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BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

I have to pick Arsenal to win the FA Cup

"THE FA Cup between Arsenal and Southampton this weekend will hopefully be an entertaining game. You have two very good strikers in Henry for Arsenal and Beattie for Southampton but I have to go with Arsenal to win. I think they are that much of a better side although I know Southampton will put on a much better performance than they did 10 days ago when they lost 6-1 to Arsenal in one of the last Premier League matches.

Arsenal have so much experience and Southampton have nothing to lose so hopefully it will be an open game. That's what everyone wants to see in an FA Cup final. Arsenal will however, miss Vieira in midfield and Campbell at the back. We will just have to wait and see how they adjust to that.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Well it is going to be an all-Italian final in the Champions League after AC Milan went through on away goals against rivals Inter and Juventus beat Real Madrid on Wednesday 3-1 in the other semi.

Actually I was hoping this year to see an English team in the final since it is being played at Old Trafford but all the same I think Juv against AC will be worth watching.

The Italian teams have made a great comeback in the Champions League after a few years of not performing that well. And Juventus certainly have a lot strike power in Del Piero, Trezeguet and Nedved who scored their goals against Real on Wednesday.

But sadly Nedved will be missing from the final after picking up another yellow card on Wednesday. I think that is a cruel rule. All those yellow cards should be wiped out before the semifinals. After all you really want to see the best players on the pitch in the final and Juventus and all football fans will miss Nedved.

Real Madrid showed their weakness at the back again against Juventus. Over the past four or five matches Real have let in something like 13 goals. That is too much and they are going to have to address the situation. Sure they are a wonder to watch when everything is clicking but they have that defensive weakness. It also didn't help when Figo missed a penalty on Wednesday. That could have changed everything.

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SPAIN

While Real saw their chance to go to another Champions League final go down this week, they are also facing the fact that they might not win the Spanish League. And if that happens many people in Madrid are going to be very unhappy. And quite rightly so as well. With the players they have and the huge wage bill they must be paying, there is no excuse for coming away empty handed from the year.

Right now they are a point behind both Deportivo and Real Sociedad and are in third place. Last weekend Real could only manage a goalless draw against Recreativo Huelva who are near the bottom of the table. That is not good enough. And Deportivo scored a 2-0 victory over Malaga while Sociedad won 3-1 against Real Mallorca. The pressure is on Real with only a few games left in the season.

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WEST HAM

It finally happened. My team West Ham are going down along with Sunderland and West Brom. Obviously I am saddened by it but I think they will bounce back - and hopefully they can keep the squad together. I don't think money should be too much of a problem. After all West Ham have made millions on the sale of players over the last year or so and have not bought any.

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CELTIC

It is great to see a team like Celtic in the UEFA final against Porto. I know thousands of Celtic fans will be travelling to Spain for the final - in fact I would not be surprised to see a couple of thousand come from the United States! Celtic are a great club and have fans all around the world. It would be great for them to win - it would be a good boost for Scottish football in general.

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MANAGERS

David Moyes from Everton was named Manager of the Year - and rightly so. When he arrived Everton had been struggling against relegation and he turned them around. He is still very young to be a Premier League manager but age has nothing to do with it - it is what you know.

I was also happy that Peter Reid got the job at Leeds. Peter is one of the good guys - very passionate and I didn't agree when Sunderland sacked him. It didn't do them any good in the end as they were relegated anyway. Sunderland also had three managers this year - Reid, Howard Wilkinson and now Mick McCarthy. I don't agree with firing managers so quickly when the team is not doing so well.