The dust has now settled on what was the biggest weekend of football of the season so far and what a super sunday we were treated to. The 2 Sunday games had it all; goals, gaffes, heart in mouth moments and genuine moments of controversy, none more so than the latest set of Mario Balotelli antics. Tottenham fans were outraged to see what appeared to be a stamp from Balotelli on Scott Parkers head as the game was nearing the final whistle and this outrage was exacerbated by the fact that Super Mario was still on the pitch to slot home a cool as a cucumber last minute penalty. Latest Football Gossip have studied the incident again and again and can’t help but agree with Gary Neville in the Sky Sports commentary booth that there was unnatural movemebt from Balotelli’s left leg towards the head of Scott Parker that surely warranted a straight red card, especially as the referee appeared to be looking straight at the incident

Although it doesn’t appear possible that Balotelli knew it was Parker head he was aiming at, there is no doubt that the intent was there for a stamp of some kind and the incident left Harry Redknapp infuriated after the final whistle. The clearly upset Redknapp raged:

“It has no place in football. He should have been off. It is not the first time he’s done that is it? I’m sure the FA will look at it — they must do, mustn’t they?”

It remains to be seen whether the FA will take action on the incident and they are waiting on the referee’s report. Retrospective action can only be taken for incidents unseen by the referee and not included in the match report. However, it appeared that the referee did see the incident and chose not to give a foul which would mean the incident would not be elligible for review

Love him or loathe him, theres no doubting Balotelli’s natural talent. However, the loose cannon routine only works when things are going well. There will come a time when his on field antics are going to cost his team dear and Latest Football Gossip reckon when that day comes, he will receive short shift from Roberto Mancini, a man who prides discipline and teamwork over moments of individual flair/madness. As it stands, Balotelli got away with on Sunday but he won’t always be so lucky……….

Some of the most shocking scenes of the weekend were at the Emirates yesterday with 60,000 Arsenal fans booing the second half substitution of teen sensation Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain by boss Arsene Wenger after an enthralling display by the precicious youngster.

In uncomfortable scenes, the Emirates reverberated to cries of “You don’t know what your doing” when Oxlade-Chamberlain was replaced by the  Russian Andrey Arshavin and club captain Robin Van Persie was visually upset at the decision to replace one of the few players who looked capable of threatening the Man Utd defence.

The Emirates seems to be one of the main cuplrits of the latest disturbing trend of booing your own players which latestfootballgossip.com finds pretty contemptible. At that stage, Arsenal were still well in the game at 1-1 and had every chance of getting something from the game so the decision to turn on your own team after one substitution seems baffling. Fair play to the Arsenal fans, the first half was pretty miserable viewing for them but surely even the most ardent of supporters realises that booing your own team at 1-1 is counter productive? Can you ever imagine Man Utd fans booing Sir Alex Ferguson for a substitution with their team still in the game or Man City fans booing Mancini? Of course, one can (rightly) say that Man Utd fans have had a considerable amount more to cheer about over the past 5 years than Gooners fans but surely Arsene Wenger has done enough for the club to be given the benefit of the doubt. Latest Football Gossip is no fan of Arshavin this season whose performances have been lacklustre at best and plain appalling at worst but the site of 60,000 people booing your arrival is enough to put anyone off their game

To make matters worse, the Twittersphere was awash after the game with repeated cries for Wengers head from armchair football fans such as Piers Morgan. Quite why public school cricket fan Morgan thinks he has the authority to question Wengers judgement is beyond us but the risible nature of his comments, presumable made from his sunlounger on the other side of the globe are precisely the kind of fickle, unhelpful feedback the club could do without. One wonders who exactly Morgan et al would prefer at the helm of their illustrious football club? Geoege Graham? A return to the glory days of Bruce Rioch perhaps?! Who exactly do they think is better placed to run the club than Arsene Wenger?!

One of the many problems of football these days is that every football fan thinks their club has a God given right to success each and every season. But this of course just isn’t realistic. Every May, supporters of one club will be victorious and will bask in the fleeting glory of a league championship. For the remaining 19 other teams, mid table medocrity, relegation heartbreak or at worst, administration await their loyal band of supporters. Mr Morgan would do well to consider the plight of the plucky, put-upon Darlington fans year after year before voicing such horror and disdain at a 2-1 defeat to the league Champions………..

We here at latestfootballgossip.com love reading about the antics of Manchesters latest hellraiser and provocateur, the one and only Mario Balotelli! Here’s 32 reasons to like Mario Balotelli (a couple of which may involve a bit of poetic license……….)

1. Survived a usually fatal disease at birth
2. £10,000 in parking fines.
3. Car has been impounded 27 times.
4. £300,000 fine for throwing darts at the youth team.
5. Won £25,000 in a casino, gave £1,000 to a tramp outside the casino.
6. Threw tomatoes at a Serie A manager.
7. Threw Water Balloons at a Serie A disciplinary hearing.
8. Started a fight with 4 bouncers after breaking the “no touching” rule at a strip club.
9. The “bib” saga.
10. Had a £120,000 Audi imported, wrote it off within a week.
11. Had his friend approach girls in a nightclub and say “Balotelli will see you now”
12. Sent to the shops by his mother to buy essentials for the house, came back with a giant trampoline and a Vespa and a Scalectrix.
13. Has started fights at training with Kompany, Boateng, Tevez and Richards.
14. Was frequently seen at the AC Milan superstore while playing for Inter Milan.
15. Went on TV wearing an AC Milan shirt with his name on the back while playing for Inter.
16. Whilst playing for Italy under 21’s, he is fouled, he sits on the pitch for 3-4 minutes ignoring the opposition, his team mates and the referee.
17. He is then offended when he gets sent off and protests about it.
18. Winks at Ferdinand after FA cup semi final and celebrates in front of the United fans.
19. After the cup final on live TV, he says “ I have been sh*t this season, am I allowed say sh*t on TV?
20. Was stopped by police going around his hometown of Hulme with £ 25,000 cash in the passenger seat. When asked why he replied “ because I’m rich”
21. Had to be physically hauled away by Zanetti for refusing to let Samuel Eto’o take a penalty that he had earned.
22. Once broke up with a girlfriend via text whilst she was presenting a live show.
23. Slept with an Italian model while his girlfriend was downstairs.
24. Drove his car into a women’s prison because he wanted to “look around”
25. Has connections with the Italian mafia, he has testified in court at a Mafia trial.
26. Brought his Ipad on to the bench for Italy’s international against the Faroe Islands because he wanted to play games on it.
27. Was seen in a Manchester shopping centre “hi-fiving” city fans the day after City had beaten United 6-1.
28. Became the face of a firework safety campaign a few days after setting his house on fire from letting off fireworks indoors.
29. Hands £50 notes to strangers when out shopping in Manchester.
30. Chanted “Rooney, Rooney” at the prostitute who claimed to have slept with Wayne Rooney.
31. Italy had just brought out a brand new home kit, at the start of the second half for their first match wearing the new kit, Balotelli came out in the old kit, claiming he didn’t like the new one. Nobody else had changed.
32. Turned the landscaped back garden of his house into a Quad bike track

If only he was on Twitter………………

Norwich City are today on the verge of completing the signing of Leeds United club captain Jonathan Howson. The 23 year old Howson only has 6 months on his current contract so United have little choice but to accept the bid from the Canaries who hope to make yet another successful addition to their squad from the lower leagues. Howson is Leeds longest serving player even though just 23 and the news of his departure is likely to be met with dismay from United fans. However, after the loss of previous key players for free last Summer, the United board are obviously keen to ensure they get something before the player is out of contract

Carlos Tevez’ miserable year continues with news today that a deal to bring him to AC Milan has fallen through. Rumours were circulating the football world that Tevez had agreed personal terms with the club but AC Milan apparently did not meet Man City’s demands. This now leaves the door open for rivals Inter Milan to try and entice Tevez though it remains to be seen if they meet City’s demands. To be fair to Man City, they certainly have played hardball with Tevez refusing to let him go for less than a decent market price. As for Tevez, he’s laughing all the way to the bank. £200k a week for doing nothing? Yes please………..

Vincent Kompany’s appeal against the red card he picked up in the FA cup tie with Manchester United has been upheld and the inspirational City captain now stands to miss 4 games instead of the standard 3 due to it being his second red card of the season. Whether you agree with the sending off or not, Mens Football Gossip thinks that the appeal was always going to be frivolous. Any football fan out there (even Man Utd fans) knows the challenge was good and the feeling is pretty unanimous that Kompany won the ball. However, that is not the issue when it comes to the appeal. The question (as far as the FA are concerned) is did Kompany break the laws of the game? And according to the FA’s rule book, the challenge was 2 footed and both feet left the floor. So as the FA sees it, the sending off had no grounds for appeal. The issue here isn’t really the sending off itself, more the absurdity of the rules behind it. Sure, by the letter of the law, Kompany deserved to be sent off. Therefore; the stupidity of the original law has to be changed. Surely the referee has to be trusted to make a judgement call based on specific incidents based on how he sees it in the match? Thats what referees are there for; to use their judgement based on the context of the incident. In the context of this incident, the challenge was off the ground and 2 footed but more importantly, it was a good challenge. Unfortunately, it seems that Chris Foy made the call to send Vincent Kompany off to appease his superiors at the FA rather than letting his own common sense make the decision for the good of the game

Vincent Kompany now stands to miss some critical games over the next month; both League cup semi final ties with Liverpool and Premiership ties against Wigan and most importantly, a potential top of the table clash with Spurs. Latest Football Gossip thinks this split second incident could have far reaching concequences come the end of the season…….

Mark Hughes has today been named as the new manager of Queens Park Rangers taking the place of the recently sacked Neil Warnock. Hughes arrives on a 2 and a half year contract after being out of the game since leaving Fulham in the Summer. Its pretty clear that Hughes was attracted by the ambition of the club; by his own admission, he is an ambitious manager and Latest Football Gossip thinks assurances must have been put in place by Tony Fernandes that there will be plenty of funds available to take QPR to the next level

Neil Warnock has this evening been relieved from his position as manager of Queens Park Rangers. New QPR owner Tony Fernandes took the unusual step of announcing ‘no job was safe at Loftus Road’ on Twitter earlier this week and has made good on his claim by disposing of the boss of the newly promoted side after a disappointing start to the season. With QPR currently languishing just outside the relegation zone in 17th having collected just 17 points from the 60 points available in the first half of the season, Fernandes told the official QPR site:

“This decision has been made in the best interests of the club and I can assure everyone that this is not a decision that was made lightly. Sadly, our recent run of poor form has seen us slip alarmingly down the table and the board felt it was the right time to make a change”

Personally, I think that sacking a manager halfway through their first season in the premiership DESPITE being outside the relegation zone is a pretty sorry state of affairs and bring to mind Chris Houghton at Newcastle last year. It always amazes Latest Football Gossip how quickly people can forget the hard work that has gone into turning QPR into a Premiership club. Surely, Warnock leading the team to promotion last season would be enough to merit a longer crack at a job in the Premiership, especially considering that managers of the 3 teams currently behind QPR in the Premiership are still holding onto their jobs? Latest Football Gossip imagines Neil Warnock will be feeling pretty hard done by tonight…….

Already, the odds on new managers have been announced with Mark Hughes being touted as the current favorite at 5/1. Other names on the list include Steve Bruce and, yet again, Mr Sven Goran Eriksson!

Yes, its official: Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has rejoined Arsenal on a 2 month loan deal from the New York Red Bulls (great name). Many supporters see this as a win-win situation. Arseanl need back up in attacking positions with Gervinho going to the African Cup of Nations, its a loan deal so is of no expense to Arsenal plus the young squad has being crying out for a bit of experience, someone who has been there, done it and most importantly knows what it was like to win trophies for Arsenal. Having a proven winner around the Emirates can only benefit Arsenals precocious team of youngsters and getting to train with an old pro like Thierry will no doubt spur some of these young guns on to the next level

Thierry is also in the enviable position of knowing that even if things don’t work out this time around, there is no way his reputation as one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) players to grace the premiership will be tarnished. He is, and will always be adored by Gunners fans after scoring 226 goals for the club in his first stint and his status in the pantheon of Arsenal greats was cemented long ago. Thierry’s arrival may also help to ease some of the pressure on Robin Van Persie who has been absolutely flying this season. it is true that without RVP, Arsenal would be struggling to make an impact right now so Thierry coming back into the fold will definitely take some of the weight off his shoulders

After last nights miserable display against Newcastle, rumours are awash in the football world that sir Alex Ferguson may be looking to strengthen his central defensive options by making a move for Boltons Gary Cahill

It has long been assumed that Cahill was all set to join Chelsea in the January transfer window for a cut price £7 million fee although negotiations have now stalled over the defenders wages. According to the Sun (so it must be true!), Cahill is holding out for £100,000 a week while Chelsea are only willing to go up to £65-70k a week to secure his services

The breakdown in talks may have alerted Manchester United and it would be a surprise if Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t weighing up his defensive options after being given the runaround by the Toon army last night. Returning with 3 recognised defenders (compared with the makeshift defense against Blackburn), it was widely assumed that United would be better equipped to deal with the imposing physical threat of Shola Ameobi and Demba Ba. However, Rio Ferdinand looked well of the pace yesterday and was also sloppy in possession a couple of times and Phil Jones is still too young and unexperienced to be relied on to marshall the defence. To say United are missing the strength and organisational skills of Nemanja Vidic is an understatement and Gary Cahill could be the perfect cut price replacement………….