A penalty from Frank Lampard and a Jermain Defoe strike has helped England overcome a sticky test at Wembley against Slovenia.

With an important World Cup qualifier coming up on Wednesday against Croatia, Fabio Capello would use this game as preparation for his players ahead of the match that could see England qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. England dominated the first half with John Terry and Wayne Rooney both hitting the woodwork from set pieces. Indeed it was Rooney who made the biggest contribution to England’s first goal, albeit with a little help from the referee. Rooney was ‘bundled’ over by Slovenia’s ex-West Brom centre-half Bostjan Cesar, although replays showed Rooney went down far too easily. In fact it was Cesar who came out worse from the challenge, having to be dragged off the field and replaced by a substitute. Frank Lampard tucked away the spot kick with ease and confidence on the half-hour mark.

Slovenia had limited chances in the first half, although Milivoje Novakovic should have done better from 6 yards after 20 minutes.

Capello made 4 changes at half time, with James Milner, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, and Michael Carrick all coming on at the expense of Gerrard, Wright-Phillips, Heskey, and Lampard respectively. Defoe, who’s been in fantastic scoring form for club and country recently, doubled the home side’s lead just after the hour mark with an expertly placed drive from the edge of the box. Despite England continuing to be the better side, substitute Zlatan Ljubijankic pulled a goal back for the visitors after 85 minutes, but it proved to be no more than a consolation for the side that travel to Poland in the week.

A decent workout for Capello’s men, who face a much sterner test on Wednesday. Croatia will be without playmaker Luka Modric for the trip to Wembley, surely a disadvantage for them.

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Following Chelsea’s illegal approach for Lens starlet Gael Kakuta, an approach that has recently been severely punished, Lens’ French counterparts Le Havre have decided to launch a complaint to FIFA about Manchester United’s approach for midfielder Paul Pogba.

You may remember my article on Pogba some weeks ago now. If you don’t, look at it. Thanks.

The French side, notorious for producing exciting talent and then having them pinched by Premier League clubs – note Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama-Pongolle – were upset with United’s inquest into signing Pogba, deeming their act as ‘foolish’. Now, with the knowledge and confidence that FIFA are willing to act on such misdemeanous, Le Havre will be taking action.

United have denied they are in the wrong, claiming everything they have done has been within the UEFA guidelines. However, Le Havre managing director Alain Belsoeur is determined for the English champions to be treated in the same way as Chelsea.

“We are still pursuing our case. It’s a very serious case. We are confident that we’ll win because it is in the best interests not just of our club but of sport.” Belsoeur went on to say, “We spend €5m (about £4.3m) on our academy every year out of a turnover of €12m. It is a huge investment. We do that to give a chance to our players to develop for our first team, not to be an academy for others.”

From a neutral perspective it would seem strange should FIFA find United guilty and not put the same ban on them as they have done with Chelsea. Punishments are punishments and at the end of the day, and whether it’s Manchester United or Mansfield Town, everyone has to be treated the same. English clubs have a history with snapping up young Frenchmen. I’ve already mentioned Le Tallec and Sinama-Pongolle who both made the move to Anfield, and Charles N’Zogbia was the subject of some controversy as well, when he made the switch from Le Havre to Newcastle in 2004. The signs from FIFA and the governing bodies are positive however. Punishments and bans such as the Chelsea ban will show clubs that they have some sort of protection when it comes to bigger clubs poaching their young talent. However, in this day and age, the likes of United, Real Madrid, Manchester City are going to come looking for young, fresh talent, and whether they like it or not, the Le Havre’s of this world are going to have to deal with it.

Now, one thing I won’t be doing is what these lovely people did in March 2004. That’s Matthew Elliott, Keith Gillespie, Frank Sinclair, Paul Dickov, Richard Scowcroft, and Lilian Nalis for those of you who were wondering. They all appeared in court on allegations of rape, but got away with it. They’re Footballers so duh. They’re obviously gonna be found innocent.

Relaxing by the pool, playing Table Tennis, lying in the sun, having endless kickabouts, and drinking Sangria sounds like a much better idea to moi.

La Manga resort is notorious for it’s first-class Sports facilities. Leicester are one of dozens of teams who have visited the resort for pre-season training camps and friendlies in the last decade. Sheffield United were there at the start of this season, amongst other clubs.

Unfortunately it’s also notorious for Footballers getting smashed, and we all know when you do that, you end up with a jumper over your head. Bad times.

Awful scenes at Upton Park.

Crowd trouble marred an excellent win for West Ham over Millwall in tonight’s Carling Cup 2nd round tie. A 44-year-old man has been stabbed, but is currently in a stable condition in hospital after crowd violence broke out outside Upton Park.

A 29-year-old who witnessed the incidents unfold said: “It’s the last thing you expect to see. There were West Ham fans on one side, Millwall fans on the other, both being separated by the Police. Bottles and bricks were being thrown and hitting people on the front. There were bloodied faces everywhere”.

The Police have described the violence as “pre-planned” and “high-level”. The trouble broke out after Junior Stanislas scored the first goal. Hundreds of West Ham fans ran on the pitch, prompting the Millwall players to leave the pitch immediately. One fan even ran past a Millwall player, who clearly tried to advise him to get off the pitch, and stuck his middle finger up at him.

That particular situation was diffused in time for the match to continue, but outside the violence showed no signs of relenting. Riot Police have gathered at the local tube stations prepared for ongoing violence as people depart the ground.

One very moving scene at the end of the game was a tearful Jack Collison. Collison lost his Father in a motorcycle accident at the weekend, and as he was shepharded off the pitch he burst into tears. The remaining West Ham fans all stood to Collison and gave him an emotional round of applause.

Obviously very disturbing scenes at Upton Park tonight, and it wouldn’t be the first time Millwall fans have been involved in such an incident. It’s not good for the game, and the thugs and hooligans that are involved in the incident should be banned for life and locked up.

No big ’shocks’ in today’s 2nd round ties.

Portsmouth got their first win of the season by thrashing Hereford United 4-1. Goals from Piquionne, Utaka, Krancjar, and Hughes securing Pompey’s place in the next round.

Blackburn saw off League 1 side Gillingham with goals from David Dunn, David Hoilett and Morten Gamst Pedersen. Gillingham scored through a Simeon Jackson penalty.

Hull City also saw off League 1 opposition in the way of Southend United. A 3-1 win saw Jozy Altidore claim his first goal for the Club, and other strikes for youngster Tom Carney and Geovanni gave Phil Brown’s men the win. Franck Moussa scored for Southend.

Burnley scraped past Hartlepool with a 2-1 victory after extra time. Steven Fletcher scored both the goals for Owen Coyle’s side, but a brave effort from League 1 Hartlepool.

Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers were other PL teams to make it through to the third round draw. The Blues saw off the challenge of Southampton, a potentially tricky tie, while Bolton beat Tranmere Rovers with a Mark Davies strike.

Wolves have seen off Swindon Town, but just. 0-0 after normal time, and extra time, but Wolves won 6-5 on penalties.

West Ham United beat Millwall 3-1 after extra time, but the Football was overshadowed by severe crowd trouble outside the ground. Update to follow. Junior Stanislas got the late goal for the Hammers in normal time after Neil Harris’s opener. Stanislas then netted from the spot in extra time before Zavon Hines rounded off the performance with a 3rd.

Other 2nd Round results:
Peterborough United 2-1 Ipswich Town
Port Vale 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Preston NE 2-1 Leicester City
QPR 2-1 Accrington Stanley
Reading 1-2 Barnsley
Leeds 2-1 Watford (aet)
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Middlesbrough (aet)
Swansea City 1-2 Scunthorpe United (aet)

It’s been a tough 12 months for the boys at Upton Park. A row between the board and manager over the sales of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney to Sunderland lead to the resignation of Alan Curbishley. That was followed by major sponsors ‘XL’ going bust, and then an ex-Chelsea player taking over as manager. Not ideal for West Ham fans, but it seems Zola was indeed the right man to take on the role.

Zola arrived at Upton Park last season a unknown quantity. He’d never managed a side before, let alone a PL team with European aspirations, and everyone was rather sceptical. But he slowly and surely stabilised his side and guided them well clear of the drop in his first season. Now, with the new season underway, he’s quickly changing the outlook of his side to suit his style.

The Hammers are close to capturing the signing of Livorno striker Alessandro Diamanti, a 26-year-old who scored 16 times in Serie B last season. Perhaps a bit of a gamble for Zola, as Diamanti doesn’t really have a proven track record in a decent League. However, perhaps Zola knows something we don’t. Diamanti could be a superstar in the making, and if anyone would know about it, it’d be Zola.

Another player that has recently been linked with a move to the East London Club is AC Milan’s Right-Back Massimo Oddo. The Italian International spent the whole of last season on-loan at Bundesliga side Bayern Munich after struggling to hold down a place at San Siro. Now he claims that West Ham have made an inquiry for his services.

Oddo is now 33 years old, and that coupled with the fact he can’t get a place in the Milan side suggests that he could be on his way out. However, Oddo has made it clear that he wants a permanent move rather than a loan move away from Italy.

“I have already had an experience on loan, which is not ideal for a player. Hence, I don’t want to go away and then come back to the same conditions as I was in the previous year. I have to look not only at my interests but that of my family. To go away for a year with young children and face a new culture doesn’t seem the ideal situation.” He obviously gets homesick, our Massimo. If he was English he’d jump all over the chance to get out of here for a year or so!

If Oddo does make his desired permanent move to the Hammers it would be part of an exchange deal with Frenchman Julien Faubert. Faubert started his career in London with an injury that kept him out of action for the first 3 months of the season, and since recovering he’s never really made an impact. A move to San Siro may just revitalise him and kickstart his career.

Having watched West Ham take on Spurs at the weekend it’s plain to see what Zola has done with his side. They play good Football, they’re a strong side especially through the middle, and their fanbase is second to none. A push for Europe is a definite. All that’s left to say now is: Bravo Zola, siete una leggenda! Safe.

I’ll start with Alecko Eskandarian, the LA Galaxy forward.
alecko11Headed to the HDC to watch the WPS Final, LA vs NJ. My prediction? 2-1 NJ and my twin sis Heather O’reilly will be WPS Finals MVP.

There are more abbreviations in there than a list of the World’s most famous charities! Prizes for knowing what he’s actually talking about (except Katie for obvious reasons).

Next up is Stuart Holden, USMNT player, revealing his generosity to a Twitter friend.
stuholden22RT @keikamara: FOR 4 GAME TICKETS…WHAT DID I DO WHEN I SCORED MY 1st GOAL FOR THE DYNAMO? 1st complete answer wins my box seat BLESS.

Think I wanna get myself to one of his games!

Holden in the action again here, exchanging pleasantries with close mate Jozy Altidore.
stuholden22@JozyAltidore17 how did the debut go ? Congrats on the win bruv!

And Altidore’s reply.
JozyAltidore17@stuholden22 it was sick my man I loved every second can’t wait for the next game

Nice to know the dude’s enjoying life over here. S’not all doom and gloom afterall!

Finally, Giuseppe Rossi treats us to an insight as to what life as a professional Footballer is really like.
GiuRo22heyyy…took a dip in the pool cuz its sooo hot now…gonna be watching soccer games the whole weekend..good one tonite – milan vs. siena.

I’m sure they work hard reaaaally.

Question; Who is the most relieved man on the planet right now?
Answer; Mr. Philip Brown.

The little-known name of Kamel Ghilas ensured Hull bagged their first points of the PL season, and giving Manager Phil Brown a reason to sigh very heavily. It was The Tigers’ first home win in the PL since December. The Hull faithful were to catch a glimpse of new American signing Jozy Altidore when he came off the bench to replace Caleb Folan in the 60th minute, and no doubt Jozy will have been ecstatic to play a pretty major part in Hull’s first win of the season.

A fairly dull first half saw chances for Bolton’s Johan Elmander, and Hull’s Stephen Hunt, as well as an effort from scorer Ghilas that brought a decent save out of Wanderers’ ‘keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The second half brought little more to enthrall the crowd. Elmander had another chance rather early on, but nothing came of it. Then, Altidore making his PL debut replacing Folan, set up Ghilas for the winner with a header over the Bolton defence that he smashed past Jaaskelainen. Altidore had a chance of his own a few minutes later, lobbing Jaaskelainen but placing the ball wide of the far post. Little else followed for either side, but a much needed win for Phil Brown’s men, who are now lifted out of the relagation zone at this very early stage in the season.

Further south, Birmingham and Stoke played out a bore draw at St. Andrews with Stoke ‘keeper Thomas Sorensen claiming man-of-the match. He kept out efforts from Gary O’Connor and Franck Queudrue amongst others, but watched his side fail to hit the back of the net at the other end. Both sides will be fairly content with a draw, although pre-match, both Alex McLeish and Tony Pulis probably viewed this as a should-win.

Peter Siddle celebrates the third of his 4 wickets

Peter Siddle’s 4-wicket haul on the first day at the Oval restricted England to a below-par 332. Ian Bell’s 72 was the highlight of the England innings, who after being 176-2 would have been hoping for a score of over 400.

Siddle finished with figures of 4-75, his second best return of the series after an emphatic 5-21 in the first innings at Headingley. There were 3 wickets for the series’ leading wicket-taker Ben Hilfenhaus, and two for Mitchell Johnson, who once again was the most expensive and less threatening of the 4 seam bowlers. Jonathan Trott’s wicket came courtesy of some sharp work by Simon Katich at silly point – Trott going for 41, an impressive start to his Test career.

With the pitch being described as the worst at the Oval in over 20 years, a result seems increasingly likely. There was sharp turn on the first day for Marcus North, only a part-time off-spinner don’t forget. Graeme Swann, therefore, should be able to exploit the substantial rough outside the right and left-hander’s off-stump.

If England are to fight back and win from this position, their bowling has to be immaculate. Swann will need some wickets for his confidence, and to answer the few growing critics that he has, while Andrew Flintoff will no doubt be pumped up in his final Test match outing.