradamus, have a punt using the best odds available on the interweb here.