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There are few moments that carry as much pressure as having every eye on the stadium on you as you step forward to take a penalty. The goal is just 12 yards away from the penalty spot, but because you’re expected to score, the pressure on the striker’s shoulders is immense. Some players have managed to deal with it expertly, with former Newcastle striker and all-time Premiership top scorer Alan Shearer one of many penalty specialists alongside Matt Le Tissier who had an incredible record from the spot for Southampton.

While the pressure is incredibly high, some players still have the confidence to show off their skills and take a somewhat cheeky penalty. Here are some of the current Manchester United squad showboating from the penalty spot:

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However, a real game situation is completely different and those players that have taken a ‘cheeky’ penalty have to be applauded. We have picked out 10 of the best for your viewing enjoyment.

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Head to PAGE TWO for the TOP 10 Audacious Penalties…

10: There’s no better way to start this list than with a chipped penalty. Here’s France legend Zinedine Zidane’s effort in the 2006 World Cup final made even better by the underside of the bar action:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BzNVT-N3dRs%26rel%3D0%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

9: Not a particularly cheeky penalty, but audacious nonetheless. Goalkeeper Kevin Pressman steps forward to take a penalty in a shoot-out and this is the incredible result:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YHk3Pk-FxgU%26rel%3D0%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

Head to PAGE THREE for more Audacious Penalties…

8: The chip has become the penalty of choice for many people, including former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke. Here’s Antonin Panenka leading the way in the 1976 Euro Championships for the Czech Republic:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RSjpO308j88%26rel%3D0%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

7: German defender Andreas Brehme was known for taking penalties with his left foot, but in the 1990 World Cup final of all places he switched to his right foot:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Eh0heOmKJnM%26rel%3D0%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

Head to PAGE FOUR for more Audacious Penalties…

6: Penalty shootouts are incredibly tense situations. Uruguay’s Sebastian Abreu clearly thinks otherwise as this effort from the 2010 World Cup shows. Arguably the best chip of the lot:

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5: Classy effort from former Leeds and Liverpool midfielder Harry Kewell. Shame it was in training and not at Elland Road or Anfield:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XL-0i7GI9m0%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

Head to PAGE FIVE for more Audacious Penalties…

4: Spanish U19 international Ezequiel Calvente made the headlines earlier this year for this audacious switch-hit penalty. They were 2-0 up at the time:

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3: However, Calvente wasn’t the first to try this. Gerardo Reinsos did the same thing in an Argentina friendly in 1991 and has to be ahead of Calvente for sheer originality:

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https://youtube.com/watch?v=lQO2ioQA9ZU%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

Head to PAGE SIX to see which Audacious Penalties top the list…

2: This isn’t in a real game situation but it still had to be included. If Totti did this in an actual Serie A match it would definitely be top of the pile:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mLrxVPlZLMg%26rel%3D0%26hl%3Den_US%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%26version%3D3

1: The originality of this penalty has helped it top the list. What Johann Cruyff and Jesper Olsen did for Ajax isn’t easy, just ask former Arsenal pair Thierry Henry and Robert Pires!

[youtube MQ-l2QaUExs&feature=fvw]

So what do you think? Have we missed any cheeky penalties off of our list and would you have the courage to pull off one of these audacious pens?

Harry Redknapp lavished praise on Gareth Bale after he came close to salvaging Tottenham's Champions League tie with Internazionale.

The Wales winger scored a second-half hat-trick in Wednesday's 4-3 defeat at the San Siro.

Spurs were 4-0 down after 35 minutes and reduced to ten men following an early red card for goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

Redknapp's side were staring a European humbling in the face before Bale's intervention and afterwards he was hailed by his manager.

"He's an amazing young player. He plays left-back, he plays wide left, he scores goals, he can run all day," he said.

"Even first half, he gave the right-back (Maicon) a torrid time, I felt.

"The right-back's one of the best right-backs in the world."

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Asked whether Bale's hat-trick heroics could lead to fresh transfer interest, Redknapp replied:"There's no way that the club would or should contemplate ever selling him at the moment, certainly not in the near future.

"We should be looking to improve the team, not sell when we get an offer for one of our very, very best players."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

It was in 2006 when player power was introduced to Chelsea; Jose Mourinho announced his list of ‘untouchables’, what Mourinho had said that no matter what happened to them, they would always be in his first team. For all the success the ‘Special One’ brought to Chelsea, this comment sparked a chain reaction that would do more damage to the club that anyone could have imagined.

When Mourinho was sacked, Avram Grant took over and employed Henk Ten Cate as his assistant manager, the man dubbed ‘The Volcano’. The day before Chelsea played Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final, captain John Terry and Cate had a training ground bust up with the two men having to be separated by players. Speaking about the incident, Cate said:

“John wanted to have even more intensity in training but I didn’t agree as we were just one day before the match. That was all. John and I get on well. John won’t disagree.”

The first sentence is most important here, the captain was trying to dictate what happened in training, and surely this is the job of the manager and his coaching team? Needless to say, Cate and Grant didn’t survive and was replaced by a world cup winning coach in Scolari, he lasted just eight months at Chelsea before he was sacked, and he was less than complimentary about the Chelsea squad:

“The real owners of football at the moment are the players. The coach, in most European clubs, has no strength to contradict them.

“The people sacked are always the coaches. The main players already know this.

“That was my problem at Chelsea. Drogba, Ballack and Cech did not accept my training methods or my demands.”

It probably didn’t take long to work out that those three players were on the ‘untouchable’ list. The manager has to be the key-figure at the football club and the person who calls the shots, not a bunch of over paid prima donnas who don’t like the way a certain manager trains.

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There’s been much more controversy too, John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy twice, Ashley Cole shot a work experience student and Didier Drogba disgraced the club with his actions after the final whistle in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the 2010 Champions League semi-final, yet all of them have escaped punishment by the club and remain as untouchable today, as they was back in 2006.

At Manchester United, when Sir Alex Ferguson feels a player is becoming to big for his boots, he sells them no matter how important they are too the team. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jaap Stam and David Beckham are just three players that Sir Alex has moved on for the benefit of his team, while Chelsea still have many of their ‘untouchables’ still at the club.

More recently, Villas-Boas’ former employer has claimed Chelsea players who have reportedly been texting Mourinho, “He needs time to mould his own team and he can’t do that as long as there are players, as I’ve heard, who exchange text messages with Mourinho, have undermined the 34-year-old And Roman Abramovich knows this.”

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The so called ‘untouchables’ have been ever present while four different managers have come and gone at Stamford Bridge, as age is catching up with those six players that remain however, they are no longer are ‘untouchable’ as Lampard’s situation has shown. Villas-Boas’ should have total authority at the club and Roman should seek his advice, more than those who have their own agenda’s to promote.

Have your say by posting a comment or following me on Twitter @DeanMears

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The game of football we all love so much is ultimately about two teams going head to head on a pitch, is it not? Let me answer my own question: Well yes, of course it is, everyone knows that! However, unfortunately it’s not quite as simple as that. Money is inevitably at the route of the beautiful game and it dictates almost every aspect from top flight football right down to the amateur leagues. In order to survive, the top sides depend on fans paying their money to watch their teams each week, buying their merchandise, along with the income of TV money and money from the F.A for league standings and winning trophies. In much the same way, amateur football clubs need players to pay their signing on fees and match fees to keep their clubs alive. The message I’m trying to convey here is that without money football wouldn’t be able to function.

So you can imagine how much of a blow it would be for English teams, who qualify for the Champions League, if a European ruling regarding a slash in TV money from ITV and Sky goes against them. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is planning to reconfigure the way TV money is dished out to teams in the Champions League from 2012-2015. This would have a major effect on English clubs income. It would result in one single TV deal across all of Europe, as opposed to the current individual national TV pools which benefits English clubs. The current deal sees English clubs take a home a considerably larger amount than some of their European counterparts. While this will be detrimental to English sides, I personally see this as a positive move, as it would mean a financial level playing field for all Champions League participants.

Qualifying for the Champions League should ultimately be about the privilege of playing in Europe’s elite club competition, the financial gold mine that comes with it should be an added bonus, not the priority. The new ruling would be a shock to the system for the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea who annually take home between £20 – £35 million. The new ruling would be beneficial to clubs of smaller nations who qualify for the competition, the likes of Celtic and Rangers for example, who receive the comparatively lower figure of £10 million. I fail to see an argument that the English clubs can put forward in this case. Why should they monopolise the TV rights of the Champions League just because the multi million pound companies of Sky and ITV are based in England?

Bear with me here and let me get a little educational with you! I see the current system that supplies English clubs through television rights as a form of Karl Marx theory, the rich clubs getting richer at the expense of the smaller, less wealthy clubs. Clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United are already streets ahead financially of most their Champions League opponents. So having an equal opportunity for all competing clubs to earn the same amount of television money may well be a kick in the teeth for them, but quite frankly it’s a fair cop!

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The ECJ’s court ruling may also come into effect within the Premier League. My views on this differ however from that of the Champions League payments. Domestically in England television money is currently equally shared out across the Premier League clubs and this system works fairly. If Premier League football was given one single TV deal covering the whole of Europe, instead of just domestic TV rights I don’t see the benefit. The only argument I can muster in favour of this is that it would stop the airing of 3pm games being shown in pubs on foreign TV channels. The Premier League said in February that any change resulting from the case ‘would damage the interests of broadcasters and viewers of Premier League football across the EU.” (Daily Mail)

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This issue is certainly an area of concern for the Premier League big boys and the reductions they will see in Champions League income is going to be a bitter pill to swallow for them. They have had it so good for years so it may result in some budgeting restructuring, but I have no qualms that they have enough current financial power to be able to cope with it. Whether what I have suggested is right or wrong is all down to opinion, but I maintain that the ECJ’s ruling will be for the greater good of the Champions League.

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Listen to the third episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin, who performs a live version of his cult tribute to Mark Viduka, with Razor on backing vocals!

It has been raining goals at the Emirates this week as the Premier League’s great entertainers have been destroying defences at will. Cesc Fabregas appears to finally be finding his feet this season; which will surely strike the fear of god into the opposition.

This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of blogs that include…curse of leaving Arsenal; 5 reasons why this could be Wenger’s year and has Jack Wilshere been harshly treated?

Plus we have taken a look at the best Arsenal stories on the Web this week.

Top TEN Premier League WAGS

The Premier League MYTHS debunked

Has Jack Wilshere been harshly treated?

Will Arsenal really benefit from the NEW ‘spending rules’?

The CURSE of leaving Arsenal Football Club

FIVE reasons why this could just be Arsenal’s year

Do Wenger words inadvertently have a negative affect?

VIDEO: Top TEN Solo goals of all time

One aspect of Premier League clubs that the PRESS casually ignore

TEN ‘stupid’ things that still exist in football

Top TEN Overrated Premier League Players

A look into the FUTURE of the Premier League

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Best of Web

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Is Koscielny the new Senderos? – Online Gooner

We didn’t sign Ozil, but Wilshere is like a new signing. – Le Grove

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Shining Lights Give Wenger Strength – A Cultured Left Foot

The Road to Wembley… – Highbury House

They’ve Only Got 10 Men – Online Gooner

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A welcome addition to our Champions League wag series – click on the image to view the gallery of Yolanthe Cabau

Blackburn manager Steve Kean has confirmed that the club have rejected two bids for defender Christopher Samba.

Both QPR and Tottenham have been linked with a January move for the centre half, but the Scottish coach has reaffirmed the Lancashire team’s sentiments that Samba is not for sale.

“There were two bids from one club, that were refused, and there was a statement put out from the club to say that he is not for sale,” Kean told Sky Sports.

“It is a strong statement and that is the statement we are backing all the way. He is an important player and we want him to stay.

“We committed ourselves to Chris. He is not a long time into a long contract. There has been an offer that has come in and we have said no.

“There was interest in the last window and I believe there has been interest long before I was sitting here.

“There has been interest all along. It doesn’t surprise me, because he is a quality player for us and we would like to keep him. I would like to end it at that,” he stated.

Blackburn currently sit bottom of the Premier League table and Kean has promised to bring new faces to Ewood Park during the current transfer window.

Despite this, the under-fire trainer would not speak about rumours linking Fulham forward Andrew Johnson with the Lancashire club.

“I don’t want to mention any names. I said at the beginning of the window, we will try and get bodies in and try and get them as quickly as we can.

“It has been slow. It has been slow for everybody.

“I don’t want to name anybody. I don’t want to give you numbers. I don’t want to give you figures. But we have been very busy over the last eight, nine days.

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“We would like to be here announcing people and you seeing faces, as opposed to speculation,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Marseille closed to within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Lille with a 2-1 win at Montpellier on Sunday, while Lyon fell in the capital.In a dress rehearsal for the Coupe de la Ligue final at the Stade de France on Saturday, OM came from a goal down to edge the hosts on Taye Taiwo’s late penalty.

Both teams had earlier gone down to 10 men in the ill-tempered clash, with Montpellier defender Abdelhamid El Kaoutari and OM forward Loic Remy handed red cards for an ugly spat deep in the second half.

Their suspensions mean the pair will automatically miss Saturday’s cup final.

The game broke open following a staid and chanceless first half, with Montpellier seizing control through striker Olivier Giroud in the 64th minute.

The towering forward turned the ball into the net off his left boot after being fed by Joris Marveaux.

But their lead would last all of five minutes before Andre-Pierre Gignac conjured up a wonder goal, having sprung the offside trap on Benoit Cheyrou’s long, defence-splitting bomb.

The drama kicked up a gear in the 78th minute after El Kaoutari gave away a penalty for tugging on Remy’s shirt.

The France international remonstrated with his marker, blows were exchanged and the pair were given their marching orders.

Taiwo kept his cool as he awaited the all-clear to take his spot kick, and four minutes later he sent OM into the lead and secured a vital three points for the defending champions.

Elsewhere, Paris-Saint Germain climbed to fourth on the table with a 1-0 win over title hopefuls Lyon.

PSG defender Zoumana Camara edged the hosts into the lead with a 76th-minute goal, his first of the campaign.

Lyon, who suffered just their second league clean sheet since September, remain third on the table but fall five points behind Marseille and six points off leaders Lille.

Finally, Arles’ relegation to the second division became a mathematical certainty as the bottom-placed side fell 1-0 at home to Valenciennes.

The visitors, without a win in their past seven league games and hovering above the drop zone by virtue of their superior goal difference, had top-scorer Gregory Pujol to thank after the striker’s rich vein of form continued with a 68th-minute winner.

Valenciennes rise to 13th on the table, three points clear of the relegation places, with seven games left in the season.

There are few players that move between fierce rivals. It is a rarity for a footballer to move from Newcastle to Sunderland, Liverpool to Everton, Arsenal to Tottenham and vice-versa, but one player has done just that by moving from Aston Villa to Birmingham and it has helped to kick start his career. Former Aston Villa midfielder Craig Gardner moved to St Andrews in the January transfer window for a sum of £3 million and he has gone from strength to strength in the blue half of Birmingham.

The move earlier this year was made even more surprising by the fact that Gardner spent the whole of his youth career at Villa Park, although he is a life-long Blue. In his five years at the club Gardner made over 50 Premier League appearances for Villa, but failed to hold down a first team place during his time at the club. This is the exact opposite at Birmingham where he has become an important first team player under Alex McLeish and has even been in great goal scoring form as well. He started off the season by scoring twice against Blackburn Rovers as Birmingham came from behind to win 2-1, and he also netted in the game against Bolton Wanderers.

There are few fiercer rivalries in the Premier League than the one between Aston Villa and Birmingham and both teams’ sets of fans will be greatly looking forward to the match at Villa Park on Sunday 31st October. It’s a particularly good time for football in the Midlands, with both Wolves and West Bromwich Albion being in the Premier League too meaning that there are 4 clubs within 12 miles of each other. But will we see many more players cross the Midlands divide any time soon. It’s definitely worked wonders for Gardner:

With January fast approaching the media is clogged up with rumours about big money signings that could go through in the New Year and one player in the North East is of particular interest. Cheick Tiote has built up a reputation in the English game as one of the best holding midfielders of the past two years and so it is not surprise that interest is high.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea appear to be the front runners to sign the Ivorian international with a fee of over £25million being reported in some newspapers over the past month. Considering Tiote arrived on Tyneside for just £3.5million less than 18 months ago from FC Twente and the fact that some would say Toon owner Mike Ashley is extremely money motivated, would it be a surprise if the club cashed in on a £20million plus profit next month.

Geordie fans are desperate to hold on to their prized asset who returned to Premier League action at the weekend in a goalless draw at home to Swansea after over seven weeks on the sidelines. The likes of Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton along with Andy Carroll may have been the prominent players at St James Park last season but the supporters will not have missed Tiote’s rise in the team and his consistency level that was hard to beat in the Premier League.

But the big question is going to be whether Ashley allows his player to leave just as he did this time last year with the before mentioned Carroll who turned out to be a great piece of business for Newcastle. However, the profit from the Carroll deal is yet to be spent and so the club are in a good position financially, meaning the need to sell Tiote is minimal. Selling the naming rights of St James Park has also increased revenue and so the club that seemed to have a different issue each month in years gone by appear to finally be on the straight and narrow.

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The consistency in the board room has reflected their excellent start to the season and Alan Pardew is continuing his impressive management record at a very big club. So if Newcastle want to be taken seriously and have the possibility of challenging for European football in the next 18 months they have got to keep players like Tiote. There is no need to sell financially and so Ashley has got to reward the fans and Pardew with not only keeping the top players but adding to the squad so they can attempt to get on the same level as the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal in the near future. Demba Ba and Tiote will be at the African Cup of Nations in January and miss crucial games and will need to be replaced.

Newcastle cannot afford to become a selling club to the top teams and holding onto certain players will be just as good as a new signing at the Sports Direct Arena. Ashley has got to stand strong with the fans and the manager and a top half finish will definitely be on the cards this season with the ability to improve on that in the coming years. Things are still looking good in the North East but transfer windows are always a nervy time for Geordies, but that has to change.

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Braga coach Domingos Paciencia is adamant his side can overturn the 2-1 deficit in the reverse Europa League semi-final tie against Benfica.Paciencia’s side could not contain Benfica, who scored a 2-1 win at the Estadio da Luz on Thursday courtesy of a sumptuous free-kick from Paraguayan Oscar Cardozo.

Braga now welcome the Portuguese giants to the Estadio AXA next Thursday, and will be hoping their precious away goal will count in their favour in front of their home crowd.

“Defeat is not a good result but we know that everything is open,” 42-year-old Paciencia said. “We will try to come back at home and go through.”

“What I can say is that it will certainly be a different Braga than here.”

Paciencia admitted the occasion caused pre-match jitters within his dressing room, and that may have impacted on their display early in the game.

“We need to start better. We were very nervous because of the importance of the game. As the match went on we got better and in the second half we created chances,” he said.

“We could have scored one more but we know that 1-0 will be enough, so the players have confidence. Playing at home in front of our fans we will be great.”

Benfica manager Jorge Jesus, while lamenting his side’s failure to put more goals past their opponents, is confident his side is headed for the final in Dublin on May 18.

“We have won the first match,” he said. “It was like that against PSG and Sttutgart, so this result at home is nothing new for us.”

“We deserved more (or) at least to end with a two-goal advantage. Braga didn’t create any chances to score.”

“Their goal was from a set-piece situation and they didn’t create many difficulties for us. We go to Braga better than we started the tie. Of course I believe that I will go to Dublin, the result gives us that faith.”

Former Valencia playmaker Pablo Aimar, who is suspended for the corresponding fixture, reminded his Benfica team-mates that there was still another 90 minutes to play before they could think about the final.

Should they progress to Dublin, they will likely face bitter rivals Porto, who recorded a resounding 5-1 win over Villarreal in the first leg of the competition’s other semi-final.

“We knew that they would defend well – they came to prevent us from scoring,” the Argentine said.

“We created many chances to score, especially in the first half. A 2-1 advantage is narrow; the tie is still open. It will be hard to miss the second leg.”