PROFESSIONAL footballers reading this may want to bookmark this post right about now – research has found that heading the ball may cause brain damage.
A US study has shown evidence of mental impairment caused by repeatedly bouncing a football off the head – which scientists term “mild traumatic brain injury of the frontal lobes”.
More research is needed to determine whether the changes are long-lasting or temporary, but the findings indicate that increasing amounts of playing time worsen performance – so get warming that bench, fellas.
Dr Anne Sereno, from the University of Texas, said: “These findings suggest that even subconcussive blows in soccer can result in cognitive function changes that are consistent with mild traumatic brain injury of the frontal lobes.”
Month: February 2013
Roo la la! Man Utd’s England striker a target for PSG
BRITISH bulldog Wayne Rooney is a target for French moneybags Paris St Germain, according to reports.
The team are planning to beef up their attack by fielding Rooney alongside Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic next season, and are planning to pounce after Rooney’s talisman status at Old Trafford was disrupted by the arrival of Dutch striker Robin van Persie this season.
Apparently the French club is planning “a monster punt” to land their man this summer.
City won’t give up title fight, says Hart – even after it’s lost
MAN City goalkeeper Joe Hart claims his team would still be fighting to win the Premier League even if it was mathematically impossible.
City’s hopes of retaining their title look slim with rivals Manchester United holding a 12-point lead but are still alive after a confidence-boosting win over Chelsea on Sunday.
And Hart is determined to keep the dream going, not only until the end of the race, but even after that.
The England goalkeeper said: “Even if there is one game to go and we are 12 points behind, we’ll still believe.
“We’ve got to.
“We’ve got to keep fighting, you never know.”
Errr, I think if that was the case, Joe, you probably should give up.
Goaltastic Fantasy Football League – Gameweek 27
THE top two teams in the Goaltastic League – LookMumNoHands and Just Pass It! respectively – maintain their placings this Gameweek, despite pretty low key 50-point scores.
Creeping up behind them, like a Bale-driven Spurs, are third-placed Can’t touch this! as well as gameweek top scorer FormOnly (5), who notched 80 points, Rochester United (6) and Canons Ablaze (7).
Newcastle plan to install slides for fans
PLEASE, let this happen.
Newcastle is planning to install playpark-style slides for football fans who don’t want to take the stairs on the way out of Newcastle United’s St James’ Park.
Inspired by a similar scheme at Utrecht station in Holland, the Premier League club wants to give fans a fun way to get from the stadium to the Metro station.
Adrian Waddell, director of operations for developers NE1, said: “NE1’s slides are designed to attract attention and get people talking.
“One of the secrets of good urban design is to encourage people to focus on their surroundings, to take note and sometimes also to challenge the views and perceptions of a particular area – the slides will certainly do that.”
Tom Robinson from Robinson Landscape Design said: “Being playful and doing something a little unusual aims to encourage people to spend more time here enjoying the city.
“We want people to ride the slide, then go up the stairs and do it again.”
Is Bale the best player in the Premier League?
ANOTHER Spurs match, another win dragged from the jaws of disappointment by Gareth Bale.
The Welsh flyer scored an exocet-like strike from range at the death tonight – after scoring earlier in the match – to see off a spirited West Ham away from home 3-2.
They now sit above London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal in third place in the Premier League.
Is there any player this year that has single-handedly pulled their team up the table as Bale has done, and with such style as well?
It surely has echoes of Robin van Persie for Arsenal last season, and arguably Bale has more importance to Spurs than Van Persie to Man Utd, Messi to Barcelona, Ronaldo to Real Madrid etc.
Getting Champions League football will be one hell of an achievement for Andre Villas-Boas, given the strength of competition from the likes of Everton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool this season – but by god, keeping hold of Bale will be a bigger battle this Summer.
Laudrup should win manager of the year gong for league cup win
ANGEL Rangel believes Michael Laudrup should be named manager of the year after leading Swansea to the first major silverware of their 101-year history.
Swansea produced a consummate display of attacking football at Wembley to secure a 5-0 win over 10-man Bradford in Sunday’s Capital One Cup final at Wembley.
Man-of -the-match Nathan Dyer (two), Jonathan de Guzman (two) and Michu got on the scoresheet to the delight of the 33,000 Swans fans who had made the journey to London.
And Rangel is in no doubt Laudrup’s achievements deserve to be recognised. He said: “I would say he 100 per cent deserves to be manager of the year.
“If we stay in the top 10 having won the cup, I think it is just about the best Swansea can achieve and from our point of view he has to be the best.”
Be afraid, be very afraid – Man City line up fearsome list of targets
FINANCIAL fair play pah!
Moneybags Manchester City are set to spend big this summer to get over the disappointment of 2012/13 so far.
And according to reports today, top of the shopping list at the Etihad Stadium, in big black marker pen, is Falcao.
Manchester City sporting director Txiki Begiristain has opened negotiations for a £40m swoop for the Colombian hitman.
This follows moves being made to land Edison Cavani from Napoli, and Brazilian superstar Neymar from Santos.
Roberto Mancini has already said the club needs to spend this summer: “I think we need to improve our team. In a big way? That depends, because the market is always difficult for us.
“It’s important to focus on the players that are good for us. I don’t know if that’s three, five, six, nine or one.”
Charity just the job for football strip
ANYTHING Barcelona can do…
Hendon FC will help a charity by displaying its slogan on their home kit for the rest of the season.
Shirts worn by the Isthmian League Premier Division club’s players will now feature Street League’s Twitter hashtag #ChangeLivesThroughFootball, to raise awareness of the youth unemployment charity.
Hendon chairman Simon Lawrence said: “We’ve had a pretty tough time of it over the past few years.
“The loss of our Claremont Road ground has made it difficult for us to stay connected to our local community.
“Tough economic conditions have made it harder for our fans to get to our games and almost impossible for us to attract sponsors and advertisers. Being fans-owned is much harder than just being fans.
“But we’re not the only ones to have had it tough. We’re all aware of the fact that it is harder than ever for young people to get into the job market. We applaud the hard work being done at Street League and want to be a part of it.”
Goaltastic Fantasy Football League – Gameweek 26
A MASSIVE haul was had by dozens of teams this Gameweek in part due to Liverpool and Swansea’s double gameweek heroics – although they both fell down in one of their two fixtures.
Nevertheless 14 teams posted three figure totals this week – well done to those, especially top scorer Pat Mustard XI (6) who managed a colossal 116 points.
With everyone high scoring, the top four teams stay put, with FC GEESUS (5), Pat Mustard XI (6), Team RORORO (7) and Rochester United (10) all climbing in the top 10.
Goaltastic 