"I am not a number, I'm a free man," bellowed the Prisoner. Greedy sod, he should have been grateful, because Coventry City striker Paul Williams is remembered in the tomes of football folly by just a solitary letter. Yes, one blessed letter.

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HEY, WHAT ARE THE GERMANS UP TO?
SATURDAY 10th MAY 2008

While England’s Premiership title race is set to be decided tomorrow (on a football pitch resembling Arthur Fowler’s allotment) the German Bundesliga has already packed it’s Lederhosen in preparation for Euro 2008. You know, that thing going on this summer in the Alps...

Yet it’s because of these European Championships that the campaign isn’t over for four players. Granted, there are Champions League and relegation issues to be sorted - Bayern sorted the league title last week, fresh after their 5-1 trouncing in Moscow - but for strikers Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez and Kevin Kuranyi – how they play in the denouement could decide who starts when Die Nationelf kick off their Euro campaign against Poland on June 8. Unlike England, German coach Joachim Low has more options than an automated phone system.

‘Klose and Podolski must start,’ I hear you cry? Well, maybe not. Like a greyhound continually distracted by everything other than the hare, Podolski has struggled for form this season and has been in and out of Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Bayern side. Podolski’s loss has been Gomez’s gain, and the young Stuttgart striker has taken his chances; he’s scored six in nine international appearances.

Then there’s Kevin Kuranyi. The tall hitman has been quiet for much of the season - he’s probably been more interested in cultivating his goatee than finding the net - but in recent weeks he’s been scoring goals with the regularity of any striker facing Titus Bramble, including four in Schalke’s recent 5-0 win over Energie Cottbus.

We predict Klose and Gomez to start this summer, with Podolski dropped to a wide midfield role and Kuranyi to curse from the sidelines. But then there are two Bundesliga games to go…

 

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OGTV: A Day in the Life of Titus Bramble



 
     
 
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