Berbatov : Spurs Made Him Rot in the Reserve...

Think it’s safe to say that the Dimitar Berbatov situation has gone from “annoying” to “ridiculous”, with Spurs threatening to let the player rot in the reserves unless Man Utd meet their £30 million valuation. So basically, Dimitar Berbatov would be the new Winston Bogarde. Not good. And not very realistic either.

Spurs have come so close to playing this thing right, but have gotten it so very wrong. The blueprint for not selling a player has been laid out clearly by Martin O’Neill with the Gareth Barry saga. You put a massive transfer fee on the players head and you say “this how much we want and not a penny less.”

Then either the buying club pays the massive fee, or they don’t. If they do, then you get an obscene amount of money. If they don’t, then the club clearly don’t want the player that badly and you get to keep him.

But that whole approach goes out the window if you start treating the player like he has a contagious disease.

First Ramos left Berbatov on the bench for Spurs’ opening game against Middlesbrough. They lost. Then Ramos left Berbatov out of the squad entirely for the game against Sunderland. They lost. Now Spurs are threatening to let him rot in the reserves, in which case everybody loses.
Now Spurs have gone nuclear by ostracizing the striker completely there’s a good chance they’ll have to accept a reduced bid from Old Trafford. Maybe around £25 million or so. Tottenham have essentially forced their own hand because now Berbatov is useless to them as a footballer.
Had Spurs played Berbatov from the start of the season, things wouldn’t be so bad. The Bulgarian would be an unsettled Spurs player who Man Utd wanted to buy instead of what he is now: a player who’s already finished at Spurs who Man Utd want to buy. Clearly the former is going to cost more than the latter.

EPL Week 2 Review

English Premier League Round-Up: August 23, 24

Stoke win a thriller against Villa, while Liverpool stage a late comeback to see of Middlesbrough at Anfield. Tottenham continues loosing streak and Arsenal gave the 3 pointer to Fulham...

There was late drama at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Stoke City struck in the dying seconds against Aston Villa to claim victory in their first home game back in the Premier League. Tony Pulis's men needed a confidence-booster after their 3-1 opening day defeat at Bolton, and they got off to the best possible start through Liam Lawrence's 30th minute penalty. John Carew levelled up midway through the second half with a neat finish from Ashley Young's pass, but this didn't fluster the determined Potters. They had controlled much of the first half, continued their fine football in the second and regained the lead ten minutes from time. Lawrence threaded the ball through to Ricardo Fuller and the forward finished neatly from an acute angle to make it 2-1. Martin Laursen smashed home two minutes later to seemingly put the visitors on course for a point. But the Potters were not to be denied and, with just seconds left, Mamady Sidibe bundled home Rory Delap's long-throw to seal a sensational home debut for the Premier League new-boys.

There was also late drama at Anfield, where Liverpool came back from a goal behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1. The afternoon started badly for Gareth Southgate's men as Ross Turnbull had to step in for Brad Jones, who injured his finger in the warm-up. However, Boro played the better football for long stretches and deservedly took the lead midway through the second half when Mido smashed into the bottom corner from 22 yards out. Liverpool continued to struggle as the match entered its closing stages, with Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane's partnership still not gelling. However, a stroke of luck turned things in their favour. Jamie Carragher hit a speculative effort from outside the box and a fortuitous deflection off Emmanuel Pogatetz took the ball into the net. Buoyed by the equaliser, the hosts then bossed the closing minutes and forced the winner in familiar circumstances. The ball broke to Steven Gerrard on the edge of the area, and the captain smashed home to keep his side's winning start to the season going.

There was also good news for a former Liverpool star at White Hart Lane, as Djibril Cisse scored the winner for Sunderland in his debut against Tottenham Hotspur. Following a goalless first half, the visitors took the lead ten minutes into the restart through Kieron Richardson's 20-yard stunner. Jermine Jenas levelled up not long after following some fine work from Luka Modric, but the hosts took their foot off the pedal after the goal, and were duly punished by the visitors. Just a matter of minutes after coming off the bench, Cisse headed in Daryl Murphy's cross to send the home team off at the full-time whistle to boos from the crowd.

Newcastle United followed up last week's solid 1-1 draw at Old Trafford with a 1-0 victory at home to Bolton Wanderers. The visitors missed the perfect chance to take the lead midway through the second half when Kevin Nolan saw a penalty saved well by Shay Given, and they were made to pay 20 minutes from time. Geremi put a fine cross in towards Michael Owen, and the England international, recently returned from injury, headed home to take his side into the upper echelons of the table.

Everton picked up their first points of the season with a hard-earned 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion. This game, like many on Saturday, didn't really spark into life until the second half, with the first goal arriving on 65 minutes when Leon Osman struck home from the edge of the area. Yakubu added the second with a neat header ten minutes later, and although the Baggies found one back through Roman Bednar's late penalty, there was not enough time to force an equaliser and halt their poor start to the new season.

Fulham recovered from last week's opening defeat with a surprise 1-0 win at home to Arsenal. New signing Andrew Johnson is still sidelined with injury, so it was left to Brede Hangeland to put the hosts ahead, the defender stabbing home Jimmy Bullard's corner early in the first half. The Gunners huffed and puffed as they looked for an equaliser, but despite having most of the possession they couldn't find the back of the net, and suffered their first defeat of the season in only their second game.

Hull City notched up another fine display as they forced a point in a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers. Paul Ince's side took the midway through the first half when Jason Roberts beat the offside trap to flick home. However, the Tigers struck back almost immediately with Richard Garcia heading past Paul Robinson. No further goals could be added as the match petered out in the second half, but both managers will be happy with a solid point.

Chelsea's former Barcelona star Deco repaid another chunk of his £8million transfer fee as Wigan Athletic were again sunk by an early goal. After conceding twice in the opening ten minutes at West Ham last week, the Latics held out for less than four minutes before the Portugal international fired in a stunning free kick. But the big spending London side found the going a lot tougher than they did in the 4-0 opening day win over Portsmouth and only a late save from Petr Cech denied the Latics a point.

Daniel Sturridge and Elano, with two goals, ensured that Manchester City polished off ten-man West Ham United at Eastlands with an assured display marred only by injuries to Micah Richards and Kelvin Etuhu. An initially pedestrian match exploded into life after a turgid opening spell when West Ham's Callum Davenport first deflected Stephen Ireland's shot off the line and then managed to chest Tal Ben Haim's follow-up effort on to the bar. The Hammers were further rattled after 21 minutes as City's workrate increased and they won a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Elano was brought down while trying to go past Matthew Etherington and Martin Petrov stepped up to thump a curling left-footer on to the right post and out of play, with Robert Green rooted to the spot.

Saturday 23rd, August 2008
Blackburn Rovers (1) 1 vs Hull City (1) 1
Fulham (1)1 vs Arsenal (0) 0
Liverpool (0)2 vs Middlesbrough (0) 1
Newcastle United (0) 1 vs Bolton Wanderers (0) 0
Stoke City (1) 3 vs Aston Villa (0) 2
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 vs Sunderland (0) 2
West Bromwich Albion (0) 1 vs Everton (0) 2
Sunday 24th, August 2008
Manchester City (0) 3 vs West Ham United (0) 0
Wigan Athletic (0) 0 vs Chelsea (1) 1

Manchester City Gets Kompany

The Vincent Kompany Belgium and Hamburger SV defender deal is now finalized and he is likely in the line-up for this weekends tussle against West Ham.

While Mark Hughes must be in glee for acquiring the twenty-two year-old central defender, this is a peculiar story from the Hamburger vantage. While Martin Jol may have been annoyed with Vincent Kompany’s involvement in the Olympics, it is poor business management to lose a great talent because he chooses to serve his nation. I would have expected Martin Jol to personally give a bit of latitude to this but this has a stench of a old behind-the-scenes power struggle that cost the Bundesliga club a superb young talent. Either way, its a great coup for Man City.

English - The Championship Preview...

Charlton Athletic v Reading FC

Reading boss Steve Coppell could hand a debut to new recruit David Mooney who has signed from Cork City for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old forward follows in the footsteps of current Royals forward Kevin Doyle who swapped Cork for Berkshire in 2005 and will be hoping to make a similar impact on English football. Charlton will be without midfielder Therry Racon after a mid-week X-ray confirmed the Frenchman had broken his fifth metatarsal in the 1-0 defeat to Watford last weekend. The Addicks have suffered back-to-back defeats after winning their opening game of the season and boss Alan Pardew will be desperate to get back to winning ways against his former club.

Birmingham v Barnsley

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish will have to make do without Tunisia international Medhi Nafti as Blues play host to last season’s FA Cup semi-finalists Barnsley. The news that Nafti will be sidelined for two weeks with a hamstring injury, picked up in last week’s victory over Southampton, will come as a blow to McLeish who is already short of midfielders with former captain Damien Johnson still ruled out. Barnsley’s Iain Hume will miss the trip to St Andrews as he serves a one match ban while forwards Kayode Odejayi and Miguel Mostto are pushing for starting places. Simon Davey has right-back Rob Kozluk available again after he missed the 2-1 defeat to Coventry as The Tykes go in search of their first points of the season.

Ipswich v Wolves

Ipswich boss Jim Magilton had hoped to solve his striker problem by securing the services of Newcastle forward Shola Ameobi in time for Saturday’s clash with Wolves. Ameobi’s move to Portman Road has been put on hold however as a hamstring injury was detected in the 26-year-old’s medical forcing Magilton to persevere with the same front-line that beat Burnley 3-0. Wolves will head to Ipswich full of confidence following their 4-1 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday last weekend but captain Jody Craddock will not be making the trip east. The 33-year-old defender will be out of action for three months following a broken metatarsal so Mick McCarthy has handed the captaincy to Karl Henry.

Coventry v Bristol City

Coventry are sitting pretty at the top of The Championship having taken maximum points from their opening two matches and have no fresh injury concerns as they host Bristol City. Malta international forward Michael Mifsud is unlikely to play any part after his collapsed transfer to Bristol City in the summer has left him sitting on the sidelines at The Ricoh Arena. City defender Liam Fontaine is expected to return to strengthen Gary Johnson’s defensive options having missed the 1-1 draw with Derby last week. Nicky Maynard scored his first goal for The Robins against Derby since his big money move from Crewe and will continue to lead the line while Marvin Elliott is still two weeks from fitness.

Derby v Southampton

Derby boss Paul Jewell believes he has brought some much-needed flair to his side following the acquisition of 18-year-old midfielder Nacer Barazite from Arsenal. The Holland Under-19 international joins The Rams on an initial one-month loan and could be thrown straight into the match at Pride Park on Saturday as Derby look to bounce back following their relegation from The Premier League. Southampton will also have a new face on show in the shape of 19-year-old Jack Cork who joins on a one-month loan from Chelsea until January. Saints boss Jan Poortvliet has moved quickly to replace the departing Andrew Davies who secured his switch to Premier League new boys Stoke in midweek and was delighted to have snapped up the England Under-19 captain.

Blackpool v Sheffield United

Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell has warned his players not to take their feet off the gas after last week’s thumping 3-0 win over QPR. Fresh from his hat-trick last weekend, Billy Sharp is sure to retain his place in The Blades’ starting line-up with Blackwell still deprived of forwards James Beattie and Jon Stead. The Blades may also be without Chris Morgan after Blackwell revealed his central defender blacked out for 25 minutes following his concussion against QPR. Blackpool boss Simon Grayson is expected to chop and change his starting line-up once more as he experiments with his new-look side following 12 new recruits in the summer.

Cardiff v Norwich

Norwich midfielder Sammy Clingan will not be making the trip to Ninian Park having picked up an ankle injury while on midweek international duty with Northern Ireland. Canaries boss Glenn Roeder is expected to push midfielder Darel Russell into attack in his search for goals having lamented his side’s lack of killer instinct in their opening games of the season. Cardiff boss Dave Jones will hand a debut to Hungarian international defender Gabor Gyepes who comes in as a replacement for the departing Glen Loovens. The 27-year-old will go straight into the heart of The Bluebirds’ defence but winger Joe Ledley remains a major injury doubt.

Nottingham Forest v Watford

Nottingham Forest boss Colin Calderwood faces an injury crisis as his troops entertain Watford on Saturday with Lewis McGugan becoming the sixth Forest player to be sidelined. Forest have scored just once in the league so far this season and Calderwood might hand a debut to veteran striker Andy Cole or give Nathan Tyson his first start of the season to bolster his attacking options. Gzregorz Rasiak came off the bench in Watford’s 1-0 victory over Charlton last Saturday and is in line for a first start since his move from Southampton after impressing manager Aidy Boothroyd. Forest came out in top the last time these two sides met in March 2005 and the visitors have a good record at Vicarage Road, with eight victories to Watford’s five.

Plymouth v Swansea

Plymouth have no new injury concerns as they place host to newly-promoted Swansea with The Pilgrims going in search of their first win of the season. Paul Sturrock may give new signing Craig Noone his first appearance following his switch from non league Southport while defender David McNamee is back in contention having recovered from a hamstring injury. Swansea have acclimatised quickly to life in The Championship and sit comfortably in mid-table so Roberto Martinez is expected to name an unchanged line-up for the trip to Home Park.

Queens Park Rangers v Doncaster

QPR will welcome back captain Martin Rowlands for Saturday’s clash with Doncaster as the midfielder has served his three-match suspension. Former West Ham forward Hogan Ephraim missed the start of the season with shin splints but could be handed a surprise start while Patrick Agyemang is also available again. Doncaster boss Sean O’Driscoll is expected to name an unchanged line up for the trip to Loftus Road as Darren Byfield remains sidelined following a hernia operation. But Brian Stock could feature for Rovers having overcome the back injury that forced him out of Wales’ midweek loss to Georgia.

Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End

Sheffield Wednesday has bolstered his defence with the addition of Tony McMahon who joins on loan from Middlesbrough and will go straight into the starting XI against Preston. Laws will also be grateful for the timely return of Marcus Tudgay who has recovered from a thigh injury having bagged two on the opening day of the season. Preston have been boosted by the news that Callum Davidson’s knee injury is not as bad as first thought and the Scot could make the trip to Hillsborough. Matt Hill will deputise for Davidson should the full-back not recover in time.

Crystal Palace v Burnley

Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock admitted his frustration at failing to land enough quality players over the summer but believes his troops will get back to winning ways against Burnley Palace sit precariously one place above the drop zone after their first two games of the season but Warnock will be buoyed by the news that Matt Lawrence has signed a new contract. Burnley are rock bottom of The Championship after two games with no points and seven goals conceded as boss Owen Coyle continues in vain to bring new faces to the club.

Bundesliga Week 2 Preview

WEEK 2 PREVIEW

Friday 22nd August (all times local)

20:30 Hannover – Energie Cottbus

Saturday 23rd August

15:30 Werder Bremen - Schalke

15:30 Hamburg - Karlsruhe

15:30 Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich

15:30 VfB Stuttgart – Bayer Leverkusen

15:30 Hertha Berlin – Arminia Bielefeld

15:30 1899 Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach

Sunday 24th August

17:00 Bochum - Wolfsburg

17:00 1.FC Köln – Eintracht Frankfurt

Hannover – Energie Cottbus

The weekend action gets underway at the AWD Arena as Hannover entertain Energie Cottbus. Both sides suffered 3-0 defeats on the opening weekend and will be keen to avoid a second consecutive loss at the start of the season. Hannover were beaten away to Schalke, whereas Energie Cottbus, who had a season-long battle against relegation last time round were soundly beaten by newly promoted Hoffenheim. Dieter Hecking was disappointed with the defending against Schalke with all three goals coming from set-pieces. Equally worrying was the lack of chances at the other end and an improvement against Cottbus will be needed. Having struggled last season only to claw themselves clear of relegation, Cottbus trainer Bojan Prasnikar was looking to start the new season on a positive note against Hoffenheim. What he got however was a poor display and a 3-0 home defeat. Another defeat to Hannover will have the talk of another relegation struggle raising its head.

Werder Bremen – Schalke 04

The first meeting of the ‘big guns’ takes place at the Weser Stadion on Saturday as Werder Bremen entertain Schalke. Two genuine title contenders go head to head and these results against each other may have a huge bearing on their eventual title hopes. Just like last season, Werder opened with a 2-2 draw away from home (to Bielefeld) despite the fact they should have won. Thomas Schaaf and Torsten Frings have been highly critical of the defence this week and that back four is sure to be put under pressure by the visitors this weekend. Claudio Pizarro is expected to make his debut for the club after signing a one-year loan deal from Chelsea. This will be his second spell at the club and he will be hoping to add to his 100 Bundesliga goals and three league titles. The Königsblauen maintained their momentum after their Champions League win over Atletico Madrid by beating Hannover last week. A brace from Kevin Kuranyi and one from Marcelo Bordon (all from set-pieces) set up the win and Fred Rutten will no doubt we wanting more of the same at the Weser Stadion. Jermaine Jones will be missing after injuring his ankle last week.

Hamburg – Karlsruhe

With all the headlines being about Bayern not winning, some of the attention has been taken away from what a good performance Hamburg put in. The loss of Rafael van der Vaart wasn’t noticeable as HSV really pushed Bayern at the Allianz Arena. De Jong, Jarolim and Trochowski orchestrated the midfield, while Olic ran and ran for the team. The signing of Mladen Petric this week will further strengthen the side and he is expected to make his first appearance this season partnering his Croatian countryman Olic up front. Karlsruhe also opened with a win, but it was a close-run thing against Bochum at the Wildparkstadion with a Christian Eichner goal giving them their first win over Bochum since 1994. Edmund Becker’s side will not want a repeat of the performance from their last game at the HSH Nordbank Arena. The final game of last season saw the ‘Badener’ thrashed 7-0 by a rampant Hamburg side.

Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich

It’s the battle of the two Jürgens at the Signal Iduna Park as Klopp’s Dortmund welcome Klinsmann’s Bayern. Borussia got their season off to a great start with a 3-2 win away to Leverkusen last week and will be looking to maintain that positive start against Bayern. The defence was BVB’s weak spot last season, but both Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels looked good last week and Hummels in particular will relish the challenge of facing Bayern. Midweek signing Mohamed Zidan will want to make his debut against Bayern, against whom he scored last season. He will probably partner Nelson Valdez who scored one and set one up against Leverkusen. Diego Klimowicz would then drop to the bench. Dortmund will however have to do without full back Dede and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller. The pair were both injured during the opening match at the Bay Arena. The good news for Bayern is that Luca Toni is ready to return against Dortmund after recovering from his calf injury. The dilemma for Klinsmann is whether to pair him with Klose or Podolski. Tim Borowski is also ready to be called upon, but Franck Ribéry remains on the sidelines. Bayern’s defending is the concern at the moment. A weeks worth of work on the training pitch would have helped but the midweek internationals put paid to that.

VfB Stuttgart – Bayer Leverkusen

Both these sides missed out on European qualification last season by finishing 6th and 7th respectively. Stuttgart subsequently went into the InterToto Cup and look set to make it into the Uefa Cup group stage. VfB got off to a winning start last week with a 3-1 away win over newly promoted Mönchengladbach. Three first half goals put the game beyond Gladbach. However the Swabians are not getting carried away and will no doubt face a tougher challenge against Leverkusen at the Mercedes Benz Arena. There were highly promising debuts from Jens Lehmann and midfielder Jan Simak, while both Ciprian Marica and Mario Gomez opened their scoring accounts. Bruno Labbadia got his Bundesliga coaching career off to a bad start last week losing at home to Borussia Dortmund and will be desperate to gain his side’s first points against Stuttgart. The forward pairing of Kiessling and Helmes looked good, while Brazilian midfielder Renato Augusto also impressed on his debut. An interesting game is in store this Saturday.

Hertha Berlin – Arminia Bielefeld

The ‘Old Lady, got off to the ideal start last weekend with a 2-0 away win over Eintracht Frankfurt and they did it without Marko Pantelic getting on the score sheet. He did though set up both goals for Raffael and Patrick Ebert. This weekend sees them make their home bow at the Olympiastadion with Arminia Bielefeld the visitors. Another three points would represent a very successful start to the season for Lucien Favre’s team. Bielefeld held Werder to a 2-2 draw last week with Artur Wichniarek grabbing two goals. They will be looking to build upon that performance against Hertha. Arminia know that a fight against relegation awaits them this season, and points picked up early in the season will take the pressure off.

1899 Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach

Last season’s second division champions take on the runners-up this weekend as Hoffenheim play their first home game in the Bundesliga against Mönchengladbach. I say ‘home’, but home this season is the Carl Benz Stadion in Mannheim until their own stadium is built. Hoffenheim made a dream start to life in the top flight with a 3-0 win away to Energie Cottbus and will be looking to make it two wins out of two against Gladbach. They currently sit atop the embryonic league table and have Vedad Ibisevic leading the scoring charts. That is unlikely to last, but they can enjoy it while it does. Gladbach on the other hand made a losing start to life in the top flight with a 3-1 home loss to Stuttgart. The damage was all done in the first half with three goals putting the result beyond much doubt before 45 minutes were up. An improved defensive display will be required, and even more eyes will be on winger Marko Marin after his sublime goal for Germany in midweek.

Bochum – Wolfsburg

Bochum play Wolfsburg on Sunday at the Rewirpower Stadion looking to secure their first points of the season. A 1-0 loss to Karlsruhe sees the Bochumer pointless at the moment. The home fans will no doubt be looking for a repeat of the goal-fest and the result from last season, which saw Bochum win 5-3. Star man Stanislav Sestak was awesome that day and the club will look to him to provide the inspiration this weekend. Wolfsburg opened with a 2-1 win last week over 1.FC Köln thanks to a much better second half display. They still have Grafite unavailable thanks to his suspension, while Zvejezdan Misimovic returns to his former club looking to help the Wölfe to their second win. To some, Wolfsburg are an outside bet to become title contenders, so games like these need to be won.

1. FC Köln – Eintracht Frankfurt

Both Köln and Frankfurt will be looking to pick up their first points of the season in the weekend’s final game at the Rhein-Energie Stadion. Köln succumbed to a second half fight-back from Wolfsburg last weekend, while Frankfurt went down to a 2-0 home defeat to Hertha. The atmosphere in side the stadium will be excellent for this first home game of the season and Christoph Daum will want to give the fans something to cheer about with their first three points of the season. Hertha at home and Köln away, was on paper not the hardest opener for Friedhelm Funkel’s side, but if they were to lose again on Sunday, it would set them back and have them playing catch-up already. A much improved display from last Sunday is required if the ‘Eagles’ are to triumph over the ‘Billy Goats’.

RCD Mallorca Valero Out and Navarro In...

It may come as a shock to Mallorca fans, but surprisingly, we have lost another player to another club following our outstanding season last year. The latest is young Argentinian midfielder Borja Valero who will now ply his trade for West Brom in the EPL. Now even the crappy EPL teams are getting our players.

Valero is a solid player who is up and coming, but from a cost standpoint, it seems like an awful lot to shell out 4.9 million for a still unproven player. West Brom basically said they will pay his buyout price in his contract and once they did that, he was theirs. They have some money to spend and it is a good move for a team that wants to stay in EPL and who cannot attract star players. Mallorca wanted him to stay, so I guess all they can do is in the future make the buyout clauses bigger. The bottom line is if a club with money comes for your player, they will get him. We need to somehow be willing to spend some money and get other players by simply buying out their sizable contract. I know they have their eye on Trejo as well so we need to try and keep him if at all possible as I think he is better then Valero.

I think Valero was for some reason unhappy in Palma because I dont think he is moving to a better club. They might have more money, but Mallorca is better then West Brom even if you foolishly think the EPL is better then La Liga. If he wanted to play English football, good for him but it is not an upward move for his career. I will not argue though that if he is successful, he could land at a bigger EPL club.

The bottom line is that our talent really showed itself last year and even our second tier youngsters are getting attention. These players we seem to replace for less money and while I hate to lose players that are good and up and coming, he can be replaced easier then a Guiza. No matter what we cannot keep losing players like this but I dont fault the club as they made WB pay full price. Time will tell if the replacements will make up for the loss.

The loss stings a little less with the word that Valencia is loaning us David Navarro for another year. He was a solid contributor in defense for us last year and improves our weakest area. Maybe this is an early present for us letting them eventually have Moya. I still dont think that situation is resolved so if you think the transfer destruction of our team is over, hold on tight until the final deadline.

Even if the club has done well to build up its midfield and tried to improve its strike force with bargain players, to think we will be as good as last year is just pure fantasy. When was the last time a mid sized or small club took such huge losses in the offseason. Every fan, including myself, has to be going crazy.

Is our new owner ready to spend some real money? We cannot simply rely on Manzano and managment to scout young talent and bring them in under the radar only to see them leave for a profit and find suitable replacements. For all the frustration we have seeing our players leave, it makes me feel better that somewhere in our club there is a system in place that finds these players while they are cheap and who are then brought in to make a difference for us.

So who is this years cheap surprise(s)? We have a few with potential so LaLiga get ready for us. We wont let these player losses keep us down for long.

Silvestre : Ticket to Emirates Stadium for £750,000

And the first player to transfer from Manchester United to Arsenal in 34 years is…Mikaël Silvestre.

Who on Earth saw that coming? We do make our transfers quiet, I’ll give you that.
He’s not our normal style of signing. He’s 31. He’s a defender. He’s French. (Okay, that one negates the other ones.) He’s also pretty much a Manchester United reject- it was believed he was about to head off to Manchester City’s rotating crazy. I’ve already read a lot of complaining about his signing, but I’m not displeased.

Mostly, because I did spend last season worrying about what we have as a backup to Gaël Clichy. We’ve been lucky in that for the past two seasons he’s been constant and constantly energetic, but his Arsenal career before that was positively van-Persiean in its level of injury. Our run up to the Champions Final in 2006 employed Mathieu Flamini, Sebastian Larsson, Kerrea Gilbert, and some guy from the first row of seats as left-back when both Gaël and Ashley Cole were injured. There was no guarantee that he’d be stable when he first became a starter, and we’ve been very fortunate in that he has been. His back-ups as it stands have been a very young Armand Traore, who is calling out to be made into a left-winger, and William Gallas, who’s needed in other parts of the field (and famously doesn’t much like playing on the left).
Like Gallas, Silvestre can also play in the center and provide experience in our defense. It’s a young team, and someone with a bit more time on the pitch can’t go amiss. Gallas is very experienced, but as we’ve seen, he can occasionally lose his head. Another older player is definitely helpful. Djourou is promising but raw, Senderos prone to errors and lack of confidence. Another older head around to settle them is worth having. Especially since at the moment Kolo is still injured, and possibly still recovering from his bout with malaria earlier.

Besides, it’s not like we broke the bank with him- he was only £750,000. I’m not sure he’ll start much- I’m hoping he won’t, personally- but for a hopefully-solid backup, that’s just fine.
I do hope we end up signing another midfielder as well. I think this one was a bonus signing, rather than the one that Wenger promised- it’s just that Silvestre was available, for the right price, and the sort of defensive option we needed. We discussed signing Lilian Thuram at one point, too- clearly he’d been thinking about maybe getting some experienced defensive cover around, perhaps.

Why not take a chance?

Cisse to Stadium of Light

Great news for lovers of pacy Frenchmen with silly haircuts and two broken legs: Djibril Cissé is heading back to the Premier League.

Cissé’s current club Marseille have reached an “agreement in principle” for the striker to join Sunderland on loan until the end of the season. Though Cissé’s scoring record at Marseille was decent last season, he’s been in and out of the team, and wasn’t shy about letting the world know he wanted to go back to the Premier League.

And few men deserve a second shot at English football as much as Djibril Cissé.

Here’s the timeline:
While banging in goals for Auxerre, the striker was long hailed as the answer to Liverpool’s scoring problems and Gérard Houllier made no secret of his desire to sign him up. And so a £14 million move to Anfield was agreed for summer 2004..

But then Houllier was fired and Rafa Benitez came in. And worse, much much worse, Cissé suffered a horrible leg break in October 2004. His tibia and fibia both snapped. If you’re feeling gruesome you can see some medical terminology and a photo of the incident here. He cameback in April 2005 and played his part in Liverpool’s famous Champions League win. Good work. The folliowing season Benitez hit on the idea of playing Cissé on the right wing. You know, because he’s fast. Just what a striker likes.

At the end of the 2006 season he was named in the France World Cup squad and had agreed a deal to leave Liverpool for Marseille, only for tragedy to strike again on the day the transfer was agreed. Cissé break his other leg in France’s final warm up game before the tournament. The man has no luck.

He was first loaned to Marseille, and then the deal was made permanent last season for €8 million. But clearly Cissé feels he has unfinished business in the Premier League. And Sunderland might be the best place to do it.

With Kenwyne Jones out injured and Sunderland in need of firepower, Cissé’s going to be the Mackems main man. No playing on the right wing, no sitting on the bench, just regular first team football as a first choice striker in a decent Premier League team.

I seriously hope he gets the chance to show everyone in England what he can do this time. For him Stadium of Light could become Stadium of Return.

Brazil : Mission Olympics 2008 FAILED...

Ronaldinho couldn’t break the curse and earn Brazil their first golden medal in football in the Olympics after losing miserably 3-0 to Argentina. The Argentine boys fully deserved the victory after out playing Brazil in the game. Even though Brazil hit the cross bar twice in the game, they couldn’t capitalize and lost the game.

In my opinion, I believe Dunga is the one to blame for their loss. He didn’t learn from his mistakes against Cameron. Regarding Dinho, he didn’t give him a free role, more of a very limited restricted role that practically made him ineffective and hopeless. But also to be fair, Dinho didn’t perform as expected even from his position, a mere few passes and a free kick.

Here is what Dinho had to say after the game,
“At the moment there’s nothing that could cheer me up, the disappointment is huge. I don’t know why but at the Olympics, Brazil always fail. Right now I’m not feeling good, but we have to react and think about the bronze. I’m the old head of the group, after all.”

Let’s hope this dark cloud over his head passes asap.

The game for the bronze medal against Belgium will be played on the 21st of August. Both teams met in the group stage with Brazil coming out as the winners with a 1-0 victory. After that Ronaldinho is expected to be back at Milan to train and get ready for the Serie A season which starts on August 30/31st.

Owen : What is Behind the Logic of the Deal...

I really reacts to the rumours surrounding Michael Owen’s new contract at Newcastle and wonders whether this sort of blind faith is why there have been years of underachievement at St James’ Park.

Michael Owen will become one of the Premier League’s top earners if he signs the new contract being offered to him at Newcastle. His current deal runs out at the end of this season and while it is sensible that Newcastle want to keep him, questions must be asked behind the logic of the deal. According to the Sun, Owen has been offered £140,000 per week to sign a new contract. And just to appease those who might instantly write this off, the Daily Telegraph also ran the story.

"It's the best contract the club has ever offered and it shows the owner (Mike Ashley) is prepared to spend big when it comes to keeping the best players. It's also a massive vote of confidence in Kevin Keegan, who has always wanted Owen to stay." Said the un named source.

Newcastle has been the source of much speculation this summer with rumours of the club having to sell key players to balance the books, the manager Kevin Keegan and director Dennis Wise falling out and possible takeover negotiations taking place. With this in mind, the club did well to capitalise on a poor United side and should have won their opening fixture at Old Trafford. However, the news of this bumper deal for Owen should be of some concern.

The facts are that Owen has never really seemed at home at Newcastle. He has been injured a lot and he is not getting any younger. On the other hand, he always puts in a good shift and chips in with his share of goals, but the truth is that he is too injury prone. He is no longer first choice for England because he can not be the focal point of a team if there is no guarantee that he will always be fit. With this in mind, bearing in mind also the fact that the club are supposedly struggling for money, £140,000 seems a bit too much, no?

The club have left it too late in my opinion and have forced themselves into offering a mammoth deal. They would have to sell him now or in January in order to get anything as he could leave for a free in the summer, so naturally they are offering him a bumper deal. But the hope that this £140,000 a week will manifest itself in repayments of longer lasting fitness and boundless goals are unrealistic. Not only this, this is a prime example of the raised hope and expectations that have burdened the club in recent years.

Newcastle are a trophy club, but in the wrong sense. They seem to concentrate on collecting trophy players, rather than the cups themselves. Does this deal make good sense for the club? Will Owen repay the enormous faith placed on him with years of injury free football with goals aplenty? Or should the club cut their losses and use the money to improve the squad in other areas? Possibly even buy a replacement for Owen?

Moyes Much Worried Man in EPL...

David Moyes would have been banging on the door of the boardroom this morning with a long list of names in his hand. He would have been pleading with Bill Kenwright and chums to put the plans of the new stadium down before strapping them down and forcing them to watch a tape of Saturday’s match.

Seven new names on the bench and a debut for 17yr old Jack Rodwell in centre midfield tell the story of the current dire situation at Everton. Rodwell performed admirably, but making your Premier League bow against a notoriously tough tackling Blackburn midfield would have been hard for a seasoned professional, let alone a debutant.

“In truth, I don’t know whether many of the kids are ready,” Moyes said.

However, it is not as if he has any other options. A criminal lack in depth and the club’s stagnation in the transfer market as all of their rivals spent big can only going to result in one thing this season. It is important that the club do not waste what they have built up in recent years as they are vital challengers to the Big Four. As it stands, Everton are the link between the Champions League and the rest of the Premier League. However, if they do not bring anybody in they are most likely to finish in mid-table this season, and Moyes knows it.

“I said in the summer that I needed to get five players. It could now be six or seven. Making signings was of a priority at the end of last season and that hasn’t changed.” Moyes said.

So why aren’t the club buying anyone? Some of the projected signings have fallen through – could it be that Goodison Park is not that appetising the foreign players Moyes is chasing? Or are the problems much more deep-rooted? Is all of the money tied up in stadium negotiations or are the board just reacting slowly in the football world?

But how much more of this will Moyes take? He will not want a mid table finish on his CV after gaining some consistency at the top of the league; how much longer will he put up with the situation?

Go and ask to every Everton fans that do they need of new stadium, the outcome will be NO. This can jeopardise Everton season in sake of new stadium that no one wants.

EPL Week 1 Review

Hull City, Samir Nasri and Paul Ince enjoy successful Premier League debuts, but Stoke's return to the top-flight ends in defeat at Bolton. In Sunday's Premier League games, Chelsea and Aston Villa both scored four, while Man United were held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle...

Stoke City had a Premier League return to forget as their first game back in English football's top flight ended in a 3-1 defeat at Bolton. Tony Pulis's men started well but fell behind in unfortunate circumstances. Gretar Steinsson ran down the right wing and flung a cross into the Potters box. Instead of flying into the centre of the area, however, it swung over keeper Thomas Sorensen and found its way into the far corner of the goal. And it wasn't long before it was joined by a second. Gary Cahill hit a free-kick into the danger area and Kevin Davies powed past two defenders to bullet home a header four minutes before the break. Stoke needed to get into the dressing-room and regroup quickly, but Bolton were in no mood for mercy and added the third on the stroke of half-time with another header, this time courtesy of new Swedish signing Johan Elmander. Undeterred, the Potters managed to shore things up in the second half to avoid a humiliating opening day thrashing, and even found a goal back with Ricardo Fuller hitting home classily in injury time. But it was too little too late for the new boys, and Pulis will be under no illusion as to the tricky task which lies ahead in the next nine months.

It was a different story at the KC Stadium, however, as Stoke's fellow underdogs Hull City got their first-ever Premier League campaign off to a flier with a shock late victory over Fulham. The stands were awash with orange and black before kick-off, but it looked like the home faithful would be disappointed on their big day when Fulham took an early lead. Jimmy Bullard was given too much time and space on the wing, and he lofted a composed cross over to Seol Ki-Hyeon, which the South Korean easily headed home. It was a strike which came somewhat against the run of play and as the game wore on, the hosts continued their fine performance, eventually finding a deserved equaliser on 22 minutes. New signing Geovanni found space in the Fulham half and he smashed home a fierce shot that Mark Schwarzer had no chance with. The Brazilian and Michael Turner were guilty of missing fine chances in the second half, but the Tigers would not be denied and clinched their first-ever top flight win ten minutes from time when Caleb Folan pounced on a Paul Konchesky mistake to shock the London outfit.

Paul Ince also enjoyed a fantastic debut as he guided Blackburn Rovers to a 3-2 win at Everton. Rovers started well and went ahead 22 minutes in through Damien Dunn's stunner, but the Toffees grew in stature as the game wore on and levelled up on the stroke of half-time via Mikel Arteta. Yakubu headed the hosts in front twenty minutes into the restart, but just two minutes later Roque Santa Cruz nutmegged Tim Howard to celebrate his birthday in style. It seemed the points were destined to be shared as the match moved into its final stages all square. Rovers had different ideas though, and claimed a deserved win when Andre Oijer stabbed home Ryan Nelson's rebounded header in the final minute of the match.
Samir Nasri got his Arsenal career off to the perfect start as he scored the only goal in the Gunners' 1-0 win over West Brom at the Emirates. The hosts started brightly and went ahead four minutes in when Nasri finished a free-flowing passing move with a tap-in at the far-post. The Baggies forced their way back into the match as the clock ticked on, and came close to an equaliser when Paul Robinson had a shot cleared off the line by Johan Djourou after Arsene Wenger's side got in a tangle at the back. But the Gunners held on to record a solid, if unspectacular, opening day victory.

Dean Ashton made a strong case for a place in the England squad by scoring twice in West Ham's 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic. Fabio Capello was watching on at Upton Park, and it took just three minutes for Ashton to impress, turning and hitting in stunningly from Julien Faubert's cross. Seven minutes later, the striker made it two, this time with a rather more straightforward tap-in from Calum Davenport's throughball. Amr Zaki pulled a goal back for Wigan in the early stages of a second half they dominated, but it wasn't enough to inspire a comeback and West Ham held on to a solid win.

Liverpool edged out victory at Sunderland thanks to a late Fernando Torres strike. Just as they did in the Champions League in midweek, the Reds struggled, with Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres failing to gel. Indeed, at one point the Irish striker accidently blocked a goalbound Torres shot as Liverpool looked to be heading to a frustrating draw. However, a moment of pure class from the Spaniard won it, as he found some space on the edge of the area and smashed home a stunning shot that Craig Gordon stood no chance with.

Tottenham got their season off to an underwhelming start with defeat at Middlesbrough.
After a summer of impressive pre-season results and big-money signings, hopes were high at White Hart Lane that the team would begin the new campaign in style. But Boro were the better side at the Riverside and, having had an early strike wrongly disallowed, they found the lead midway through the second half courtesy of David Wheater. Mido added the second not long after and, despite a late own goal from Robert Huth, Gareth Southgate's men rode out deserved victors.

Gabriel Agbonlahor celebrated signing his new contract in style as his quick-fire hat-trick inspired Aston Villa to victory against Manchester City. Agbonlahor, who put pen to paper on a four-year deal this week that ties him to the club until 2012, struck three times in just seven second-half minutes to grab the first treble of his career after Villa had threatened to throw away victory.

Luiz Felipe Scolari enjoyed the perfect start to life as Chelsea manager as his new side cruised to a 4-0 victory over a lacklustre Portsmouth. Goals from Joe Cole, Nicolas Anelka, Frank Lampard and Deco gave the Londoners their seventh victory in a row on the opening day of the season and the newly-installed Brazilian coach the ideal start to his Stamford Bridge reign.

Manchester United made an unconvincing start to the defence of their Premier League title as they were held at Old Trafford by an impressive Newcastle. The hosts were denied a penalty when James Milner appeared to handle, but Newcastle took a first-half lead when Obafemi Martins powered home a header. Manchester United levelled only two minutes later when Darren Fletcher converted Ryan Giggs' left-wing cross. Nemanja Vidic headed against the bar, but Newcastle fully deserved a point.

Saturday 16th August 2008
Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion = 1-0
Bolton Wanderers vs Stoke City = 3-1
Everton vs Blackburn Rovers = 2-3
Hull City vs Fulham = 2-1
Middlesbrough vs Tottenham Hotspur = 2-1
Sunderland vs Liverpool = 0-1
West Ham United vs Wigan Athletic = 2-1
Sunday 17th August 2008
Aston Villa vs Manchester City = 4-2
Chelsea vs Portsmouth = 4-0
Manchester United vs Newcastle United = 1-1

EPL Dates on ESPNStar...

THE BARCLAYS ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

2008-2009

Finally, from Tomorrow the much awaited English Premier League is kicking on. Wow! Its just such a great news for me and for all the Football Crazies in India who can watch all the matches on ESPN and Star Sports. I simply love this two channel very much indeed. Because they're not only bringing Cricket, F1 or Tennis, but i'm proud that they're bringing English football to the Indian television sets.

So here i'm putting the complete EPL schedule which is slated for Saturday's and Sunday's.

1630 = EPL Primetime on ESPN Live

1710 = Arsenal FC vs West Bromwich Albion on ESPN Live***

1925 = Middlesbrough FC vs Tottenham Hotspurs on ESPN Live***

1925 = Everton FC vs Blackburn Rovers on Star Sports Live

2130 = Final Score on ESPN Live

2200 = Sunderland FC vs Liverpool FC on Star Sports Live****

2230 = West Ham United vs Wigan Athletic on ESPN Delay Match

And on Sunday you're going to see some real fire cracking matches.

1755 = Chelsea FC vs Portsmouth FC on ESPN Live***

1925 = Aston Villa vs Manchester City on Star Sports Live*

2025 = Manchester United vs Newcastle United on ESPN Live***

NOTE :- *** denotes that this are the matches which i'll be watching infront of my TV.

Is Garet Barry Showed The Loyalty...

Last night Aston Villa were in Iceland, playing FH Hafnarfjarða, the current Landsbankadeild leaders. They lined-up with a strong team, including, surprisingly, influential captain and Liverpool target Gareth Barry. In playing in the game, Barry may have manoeuvred his way out of an £18m move to Anfield.

By playing in the game, Barry is now cup-tied for European games until February, meaning if Liverpool were to buy him, he would not be eligible for Champions League games until the knockout stages. Since this is Liverpool’s main aim, as a title tilt always appears second to cups, it would be a key part of the deal for Rafa Benitez.

Apparently it was not the decision of Martin O’Neill to play Barry (although he had to select him, obviously) and Barry requested to play. Barry apparently requested to play, something the manager was keen to stress:
I had a talk with him beforehand. He was in the right frame of mind and wanted to play and there was nothing that would have stopped him which was very pleasing. He wanted to play and he knew the consequences so the decision was very much his. With Barry knowing that the deal has dragged on for far too long and that playing would put a nail in the coffin of the saga, has the Villa captain shown great loyalty to the club in sacrificing his dream move? Granted, by saying he wanted to move to Anfield in the first place displaces this argument, but I believe he has shown great maturity and commitment to Villa by playing last night, also getting a goal.

It may be that this is not the full-blown loyalty that we see in one-club players like Ryan Giggs, Raul or Paolo Maldini, but Barry has said he wanted a move to Liverpool, it hasn’t worked out and he has done the job he is getting paid for. Why should Villa be forced to leave him out because of Liverpool’s interest? Why should he not help Villa, a team he has been at for over 10 years, in the UEFA Cup? I doubt we would see the same from Christiano Ronaldo or Emmanuel Adebayor.

It is great that in this modern game lacking so much, that we can see a little loyalty and people doing the job they’re paid to do.

EPL : The Bitter Rivals

Considered as one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries, Manchester United and Liverpool are set to launch their 2008/2009 Premier League campaign with contrasting mentalities. While the defending English Premier League and European champions are regarded as the hot favourites to defend their title for the second season in a row, the Merseyside club would be trying to chase the likes of United, Chelsea and Arsenal for the first domestic league title since 1990.

When it comes to Premier League face-offs between the two bitter Northwest rivals, Liverpool has the worst record in the last eight meetings with Manchester United winning on seven occasions and one match ending in a draw. Well, it could remain that way in the coming season until and unless Rafa Benitez changes his style of play against Sir Alex Fergusson’s ‘dream team’.
As far as the league is concerned, Liverpool have to deliver something note-worthy to the passionate fans of Anfield. The Merseyside club might have been successful in Europe and domestic cup competitions over the past few years, yet the Reds need league glory to quench the thirst of a long starving fan base.

There have been some important summer signings by Rafa Benitez over the closed season, most notably being the inclusion of Robbie Keane from Tottenham. The arrival of David Ngog has also added firepower to a Fernando Torres-dependent strike force. It remains to be seen how Keane and Torres develops their chemistry in the due course of what is expected to be a grueling and highly charged 2008/2009 season.

The main aim in signing Keane is to reduce the workload of skipper Steven Gerrard. Far too many times, the inspirational England midfielder had been overburdened by Mr.Benitez last season. A free Gerrard could wreak havoc against any opposition on any day, given his uncompromising attitude. Yet to me, Manchester United looks like the strongest team mentally, physically and technically.

As I write this article, news are pouring in about the imminent arrival of Dimitar Berbato to Old Trafford in the next forty-eight hours. As and when the deal gets completed, Sir Alex would have made his United a far more formidable attacking side in the Premiership.

With the Red Devils kicking off against Newcastle United at home on Sunday, Liverpool face a tricky Saturday tea-time trip to the North east to face an ambitious Sunderland side managed by former Manchester United legend Roy Keane.

Benitez needs to watch out for Sunderland and hope that Liverpool do not start the Premier league in a negative note as has been the case many times before. To compete with the likes of United and Chelsea, Liverpool need momentum early in the season.

For this to happen, Rafael Benitez should keep a settled team rather than go for his infamous ‘tinckering’. The Liverpool fans deserve more than what Rafa Benitez, Tom Hicks and George Gillet have been offering over the past years.

The upcoming Manchester United-Liverpool face-offs could be crucial but one feels that it would be the same story just like last year with United making a double of their fierce rivals until and unless Torres, Gerrard, Keane, Mascherano and company get their acts right along with a pretty unsettled Spanish manager.

Ben Collett : The End of the Road Worth £4.3m

Ben Collett was at one point supposed to be The Future Guy for Manchester United. Even before The Gelled One, he was going to run rampant down the Old Trafford wings and dazzling the crowd. But before he could even get a chance to fulfill that promise, his career was effectively ended by a brutal tackle which broke his leg. Worse yet, it happened in his first ever game for the reserve side after graduating from the youth setup. He’s played a couple seasons since in New Zealand and Holland, but it’s quite clear the end of the road has come.

Well, both the player, Gary Smith, who committed the tackle and his club, Middlesbrough, admitted liability in the case which opened the door for some damages. Those damages came in the form of a record £4.3m payout after testimony from those in the know (doctors, experts, Fergie…Gary Neville) saying he stood to earn a little over £16m during his career.

Now, I’m happy for Ben, because this is obviously a very minor consolation after having his dreams shattered (he’s now in college), but the question becomes: How was he a sure thing? In fact, is there even anything which could be considered a sure thing? Overly hyped phenoms fail miserably every single single year despite the praise and backing of some of the sport’s greatest minds. Maybe it’s the pressure or the trappings of the pro athlete lifestyle which fail their talent, something you can’t account for when anyone is simply a prospect with promise. Lots of wiggle room here.

The payout is only a fraction of his once potential “future earnings”, but it seems like a lot of this is based on speculation, which is strange. Obviously Boro admitting fault kicked this off, but one must wonder how these judgments can be so definitive when the potential prospects of athletes are anything but.

Mike Ashley : The Pessimist Pasture

If you were a staunch supporter of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley before today (and, honestly, who isn’t?), then this next bit of news might have you hopping over to the other side of the fence. We like to call it the “pessimist pasture”. It appears Ashley, who took over the club last year, didn’t do his “due diligence” when he bought the club from the Hall family. Because of it, the current owner says that the club is in for a long road ahead.

Newcastle’s billionaire owner Mike Ashley has revealed that the club owe £27million for players bought before he took over last year.

In a rare interview in a new, official club magazine, Ashley admits that he did not perform due diligence before buying Newcastle from the Hall family because the deal was completed so quickly.

With the full details of the club’s financial situation now emerging, Magpies’ fans may point to the debt as the reason why the club have been reluctant to spend on new players this summer.
Despite putting in £100m over the past year to reduce debts, Ashley has only sanctioned the signing of two new players so far, Danny Guthrie and Jonas Gutierrez, with manager Kevin Keegan hoping to sign at least three more before the transfer window closes. (ESPN Soccernet)
So that’s why Newcastle hasn’t been a big buyer this year! I guess when you walk into a club like Newcastle, it’s A-OK to just sign the paperwork and walk out the door as the new owner of an English football club. At least that’s what Ashley wants us to believe.

In all honesty, this is just another major blunder by Newcastle in what can be called an auspicious summer gone bad. Kevin Keegan made it clear from the start that the club needed 4-6 quality signings this summer. From the looks of things, the club will end the summer with only two signings, and a inept owner to boot! Add in the current credit crunch, and there’s a good chance this situation won’t be getting better anytime soon.

What do Newcastle supporters think about Ashley’s comments? Is the club headed for some serious trouble in the future?

Is Kanoute Coming Back to White Hart Lane...

All the talk about Russian striker Andrei Arshavin going to Tottenham is getting a bit old. So let’s add a new striker name to the rumour mill as a potential Berbatov replacement, shall we? This former Tottenham ace would be well worth the transfer sum to bring him back to White Hart Lane. Juande Ramos is exploring the possibility of bringing former Tottenham striker Fredi Kanoute back to White Hart Lane as he prepares for the departure of Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United.

Spurs will finally sell Berbatov to Manchester United and Ramos has urged sporting director Damien Comolli to sign the Sevilla striker.

Kanoute worked with Ramos when he was in Sevilla and he is among a list of strikers who could replace Berbatov at White Hart Lane.

Ok, now this is the kind of striker Juande wants back in his squad! Both Kanoute and Ramos know each other very well from their days at Sevilla, as well as Kanoute knowing the lay of the land at The Lane from his time at Tottenham in 2005. Unlike Arshavin who is unproven in the Premier League; Kanoute has the pace and the power to make an instant impact at his former club. Plus, with Ramos having ties to his former Spanish club, things might be a whole lot easier in the transfer negotiations department. Surely this has to be a player Spurs’ supporters would love to see come back home, right?Kanoute was named 2007 African Footballer of the Year.

Kanoute has a fantastic career with Sevilla so far by scoring 70 goals in 136 games and he has won 2 UEFA Cup in 2006 & 2007, 1 UEFA Super Cup in 2006 and 1 Copa del Ray in 2007 with Sevilla.

What do Tottenham supporters think about the link to Kanoute? Do you think he’d be a better option than Arshavin?

Mark Hughes : The Worried Manager...

As Man City go into meltdown, many contentious issues are thrown up: the owner even being allowed to be the owner, the state of the finances, the rumours of loans to pay player wages and, of course, the murmurings of Spurs taking them to court.

The most worrying though is that of Mark Hughes. Some say he has threatened to quit if he doesn’t get control of all transfers, others suggest he threatened to walk over the Corluka ‘transfer’. The big one is that he will quit simply because of what is happening. This would not just be a disaster for the club, but, I believe, for him.

We can all see why Hughes would walk out over this. He was promised players, control, funds, stability and progression. What he has got is shadowy dealings behind his back, massive financial concerns and an owner who goes shopping in Guildford with the wife while his fortune is seized and his lawyers prepare the paperwork for asylum. Lovely.

But he should not resign. This would be a serious mistake by a young manager who has done well at Blackburn and bagged himself a big club who have big support. And this is why he shouldn’t leave, where would he go? None of last season’s top half seem like they are going to lose their manager anytime soon and, of the teams that finished towards the bottom, only Newcastle would be a possibility. West Ham is the only other side who could go for change before Christmas, but would Hughes want to go there? I doubt it.

Hughes could very quickly find himself in Alladyce territory, a successful manager who simply cannot get another job. Big Sam may be slightly different in that he had his chance at Newcastle and was given the boot before he really got going, but the job market in the English top flight has not changed. As even he could go to Blackburn as some players are leaving the club.

The last time this happened was Alan Curbishley, he quit Charlton and his very presence at the job centre caused chairmen to act like idiots. Pressure was piled onto managers purely because Curbishley was in the wings and it was West Ham that jumped first. Hughes could well have a similar effect, but I can only see Keegan being affected by it. Ashley seems like a man who would happily sack Keegan after a draw and a loss put them only in 6th.

Hughes should stick. There is no transfer window for managers and if it all goes seriously wrong he could leave when the season is underway, but to leave now would be to take a huge risk with a very promising career.

Michael Owen "THE FOOTBALL BUG"...

Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979, in Chester, England) is an English football player and current captain of Newcastle United. He previously played for Liverpool (1996–2004) and Real Madrid C.F. (2004–05).

He plays as a striker and has enjoyed a moderately successful and high-profile career at both club and international level and was the Ballon d'Or winner in 2001.

Owen is currently England's fourth highest scorer of all time, scoring his 39th and 40th goal on his 85th cap. He is known for his precise finishing and predatory instincts around goal. Owen was bitten by the "football bug" at a very young age. His father, Terry, was a footballer and had previously played for Everton. In his childhood career he used to kick the ball with his dad and brother. His favourite player was Gary Lineker and he always insisted that he was Gary when he and his dad had a kick about.

Owen is the youth product of Liverpool and when he was playing for Liverpool for 8 seasons he was recognised as one of the best striker in world of football. In his 8 seasons he scored 118 goals in EPL and 158 goals in all competition. As he left to Liverpool, he lost his fame and plagued by injury and he lost the position as the lethal striker. But the age is in his side. He is just 28 yrs old and he have plenty of time to show that he is one of the world's best striker.

Owen spend 5 seasons in the Youth Academy. At the age of 14 he was drawed a lot of attention from Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal and he opted to sign for Liverpool Youth system and he scored hat-trick against Manchester United in FA Youth Cup.

In 2000-2001, Owen became the first English player in the 20 years and the only Liverpool player ever to win the European Footballer of the Year and he was also voted as the World Soccer Player, the only English player to win it. In that season Owen helped Liverpool League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup and 2000-2001 season was the best season for Liverpool in several years. Prior to start the 2001-2002 season Liverpool bagged Charity Shield and UEFA Super Cup, and overall they bagged 5 trophies in that season. In that very year, Owen beats then World's Number 1 Goal Keeper Oliver Khan 3 times in a match in Munich. In the 2001-2002, Owen took Liverpool to second in the EPL.

Since 1998 Owen was Liverpool's leading goal scorer in every season till he left the club. In 2004, he signed for Real Madrid for £8 million. In Madrid he was confined on the bench and drew criticism from fans and Spanish media for his lack of form. In the end he ended 13 goals in La Liga. After a season, Owen had to leave the club to return to English, because Real Madrid had signed Robinho and Julio Baptista.

Newcastle United bought him for £16 million from Santiago Bernabeau. Even Liverpool and Everton were behind him to sign. But both of this clubs couldnt match Madrid's asking price. Owen has been very injury prone in sustaining serious injuries since coming into St James Park. Even Owen broke a metatarsal bone in his foot in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He underwent surgery to place a pin in the bone, to help speed the healing process. Again he underwent a second, minor, operation. In 2007, once he as forced to leave the Newcastle United and after few circumstance he stayed in St James Park. First 2 seasons for Newcastle, he had just played 14 games. 2007-2008 is the one season where he played 27 games in EPL by scoring 11 goals.

As a dangerous striker, he won only two major cups in his entire career. He won FA Cup and UEFA Cup for Liverpool. But he drew too many fans and made a great fame in the world of football. Injuries are really making him hard to retain the One of The World's Best Striker's. Even in 2001 he won the Ballon d'Or award. If he has not injury prone, then he would have the lethal finisher and grabbed whole number og goals.

Can he drew too much of fans attention in this 2008-2009 season. Will he play most of the matches for Newcastle or injuries will hunt him. Hopefully, i dosent want to see him getting injured. If his fir then i will be counting atleast 15-20 goals this season which will be a good for St James Park fans.

Thaksin Shinawatra Not Fit & Proper

Despite all the rumours of human rights abuse, Thaksin Shinawatra passed the Premier League club owner “fit and proper test”. Why? Because he had money. Lots and lots of money.

But now Shinawatra is in all sorts of trouble. The Thailand Supreme Court has issued a warrant for his arrest, after he failed to appear in court to answer charges of corruption and tax evasion.

He’s now fled to England, but seems there’s a good chance he’ll be convicted in his absence, at which point the Premier League people will have to re-think Shinawatra’s fit and properness.

Here’s how Premier League chief exec Richard Scudamore sees it:

“We have to establish the status of his return to England and where that leaves him as regards to the legal process in Thailand. Our rules areclear. Somebody has to be convicted of something before they fall under the remit of the ‘fit and proper person act’. Until such a time as he is convicted, he falls within the rules. But we have always said that the test is meaningful and has to be applied. We need to make sure that if he is guilty of anything we will deal with it.”

In the meantime, an English football club is turning into a joke. There were big ambitions at Manchester City this season. New boss Mark Hughes thought he was getting in on something big - remember when they were going to sign Ronaldinho?

But now it seems the money is as lacking as the morals. There were all kinds of rumours this week, and they didn’t involve world class Brazilian superstars, they involved the club selling Vedran Coruka and Stephen Ireland in order to balance the budget - without Hughes’ permission.

Hughes could be ready to walk away from the whole mess, and you can’t really blame him.

It seems that most of Shinawatra’s fortune is frozen in Thai bank accounts, and the chances of his getting it back don’t look good at this point.

And so Richard Scudamore will soon be able to declare Shinawatra not a “fit and proper” to run a Premier League club. A conviction in the Thai courts will be the official reason, but I’m sure the turnaround in Shinawatra’s financial fortunes will make the decision a lot easier.

Whatever happens at Man City, the Premier League is going to come out of this with it’s reputation damaged, because the league was too blinded by large sums of money to recognize an unfit and proper club owner when they saw one.

Man Utd : Light At The End Of The Tunnel...

I looks back at yesterday’s Community Shield and wonders which striker Sir Alex Ferguson will sign now that he has ruled out bringing Dimitar Berbatov to Old Trafford.

Manchester United picked up their first piece of silverware yesterday after defeating Portsmouth at Wembley but it was a far cry from their usual efficient performance. They may have dominated the match, creating chance after chance in the process, but the fact they required a penalty shootout to ensure they were victorious in the annual curtain raiser only served to highlight the absence of an out and out striker.

So who will Ferguson bring to Old Trafford?

What this also means, of course, is that like other squads in the Premier League, United are mere mortals and will struggle if hit by a succession of injuries.

The starting line-up yesterday was missing Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo amongst others, so it was left to Ryan Giggs and Carlos Tevez to lead the line. A dream pairing for many a manager no doubt, but Ferguson is looking to bring a new face in sooner rather than later.

And this what Ferguson has to say about the forward signing :- "It's possible we'll sign someone this week. We have one or two options and we hope to get it done before the start of the season. There's nothing more to say on Berbatov. We're looking at options elsewhere. It's been a pressing issue since the end of last season. We always look to operate with four strikers and aren't able to do it (at the moment). There is some light at the end of the tunnel. We're going to apply for Manucho's work permit and we're hopeful we'll get that. Fraizer Campbell's showing the progress we expect of him and is a handful. It's not a bad thing, relying on youth.”

But is Ferguson really going to defend the European Cup and Premier League by relying on youth? Is the highly rated Campbell really going to feature heavily this season in anything other than the Carling Cup?

Obviously the squad will improve with the return of Rooney and Ronaldo but should there be another stage in the season when one or two of his attacking options are injured Ferguson will find himself back in this position.

So who will he bring in? Has he given up on Berbatov or is this a classic Ferguson move? Some Sunday reports linked the club with a move for Thierry Henry; would the former Gunner dare join United? David Villa, the Valencia striker who has been linked with a move to the Premier League all summer, remains an option of course.

Will he go for youth or experience? It is likely he will look abroad rather than trying to poach a striker from a domestic rival, but who should he be looking at?

Man Utd Added Another Glory...

So, Manchester United has picked up another piece of silverware after beating Portsmouth 3-1 on penalties in the annual curtain raiser to the new season.

The game, which ended 0-0 in regular time, was a bit of a sleeper at times with Man United controlling large portions of the match but unable to score. A main reason for that was Portsmouth’s goalkeeper David James who was stellar between the goalposts for Pompey making several crucial saves. In comparison, Edwin van der Sar was rarely challenged.

Carlos Tevez deservedly was awarded the man of the match award after producing a spirited display on the pitch at Wembley. He was quite the troublemaker in attack for United having one shot brilliantly saved by James, being pulled down in the box — which should have been a penalty, and battling and winning many balls in midfield.

Portsmouth showed glimmers of skill now and again especially in midfield and in defense, but they rarely were able to get the ball to Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch. Pompey’s attack seemed very one dimensional with balls floated in to Crouch, but rarely did the ball reach Crouch and instead was defended well by United’s back four.

The difference between United and Pompey rang true during the penalty kicks. United was calm, cool and collected as they knocked in each of their penalty kicks. In contrast, Portsmouth’s Lassana Diarra, Arnold Mvuemba and Glen Johnson missed all of theirs. If Pompey wants to compete against the big boys, they’ve got a lot of work to do.

German Bundesliga : Best Transfers...

Undoubtedly, the minute I post this, Ronaldo will give up on Real Madrid and move to Hamburg, so forgive me for being premature. Let’s take a look, as the season begins, at the seven best signing so far this summer in the Bundesliga.

Christian Fuchs (SV Mattersburg to VfL Bochum)
Austria entered the Euros as a laughing stock. By the time they gallantly exited after the defeat to Germany, there was a lot to be excited about. Perhaps that excitement will have to be tempered until 2012, when the class of last year’s U20 semi-finalists have taken over the team, but already Prodl, Harnik and Ozcan have gravitated towards our favorite league. Fuchs will be the first to make an impact. While Prodl should eventually wrestle the CB position from Naldo after the Brazilian finally causes Marcel Koller a heart attack, Fuchs will slot in immediately. And with a midfield in dire need of a talisman, he could well take that spot with his attacking flair down the left flank. Will he be enough to keep the relegation battlers up? Hard to tell, but he will be on this again next year, if they don’t stay up.

Mikael Forssell (Birmingham to Hannover)
Hannover’s biggest issue is a forward line that wouldn’t bother most AYSO travel teams. Forssell is a proven goalscorer who should add bite to their midfield bottle. Also he could pair well with Mike Hanke, who has not thrived as the only threat for the continually improving Reds.

Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen to Bayern Munich)
What to you do when part of your double pivot gets too old? Well when you’re FC Bayern, you take on a free player from your closest league rival. By securing the free transfer of German international Borowski (28) from Werder, Bayern gave themselves an upgrade in age and lateral move in ability from the Brazilian Ze Roberto (34) to partner Van Bommel in front of Schweinsteiger, Sosa, Altintop and Ribery.

Mario Eggimann (Karlsruhe to Hannover)
I loved Eggimann last year. Everyone was so high on Hajnal as the reason for Karlsruhe’s success, and he definitely played his part; however, KSC’s great early run and subsequent survival was based on their outstanding defense, including the vastly underrated Markus Millar in goal and LB Christian Eichner. Eggimann will bring composure and organization to a team that flirted with a European spot last year. He is definitely an improvement over the likes of an ancient Tarnat in front of the solid Robert Enke.

Orlando Engelaar (Twente to Schalke) and Jefferson Farfan (PSV to Schalke)
Suddenly Rutten seems poised to run a very tidy 4-2-3-1 with the ball winning Fabian Ernst coupled with the slick passing Engelaar in the double pivot, behind an attack of Ivan Rakatic, Farfan and Jermaine Jones. With Kevin Kuranyi’s ability to play the holding forward, much like a Luca Toni or Dimitar Berbatov, these two signings make Schalke a decent bet to end their long run of bad luck. Farfan’s ability to spell Kuranyi will be an added bonus and Jones ability to play back in the double pivot will allow the likes of Ze Roberto, PPA (Poor People’s Altintop) and Streit to slot in and provide depth through three competitions. This is now quite a versatile team.

Cristian Zaccardo and Andrea Barzagli (US Palermo to Wolfsburg)
With the addition of former Italian RB Zaccardo and Italian CB Barzagli, Felix Magath is making one of the strongest defenses in the Bundesliga even stronger. Forget Barzagli’s howler against the Netherlands. This is one of Italy’s best center halves and he immediately becomes one of the best in the Bundesliga. It was quite a coup for Wolfsburg to land these two from Palermo, so there are few teams that have as much buzz coming into the season as Wolfsburg. If Marcelinho can make it through one more year, they could compete for a Champion’s League spot this year.

Renato Augusto (Flamenco to Bayer Leverkusen)
Bayer are right on the cusp. They have a collection of young talent that rivals any club with Adler, Barnetta, Castro, Kiessling, Vidal and Rolfes. But one of their biggest issues is the creeping age of talisman and playmaker Bernd Schneider. By picking up the next Brazilian wonder in Augusto, they look to be moving beyond Schneider and combining the creativity of this U20 international with the steady influence of Rolfes and the sharp wing play of Barnetta. If he is free from injury, he may well take the Werkself back to the Champion’s League. He will be fun to watch no matter how Leverkusen progress as a team.

Corluka : The True Stand-Out...

So let’s get this right. Mark Hughes is just about to lose one of his best players and he’s actually happy about this prospect because it will give him more cash to spend on new signings? Despite the fact that City were prepared to not just break, but smash the bank to bring Ronaldinho to Eastlands.

Still, who are we to question The Sun, who have quoted the words of a ‘City source’, who claims that losing the versatile Vedran Corluka would actually be a good thing. The Croatian was one of City’s stand-out players last term and demonstrated his international class at Euro 2008. It appears that it’s the player’s choice to up sticks and hook up with Luka Modric at Tottenham.

And new City manager Mark Hughes will use the £8million fee for the defender to buy a badly-needed striker.

Croatian international Corluka, 24, has already passed a medical at White Hart Lane and cannot wait to join his good friend Luka Modric in London.

A City source said: “This deal is great news for everyone. Vedran’s a good player but it means the manager can use the money to bring in a forward. Everyone’s a winner. Vedran is desperate to team up with Modric. He was popular here but this is good business.”

Surely his departure will leave City buying a ‘badly-needed left-back’ as well as a striker? This is a great signing for Tottenham if it goes through, with the defence almost having a stubborn look about it for the first time in ages at White Hart Lane. Surely City fans are peeved to see one of their best players leave?

Andy Johnson in Craven Cottage...

Andy Johnson's protracted move from Everton to Fulham has been concluded, with the England forward signing a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £10.5 million.

Fears were raised that the deal would fall through earlier in the week when a routine medical at Craven Cottage cast doubt on Johnson's fitness.

However, the two clubs have resolved any differences in valuation, with a proportion of the fee to be paid up front and the rest based on appearances. Johnson becomes Fulham's 11th signing since they secured their Premier League status on the final day of last season and looks set to form a new forward pairing with fellow new boy Bobby Zamora. The former Birmingham striker made 73 appearances and scored 22 goals during his time at Everton but found himself edged out of David Moyes' first team after the arrival of Ayegbeni Yakubu from Middlesbrough last summer.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, though, is in little doubt about the quality of his latest buy and here what he has to say "I have made no secret of my wish to add Andy Johnson to my squad at Fulham. I believe that he has all the qualities needed to assist us in next season's campaign and I am more than delighted that we have secured his services for the long term. There has been a lot of speculation regarding this transfer during the last week, very little of which has had any foundation. I am just happy to be able to focus on the positive news that Andy Johnson is now a Fulham player, one who we have great hopes for, and I am grateful to the chairman, the board of directors and the chief executive for working tirelessly to make this possible."

Now with whom he'll partner in front, is it with new signed Zamora or with Kamara. Will he get 15 or 20+ goals for Fulham to finish at the middle of the table.