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.