Well it’s not like Abramovich can buy players so I guess he can spend some more on lunch. TMZ has a post on how Abramovich dropped 52 large the other day for lunch. To check out the bill click on the link below. If anyone here works at a restaurant hope one day “Big Boss” as the special one calls him strolls in.
Helsingborg Striker Henrik Larsson Bids Tearful Farewell To Professional Football
The legendary attacker has played his final match for Helsingborg…
Legendary Swedish striker Henrik Larsson bid an emotional farewell to football on Wednesday night, admitting he found it difficult to keep his emotions in check as tributes from the likes of Sweden coach Lars Lagerback, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and international team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic were played at the ground.
Always have soft spot for players who finish up their careers back home. Great career Henrik Larsson had. Let’s face it most players simply come and go. It takes someone special to make their mark on the game. No denying Larsson left his mark with his beloved status at Celtic. He was also a respected and important piece to the puzzle for Barcelona and Manchester United during his brief time there.
King set to appeal
Marlon King’s agent has suggested the striker is ready to appeal against the 18-month prison sentence he was given today, and his subsequent sacking by Wigan too.
The Jamaica international was sacked by the Latics after he was found guilty of sexual assault and actual bodily harm over an incident in a London nightclub, which occurred in December while he was on loan at Hull.
Sadly going from a class act like Larsson to this loser. Going to keep it short. Nothing annoys me more than when a person is given the world at his feet and takes it for granted. King was given the gift of playing football and making millions of dollars in the process. In return this moron took it for granted so I won’t shed a tear if football is taken away from him.
Liverpool and Manchester United are monitoring David Villa after the Spain striker sacked his agent for failing to secure a summer move away from Valencia. Various
Interesting news regarding Villa’s agent but when you keep hearing about the purse strings being tighten at Liverpool it makes hard to believe they can swing a deal for Villa.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is keen to make a move for 16-year-old Mexican Martin Luis Galvan. Daily Mirror
With Carlos Vela about to make his mark at Arsenal it isn’t impossible to believe they would try their luck again signing Galvan.
Further doubt has been cast over the future of Hull boss Phil Brown after Adam Pearson quit his post as Derby chairman on Wednesday to take on the same role at the KC Stadium. The Sun
When Hull has to release a statement saying Phil Brown is still the coach and his chairman quits means Brown time is about up.
Portsmouth will be banned from signing players until they pay money owed to Arsenal and Chelsea for the signings of Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson, respectively. Various
The walls keep falling in at Portsmouth. Considering they bought both Diarra and Johnson for pennies compared to what they sold them for makes it hard to believe they can’t pay back Arsenal and Chelsea.
Tottenham striker Robbie Keane believes his side have caught up with north London rivals Arsenal and are ready to overtake them. Various
Two years ago I had Tottenham at +600 against Arsenal. 1-1 with about 20 minutes to go Tottenham are awarded a penalty and the color guy was going on about Robbie Keane does not miss penalty kicks. Of course he misses and Arsenal goes on to win the game. Keane has been on my bad side since then. Yes, I’m glad I got this off my chest.
Manchester United are edging closer to signing Valencia forwards David Villa and David Silva, with the Spanish club willing to listen to offers. With winger Cristiano Ronaldo offloaded in the summer, Sir Alex Ferguson has cash to spare and the United manager is willing to pay £40m for the duo. Daily Mirror
Must be a slow day in the rumour mill when a paper brings up a link between a club and Villa/Silva. £40m wouldn’t even buy David Villa never mind both. Besides if Villa really wanted to leave he’d force a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Italian side Juventus are all set to make a £6m bid for Manchester City full-back Pablo Zabaleta in January. The Sun
Manchester City should do a back flip if any club is willing to cough up £6 million for Zabaleta.
Birmingham City are favourites to sign Rangers striker Kris Boyd, who is out of contract at the end of the season. (Daily Star)
Who knows what is going on at the board room level with Rangers at the moment. Former Ranger manager Alex McLeish has already signed former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson so it can’t be dismissed McLeish would also try to sign Boyd.
Tottenham defender Ledley King is hoping to open up talks on extending his deal at White Hart Lane. The club captain’s contract expires at the end of the season and Spurs have an option of a one-year extension. (The Sun)
In other words Spurs are in no rush since they always have the option to extend his current 80k a week deal for another season.
Hull manager Phil Brown is mulling over selecting striker Jozy Altidore after the 19-year-old American was fined for revealing on social networking site Twitter that he was dropped for the match against Portsmouth for being late. (The Sun)
Phil Brown needs to get with it. Jozy Altidore didn’t pull a Larry Johnson and called someone a fag while ripping the coach. All Altidore did was apologize to Hull City fans for being late. Considering how poor Hull played against Fulham and Portsmouth this week it would be foolish to punish a talent like Alridore even further.
Barclays Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore says there is no chance of Celtic and Rangers joining England’s top league. (Daily Record)
The rumours of Celtic and Rangers joining England football always leaves me shaking my head. If the top division stays at 20 teams do you think the likes of Hull, Portsmouth, Bolton and Blackburn are going to allow Celtic and Rangers into the top league thus increasing the chance those clubs are sent down? Never mind dividing the television revenue by including two more teams. Despite their world wide appeal English football has done just fine with Celtic or Rangers.
Claudio Ranieri Agrees With Fabio Capello: The Ultras Control Italian Football
‘The Tinkerman’ has also suggested the fans of Calcio have too much power. The former Chelsea tactician his cited an example from his experience…
Article
Good for Ranieri to speak his mind on this issue. One thing from this side of the pond I can’t wrap my head around is the power a few fans have over some clubs. There is a reason fans are fans and not management. Fans think with their heart and not with their head. This doesn’t work in most businesses which football surely is.
McClaren handed new FC Twente deal
Steve McClaren has signed a 12-month extension to his contract at FC Twente which ties him to the Eredivisie leaders until 2011.
Good for McClaren to turn his career around with his fairly successful stint so far at FC Twente. He’ll always been seen as a goat in England but his resume pre England and post England job hasn’t been too shabby.
Chelsea lead the chase to sign £42m-rated striker Sergio Aguero after Atletico Madrid admitted they are ready to listen to offers for the 21-year-old. The Sun
I hate these Chelsea transfer rumours. Til their transfer ban is addressed none of these make rumours make sense. Besides players like Aguero don’t get sold mid season.
Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez is a £15m target for Manchester United. The Sun
Lopez is talented but considering Villarreal season doubt Manchester United is about the write a cheque anytime soon for his services.
Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole is set to ignore interest from Tottenham and commit himself to the Blues.
Daily Mirror
Joe Cole is in the perfect situation for hIM playing in London with a top team that he must know like the back of his hand by now.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is set to raid his old club by making a £4m bid for Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa in January. Daily Mirror
If I was Figueroa i’d be asking Bruce why didn’t he sign him during the summer transfer window then?
Bruce is also looking to sign Deportivo Toluca’s Mexican winger Nestor Calderon in January. (Daily Mail)
No denying Bruce has has a great track signing players form Latin American. Whoever his latin scout is should be given a nice bonus.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he was wrong to brand referee Alan Wiley “unfit” after his side’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland earlier in October and will plead guilty to a Football Association charge of improper conduct. Daily Mail
Considering Blackburn is on deck it’s a good time to plead guilty and take the suspension.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has rejected a new £80m offer from Tyneside businessman Barry Moat to buy the club, consisting of £60m up front followed by a later payment of £20m, insisting he wants the full asking price in one payment. Daily Telegraph
It just hit me that Cristiano Ronaldo costs more than the entire Newcastle United football club.
Juande Ramos Sacked By CSKA Moscow
The Spaniard has been ousted by the Russian giants only 47 days after taking charge…
Juande Ramos has been sacked by CSKA Moscow, exactly a year after being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur, following a demoralising defeat at the weekend that could cost them the title and Champions League place.
The Russian giants pinned their hopes on the former Sevilla and Real Madrid boss to ensure that they finished in the top three, but Sunday’s 3-1 reverse at home to FK Moscow saw them drop to fifth.
Defeats against Manchester United mid week and FK Moscow on the weekend didn’t help matters but this relationship between Ramos and the CSKA board must of been rocky from the start and gone downhill since then. Juande Ramos should now be looking towards what is going on at Villaareal as he would be a perfect replacement should they get rid of Ernesto Valverde.
Everton have joined the race for Middlesbrough’s £6m-rated winger Adam Johnson. Daily Mirror
In the end money talks but considering Middlesbrough is in a promotion battle it’s unlikely they will sell during the January transfer window. Clubs like Everton should of made a bid in the summer when Middlesbrough were selling players like Downing, Tucay, and Huth.
Manchester United right-back Danny Simpson, who is on loan at Newcastle United, is ready to quit Old Trafford. Daily Mirror
When you are sent out on loan the last two years, last year to Blackburn and this year to Newcastle United it’s a pretty good sign your not in a clubs plans.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp blamed suspended Jermain Defoe for his side’s defeat to Stoke, saying the in-form striker would have made the difference on Saturday. The Sun
Knew Redknapp would fume and quite rightly so at Defoe for getting himself suspended.
Portsmouth manager Paul Hart says he will be responsible for improving the club’s fortunes over the coming months and not new director of football Avram Grant. Daily Express
When your new boss isn’t the old who hired you to begin with and has very little personal history with you, it’s a pretty good signal that a coach isn’t long for the position.
Millwall have vowed to ban for life the fan who taunted Leeds United supporters by wearing a Galatasaray shirt during Saturday’s League One match. Two Leeds fans were stabbed to death the day before the Uefa Cup semi-final against the Turkish club in 2000.
The Sun
All class there. Original however.
- Manchester United is just the tonic Liverpool needs it appears. The last time these two teams faced off Liverpool’s ship was taking water and United were a victory away from running away with the league. A 4-1 victory that day sent United into a mini tailspin and gave Liverpool the confidence to make a run for the title. Wonder if you asked Liverpool fans if they would trade losing four in a row in return for a victory against Manchester United how many would do it? In the grand scheme of things you shouldn’t make that trade off but I’m sure some would.
- Rio Ferdinand is going to face the heat again this week but what strength by Fernando Torres to fight off Ferdinand to open the scoring.
- Most Manchester United fans should admit they didn’t deserve anything more than a tie and the truth is Liverpool were the better team today. What Manchester United fans can point to is Jamie Carragher silly slide tackle on Michael Carrick. Carragher is lucky that wasn’t called a penalty. Then again referees are loathe to award a penalty against a big four team at home. Carragher should not of left his feet in that spot considering Carrick wasn’t close to having a prime scoring opportunity.
- Games like this is why I can’t consider Wayne Rooney one of the world’s best players. No denying he is a total team player who gives every ounce of sweat but when is the last time Rooney supplied a moment of brilliance against a top team? I could be wrong but the last goal I remember Rooney scoring against the big four was against Chelsea in the end of the 2007-2008 season. Ricardo Carvalho on that occasion made an awful back pass which Rooney picked off before sliding it by Petr Cech. Also reminds me of Rooney last big goal in the Champions League against Porto where Bruno Alves made the same mistake. Neither of those games turned out to be United victories. No denying Rooney is a great player but he is more Robin than Batman.
- Fernando Torres however is in an elite group of players.
- Nice of Nemanja Vidić to wait until the end of the game this time before picking up his red card.
- During Sam Allardyce previous run at Bolton his teams always played the big four tough. It appears his current Blackburn players aren’t following the same blue print. Three weeks after losing 6-2 to Arsenal they throw in the towel again losing to Chelsea 5-0. Wonder what’s in store for Blackburn when they take on a clearly ticked off Manchester United next week.
- He didn’t score a goal yesterday and has an awful hair cut but Chucho Benítez put the pressure on Sunderland’s back line all game long. Not the return former Birmingham City coach Steve Bruce was hoping for losing 2-1.
- Chucho Benítez may end up having a positive impact in England but there is no denying the season Hugo Rodallega is having for Wigan. With his brace against Burnley his goal tally in the league is now up to five. Wigan should produce a video of Amr Zaki as a reminder to Rodallega what happens if you don’t keep your head on straight.
- Classic smash and grab job by Stoke City stealing the three points against Tottenham. Harry Redknapp is going to be even more upset with Jermain Defoe picking up a silly red card last week after Tottneham weren’t able to finish their chances against Stoke.
- Exciting and Bolton generally don’t go together but til Torres broke open the Liverpool-Manchester United was cursing not being able to watch Bolton vs Everton. Despite two great strikes by Saha and Fellaini Bolton took the three points thanks to a late Ivan Klasnic goal.
- Gotta play the full 90 minutes Manchester City and Arsenal. Arsenal should know better and for Manchester City top four hopes they better learn from their draw against Fulham.
- How in the world do you miss that Bobby Zamora?
Barca captain Puyol agrees contract extension
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has “agreed in principle” to a new contract with the European champions that will keep him at the Camp Nou until 2013.
The 31-year-old Spanish international, whose current accord was set to expire next summer, will sign the three-year deal in the next few days.
Had very little in the way of doubt that Puyol was going to resign with Barcelona. For their sake hope this piece of news is what’s needed for them to break out of their mini slump.
Rangers midfielder Mendes to miss two months
Rangers manager Walter Smith has confirmed that Pedro Mendes will be out of action for up to two months.
The midfielder was forced out of Tuesday night’s Champions League defeat to Unirea Urziceni after suffering a knock to his knee.
This piece of news saddens me as Mendes has always been a personal favorite. Even more dissapointing considering this will likely mean Mendes will miss Portugal upcoming matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Inter Coach Jose Mourinho: Milan’s Win Against Real Madrid Was Historic, Just Like The Loss To Zurich
The coach has hit out at Milan as claims they make history for wrong reasons, as well as right ones…
Inter coach Jose Mourinho has given bitter rivals Milan the sweet and sour treatment as he launches another attack on them.
“I am happy for Milan and Leonardo. They have had a difficult season. They are doing better than us in the Champions League,” the coach told a press conference.
“The win in the Bernabeu was historic, just like the loss to Zurich at the San Siro.
A college really needs to do a class on Mourinho’s mind tricks. Great way to deflect from Inter’s poor performance against Dynamo Kiev.