There Is Only One Sinnacle

Totti To Miss Udinese Clash

In a crushing blow to Luciano Spalletti’s plans, Roma captain Francesco Totti is in serious doubt for the weekend’s clash with Udinese due to a minor injury.

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In order for Roma to climb back up the Serie A standing they will need a fit Totti. Sadly for Roma all signs point to another injury filled year for Australia favorite football star.

Ligue 1 Clubs In Strong Financial Position

President of the LFP, Frederic Thiriez, has today stated that France’s top flight clubs are in a strong economic position to withstand the global depression…

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Good to see some leagues being sensible with money.

PSG Ponder Ronaldo Swoop

Paris Saint-Germain could be ready to make a move for Brazilian star Ronaldo according to l’Equipe. President Charles Villeneuve has already confirmed his interest in the two-time winner of the Ballon d’Or…

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PSG can ponder all they’d like but its highly unlikely that Ronaldo would choose Paris when he returns from injury.

After Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon says his club’s interest in Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is over, Ronaldo says he hopes to play in the Champions League final against the Spanish champions. (Spanish sports paper Marca)

Sir Alex Ferguson would drink to that but things said in October are generally forgotten about come July.

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill is to investigate claims John Carew was in a nightclub hours before his side’s Uefa Cup game against Ajax. (The Sun)

Maybe Carew and William Gallas were just talking about ways to piss off their managers as Gallas was recently pictured having a smoke which didn’t sit to well with Arsene Wenger.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is top of Tottenham’s list to replace Juande Ramos. (Daily Express)

This is a tough one for Redknapp. He was smart enough to avoid the Newcastle offer last year but with Portsmouth already capped out financially Redknapp may want to have a go with Tottenham.

Roberto Mancini, Roberto Donadoni, Terry Venables, Kenny Jackett and Sam Allardyce are in the frame to succeed Iain Dowie as QPR boss. (The Times)

Here I was thinking the rumor of Roberto Mancini to Fulham was laughable. Love it how a newspaper connects Italian ownership with a top Italian manager then thinks its on to something.

Below are the totals going into week 7

Sinnacle

England -$860
Spain +$536
Germany -$162
Italy +$998

D.G.F

England -$815
Spain +$311.50
Germany -$267
Italy -$477.50

England

Sinnacle

West Brom pk and -0.5 -109 vs Hull
Middlesbrough +293 vs Blackburn
Portsmouth -0.5 -109 vs Fulham

D.G.F

Manchester united/Everton over 2.5 -119
Sunderland/Newcastle under 2.5 -119
Manchester City under 2 team total -111
Arsenal team total under 1.5 and 2 -105
Wigan/Aston Villa under 2.5 -112

Spain

Sinnacle

Numancia-Racing draw +227
Real Madrid -1.5 -112 vs Athletic Club Bilbao
Mallorca-Espanyol over 2 and 2.5 +102

D.G.F

Dep La Corona team total over 1.5 -109
Osasuna pk -133 vs Real Betis
Sevilla -1.5 +106 vs Málaga
Almeria under 0.5 team total -113
Getafe/Valladolid under 2.5 -139

Germany

Sinnacle

Eintracht Frankfurt Karlsruhe under 2.5 -104 (game was played Wednesday)
Bayern Munich -155 vs Wolfsburg
Werder Bremen pk and -0.5 -107 vs Hannover

D.G.F

Bayern Leverkusen team total under 2 (game was played Friday)
Schalke/Arminia under 3 -106
Borussia Moenchengladbach/Karlsruher under 3 -153
Stuttgart team total under 2 -104
Hoffenheim/Hamburger under 3 -116

Italy

Sinnacle

Juventus – Torino under 2.5 -116
Inter Milan – Genoa over 2.5 -114
Palermo – Fiorentina draw +200

D.G.F

Atalanta +400 vs AC Milan
Chievo +326 vs Cagliari
Leccce +285 vs Reggina
Sampdoria team total over 1.5 +100
Roma/Udinese draw +211

Mijatovic Tracking CSKA Midfielder Dzagoev

Spanish daily Marca has reported that Real Madrid are tracking Russian youngster Alan Dzagoev as they attempt to bolster their midfield with a specialist right winger.

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Another player who few outside Russia have heard of until he scores two against Deportivo La Coruña in the UEFA Cup yesterday and now he is on Real Madrid radar.

Cobolli Promises January Signings

Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli confirms Claudio Ranieri, snubs Roberto Mancini’s rumours and vows the Old Lady have the resources to storm the Calciomercato in January.

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Money shouldn’t be the issue for Juventus it’s who they will end up spending it on that will be. Aside from Amauri few previous transfers have successful fit into this Juventus squad.

Woodgate warns Tottenham of Leeds repeat

Jonathan Woodgate insists Tottenham cannot think they are too good to get relegated and has compared the crisis at White Hart Lane to the situation that faced Leeds.

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All I can say is that at least Woodgate is smart enough to know that Tottenham isn’t too good to go down. Various writers should save themselves the time and just name Heurelho Gomes now as one of the worst transfers of the year. Another mistake saw Gomes gift Udinese a penalty kick from which Tottenham never recovered from.

Newcastle striker Michael Owen, whose contract expires in the summer, is a target for Italian side Genoa. (Daily Mirror)

Owen will be in an interesting spot come this summer. Surely he can’t be thinking of resigning with Newcastle in their current state. Looking at the market out there, Chelsea is doubtful. Manchester United and Liverpool are a no. Arsene Wenger is allergic to players turning 30 so Arsenal is out. Real Madrid, been there done that. While I’ll be curious how Owen maps out his future few would think that Genoa would be his next stop.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is also looking to sign 20-year-old Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets, who is a also a target for Juventus. (Daily Mirror)

Score a goal mid week in the Champions League and all of the sudden you are a transfer rumor a few days later. Besides this is how the call would go

Txiki Begiristain (Barcelona director of Football) : Buenos dais

Arsene Wenger : Hellooooo, this is Arsene Wenger from Arsenal and I’d like to buy Sergio Busquets.

Begiristain : Aren’t you the one who stole Cesc Fabregas from our youth academy like a thief in the night?

Wenger : Yes, but that is in the past. Besides I sold you Thierry Henry last year.

Begiristain : Oh yes that has turned out real well for us also…..hangs up.

West Ham midfielder Mark Noble has admitted it could take the players two years to get used to new manager Gianfranco Zola’s tactics. (Daily Mirror)

If it’s going to take Mark Noble two years to learn Zola’s tactics Noble will end up finding himself a new team. Most coaches do not get two years to get all their players on board.

Chelsea and England captain John Terry has hit back at fans who have doubted his commitment to playing for England by saying he will always put his country before club duties. (Daily Mirror)

His actions have proven otherwise.

Frank Ribery crossed my mind for some reason today and it always leaves me shaking my head about his Galatasaray days. Someone on that team royally screwed up with Ribery. All they had to do was paid Ribery, not pay him more, just pay the man his salary. They didn’t, Ribery terminated his contact and signed for Marseille who a couple of years later cashed a nice 25 million euro cheque from Bayern Munich to obtain his services.

Fall River, Mass., feels like home to Pedro Miguel Carreiro da Ponte Resendes. The many hundreds of people who greet him know him as Pauleta, the all-time leading scorer in Portugal’s national team history. Restaurants specialize in cuisine from his island, Sao Miguel. People speak in his Azorean dialect and remember how he commemorated goals by extending his arms like the goshawk, which gives the Azores their name.

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To this day I can’t make my mind up on Pauleta. On one hand if you need a player to score two goals in qualifying against Luxembourg he is your man but many still remember him as the player who didn’t get on the goal sheet in Euro 2004 and scored only once in the 2006 World Cup. He is still the answer to the trivia question which player is the last to score a World Cup hat trick as Pauleta put three past Poland in the 2002 World Cup however. Add the fact Pauleta never played in Portugal and it’s easy to see why people have differing opinions on his career.

Selfishly I’d like to see Pauleta play state side even at 35 years old he isn’t the type of player MLS needs. Even after he was pushed aside by PSG coach Paul Le Guen Pauleta was still PSG’s most consistence goal scorer last year and could still find the back of the net for any MLS team.

Douglas Costa: Of course I want to play for Real Madrid!

“I am very happy that a club as big as Real Madrid has been watching me,” the teenager told Marca. “I am proud.

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Gremio is going to come into a lot of money as major clubs will trip over themselves trying to sign the next great Brazilian player.

Almunia Says Jens Banter Made Him Better

Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has said that the competitive rivalry he shared with former Gunner Jens Lehmann has made him a better player…

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In return Almunia made Jens Lehmann bitter. It was amusing seeing Lehmann lash out at everything and everyone during his final season at Arsenal.

Al Fayed Keen On Mancio

Acording to Sportmediaset, former Inter boss Roberto Mancini looks set for a Premier League adventure, after meeting with Fulham patron Mohamed Al Fayed last night.

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Don’t look for this silly rumor to happen anytime soon. Mancini is not going to walk into that mess.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has said he is considering a last- minute swoop for England midfielder David Beckham who is set to move to AC Milan on loan from LA Galaxy. (The Sun)

Tough choice for Beckham here. Spending the winter months in Milan playing for one of the biggest teams in the world or on the south coast of England? Safe to say if it came down to Portsmouth or A.C Milan, Beckham will be heading to Italy.

Manchester City and Tottenham are both chasing CSKA Moscow’s £12m-rated striker Vagner Love, 24, who has admitted he fancies a move to the Premier League. (Various)

A reunion of Love and Jo for Manchester City I’m sure would appeal to the player. Either way by January look for Vagner Love to make the jump to England.

Wigan manager Steve Bruce has admitted he made a mistake in not signing Egyptian striker Amr Zaki on a permanent deal after signing the 25-year-old on a season-long loan. (Daily Mirror)

Real Madrid are reported to be interested in signing Zaki who has scored seven goals in eight Premier League appearances for Wigan. (Daily Telegraph)

Safe to say it will be one year and done for Zaki and Wigan.

Reports in France say Manchester United are still interested in signing 20-year-old Lyon midfielder Karim Benzema, but they face competition from Real Madrid and Barcelona. (Daily Telegraph)

Those French reporters must be bored. Carlos Tevez can’t even get a game in for United at the moment. I wish these Benzema to United/Real Madrid type rumors would stop because the player himself seems very happy at Lyon.

Blackburn manager Paul Ince has said Aston Villa cannot afford striker Roque Santa Cruz and that the 27-year-old striker will not be going anywhere in January. (Daily Star)

Paul Ince most likely is right about Santa Cruz being out of Villa price range. Not so sure Ince is right about Santa Cruz staying the entire year.

Tottenham midfielder David Bentley has admitted the Spurs players have not been together, but says they are slowly beginning to turn things around. (Various)

Don’t see how it can get much slower.