There Is Only One Sinnacle

- Isn’t it great having a full schedule of games to enjoy?

- I never thought I’d say this but my heart actually goes out to Arsene Wenger today. When people have all but buried Arsenal they have come up with a performance. First against Manchester United and then against Chelsea, Arsenal somehow kept their hopes alive like a hand rising up through the dirt. Today however Aston Villa buried Arsenal’s chance with their injury time goal to even the score up at 2. Despite being second best for the entire first half Arsenal got themselves a goal thanks to Denilson and found themselves up by two with some beautiful work by Emmanuel Eboue and Abou Diaby. Then it all fell apart William Gallas got booked for a questionable penalty decision and Zat Knight, yes Zat Knight rocketed a ball with precious little time left for Aston Villa. This result can lead Villa towards the Champions League while on the flip side just crush Arsenal who had some fine performances highlited by Bacary Sagna.

- Just a wonderful month for Aston Villa fans. First Ashley Young late winner against Everton, last week it was a stoke of luck against West Ham and now this week.

- If Manchester United end up winning the league this season they can thank Stoke’s Andy Wilkinson for his silly tackle from behind to earn him a red card. Every game can’t be a thing of beauty.

- Yes Chelsea got the win but long term just don’t see the partnership of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka clicking. Wonderful strike by Lampard on the second goal however.

- Robbie Keane has gone from the outhouse to the penthouse. It’s funny how things can change so quickly.

- There are times when I found myself getting carried away with new arrivals but it is premature to judge a player based on six months with a new team. It really does take 12-18 months before a judgment call should be made.

- Not that David Moyes cares but I remember giving him grief for his failure in the transfer market this summer. Where he isn’t failing is on the touchline. With no true striker to speak of they have gone three games without giving up a goal winning two of those. That is great coaching.

- You think Mark Hughes got his Christmas present after Manchester City 5-1 beating of Hull City?

- Being down 4-0 at half time Hull manager Phil Brown made his players run to their visiting fans and applaud them. Then sat them down on the grass and laid into them in front of those fans. Not exactly something you see everyday. I’m on Phil Brown side on this one. He rewarded his players with Christmas off which he didn’t have to do and many managers call players in for training on Christmas. They rewarded the coach by laying an egg against Manchester City.

- Wigan’s Ryan Taylor must love playing against Newcastle. Four goals in four games for the free kick specialist.

- Portsmouth are going to face a fight for regulation if they continue to play like they did against West Ham. The Hammers weren’t exactly flying high heading south to play against Portsmouth before their 4-1 win.

Happy Boxing Day, enjoy the games or the shopping.

Real Madrid boss Juande Ramos has made Aston Villa winger Ashley Young his top transfer target and is willing to bid £25m in January. (Daily Star)

Ashley Young has been very quiet since Real Madrid’s interest became public. I wonder if Martin O’Neill has told Young to keep quiet regarding these rumours?

Benni McCarthy wants to leave Blackburn in January. Having been used sparingly by former Rovers boss Paul Ince, the striker was dismayed to be substituted by new manager Sam Allardyce when going for a hat-trick against Stoke last week. (Daily Mail)

McCarthy is another player whose talent is offset by his attitude. Blackburn should of sold him after the 2006-2007 when interest from the likes of Chelsea were there.

Spanish holding midfielder Marcus Senna is considering signing for Manchester City. The 32-year-old was one of the stars of Spain’s Euro 2008 success. (Daily Mail)

Can’t see this happening in the middle of the season. Over the summer? Maybe, at 32 the clock is ticking and that Manchester City contact would set Senna up for life.

Emile Heskey will rejoin Liverpool from Wigan in January for £4m – £2m less than he left Anfield for in 2004. (Various)

Heskey wasn’t going to be a free agent when he left Liverpool in 2004 either.

The Hammers have rejected a £6m bid by Tottenham Hotspur for Bellamy and will only sell the Wales international for around £15m. (Various)

I’m still dumbfounded that there is interest in Bellamy.

Fulham defender Brede Hangeland will not be moving on in January, despite interest from Arsenal and Liverpool following a highly impressive first few months in English football. (The Sun)

Hangeland wouldn’t be the worst move Arsenal can make. With Hangeland at the back maybe Arsenal will stop conceding from set plays which has been a sore spot this season.

Mark Hughes believes Manchester City can still finish in the top 10 this season, despite currently languishing in the bottom three. (The Times)

To be fair to Hughes, Manchester City are only five points back from the top half of the table. Goes to show you how tightly packed the EPL is this year.

England

Sinnacle -$130
D.G.F -$485.50

Spain

Sinnacle +36.50 Winner
D.G.F -$291.50

Germany

Sinnacle +$479.50 Winner
D.G.F -$525.50

Italy

Sinnacle +$1051.50 Winner – D.G.F threw in towel
D.G.F -$2154.50

England

D.G.F

Chelsea -544 vs West Brom
Manchester United-Stoke under 3 and 3.5 -183
Tottenham team total under 1.5 -111
Arsenal-Aston Villa under 3 -208
Manchester city over 1.5 team total -128

Sinnacle

Liverpool -1.5 +110 vs Bolton
Middlesbrough pk -120 vs Everton
Sunderland-Blackburn under 2.5 -116

Spain plan 2018 World Cup bid with Portugal

”The board have finalised today the formal tender for Spain’s candidature to organise the 2018 World Cup to be held jointly with Portugal,” the RFEF said in a statement on Tuesday.

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This would be great news for me and while a tad bias I do believe the joint bid would have a decent shot. Spain hasn’t hosted the World Cup since 1982. Portugal as we all know has never hosted a World Cup. They did however do a fine job of hosting Euro 2004. Must admit didn’t see Portugal staging Euro 2004 going so smoothly.

Lyon Striker Fred Negotiating With Brazilian Clubs

Olympique Lyonnais may have openly stated that they do not wish to allow their Brazilian striker, Fred, to move away from the Stade Gerland this January, but this has not stopped the mischievous striker negotiating with clubs in his homeland.

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Last year Fred was all but gone yet somehow at the last minute patched things up with the club. This year with the striker is still not featuring on a regular basis plus his family is back in Brazil. Look for Fred to move back home come the new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday’s everyone.

Real Madrid wanted to sign Jermaine Pennant from Liverpool but his wages demands were too high and he may now end up joining Wigan. (Daily Mail)

Still in disbelief that Real Madrid would know who Jermaine Pennant is. The only time he plays are in Carling Cup/FA Cup matches.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is considering Marcos Senna, Yaya Toure and Mark Noble as a replacement for the injured Cesc Fabregas. (Daily Mirror)

Alright talked about Senna yesterday, Yaya Toure is always linked with Arsenal because of his brother but Noble does make sense. West Ham will be sellers plus Noble could feature for Arsenal in the Champions League.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is desperate for his board to give him some transfer money to buy a new striker. (The Sun)
A head strong coach and a head strong owner. At some point this will not end well.

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce is adamant Manchester City will not be able to offer enough money to sign Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz. (Various)

Sam Allardyce is just playing the game. If he waives the white flag on Santa Cruz his price comes down.

However, Allardyce is keen to sign defender Tal Ben Haim from City for £3m. (Daily Mirror)

18 million plus Ben Haim for Santa Cruz….there is your deal.

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola will resist any attempts by his board to sell players in January – and could leave the club if they do sanction the sale of his top names. (Various)

In the end Zola doesn’t have the final say. Alan Curbishley didn’t want to sell George McCartney and Anton Ferdinand but the board did.

Italian Super Cup in Beijing Bird’s Nest

Next year’s Italian Super Cup will be played at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium on August 8, the Italian Soccer League said on Tuesday.

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Italy has been lagging behind England, Spain and even Germany with regards to marketing there brand of football. The black eye caused by the Juventus match fixing scandal didn’t help matters but moving a game to China between two of the top Italian teams will go along way in expanding there brand world wide.

Brazil Break Transfer Record In 2008

Brazil transferred 1,176 footballers abroad in 2008, a record number that beats last year’s total by 8.4% (1,085), stated the Brazilian Football Association (CBF).

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I’m still amazed by the number of Brazilians players abroad. Nearly 1200 players playing all over the world just shows the depth of Brazilian football and it also makes you wonder if we lived in a different time just how entertaining Brazil’s top division would be. On a personal level good to see Portugal still leading the list as Brazilians preferred destination aboard.

Spain Is My Favourite And Real Madrid My Team – Benzema

Speculation continues to grow about the French international’s next move, but he has taken another step into the media spotlight to spell out which league and, in particular, which club he would like to join.

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Real Madrid will like hearing this news but they won’t like the transfer fee Lyon would want for Benzema. Think nearly double the fee Ajax got for Klass Huntelaar.

Inter Ready To Loan Out Adriano – Reports

L’Imperatore is unlikely to return to Appiano Gentile in the New Year, but club president Moratti is unwilling to lose him permanently and is pushing for a loan deal…

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How many years will Inter have to loan out Adriano before they finally give up on his talent?

Arsenal are lining up a move for £20m-rated Russian forward Andrei Arshavin. (Daily Mirror)

I’ll believe this when I see it. Arsenal great need isn’t another attacking midfielder. A holding midfielder or centre back would be logical transfer targets for Arsenal.

But defender Kolo Toure could be on his way out of Arsenal, with Manchester City preparing a £10m deal for the defender. (The Sun)

Doubtful that Arsenal would be interested in selling Toure but at 10 million pounds they would at least consider it.

Gunners striker Nicklas Bendtner has rejected a move to Russian outfit Spartak Moscow. (Daily Mirror)

Only reason foreign players go to Russia is for the money. Surely it’s not going to be for the weather.

Real Madrid have offered Wigan £14m for winger Antonio Valencia. (Daily Telegraph)

Fact or fiction Valencia has come along way since being shipped out on loan by Villarreal two years ago.

Manchester City look set to offload trio Elano, Tal Ben Haim and Jo in January. (Daily Mirror)

Tal Ben Haim sure has moved around the last 18 months. From Bolton to Chelsea to Manchester and maybe another club come January.

When talent like Elano and Jo not playing plus the team is struggling people are always going to assume they are set to leave the club.

Hughes is lining up a number of players, including Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz, West Ham’s Craig Bellamy, Chelsea’s Wayne Bridge and Villarreal’s Marcos Senna. (Daily Mail)

Marcos Senna is alittle long in the tooth and with Villarreal still in the Champions League it’s highly unlikely they would listen to offers for Senna. Besides after his Euro 2008 performance if Villarreal wanted to sell him they would of done so then when his market value would of been the highest.

West Ham defender Matthew Upson fears he could be sold as the club battle for financial survival. (The Sun)

Why does he fear it? West Ham is a club that could easy find themselves regulated this season.

Newcastle striker Michael Owen looks set to leave St James’ Park on a free transfer at the end of the season. (Various)

Delaying his decision to the summer = catching the first ride out of town.

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce hopes to raid former club Bolton and land midfielder Kevin Nolan. (Daily Telegraph)

That is what happens when current Bolton boss Gary Megson invited Allardyce to make an offer for Nolan.

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas looks set to be out of action for three months with a knee injury. (Various)

You feared the worst when watching that tackle with Xabi Alonso on Sunday. It was a nasty looking collision.

- If A.C Milan can play like they did over the weekend maybe they can get back into the title race. They made Udinese look like a Serie B team with their 5-1 victory yesterday.

- It won’t be a performance Real Madrid fans like long term but a 1-0 vicotry over Valencia will do. Keeping a clean sheet will be a start if Real Madrid have any hope of turning this season around.

- Barcelona heads into their christman break in style with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal. Anything can happen but realistically can’t see any team in Spain standing in their way.

- Must be hard waking up today for Monaco fans after Bordeaux scored two goals in the 88th and 89th minute to grab a 4-3 victory in a highly entertaining game. Rumored Tottenham target Fernando Cavenaghi gave Bordeaux the win with his late goal.

- You’ll be hard press to find a better goal this weekend than Benzema’s rocket from a bad angle straight to the top corner which was the different between Lyon and Caen.