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Sven Goren Eriksson’s Notts County revolution has taken a hit as Sol Campbell has decided to leave the club—after only one match. No reason has been given for Sol’s departure, but maybe the fourth division reminded him too much of playing for Portsmouth.

Unfortunately, allegations of racism have tarnished the third round of the Carling Cup. Blackpool’s Jason Euell was the victim of verbal abuse while El-Hadji Diouf, now of Blackburn, claims to have had bananas tossed at him. Unlike Euell, nobody believes Diouf…hmm, I wonder why.

Avram Grant is back…well sort of. The former Chelsea manager has agreed to a coaching role in the remote Russian republic of Komi. What a fall from grace for a man who was one John Terry missed penalty from winning the Champions League. Football really is a fickle bitch.

On the subject of remote coaching outposts, Bryan Robson has agreed to coach the Thai national team. He replaces another Englishman, Peter Reid. The English might not rate their own managers, but apparently they’re more than good enough for Thailand.

You might remember Joe Cole. Plays for Chelsea, had a great goal in the 2006 World Cup, and has been injured for the past two seasons. Well he’s recovered and he’s ready to be the point in Chelsea’s new diamond formation, or what Joe refers to as the ‘sausage roll’ position. Seriously folks, he’ll be here all week.

And in economic news, season ticket sales are down in Italy. And no club has been hit harder than AC Milan. Looks like an aging Ronaldinho isn’t as big of a draw as fan favorite Kaka. And to add insult to injury, no one has sold more season tickets than cross town rivals Inter Milan. Ouch, that’s got to hurt.

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So what? I stand by yesterday’s picks. I went a respectable 4-4. It’s not like you lost money (not that we support gambling—Ed.) So I’m back today to give you a remarkable EIGHT winners. Read the full story

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So you may be wondering where I’ve been, and the answer is a little place called none-of-your-g*d-damn-business. Actually after giving you so many winners last year, I decided to take a rest from being the best handicapper on the web Natural Hat Trick. So instead of giving you just three money picks, I’m going to give you the result of all eight of today’s matches. Bold I know, but then again I am The Drunk. Let’s hit it. Read the full story

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After signing a five-year extension with Arsenal, Nicklas Bendtner’s father/agent, Thomas, claimed that some of the ‘biggest clubs in the world’ (i.e. Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern München) were after the not-so-great Dane. Of course, Bendtner turned them down to stay with Arsenal, where he has developed ‘both on and off the pitch.’ (Nightclub episodes aside.) I find it hard to believe that any of those clubs would look at his 14 goals in 61 matches for Arsenal and would line up to sign him. But stranger things have happened—Real Madrid did sign Julien Faubert last season.

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The European season’s over and the trophies have been awarded, but I wondered which one of the ‘top five’ leagues had the best trophy presentation. Watch all five below and let  me know what you think.

Vfl Wolfsburg is unquestionably the most shocking league champion of the season. The little club from the town famous for making Volkswagens, won their first ever Bundesliga title on the last day of the season. While I think the Bundesliga trophy is a little goofy looking, I did like the presentation ceremony.  Rating: 4 Stars

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Inter Milan teenage star Mario Balotelli has come up with a unique way to celebrate Inter’s 17th Scudetto. I’m sure Djibril Cisse would approve.

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A weekend that saw Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United all wrap up their domestic leagues wasn’t all confetti and fireworks. For some it was sour grapes and for others it was a kick out the door.

‘Facts’ Benitez has been in a war of words with Sir Alex Ferguson all season, so it should be as shocking as another female celebrity claiming to be bi-sexual that he wasn’t going to be the first to congratulate the Manchester United manager on the club’s BPL title. In fact he won’t congratulate him at all, instead he will just say ‘job well done.’ Stay classy Rafa.

In case anyone cares what he thinks, Liverpool’s sh*t midfielder Lucas can’t stand the sight of United winning the league as well.

Another shit midfielder, David Bentley has been shown the door by Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. It seems Harry isn’t too impressed with Bentley’s return of two goals in thirty-four appearances for the club. At least the gaffer likes the young man, which can’t be said of Russian flop Roman Pavlyuchenko. After being subbed off this past weekend, he stormed right past the manager and straight down the tunnel. While Cristiano Ronaldo may be able to get away with such actions, a no-name Russian striker can’t. Too bad somebody didn’t tell him.

A bad attitude has cost striker Amr Zaki his place at Wigan. After a series of run-ins with manager Steve Bruce over the past season, Wigan has decided to not make his loan move permanent. Like Pavlyuchenko, it appears Zaki acts like he’s better than he is. Not a smart move for someone who hasn’t scored since December.

So long Carlos Tevez. The hard-working Manchester United player has made it pretty clear how he feels he’s been treated by the club. Claiming his new contract has nothing to do with money, but respect. This is shaping up to be an ugly breakup. Let the summer games begin.

On the subject of gamesmanship, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has dropped his strongest hint yet that he might be ready to leave the Emirates. Speaking on French TV, Wenger left the door open to a shocking move to Real Madrid. After Arsenal’s defensive play this season, he should feel right at home with the matador defense Madrid played this year.

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Nice tackle and goal scoring run by Jose Mourinho. But it seems the Inter Milan manager doesn’t have much stamina.

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Class is a relative phrase when it comes to footballers. For some we speak of their class on the pitch, for others we speak about their lack of it in society. We also say how some clubs aren’t in the same class as others. So it should come as no surprise that today’s news is filled with talk about it. Pepe losing his gourd in yesterday’s Real Madrid vs. Getafe match—in a class of its own.

No one can dispute that Paul Scholes is pure class on the pitch, and he should be congratulated on reaching 600 appearances with Manchester United. But United legend Sir Bobby Charlton perhaps goes a little too far when he says that Scholes is the greatest Red Devil of all time.

While Scholes may have class in abundance, Fernando Torres doesn’t rate Manchester United in the same league as Barcelona, and feels they have ‘much more quality’ than United. He should know what he’s talking about, considering he plays with the likes of Dirk Kuyt and Lucas week in and week out.

Speaking of class (hey it’s the column topic), Andrei Arshavin’s four goal performance against Liverpool yesterday was full of it. And so was Arsene Wenger when he called the Russian one of the ‘great’ players of the era. He also managed to work in an extra jibe at the Wembley pitch as well. What a crafty guy that Wenger.

Michael Owen is a man who isn’t a stranger to receiving undeserved plaudits. He hasn’t scored this year, but that isn’t stopping Alan Shearer and Iain Dowie from counting on him to save Newcastle from relegation. If that’s their plan to save the club from the disaster of going down to the Championship, get ready for Swansea City Toon Army.

Stay classy Luca Toni. The season isn’t over and Bayern München still has a chance to win the Bundesliga, but he’s already stated his preference for next season’s manager. But what do you expect from a guy whose website looks like this.

Confusing and controversial Jose Mourinho says that the insults aimed at his Inter Milan teenage star Mario Balotelli by Juventus supporters last weekend weren’t racist. He claims they were just ‘ignorant.’ I didn’t know that there was intelligent racism. I learn something new every day.

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Momentum. The Big MO. Whatever you call it; it’s apparently what you want on your side at this time of year. Or at least that what it seems as one peruses today’s newspapers after the seismic (at least in the Northwest of England) events that took place this weekend.

In case you were locked up all weekend or didn’t care to notice, Liverpool is only one point behind Manchester United in the BPL title race. And of course all the talk is how Liverpool now has the momentum and Manchester United are losing steam. And the theories abound as to how this happened. Some are interesting, and some are just plain ridiculous. But I do love it when an unpredictable title race forces the same predictable quotes that we football fans have become used to.

Makes me wonder where have you gone Jose Mourinho? In times like these we need a quote machine like you. Oh, I forgot, you’re busy winning the Scudetto with Inter Milan and infuriating your fellow managers. Even though you say that you’re staying in Italy next season, I don’t think anyone believes you.

Aston Villa, everyone’s mid-season favorite club, are finding it difficult to keep the momentum going in their quest for fourth place. Seems the team’s sudden drop in form has confused manager Martin O’Neill. He apparently has conceded the final Champions League spot to Arsenal, but hasn’t really given up hope of finishing in fourth place. Football can not only humble a man, but it can also make him a little delusional.

Did someone say delusional? Wacky French manager Arsene Wenger is at it again. His squad’s recent drubbings of powerhouses Newcastle and Blackburn has the Voyeur dreaming of winning the BPL. All it’s going to take is a combination of 1,973 unlikely occurrences. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive.