There Is Only One Sinnacle

Take that Rory Delap. The Front Flip was just showing off mind you. Below is the “World Record Throw In Toss”

Pep Guardiola agrees new Barcelona deal

The future of the all-conquering Catalan coach, who won six trophies with Barcelona last term, has been the subject of intense speculation but, on Wednesday, club officials revealed he had extended his contract beyond the end of the season.

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This should quiet rumours of Pep Guardiola leaving for about a month. It’s a good compromise between Guardiola and the club as the last thing either party wants is questions about Pep’s future to distract the club. Come the summer if Guardiola’s heart is just not in it anyone or Joan Laporta loses the upcoming presidential elections he can walk away without causing any turmoil during the season.

West Ham are considering a move to take out-of-favour striker Jo from Everton. The Brazilian is currently on a season-long loan at Goodison Park from Manchester City. Daily Post

Remember seeing Jo in his CSKA Moscow days thinking he could be in line to replace Adriano in the Brazilian national team setup. Since then he has been passed around from Manchester City to Everton and now possibly West Ham.

West Ham’s new owners could try to lure Fulham striker Bobby Zamora back to Upton Park, 18 months after he left the club. Daily Mirror

Don’t see any reason for Zamora to leave Fulham for West Ham. Some moves are side ways moves, this one would be a downwards move. Zamora had people talking him up for England at Fulham. At West Ham he was just a guy.

Tottenham full-back Alan Hutton could also be on his way to West Ham, with Bordeaux’s Mathieu Chalme his replacement in the Spurs defence. Daily Mirror

It wouldn’t be the worst move West Ham could make since Hutton due to injury or team form has never been given a regular place in the Tottenham set up.

Manchester United and Chelsea are battling it out to sign 18-year-old Spanish attacking midfielder Sergio Canales, who can leave Racing Santander in the summer when his contract runs out. Daily Mirror

If Real Madrid are really interested in Canales than it will be Real Madrid who signs him.

Galatasaray are also monitoring Ryan Babel’s situation at Liverpool after the winger fell out with manager Rafael Benitez. The Times

Add Galatasaray to the list of teams Ryan Babel would turn down a move too.

Midfielder Mathieu Flamini could become yet another ex-Arsenal player to join Manchester City – on loan from AC Milan. Daily Mirror

Flamini would feel right at home considering Manchester City is a landing spot for ex Arsenal players.

AC Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar could also be heading to England in a bid to get regular first-team football ahead of the World Cup, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham likely to be interested.
Full story: Daily Mail

Neither of the teams listed could promise Huntelaar regular playing time week in and week out. Maybe Liverpool but only while Torres is hurt.

Tevez proves his worth against old club

The script was written perfectly for Manchester City as Carlos Tevez struck twice against old club Manchester United to leave the Blues on the brink of their first domestic final since 1981 after a 2-1 win.

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Gary Neville comments on how Manchester United was right to part ways with Carlos Tevez was foolish yesterday and proven even more so today. The thing I most enjoy about Carlos Tevez is most foreign players view a club as just an employer. With Tevez you can tell he wishes to create a bond with the club and fans. You could tell that with his brief time with West Ham where he was loved by the supports and vice versa. In his first season with Manchester United again Tevez created a bond with his selflessness and hard work. Then everyone knows what happens with Manchester United bringing in Dimitar Berbatov.

Sir Alex Ferguson can’t admit to this mistake at the moment but I’d be shocked if one day he didn’t own up to the fact Dimitar Berbatov was a luxury Manchester United didn’t need and Carlos Tevez was one of the key reasons to their success the previous two years.

If Gol TV wishes to send me press releases I’d be honoured to post them. The press release is for GOL TV in the U.S but most of the sporting events are also covered by GOL TV Canada, who I’m not on their radar…..yet.

GOLTV TELECASTS 2010 COPPA ITALIA & COPA DEL REY

All-Soccer Network Telecasts Final Round Coverage of National Cups Featuring Europe’s Top Teams from the Italian and Spanish Leagues

MIAMI – Jan. 19, 2010 – GolTV, the nation’s only bilingual channel delivering the most sought-after international soccer coverage, will telecast the 2010 Coppa Italia and Copa del Rey quarterfinals kicking off on

Jan. 20. The all-soccer network will deliver live and premiere coverage of Italy and Spain’s prestigious national cup competitions featuring several of Europe’s top soccer club teams and superstar players.

First, GolTV will head to Italy for the first quarterfinal match of the Coppa Italia. GolTV’s exclusive Coppa Italia coverage will feature live matches starring Italian powerhouses Juventus, Lazio and Milan. The network has secured the TV rights to the remainder of the Coppa Italia through the final match on May 5.

Then, GolTV launches its Copa del Rey coverage with two exclusive live matches from the first leg of the quarterfinals on Jan. 21. Because the cup champions automatically qualify for the playoff round of the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League, the Copa del Rey is a key event for Spanish clubs and sparks fierce competition. GolTV will follow Copa del Rey contenders through the semifinals on Feb. 3 – 4 and 10.

Wednesday, Jan. 20
LIVE – Fiorentia vs. Lazio at 3 p.m. ET

Thursday, Jan. 21
LIVE – Racing de Santander vs. Osasuna at 2 p.m. ET
LIVE – Atl. Madrid vs. Celta at 4 p.m. ET

All dates and times listed are subject to change, a current programming schedule is available online at www.goltv.tv.

Barcelona are stepping up their attempt to sign Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney, and are prepared to offer him wages of £8m a year after tax. Daily Star

Manchester United fans must of figured after Ronaldo left the daily speculation of players leaving for Spain would stop. Not so it appears.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is in talks with Real Madrid with a view to signing former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on a free transfer. Daily Telegraph

Ruud would most likely play move with Galatasaray which would increase his chances of making the Dutch World Cup squad. P.S Marco Van Basten, thank you for not playing van Nistelrooy against Portugal in the last World Cup. That was nice of you.

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard is ready to quit the club he joined as a nine-year-old two decades ago. Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan and Premier League big spenders Manchester City are believed to be interested in a deal. Daily Mail

Liverpool fans rightfully so love Steven Gerrard but if a team wants to go in a new direction selling Gerrard wouldn’t be the first thing in the world…..provided they can convince Torres to stay on board.

French side Lille want to sign Portsmouth defender Younes Kaboul for £10m, with cash-strapped Pompey willing to accept the offer. Daily Mirror

Winning seven games in a row as Lille have in Ligue 1 could mean a Champions League place next season. If Kaboul helps them get there then this transfer would pay for itself.

Birmingham City have been told they can have Celtic winger Aiden McGeady, if they match the asking price. Full story: The Sun

McGeady and Birmingham would be a good fit. I’ve been waiting too long for McGeady to become Celtic’s star player that maybe a new club would do both Celtic and McGeady some good.

Chelsea are waiting to discover the extent of midfielder Michael Essien’s knee injury, amid fears that the Ghanaian could be out for the rest of the season. The Times

Here comes someone questioning why the African Cup of Nations is played in January.

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola could be replaced by former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes if David Gold and David Sullivan complete their takeover of the club. Daily Mirror

However, Gold and Sullivan will announce that Zola’s position is safe when they take control. Daily Star

I for one hope Zola stays. He has done his best with his hands largely tied.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp could make a new and final move to sign goalkeeper David James – and save some money for Portsmouth, who are in huge debt and currently have a transfer embargo. Stoke ended their interest in James last week. Daily Mirror

David James should know he isn’t going to be any closer to making the World Cup squad sitting on Tottenham’s bench.

Netherlands striker Ryan Babel will be swiftly shipped out of Liverpool after a row with manager Rafa Benitez sealed his fate and cost him a week’s wages. Daily Mirror

Babel already turned down moves from Birmingham and Sunderland recently. Babel must of saw Darren Bent’s twitter rant during his final days at Tottenham and started thinking if it worked for him maybe it will work for me.

Chelsea want to keep hold of midfielder Joe Cole, who is out of contract at the end of the season. The England star has been linked with a summer move to Tottenham. Blues chairman Bruce Buck said: “I am personally a big fan of Joe Cole and we are in discussions with his agent and hopefully that will be sorted out soon.” Daily Express

This is starting to remind me of Mathieu Flamini final days at Arsenal where talks of him resigning where in the press daily til he finally did sign for……A.C Milan.

Cash-strapped West Ham have slapped a staggering £15m price tag on England midfielder Scott Parker. Full story: Daily Mirror

Staggering is right.

Manchester United supporters fighting the Glazer family’s ownership of the club are contemplating asking manager Sir Alex Ferguson to make the ultimate sacrifice and resign in protest. The Guardian

Fans are stupid, do you really think the Glazer would sell if S.A.F steps down?

- It doesn’t matter if it’s against Lyon in the Champions League, Reading in the FA Cup or Stoke in the Premier League Liverpool will cough up a really late lead. The only thing I liked about this game was Jamie Carranger saying it was on the players not ownership (granted they don’t help either) for the mess they are in.

- I know there is politics in play but at clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid the coaches, coach and the Sporting Directors handle the transfer market. You can also flip the script and say having a one man show as worked well at Manchester United and Arsenal but considering the players on display for Liverpool you can make the case that Rafa Benitez should be in the kitchen preparing the meal but not in the supermarket buying the ingredients.

- Where did it all go wrong is what Steve Bruce must be thinking. Football is a cruel sport in where form goes it’s very tough to gain back. Despite Sunderland losing 7-2 against Chelsea any talk of Steve Bruce’s job is absurd. Bruce is still trying to put his mark on this team and this takes time. It also doesn’t help that Ryan Babel seems to have no interest in a move to Sunderland for Kenwyne Jones.

- Its a tough ask for someone to play defense against Chelsea but here’s hoping Lorik Cana doesn’t have to cover for injures and suspensions. It was a long day for the make shift partnership of Cana and Paulo da Silva.

- For one week at least there goes those worries about Chelsea being able to score without Didier Drogba.

- Despite Chris Eagles best efforts Burnley could not take advantage of a Manchester United side who were pretty poor in the first half. Eagles sent in David Nugent who was one on one with van der Sar but couldn’t slot it home. Soon after that Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring for Manchester United and Burnley checked out of the game.

- Way to make an impression Mame Biram Diouf with his well taken goal late in the game. I’m sure he’ll be a great starting striker once Rooney is sold. (I kid, I kid.)

- Considering Hull will always be in a regulation battle this season gaining a point on the road against Tottenham is priceless to Phil Brown’s men. Don’t think you will see a better performance for a goalie all season than Boaz Myhill standing on his head to ensure Hull a share of the points.

- Harry Redknapp has to be happy with being in 4th place but this draw against Hull and losses at home against Wolves and Stoke must drive him crazy thinking what if?

- Hugo Rodallega, start putting penalties into the back of the net. His miss against Wolves was the second one I can remember this year. They may be one more to that. This story still had a happy ending for Roberto Martinez gaining three points against another club near the bottom.

- From one Roberto to another. A cynic could say Manchester City looked awful against their first real test under but I’ll give Roberto Mancini a pass on this one. The reason why? I loved the fact he pulled Robinho after subbing him into the game. The rest of the Manchester City players be it Bellamy, or Santa Cruz must respect Mancini for being brave enough to pull the under achieving golden boy. It sends a clear message to everyone one on this club that it doesn’t matter the name on your back, it only matters how you perform during the week in training and out in the field.

- Everton coach David Moyes must of loved sticking it to Manchester City as he is still steamed over the way Jeolan Lescott transfer went down.

- A draw on the road plus they kept a clean sheet to boot must make Gianfranco Zola see some light at the end of the tunnel. With rumours of new ownership about to finally take over West Ham maybe things will start to turn around.

- Here is hoping Clint Dempsey knee injury isn’t serious but something tells me it will be. Would be a huge blow if he isn’t fit for the World Cup. The best thing I can say about Dempsey, big goals aside from save them from the drop in 2007 and 2008 was the fact he wasn’t Roy Hodgson preferred player when he took over Fulham but Dempsey made the most of his chances to earn his starting spot.

- Love the fact Fran Mérida now sees playing time once rumours of him going to Atletico Madrid start to heat up.

- Mentioned this on twitter but will expand on it some here. I like the Sol Campbell transfer, I actually like it a lot more provided he barely plays. Campbell knows what it’s like to win, he has done it before with Arsenal which should help as the season winds down. Campbell even won an FA Cup with Portsmouth back in 2008. (Must feel like a million years ago for Portsmouth fans) He’ll be more valuable with his experience off the pitch than on it at this point but still love this no risk signing.

Roma Striker Luca Toni Looking Forward To Juventus Clash After Genoa Brace

The hitman is hoping to keep on finding the back of the net…

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Could you blame any player for being excited if they saw Juventus on the fixture list right now? Every once in awhile a transfer just makes sense for all involved. Luca Toni returning to Serie A and playing for a Roma club he could slot in perfectly was a no brainier. It didn’t take too long for Toni to shake off the rust with his two goals today, leading Roma to a 3-0 win over Genoa. With the win Roma over took Juventus for 3rd in Serie A.

Chievo 1-0 Juventus: Sardo Strike Sinks Sorry Bianconeri

The Flying Donkeys put in a competent display, while Juve were toothless in attack…

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Great now I have to deal with another week of the Juventus board giving Ciro Ferrara the dreaded vote of confidence. Not even the return of Gianluigi Buffon could turn around Juventus sagging fortunes. One thing is clear. Whoever is going to win Serie A will be contested in Milan.

P.S Still love the nickname Flying Donkeys. Great win today Chievo.