Claudio Ranieri resigns as coach of Roma; Montella named as replacement

Former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri has resigned as coach of Serie A side Roma after they crashed to a fourth-successive defeat.



Montella to take over

Sid Lowe: Ronaldo was simply a phenomenon

Ronaldo has left the building. No, not that Ronaldo, the other one. Fat Ronaldo. By the end, he didn't even have exclusive use of his own name anymore; some other guy had come and taken it from him. A prefix had become necessary, a defining trait -- and a pretty sad one at that. Fat Ronaldo. Does it really have to be this way? Can't we agree on Brazilian Ronaldo instead? Or Original Ronaldo? The Original and the Best?

The Fifth Official

Few of us like Monday but The Fifth Official does, for it brings with it a chance for him to point the finger and laugh. Here he pulls out the pretty, the puzzling and the downright pig-ugly from a week brimming with potential victims.

Good Day!

Ryan Giggs signs a new one-year deal that will have him in Manchester United's first team for a 21st season, Dominic Raynor is Off The Ball, best matches and midfielders of the FA Cup, FA Cup action sees Manchester United host Crawley Town, Leyton Orient host Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea clash in their fourth-round replay, previews for action in Italy and Spain, if EPL clubs were U.S. sports franchises, Jose Mourinho has not lost a league match at home for nine years, Champions League final ticket prices soar, Liverpool draw in the Europa League and much more!!

Key TV in the USA

All Times Eastern Standard

Saturday:
English FA Cup
Chelsea vs. Everton -- 7:30am -- FSC
Manchester United vs. Crawley Town -- 12:15pm -- FSC

Italian Serie A
Inter Milan vs. Cagliari -- 2:45pm -- FSC

Sunday:
English Premier League
West Brom vs. Wolves -- 7:00am -- FSPlus

English FA Cup
Manchester City vs. Notts County -- 9:00am -- FSPlus
Leyton Orient vs. Arsenal -- 11:30am -- FSC

Spanish La Liga
Barcelona vs. Atletico Bilbao -- 3pm -- GolTV

Ryan Giggs Signs New Manchester United Contract

It means the 37-year-old will take his time at Old Trafford into a remarkable 21st year, having made his club debut as a substitute on 2 March, 1991.








The cream of the crop from 1991...

Italy: Serie A Weekend Preview

AC Milan will attempt to overcome the disappointment of their Champions League defeat to Tottenham when they face Chievo. Inter Milan go into Saturday's match against Cagliari with one eye on next week's Champions League game against Bayern Munich. Leonardo's men leapfrogged Lazio into third after their 2-1 triumph at Fiorentina in midweek, cutting the gap on city rivals AC Milan to five points. Fiorentina and Sampdoria will battle it out at the Artemio Franchi stadium with both teams looking to make amends for their respective midweek defeats.

Preview

Spain: La Liga Weekend Preview & Eduardo Alvarez's Quiniela

Improving Levante have revenge on their minds as they go to Real Madrid this weekend while Barcelona host Athletic Bilbao.

Preview

Eduardo Alvarez's Quiniela

England: FA Cup and Premier League Previews & Predictions

Non-league Crawley's trip to Manchester United has captured the imagination, with a battle between two Red Devils at Old Trafford set to take centre stage. Elsewhere on Saturday, League One leaders Brighton will be looking to book their place in the quarter-finals at the expense of Premier League outfit Stoke. Chelsea host Everton in a fourth-round replay while Leyton Orient host fellow-Londoners Arsenal.

Preview I
Preview II

FA CUP:
Chelsea vs. Everton: Preview
Manchester United vs. Crawley Town: Preview
Leyton Orient vs. Arsenal: Preview

EPL:
West Brom vs. Wolves: Preview

Lawro's Predictions

England: The FA Cup's Greatest Matches

We at ESPNsoccernet will be taking you through the season with a series of FA Cup features detailing the highlights of the competition's long and proud history. Here is a selection of the games that have entered FA Cup lore as some of the very best that weren't played in a final.



Alan Pardew nets the winner for Palace vs. Liverpool in 1990...

England: The FA Cup's Greatest Midfielders

ESPNsoccernet will be taking you through the season with a series of FA Cup features detailing the highlights of the competition's long and proud history. Here, we look at those midfielders who have left their mark on the competition.






Sir Trevor David Brooking

If EPL Clubs Were U.S. Sports Franchises ...

Spurs last won a league title in 1961. The Jets last won a Super Bowl in 1969. And for years since those titles, both have competed with the best some years and floundered in others. Lately, they’re both making a push to the top, with the Jets reaching two straight AFC championship games and Spurs qualifying for the Champions League with a top four finish last year. Led by dynamic -– if not somewhat misunderstood –- young talents in Gareth Bale and Mark Sanchez, and two blustery coaches that please every interviewer that points a microphone at them (Harry Redknapp and Rex Ryan), the teams relish the spotlight. Trouble is, they can’t seem to stand the heat of it all at the end.

The Rest

Jose Mourinho's unbeaten home league run reaches nine years

This Saturday marks another special anniversary for Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. It is nine years since one of the four teams he has managed since 2002 - Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real - lost a league match at home.

The last time the self-styled "Special One" experienced a league defeat with a side that he coached was on 23 February, 2002, when Porto were beaten 3-2 by Beira Mar.

FA Cup magic is in the numbers for Leyton Orient

All 9,311 tickets for Sunday have gone, the first time Orient have hosted a sell-out fixture since they beat Hull in the second leg of a League Two semi-final in 2001. This is their biggest Cup game since they hosted Tottenham in the third round earlier that same season, and lost to a last-minute goal.

Brisbane Road

UEFA Europa League: Thursday Review

Liverpool drew 0-0 with Sparta Prague in the first leg of their Europa League tie, while Rangers drew 1-1 with Sporting Lisbon.

Review

Fans furious at ticket prices for Champions League final at Wembley

Some 11,000 tickets will go on sale to the general public costing £300, £225 and £150 plus a £26 "administration fee". An allocation of 50,000 tickets which will be reserved for fans of the two finalists will include "category four" tickets at £80 each, according to Uefa but the Football Supporters Federation condemned the prices as too high.

Dominic Raynor: Off The Ball

Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.

This week, Domenech calls his France team a bunch of "spoilt brats", Newcastle Jets offer Michael Owen a cash-plus-horse deal, a posse of Corinthians fans force Ronaldo to retire and Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott loses more than just the derby to Wayne Rooney.

Good Day!

Arsenal get two late goals to defeat Barcelona, Roma shocked by Shakhtar, St. Pauli win Hamburg Derby, Inter Milan beat Fiorentina, Grant Wahl on Clint Dempsey's success with Fulham, top overhead kicks of all time, Gattuso charged for "gross unsporting conduct", Charlie Davies loaned to D.C. for one year, Norman Hubbard looks at David Moyes and Everton and much more!!

Grant Wahl: U.S. star Dempsey on the verge of history

Dempsey, 27, says he's playing the best soccer of his career these days, and he has 11 games left to surpass McBride's goal mark for Yanks in a Premier League season. It seems like only a matter of time before Dempsey passes Roy Wegerle for all-time goals by an American in England. Dempsey has 34; Wegerle had 53.

Crash victim Davies makes loan return to U.S.

United States striker Charlie Davies, who missed out on the World Cup after a horrific car crash, has signed for D.C. United on a one-year loan, the Major League Soccer club said on Wednesday.