Wembley teams won't allow spoilsports to rule

I'M not going to get remotely patriotic about it but I think it's a shame there won't be a national anthem in Sunday's League Cup final.

Yes, it's almost completely pointless, but there will be some Cheap Hats Online Bradford players who will love the sense of occasion that comes with a second-rate star leading a good old Wembley sing-song.

I know there's a Welsh club playing but we had both anthems in the 2008 FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff and it's not like Swansea often get the chance to belt out the Welsh anthem either.

Is a two-anthem strategy really that unusual in football?

I don't remember it being a problem at international games.
This would never happen in America - they sing the anthem every time someone bakes a cake over there.

Anyway, Bradford haven't only had their song taken away from them, Miami Heat Snapback Hats but there's a chance that they won't be able to play in Europe next season if they do win, with co-chairman Mark Lawn worried about it ending up costing the club money in the qualifying rounds.

He said: "I won't put us in fiscal danger to play in Europe. That's not going to happen.

"I'm deadly serious. It's all very well saying there are financial rewards once you get to the group stage. But we're a fourth-division club."

Well, Mark Lawn, I think a few Bradford fans will be marking your lawn if you don't give them a crack at FC Gomel come June.

Usually lower-league clubs get some kind of daft, novelty incentive when they're hoping to pull off a shock, but as far as I can gather the players haven't even been promised so much as a day out at Bracken Hall Countryside Centre.

Despite Bradford having the sole incentive of the League Cup trophy to play for (I imagine Lawn will want the players to sell their medals for scrap), I still reckon they could cause the Swans a few problems and I'll be backing both teams to score.

If the Bantams score, I'll pay for the entire Los Angeles Kings Snapback Hats team to go to Bradford Industrial Museum.

How's that for an incentive?

Bale and Spurs are heading in one direction

There was plenty of hysteria in east London over the Buy Snapback Hats weekend as teen idols One Direction performed at what old fogeys like me still refer to as the Millennium Dome.

The floppy-haired one, the spiky-haired one and, er, the other ones are unlikely to stop off at Upton Park on their world tour but that doesn't matter because there's going to be more screaming, squealing and crying as West Ham host Tottenham.

Yes, Tottenham - and you know what that means. Gareth Bale! Gareth Bale! Baltimore Ravens Fitted Hats Aaaargh! Gareth, I love you! I'm your biggest fan - I loved you when you were still playing for Southampton reserves.

There's a Bale warning for the Hammers, who have been heading in One Direction - downwards - for some time now.

Sadly, bookies have taken note of the Bale craze and the Welsh wizard is favourite to score first. When you look at the competition - Emmanuel Adebayor? Andy Carroll? Marouane Chamakh? - then he could still be a bit of value but I'm inclined to think his run of great goals is bound to end sometime.

Bale seems to score in every game without ever setting foot in the penalty area. I prefer my goalscorer bets to be sniffing around the six-yard box and trying to grab the ball off the designated penalty taker (hard luck anyone who'd backed a Nathan Dyer hat-trick in the Capital One Cup final Sunday).

Anyway, I reckon this London derby could be Milwaukee Bucks Snapback Hats a bit ugly so I'm backing the draw-Tottenham double result - probably with Bale scuffing the winner in from a yard out.

McLaren sorry for Mark Webber engine control uni

McLaren have apologised to Red Bull after the engine New Era Hats Wholesale control unit they supply caused Mark Webber to start badly at the Australian Grand Prix.

Webber qualified on the front row for the opening race of the season last weekend but dropped to seventh after the first lap and was eventually sixth.

A software-related issue meant the Australian's car garage data system had to be re-started in the formation lap.

"That disrupted his preparations and they have Baltimore Ravens Fitted Hats our apology," McLaren said.

McLaren Electronics Systems make the standard ECUs for all F1 teams plus NASCAR and IndyCar outfits in the United States and the 2013 edition is a new version of one that has been used since 2008 without a problem.

It was run for the first time by most teams in winter testing in February and will also be used next season when a change in regulations ushers in 1.6 litre V6 turbocharged hybrid units.

"It is a very complex piece of equipment that controls the powertrain and DRS (drag reduction system) and acts as a car's primary data system," McLaren explained.

"We are working together with Red Bull to Unkut Snapback Hats prevent any recurrence [of the problems suffered by Webber]."

Premier League against 2022 World Cup winter swi

The Premier League says it is opposed to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being switched to winter, despite comments from chairman Sir Dave Richards.

There are concerns over the heat in Qatar in the summer Cheap 59fifty Hats and Richards seemed to back the tournament being moved.

But a Premier League spokesman said its "view remains unchanged".

"We are opposed to a winter World Cup for obvious practical reasons that would impact on all European domestic football," the spokesman added.

Britain's Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce told BBC Radio 5 live that the tournament should be played at the beginning of the year to minimise the dangers of excessive heat, and that the Premier League should agree to a winter break to accommodate it.

"Forget about the fact Qatar say they can air condition stadiums, Minnesota Timberwolves Snapback Hats you have to think of the thousands of supporters travelling to what is the greatest football event in the calendar and you're going to be asking them to travel in a country with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees," he said.

"I don't think it's healthy and I don't think it's feasible so my idea would be to play the tournament in the January.

"Many other countries have a winter break. This is a one-off, for one year, if it's going to promote the tournament better and give better facilities for players and spectators I think it has to be seriously looked at."

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke recently became the first senior official of world football's governing body to say the 2022 World Cup could be moved depending on medical advice.

Uefa president Michel Platini and world footballers' union FIFPro have supported the tournament, which is traditionally played in June and July, taking place in winter on health grounds.

Temperatures in Qatar can reach 50C (122F) during the summer.

"At the moment it has a tremendous amount of implications for Europe. For us, at this minute, the answer is 'no'," Richards told Sky Sports News.

"But, if we take a proper view, we have to find a way to Neff Snapback Hats have a winter spell where we don't play and I think common sense will prevail.

"I think over the next few years, things will change and they will come to a compromise."

Callum McManaman escapes FA action over Haidara

Wigan's Callum McManaman has escaped a Football Association charge for his tackle on Newcastle's Massadio Haidara.

Haidara was taken off on a stretcher in the Latics'Snapback Hats Cheap Wholesale win but the FA cannot take action as an official saw the incident.

Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias claims the FA's disciplinary process is "not fit for purpose".

However, Magpies assistant boss John Carver and Wigan coach Graham Barrow have both been charged after a half-time fracas related to the incident.

Both men have until 16:00 GMT on Friday 22 March to respond to the charge.

Left-back Haidara, 20, had a scan on Monday, although the swelling around his knee meant no firm diagnosis could be made.
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Newcastle assistant manager John Carver and Callum McManaman

McManaman tackle sparks angry fracas

Medical staff are quietly optimistic the Newcastle defender may not be as seriously hurt as first feared, and the extent of the Frenchman's injury will determine whether legal action will be considered.

An FA statement said: "Where one of the officials has seen a coming together of players, no retrospective action should be taken, regardless of whether he or she witnessed the full or particular nature of the challenge. This is to avoid the re-refereeing of incidents.

"In the case of McManaman, it has been confirmed that at least one of the match officials saw the coming together, though not the full extent of the challenge. In these circumstances retrospective action cannot be taken."

On Monday it had been expected that McManaman, Chicago Cubs Snapback Hats who was defended by Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, would face further action from the FA.

Newcastle chief executive Llambias said the decision to take the matter no further showed that the "current disciplinary procedures are not fit for purpose".

He added: "Newcastle United, along with other clubs, have had players suspended for incidents reviewed after the game.

"Whilst not trivialising these incidents, they were not, in our opinion, of the seriousness of Callum McManaman's tackle on Haidara.

"Whilst we understand that the current procedures give the FA limited options, it cannot be correct that the most serious offences - those which have the potential to cause another player serious harm - can go unpunished, even if the original incident was seen by match officials.

"We will now be making a strong representation to the FA and the Premier League to see how a more appropriate, fair and even-handed disciplinary process can be introduced at the earliest opportunity to prevent incidents of this nature going unpunished in the future."

Llambias added he was "disappointed and surprised by the comments" made by Whelan, in particular his assertion the tackle "was a fair challenge".

Newcastle are also unhappy that the first news they heard about the decision came from the media and not the FA.

Haidara, who joined from Nancy on a five-and-a-half-year deal in January, had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes after replacing the injured Mathieu Debuchy.

McManaman, 21, who was making his first start in the Premier League, Seattle Seahawks Snapback Hats got a slight touch on the ball before following through and catching the defender on the knee and thigh.