December 11 – Trials of assistant video referees in the German Bundesliga threw up yet another controversial case at the weekend when a player had actually left the field after being sent off before being called back on.
December 8 – Good try but not good enough. Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal will miss the first leg of the Champions League last 16 after he was found by UEFA to have got himself deliberately booked for time-wasting in the last month’s 6-0 win at Apoel Nicosia.
December 7 – Are English transfer fees at last paying off at European level after Premier League clubs made Champions League history?
November 28 – The globalisation of football is illustrated by new research that shows that almost two thirds of footballers likely to play at the Russia 2018 World Cup are currently playing for clubs outside of the association they represent.
November 27 – The crisis on and off the field at AC Milan has intensified with Vincenzo Montella sacked as manager and former club legend Gennaro Gattuso placed in charge.
November 27 – Still badly flawed or desperately overdue? The debate over the need for video technology rages on, this time after Barcelona were denied a perfectly good goal in the top-of-the-table clash at Valencia at the weekend.
November 24 – Lille have suspended their star coach Marcelo Bielsa after the club’s poor form left the outfit second bottom of Ligue 1.
November 23 – Talk about adding insult to injury. As if Israel’s off-the-field dispute with the Palestinians in the occupied territories wasn’t divisive enough, the Israelis now have to stomach the fact they are behind their “neighbours” in the latest FIFA world rankings.
November 23 – Oumar Niasse of Everton has become the first Premier League player to be banned retrospectively for diving since new rules came into effect in May.
November 23 – The phrase “cheats never prosper” doesn’t always apply to footballers but Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal is facing an additional two-match Champions League ban after appearing to deliberately get himself booked in Wednesday’s 6-0 win at Apoel Nicosia.
By Ian Griffiths
November 22 – A week after guiding Australia to next year’s World Cup finals in Russia, Ange Postecoglou ended weeks of speculation on Wednesday by resigning as Socceroos head coach.
November 21 – England may have had double World Cup success at FIFA U17 and U20 levels but the fears that few of these winning players would be given limited first team opportunity in the Premier League has very quickly become a reality.
November 17 – Italy have sacked coach Giampiero Ventura after the four-time champions failed to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
November 15 – With the international fixture window coming to a close, clubs will be counting the cost of returning injured players. New research, titled Sick Notes, from Bigfreebet.com, finds that Manchester United spent £52,514,709 on wages to injured players over the past three seasons.
November 14 – Manchester City, praised for their creative attacking, appear to have now solved their defensive leaks according to a new set of stats that ranks them top of clubs in the Big 5 European leagues in terms of least shots on their goal from inside the box.