Happy Thursday one and all, welcome to a new Week in Football.

On this week's show Tom reckons Liverpool hit rock bottom as they struggled against Standard Liege, we look at all the Champions League action as the qualifiers for the group stage are finalised, Gabriele previews the new Serie A season, we look at the upcoming fixtures in La Liga and of course the Premier League.

Don't forget, there's still time to join our Week in Football fantasy league. Simply sign up, choose a team from the English Premier League then join our mini-league. Details are:

League name: weekinfootballprem

Password: podcast

And while you'll be eligible for the overall prizes there'll be a special Week in Football prize for the winner of our mini-league. More info on fantasy football here.

You can subscribe to The Week in Football using iTunes by clicking here, if you want to subscribe to the RSS feed itself the URL is here, you can download the podcast directly here or you can listen from this page:

Don't forget your comments and suggestions for the show are always welcome. Feel free to leave a comment here or email podcast@oleole.com.

Hello hello,

happy Thursday to you all and the new season is almost upon us. This week's podcast is a Premier League special. Tom and I discuss each team, the players that have come in and out, and their chances for the new campaign.

Are Arsenal strong enough to win the league? Is this Benitez's last chance at a title challenge on Anfield? Will Everton buy any players? Are the promoted teams strong enough to avoid relegation? Who's chasing Europe? Will it be United and Chelsea ahead of the rest?

All those questions and more are answered and it's the first predictions game of the season. Last time around Tom Thom(p)son tended to win these but as it's all fresh and new I have high hopes of smashing his domination the way he smashes mugs, the damnable Mugsmasher. Feel free to join in and make predictions of your own in the comments.

Also, there's still time to join our Week in Football fantasy league. Simply sign up, choose a team from the English Premier League then join our mini-league. Details are:

League name: weekinfootballprem

Password: podcast

And while you'll be eligible for the overall prizes there'll be a special Week in Football prize for the winner of our mini-league. More info on fantasy football here.

You can subscribe to The Week in Football using iTunes by clicking here, if you want to subscribe to the RSS feed itself the URL is here, you can download the podcast directly here or you can listen from this page:

Don't forget your comments and suggestions for the show are always welcome. Feel free to leave a comment here or email podcast@oleole.com.

It's well known that Thierry Henry wasn't a big fan of Alexander Hleb. The Belarussian was often on the end of a withering stare from Henry after another pass went astray or a move broke down.

Of course the pair get to continue their great friendship at Barcelona now that Hleb has signed for the Catalan club. Henry was at the press conference last night to announce Hleb's arrival and this picture really does speak a thousand words.

heh, classic.

I'm not a Man United fan, as you well know, but if I were I'd be most unhappy with the comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Talking about Cristiano Ronaldo he says:

In football there’s too much modern slavery. I’m always in favour of protecting the player. If he wants to leave, let him. 

What about contracts then? What about protecting the clubs who pay large transfer fees and extortionate wages to players? Imagine if the club said 'We don't feel like paying you', what kind of outcry would there be then? 

A player saying 'I don't want to play for you' is the same, except he still gets his wages every week, doesn't he?

Blatter, of all people, should be trying to create some stability in the game yet now more players will look at the head of FIFA saying this and think the way players act these days is acceptable. Not that anything Blatter says is susprising. Does he have friends at Real Madrid? Would that explain why he's so in favour of allowing Ronaldo to leave United?

And for him to say players are 'slaves' is absolutely reprehensible. How can somebody being paid what professional footballers are paid be a 'slave'? I'd happily be a slave for £40,000 a week or £20,000 a week for that matter. In a world where real slavery still exists it's an incredibly tasteless remark from an incredibly tasteless man.

The game is being ruined by money and sadly those in charge of football these days are driven by cash, not by what's good for the game. Blatter, once again, has shown himself up as a man with no great interest in the game, only in how much money can be siphoned from it.

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For those wondering about The Week in Football podcast our summer holidays, so to speak, are ongoing. Tom Thom(p)son is travelling around the upper-delta region of County Cork while I'm typing this from the Holiday Inn in San Jose. Or, from my house, whichever suits you best.

We'll be back next week to cover pre-season, Italy, Spain and all the usual bits and pieces. 

We're also going to make the blog more bloggy this season, with more comment, pictures, news etc etc so do bookmark.

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Morning all,

welcome to day 4 of our Euro2008 predictions and Episode3 of the Eurocast. Not one person got a correct prediction for yesterday's games. The closest was Dan who at least predicted 3 goals for Holland. My forecast for today's game comes after much scientific analysis and a visit to a medium. Every little helps.

Spain 2-0 Russia

Sweden 2-1 Greece

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Now, the Eurocast. In this episode Tom Thom(p)son and I discuss Holland v Italy, which was the best game of the tournament so far. We've got some of your voicemails regarding that game too.

We also talk to our French correspondant Ollie about the France v Romania game which was probably the worst game of the tournament so far, as well as some voicemails from a particularly unhappy Romanian fan. Have a listen to what he says because it's an interesting debate. Should football teams be more expressive even though it'll probably cost them, or is the defend at all costs approach acceptable? 

Tom and I differ on this one, what do you think? That's what this podcast is all about - your opinions. Let us know by voicemail or by email.

To contact us use the info below:

UK -  +44 20 7193 6971

SWISS - +41 44 586 62 08

But that's not all. If you have Skype you don't even have to pay for a phone call. Simply add 'oleole.com' as a contact then use Skype to call us. It'll go directly to the voicemail.

And if that's not enough we're happy to get your emails too - send them podcast@oleole.com

You can subscribe to the Eurocast using iTunes by clicking here, if you want to subscribe to the feed itself the feed URL is here, you can download directly here or you can listen from this page:

Right then, until tomorrow's predictions and Eurocast.

Morning all.

On this week's action packed The Week in Football we've got:

• Luigi talking about Spain in Euro 2008
• Gabriele's Serie A team of the season plus Italy in Euro 2008
• Tom Thom(p)son and I preview Euro 2008
• Plus chat of Mark Hughes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid, Porto's disqualification from next season's Champions League and more

Oh, and we've got new theme music plus there are details of the Eurocast, an exclusive Euro2008 podcast starting this weekend. Check back here later on for more details on that.

So, on with the show.

You can subscribe to the week in football using iTunes by clicking here, if you want to subscribe to the feed itself the feed URL is here, you can download directly here or you can listen from this page:

Don't forget your comments and suggestions for the show are always welcome. Feel free to leave a comment here or email podcast@oleole.com.

And do check back later for more details on the Eurocast.

Howdy listener,

just to give you a heads up about this week's podcast. With Tom Thom(p)son away on his travels we welcome new host Paul Paulson (he's a Chelsea fan). On this week's show:

• Gabriele talks Champions League and the fickleness of fans
• Luigi in Spain tells us about managerial changes at Zaragoza and the topsy-turvy race for La Liga
• Paul Paulson and I review the Champions League action, including Arsenal's great win in Milan
• We preview the FA Cup fixtures, especially Chelsea's sure to be easy win over Barnsley (haha)
• And we look ahead to the Premier League fixtures this week

Remember that we're always looking for your contributions to the podcast, so if you have any comments, suggestions or anything else just email podcast@oleole.com

cheers

John Johnson

Happy Thursday to you all, here's a quick peek inside this week's The Week in Football.

• We're in Ghana again to talk to Teo about the football and an incredible booze shortage caused by Ghana's win over Nigeria
• Who are Almeria? Why are they beating the likes of Real Madrid and Valencia in consecutive weeks. Luigi in Spain tries to find some answers
• Gabriele tells us about a book being written about the match fixing scandal in Italy a couple of years ago. Interestingly it's written by the Chairman of Bologna, a team very heavily affected by the whole scandal.
• Tom and I look at Capello's bow as England coach, the ongoing search for the Republic of Ireland manager, there are some of your emails about last week's Champions League discussion plus our usual round-up and look at the Premier League.

So there you. Don't forget - if you've got comments, suggestions, complaints or questions just email us - podcast@oleole.com. We're always happy to hear from you.

Mostly because we're very lonely but does it really matter why once we're happy? Exactly.

Oh, and here's the video of Totti and Manninger that we mention in the podcast. Until next week, 'castfans.