There Is Only One Sinnacle

Tottenham midfielder Gareth Bale was the subject of a “big-money” bid over the summer, according to Wales manager John Toshack. Daily Mirror

Nice of John Toshack to only say half the story. Gareth Bale could of been a part of a small money move in the summer of 09.

Spartak Moscow are ready to offer Yuri Zhirkov a route out of Chelsea after Russia coach Dick Advocaat warned the defender he must be playing regular football to feature for his country. Daily Mail

This is a make or break year for Yuri Zhirkov who doesn’t seem to fit the Chelsea set up this far. He’ll need to find a way to impress this season or else Chelsea will sell him next summer.

England fly-half Danny Cipriani has thrown his rugby union future into doubt after travelling to the United States for a trial with Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. Times

It’s either Cipriani really loves soccer or rugby players don’t get paid that much. I should look up one day how much rugby and cricket players get paid.

Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is set for a dramatic return to English football with Aston Villa after holding talks with the club’s owner Randy Lerner. Daily Mail

But former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has been ruled out of the running for the vacant managerial post at Villa Park.
Full story: the Sun

With the state of French football I don’t blame Houllier if he looks to jump ship from the French FA.

Poor Sven who despite his flaws did do a good job at Manchester City.

Blackburn striker Benjani Mwaruwari claims there is ”no trust” at his old club Manchester City and that some of their players are motivated primarily by money: Daily Telegraph

You mean Yaya Toure didn’t leave Barcelona for a new football challenge?

Birmingham will offer manager Alex McLeish a major pay-rise in an effort to get get him to stay, according to City’s vice president Peter Pannu. Daily Mirror

The last thing Birmingham need is McLeish leaving mid season like Steve Bruce did for Wigan. Not the biggest McLeish fan but by all accounts he deserves a new deal.

Been debating trying this for awhile now. Held back because it would be depressing if I saw nothing in my mailbox.

These next 10 days will be pretty boring with the transfer window closed and domestic leagues on break. With that to freshen things up on the site I want to add an ask sinnacle type of mailbag.

Believe me I try very hard not to come off as a know it all. I just want to come off as someone with an opinion, nothing more. So it isn’t to create this elevation that I’m some kind of expert. Just something to create content for the site in the coming weeks.

So this is where I need your help. Ask me a question about the world of football or this site, make a comment, hell draw a picture I don’t care. I can pretty safely say I’ll answer it when I plan on doing this mailbag (plan on doing it Monday or Tuesday, most likely Tuesday) If so please e-mail me at dmmd98@sinnacle.com or use the form in the contact us section of this site.

I’ll keep my fingers cross now and hope tis idea won’t turn into the new coke.

Thanks

Jose Mourinho pleaded with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to sign Chelsea striker Didier Drogba until the very last moment of the Premier League transfer window, which shut at 1800 BST on Tuesday. IMScouting.com

A major transfer like Drogba leaving Chelsea just can’t happen at the last minute. Besides there is no way Chelsea sells because for their style of player he is irreplaceable.

Liverpool are believed to have offered Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva and Dutch forward Ryan Babel in exchange for West Ham striker Carlton Cole but neither player wanted to leave Anfield for Upton Park.
Full story: The Guardian

Perfect reason why player exchanges rarely happen in football.

Arsenal missed out on signing Mark Schwarzer for £4m after Fulham were denied a move for Crystal Palace’s £1.5m-rated goalkeeper Julian Speroni. The Cottagers were also thwarted when they tried to land Brazilian keeper Alexander Doni from Roma, but a season-long loan deal could not be arranged in time before the end of the transfer window. Mirror

Like a said yesterday, the deadline day winner is Manuel Almunia. Granted Mark Schwarzer may not of been the answer but Almunia has been more than enough rope to hang himself. This Arsenal team is again doom to fail for all the same reasons as in previous years.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis says he was advised to make a move for Eidur Gudjohnsen by Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who had signed the Iceland international striker on loan from Monaco last season.
Full story: Mirror

Left it left but nice job by Tony Pulis pulling a couple of good players out of a hat. Gudjohnsen showed he still had some gas left in the tank with Tottenham last season.

Striker Roque Santa Cruz faces being frozen out at Manchester City after a deadline-day move to Italian club Lazio collapsed. The Sun

Roque Santa Cruz is used to it from his Bayern Munich days. Besides the pay is still the same every two weeks.

The £250m spent in the 2010 summer transfer window was the lowest total since 2006, according to research by financial analysts Deloitte. Mirror

Slowly English football seems to be coming to grips with reality.

An ankle injury has forced Newcastle striker Andy Carroll to pull out of the England Under-21 squad to face Portugal and Lithuania. Daily Mail

In other words Andy Carroll blew the under 21 squad off.

Aston Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald says he wants to the job permanently.
Full story: The Sun

Took him awhile to admit it but you can’t blame him. The Aston Villa job fell into his lap after a lifetime in the game. It would be hard for anyone to give it up.

Newcastle defender Sol Campbell was taunted by Sunderland supporters for being overweight as he made his debut on Tuesday night, playing only the first half of a reserve match at the Stadium of Light.
Full story: Daily Mail

Sol Campbell has always struck me as an idiot and showing up fat this year and signing for Notts County last year doesn’t help his cause. You’re a football player, your only real job is to keep in decent shape to play football. Besides eating what in the world is Sol Campbell doing with his free time?

New Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has played down their disappointing opening day draw with Real Mallorca, and says he is the man to bring long-term stability to the club. “I am a coach not Harry Potter. He is a magician. Magic is fiction and I live for football which is real,” he said. (Reuters)

In other words Shut Up La Liga.

Two years after one of the greatest out of the blue transfers leaving Real Madrid for Manchester City, Robinho has this time left Manchester City for A.C Milan.

I’m not sure A.C Milan signed Robinho but more like he fell into their lap with Santos not having the money to pay Manchester City and no other elite European club interested it was A.C Milan who came in late to seal the deal to take Robinho to Italy.

Like I said previously no idea who Pato, Ibra, Ronaldinho and Robinho will be able to share one ball but you can’t blame A.C Milan for making this deal. After there 4-0 win against Lecce and seeing Roma, Juventus, and Inter go winless A.C Milan couldn’t pass up the chance to go for the kill by signing a player with a world of talent in Robinho. A plus for Robinho is he doesn’t have to be the man at A.C Milan like he was excepted to be with Real Madrid and Manchester City. He can just play football with the limelight not solely focused on him.

Chose the above picture because for the most part these last 18 months have been a kick to the head for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who was never given the time to adjust with Real Madrid and now A.C Milan.

To Huntelaar’s credit, atleast publicity who never spoke out in frustration about going from Ajax’s main man to a bit player with Real Madrid and A.C Milan. Here is hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel for Huntelaar as Felix Magath side Schalke have paid 13 million Euros for the Dutch internation.

Once word Schalke made an offer Huntelaar should of jumped at the chance to link up with old team mate Raul in Germany. The Bundesliga should offer Huntelaar a style of football he can excel in, even if he is playing for a cautious coach in Magath. When the choice came down to staying on the bench in Italy or getting regular playing time with Schalke, It’s an easy choice for Huntelaar to leave.

Try as they might to sign Jurgen Klinsmann the United States Soccer Federation have decided to extend Bob Bradley’s contract for another four years much to the disappointment of some U.S fans.

I’ve always been on the fence when it comes to Bob Bradley but for the most part I lean to giving him the axe. What I can say about this contract is just because Bradley was given a four year deal doesn’t mean he is going to be the coach at the next World Cup.

Four year’s is a long time for a coach to sit around and really do nothing. The Gold Cup means little and sure you can’t take anything for granted but the United States has one of the easiest roads to the World Cup. Not exactly appealing for a coach like Jurgen Klinsmann. Til then Bob Bradley can keep the seat warm for the next couple of years and if the United States have a slip up close to World Cup time I have no doubt the U.S.S.F will axe Bob Bradley for some high profile coach.

It took Javier Mascherano sitting out for Liverpool against Manchester City to make this finally happen but Barcelona’s plan B has finally been signed by the Spanish Champions.

I’ve made mention of this prior much to the dislike of Liverpool fans but this transfer saga was handled wrong by all parties, not just Mascherano when he decided to sit out. Everyone knew going back to last year Mascherano wanted out and quite frankly considering all that is going on with Liverpool these last couple of years if Barcelona comes calling most players are going to desire playing there. Mascherano gave it another year because Liverpool weren’t going to sell both Xabi Alonso and him. We all know from there how Liverpool’s season then turned out. Once the season ended, at the very least once Roy Hodgson was signed should Liverpool have started to sell a player who clearly didn’t want to be there anymore.

Besides this is Javier Mascherano not Torres or Gerrard we are talking about. Mascherano is a good player but it isn’t like he is a Liverpool legend. If his heart isn’t with Liverpool anymore, sell him and get it over with before it caused a distraction which it clearly did. In the end, wrong as it may be Mascherano did what he had to do. Loyality is a two way street and everyone knows football clubs aren’t exactly loyal either. If so Robbie Fowler or Sami Hyypia would still be a Red. It’s not like Mascherano grew up in Liverpool, he most likely doesn’t even like England. It’s business on both sides of the coin and both sides are guilty of bad business here but I still can’t blame Mascherano who should of been sold long ago. The last point I wanted to make is people saying Mascherano hurt his transfer value by walking out. Well, yes it gave Liverpool no cards to play with but they should of been smart enough to see something like this happening. Besides they paid close to 20 million for Mascherano which is on the high end for a defensive midfielder, unless Manchester City came calling even with Liverpool having all the power they weren’t going to turn a huge profit on the player. Getting rid of a player who didn’t want to be there plus getting most of your money back isn’t an awful return for Liverpool. It could always be worst, look at the loss Barcelona took selling Zlatan Ibrahimovic as an example.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has made a sensational bid to land Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Daily Mirror

I’ll say this about Manchester City’s transfer policy, they don’t sell players to rival EPL clubs. Can’t see Manchester City sell Adebayor to the club who defeated them for the last Champions League place.

Goalkeeper Shay Given has decided to stay at Manchester City, turning down the chance to rejoin his former manager Mark Hughes at Fulham. The Guardian

With the way Joe Hart is playing, Shay Given isn’t going to leave the bench anytime soon staying with Manchester City.

AC Milan are trying to lure Brazilian forward Robinho from Manchester City. The Guardian

I get it but I don’t get it. Robinho’s transfer value isn’t sky high at the moment so can see why A.C Milan would want to buy a player at his lowest point. I don’t see how Pato, Ronaldinho, Ibra and Robinho would gel in attacking. Too many players, not enough ball.

West Ham have underlined their desire to keep midfielder Scott Parker after rejecting a fresh £7m bid from Tottenham. Daily Mail

Scott Parker hasn’t exactly rushed out to put pen to paper on West Ham’s contract offer.

Aston Villa are being linked with a shock move for Everton boss David Moyes after the odds of the Scot’s joining Villa were shortened considerably on Monday. Daily Mirror

They have also sounded out unsettled Birmingham manager Alex McLeish, and former Blues boss Steve Bruce, about taking over at Villa Park. (Daily Telegraph)

Unless there is something going on in Everton I don’t know about Moyes is staying. He has put in too much work into this Everton club to leave now and it isn’t like Aston Villa is a step up. There would be riots in the streets if Alex McLeish crossed over and Steve Bruce hasn’t exactly set the world on fire for Sunderland after spending a ton of money last year.

Villa defender Luke Young says he has no idea why he was frozen out by O’Neill and feels the club is a fairer place now he has gone. the Sun

In other words Martin O’Neill is a prick.

Argentina striker Francisco Varallo, the last surviving player from the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, has died at the age of 100. (The Times)

Oh the stories Varallo must of had.

Manchester United are preparing a £10m-plus Michael Carrick bid for Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell before the transfer deadline at 1800 BST on Tuesday. (The Sun) The Sun

Tottenham will make a late £15m bid for Aston Villa winger Ashley Young and they are willing to offer the likes of Robbie Keane, Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton as sweeteners. Daily Express

Aston Villa and Everton are not car dealership. It’s not trade in your clunker towards the purchase of a new player. Aston Villa can’t sell Ashely Young now cause it would look bad and kill morale in the dressing room but if things were different I’d actually consider cash plus a player or two type of deal.

Manchester United are monitoring the progress of 22-year-old Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole.
Full story: Caught Offside

Lee Cattermole would of been a perfect player in the 70’s/80’s era style of English football.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will launch a last-gasp bid to sign Sevilla’s Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano, while moves for Villarreal forward Giuseppe Rossi and AC Milan hitman Klass-Jan Huntelaar remain possibilities. Daily Mirror

Spurs have actually been told by AC Milan to come back with a better offer for Huntelaar after the Italians refused to let him leave on loan. The Dutch striker could cost £11m. The Sun

You know A.C Milan wants to cash in on Huntelaar with them owing Barcelona 24 million in a year’s time.

Wigan are hoping to finalise a £2m deal for Chelsea striker Franco di Santo, 21, and want Man Utd midfielder Tom Cleverly to join on loan. Daily Mail

Franco di Santo has been hanging around English football for three years now and has done nothing of note. Could see why Chelsea would sell him, can’t see why another English club would want him.

Newcastle are planning a £8m swoop for Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who last week hit a hat-trick for Utrecht as they knocked Celtic out of the Europa League. Daily Mirror

If it wasn’t for van Wolfswinkel (great name) scoring three against Celtic, few outside of Holland would know who he is.

Stoke are preparing a £7m bid for out-of-favour Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas, while Potters boss Tony Pulis is also keen on Portsmouth skipper Marc Wilson, Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega and ­Middlesbrough defender David Wheater. Daily Mirror

After losing three games already this season you know the pressure is on Tony Pulis to make a move before the transfer window closes.

Charles N’Zogbia’s £9m move from Wigan to Birmingham collapsed after he asked for an extra £10,000-a-week to take his wages to £50,000-a-week. The Sun

Can’t blame Charles N’Zogbia’s for asking but good for Birmingham striking to their guns. On the flip side I wonder why they even bothered making a bid for N’Zogbia if they had no plans to give me a raise?

Sometimes you have to cut your losses and that is the story behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Barcelona parting ways. At this time last year people pegged Barcelona as a dream team adding Ibrahimovic but right from day one the transfer threw me off. Barcelona anted up a ton of money plus Eto’o who in his own right was a top five striker. It was bad business then and it surely ended up as bad business now with Barcelona trying to get out of the 5 year 95 million dollar contract they handed Ibrahimovic.

The Swedish striker wanted to get out of dodge quickly to avoid another year where he and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola just never seemed to see eye to eye. While scoring 20 goals isn’t a bad return, Ibrahimovic always seemed like a sqaure peg in a round hole in the Barcelona set up. With Barcelona the ball is always moving on the ground trying to break a through pass. While Ibrahimovic has good enough ball skills to play this style he is at his best holding up the ball or waiting in the box for a cross, neither of which fit Barcelona.

So it’s off to Italy where Ibrahimovic takes a 33% pay cut to join Milan in what is officially a one year loan deal with 24 million to follow next season. First Juventus, then Inter Milan and now A.C Milan. For a player who was bored with Italian football last year, Ibra sure gets around. Unlike Barcelona this is a nice piece of business for A.C Milan. After a quiet summer up to this point A.C Milan have grabbed the headlines signing Ibra and will they do it again by adding Robinho?