Dead Ball Dispute

Bojinov Set To Join The City Revolution

2007-08-01T22:36:00.000Z

Man City fans must really be licking their lips at the moment as, despite Shinawatra's bad publicity, they seem to be bringing in some top quality players. Fiorentina striker Valeri Bojinov is the latest player who looks like he's on his way to City, and he should turn out to be a very tasty signing. The fee is around the 6 million pound mark, and the transfer might be completed in the next couple of days. He is a very exciting young striker who is technically and physically strong, and despite being only 21, he has a lot of experience from his days at Fiorentina, Juventus and his national side, Bulgaria.

With him and Bianchi, City's strikeforce is a lot sronger then last season, Petrov has added width, and Chiellini (if he comes) will add strength and power to the defence. City still need a centre-back, a central midfielder, and another wide man, but they are really moving in the right direction, and Sven has made some very astute signings so far. They will be a definite threat this season, and will only get better as the season goes on.

Kieron Dyer looks like he is on his way out of Newcastle after they gave him permission to speak to West Ham. I've never been a huge fan, but he does have a lot of talent and is a very dangerous player when injury-free. Again, I'm not sure whether West Ham really wanted him or if it is just a case of throwing their money about a bit. I'm worried that the Hammers don't have a game-plan, and that they just trying to bring in as many players as possible, without identifying their team strengths and weaknesses. Dyer is a decent player, but he is injury-prone and may not be able to keep coming back to the standard of football he was once capable of. I'm just not sure this is a good signing.

The Scottish FA have stated that refs will be able to use video footage after SPL games to punish divers retrospectively. A very good idea that should make players more careful about their conduct on the pitch. No-one likes seeing a dive, and if players end up missing important games through suspensions after their diving has been caught on camera, then next time, they might think twice about diving again. This should lead to fewer dives, therefore fewer stoppages, thus leading a more flowing game. Everyone is a winner.

Not much else going on, so I will bid you all good night.

Spotlight On Shinawatra

2007-07-31T20:51:00.000Z

My apologies for the infrequent posts of the last few days, technical issues, and it seems that shouting swear words at your laptop is not the quickest way to fix a problem. However, it is all sorted now, and we get back to what matters, football.

It seems that a couple of Human Rights groups have voiced their concerns over Thaksin Shinawatra's ownership of Manchester City. The 'Human Rights Watch' wrote in to the Premier League voicing concerns over Shinawatra's human rights record during his time as Prime Minister of Thailand, and Amnesty International have also raised doubts over Shinawatra. The main charges against him are that, during a 'war on drugs', his forces carried out a large number of extrajudicial killings, and that he allowed Thai forces to use any means neccessary to stamp out insurgency in the South of Thailand.

Now, none of these charges have been proven, and the 'fit and proper person' test for the Premier League follows the law in this country, in that a man is innocent until proven guilty. Very admirable in theory, but sadly this does not always work in practice. Shinawatra may not have been charged, but this does not mean he is innocent, and as far as I have gathered, these charges against him have a factual basis. Now it does not matter if you believe in zero tolerance against drug dealers (though I doubt that every person killed was an actual drug dealer), or if the other corruption charges against him are politically motivated, the fact is, no-one with these sort of allegations over them should be allowed to own a Premiership Club.

He may turn out to be innocent (though I very much doubt this), but until he has faced his corruption charges, and managed to clear his name, he should not be allowed to own a Premiership Club. There will be a democratically elected Thai Government in power soon, and when they are in power he should be able to face his charges and prove his innocence. The Premier league should have told him to come back and bid for City when he had faced all his charges, and if this never happened, then hard luck mate. Instead they have taken his money and we have yet more controversy in the beautiful game. I'm afraid that in this case, it would have been better for innocence to be proven rather then guilt.

On to other news, Reyes has left Arsenal for Atletico Madrid in a 6 million pound deal. He is a great talent, but unfortunately could never adapt to the British culture and, more importantly, the British weather. Personally, I don't know what he's talking about, it's been nothing but sun, sun and more sun this summer. Who needs Spain, when you have floods to avoid? Our weather keeps you on your toes. Anyway, there is one moment of his I will never forget, he was on the wing, at a standstill, with an opposition player in front of him and without touching the ball once, he used his body to send the opposition player in completely the wrong direction before setting off into the deserted space. It was such a great piece of skill, and I hope that he rediscovers his best form at Atletico.

The Tevez saga might be settled out of court, but if not, a court date has been set for the 22nd of August. I suspect that some sort of deal will be hammered out before then, and despite everything that West Ham have said, it looks like they are the ones most eager to settle out of court. Expect some sort of agreement in the next week or so.

There are a few transfer stories doing the rounds but nothing finalised completely yet, apart from Tottenham signing Kevin-Prince Boateng from Hertha Berlin in a 5 million pound deal. I've already mentioned him before, but just in case, he is a very highly rated German midfielder who is only 20 years old. He's definitely one for the future, but central midfield is definitely the area Tottenham need to work on if they are to challenge the big 4 this season. Zokora didn't do very well last season, though he may improve this season, but he is still not the creative force that Tottenham need. Boateng is a good signing but he is not going to have a huge impact this season, meaning that they may find themselves struggling in the midfield area against the likes of Scholes, Fabregas, Essien and Gerrard.

And that is that for tonight. Once again, apologies for the technical difficulties, I hope that they will never be seen again. Good night sports fans.

Owen Owes A Lot

2007-07-29T22:14:00.000Z

Another quiet weekend with plenty of friendlies but not much in the way of important news. Freddy Sheperd believes that Michael Owen owes Newcastle a great debt, which is a fair comment. The paid a lot of money for him, he's hardly played any games for the Magpies and they have looked after him during his injuries, so I think most people would believe that Owen owes them a fair bit. Owen has always seemed like a down-to-earth man, and he probably realises just what Newcastle have done for him so I can't see him moving away this summer. He'll spend at least one season, and if Newcastle do well and he plays well, then I can see him staying longer. But, I can't see him staying more then 2 seasons without Champions League football, a player like Owen needs to be up against the top teams, and he may have to move away to find that kind of football...but for the moment, Newcastle fans can sleep easily, knowing that Michael will be there for one more season at least.

Steve Bruce is confident that Ghaly will sign for Birmingham, from Tottenham, in a 3 million pound deal. However, he also believes that the Mido deal is going to fall through. Firstly, Birmingham should be thanking their lucky stars that the Mido deal has gone through, 6 million for him was just silly money, and you'll be better off without him. Secondly, the Ghaly deal is a good one. He has some Premiership experience, is in his mid-20's and though he wasn't incredible at Tottenham, he was a very solid central midfielder who would be a good player to have in a relegation fight. I'd definitely have Ghaly over Mido any day of the week, and I think most people out there would agree.

Congratulatons to Iraq for winning the Asian Cup for the 1st time. They beat Saudi Arabia 1-0, and fully deserved their victory. It is obviously a difficult period for Iraq, but to win the Asian Cup sends out a good message about the future of sport over there, and I hope that they can build on this victory in the future.

I watched the Arsenal game on Sky earlier, when they were playing Inter Milan, and they were looking very fluid. People have already started writing them off but I wouldn't be too sure. Van Persie scored a wonderful goal and looked very dangerous, and I was also very impressed by Alexander Hleb. He was playing in a central role, just behind Van Persie, and had a cracker of a game, he is a player I would watch out for this season. He's had a couple of seasons to really adapt to the Premiership and he knows that if he doesn't do the business this season, then he'll be shipped off. So, keep an eye out for him this season, and I'm going to make sure that he has a spot in my fantasy team.

Finally, Franz Beckenbauer has given England his vote for staging the 2018 World Cup. Of course, his bacing doesn't really count for much at the moment, but it was decent of him to give the England bid a boost. We face stiff competition from Italy and Russia, but we do have a very good chance of getting the Cup...and by 2018, McClaren can't possibly still be manager, so we might have a chance of winning the tournament! Brilliant, things are already looking up.

And on that optimistic point, I shall take my leave. Good Night.

Friday Night Review.

2007-07-27T22:12:00.000Z

Time for another Friday Night Review, if you're not sure what it is, then read last Friday's post! here we go,

1. Lucas Leiva [Gremio - Liverpool] Undisclosed
2. Luke Young [Charlton - Middlesbrough] £2.5m
3. Freddie Ljungberg [Arsenal - West Ham] £3m

Lucas may have signed for Liverpool a while ago but his transfer only came through this week, and what a signing he should prove to be. Liverpool already have a great midfield and Lucas will add so much to that. He's a powerful, quick, and a good passer of the ball, who also gets a fair few goals from the centre of midfield. He may not have a huge impact this season, but I've picked him because in the seasons after that, he will really become a top Premiership midfielder.

Luke Young is the type of player all teams need, an unsung defender who gets on with the job with minimal fuss. He defends well, and attacks when needed, which is exactly how your full-backs should start out. As he gets to know the Boro defence better, he will attack more but he will be a key figure in keeping Middlesbrough in many games this season as they will need to keep clean sheets, since they don't have the attacking flair at the moment.

Freddie may have lost that yard of pace and is getting more injury-prone, but he still has a very clever footballing brain and understands the game so well that he can never be ruled out as a threat. A new lease of life at West Ham will help him out, and the timing and positioning of his runs are a joy to watch, he's exactly the type of player West Ham will need if they are serious about pushing their way into a UEFA Cup space, and 3 Million is a good price for him.

On to other news, It looks like Bernd Schuster has got into the swing of things over at Real Madrid. He's barely a few weeks into the job and he's already talking about the future of a player from another club, fantastic! The player in question is Michael Ballack, and Schuster seems to see him as an ideal signing who would provide the key link between the midfield and the strikers in his side. Unfortunately for Schuster, I can't see Chelsea letting a player like Ballack go. Yes, he may have had a difficult first season and he is also on a very high weekly wage, but Chelsea don't really care about the money, and he is a class player. He has taken time to settle, but there is no way Chelsea would let him move on after 1 season, unless Real paid a huge amount, and I can't see that happening. Yet again, it's just more crap flying in westbound from the direction of Madrid.

Good news for Chelsea fans, John Terry has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2012. He has been a rock for Chelsea and he has his best years ahead of him so this is obviously good news. Chelsea fans will now be hoping that Lampard signs an extension soon, but no need to worry too much, these things take time.

Manchester City look to continue their squad strengthening with the 7 million pound capture of Georgio Chiellini from Juventus. He would be a reat signing for City as he has the physicality and technical ability to really adapt to the Premiership game, but I'm not entirely sure why Juventus would sell him. A top Italian left-back with a great future ahead of him is not the type of player you want to get rid of when you've just been promoted back to Serie A. The deal is in the early stages so we'll have to wait and see if it goes through, but if it does Juve's loss is City's gain.

Over at Newcastle, Obefemi Martins has stated that he's "not going anywhere" and that he is very happy at Newcastle. Great news for Newcatsle fans as he had a storming first season and can only get better. However, we do know how fickle the world of football can be so fans shouldn't start celebrating his stay until the transfer deadline closes and he's still wearing Newcastle colours.

ANd that is that for another week. The Weekend will probably be pretty quiet, but any news that does come out, you can read about it here. Night all.

Transfers Galore

2007-07-26T22:24:00.000Z

Plenty of signings to take notice of today, starting with Martin Petrov's move to Manchester City. The Bulgarian winger moved from Atletico Madrid in a 4.7 million pound deal, and should prove to be an astute signing for Sven. City desperately need midfield strength and width, and he can provide both, as well as having enough experience to ensure a relatively smooth settlement into the Premier League. City still need a few more signings, but they are starting to look more and more like a top 10 side, and I can see them pushing for UEFA Cup spot, people should never write off a man like Sven.

Middlesbrough have cmpleted the signing of Luke Young from Charlton for 2.5 million pounds He will prove to be a very good bit of business for Southgate. He's a tidy player, solid, and combined with Huth and Woodgate, the Boro defence is definitely their strong point. They lack a bit of depth in midfield but they might also suprise a few this season. It all depends on Southgate, last season was his induction and though he didn't get relegated, it wasn't a particulary great season and he didn't come across very well. But the second season is usually where the bad managers are found out so we shall see what happens, personally, I'm not sure he's the man to take Middlesbrough forward, not yet anyway. He needed a few years at a lower club to learn his trade, and to make his mistakes, but he hasn't had that time and it is a hard task to manage a Premiership Club whilst you are still learning the trade. This season is crunch time for him.

Sunderland have signed Paul McShane from West Brom in a 1.5 million pound deal that could potentially be raised to 2.5 million. He's a 21 year old defender with a lot of potential, and though he may not make a huge impact a first, he has the potential to become an establish first-team player for Sunderland. Keane has signed a few players from the Championship and it will be interesting to see how they do, they've been given a huge chance to prove themselves, and they need to take that chance because it might not come again.

Bolton are set to take Christian Wilhelmsson on loan for a season. He's an experienced international winger who will be a dangerous guy to defend against. He has that certain amount of flair that can create trouble in opposition defences and he will be a good asset to Bolton. There's a line of thought that he has never really fulfilled his potential, and he has 2 difficult seasons at Nantes and Roma, but the Premier League should suit his style of play and, hopefully, the chance to impress potential bidders will give him the appetite to perform to his highest level. He could turn out to be a gem of a player.

Lots more pre-season friendlies keeping us going, and it was good to see Albert Luque score twice in Newcastle's win over Celtic today. I've always rated him and he has the natural talent to become a huge player for Newcastle. He hasn't been handled particulary well since is move, he's definitely a player who needs constant one-on-one talks with the manager to give him confidence, and that isn't usually the British style of management. But Big Sam has always looked ofr any way to gain an edge in his management techniques and it seems like he has been chatting to Luque, and challenging him to stake a claim. It's too early to see if it will work, but if it does, and we get to see the best of Luque, then we should be in for a real treat.

I'm afraid that's it for today, tune in tomorrow for the Friday Night Review, which looks to be shaping up rather nicely. See you then.

Is That A Leisure Centre Or A New Stadium?

2007-07-25T21:17:00.000Z

Liverpool have released teir plans for a new stadium. It will be a 60,000 all seated stadium with the possibility of extending the capacity to 78,000, it will cost around 300 million pounds and it should be with us in 2010. It looks iffy, and I can't say I was hugely impressed by the design, to me it looks more like a sports complex or leisure centre then a stadium, but architecture is all down to personal taste. Still, let me know your thoughts on the design.

Importantly for Liverpool fans, it will have an 18,000-capacity, single-tier Kop designed specifically to make the atmosphere more intimidating for opposing teams. It's a good idea, but you can never replicate an atmosphere of a previous stadium, so this stadium will have to forge it's own unique atmosphere, and that can take time. The designs have just been submitted, so if all goes well, the building work will start as soon as possible.

Leighton Baines has turned down a move to Sunderland, but might not stay at Wigan. There is rumoured interest from Everton, although they have not yet met the asking price for the defender. I'm not sure if Moyes will be willing to meet the price for Baines, which may mean another season at Wigan, but this might play in his interests as next summer he will have only 1 year left on his contract, which means his asking price will drop, and if he has had another good season then more clubs will be willing to buy him. Everton do need depth to their defence, but will they fork out the cash?

Saudi Arabia and Iraq are through to the Asian Cup final after shock semi-final victories. Iraq beat South Korea on penalties, and Saudi Arabia won 3-2 against Japan. It's great to see Iraq through to the final, and Saudi Arabia looked very good in their victory over favourites Japan, with Malek Maaz scoring a lovely solo goal to win the watch. The fact that I predicted a South Korea vs Japan final shows just how good my feelings are, but Saudi Arabia have to be clear favourites to win the tournament. However, Iraq have done fantastically to get this far and I wouldn't be suprised if they pulled another upset out the bag. Hopefully, Iraq will not let nerves effect their game, and if they don't concede an early goal, it might just turn out to be a very watchable final.

It was horrifying to see the bombs that went off in Baghdad after the semi-final win amongst the celebrating crowds. Around 50 fans were killed in a reminder that there are slightly bigger things then football at the moment. Still, I would love to see an win for Iraq, since sport has the ability to pull people together. The final is on Sunday if you want to watch it.

Well, that's about all for today, starting to see fantasy football games popping up so I'm getting quite excited, though I'm going to wait a week as there are going to be a few more signings coming in. I'll let you know my fantasy team when it's picked, but would love to hear any players you think are going to be decent point scorers for this season. I'll be back tomorrow.

Tevez Drama Moves to High Court

2007-07-24T21:49:00.000Z

Once again Carlos Tevez dominates the headlines with news that the dispute over his move to Man Utd will be settled in the High Court. This course of action comes after FIFA decided it couldn't make a judgement on the matter, and it seems to be what all the parties want. I'm not sure when a decision will be made on the matter, but let's hope it gets made relatively soon. I shall update once more is known.

Steven Pienaar has completed a one year loan move to Everton from Borussia Dortmund. He's a South African midfielder who played in the Dutch League before moving to Dortmund where he didn't enjoy the best of seasons. He'll be a good squad player for Everton, someone who can cover Cahill if he's out injured, but I think that he'll be coming off the bench for most of the season.

Benitez is confused about Man Utd's refusal to sell Gabriel Heinze to Liverpool. Utd sent a letter to Heinze and his agent declaring an amount that they would be prepared to sell him for, and Liverpool have met this amount. However Utd are obviously not keen to sell to their rivals and have rejected Liverpool's bid. At the moment, lawyers from both clubs are looking at the deal and the transfer hinges on whether the letter Utd sent to Heinze is the equivelent of a minimum-fee release clause. My legal knowledge is pretty iffy, so i'm not sure what decision will be made, but I shall keep you updated with any news.

Nothing else to report, but never fear, as the kick-off to the new season draws closer, there should be a flurry of signings. The Premiership clubs begin to feel the heat of the transfer deadline approaching and desperately try to bolster the squad, and as they do that, I shall be right here to comment on all the wheelings and dealings. So, we have plenty to look forward to, and on that note of hope, I shall take my leave.

Arsenal Dominate The Headlines

2007-07-23T22:15:00.000Z

After a quiet weekend, things seem to have perked up with news that Freddie Ljungberg has completed a 3 million pound move to West Ham. A very good move for West Ham, he hasn't been the force that he used to be in the past couple of seasons but he has a lot of experience to offer and can still come up with the big goals in the big games. He's lost some pace but he's still got the footballing brain and knows how to time his runs to cause the maximum damage to opposotion defences.

He will be a loss to Arsenal but his move away has been coming for some time, the arrival of Sagna suggested that Wenger was looking for more cover on the wings by pushing Sagna up the right flank with Eboue covering behind, or the same with the roles swapped. It will also be interesting to see whether Wenger gives Theo Walcott more game-time this season, he could also slot in on the flank and has looked pretty good in pre-season. Arsenal still need another winger to bolster their squad, preferably someone with Champions League experience as their squad is looking very raw at the moment.

Arsenal's biggest shareholder Danny Fiszman has also stated that he will not sell his shares in the club. He owns 24.11% of the club, and his public statement is an obvious signal to Kroenke and Ecclestone, who have both been linked with takeovers of Arsenal. By stating that he will not sell his shares, he has made it a lot harder for any takeover to succeed, but not impossible. I think that Kroenke will bide his time for a season before deciding on whether to buy the club, but we shall see.

Elsewhere, Sunderland have opened talks with Leighton Baines over a possible move to the Black Cats from Wigan. It seems like their persistance has paid off, but I'm not so sure what decision Leighton will make. He is a fantastic left-back, and should emerge this season as a contender for the English jersey with Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge, but does he go or does he stay? Wigan have just lost their manager, but have regained their Premiership status after a tricky second season, and have made some good signings. Sunderland have Roy Keane as manager, who has made a great start, but their squad is looking thin and they have made some iffy signings so far. Looking at both teams, I would say that Wigan have the better squad, but Sunderland have the better manager. I think that Baines should move to Sunderland, they may struggle this season, but if they can stay up then their long-term prospects under Quinn and Keane look better then the prospects of Wigan. It is difficult choice though, any thoughts?

Apparently Milan have been priced out of a move for Shevchenko but what did they expect? Chelsea spent a lot of money on him and want to see some return, plus I'm not sure that he would even want to move back. He feels the need to prove himself at Chelsea, and his lady obviously wanted the London lifestyle, so there's no way he'll be heading back to Milan this season. Watch out for him this season, I have a feeling that he will have play a key part in Chelsea's title run. Unlike last season, where all the defensive attention was on him (which allowed Drogba to shine), this time all the attention will have switched to Drogba, which will let Sheva make more of an impact. He's settled in London, he has learnt the style of play in the Premiership, and remember...Form is temporary, Class is permanent.

That's that for today, a good lot of footy news to keep you addicts going. I will be back tomorrow to give you your next fix.

A Silent Sunday.

2007-07-22T21:31:00.000Z

A very quiet Sunday, it seems that everyone is still reading Harry Potter. There are plenty of conflicting reports about Arjen Robben coming out of Chelsea and Real Madrid. Real are pretty sure he's on his way to Spain, but Chelsea seem to know nothing about a potential move. I'm inclined to believe that Real are probably telling the truth, more because they have come out and already stated that Arjen has agreed terms with their club. Now, if Chelsea had not given their permission for Arjen to talk to Real then they have a clear case of tapping up right there, even Real couldn't talk their way out of that one. So it does make me think that Robben is on his way but the 2 clubs are just wrangling over a transfer fee at the moment. I expect the transfer to go through in the next few days, but then again, Real have talked a lot of crap in the past so I would not be too suprised if this turns out to be another way of unseetling a player they want.

Elsewhere Blackburn won in their first leg of their Intertoto Cup third-round game against FK Vetra. McCarthy and Derbyshire scored the goals, and the 2-0 win puts them in a strong position to seal the second leg on the 28 July. I hope Derbyshire gets a bigger role this season, he made some good cameo appearances last season and he should be able to build on that this season.

South Korea and Saudi Arabia are through to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup after beating Iran and Uzbekistan respectively. South Korea will face Iraq and Saudi Arabia will be up against Japan, and my money would still be on Japan, though South Korea should be considered their main threat.

Really very quiet everywhere else, so that's that for today, let's hope that we have a few more stories in the coming week. Until tomorrow then.

Ecclestone Stirs It Up.

2007-07-21T22:04:00.000Z

Tevez remains in the spotlight with news that FIFA and FA representatives will meet on monday to discuss the possible trasnfer to Man Utd. Good news for all the parties involved as it looks like FIFA are moving relatively swiftly to sort out the deal, so that the Clubs have time to make new plans before the transfer window closes. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that he hasn't got a plan B at the moment if Tevez fails to come, but I'm sure that he will plan for the worst in the next coming weeks. I feel that Utd need a little bit more firepower up front and if Tevez doesn't arrive then those rumours linking Defoe to Utd might start to come back.

Defoe today stated how he loved Tottenham and wanted to stay but how many times have we heard that from footballers? He's not top of the pecking order at Tottenham, and if another club makes a good offer for him then he should definitely consider it. He needs consistent first team football if he wants to get better and reclaim a place in the England squad.

Martin Petrov of Atletico Madrid is rumoured to be off to Man City. The 28 Year old left winger has previously been linked with Tottenham, but it seems that Sven may have used his swedish charm to persuade the winger to come to City instead. This is only speculation at the moment but there's really not much else going on todays so I thought i'd include it. Petrov would be a decent signing, but I shall wait for more concrete news before commenting fully on him.

Bernie Ecclestone, the tiny F1 maestro, may be interested in buying Arsenal. I say 'maybe' because his interview wasn't particulary forthcoming. He says he hasn't approached anyone at Arsenal, but then goes on to state, "If somebody offers me something I think is good value, I will have a go. I'm interested in anything if it's cheap enough", which is a truly great quote. He sounds like he's talking about a second-hand car rather then a Premiership club. His daughter is seeing Dein's son, so who knows what kind of game Bernie is playing, for all we know David could've asked him to do something to get a little bit of uncertainty into the club, but that is strictly my thoughts only with no proof, so no lawsuit please.

Japan beat Australia on penalties to go throught to the Asian Cup semi-finals, and Iraq are also through after a 2-0 win over Vietnam. Good work to the Iraq players, they have looked good throughout the tournament and have a chance of getting into the final. Japan have to be the favourites now the Ozzies are out the picture, they have more experience and higher-quality players then any other team. Not sure what happened to the Ozzies, on paper they are very strong but they never really got going throughout the whole tournament but it is hard for most of their players who have just come off a long footballing campaign.

And that is that for today's round up, all the managers have probably been reading Harry Potter today so hopefully things will perk up tomorrow once they've found out how it all ends, Im off to do the same.

Friday Night Review.

2007-07-20T22:13:00.000Z

In case you don't know the drill, the 'Friday Night Review' is where I look at all the transfers into the Premiership during the past week, and then pick out the top 3 transfers.

Actually a suprisingly quiet week for transfers with Premiership Clubs only officially signing 5 players. Key word is "officially", there are plenty of negotiations going through, but I will stick to the actual transfers made this week. So the top 3 are:

1. Geovanni [Cruzeiro - Manchester City] Free
2. Lee Cook [QPR - Fulham] Undisclosed
3. Kieran Richardson [Man United - Sunderland] Undisclosed

To be honest, it wasn't exactly the hardest decision making process as the only other 2 transfers were Etuhu to Sunderland, and Harewood to Aston Villa. Not really the best group of players.

Still, Geovanni will be a good signing for City. He has plenty of experience after playing for Barcelona and Benfica, and will add depth to a very thin City midfield. He is the kind of squad player that every team needs, someone who can come in with 15 minutes left in a game and calm things down so that the team can see the game out. For that reason, I believe he will play an important role in City's season, as when teams are not used to winning, they find it harder to close games out, and since City are not used to winning, he will be important to them this season.

Cook comes in a narrow second place because he brings balance to the Fulham team. He is a natural winger who will add an extra dimension to their game, a dimension that Fulham definitely lacked last season, and once he becomes used to the Premiership tempo, he could be an important player for them.

Richardson is a player I'm not so sure about, but if Keane can give him a good run of games, and he can recapture his West Brom form, then he could turn out to be a key player in keeping them up. He has the potential to create that key chance that may turn a loss into a draw, or a draw into a win, and that could turn out to be the difference in Sunderland staying up or going down. It feels like he has been around for a long time but he is still quite young and he now has a chance to really show what he can do, and he has to take that chance, because it might be his last.

Right, in news today, we see that Mido is apparently moving to Birmingham for a 6 million pound fee. Personally this is a silly transfer, he did ntohing to justify this price tag last season and he is worth a maximum of 3 million. Hegulson is moving to Bolton for around 1.5 million and I'd probably rather have him in my side. Why don't Birmingham loan him for one season and see how good a season he has, if he plays well, then offer money for him later. Of course, they could then face more competition for his signature but this is still a silly deal for Birmingham, I do not believe that Mido will turn out to be worth 6 million pounds and they'd be better off putting their money somewhere else.

Middlesbrough are going to sign Luke Young from Charlton for 2.5 million in a good bit of business. He has plenty of Premiership experience and is a consistent performer, rather then spectacular. Boro are in a bit of a limbo, they have made a few transfers but still need to bolster their midfield if they really want to compete this season. A friend of mine is tipping them for relegation, and I do think they might struggle this season.

That's that for today, looking forward to tomorrow...I hear there's a certain wizarding book out...anything to do with Zidane?

Faubert Out But Will Noble Get His Chance?

2007-07-19T21:25:00.000Z

More bad news for West Ham fans today, as their new signing Julien Faubert is ruled out for 6 months after rupturing his achilles tendon in a friendly on the 17 July. Bloody painful injury, and no-one likes to see this kind of news, but he's a young player and will come back for the second half of the season. It does leave the Hammers looking pretty weak in midfield after losing Reo-Coker and Benayoun, but I hope that Noble plays a bigger role this season, and this injury could be his chance to step up. He really impressed during the U-21 European Championship and if he gets a good run of games this season then he could really emerge as a top player. We saw some of his passion for West Ham at then end of last season, and game time will allow him to develop his technical abilities but Curbishley needs to take a risk and put him in.

The problem is the fear of failure. If Noble doesn't perform in the first few games then Curbishley will drop him, when what he probable needs is more games to start playing better. But if Curbishley gives him these games and he still fails then the team would have lost points in the time and gained nothing, putting Curbishley in the firing line. It's a very hard situation for a manager to be in but with the money West Ham have, they can afford to give Noble a run of games if they buy a decent squad midfielder who can come in if Noble fails to perform. They can then bring in a top midfielder, if needed, in the January transfer window. Of course it's easier said then done because the squad midfielder might also not perform, and with all that money Curbishley is going to be tempted just to bring in a top player now. I hope that Noble gets the games he needs as he may just emerge as a very good Premiership midfielder.

In other news, Stuart Pearce has been appointed the permanent manager of the England U-21 side. It's a good appointment, Pearce needs to learn more about the tactical side of the game before he goes back into club management, and the time he spends watching Premiership games in between U-21 fixtures will help him develop as a manager. We've also seen that at U-21 level you don't need to be a tactical genius to win games. The Euro U-21 Championship showed that England could compete with the top teams just by playing the natural 4-4-2 sytem with the right balance in players being more important then getting the tactics spot on. This is a good appointment for both England and Pearce.

Fulham have continued their spending spree with the signing of Lee Cook from QPR for 2.5 million. He has impressed in the Championship but it is obviously a big step up to the Premiership. He'll take a while to settle but he should offer some width into a Fulham side that seems to lack natural wide players. A team needs balance, and the signing of a wide player brings some more balance into the Fulham side. I think this will probably be the last of Al Fayed's spending, and what a spree it has been, 7 players brought in for around 20 million pounds, but is Sanchez a good enough manager to move them up the table. I don't think they'll get relegated but I'm not sure that Lawrie will take them higher then mid-table. The jury is out.

As some of you may be aware, the AFC Asian Cup is currently taking place in South East Asia. I have not been reporting on it because I placed the Copa America as more important, but since the Copa is over and we have had a special request on the comments page of yesterday's blog, I shall now update you on how it has been going. The 8 teams that have made it to the Quarter finals are: Iraq, Japan, Republic of Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan. China were the big team to get knocked out in the group stages after drawing against Iran and suffering a shcok loss to Uzbekistan. Australia only just managed to scrape through in their group after losing to Iraq and drawing to Oman, pretty shocking stuff from one of the pre-tournament favourites. If you go to this website http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/news/index.asp, then you will learn more. I have seen little of the tournament but thought the standard of football may not be top class, there are still some decent players to watch out for, and it can only get better with the quarters coming up.

Nashat Akram is one player to look out for. He is playing for Iraq and inspired their victroy over Australia, he has also been linked to Sunderland. Maksim Shatskikh of Uzbekistan, and Dinamo Kiev, has also caught the eye after coring in their group games, including a goal against China. The Japanese would be my favourites for the title but I would not count out Australia as in cup competitions, the eventual winner is usually a team that didn't perform well in the Group stages. We saw it with Brazil in the Copa, and with Italy at the last World Cup. They're actually playing each other in the quarter final on saturday, and that should be a game worth watching.

Bit of a long post today but have to keep you on your toes during the pre-season but don't worry, only a few weeks till the beginning of the new season, I can't wait.

FIFA To Have A Go At Puttting Out Tevez Fire

2007-07-18T20:43:00.000Z

And so the inevitable has happened, West Ham, Man Utd, the Premier League and Kia Joorabchian have failed to reach an agreement over the transfer of Carlos Tevez and so FIFA have been called in to settle the dispute. All the parties decided this was the best way to go and so FIFA have set up a 'Dispute Resolution Chamber', which will deal with the issue in the next few weeks. What an absolute mess this has turned out to be, and who knows what FIFA will decide in the end. I can only hope that the decision of FIFA will be viewed as final by the parties involved, but if FIFA make a decision against the Premier League then I can't see them just accepting a public attack on their authority. I'm afraid that this will not end well unless FIFA can somehow reach a deal that satisfies all parties, and the likelyhood of that is pretty slim at the moment. Still, at least it will take a few weeks to reach any decision, so we can concentrate on other footballing matters until we know more.

It looks like Arjen Robben is on his way out of Chelsea after he apparently agreed personal terms with Real Madrid. The fee between the two cluns still has to be settled, but after that he will be on his way. A big loss to the Premiership, he is an incredibly talented player who has been unlucky with injuries since his move to Chelsea, but has shown us what he can do in those brief glimpses. Some take issue with his play-acting, but unfortunately that is part of the modern game now, I'm not excusing it and I would have loved to have seen him stay up on his feet more often, but this bad side is far outweighed by the excitement he causes when he has the ball. There are few better sights in the game then Arjen Robben in full flow. The way he ducks his shoulder, looks down and then sets off with the ball seemingly stuck to his foot is absolutely joyful to behold, he is one of a few players who doesn't even need to touch the ball to trick his opponents. He can just send them in the wrong direction with a shoulder move, and then use his pace and skill to take advantage of the space offered, so so dangerous. Chelsea will miss him but they have got a good number of wingers, and Malouda offers more consistency then Arjen, so they should be ok for next season. Still, you hate to see a good player leave, no matter who you support.

Elsewhere, Newcastle are now officially a privately owned club with Mike Ashley completing his takeover. He now owns about 95% of the shares and so the club has been de-listed from the Stock Exchange.

Birmingham are close to taking Mido on loan for the season from Tottenham. I still can't get over his change from fat Mido to fit Mido, and I'm not sure whether that was the best move as since he changed the goals have dried up. But he didn't really get a look-in last season at Spurs since Keane and Berbatov were playing so well, so hopefully he can recapture some form with first-team football. I, however, am pretty sure that he will not do a huge amount at Birmingham, but his experience might be helpful.

Not much else to report so it's bedtime for me, no rest for the wicked.

The Tevez Drama Continues and Sneaky Sven Gets Geovanni

2007-07-17T21:07:00.000Z

Yet another twist in the Tevez transfer as West Ham refuse to allow him to have a medical at Man Utd. They, and the Premier League, still state that West Ham hold the registration of the player, and so any deal has to go through them. SInce no deal has been agreed, no medical can take place. What a mess, there's nothing I can say that hasn't been said before, so I just hope that all the parties sit down together and come to some sort of deal, because the person losing the most out of this is Tevez himself, and he deserves better.

In other news, we have a few signings to report. Man City have picked up midfielder Geovanni on a free transfer. He had been on trial at Portsmouth, but sneaky Sven managed to grab him from under their noses, and complete his third signing of the summer. A decent midfielder with a lot of experience, he should be a good squad player for City but will not solve their midfield problems. Still, he's the right type of player to have in your squad when there's 15 minutes left in a game, and you need to close out the win.

Aston Villa have won the race to sign Marlon Harewood from West Ham, right under the nose of Wigan who were favourites for his signature at the weekend. If there's anybody who can get the best out of a player like Harewood, it's Martin O'Neill. I still don't think it's a great signing but obviously O'Neill sees some potential there, so maybe I'll be proved wrong.

Dickson Etuhu has signed for Sunderland from Norwich in a 1.5 million pound deal. Have not seen a lot of this man but Norwich were not happy to see him go, especially as he started 42 games for them last season, making him a pretty key player in their line-up. He should add depth to the Sunderland midfield.

Well, I'm getting tired just thinking about the Tevez saga so I hope that I have some more positive news to report tomorrow on the transfer but I just can't see that happening. As always, your thoughts on any footballing issue are more than appreciated, and I shall try to reply to any comments or questions you may have...and on that note, I shall wish you good night.

Premiership Clubs Raided as Corruption Allegations Refuse To Go Away

2007-07-16T21:50:00.000Z

Today's news has been led by the Police raids on 3 different football clubs as part of an investigation into corruption. The raids were carried out at Newcastle, Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers this morning and were not related to the Lord Stevens enquiry. There's not much more that I can say about this, corruption in Football is something that is seen around the world but it should be stamped out wherever possible. These clubs may have just been associated with corrupt individuals rather then being institutionally corrupt, so it's best to wait for the Police report before we rush to any conclusions. I do think that saying it's not related to the Stevens report is an attempt to show that the Police were ahead of the game before any other inquiry, but in reality it does seem likely that Stevens report had some influence on the police investigation. Now we just have to wait for any Police findings before we cast any judgements, but I do hope that if any Club or individual is found corrupt, they are made an example of rather then what happened in Italy, where the big clubs got away with it.

A friend of mine made a good comment about the Italian club situation, saying that the big clubs bring in a lot of money and pedigree to the domestic league, and the Champions League, making it very hard for the authorities to really punish them. It's a good point, but sometimes the authorities have to make a decision that may not be in the interests of the League, but in the interests to the general image of football itself. It's a hard decision to make but if any corruption is found, it has to be punished properly, for the sake of the game.

Right, bit of a rant there, but moving on, Sunderland have signed Kieran Richardson from Man Utd for about 5.5 million pounds. Can't say I really approved of this decision, apart from that one season at West Brom, he's looked pretty average with Man Utd, but it is hard to shine when you're in and out of a team, and not getting a good run of games. Roy Keane has trained with him and seen him a lot more then I have so I hope that he's made a good decision. His signing of Chopra was also an interesting one, another player who never really shone in his time at Newcastle, but again, he did look good for Cardiff last season, and he may be a decent signing if he's allowed a good run of games. My worry would be that both players might take a while to find form, and one they do start playing well, it will be too late for Sunderland.

The Tevez transfer continues to frustrate Man Utd, but I think it's frustrated the whole of the country by now. Soon contracts will have to be signed in blood, then no-one would have any trouble sorting out transfers. Man Utd also look like they're losing Heinze, which is not a bad loss. He's looked a shadow of the player he was before his injury, so it might be best for both parties if he left. Utd have Evra and could use a reserve player for cover, and Heinze could set about getting first team football and recovering his form. Newcastle and Liverpool are possible destinations, though Utd are not keen on him heading to rivals Liverpool.

Not much else going down, but I thought I'd leave you with a little comment on one player linked with Arsenal in the papers today, Rodrigo Palacio. It's definitely only a rumour but he is someone everyone should start remembering because he looks like he's going to be a fantastic player. He's played at Boca Juniors for the past few seasons and, unlike a lot of South American footballers, has actually stayed in Argentina into his early twenties, allowing him to mature as a player. He's now 25 years old and it would be the perfect time for him to move. He's deceptively strong, he's quick and a good finisher, and I think that he would suit Premiership football. He'll definitely be a great asset for any club that comes in for him...you heard it here first!

And with that pearl of wisdom, I shall take my leave.

Brazil Lift Copa America WIth Brilliant Tactical Display

2007-07-15T23:02:00.002Z

So Brazil are the Champions of the Copa America. They beat Argentina 3-0 in a final that did not quite turn out to be the cracker that I certainly thought it would be. In fairness that was down to Brazil getting their tactics spot on.

The strikers hassled the Argentine defenders, forcing them to pass the ball early to Riquelme, Veron, Mascherano and Cambiasson, these players were then closed quickly and either forced to make a mistake or were fouled just outside shooting range. The Brazilians were confident that their extra height would see off any set-pieces, and so it proved. It was gamesmanship, but it won them the trophy, as the fouls were all innocuous enough to not warrant any yellow cards and the Argentines couldn't capitalise on any of their set-pices.

In attack the Brazilians used their pace in scathing counter-attacks down the Argentine flanks, especially the left flank, which seemed to be completely exposed as Heinze was usually attacking and didn't have the pace to come back in time, and Cambiasso was not quick enough to cover his position. The Brazilians worked to ball out of defence quickly and the Argentines looked very dodgy at the back, epitomised by the own goal scored by Ayala. Maicon at right-back was especially impressive for Brazil, looking like a young Cafu, but with slightly more power in his runs, he should be snaffled up by a top European club pretty quickly.

Well done to Brazil, they deserved to win and the Argentines need to take a long look at their defence before they go into their next tournament. Heinze, Ayala and Zanetti just don't have the pace anymore to play against top opposition, and they were cruelly exposed here. They also need to look at being able to change their system of play when the match is going against them. Once they had gone 2 goals down, Veron should have been removed for Crespo and Cambiasso off for Palacio. Then move Riquelme and Mascherano into central midfield with Messi and Tevez/Palacio playing on the wings (since they don't really have any other proper wingers) and Crespo and Tevez/Palacio up front. This would allow them to have more width and give their defence a bit more cover on the flanks. Still, they had been playing brilliantly up till this game, so keep the attack and bring in some youngsters in defence, now's the best time to do it as the next World Cup is a few years away.

Right, off to bed now, night all.

Brazil Lift Copa America WIth Brilliant Tactical Display

2007-07-15T23:02:00.001Z

Hugs And Kisses At Chelsea

2007-07-15T18:32:00.000Z

It's all gone very quiet this weekend with more friendlies today, and the news that Jose and Roman have healed their rift. In case you're wondering, that would be Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich of Chelsea. Last season, there was a bust-up between Chairman Roman and Manager Jose over transfer funds, players and formations, which ended up overshadowing their season and having an effect on their Premiership form.

It's good news for Chelsea but not something to shout about. It's good to know that they made up but I still think that this could be Jose's last season in charge unless he wins the Champions League. He's been backed financially and has now had 3 years to build the team to his liking, so if he didn't deliver this season, Roman might not be so patient and decide to look elsewhere for a manager. What is better news for Chelsea fans is that Jose is going back to using wingers, which is when Chelsea have been at their best. Interesting news for Shevchenko and Bllack as it probably means only 1 striker will start and Ballack wouldn't be suited to the system, unless Jose goes for the 4-4-2 system, which I can't see happening. Still, competition is good for the players and Chelsea will benefit from the competition.

Everything else is very quiet with plenty of attention turned towards the Copa America final tonight. Argentina are unchanged for the final and are clear favourites but you can never write off Brazil, even though they are missing Gilberto Silva through suspension. I'm slightly worried that it might just turn out to be an anti-climax but 95% of me thinks it's going to be a fantastic game, here's hoping I'm right.

Right, I'm getting excited now so it's off to the pub for me, see you all tomorrow.

Friendlies, Fernandes And Futures.

2007-07-14T21:46:00.000Z

Plenty of friendly games today as the English clubs started off their pre-season schedule with Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool all in action. These games meant that the press could have a word with all 3 managers and some interesting comments were made.

City used the occasion to announce the signing of Switzerland Under-21 captain Gelson Fernandes from FC Sion for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around 3.8 million pounds. He is pretty highly rated and should see some first team action this season as the City squad is still looking relatively empty. It is another decent signing from Sven, and there should be a few more signings on the way for City with Giuly apparently becoming a transfer target. City, at the moment, are like a pint of Guinness that has only just started being poured...they still need to fill up the rest of the glass and wait for it to settle, so patience is the order of the day for City fans. Still, when the Guinness is finally ready, it tastes damn good. I think City are moving in the right direction under Sven, and they'll be a very difficult team to face this season.

Over to Liverpool where Rafa might still buy a couple of players depending on what the new owners think. I still think they need another out-and-out winger if they really want to challenge for honours this season, but their team is looking very good at the moment.

At Arsenal, Wenger made some good comments about the state of the team and his own future. He was happy that Cesc wanted to stay (obviously), was pretty sure that Reyes is heading off to Madrid, and didn't want to talk about his future as it wasn't the right time. Reyes is a player with huge natural talent, and still has time on his side, but if he's unhappy at Arsenal then there's no use trying to play him, and the spanish climate is a natural place for him to move back to. The fee will be interesting, and it wouldn't be a suprise to see him leabe for about 7 million quid as everyone knows Arsenal want to sell.

The comments Arsene made about his future,
"I have shown my commitment in the past...I will come out at the right moment...maybe when you don't ask me question."
They were said in a good natured way, and he has always waited for the right moment to announce his contract extensions in the past, so I don't think there's anything to worry about here. If you think about it, Arsene is pretty much in complete control of Arsenal football club, and while it remains that way there is no way that he would want to move to a club where he would not be able to wield complete power over the team, such as Real Madrid. He'll definitely be at Arsenal for one more season, then it will be a matter of seeing if Kroenke has taken over Arsenal or not...until then he'll be concentrating on challenging for the title.

Not much transfer news, the usual rumours doing the rounds, though it does seem that Wigan are on the verge of signing Marlon Harewood from West Ham in a 4 million pound deal. I'm not a huge fan as I don't think he has the footballing intelligence to become a top striker, there's no doubting his raw pace or his work rate, but a good enough defender should be able to force him out of the game by channelling his runs into non-threatening areas. I'd use him as an impact player in the last 15 minutes of the game when the opposition are tiring and he can use his pace to force them to defend deep, allowing pressure to mount on the goal, which usually leads to defensive mistakes and the possibility of a goal. Still, 4 million does strike me as slightly too much.

Pretty quiet everywhere else, good to see Dean Ashton playing today, if he regains his form then he'll be a real threat for West Ham, but who knows how the injury has affected him. Copa America final tomorrow night, should be a cracker, Argentina to win 3-2 with Riquelme to open the scoring...wonder what the odds are? Night all.

Friday Night Review.

2007-07-13T22:46:00.000Z

Tonight sees the return of the 'Friday Night Review' where I take a look at the past week in the Premiership, and decide the best 3 transfers of the week, and explain why I believe these guys wil have the most impact in the coming season.

Very busy week of transfers with plenty of big name signings, but my top 3 signings this week come from outside the big 4. So, with no further ado, here they are:

1. Jason Koumas [West Brom - Wigan] £5.3m
2. Chris Baird [Southampton - Fulham] £3.025m
3. David Nugent [Preston - Portsmouth] Undisclosed (c. 6 Million)

Jason Koumas may be a controversial choice but I believe he will be a key figure in pushing Wigan back up the Premiership table. He has a huge amount of natural talent but has only recently started to fulfil his potential. The move to Wigan should work out quite well for him because he should be allowed to play his natural game and run the show for them, since they don't have many other players with his natural flair or intelligence. It would be a great move for Chris Hutchings to build a side around him, because I believe that that type of pressure will bring the best out of him, and create a situation where he can run a game. It will be important to get the balance in midfield right, a hard tackling central midfielder alongside Koumas would be perfect as it would allow him to not worry too much if any moves went wrong, as he would always have protection. I predict great things for this guy, and I hope he is allowed to play his natural game because otherwise this prediction may come back to haunt me.

Chris Baird is a solid central defender who goes about his business quietly but effectively. He's the type of player who never really gets the press conferences afterwards, but when he misses a game, you notice just how effective he is. He's not a big name, but he will be key player in Fulham's bid to avoid relegation next season. Southampton are losing a very good player, and I hope that they can still put in a good promotion bid in the coming season.

I have already talked about Nugent on this blog before. He is a player who is ideally suited to the Premiership, and will have a very good season for Portsmouth. He'll be a great one to have in your Fantasy team since I don't think he'll cost that much, but will score a fair few goals. You heard it here first!

Well, that makes up the 'Friday Night Review'. The big news of the day is Becks signing for LA Galaxy, good luck to the chap. Otherwise, a few more signings coming in, but nothing we haven't seen before. Fulham continue to spend with Healey and Konchesky coming in, they're both experienced players who will not set the Premiership alight, but should be pretty solid.

Sheffield United have failed in their High Court appeal, and that pretty much signals the end of their bid to get back into the Premiership. They may continue their fight but it just won't work out, they should drop the case and just start building for next season...I've said that a million times but it's not going to happen, I just hope that this case doesn't overshadow next season as it will have an effect on the morale at the club, which may mean a poor season on the football field.

Right, that's all for tonight, thanks for reading, and I hope we don't have as quiet a weekend as the last one, Night.

If Only Football Fans Could Be In Charge

2007-07-12T21:35:00.000Z

What a week so far! Transfers galore, and it shows no sign of slowing up with news that Tevez will be taking a medical on Tuesday in the hope that his transfer to Man Utd will finally go through. I still can't see it happening by tuesday since it seems likely that FIFA are about to get involved.

The Premier League must be kicking themselves, pretty much every football fan knew that the original transfer of Tevez and Mascherano to West Ham was a wee bit dodgy and yet they chose not to examine the transfer too closely. They then had a chance to sort it out when they held their inquiry, but instead, they hoped a massive fine and telling West Ham to rip up the 3rd party agreement would be enough. Honestly, the fact that Kia Joorabchian never started court proceedings against West Ham after they claimed to have ripped up the contract, should have told them something was up, but no, it's all gone very wrong and the Premier League end up looking like absolute idiots when FIFA come in to sort out the mess. Then again, with FIFA's track record, we might be seeing a few more cock-ups before the week is out. Any football fan could have sorted this mess out weeks ago, what a bunch of...

On to completed transfers. There have been a fair few to go through in the past couple of days with Sagna heading to Arsenal, Nugent and Utaka on the way to Portsmouth, Benayoun to Liverpool, and Baird to Fulham. I've already mentioned Baird and Nugent on this blog so I'm going to take a peek at the other 3 signings.

Sagna to Arsenal is an interesting move since Arsenal already have cover at right-back in the shape of Eboue and Hoyte. Wenger described him as someone who "plays mainly at right-back, but can also play along the defence or in midfield. He is strong and quick." He could be used as defensive cover, but Djourou, Hoyte, and Traore all seemed to make a step forward last season in defensive positions, so I have a feeling that he'll be moved into the orthodox winger position, since Arsenal have been lacking width for the past couple of seasons. Plus, if he's played on the right of midfield then it means that Eboue will be less caught out defensively, as Sagna would be able to cover the right-back position if he goes on a marauding run down the wing. However, with my history in having 'feelings', he'll probably end up playing in goal...we shall see.

Utaka joined Portsmouth from Rennes, where he scored 10 goals in 35 appearances. Not the greatest goalscoring record, but he's 25 and heading towards his peak. He's strong, quick and pretty good in the air, so he should be suited for the Premiership. The competition at Portsmouth will be good for him as it won't allow him any time to mope around since he'll be fighting to make an impact from the start.

Benayoun is a very interesting signing for Rafa at Liverpool. He didn't have a brilliant season last year, but no West Ham player really did (exception of Tevez and Noble), but the year before that he was a lovely player to watch. He's not the out-and-out winger that Liverpool need and are getting with Babel, but he does offer good cover for the whole of the midfield and will offer good movement and skill into the mdifield area. He's not really an inspirational signing, but he could turn out to be a very astute signing for Liverpool, especially when the season is coming to a close and you need the squad players to come in with fresh legs. He'll be able to offer frsh legs, and that little bit of flair that can turn games.

In the Copa America, the dream final has been set up with Argentina meeting Brazil in the final on sunday. Messi's goal in the 3-0 semi-final victory over Mexico was absolutely delightful, and I think that Argentina might just be taking the trophy home. They seem to be playing the better football at the moment, and their tactics suit the players they have, but Brazil have started to look more and more comfortable in their game since the group stages finished, and they do seem to have beaten Argentina in their previous few meetings. It should be a cracker, but I'm tipping the Argies to lift the title.

I could prattle on all night, but I expect you've probably had enough. There should be plenty more transfers to come this week, and this Tevez malarkay shows no sign of finishing, so if all else fails, I can always have a rant on that. Night all.

Busy Day At The Office.

2007-07-10T18:22:00.000Z

Plenty of transfer news today starting with the players who have officially moved clubs. Malouda has signed for Chelseas for about 13 million, Bellamy has signed for West Ham in a club record 7.5 million transfer, and Wigan have signed Jason Koumas for 5.3 million. I've talked about each player before but out of the 3, I would have taken Koumas.

Controversial decision some would say, but Koumas is someone I rate very highly, he has the potential to be an attacking midfielder in the same mould as Riquelme or Totti, though maybe not quite as naturally gifted as those two. Still, if he is played in the hole behind the strikers and allowed a free role, then Wigan will have a very dangerous player on their books. Even if he's played in a more orthodox central midfield role then he'll still be able to influence games, as long as there is a defensive midfielder alongside him. However, if he is played out of position, then we won't see the best of him and that would be a real shame. The fact that Wigan have spent 5.3 million on him suggests to me that he'll be allowed to orchestrate the midfield, and I can't wait to see him in action.

Man City are about to make their first signing of the season. Rolando Bianchi of Reggina is the target, and the price has been agreed at about 8.8 million, so personal terms now have to be sorted out. Bianchi is a 24 year old striker and was the 4th top scorer in Serie A last season. I haven't seen a huge amount of him but City really need a striker, and he does seem to be quite highly rated. Didn't take a huge amount of brain power to work out that City really needed a striker, but it does look like Sven is getting ready to seriously bolster the squad, so expect more City news in the next couple of weeks.

The City chairman, Shinawatra, has officially been told to appear in front of the Thai supreme court for corruption charges. He is due to appear on the 14th August but it's pretty clear he's not going to turn up. The government won't deport him because now he's part of a very powerful organisation so he'll just wait till the charges go away or someone new comes to power in Thailand. I'm just so glad that he's in our country.

Lastly, it appears David Nugent has agreed terms and will be moving to Portsmouth tomorrow in a 6 million pound deal. I'm a big fan, he looks like he has all the attributes to be a top Premiership striker, and he should do very well at Portsmouth. What impresses me the most is that he has a great combination of pace and strength, quite like Dean Ashton, and he knows how to use both for his advantage. He's also an intelligent player, who reads the game very well and that is why he has that knack of being in the right place at the right time. I can see him getting into double figures this season.

A lot of news today, and looking at the transfer rumours, there should be a lot more news to come this week. I'm so excited I'm going to have to go to the toilet. And on that bombshell, I shall leave you. See you tomorrow.

Tevez Transfer Drags On

2007-07-09T23:24:00.000Z

The start of the week sees more news on the Tevez transfer with Sir Alex Ferguson coming out and stating that he expects the move to be completed quite soon. He actually thought that the deal would be completed by the weekend but, suprise suprise, it seems like the Premier League may be holding up the deal. It seems like no-one knows just what is actually going on in the transfer, and it will be interesting to see exactly what happens when the transfer goes through. I'm thinking an undisclosed deal, with the Premier League making a statement that no rules have been breached, and all the parties getting a nice deal from the transfer...cynical, but there you go.

Fulham have signed Diomansy Kamara for 6 million pounds from West Brom, a bit expensive you may think, but Nugent will probably be moving to Portsmouth for the same amount so it's a relatively good deal. He didn't really set the premiership alight in his previous spell with West Brom, but he seems to have matured in the Championship and should cause defenders some problems this season. Interesting to note that Sanchez has just spent 10 million on 2 players, but I can't remember Coleman ever getting that kind of backing. The football world is definitely very unfair, but you have to feel sorry for Coleman, he never got the chance to really show what he could do at Fulham, and I hope he gets success at Sociedad.

According to his agent, Liverpool have apparently made a 10 million bid for Ryan Babel, the Dutch U-21 winger who has been constantly linked to Arsenal. He was widely reported to have said that he was staying at Ajax for 1 year before moving to Arsenal, but the footballing world is fickle so I wouldn't be suprised to see him head towards Liverpool if their bid is accepted. A decent winger would be the final piece of their puzzle, and a player like Babel would really add an extra dimension to their play.

What a suprise, Gallas has had a go at Arsenal. You can read his comments on his official website, or on Teamtalk, if you can really be bothered, but I don't know what he thinks he's actually going to achieve through a bunch of comments on his website. I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of him, and I bet you can't wait for his next outburst...I know I can't.

Argentina and Mexico are through to the Copa America semis with victories over Peru and Paraguay respectively. Both were high-scoring games and the semis look like they are going to be pretty tasty. I shall keep you informed.

Right, I'm off to bed, the life of the blogger is one long party, night all.

Kenyon Calls On The Troops

2007-07-08T11:20:00.000Z

Still very quiet on the football front with news that Peter Kenyon has issued a rallying cry to Chelsea, calling for unity and blaming some of the poor results last season on the fallout between Jose and Roman. Nothing we haven't heard before and I think this season will go much more smoothly for Chelsea because Mourinho knows that it's his last season in charge, unless he wins the Champions League.

Some may disagree, but Roman will take Jose to one side before the start of this season and say, 'mate, love the aggro act and you done a good job here, but if you don't win the Championes League then you're out of here.' Or something along those lines anyway. In turn Jose will demand no interference the whole season, and everyone will be happy...or so they hope.

A Hawk-eye system is going to be trialled by the Premier League for decisions on whether the ball crosses the line or nor. Sounds good, but these decisions don't come along that often so can't see it being used too much.

The Tevez and Leeds sagas continue to mosey along with Adam Pearson reported to be making an offer for Leeds, and with Tevez saying he does not want to go back on his word to join Man Utd, we shall see.

Brazil and Uruguay are through to the Copa America semi-finals, knocking out Chile and Venezuela respectively. Robinho is looking like one of the stars of the tournament, and Uruguay have managed to find some sort of form at last, so we must just have ourselves some interesting semi-finals coming along.

Beginning of the week tomorrow so let's hope for some big deals, and more gossip. Honestly, I'm starting to hope that Calderon opens his mouth again, and utters some more stupidity, just for funsies. Toodlepip.

The Calm After the Storm

2007-07-07T18:52:00.000Z

A very quiet today in the football world with not a huge amount to report. Djibril Cisse has left Liverpool for Marseille in a deal worth around 6 million pounds. He had a season on loan with them and despite interest from West Ham, he always wanted the move back to France. Cisse never really set the Premiership alight, he was unlucky with his injuries and never really settled, so this deal suits all the parties involved. He came to Liverpool with a huge amount of potential but couldn't handle the pressure, and never really got a good run of games together so good luck to him in France, and I hope he can rebuild his career.

Bellamy also looks like he's about to move to West Ham from Liverpool for around 7.5 million pounds. He's just got to agree terms and that'll be that. He's got the talent but hasn't got the attitude, if he sorts that out then he'll be a very good player for the Hammers...but I'm not holding my breath.

Apart from that it really is very quiet, Nugent has been told to sort his move out soon and the Tevez saga continues to go on, but the footballing world is in a bit of a slumber at the moment, which means that I can also go off and have a wee bit of a nap...getting old.

Let's hope tomorrow perks up a bit. See you then.

Friday Night Review

2007-07-06T19:32:00.001Z

Stop your TV watching, put down your drink, and take that confused look off your face, because tonight you have the great privelege of reading the first ever 'Friday Night Review'.

In this review I shall be listing the top 3 transfers of the week and describing just why the no.1 transfer is going to have such an impact on the Premiership. I'll be looking at a number of factors including the differences in the clubs they're going to play for. For example, one player might be more naturally talented but another plaer might hve more of an impact because he's playing at a lesser team. As always feel free to comment, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the transfers of the week, and who you believe is the top signing of the week..

So, this weeks top 3 are:

1. Fernando Torres [Atletico Madrid - Liverpool] Undisclosed (c.20 Million)
2. Daniel de Ridder [Celta Vigo - Birmingham] Free
3. Eduardo da Silva [Dinamo Zagreb - Arsenal] Undisclosed (c.8 Million) / Owen Hargreaves [Bayern M - Man Utd] Undisclosed (c.18 Million)

Darn hard decision to make but Torres has to be the best transfer. He may not have come cheap but I believe that he will make a serious impact on the Premiership and spearhead Liverpool's campaign to take the title. He has consistently scored goals for Atletico in th last 5 seasons, and with players like Alonso, Kuyt and Stevie G. behind him, he will be allowed to play as a natural striker and get the goals that Liverpool desperately need.

Tough because De Ridder moving on a free to Birmingham is a top signing. He is a class midfielder who would have looked at home in any Premiership midfield, and to get him on a free is great value for money. He may just be a key factor in keeping them up this season.

Hargreaves and Da Silva run neck and neck. Hargreaves will be a good player for Man Utd, but his impact will be felt more in the Champions League then in the Premiership. Da Silva has a proven goal-scoring record and seems to have all the neccessary attributes to succeed, but he might get hampered by the pressure of being seen as Henry's replacement in his first season, plus he'll start off behind V. Persie and Adebayor in the pecking order. But the reason he's 3rd is that he will grow better as the season gets older, and by the end of the season, he may just be spearheading Arsenal's push to the title.

You may ask whether Torres might crumble under the pressure at Liverpool, but he's had 5 seasons of carrying Atletico in the Spanish Liga, and so will adapt very quickly to the pressure of Liverpool.

Right, as I said earlier, let me know your thoughts, it has been a great week of transfers and some players were unlucky to miss out on the top 3.

I hope you enjoyed the first ever 'Friday Night Review', and I will be back with normal football news tomorrow...don't all cheer at once now.

Want to Get Rich? Then Read On

2007-07-06T18:58:00.000Z

So you want to get rich? Here's what you have to do. Go down to your local park or football ground, have a look at some games, pick out a few playes that show potential and then...buy them. Yep, go up to them and buy all their personal rights for a set fee. If they're young, ask their parents for the rights, and hey, while you're at it, buy the rights to their brothers, just in case. Plus, it doesn't even matter if they're good at football or not! Buy your friend's rights and take a portion of his earnings as well as making him fetch food and drink for you, everone can be a winner!

This whole Tevez transfer stinks. It was pretty smelly when he first moved to West Ham, and now it's getting smellier by the day. West Ham claim that no move to Man Utd can go ahead without them because they tore up all agreements with Tevez's agent Kia Joorabchian in April, but representatives of Tevez claim that he's about to have a medical in Venzuela before officially signing for Man Utd. Who to believe?

Well, West Ham cannot simply tear up a contract, the modern world does not work like that otherwise everyone would do the same and chaos would begin. I believe that West Ham do not really own Tevez and their claim that Tevez cannot move without them is designed to throw up a smoke screen to the Premier League, who will penalise them heavily if they are found to be lying. The fact is, if they had torn up the contract with Joorabchian, then surely he would be already taking them to court for compensation due to a breach of contract. However, there has been no talk of this, and Tevez has never come out and stated that he has bought back his rights from Joorabchian, which leads me to conclude that Tevez can move wherever his agent wants him to go.

If West Ham did tear up the contract, then fair enough, but any money they get for the potential transfer will probably end up ging towards compensation to Joorabchian for the breach of contract. Everyone is looking closely at this transfer and it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 24 hours.

Sven and Thaksin have taken over Man City. Sven is officially their new manager, and Thaksin Shinawatra has gained control of 75% of Man City shares. I've already commented on both characters before, good luck to Sven, I have a feeling that he may suprise us all and do quite well, and Thaksin's takeover...Well, it just shows how bad the Premier League's "fit and proper person" test actually is, in that he managed to pass despite having a human rights record that would lead to him being chucked out of most other countries.

Transfer talk has gone pretty quiet with West Ham closing in on Craig Bellamy, and Sunderland agreeing a fee for Chris Baird from Southampton. Of the two transfers, I'd definitely rather have Baird in my side, he's a quitely effective centre-back who has potential to grow into a better player...whereas Bellamy is someone who doesn't seem to quite grasp the idea of teamwork, and who seems to be a negative influence wherever he goes. There's no doubting his talent, but he will never get anywhere if he doesn't stop pissing people off, and sadly I can't see that ever happening.

And now for the big announcement, quiet at the back please, drum roll....deadballdispute is pleased to announce the 'Friday Night Review'. In this feature I shall reveal the best 3 transfers of the week, and describe why I believe the top player will make such an impact on the Premiership. Stay tuned for the first review...

Spurs Crank Up the Spending

2007-07-05T23:17:00.000Z

My apologies for the very late post tonight but the internet is a fickle lady. Luckily I have managed to secure her services for the moment with promises of trinkets and love, so count yourself very lucky that I am willing to make these sort of sacrifices for the greater good of football blogging.

To the news, as I mentioned yesterday Sheffield are now taking their appeal to the high court. I completely agree with the comment from Wes yesterday, Sheffield have to give this up as they will not win, and they have to start concentrating on the coming season. This whole appeal process has shadowed the summer and Sheffield will not be able to move on until it is over, so let's hope that after the High Court hearing on the 13th July, everything moves on.

A few signings to report, Tottenham have secured the services of Younes Kaboul for around 8 million pounds from Auxerre. He's a very highly rated defender, and is definitely a player for the future. He will spend this season adapting to the Premiership by coming off the bench, and starting in less important games, beforereally making an impact next season. Though if Ledley and Dawson get injured then he may be getting a chance to strut his stuff earlier then expected.

Tottenham have now spent around 34 million on new players, which is a clear signal of intent for next season. Spurs fans must be pretty happy at the moment, though personally I don't think they'll break the top four this season as the big four all have very good players in every position, whereas Spurs still have a few missing links. Their central midfield is an area that needs work if they're really going to challenge this season.

Elsewhere, Steven Davis has joined Fulham for 4 million pounds from Aston Villa. He didn't have a great time last season, but in the season before that, he looked like a very decent player. The lack of first team football hampered his progress last season, and he should slot in very well to the Fulham midfield. I'm having to re-evaluate my opinion on Fulham, I did think they'd be relegated but now I'm not so sure. They're not going to be pretty to watch this season, but they may just have the defensive organisation to grind out results. Still, they definitely need a couple of defenders to be brought in before I completely change my opinion.

Copa America news, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico and Chile have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Championship. After an interesting start, the group stages petered out into a dour affair, though Argentina look very good indeed. I can't see anyone winning against them, as Brazil have been pretty standard, and the other sides do not have the class to match Argentina. Of course Brazil may come alive in the knock-out stages but we shall have to wait and see...until then, my money shall be on the argies.

Not much else left to report, Man Utd are closing in on Tevez according to most of the papers and the BBC, but I shall remain wary of this transfer as no-one seems to kno who Tevez belongs to at the moment. United may announce the signing soon, but there shall be a lot of interest in who actually gets the money for the player, and there may be more legal battles over Tevez to come.

Also, Arnold Mvuemba has gone to Portsmout on a free transfer. Don't know a huge amount about him so I shall wait to see him play before I comment on his transfer.

Alright, best be off to bed. It's friday tomorrow, and I'm thinking that there may be a new feature to come on the deadballdispute blog...try not to get too excited though.

Rafa Gets his Torres.

2007-07-04T20:29:00.000Z

So it has come to pass, Torres has signed for Liverpool in a 20 million pound deal from Atletico Madrid, and Benitez has got his big signing. It's been coming for a while and I've already commented on Torres, but what does this mean for Liverpool?

Well, it is a signal of intent from the new owners. They're showing that they are willing to spend big to back Rafa so that Liverpool can become more of a force in the Premiership. For Rafa, it is a deal that gives him a leading man to spearhead his Premiership challenge, but it is also a big risk. He can no onger whine about his lack of funds as this is a huge amount of cash, and if Torres and Liverpool don't have a good challenge for the title, then he might be on his way out of the club. Still, Torres will be a good signing and Liverpool have the squad to challenge for the title so I expect them to be up there at the end of the coming season, and woe betide Rafa if Liverpool are as inconsistent as last season.

Elsewhere Sheffield United are taking their case to the High Court in an appeal. I realy have sympathy for their situation but they cannot win this case, and it would be best for their future in they just dropped the case and concentrated on the coming season.

Speaking of the Blades, they have sold Phil Jagielka to Everton for 4 million pounds. He's a good young midfielder and had a good season for the Blades last year. Not sure if he's a four million pound player as he's solid rather then spectacular, but he has a while to learn, and he should benefit from playing with Cahill and Arteta.

Not much else going on, Reo-Coker will probably be heading to Villa soon, and SHeringham has signed for Colchester, which is a great deal, but mostly pretty quiet.

I will give a Copa America update tomorrow, sorry for lack of coverage in that area but shall make up for it soon, I promise!

Alright, must be off...no rest for the wicked.

The Blades Finally Sink

2007-07-03T19:19:00.000Z

And so it's official, today Sheffield United have had their relegation from the Premier League confirmed. An arbitration panel upheld the Premier League's decision that West Ham should not have been docked points, and it doesn't come as a big suprise.

The panel were never going to rule in favour of the blades, and though I have a lot of sympathy for their situation, I'm glad the whole incident has been put to rest. I stated my thoughts on the issue on the 13th June, but I do hope that Sheffield recover from this and come back up this season, especially since Bryan Robson is now in charge, who I have always liked.

A fair few signings to report, starting with Geremi signing for Newcastle on a free transfer from Chelsea. A good signing, he's a versatile player who never got the credit he deserved at Chelsea. If he gets a good run in the Newcastle team then he should have a decent season.

I'm also quite excited by Birmingham's signing of Daniel De Ridder on a free transfer from Celta Vigo. This man played very well during the European U21 Championship and to get him on a free is a top deal. He did have a few injuries last season but if he keeps injury-free then he might play a key role in their fight against relegation.

Plenty of players seem like they're about to make their moves, Torres to Liverpool, Reo-Coker to Aston Villa, and Nugent is in talks with Portsmouth so expect more breaking news in the next few days.

Unfortunately I shall have to be off, sorry for the brief nature of this post but my internet time is about to run out. See you tomorrow.

Gunners Suprise All in Silva Deal

2007-07-02T18:06:00.000Z

Well Well, Wenger has done it again. I don't know about any of you, but this signing of Eduardo Da Silva, a striker from Dinamo Zagreb, has definitely caught me off guard. There's been a lot of press about Tevez and Martins, but yet again Wenger has suprised everyone with this move. There are a few different opinions on the price, with the sport webpages (BBC, Sky etc.) all stating that the price was around the 8 million mark, but the Dinamo president, Mirko Barisic, claims it is around the 16 million mark. Arsenal reported an undisclosed fee, and I really can't see Wenger splashing out 16 million on a striker from the Croatian league, 8 million is a much more realistic mark.

I'm sure the real price will come out in the next few days, but whatever the price this signing is a big deal for Arsenal. It signals the start of preparations for the next season, and shows that the club is beginning to move forward after the transfer of Henry. Da Silva is 24 years old, scored 34 Goals in the Croatian League last season, and has netted 7 times for Croatia. I haven't seen a lot of him, but from the little I have seen he looks as if he could adapt very well to the Premiership, and Wenger has a good history with most of his transfers so he'll definitely be one to watch this season. His transfer also coincides with the agent of Fabregas coming out and stating that the player is not interested in a move away from the Emirates.

All in all, good news for Arsenal fans and they should not be written off as Title contenders.

Plenty of other footballing news, Blackburn appear to have signed Maceo Rigters from NAC Breda. He was one of the stars from the Dutch U-21 side, and this looks to be a very astute signing by Mark Hughes. He does look very talented but I don't expect him to be a huge success this season. Dutch players usually find it relatively hard to settle quickly into the Premiership, especially talented Dutch youngsters, who often find it hard to match their natural talent with hard work on the training ground. This is not always the case, but I shall defintely watch Rigters with interest.

West Ham picked up Julien Faubert yesterday in a 6.1 million pound deal from Bordeaux. He's a highly rated midfielder, who looked liked he was heading to Rangers until West Ham outbid them, and he should settle well into the Premiership. Not sure what to make of West Ham this summer, they seem to be throwing money everywhere without a huge amount of success, and Faubert did not seem to be one of their top targets. It's a good signing, but it looked like West Ham saw the interest rom other clubs and decided that he must be an alright player, so lets put in a bid for him. I do hope that they take a sit down and look closely at what they need, rather then trying to sign anyone they can.

There's plenty more transfer talk on the sport websites, so keep an eye out for more signings and rumours. Alas I must leave you, but I will be back tomorrow with more news and comments on, what promises to be, a busy week of transfers. Bye Bye.

Hargreaves to Man Utd...You're Kidding Me

2007-07-01T15:50:00.000Z

As the summer continues and we fans are stuck in football cold turkey, desperately trying to get whatever footballing fix we can through transfer gossip and Copa America games, today has brought us some interesting news involving 2 of the biggest clubs in England.

Manchester United have unveiled the worst kept secret in England...the signing of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich for around 17 million pounds. It has been a long time coming but now it has finally happened, we can take a step back and admire the midfield that Ferguson has at his disposal next season. Battling for 4 positions you have, Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Ronaldo, Park and the support of Fletcher and O'Shea. In fairness, Nani and Anderson will be used sparingly this season as they get used to the pace of the Premiership but their midfield does look formidable. Hargreaves brings a protection to the back 4 that United haven't really had since Keane, and if you look at all the teams that have won the Champions League recently, the defensive midfielder has really become a key position and Hargreaves has really grown into the role and has the potential to become one of the best midfielders in Europe.

Over at Chelsea, things aren't looking so rosy with Frank lampard apparently rejecting a huge contract offer to stay at Chelsea. I'm not sure what to make of the situation, he's 29 and it may be that he's not sure about comitting his future to one club for the remainder of his playing career. I don't think it is as big a deal as people are making it out to be, contract details often take a while to sort out and Frank has given his all for Chelsea in the past few seasons and deserves a bit of time to work out what he thinks is best for him. He has two years left on his contract and there's a long time till the start of the season so let's not jump to any conclusions yet and wait to see what the Chelsea Board do next.

It also appears that Jurgen Klinsmann rejected the possibility of managing Chelsea this summer. I'm a big admirer of Klinsmann and what he did for Germany during the last World Cup but I am not sure just what he's trying to do here. There's no need for him to come out and tell us about a situation that has now been resolved, I suppose it's a good way of keeping your name in the press but if he didn't want to leave California to manage Chelsea then I doubt any other big clubs will want him as manager. We all know about the situation at the end of last season between Mourinho and Abramovich, and we all know that Mourinho will be manager at Chelsea in the coming season, so it's just a nothing story designed to give the press a way to create more furore around a story that has already been resolved.

Saying that, if Klinsmann was willing to leave California then I do think he would be a very good manager, and considering some of the recent managerial appointments, his lack of experience at club management would not count against him.

Copa America round-up, Venezuela recorded their first win in the Copa for 40 years with a 2-0 victory over Peru. Pretty dirty game with Peru playing with 10 men for most of the game Venezuela finishing the game with 10 men, but congratulations to the hosts, and Peru not really showing what they are capable of. But it does spell good news for Chelsea fans because if peru go out early then their new signing, Pizarro, will be able to get a good rest before the start of the Premiership. The other game saw Uruguay beating Bolivia 1-0, with Vicente Sanchez grabbing the only goal of a game where Uruguay continued to struggle despite getting the victory. For a team with their class, they really are not playing very well and will need to raise their game against Venezuela who will be on a high after their first victory.

Right, I'm off, hope there's some sun wherever you are and that your football cravings have been sufficently satisfied, au revoir.

Strikers Steal the Spotlight

2007-06-30T14:01:00.000Z

It seems to be mainly strikers in the spotlight this week, with the big news today being that Atletico and Liverpool seem to have agreed a fee for Torres. The fee seems to be about 24 million pounds with Luis Garcia heading the other way, and though Atletico still refuse to acknowledge any deal for Torres, the fact that they have just signed Diego Forlan from Villarreal for 14 million does make it clear that Torres will be on his way soon. Good buy for Liverpool, Torres will grab a fair few goals for them and I never though Luis Garcia was that good anyway, too inconsistent in his displays in the Premiership, much like Liverpool themselves.

Dider Drogba is questioning his future at Chelsea. The striker is not sure whether he wants to stay at Chelsea or experience football in another League. Leaving Chelsea would be a very bad idea for Drogba, he top scored for them last season, he finally looked like he had settled in the Premiership and another season would allow him to build on the reputation he has created for himself. Chelsea would be sad at losing their top striker but they have the resources to bring in someone else and not feel the loss. If Drogba leaves, he's going to have to spend time to settle in to a new area, a new lifestlye, and a new style of play. Considering it took him a couple of seasons to really adapt to the Premiership, he doesn't want to make a move and give up a couple of years adapting to a new club when he is in his prime. Still I wouldn't be suprised if he spends a couple of weeks thinking about a move in the press, and then goes on to sign a slightly bigger contract then he already has at Chelsea...it's how football works.

It seems like Fulham are getting closer to signing Diomansy Kamara. The deal is still being negotiatated but the deal will probably be about 4 million plus Heidar Helguson for the striker. Kamara had a cracking season for West Brom in the Championship and has definitely matured as a player since we last saw him in the Premiership. He has good natural pace but I'm not sure whether a move to Fulham will really be in his best interests, if the rumours are to be believed then Sanchez is planning on building up a team that won't be keeping the ball on the ground too much, and though Kamara can use his pace to get on to any long balls, I just feel that he'd be better off in a side that plays the ball around a bit more. I do feel that Fulham will get relegated this season, but players like Kamara are definitely a step in the right direction for Sanchez, and if he can build a strong defence then they might just have a chance of beating the drop.

Not much on the Copa America, no games played last night, though it was interesting to see the anti-government chants at the US - Argentina game. Chavez has taken a lot of steps to seperate the political situation in Venezuela from the football and it was great to see that these fans used the occasion to register their contempt of the political regime. It is an interesting debate, how much should politics and sport should be entwined? I do think that sportsmen and women, especially in England, don't seem to voice enough opinions on the politics of the country. Though this may be due to the fact that they don't have any opinions, apart from which new Bentley they want. It is a hard situation for sportspeople as if they voice an opinion on politics then they need to make sure that it is well-researched and well though out. They can't just throw around opinions willy-nilly like most of us because their words can effect a massive amount of people, this is why most sportspeople will keep quiet, because they fear the backlash of any political comments. But I do think that they need to cast off a bit of this fear and speak up about issues that are important in their respective countries...sadly I cannot see this happening any time soon.

I'm off for now, but never fear, I shall be back tomorrow.

Bent Makes his Move

2007-06-29T16:47:00.000Z

It's all transfer talk today, with the big news being Darrent Bent signing for Tottenham in a 16.5 million pound deal. I talked about this transfer yesterday so there's not much more to say. It's a lot of money but Bent is a young English goalscorer with a proven ability in the Premiership, and Tottenham obviously have the money to spend, so it looks like good negotiations all round. It does look like Defoe will now be on his way, with Man Utd and Villa interested. Personally I would rather have Bent over Defoe but it is a hard decision. What tips it for me is that Bent could play off a target man or as a target man, he could play up front on his own and still get goals, whereas Defoe is great playing off another striker but wouldn't be so good on his own. I do hope that Defoe gets regular first team football wherever he heads to next, as he does have the talent to be a great striker, he just needs the confidence that goes with playing games every week, and when he gets that, he will start to score a truckload of goals.

Robert Earnshaw has completed his move to Derby for 3.5 million pounds, which is a very astute signing by Billy Davies. Earnshaw is a striker who has never really had a chance to shine in the premiership before, and I do think he'll have a good season if he's playing regularly. I watched the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final against Southampton and was not impressed by them, they will have to improve a lot to stay up in the Premiership and I just can't see them surviving this season.

The Copa America saw Argentina start off their campaign against the USA last night with a 4-1 win to the Argies. Tevez was amongst the scorers, as was Eddie Johnson for USA, who is a decent striker to watch out for in the future, definitely has potential to play for a big European club. In the other game, Paraguay destroyed Colombia 5-0 with Roque Santa Cruz getting a hat-trick, a harsh scoreline on the Colombians who had a penalty saved during the game.

Not much else to report today, but there does seem to be a definite build-up in the number of transfers going through, and I think that the next week will see a few big-name transfers going through...or so we hope.

Toodlepip.

Capello cops it as Tevez times out.

2007-06-28T21:08:00.000Z

A couple of managers and a couple of strikers lead the news today. Firstly, we have the managers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in the red corner, coming in at 37 years old, we have Chris Coleman. The Welsman who recently managed Fulham has been appointed as manager of Real Sociedad, who have just been relegated from the Primera Liga in Spain. He was reccomended to the role by John Toshack, the current Welsh manager, who holds a legendary status among the Real Sociedad fans. Congratulations to Chris, I always thought he did a really good job with Fulham and should not have been fired, he kept them in the Premiership with minimum backing from Al-Fayed, who then proceeded to fire him the moment there was any trouble at the Club. I've always liked Fulham but the way Coleman was treated was disgraceful, and I can't see them staying up with Sanchez in charge. But, for Coleman, his sacking may have been a blessing in disguise. At Sociedad he will have the chance to experience foreign football, a different culture and hopefully make a good reputation for himself whilst learning new managerial skills. It's not often you see British managers in charge of foreign clubs, so good luck to him and I hope that he succeeds.

In the white corner we had Fabio Capello,an experienced, tactically astute, and successful manager who has won a league title with every team he has managed...I say 'had' because this manager has been fired from Real Madrid after one season in charge. In this season he won the Primera Liga title, which Real hadn't won for 4 years, but apparently this wasn't good enough for the Real Madrid Board members who 'unanimously' decided to sack him because he didn't play enough beautiful football in the course of winning the league. Where can you start with news like this? I can't believe that Real have sacked him, it absolutely beggars belief, and you just wonder who the hell is in charge over there that they can get rid of the only manager to win them silverware in the past 4 years, crazy.

The next manager looks like being Bernd Schuster, and as long as he wins the league, the Champions League and the Spanish Cup, whilst playing exactly the perfect type of football then he'll be fine...good luck to him.

It looks like Tevez will not be heading to Inter after they imposed a time limit on his decision-making process. Inter had emerged as definite favourites for his signature this summer and though the end of talks may seem like good news for West Ham fans, the fact that he was holding talks with another club in the first place shows that he's probably on the way out of West Ham. I hope the man stays in the Premiership but I don't think he'll be at West Ham this coming season.

It also looks like Darren Bent could be on his way to Tottenham after they apparently reached an agreement with Charlton for the player. I mentioned in an earlier post that Bent may have rejected West Ham because he was holding out for a move to a club playing in Europe, and it looks like Tottenham is the club for him. With a strike force of Bent, Berbatov and Keane, Tottenham are beginning to look very dangerous for this coming season, and they should be pushing for a Champions League spot. Though this probably spells the end for Defoe who looks like he may be on the way to Man Utd, but we shall wait and see on that story.

Copa America round up, and the big news being the Brazil lost 2-0 to Mexico in their opening fixture. 2 brilliant goals with Castillo and Morales scoring. Castillo's goal was a delightful finish and you can see it here, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ear1_brazil-0-1-mexico-castillo, it seems that quite a few European club scouts are taking a peek at him, and on this evidence I wouldn;t be suprised to see him heading to a new club soon. Another player to watch out for in the Mexico side, who was injured for the Brazilian game, is winger Andres Guardado, someone I expect to see in Europe in the future. In the other game, Chile came from behind to beat Ecuador 3-2.

Busy day today, bring on tomorrow.

Torres Linked to Liverpool

2007-06-27T14:52:00.000Z

Not the most exciting day in the footballing world with the main news being that apparently Liverpool are locked in talks to sign Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid. Liverpool are stalling over the 27 million pound fee that Atletico want, and since Atletico are reluctant to sell their star striker, it looks as if they are holding the cards. Torres has been Atletico's top scorer for the past five seasons, and would be a great asset to Liverpool and the Premiership. At the moment Liverpool need a proper striker, someone who can get on the end of crosses and convert any half-chances into goals, and Torres can fulfil that type of role. He has the pace and instict to score 20 odd goals a season, and also has that flair to make something out of nothing. The reason that he has never been seen as an out-and-out striker is because he has to work hard at Atletico to create and score chances on his own, but at Liverpool he will have slightly more quality behind him, with Kuyt doing the hard work up front, which will allow him to stay up front and convert chances. But we shall see how the negotiations fare, if Liverpool manage to knock the fee down slightly then I wouldn't be suprised to see Arsenal or Man Utd trying a cheeky late bid to prise him away from Liverpool.

Carson Yeung has bough his shares in Birmingham, 29.9% of them to be exact. It doesn't give him full control of the club, but it does make him the largest single shareholder, and he does have an open door to buy more shares if he wants. This should be good news for Birmingham fans as this will give Steve Bruce a few more quid to spend on players, which leads on nicely to news that Flamini, of Arsenal, has been linked to Birmingham. A decent midfield scurrier, he never really had the talent to break through into the Arsenal first team but always tried his heart out, he should fit in well with the other ex-Arsenal players that Bruce seems to like. He is building a decent squad for the Premiership, and players like Flamini can make the difference in a relegation battle so I wouldn't be suprised to see this move finalised pretty soon.

Peter Hill-Wood has come out and said he thinks Wenger will stay but he's not completely sure. It's all been said before but this isn't a huge deal, Wenger likes to leave his contract extensions late and he will definitely be at Arsenal for this season, so we shall leave his future for next year.

The Copa America round up, Venezuela drew 2-2 with Bolivia, and Peru shocked Uruguay 3-0 in their opener. Was a definite suprise to see Uruguay lose their opening game but I can't see any of these teams really challenging for honours, though it would be great to have Venezuela doing well. Juan Carlos Marino scored a cracker in the Uruguay game and you can see that here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heuvc6T5G8c.

Until Tomorrow.

Sven Heads for Machester City

2007-06-26T14:08:00.000Z

After all the reports surrounding the Henry transfer, the dust has now settled, and it has gone pretty quiet in the football world today.

The biggest news is that Sven-Goran Eriksson has apparently agreed a 3 year deal to manage Manchester City, as long as the Shinawatra bid goes through. This is good news for City fans, Sven may not have the best reputation after his spell as England manager but people forget that he had a very good record in club management before his spell at England, and even as England manager his competitive record was very good. England may not have played the most attractive football under his management but I think that the break from management would have done him good and he'll come back to football refreshed and ready to build a decent team at City. Of course, this may not actually happen, as it all depends on Shinawatra's bid being allowed to go through. So we shall wait and see.

There could be another takeover going on in the Premiership with Carson Yeung interested in buying Birmingham. That bid is in its early stages though so we shall find out more about it in the coming week.

The same old transfer rumours going around, not much of note except that Ryan Babel has stated that he will not be moving to Arsenal this season, although he does see himself as an Arsenal player sometime in the future.

Finally, the Copa America is starting tonight in Venezuela, so in honour of the tournament I shall be doing a Copa report each day with match results and any players that could be the next big thing. hasta luego all.

Thierry unveiled and Charlton Ladies fade away

2007-06-25T16:11:00.000Z

It's official, Thierry Henry is now a Barcelona player. After passing a medical earlier on today, he was officially unveiled at 5pm in Barcelona, with the transfer fee being about 16.1 million pounds. I don't think there's much more that can be said about this transfer, Arsenal and the Premiership are losing a great player, but I do believe that Arsenal will recover from this and still challenge for the title this season. The youngsters are going to be forced to take more responsibilty for their roles in the team and this can only be a good thing. Good luck to Thierry and I hope that Barcelona don't meet Arsenal in the Champions League knockout stages!

Plenty of other news to keep us busy, starting with an issue that hasn't gained a huge amount of press but I feel is an important issue in the modern game. It is about women's football in England. Charlton ladies team has been forced to disband because of the relegation of the mens side from the Premiership, it is all about cost-cutting. Now I appreciate the fact that Charlton do have to cut some costs but surely they could have cut the wage-bill from the mens team a little? Plus they are receiving a generous amount of money from the Premiership as part of their parachute payments after getting relegated. The Charlton ladies team was the main challenger to the Arsenal ladies team this season for domestic honours, and how will women's football grow in England if they are considered so expendable by the big teams? I know that the football quality is not close to the premiership but having watched some women's football in the past couple of seasons, I was pretty impressed by the level of play and will always watch women's football when it's on tv. This closure is sending out the wrong message to te women's game, and does not reflect well on the men's game either, I hope the players and staff quickly find new clubs to work at.

There's been a few interesting pieces of news with regards to managers, with Paul Ince becoming the new manager of MK Dons, continued uncertainty over Capello's job at Real madrid and Neil Warnock coming out and saying he'd do a better job then Sven at Man City.

Firstly Mr. Warnock's comments were just his opinion on his own abilities, which he is entitled to, but I personally believe that most people out there would rather have Sven over Neil any day. But hey, if Sven declines the Man City job then maybe Neil can expect a call from Shinawatra...or maybe he should start looking elsewhere for a job.

Good on MK Dons for taking a chance on Paul Ince, he did a good job in keeping Macclesfield in the Football League and he does seem like he has the type of personality suited for management. I don't want to get into a racism debate, but it does strike me as odd that Roy Keane and Stuart Pearce can gain top management jobs straight away but Ince starts off at Macclesfield. However, this may be just down to Ince wanting to gain experience in the lower league before joining a top club, a very good idea as the demise of Stuart Pearce showed. Whatever the reasons behind his original move, I hope that he does well at the Dons as it's always good to have young English managers in the game.

I shall finish with poor Capello at Real Madrid. I have already mentioned his situation in a previous post but to have uncertainty over your job after winning the League title is pretty harsh. They may not have played brilliantly all season but they won the title for the first time in 4 years, syrely he deserves another season to build on this success. But who knows what will happen, Real Madrid is not a normal club and so we cannot expect them to make any normal decisions!

Au Revoir football lovers, I shall be back tomorrow.

The Calm after the Storm

2007-06-24T12:04:00.000Z

As the news of Thierry's transfer reverbarates around the football world, here at deadballdispute we must keep an eye on the other happenings in this football world...but the truth is, there's not a whole lot going on. Keith Harris, a banker, claims that the money Thaksin Shinawatra is using for the takeover of Man City is 'clean' money that "has been legitimately and transparently transferred to the UK". It defintely makes the money legal, but whether the money is 'clean' is another matter entirely. Anyway, I've said enough about this takeover bid, so read the previous posts for my thoughts on Mr. Shinawatra.

It seems that Arsenal are already being linked to a number of strikers to replace Thierry. Nicolas Anelka is the favourite, at the moment, to move to Arsenal in a 11 million pound deal but I'm not sure that Wenger will want to gamble again on Anelka. He's a very good striker, quick, strong, creative and a good finisher, and he has also matured a lot since his last stint at Arsenal, but there's always a fear that he might implode at any given moment leading to a massive sulk and a transfer out. Plus if he still has his brother as an agent then he can't really be trusted. Also being linked to Arsenal are Torres, Huntelaar and Babel. Babel is someone who might have come anyway, and I would love to see Huntelaar in an Arsenal shirt, 37 goals in 48 games last season for Ajax is a bloody good return and he is rated very highly.

Finally I leave with news that Chelsea are hunting down Alexandre Pato, a 17 year old brazilian who will move to Chelsea for 17 million pounds. From what I hear, he's going to be the next big thing but Chelsea have to be careful as sometimes players who move too early from South America fail to adapt well, the best thing to do would be to close the deal and then let him stay playing regular football for another season. Still, he looks like he's going to be brilliant but as with all youngsters, spending big is definitely a gamble.

Thierry's move should officially go through in the next couple of days so things might quiet down after that, but who knows, in football anything can happen. Toodlepip.

Thierry Moves On

2007-06-23T15:09:00.000Z

The big news today is that Thierry Henry is set to leave Arsenal and join Barcelona for 16 million pounds. It is a move that seemed inevitable over the past few weeks, and once Thierry has completed a medical, the transfer should be confirmed. In his explanation of the move, Thierry has cited the departure of David Dein, and the uncertainty over Arsene Wenger's future as part of his reason for moving, but this seems like some excuses on his part. The departure of a board member should not have an effect on the players, and Wenger is definitely staying another year at Arsenal so if Henry was that bothered, he could have waited another year. But, it would be sad to remember him for his exit, rather then for the sensational impact he made on the Premiership. He's a great player, and one that fans of other teams recognised as a true great, he will be sorely missed by Arsenal, and the Premiership. So where does this move leave Henry and Arsenal?

For Thierry, it is a chance to link up with Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Deco, Xavi and Inesta, players capable of creating chances with one touch, and Thierry will be there to finish those chances. Barcelona now look a whole lot more dangerous, and if they can find a player to protect their back 4, they will be pushing for the Champions League this season. Thierry is 29, and heading towards his twilight years, to him, this move is the chance to win the Champions League. If you asked any football fan who had more of a chance of winning the Champions League in the next couple of seasons, he would say Barcelona over Arsenal, 9 times out of 10. So Thierry has made the decision and I wish him all the best.

Over at Arsenal there may not be the crisis that everyone thinks there is. Wenger has a proven track record at knowing when to offload his top players so Arsenal fans should trust his judgement on this one. The board are now working with Kroenke to see what happens, and our transfer budget is starting to look pretty good. 16 million may not be the greatest amount for a player like Henry, but added to all the other transfer fees they have received all season, they have a fair bit of money to spend. If they continue the development of the youngsters and the board back Wenger in the transfer market to bring in a few quality and experienced players, then Arsenal will rise again and Wenger might sign a new contract. The most important thing for the board to do in the next few weeks, is to let Wenger know that any transfer target he wants, they will do the utmost to sign. Arsenal may not look strong at the moment, but come the beginning of the next season, they might have a few suprises up their sleeve.

Apart from Thierry, there are a few other bits of Transfer news. Gary O'Connor is on his way to Birmingham for about 2.65 million. He's a decent fox-in-the-box and could bag them a few goals this season. Rozehnal is on his way to Newcastle for about 3 millon. He's a central defender, which Newcastle definitely need, and he has International experience, but PSG didn't have a great season in the French Championship (15th out of 20) so I shall reserve judgement on Rozehnal till I see him in action.

So, Adios Thierry, good luck in Barcelona, the Premiership will be a lesser place without you. Adios all.

Calderon's at it Again

2007-06-22T14:12:00.000Z

All's fair in Love, war and football. Spot the mistake. It's amazing what teams do to unsettle possible targets, they use agents to release rumours, papers to release rumours, they announce their targets and they meet their targets before agreeing a fee with the club, but most Clubs know that they can only get away with so much, that there is a line that shouldn't be crossed. We saw this with the whole Chelsea and Ashley Cole saga, Chelsea's mistake wasn't that they were illegally talking to Ashley, but that they did it so publicly that they were bound to get caught, silly boys. But there is one Club that seems to consistently cross any sort of line, any guesses who? That's right, Real Madrid.

So, what have they done now? Well, today our favourite President, Mr. Roman Calderon, announced that if Capello was fired from Madrid then they had some candidates lines up, including Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup and Arsene Wenger. Where can we start? Firstly, Capello has got to be pissed, he's just brought the club their first league title in 4 years and has 2 years left on his contract, but his job is being thrown around like he's already gone. If the President and board had any sort of respect they'd be reassuring Capello that his job was safe and starting to plan out their defence of their title, but no, instead Calderon makes a casual remark about future managers that he knows is going to be all over the press the next day, so that if Capello does leave, he's already started to unsettle any future targets. He's a clever man, but soon opposition clubs are going to get tired of his constant chatter and a backlash will start.

This comes off the back of a photo in a Spanish Newspaper called "AS", which showed the Milan player Kaka holding up a picture of a newspaper proclaiming Madrid champions. Milan have reacted furiously to this, stating that the Newspaper took an official picture of Kaka and photoshopped it to show him holding the Spanish newspaper. Basically, the whole thing's a fake, and the Spanish press are up to their usual fun and games, but it definitely has the Madrid tinge to it, and since Calderon has already come out and stated that Kaka is one of his top transfer targets, I wouldn't be suprised if their was some sort of link between the photo and Real Madrid. Of course I don't have any proof of this but hey, it's just a thought.

Lots and lots of transfer rumours flying about today, way too many to comment on i'm afraid, so use the links to the side and take a look at the football news. The one I'm interested in is Man Utd's continued link with Fabio Quagliarella, striker for Sampdoria and Italy. He scored 13 goals in Serie A last year and scored twice on his debut for Italy, with a transfer fee of around 10 million pounds being mentioned he might turn out to be a decent signing. However, he's 23 and has just had his first decent goalscoring season so a bit of a risk, in that this season might have been a flash in the pan, but if Man Utd wait around and he has another good season, is price will probably double. So, is he worth the risk? We shall find out soon. Toodlepip.

The City Takeover Is On

2007-06-21T11:33:00.000Z

And so the Man City saga continues with news that Thaksin Shinawatra has lodged an 81.6 million pound takeover of the club, backed by the City board. This was always going to happen because yesterday I wrote about it not happening for a while, writer's curse. Anyway, I stick to the point made yesterday that Thaksin is still trying to put a good public face on his situation, and I'm sure the man does have 81.6 million pounds to spend, but I still think the City board should not have backed this bid. There is too much cloud over the deal for it to go ahead. What happens if Thaksin is charged by the Thai government and extradited? Where does that leave City? There is no way that a man who's assets are being frozen, and who is under investigation for corruption, should be allowed to take over a Premiership Club. Even if he is innocent, the fact that he is under investigation should rule him out of a bid, and though City could certainly use the backing, this deal should be stopped as soon as possible. If Thaksin is cleared of charges, then fair enough, let him make another bid, but I hope the Premier League realies that, at the moment, the circumstances around this deal are too volatile to let the bid go through.

Yesterday saw our U21's go out to Holland at the semi-final stage of the European U21 chamionship. It was a very brave performance for a group of tired players, we lost 13-12 on penalties after holding out for 20 mins of Extra time with 10 men, and drawing 1-1 in normal time. It was a fantastic effort, and for England to have actually got 12 penalties was, in itself, an achievement. It should give the youngsters a good experience of the pressure situations they will come up against later in their careers. To be honest, the Dutch were the better side but we countered their technical ability by playing ugly English football, and the Dutch equaliser in the 89th minute of normal was a cruel blow. But, it was a good learning experience, and hopefully these guys will have a good break and come back refreshed for next season. A note on Stuart Pearce, I have never thought that he had the tactical knowledge to succeed as a top level manager but he has done a pretty good job with the U21's considering the injuries, suspensions and the Bentley situation, so fair play to him and I hope that they give him the job on a permanent basis so he can develop as a manager.

Not much else going on, few transfer rumours flying about but nothing we haven't heard before so I shall comment later if there are any developments. I'll be back...tomorrow.

Chaos at Man City

2007-06-20T16:26:00.000Z

Today we start with the circus that is Manchester City. The BBC are reporting that if Thaksin Shinawatra completes his takeover of City, then he will appoint Sven-Goran Eriksson as the new manager, but Sky Sports are telling us that more of his assets have been frozen, about 300 million pound's worth of assets. As i've said before, it's just a big mess up there, and one that doesn't look as if it will be sorted out quickly. Shinawatra's bid is now looking like an absolute mess, but City realistically need the investment if they want to attract a top manager and new players. So, what to do? Well, first things first, they need to sort out the bid from Thaksin. This obviously sounds a lot easier then it actually is, but if they choose to carry on with the bid and then he pulls out in a few weeks time, they're going to be in a very weak position. Thaksin is in a bad position, his accounts are being investigated and his assets are being frozen, there's even the possibility of him being arrested by the Thai government for corruption, which means that he's very concerned with his public image at the moment. If he doesn't have enough to buy City, he's not going to admit it for a while, which means that City are going to suffer because of this political situation. If they stop the buy-out now, they can re-consider their position and then move on in the search for a new manager. They may not have as much money as with Shinawatra, but they'll be able to sort their club out, put a stop to any unrest, and start building their team for the season ahead. Unfortunately, this does not seem likely, and I feel that City may be staring at relegation this season.

Transfer news today, Wigan may have placed a 5 million bid for Jason Koumas, with Everton and Reading also sniffing around the player. As I've mentioned before, it's important that he plays in the right position and Wigan may be the best bet as they might build a team around him, but we shall wait and see. As with all transfer rumours, no sooner has one come out then it's being refuted. Lyon have come out and stated that there has been no contact with Chelsea over Malouda. It isn't a huge deal, he's already said he wants to go, and Chelsea and Liverpool are still favourites to make the signing. Liverpool may be in for Torres, which'll be a great signing, but most of the big teams in Europe willl also be interested so any possible talks will take a while to compete. Also, West Ham are in the chase of Benni McCarthy who has had a great first season in the Premiership. Can't see why he would move to West Ham this season, they're pretty much in the same place as Blackburn so he might as well stay there, have another good season and hope one of the big boys comes in for him next summer.

Finally, bit of Championship news, Southampton's Chris Baird is still looking for an exit with Fulham favourites for the signing. I mention this because the Saints are my tip to go up to the Premiership this season and I'd like to see them retain their best players. Mind you, they were my tip last season as well, anyway, definitely worth a flutter! And on that note, I bid you goodbye.

Malouda on the move

2007-06-19T21:07:00.000Z

The news today, in transfer talk it seems that Chesea may be leading the race to sign Malouda with a reported fee of around 17 million pounds. Liverpool are in second place, which will not make Benitez happy. Decent winger at about the same price that Man Utd paid for Nani, but with more experience and a good World Cup run under his belt, but having two top teams interested obviously pushed the money up a fair bit. He's usually deployed as a winger, so it seems that Mourinho may be rejigging his tactics for next season aftre deploying the more narrow diamond midfield for much of last season. If he gets Malouda and keeps Robben, then he'll have some pretty decent attacking wingers along with Joe Cole and Kalou. Could see a return to the 5 man midfield with Ballack, Lampard and Essien forming the centre with the others fighting for a place on the wing, Mikel and Sidwell would rotate in the midfield, though thsi does mean only one striker out of Sheva, Drogba and Pizarro...will be interesting to see what happens. The other decent transfer talk of the day involves Tottenham closing in on Younes Kaboul, a young central defender from Auxerre who carries around a 8 million price tag, hefty weight for a young defender. Never seen him, but reports make him sound highly promising and he has captained the French U-21 side. He'll probably start on the bench this season since central defence is such an important position that any new players have to be bedded in slowly, but with King never far from the operating table, he may get some starts sooner then he thinks.

More takeover talk, Blackburn are in talks with American based businessman Daniel Williams who stresses that he is in the early stages of a takeover process. He makes all the right noises about not changing a huge amount to the club, but this is obviously going to be a long drawn out process so I'll keep you updated. Thaksin Shinawatra's bid for Man City is apparently still on track despite his frozen bank accounts and the corruption investigation. Not sure what to believe on this one so think I'll just play it safe and wait and see. Our final takeover gossip involves talks between Stan Kroenke, Peter Hill-Wood and Keith Edelman in the USA, as you should all know Kroenke has been buying up Arsenal shares and this was a clear-the-air meeting. It seems as if some air was cleared and reports seem quietly encouraging with the Arsenal directors stating that they might work with him in the future, though another statement shall be made soon. The Arsenal board are doing the right thing, squaring off against Kroenke was never going to solve any uncertanties so this is a step in the right direction, and hopefully more should be known later this week.

Finally, the verdict on the Sheffield United hearing should be out by the end of the month so I shall be waiting to give my brilliant opinion on the issue. Night all.

England Investigated

2007-06-18T22:56:00.000Z

Not a huge amount going on in the Footballing world today with only a few bits of interest. The FA have lodged a complaint over the racism in the U21 game last night, which is definitely the right move, but Huddlestone has been suspended for 2 games after his sending off, which means he'll miss the sem-final and the final of the tournament. Very silly sending off, he was only on the pitch for 3 minutes, and the kid should've known better, he's got a lot of talent and hopefully he'll learn from this. The English players are also under investigation for the eveents after the final whistle, when both sets of playes were in the tunnel. I hope that UEFA take into account the context of their actions, I'm not excusing whatever they did, but they had been through a game where their teammates had been racially abused by the Serbian fans and had to put up with the Serbian players becoming more and more agitated and aggressive. They're only young players and it's not suprising that the situation boiled over, I just hope that UEFA shows some common sense for once, and takes this into account when handing out punishments.

Francesco Totti has won the European Golden Boot award, I'm a fan of his footballing skills, though some of his conduct has been pretty bad, so congatulations to the fella. He may be back playing for Italy soon, which is great news for them as their European qualifying campaign hasn't been great so far.

Halfway through the Sheffield United hearing, with Liverpool's Chief Executive Rick Parry being called as a suprise witness for Sheffield United. McCabe of Sheffield United remains confident but we shall see. The hearing ends tomorrow.

Finally a few transfer rumours to keep you going, Milan have insisted that Eto'o remains their number one target for the summer. I feel sorry for him, he came out with a clear statement on staying at Barcelona, yet other clubs still try and unsettle him, in this case I'm not sure he'll be leaving unless Barcelona receive a huge transfer fee. Another Spanish club, Real Madrid, have apparently confirmed their interest in Tevez, though his agent tells us that he could still stay at West Ham. I very much doubt that he'll be staying and it seems like he'll be heading to either Inter or Real this summer, which'll be a big loss for the Premiership but in the interests of Tevez.

Here's hoping that things pick up soon, Night.

Becks Bows out of Spain

2007-06-17T21:59:00.001Z

Tonight the headlines have been stolen by Beckham. In his final game for Real Madrid, they came back from a goal down to win 3-1 and secure the La Liga title...unfortunately for Dave, he was subbed off pretty early due to his foot injury but still, it was a good night for him and a good way to finish his career. A lot has been said about Dave, both good and bad, and his move to LA Galaxy has been anylised by a lot of pundits, so I figure I might as well have my say too. People say he wouldn't have gone to LA if he hadn't been frozen out of the England side, and it's a good point, publicly he claimed that he would never give up on England but over Christmas he must have thought he'd had his last game. But I also think the move to LA is about escaping his fame lifestyle. He has never looked entirely comfortable under the spotlight, despite his huge amount of publicity, and in LA he can life a more sheltered lifestyle, along with the hundreds of filmstars, and possibly let his kids get to school without being pursued by huge amounts of paparrazzi. Of course, he will not be entirely out of spotlight, but in an area where Victoria and himself can control their publicity in a way that they could never achieve whilst in England or Spain, or even Italy, which is the one league that could have tempted him away from LA. If he had still been part of the England squad a move to Italy would have been very tempting, a slower, more technical league where he could've played for a few more seasons, but he still would have had to put up with the press. LA looks more and more like the right decision for his family and him, he gets to try and change a whole country into loving football, Victoria is at the centre of celebrity fashion, and the kids can actually get to school without being mobbed. He will still play for England, and hopefully his game won't suffer, but good luck to him anyway.

In other news, the U21's made it through to the semi-final of the Euro Championship after beating Serbia 2-0 in a very controversial game. Lita got the first but the game then had be stopped, when the referee got the stadium announcer to broadcast an anti-racism message after English defender Nedum Onuaha was abused by the crowd, the game carried on but the second goal was scored whilst a Serbian player was down injured, which sparked a mass brawl between the two teams. Where to start, firstly racism has no place in the game and I hope FIFA punish the crowd members that abused the player, racism is something that is very rare in Holland and there can be no dithering about in this type fo situation, the Serbian footballing body is responsible for their fans and must be punished. With the second goal, the new rules brought in to football state that the referee is the one who has the power to stop the game when a player is injured, and that the players should carry on, so the players cannot be held to blame. However, I do dislike this rule and still believe that players should put out the ball, though I appreciate this is hard considering the amount of diving that goes on. It should still be an unwritten rule to put the ball out but you can no longer blame players for carrying on the brawl shouldn't have happened and I hope no England players are suspended for the next few games, Pearce has had enough to deal with already.

Well, no real transfer news, just the same old rumours, so goodnight all and I await the Sheffiel United hearing tomorrow with baited breath.

All dead in the world

2007-06-15T23:38:00.000Z

Pretty dead today in the football world, with the same transfer rumours running the wire! We've talked about Henry before but it seems as if he is heading towards the exit, and in to the waiting arms of Barcelona. Not sure how the exact deal will work out but seems Arsenal may get Eto'o in a part exchange deal or a lot of money. Thierry will be a real loss to the Prem but I trust Wenger knows what he's doing, so watch this space.

Not much else, transfer probe going on but won't know more till later and that's bout it really. Hope tomorrow's a better day!

Bent Stays Put

2007-06-14T22:09:00.000Z

Transfer news leads the way today starting with Darren Bent rejecting a move to West Ham. The deal was thought to have been about 16 million punds plus Hayden Mullins for the striker but in an unforseen move, Darren has decided that the move isn't for him, but why has he rejected this move? It's a no-brainer, a great deal for Charlton who get a very good amount of money for losing their top striker, and Darren gets to go back to the premiership, work under the same manager who bought him originally, play in a team that looks as if it'll make a push for Europe, and try and push for a place in the England squad. So what would make him reject a move? It could be said that his England chances have never looked great, and with Ashton and Owen coming back to fitness as well as Rooney and Crouch he may not be so positive about his chances there, but if Alan Smith can play for England then surely he's got to fancy his chances at some point in the season? Conclusions? Well, he could have decided to be loyal to his club and help return Charlton to the Premiership next season, he's still young and he's got a long future ahead of him, so one season in the Championship is not going to kill him, though it'll probably destroy his chances of going to Euro 2008. The only other possibility is that a bigger club might have let his agent know of a possible interest and he's holding out for a bigger move. I personally like to believe that he had some loyalty to his club because, let's face it, how often does that happen these days?

The other transfer news sees Joey Barton complete his move to Newcastle after they upped their bid by 300k to allow City to pay Joey's "loyalty" money, overall transfer fee now stands at 5.8 million. Tal Ben-Haim has moved to Chelsea on a free transfer, which is a very decent signing. Chelsea's defensive problems should now be solved as any injuries to Terry and Carvalho canbe covered by Alex, as well as Ben-Haim. Alex should even be pushing for a starting berth, his performance against Arsenal in the Chmpions League last season was one of the best defensive displays i've ever seen, and he'll be a real asset this season. They just need a right-back now.

Season fixtures out today, hopefully your teams have decent start to the season as that is vitally important. Newcastle at Bolton should be an interesting start. Also, U21s in action today with a 2-2 draw against Italy. Good result, although they did chuck away a 2-0 lead, and a win against Serbia will definitely see them through, though they have beaten both the Czechs and Italians so the result isn't guaranteed. Good luck to them anyway, they may need it. And on that note, I take my leave, till the morning.

Blades attempt to Bounce Back

2007-06-13T22:36:00.001Z

Kevin McCabe leads the news today after saying that he would turn to the European commission for compensation if an independent court of arbitration fails to overturn the relegation of Sheffield United. Mr. McCabe is chairman of the Blades and will not look to the European commission to appeal any decision made by the court of arbitration, but rather to gain compensation for those who will lose their jobs and other “human rights” issues. Well well, where to start? I have got to say that I couldn’t believe that West Ham weren’t docked points by the Premier league, especially due to the precedent set by docking Middlesbrough points in 1997 when they didn’t fulfil a fixture. The record fine of 5.5 million was intended to gloss over this point, but backfired and brought more attention to it, and since then the issue hasn’t gone away. I have sympathy for both sets of fans but West Ham should’ve been docked point and should’ve gone down, however the Premiership has already ruled on the matter and any sort of challenge to that ruling will open up a door to the clubs that may never close. It’s a hard one to sort out, but the most important factor is how far can the ruling body be held accountable for its decisions? By joining the Premier League, the clubs gave the ruling body complete power to make these decisions and I’m afraid that Sheffield United may just have to face another season in the Championship, however unfair it may be. We shall watch, with interest, how it turns out on Monday.

Over at Manchester City, their managerial search has been in the news today with Sevilla manager Juande Ramos and ex-Porto manager Co Adriaanse both emerging as front runners for the job. Tonight they both distanced themselves from the job, which is understandable considering the situation at City and the fact that Ramos is fighting for the La Liga title and the Copa Del Rey in Spain. Both have big reputations but Ramos is probably top of the list, he has won the UEFA cup twice, and has given the big boys of Spanish football a run for their money this season. He must see more potential at City if he is to consider this job so everything may hinge on the takeover talks and how they go. Again, we shall observe with fascination.

As always we finish with transfer news: Middlesbrough have signed Turkish international striker Tuncay on a free transfer, which looks to be a nice bit of business. He famously scored a hat-trick against Man Utd and bolsters their striking options, good deal all round. Sunderland have apparently made an offer for David Nugent, who I’m a fan of, and he’ll be a decent signing, though at 6 million he is overpriced, like all English players. Lastly, Wigan have had a 4 million pound offer for Jason Koumas rejected. He’s a lovely player to watch when he’s on form but he’s need to play in his best position, behind the 2 strikers, and there aren’t very many managers willing to employ that type of role so if he does come to the Premiership, I hope he gets the chance to shine.

Night all.

Eto'o shows how it's done

2007-06-12T23:17:00.000Z

If there is one way to stop any transfer rumours, we have seen it today from Samuel Eto’o who has dismissed all links with any possible move away from the Nou Camp. Today he said this,
"The club can't get rid of me because of my contract and as we both want to continue anyway, there is nothing more to talk about. I am staying at Barcelona and I don't know where these stories saying I'm going come from."
It’s refreshing to see such a strong statement of loyalty from a top player and it’s something that a lot of players could do emulate stop silly transfer rumours, but then they would never get bigger contracts and agents wouldn’t earn any money so this will definitely turn out to be the exception rather then the rule. Thierry Henry certainly hasn’t come out with such a statement, although his agent is suing the French paper that reported he’d signed a provisional 3-year deal with Barcelona, and he’s stated,
“In my head I’m still an Arsenal player and my departure is not a current issue”
Unfortunately for us, we will never be able to get into his head and, unfortunately for him, his departure is a current issue. I’m beginning to wonder just what game he’s playing at the moment? Yesterday I believed that he wouldn’t be on his way, but such is the fickle nature of football that now I’m beginning to wonder if he might be edging towards the exit door. It also could be that he’s trying create a situation where he can cause enough unrest at the club to bring back David Dein (as explained on Arseblog), but since we can’t read his mind, we’ll just have to wait this one out. If he is sold then Arsenal do hold all the cards so expect another big transfer fee.

Also hogging the headlines is news of a couple of takeovers! First up, Thaksin Shinawatra’s bid to takeover Man City apparently about to collapse after the Thai government froze his bank accounts and started investigating his offshore assets. From the little I know about this situation, its seems that the new military government are attempting to assert their power over the man they threw out and pre-empt any future moves by Thaskin to regain a power base in Thailand, much like what the Russian government has also been doing to its rich opponents. This, of course, spells bad news for City, who need to find a new manager quickly to start building a squad for next season, but who would’ve thought that the political situation in Thailand could ever effect a Premiership club, football never ceases to amaze.

Our second takeover news is just at the rumour stage, but what a rumour. Apparently the fifth richest man in the world is eying up Birmingham City! Lakshmi Mittal, worth 19.25 Billion pounds (roughly double what Abramovich is worth) has emerged as a contender to buy Birmingham along with a mysterious Far East businessman. It is only a rumour but imagine what might happen to Birmingham if he comes along. I suspect Birmingham fans will be keeping their fingers crossed so watch this space.

Finally I leave you with news that Inter and Carlos Tevez have confirmed their interest in each other. I suspect that he might be on his way, which is a pity for the premiership since he was a star last season but I don’t think he was ever going to stay at West Ham even with the investment going on, a player of his talent wants Champions League football and Inter look like they’ll be bringing him over to Italy. Ciao.

Henry's Agent Fights Back

2007-06-11T22:30:00.000Z

Today sees the clearest indication that all is well at Arsenal with news that Thierry Henry’s agent has slammed reports of a provisional 3 year contract with Barcelona. Jeff Weston, the man in charge of the group looking after Henry, stated,
“There’s never been any question of him not being at Arsenal next season”
Considering that agents are usually the trouble-stirrers, this is a pretty clear indication that Thierry is most likely going to stay at Arsenal next season, which is great news for the Arse and for the premiership. The only possibility of him going is in a part-exchange move for Eto’o and since Barcelona do not want to sell him, I think that Henry is staying put. Mind you, it is a long summer and anything can happen in football but I just can’t see him leaving, all a bit tiring really.

Our U21’s got off to a stuttering start today with a 0-0 draw against the Czech Republic; not a great performance with Leroy Lita missing a penalty in the last 5 minutes, but, at least we did better then the Italians who lost 1-0 to Serbia in their opener. It’s not the greatest start but we do have enough quality in our side to make it through to the semis at least. I see Stuart Pearce as more of a hindrance then a help, he’s got plenty of passion and he’s the most honourable manager out there but he doesn’t have the tactical nous to succeed at a high level. Luckily, passion is probably what’s needed in these shorter tournaments, so fingers crossed the team perk up and goes on a good run.

And to end with, some transfer news: Greg Halford has signed for Sunderland in a 3 million pound deal from Reading. Bit of a weird transfer, he’d only had 3 appearances for Reading, but as a Colchester local I’ve seen a fair bit of him and he was always head-and-shoulders above the over players! Seriously, he’s definitely one for the future. Alou Diarra wants to leave Lyon and Portsmouth are rumoured to be leading the chase. He’s a highly rated central midfielder and I’m not sure whether Portsmouth have enough clout to sign the man, he’ll definitely be wanting Champions League football in the next couple of seasons and with interest from Bayern Munich, I’m not sure Portsmouth will win this battle.

Goodnight all, let’s hope tomorrow perks up a little.

Galaxy Beckons

2007-06-10T23:41:00.000Z

So Calderon’s at it again, and boy this guy just won’t stay out of the news. Today he’s trying to persuade Becks to stay at Real Madrid after stating that he has a clause in his contract that allows him to stop his move to LA Galaxy. Galaxy have come out and said they know of no clause, and sources close to Becks say he’s set on his move. So Mr. Calderon loses again but before we have any sympathy, this is the man who called Dave, “an average cinema actor living in Hollywood”, when Becks first announced his move Galaxy. Put simply, he does not deserve any sort of sympathy and though I would have liked Dave to stay around in European football for another few years, it is fully understandable why he chose to move to Galaxy. At the time he looked like he had no chance of playing for England and Madrid again, so before people start labelling him a sell-out for his move, they should put themselves in his shoes and see just why he made the decision to go to the US.

All still quiet on the transfer front with the only news of interest being that Bolton may cash in on Kevin Nolan and that Dave Nugent is looking to leave Preston. Nolan is a hugely underrated player and would be an asset at any premiership club, and I wonder what the odds are on him joining Big Sam at Newcastle? Nugent is someone I’m a big fan of, saw his goal against Southampton when he coolly finished in front of goal with the outside of his right foot, and from what I hear he would definitely score goals in the Premiership. Everton are the favourites but Boro may come in since they desperately need some striking power.

Kudos to Wenger for saying he’ll honour his contract, though we shouldn’t have doubted that in the first place. If you want to read a good opinion on the whole going ons at Arsenal then go to arseblog.com where your man cuts through the crap and explains the whole thing a lot better then I ever could…which is probably why he has sponsors and I have nothing…and on that sad note, I shall make my exit…but only till tomorrow, when the fun shall renew. Night all.

Calderon Chokes Up

2007-06-09T21:48:00.000Z

Pretty quiet today on the transfer front with no major news to report. Ancelotti of AC Milan has come out and said that getting Henry from Arsenal will be very difficult but then I think pretty much everyone could work that out. Sneijder may snub both Villa and Spurs and stay at Ajax for another season, which would be a pity since he would be a major asset to the premiership, though I do hope he doesn’t end up at Spurs! Robben is close to signing a new deal with Chelsea, which might make Calderon keep his mouth shut for a few hours though pigs might fly first. Liverpool have apparently enquired about Darren Bent with rumours of an 18 million pound price tag coming up, he’s a quality striker with a proven goal-scoring record in the premiership but 18 million is way too much money, no wonder clubs aren’t buying English players anymore.

And speaking of strikers, Man Utd are actively in the hunt for one to partner Rooney up front as they have lost patience with Saha,, and Solskjaer is not the same player as he used to be. You’ve hear them all before but just in case, the names being thrown around are Torres, Berbatov, Anelka and Huntelaar and they are all going to cost an arm and leg so watch this space.

To finish up today, a quick note on the announcement that all the England players are donating their England match-fees to Team England Footballers charity. A great idea, and though it isn’t a huge amount to the players, it’ll make a big difference to others so good on ‘em, it isn’t always that we applaud the English team so they deserve credit where it’s due.

Thierry Talks and Bentley Bolts

2007-06-08T11:48:00.000Z

And so it begins again, Thierry “va va voom” Henry has come out and talked about how “devastated” he was to see David Dein go and how “flattered” he is to hear about interest from AC Milan. Every fan, whether Arsenal or not, knows that the Arsenal board had no other choice then to get rid of Dein, the man was working behind the backs of the board members to bring in Kroenke and there’s no way that he could have retained his position on the board after they stated that they would not welcome any takeover attempt by Kroenke. Thierry seems to be a clever chap and he should have realised this, so even if he was devastated by the news, which is fair enough seeing as they were quite close, he should not have come out and said it in public. Who knows what kind of game he’s playing? To me it doesn’t seem like he wants to leave, but he is trying to draw attention to the insecurities at Arsenal at the moment, albeit in the wrong fashion. The board need to come out and say a few things in the next week, they should tie up Wenger’s contract, make a signing, state that Henry is going nowhere and outline what the club will do over the summer. This will hopefully put a stop to all the mutterings coming out of the Emirates.

Lots of games being played in other clubs too, Malouda has come out and stated that he wants to leave Lyon and has had contact with Chelsea and Liverpool, though nothing has been sorted out yet. Another classic move by a want-away player and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him in a Chelsea shirt within the next couple of weeks. Our favourite president, Mr. Calderon of Real Madrid, has told the world that he’d welcome Kaka with open arms. Brilliant PR from the Madrid man but Kaka will not be going anywhere this summer.

Tottenham and Aston Villa have both been linked with Wesley Sneijder of Ajax. I have bought him a number of times in Football Manager and he’s always done the job for me. But seriously, seen him play a few times and he’s a class act so would love to see him in the premiership…but preferably not for Tottenham. Chimbonda of Tottenham also may be on his way to Chelsea who are in the market for a right-back but I can’t see this one happening, it would take a lot of money to prise him away from Spurs and Chelsea would be better off looking on the continent for a right back, Daniel Alves would make the most sense.

Finally, a quick rant about David Bentley. Fair enough he’s played a lot of games this season and been involved with the main Enlgand squad, but leaving the U21 squad now because of “fatigue” is a fucking joke. Stuart Pearce cannot call up a replacement as he can only replace injured players and so is now left with 22 players for the European U21 Championship. The guy knows he’s tired so why leave it till this late to tell the boss? All he had to do was to tell Stuart Pearce a couple of weeks ago that he was going to train with the main squad then have a break, and we would’ve been able to call up another player. It just pisses me off that he’ll get out of this without any sort of punishment after letting his country and his team mates down. He should not be picked for England for a lengthy period of time. Rant over now, hope everyone has a good day…apart from Bentley, I hope he can’t sleep for the next week.

England stutter on

2007-06-07T20:48:00.000Z

First up, good win for England last night, a decent performance but not one we should measure the team by. The fact that a qualifying game against Estonia became so important is a sad reflection on the England management, players and press. The real tests are coming up and I’m in that horrible place where I want England to win but I also, kind of, want them to lose so that McClaren will get fired. It seems very unpatriotic but I know most English fans out there are feeling the same way but don’t want to admit it, which is fair enough because no one knows who I am!

Transfer news now, Mark Viduka has sealed his free transfer move to Newcastle and the strikeforce of Owen, Viduka and Martins looks pretty tasty. Middlesbrough apparently offered him an “outstanding” offer to stay but Newcastle would have been able to match any financial terms and are also, no offence to Boro supporters out there, the team more likely to do better this season. The Boro are in a bad way and desperately need some strikers with Aliadiere being the only striker who looks like joining. Speaking as an Arsenal fan, he is too hit-and-miss to replace a man like Viduka though his pace does mean he’ll always look dangerous.

Now keep it quiet everyone but Chelsea and Arjen Robben have apparently opened up talks with Real Madrid over a possible transfer. This has been loudly announced to the world press by their president, Roman Calderon. Chelsea have denied any talks and are now writing to FIFA to investigate any illegal talks between the player Real Madrid. President Calderon joins the ranks of other Presidents across the world who seem not to know when to keep their mouth shut…weapons of mass destruction anyone?

There has also been a string denial by Samuel Eto’o of any transfer talk between himself and Rafa Benitez. Both Barcelona and the player seem to want the same thing, for him to be at Barca next season, and I can’t see why he’d swap Barcelona for Liverpool. No offence to Liverpool fans but he seems like the type of player who prefers a free-flowing type of football to the more direct tactical football that Rafa likes to play, and Barca is perfect for him in that way. And just in case, that wasn’t a criticism, just a comment!

Finally, Ribery is off to Bayern so no more Arsenal rumours on that front and Parker has finally completed his move to West Ham. Another busy day in the funny world of football.

Midfield Movement

2007-06-06T16:03:00.000Z

Once again West Ham and Newcastle are in the headlines with Scotty Parker sealing his move to West Ham from Newcastle for 7 Million. He's had a decent couple of seasons at Newcastle but hasn't really set the world alight though that was probably more down to the quality of his team-mates then his own performances, plus he first rose to form under Curbishley at Charlton so he should slot in pretty easily and we might be seeing some much-improved displays from him next season. He will replace Mr. Reo-Coker who looks like he's on his way to Villa with only a fee between the two clubs standing in the way of this potential move. And to complete this little transfer dance, Joey Barton has agreed personal terms with Newcastle who should sign him for about 5.5 million in the next couple of days. So, who has done best out of this? Out of the three I'd definitely have Barton, he's cheaper, just as good as the other two, and sounds like he might have grown up. However he may still go to jail, which is a slight downside but still better then listening to Reo-Coker go on about how he wasn't wanted enough. Both West Ham and Newcastle have done good business and it's quite interesting to note that Joey and Scotty both resemble their managers...the reserved midfielder and the psycho midfielder under the reserved and psycho managers...I’ll leave you to work out which one is which.

Poor Ben Foster has cruciate knee ligament damage, which means we won't be seeing him for a while. It's a pity because he looks like he could have pushed both Van Der Sar and Robinson for the Man Utd and England jersey respectively, but that's football. Good luck to his recovery.

Incredibly, Newcastle are rumoured to be interested in a central defender....sorry, what's that? 2 central defenders! Amazing, I thought I’d never see the day that a manager comes into Newcastle and sees what any football fan has seen for a long time...the defence is shite. So Ben-Haim may be joining his old manager, and David Rozenhal of PSG looking like he's on his way. Don't know much about Rozenhal but it looks like Big Sam is crafting a decent little side together, if Owen can stay fit (much touching of wood) then I’m looking forward to seeing how they gel.

Finally, sorry about the first post, technical issues with blog, and good luck to England tonight. We're making an awfully big fuss about beating Estonia, even Big John Terry has come out and told us to blame him if it all goes wrong...I hate to ruin his grand gesture but maybe if he saved statements like that for World Cup quarter finals, rather then a qualifier against a team ranked 110th in the world, we would all take a little bit more notice.

Here we go again

2007-06-05T17:43:00.000Z

So Gerrard has backed Lampard to regain his form, Gilberto SIlva has also backed Lampard and next up I think my Labrador might come out and back him, just in case no one was getting the point that Lampard hasn't hit form for England since....forever! I feel that the age-old debate of "can Gerrard and Lampard play in the centre together?" has now turned into the "does Lampard deserve to be in the centre at all?" debate, and the answer to this has got to be a resounding NO. As much as he has played well for Chelsea, I just don't think that he is international standard, he seems to become very average as soon as he doesn't have the quality of Chelsea's midfield around him and I’m afraid that I’d definitely have Carrick and Hargreaves over him....though I'm not sure why I’m afraid because I'm pretty sure that he will ever read this....better safe then sorry.

Don't get me wrong, he's a very good player but he's had his chance to stamp his mark on England and has failed to produce, he may play brilliantly against Estonia but that won't prove anything and it's time to give Carrick a chance to show what he's got, on the back of a brilliant season for United, before Hargreaves comes back from injury.

The Usual Suspects

2007-06-05T16:42:00.000Z

Welcome to the blog as I start off with news that Mr. Joey Barton has undergone a medical at Newcastle but that West Ham have also had a bid for him accepted. 5.5 million is the apparent price that Man City have accepted from both clubs and it remains to be seen where he will end up. Both teams are undergoing their respective facelifts with Curbishley looking to form an interesting central midfield partnership of Barton and Parker, and Big Sam looking to bring in a man who will make sure that any Newcastle underachievers won't hang around if they know that Barton is after them on the training pitch! God knows what night happen with Barton and Butt training together, there's an accident waiting to happen. Saying that, I've always been a fan of Barton on the pitch, a decent box-to-box midfielder who always brought a bit of quality to their side, as well as some decent arse-cheeks, and i reckon that he'd fit in more with the Toon army then the Hammers as Big Sam might be the man to mellow him out and get the best out of him whereas Curbishley does not strike me as a man who handles conflict particularly well, but then again he has more money to offer then Sam which will probably mean that Joey's already polishing his new Bentley for the journey down south.

West Ham has also hit the headlines with the possible departures of Harewood and Reo-Coker. Personally I've never liked either player who both flatter to deceive but if pushed, would probably bid for Reo-Coker over Harewood, and this is what has happened. Aston Villa have come in for Reo-Coker with a 7 Million bid and....no-one has come in for Harewood yet, but don't worry Marlon, I hear that Charlton might be interested. As for Reo-Coker, I hope that O'Neill gives him a good talking to if Villa get him because he obviously has talent but seems to have this entire season moaning rather then playing. Admittedly he was made a scapegoat for the decline of West Ham but instead of trying to play his way out of this role, he just chucked his toys out of the pram instead, not the world's greatest move and something that O'Neill will not tolerate.

In other news: Henry continues to be linked with Barcelona (yawn) but if anyone actually read Cesc Fabregas's quotes then they'd realise that the press are making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Viduka has agreed to sign for Newcastle in principle, which means that a strike force of Owen, Martins and Viduka sounds bloody good as long as Owen stays at Newcastle and stays fit but it seems to me that Big Sam should spend more time looking for a couple of centre-backs then for strikers and midfielders.

And finally a quick note on Shevchenko, it seems that he shall be staying with Chelsea as Milan have admitted defeat in trying to re-sign him, this may not be a fashionable point of view but I think this is brilliant news. He is a class player that has had a difficult season adjusting to tactics that don't suit him and a manager who did not seem to want him around. He may not have scored a lot of goals this season but Drogba wouldn't have scored nearly as many goals without him in the team this season, his running and presence took a lot of defensive pressure off Drogba and allowed him to thrive. People have short memories but as long as Chelsea keep him, I think we'll see the best of him next year.

The usual suspects involved and I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa during the summer…and I don’t even get paid for these gems of wisdom!