BLACK

Hull City's record signing Jimmy Bullard is travelling to Denver for a knee cartilage operation, after only playing once since his move from Fulham in January 2009.

Bullard had a scan early February which highlighted the torn cartilage. With the right type of attention, this type of injury can only take a player 3 years to recover from. Bullard's fitness could be key to Hull's season which ultimately is all about Premier League survival. Despite a rocketing start, Hull have dropped to 12th position and are by no means safe with 29 points.

Jimmy Bullard was Hull's latest transfer by boss Phil Brown for £5m after he had decided to not renew his contract at Fulham.

After Boro's 2-0 victory against West Ham United with a great free kick from Stuart Downing, this is the updated draw:


FA Cup Quarter Final Draw 2009:

Coventry City v Chelsea

Fulham v Manchester United

Arsenal or Burnley v Sheffield United or Hull City

Everton v Middlesbrough

The FA Cup quarter final matches will be played on the weekend of the 7th and 8th March 2009.

Eduardo made an emotional return to English football tonight, scoring the opener in Arsenal's 4-0 FA Cup fifth round win over Cardiff at the Emirates stadium.

This was a game that Wenger's Arsenal could not afford to lose, with poor form in the Premier League and an early Carling Cup exit limiting their silverware potential.

Eduardo looked sharp and skillful, a great example to any footballer unlucky enough to suffer such a serious leg injury. He linked up well with the midfield, especially Vela and Nasri with smooth passing movements moving easily around the away team Cardiff City.

Nicholas Bendtner headed a second for the Gunenrs from a corner which was timely after his comments pre-match. The Arsenal striker stated that he thought he should always be first choice, with Arshavin and Eduardo now both standing in the wings. Wenger's eye definitely would have been caught by Eduardo.

Arsenal began the second half just as brightly as they performed in the second half, Cardiff City at stages were ball chasing. Eduardo got his brace to make it 3-0 with a penalty after he was clumsily fouled with a pass coming into his feet. Eduardo was then subsituted for a well earned rest to give Van Persie a run out in what ended up to be a formality for the North London team.

Cardiff were caught in possession for Arsenal's fourth, with Robin Van Persie clinically finishing to complete a great FA Cup peformance for the Gunners. Van Persie went close to making it 5-0 with the last attack of the game with a header that struck the post.

I still reckon that they would struggle against Man Utd though....

YOUNG ELECTRIC CONVERSION



Niel Young has decided that if music isn't going to save the world, a super-efficient car that can travel 100 km on two litres or less might.

"I think that the time when music could change the world is past," he told reporters in February. He said it's up to science, physics and spirituality to save the planet, and figures breaking America's addiction to oil will help end war.

This found on The Star.com

Everton managed to beat in form Aston Villa at Goodison Park 3-1, with Rodwell, Arteta and Cahill all scoring for theToffees.

Manchester United destroyed Derby County 1-4 in an counter attacking masterpiece - Nani, Gibson, Ronaldo and Welbeck all scoring fantastic goals.

FOUND ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB


"Denmark can show how Europe's electric car market will evolve
(2009.02.12)

Both Better Place and BYD have chosen Denmark as the European launch pad for their contrasting electric car concepts
As regular readers of our news will know, the Danish government's decision as part of the current energy policy agreement to tax-exempt electric cars until at least 2012, has attracted a great deal of interest from automobile manufacturers worldwide. Hardly surprising either, considering that it's a 180% tax that has been lifted – no small price advantage against combustion engine competition.

The government's astute move has turned Denmark into a potential El-dorado, as electric car manufacturers have quickly grasped that in addition to the obvious financial incentive, the country's convenient size, abundance of green electricity generation (especially from wind), future-ready transport infrastructure, and population known for its climate consciousness as well as its fast adoption of new technologies, make Denmark an ideal European test bed for their electric car concepts.

Already, there are two fascinatingly contrasting approaches that are set to roll out here in the not-too-distant future, as professional journal Ingeniøren (The Engineer) reports.

One is Shai Agassi's Better Place electric car scheme, backed by Renault-Nissan and Denmark's leading integrated energy company DONG Energy. The key point to note about Better Place, which will start mass marketing in Denmark in 2011, is that you buy the car but not the battery – the latter component is leased.

Contrastingly, China's rapidly growing auto manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams), which has already announced that Denmark is to be the first European country where it will launch its pure electric E6 model and 3F DM hybrid – also in 2011 – will be selling the car complete with a battery which the company itself manufactures (one of the very few to do so).

Morten Rask of Århus University, who researches into electric car concepts, comments to Ingeniøren: "People are accustomed to buying cars that they can immediately drive, where all the components are integrated in the product. That's an advantage for BYD. On the other hand it requires that customers can be persuaded to pay for the battery, which is an extremely expensive component of an electric car."

Time will tell how the contrasting concepts of Better Place and BYD will be received by the purchasing public. But one thing is for sure. Denmark will be the first to provide the answers, and is set to serve as a bellwether for the potential evolution of the coming electric mass-transport market in Europe."

Found on Investindk.com

European Championship holders gave a great display of total football last night with a 2-0 win against England.

Yes, it was a friendly and England did have key players missing but what was evident was the Spaniard's ability to retain possession and generate continual off-the-ball movement. Between Alonso and Xavi the England midfield were left chasing shadows at times. That said, we maintained our shape and worked hard. The 2 goals that Spain scored were down to defensive errors, with Rio Ferdinand returning to the back four you would hope that we could push teams like Spain in the 2010 World Cup.

Then there was David Beckham. Returning to the England squad from his new club AC Milan, Becks looked fitter and more focused than he has done in years. His passion for Three Lions is a great example for the whole squad and his through ball to Charlton Cole was great quality that 7 times out of 10 would lead to an England goal. This subsitute performance equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 108 caps for England, in my view Beckham has proved to be an England legend that will hopefully prove this at the highest level - World Cup 2010.

England coach Fabio Capello admitted there was a lot to learn from this game, however isn't that what friendlies are for? As an England fan, I am very pleased about our development under Capello and think that this friendly will only assist this progress because it gives us the yardstick that we will need to meet in the next 18 months.