BBC Sport - Football - Is sexism still rife in football?

BBC Sport - Football - Is sexism still rife in football?: "The off-air criticism of assistant referee Sian Massey by Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray has made it hard not to sense a touch of deja vu.
Four years ago, the-then Luton Town boss Mike Newell was fined £6,500 by the Football Association for a similar transgression.
He claimed that Amy Rayner's role as an assistant referee during one of his team's matches was 'tokenism for the politically-correct idiots' after she did not award a penalty for his side.
Newell apologised and was eventually sacked by the club for another outspoken incident.
However, the latest outburst - where Keys and Gray claimed Massey needed to learn the offside rule - has reignited the debate on whether sexism is rife in football.
Additionally, the high-profile pair also mocked West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady's claims in a newspaper column that it is still prevalent.
'See charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism?' Keys said to his colleague. 'Yeah. Do me a favour, love.'
That off-the-cuff statement probably answers the question almost immediately."

BBC Sport - Football - Ryan Babel agrees move from Liverpool to Hoffenheim

BBC Sport - Football - Ryan Babel agrees move from Liverpool to Hoffenheim: "Ryan Babel agrees move from Liverpool to Hoffenheim

Liverpool have confirmed that Ryan Babel will fly to Germany on Tuesday to finalise his move to Hoffenheim.
Babel, 24, had been expected to remain in England after Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said on Monday that the Dutch forward would not be moving.
But a later statement on the Liverpool website read: 'Ryan Babel has agreed a move to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.'
The move comes six days after Liverpool accepted a bid for the former Ajax striker from the Bundesliga club.
Asked about Babel's future on Monday, Dalglish said: 'He is staying here.'
The u-turn comes after Babel had expressed a preference for a move to Ajax, possibly as part of a deal to bring Uruguay striker Luis Suarez to Anfield.
Babel began his career with Ajax before joining Liverpool for £11.5m in 2007.
Liverpool have been linked with a possible £20m bid for Suarez, who scored three goals for Uruguay on their way to the semi-finals of the World Cup in South Africa.
But with Liverpool thus far unable to agree a fee with Ajax for the Uruguayan, Babel's move to Germany has finally gone ahead."

BBC Sport - Football - Rangers hold talks to sign Derby County's Kris Commons

BBC Sport - Football - Rangers hold talks to sign Derby County's Kris Commons: "Rangers hold talks to sign Derby County's Kris Commons

Rangers are keen to sign Commons before the end of the month
Walter Smith has confirmed that Rangers are in talks to sign Derby County and Scotland winger Kris Commons.
The 27-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has yet to agree a new deal at Pride Park.
'He's someone we are interested in trying to get. We've made an enquiry and we are in talks with Derby to see what the situation is,' said Smith.
The Rangers boss is keen to bolster his squad following the sale of striker Kenny Miller to Bursaspor.
Rangers agreed a £400,000 deal with the Turkish outfit rather than run the risk of losing Miller for nothing in the summer.
And the Ibrox club are hoping to recruit Commons before the end of the January transfer window.
'It's the same as Kenny Miller with him being out of contract in the summer,' Smith added.
'I don't do the deals, (chief executive) Martin Bain carries out that job. He was in discussion with them this morning but I've not had anything back yet.'"

Racism in Football...

At last nights League Cup tie between Stoke City and Blackpool at the Britannia Stadium a Stoke fan racially abuse Jason Euell of Blackpool while he was in the dug out.

The Euell ex-Charlton centre forward pointed out the fan to Police who then took action by ejecting the fan from the stadium.

With the recent events of hooliganism it shows that we are moving back into the 80's yob culture for one reason or another. Is it because of the current economic downturn that this is coming back into our lovely sport or is it due to fans idolising films on Hooliganism such as Football Factory, The Firm, Cass, and ID (I'm not including Green Streets as it was probably the worst film ever).

Whatever the reason this needs to stop, that fan should be made known to all of his/her work colleagues as I'm sure they work or know someone with a different ethnic background. Have we moved on since the 70's and 80's in this country or as like the economy are we moving backwards as a country.

Campbell quits Notts County

Today Sol Campbell has quit Notts County due to promises not being kept by the club when signing back in August.

However the club are unaware of this situation and after only 1 game last weekend against Morecambe (where Notts County lost) it seems a bit premature.

Sol Campbell (in my opinion) has lost the plot since he left Arsenal a few years ago now as he was regarded as a great centre back for both club and country back then. Sol has now become a kind of nomad player who has made some terrible decisions in the later stages of his career. Tottenham fans would say he had done that when he left them for the arch rivals Arsenal.

He should stick it out until at least the new transfer window as he will be able to move on if things haven't work out by then for him. Transfer rules won't let him sign for another club in England if he leaves the club at this moment.