“Roy Hodgson discusses the most popular of formations.” (uefa 4-4-2), (uefa 4-4-2 Diamond), (uefa 5-3-2), (uefa 4-3-3), (uefa 3-4-3), (uefa 3-5-2), (uefa 4-5-1)

“Roughly two years ago, Alessandro Rosina was all the rage on the peninsula. His dribbling, running, tenacity, circus midget size and male-pattern baldness endeared him to men, women and children alike. His nickname, Rosinaldo, was both self-explanatory and deserved. Any team would’ve been chuffed to bits to have him. The lone star on a once-great team which had few reasons for optimism in its stable, shone brightly across the Italian sky.” (The Offside)

“With five days left until the start of the new season, at least some of the television schedule still seems to be in a state of flux. The Football Conference is reported to still be in negotiation with a broadcaster (rumoured to be Eurosport) regarding a package that is said to be worth £70,000 per club, although Blue Square North and South clubs are now likely to be missing out on the £15,000 that they had been receiving from Setanta. More significant, however, is the final unveiling of the coverage that the BBC will be giving The Football League, as they take over from ITV as the secondary broadcasters of the world’s oldest league competition.” (twohundredpercent)

“It has been a rollercoaster week in Irish football, a week of spectacular highs and incredible lows. But yesterday Cork City FC lived up to their nickname of the ‘rebels’ by winning their battle against the Revenue Commission to avoid a winding up order, which would have relegated the club from the League of Ireland after a 25 year exsistance.” (Two Footed Tackle)

“It pains me to say it, but Tottenham have never really hit the big time with me as a fan. My older Lillywhite friends tell me that we used to win European trophies (1963 Cup Winners Cup, 1972 Uefa Cup) and that we always had a good cup run in years ending in a one. More recently though, accolades have been a little harder to come by, but I think Spurs do have some outstanding achievements. We are exceptional in the Milk Cup. We love buying average players for £15m. And we adore acquiring slightly weird foreign players. The oddballs of European football. Personal favourites include Nicola Berti, Willem Korsten, Moussa Saib, Jose Dominguez and the star of the wolf-pack, Ilie Dumitrescu.” (Three Match Ban)