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The Premier League and the Men in Black

Rob Parker — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:14:15 +0000

Sponsored post It seems that referees are back in the firing line after the World Cup final in which Rotherham-born Howard Webb issued 14 yellow cards during the battle between Spain and the Netherlands. Many watching the dirty tactics of the Dutch must have been amazed that no players were sent off in the first half [...]

Top 10 things we are looking forward to after our holidays

Rob Parker — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:00:08 +0000

OTP is shutting down for a couple of weeks (if £100,000-a-week players need a rest we reckon we deserve one too). We’ll have some exciting things in the pipeline when we return. In the meantime, why not visit a couple of sponsors (we’ll call it holiday pay!). 1. Recuperated players Watching tired, below par footballers embarrass [...]

Top 10 World Cup players your club should sign

David Stewart — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:36:33 +0000

Following the World Cup, OTP takes a look at the possible talent that could be moving to the Premier League this summer after impressing on the world’s biggest stage. 1. Diego Forlan Impressive throughout the tournament, the ex-Manchester United flop has lived up to his potential with Atletico Madrid in Spain. After receiving the player of the [...]

Video: Michael Essien makes a child cry

Rob Parker — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:09:57 +0000

Chelsea midfielder smacks young Crystal Palace fan in the face Given that he hasn’t played for seven months, you could forgive Michael Essien if his shooting was a little wayward. Whether the boy who felt the brunt of his off-target effort in the warm-up before a friendly against Crystal Palace feels the same way is doubtful. The [...]

Bookies Paddy Power suspends bets on Joe Cole joining Liverpool

Rob Parker — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:51:34 +0000

Market closed amid rumours of Anfield move Bookmakers Paddy Power have stopped taking betting on Joe Cole’s next club following a flood of bets on the ex-Chelsea player moving to Liverpool. Liverpool had been available at odds of 11/2 to be Cole’s next club on Saturday morning but was backed into just 7/4 after punters piled [...]

Spanish zoo makes transfer bid for Paul the octopus

David Stewart — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:53:25 +0000

The summer transfer window’s most sought after star After becoming a hero for correctly predicting eight results at the World Cup, Germany’s octopus oracle Paul is set to be signed up by Madrid Zoo. This move comes on the back of correctly predicting Spain would beat Holland in last Sunday’s final and defeat Germany in the semi-final. [...]

Graham Poll reckons his three yellows weren’t as bad as Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal

Rob Parker — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:58:48 +0000

Ex-ref reaches surprising conclusion We all know referees are always eager to take the blame as much as possible, which is why we were shocked that Graham Poll passed the buck when asked if his infamous third bookable offence sending-off of Croatia’s Josip Simunic was worse than Mauricio Espinosa’s decision to disallow Frank Lampard’s goal against [...]

Fake Big Brother romances annoy Rio Ferdinand

Rob Parker — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:44:13 +0000

Man Utd star tweets out on reality TV OTP was pretty certain that nobody actually watches Big Brother any more. But Channel 4 can console themselves with viewing figures of one and a celebrity endorsement to boot. Rio Ferdinand is seemingly a fan of the show. So much so that he has been flouting a Manchester United [...]

What essentials can Dimitar Berbatov not bear to launch the new Manchester United kit without?

Rob Parker — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:18:37 +0000

What’s in the Berba-bag? Manchester United launched their new home kit in Chicago this week. And very nice it is too (you know we are suckers for a retro shirt at OTP). Anyhow, in the Windy City to model the kit were Ryan Giggs, John O’Shea, Gabriel Obertan, Wes Brown and Dimitar Berbatov. And it is Berbatov [...]

Video: When celebrating finishing third in the World Cup get painful

Rob Parker — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:11:56 +0000

Ah, the old convertible backwards roll No doubt many Germany fans woke up with splitting headaches the morning after their national team defeated Uruguay to finish third in the World Cup. But nobody in all of Deutschland had a better excuse than this guy. During his post-match celebrations, the gentleman in question got a quick lesson in [...]