Football. What a wonderful word. But it hasn't been treated that well to be honest. We've had racism encouters, crowd trouble, match fixing and many more. But while we have had the bad times in football, we have also had the good moments. Aguero's last minute goal to win Manchester City's first title since 1968, We've had incredible goals, incredible tricks and flicks and so much more.
Here I will countdown the top nine moments in 2013 before this amazing year is over:

9. Brazil destroy Spain 3-0 in the Confederations Cup. Goals from Fred (2) and Neymar and a David Luiz clearance. It was Brazil's 4th Confederations Cup win and only Spain's third defeat under Vicente Del Bosque.

8. Neymar moves to Barcelona from Santos for £48m. Neymar scored 54 goals in 103 league appearances for Santos and has scored 6 in 14 league appearances for Barcelona. Neymar was heavily linked to moves with Real Madrid but Barcelona stole him and made him the 10th most expensive player of all time.

7. Joe Kinnear goes back to Newcastle as following his stint as manager in the 2008-09 season. Kinnear had always said that he wanted to leave Newcastle. But the club was left furious when he mispronounced Charles N'Zogbia's name, instead he called him "Charles Insomnia". First of all, who has a surname of insomnia? And second of all, learn how to say your players' name correctly! Kinnear was forced to resign after suffering health issues.
However, in 2013, Kinnear was appointed Director Of Football at Newa castle-much to the displeasure of the fans. But what was even worse was that he mispronounced the name of Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa and Shola Ameobi. I can totally understand the fans displeasure. Kinnear needs to learn who his players are and how to say their names, otherwise he shouldn't be at ANY football club.

6. Pep Guardiola moves to Bayern Munich following his "break from football". Guardiola was a big favourite at the Camp Nou and won 14 trophies in his 4 year reign. Guardiola is still a young manager at just 42. This means that he still has a long future ahead of him. Where that future might take him? I don't know. But one thing is for sure, we cannot fault his managerial record.


5.Robert Lewandoski scores FOUR against Spanish giants Real Madrid in the Champions League Semi-Final. Lewandoski became the first ever player to score four goals in a Champions League Semi-Final. Although Madrid won the second leg 2-0, they failed to progress and lost 4-3 on aggregate. Real Madrid would have felt frustrated as they had chance after chance
but couldn't put them away.

4. Bayern Munich crush Barcelona 4-0 and 3-0 in two legs in the Champions League Semi-Final meeting. Thomas Muller scored three, Robben two, Gomez and a Gerard Pique own goal rounded up the 7-0 demolition of the favourites. No-one expected this, perhaps not even Jupp Heynckes. But despite Barcelona's despair, it was Bayern who progressed to an all German final and they later went on to win in extra time against Borussia Dortmund.

3. Sir Alex Ferguson retires as manager of Manchester United. Sir Alex is one of- if not the most- respected manager of all time and what a shame it was to hear that he was to leave the touchline. He would be sorely missed. Well actually, he has been in the stands for many of United's games this season. As if David Moyes needs more pressure...


2. Luis Suarez bites Branislav Ivanovic. Well, what can I really say about that? It speaks for itself. In Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Chelsea, Suarez was tussling for the ball when he supposedly-sorry, DEFINITELY sank his teeth into the Serbian defender's arm. That wasn't the first time Suarez had been banned for biting, in 2010 as Ajax captain he bit a players' shoulder and was banned for seven games. I think that it's obvious that his role model is Mike Tyson.

1. Welshman Gareth Bale joins Real Madrid for a world record £85m. Bale scored 21 goals in 33 games for Tottenham and became their top goalscorer in a single season for Spurs, beating Teddy Sheringham. Bale was also linked to Manchester United but no formal bid was made. And then Madrid decided to break the transfer record AGAIN but this time only by £5m, The winger will earn £300,000 a week for six years at the Madrid based club. That's £93m over six years!!!!! But whether he is worth all that money? I don't think so. About £60m of that sum came from the 2012/13 season. And that is what I don't like about transfers, they are effectively based on just one season. And I don't know about you but I totally disagree with that.



Well there you have it. My top nine moments of 2013. Hope you have enjoyed this post and keep updated.

Tweet me at @kamsfootyblog.

AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Roy Hodgson

The footballing world has suffered from another case of racism. But this time from an unlikely source: England boss Roy Hodgson.

As I have said before, racism has to stop now. The statement which Hodgson made was absolutely unacceptable. "Pass the ball to the monkey" he said when describing Andros Townsend's performance at half time during the 2-0 win against Poland. What is worse is that the FA backed Hodgson's "joke" instead of fining him.

So now, young people will think that if Roy Hodgson can say this sort of comments then so can I. Wrong. What Hodgson said should never be repeated, whether its a joke, or an insult.

How many times will this be recurring? I hope never. And finally, in my opinion I think Hodgson should have some type of punishment, whether its a fine, or a touchline ban. Anything will do.

The transfer window

The transfer window had surprise transfers, 'bound to happen' transfers and just one transfer all season (I'm looking at you Pardew). Yes, Newcastle signed just one player on loan however Pardew has explained why the club haven't signed anyone. But perhaps the most notable signing of the window has been Mesut Ozil's club-record fee of £42.4m to Arsenal. But first of all is he really worth that amount of money? I don't think so, for example when I saw the price tag placed on him by Madrid I thought it was a typo by BBC Sport! I think that he is only worth about £25m-£30m. £42m is far too much for a player of his calibre.

Another eye-catching transfer was Marouane Fellaini's £27.5m fee to Manchester Utd, this transfer had been coming for months but a deal had only materialised over an hour after the transfer window had shut.

But Crystal Palace were the busiest team in the Premier League after they signed an incredible 16 players! That's enough for a whole team on the pitch and a full subs bench! The best signing they have made is arguably Barry Bannan who has made 64 Premier League for Aston Villa. Can Ian Holloway's team use the depth in their squad to survive?

International Competitions

European U-21 Championships
The U-21 championship is one of the few competitions in the world where we see the next generation of the next big stars. We have already noticed some new talent emerging, Isco (who has now agreed a £23m move to Real Madrid) and Thiago (who is wanted by Manchester United). So the future is very bright for Spain. However the future lookds very bleak for England. They failed to qualify from their group for the second successive season except for this seaason they were eliminated with out a point and they become only the second team after since Finland in 2009. But whether they will improve is for the future to decide...

Confederations Cup
The Confederations Cup is a tournament where the best international teams of each continent. This year it was:Brazil (the host), Italy (as runner up of Euro 2012), Mexico (as the champions of North America), Japan (as the champions of Asia) are all in Group A, while Spain (as the winners of the World Cup), Uruguay (as champions of South America), Nigeria (as champions of Arica) and Tahiti (as champions of Oceania) are all in Group B.

The first day was Brazil vs Japan which Brazil won comfortably 3-0 thanks to an outstanding goal from Neymar. Hopes where high for the next games to come. Another outstanding goal, this time from Luis Suarez, ended Uuguay's game as Spain 2-1 Uruguay. And the great goals just kept coming this time from a trademark free kick from Andrea Pirlo on his 100th cap. But the most historic game in the group stages came in the form of Tahiti vs Nigeria. Tahiti defied all odds and scored against a difficult opposition and it was the best moment in their history. In the first semi-final a disappointing Brazil edged their way past Uruguay.In the second semi-final, an under-par Spain drew 0-0 with an impressive Italy side. However, the penalties were DEFINETLY not under-par. They were the best penalties I had ever seen in my life! That is until the 12th penaly where Italian defender Bonucci skied his penalty.

So, it was the final we were all hoping for... Spain vs Brazil. The two greats of world football. The clash between tika-taka and direct play towards Neymar. In the end it was Brazil who won 3-0! And who thought that would happen? Not me thats for sure. Goals from Fred (2) and Neymar stole the show for Brazil.

Keep looking for more updates.

End of season update

The last day of the season in the Premier league and the Football league was so dramatic.

But first, after the shock retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson all eyes were on Newcastle vs Arsenal and Tottenham vs Sunderland. All Arsenal had to do was match Spurs' result. Arsenal won a hard fought game 1-0 thanks to a superb finish from Laurent Koscielny while Tottenham beat Sunderland with a Gareth Bale last minute winner. Despite Tottenham's effort they failed to qualify for the Champions league again. Meanwhile the other results in the Premier league were: West Brom ( Morrison, Lukaku 3, Mulumbu)5-5 Man Utd (Kagawa, Olsson og, Buttner, van Persie, Hernandez), Tottenham (Bale) 1-0 Sunderland, Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal (Koscielny), Man City (Rodwell 2) 2-3 Norwich (Pilkington, Holt, Howson), Liverpool (Coutinho) 1-0 QPR, Chelsea (Mata, Torres) 2-1 Everton (Naismith), Swansea 0-3 Fulham (Kacaniklic, Berbatov, Emanuelson), West Ham (Nolan 3, Vaz Te) 4-2 Reading (McCleary, Le Fondre), Wigan (Boyce, Baker og) 2-2 Aston Villa (Bent, Vlaar), Southampton (Lambert) 1-1 Stoke (Crouch)
And congratulations to Robin van Persie who won the Golden Boot with 23 goals, and to Gareth Bale who won the PFA Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Football Writers Player of the Year.

In the Championship, Cardiff City won the Championship title 8 points ahead of runner up Hull City who edged the final automatic place ahead of Watford who lost 2-1 to Leeds on the final day. And the relegation scrap was huge!! However, it was Wolves and Peterborough who went down along with Bristol City who were 14 points away from relegation.
In the play offs Leciester beat Watford 1-0 thanks to a David Nugent header and Crystal Palce were held to a goalless draw against Brighton at home. In the second leg with Watford beating Leciester 2-1 to take it to extra time Leciester had a penalty save, the rebound also saved and Watford did the mother of all counter attacks and Troy Deemey smashed in the winning goal to send the Watford fans wild! Meanwhile, a Wilfred Zaha inspired Crystal Palace booked there place in Wembley beating Brighton 2-0 at the Amex stadium.
In the play off final (which I went to!) it was the most tense game I'd ever watched! It took an extra time penalty from former Watford man Kevin Phillips to settle the match.

In League 1 the final day was also very dramatic as Bournemouth were already promoted but missed out on the title when they drew 0-0 with Tranmere and Doncaster beat promotion hopefuls Brentford 1-0.
In the play off semi final Sheffield Utd beat Yeovil 1-0 to take a slender lead to Yeovil. And in the other semi final Swindon played Brentford in a stalemate. The second legs took a turn for the worst for Sheffield Utd and Swindon who lost 2-0 and on penalties respectively.
In the play off final Yeovil held on to beat Brentofrd 2-1 and reached the Championship for the first time in their history.

In League 2 it was a similar story but the other end of the table and in the end it was Barnet and Aldetshot who lost their League 2 status. These are the final tables throughout England:
Premier League
Man Utd (c) 89
Man City 78
Chelsea 75
Arsenal 73
Tottenham 72
Everton 63
Liverpool 61
West Brom 49
Swansea 46
West Ham 46
Norwich 44
Fulham 43
Stoke 42
Southampton 41
Aston Villa 41
Newcastle 41
Sunderland 39
Wigan (r) 36
Reading (r) 28
QPR (r) 25

Championship
Cardiff (c) (r) 87
Hull (p) 79
Watford 77
Brighton 75
Crystal Palace (p) 72
Leicester 68
Bolton 68
Nottingham Forest 67
Charlton 65
Derby 61
Burnley 61
Birmingham 61
Leeds 61
Ipswich 60
Blackpool 59
Middlesbrough 59
Blackburn 58
Sheffield Wednesday 58
Huddersfield 58
Millwall 56
Barnsley 55
Peterborough (r) 54
Wolves (r) 51
Bristol City (r) 41

League 1
Doncaster (c) (p) 84
Bournemouth (p) 83
Brentford 79
Yeovil (p) 77
Sheffield Utd 75
Swindon 74
Leyton Orient 71
MK Dons 70
Walsall 68
Crawley 68
Tranmere 67
Notts County 65
Crewe 64
Preston 59
Coventry 55
Shrewsbury 55
Carlisle 55
Stevenage 54
Oldham 51
Colchester 51
Scunthorpe (r) 48
Bury (r) 41
Hartlepool (r) 41
Portsmouth (r) 32

League 2
Gillingham (c) (p) 83
Rotherham (p) 79
Port Vale (p) 78
Burton 76
Cheltenham 75
Northampton 73
Bradford (p) 69
Chesterfield 67
Oxford 65
Exeter 64
Southend 61
Rochdale 61
Fleetwood 60
Bristol Rovers 60
Wycombe 60
Morecambe 58
York 55
Accrington 54
Torquay 53
Wimbledon 53
Plymouth 52
Dag & Red 51
Barnet (r) 51
Aldershot (r) 48

That's all for now but keep visiting.

Questions

Hi guys, I've got some questions for you which I made up:

How do Spain have such good players?
What is the secret to Bayern Munich's success?
Why can Arsenal not win any trophies?
Is Fernando Torres not scoring enough goals his fault? Or is it his team-mates fault?
Can QPR keep their best players? Or will they be sold/released?
Will Wilfred Zaha perform at Manchester Utd?

Will Manchester Utd and/or Liverpool go bankrupt and go down to Northern Premier  League Division One North?

Can Liverpool return to be the best team in England?

Who will win the Premier League first: Tottenham or Arsenal?

Will Manchester Utd, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham or Liverpool ever be relegated?

If so, who first?

Who will be the worst CURRENT team to to make the Premier League by 2021?

Tweet me at @kamsfootyblog.

European game of the week: Galatasaray 3 vs 2 Real Madrid Agg: 3-5

Real Madrid were condemned to their first defeat in 13 games by a defiant Galatasaray in Istanbul. Galatasaray's plan was to score first and start brightly, but that failed after just 8 minutes when Ronaldo met Sami Khedira's low cross. That then meant that Gala had to score 5 goals, an impossible task...

But Gala livened things up a little bit with a bullet shot into the top corner which Diego Lopez could do nothing about from ex-Arsenal man Emmanuel Eboue. Galatasaray had a huge chance to make it 2-1 when Wesley Sneijder was beautifully set up but dragged his shot wide. He then made up for that mistake when he scored into the bottom corner with 50 minutes gone. Didier Drogba then gave their fans some hope he backheeled in a Amrabat cross. And upto that moment Real Madrid were defending like Galatasaray in the first half, but suddenly clicked and played superbly in the last ten minutes where they were rewarded with another goal from the prolific Christiano Ronaldo.

The other results were: Juventus 0-2 Bayern Munich Agg:0-4, Barcelona 1-1 PSG Agg:3-3 (Barcelona win on away goals rule), Dortmund 3 vs 2 Malaga Agg:3-2