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Transfer Rumours and Gossip: Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, and Birmingham

Tottenham’s Hossam Ghaly is reportedly a target for Derby and Sunderland. Dimitar Berbatov may not smile much, but at least he doesn’t toss the shirt away like a soiled rag when he gets upset.

Arsenal and Manchester United are keeping tabs on the progress of Deportivo La Coruna winger Andres Guardado. He’s great in FM2008, but the pacy winger would be well suited to the Premier League. Can slot in at full back too so would sort out both clubs who like to have their backs acting as secondary wingers.

Manchester City are set to make a £12m move for striker Nicolas Anelka, whom Bolton have admitted is available for the right price.(Daily Mirror). We imagine £12m is the right price, and Anelka does a great job as a lone striker. No doubt he’d score bags for Sven Goran-Eriksson’s new City, but with United sniffing around we’re not sure Nicky could resist the lure of a last chance to win major trophies. Then again, he did join Bolton in the first place.

Eriksson is also interested in Liverpool striker Peter Crouch and Heerenveen forward Afonso Alves. (The Times). Who isn’t (besides his manager)? The Crouch situation is another confusing one but we reckon as long as he’s happy to fight for his place at Liverpool then Rafa is happy to keep him for those rare occasions he decides he needs him. This one won’t be a club-enforced sell.

Carson Yeung must prove on Friday he can raise £35m or his takeover plans for Birmingham City will be over. (Various) Never underestimate a Hong Kong businessman. But apparently you can underestimate a Birmingham businessman or else they wouldn’t be in such a pickle.

Dimitar Berbatov has been impressed by new coach Juande Ramos and intends to fight to help Spurs move up the table. This rumour is never, ever going away until Berbatov leaves. But we don’t really see what the fuss is about with his body language, the bloke was frowning when his club were losing and playing like schoolchildren. Spurs fans were expecting what?

Former Manchester United midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron is set to join MLS side DC United. (Daily Star) Well, the spectacular fall from grace continues. We always thought it was a case of right player, wrong time for Veron at United. But in the US the only way is up, surely?

Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce is lining up a January move for Porto centre-back Bruno Alves. (The Sun) That’s the spectacular signing that’ll get the fans back on his side.

Chelsea are ready to splash out £10m on Valencia’s Portugal international full-back Miguel as a replacement for Paulo Ferreira. (The Sun) The last £10-million plus Portuguese right back didn’t turn out so well, so why not replace him with another? Miguel is solid, though, although we think Chelsea should be aiming a bit higher. Rangers’ Alan Hutton is sure to be the subject of a bidding war any day now and we’ve got our money on Man United or Chelsea to snap him up.

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Tottenham Star Angry At Contract Treatment

We remember when Hossam Ghaly threw his shirt to the ground, some Spurs fans defended him saying that it was fair play given he had been booed all game by his own fans despite putting in his best effort and then eventually deal the dreaded shame of a sub being subbed. “Second chance!”, they cried.

Well, apparently the strop was - as always - just about the money,

“It was a normal reaction, given what Tottenham did against me. Tottenham didn’t allow me to play 30 matches to receive the bonus which was included in my contract. Furthermore, they didn’t fulfil their promise of extending my contract.”

So, now does anyone want to see him in a white shirt again?

Why Does Newcastle’s Sam Allardyce Keep Banging On About His Bolton Record?

We first heard him go on about it when Newcastle played Arsenal. “I know how to beat this lot” blah blah blah, end result was a nice fat 2-0 loss. Then last week he was going on about how he knows, from his Bolton days, how to stop Liverpool and the end result was a 3-0 thrashing.

This time? Well Newcastle play Blackburn so…

“Hopefully, my record stays intact in the Premier League, because my record there with Bolton Wanderers from six games was won three and three draws.

“In fact, I’ve not been defeated at Blackburn for a long time in the league, so I hope they carry that on for me tomorrow.”

Allardyce has always been a bit of a arrogant one, full of his own achievements bullying people with his Bolton gang so its rather sad to hear him constantly harp on about how Bolton every single match only to be turned over. And judging from the reaction of the crowd at last week’s home game, we imagine Newcastle fans would prefer he actually concentrate on achieving something with them that was worth talking about.

Arsenal Set To Spend In January

Think Wenger is happy with a legion of talented midgets? Think again,

“In midfield we have plenty of players,” he said. “The only area we might be a bit short is at the back because we have Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue going to the African Nations Cup.

“We might have Johann Djourou back though. We have the option to recall him.”

The Arsenal fans we know range from rating Djourou to the point of doubting Wenger for letting him go on loan, to thinking he’s a bit of a waste of a Bramble at times. Good ol football fans. The young lad has talent but is he the answer to shore up the defense while the club looks to compete for League and Champions League glory? Or does Arsene need to open the chequebook?

It’s The Same Old Chelsea, Insists West Ham Boss Curbishley

What do you get if you sack a controversial Portuguese manager and replace him with an introverted Israeli coach at Chelsea? According to Alan Curbishley in The Guardian, exactly the same team who continue to pick up wins on account of the foundations laid by their predecessor.

The West Ham coach has certainly stirred up a real hornet’s nest ahead of Saturday lunchtime’s derby match between Chelsea and the Hammers, belittling any effect that Avram Grant has had on the team, despite an impressive string of victories since Jose Mourinho departed.

“They’re talking it up but if you care to look at it, there’s not much difference,” Curbishley said. “Drogba is a handful, the midfield three are as strong as you get, John Terry plays when he’s fit and the other players are put around them. The side is well established and they play a certain way, it’s just carried on.

“When he [Grant] took the job on he must have thought, ‘I’m gonna win more than I lose with the squad I’ve got.’ The foundations Mourinho left were there for everyone to see and he’s taken over nice and quietly and picked up the results.”

While it’s certainly been a case of evolution rather than revolution at Stamford Bridge, these comments have surely been designed to ruffle a few feathers ahead of Saturday’s game. While there’s no doubt that Grant presides over a group of talented players, Mourinho’s final three matches as Blues boss had seen the team lose 2-0 at Aston Villa, draw 0-0 at home to Blackburn and then manage only a 1-1 draw with Rosenborg. The scoreline in the corresponding fixture on Wednesday night? 4-0 to Chelsea.

Manchester City Looking To Poach Liverpool Star

It’s being reported on the BBC website that the under-rated Peter Crouch has caught the eye of Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. Certainly money will be no object where Dr Thaksin Shinawatra is concerned.

“Sven is looking for one striker and one or two midfielders,” said Thaksin.

“Sven does like Peter Crouch, very much. But he has yet to decide (if he will make an offer).”

This is not the first time that the former QPR and Southampton striker has been linked with a move away from Anfield. However, it doesn’t appear that Crouch is particularly keen to leave the club, despite manager Rafael Benitez only rating him as an ‘impact player’.

He certainly ticks the right boxes as far as Man City are concerned. Their 4-5-1 style of play requires a forward in the Crouch mould to hold the ball up and bring others into play. He was arguably England’s best player against Croatia a fortnight ago and you can be sure that Sven would love to have the likes of Petrov, Elano and Johnson running off the lanky front man.

And with Liverpool apparently skint, or at least in terms of what Rafa is being allowed to play with, he may need to sell to buy.

High Praise For Liverpool’s “Next Thierry Henry”

After being likened to the France legend by his international boss Marco Van Basten, it seemed that there was little higher praise that Ryan Babel could receive.

WRONG. Liverpool’s World’s Ugliest Man 2007 Dirk Kuyt has chimed in on his compatriot,

“I think Ryan can be a sensation in the Premiership. He has a lot of talent and ability and I think sometimes it is easy for people to forget how young he is.

“The Premiership is one of the best leagues in the world and it is also very physical, so it is normal that Ryan will need more time to show his best.

“But in every game and in every training session he is getting better and better and stronger and stronger. It is another level but I am sure he will be at that level very soon.”

We’ve been mighty impressed by Babel when we’ve seen him, although generally his best performances have come when he’s been on as a sub while 15-0 up against Derby or Besiktas. But he does indeed have the pace, power, technique and skill to make you think the world is his oyster.

So for Liverpool fans out there, is Babel or Torres the more exciting signing from the summer?

Lack Of Midfield Imagination Is Punishing Leeds

Guest written by COS reader Jack

With recents results coming into question by the Leeds faithful their are different theories,some say its the arrival of ‘Harry’ Bassett, some say Gus’s influence has hampered the form of the club. Yes I agree that Gus had a massive impact on the players and the club but people saying that the arrival of Bassetts ” Long ball game” Is the cause of the blip is wrong in my mind.

Even before Bassett arrived , we lacked creativity in the midfield and the only difference is we were getting the lucky bounces and the players were in the right place at the right time. What is changing the results is lack of any sort of creativity and flair in midfield. Against Hereford, the winger Lionel Ainsworth, was the best player on the pitch by far.

He had pace, he was creative and had the vision that any of our midfielders lack. Players like Hughes and Douglas are battlers and tacklers but neither of them have any vision, this makes them just hit the ball long and hope that Beckford or Kandol provide the finish. The reason for Leeds’ lack of form is not Bassetts arrival but the lack of vision and creativity in the Leeds midfield.

Upset Watch: Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea

This weekend, there are a fair few matches set up for a rosey, laughable upset to mock our friends, family and enemies over on Monday:

Chelsea v West Ham
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Tottenham v Birmingham
Wigan v Manchester City
Liverpool v Bolton

New managers are the order of the day. The biggest banana peel we can see here lies in North London, Aston Villa are riding high off thrashing Blackburn like an ugly child and Arsenal have often suffered a blip in form after a European loss. New team or not, they’re missing some key midfield players and will some big performances from unlikely sourcs. Spurs just got by a random Danish team no one had ever heard of, and still look like utter clowns in defense. Ramos may say they’re working on it in training, but a couple of days won’t be enough. Birmingham will be up for a fight and have the new-manager smell to get them fired up.

We can’t see West Ham pulling it off away at Chelsea though, and Manchester City will probably draw with Wigan without Elano. Liverpool should continue their run by thumping Bolton, who might be a bit cocky after beating United.

But let us know who you think is the most likely to have their ancestors shamed this weekend.

Are Arsenal More Reliant On Fabregas Than They Were Henry?

With a crunch match against Aston Villa to worry about, Arsenal’s high flying squad are starting to thin out a bit,

“I don’t know how long it will be for Cesc,” Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon. “We hope it will be very, very, very short maybe he’ll even be OK for Saturday. But the medical staff are not optimistic about that. The worst case for him realistically is 10 days.

“We have a slight chance to get Gael Clichy and Alexander Hleb back. Mathieu Flamini will be available. Of course Van Persie is still out.”

Cesc has been a revelation since arriving at the club not only for his warp-speed development into one of the best midfielders in the world but also his relative imperviousness to injury. But as the team relies so heavily on his ability to dictate tempo, this is really the first time this young squad will have to make do without him for an extended period of time.

Much was always made about whether Arsenal were a one man team during Henry’s days, something this current team is setting out to disprove. But since this squad is still young and growing, are they now even more reliant on Cesc to help keep things together than their French hitman?

Alternatively, Wenger may pull some 15 year old Italian out of his arse who’s even better.

Do Any Newcastle Fans Still Have Faith In Michael Owen?

It’s hard not to be cynical when reading about Michael Owen’s latest return from injury in The Times. Surely if Darren Anderton hadn’t got there first, the nickname of ‘Sicknote’ would have stuck to the Newcastle and England striker like glue over the years.

“Michael is back from Germany and coming forward a lot quicker than we thought, and we will hopefully have him back well before Christmas,” Allardyce said.

Owen has managed just twenty starting appearances and nine goals since signing for the Magpies in August 2005. Considering he cost United an estimated £16m, that’s just under £2m-per-goal which is cracking value by anyone’s standards. It’s not as if Wayne Rooney has managed 64 goals for Man United or Didier Drogba has notched 74 for Chelsea since the summer of 2004.

Say what you like about some of Allardyce’s recent signings, but did any of them cost the small fortune shelled out to Real Madrid for Michael Owen? It is for this reason that he has to represent a complete waste-of-money for Newcastle United. Nobody is disputing the striker’s quality, but his penchant for a fractured metatarsal or a torn muscle means that Allardyce can never forge a long-term plan while he has a costly striker on his books.

Can Manchester City Succeed Without Elano?

If Manchester City are going to fulfil their aim of finishing in the Premier League top four, it’s clear that they need to start addressing their away form. Since an opening day victory at Upton Park, City’s performances on the road have been a mixed bag, with just two points to show from five matches.

To compound matters, SkySports reports that they’ll be without star Brazilian midfielder Elano for Saturday’s trip to the JJB Stadium:

The Brazilian lasted just 58 minutes of last week’s 2-1 win over Reading after being on World Cup duty in South America.

He has now picked up a hamstring problem and will not be involved in the weekend’s Premier League fixture at the JJB Stadium.

City boss Sven Goran Eriksson said: “He is having a scan and we do not know at the moment how long he will be out for.”

This injury might be a blessing in disguise for the Citizens, who perhaps need to start relying less on their South American playmaker in order for things to happen. In addition, Elano’s style of play can have far less impact in an away match, where the home team are far less likely to sit back. Wigan are sure to be adopting physical ‘in your face’ tactics from the kick-off on Saturday.

While City got badly punished when they decided to try and play flowing football at Stamford Bridge. They’re riding high at the moment but their 100% home record surely won’t last much longer and it’s time for them to demonstrate what they can deliver away from home.

Tottenham Finally Have Some Kind Of Life Changing Revelation

Spurs fans will no doubt have been whistling a happy tune as they left White Hart Lane on Thursday evening. After all, they’d just seen their team produce a memorable comeback to beat Aalborg 3-2. However, goals from Berbatov, Malbranque and Bent really papered over the defensive cracks in the Tottenham team, who had found themselves two goals down to a lively but limited Danish team come the interval.

Supporters of the North London club should at least be reassured that, unlike Martin Jol, new manager Juande Ramos is keen to sort the defence out as quickly as possible.

“It is an area we need to work on,” he said.

“The most important thing in a team is balance. Our defence is conceding too many and we have to find a solution because we won’t score three goals in every game.”

Ramos is extremely likely to spend money on new defenders in January, especially when you consider full-back Pascal Chimbonda was asked to cover in central defence last night. While Spurs fans will point to the fact Ledley King is currently injured, he’s starting to give Michael Owen a run for his money as far as time spend in the transfer room is concerned.

Manchester City battle Manchester United to sign France star

Nicolas Anelka has commanded over £50m in transfer fees during his career and it appears that the top Premier League clubs (and Man City!) are ready to break the bank once again to sign the Bolton striker. The Guardian today report that Man City are looking to boost their flagging strikeforce by bringing the Frenchman back to the club for his second spell.

With about £30m to spend, Eriksson wants to bring in three new signings. Mark Bresciano, the Australia international who nearly joined the club from Palermo in August, is still in Eriksson’s thoughts but his priority will be bringing Anelka to City for a second time.

No wonder it’s a priority when you consider that Man City’s strikers have managed just three goals between them in the league this season (Mpenza has two, Bianchi has one). It’s testament to the goalscoring ability of Petrov, Elano, Ireland and Johnson that the Citizens find themselves in the upper reaches of the Premier League.

However, will Anelka instead want to play in the Champions League? It’s also rumoured that Man United and Chelsea are sniffing around the 28-year-old whom Bolton will not want to relinquish without a fight. United’s over-reliance on Rooney and Ronaldo for goals, along with Drogba departing for the African Nations Cup means there could be an interesting bidding war for the former Arsenal, Real Madrid, Paris St Germain, Liverpool and Fenerbahce striker!

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Portsmouth’s Harry Redknapp Believes England Manager Dream Has Died

As suggested on CaughtOffside yesterday,
The Guardian now report that the England manager dream has died for Harry Redknapp, following Wednesday’s arrest on suspicion of corruption.

A source close to the 60-year-old admitted he now accepted the Football Association “wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole” with Redknapp infuriated at what he perceives to be a “witch-hunt” against him. He is understood to be suspicious of the timing of events, which coincide with the FA’s search for a new England coach.

Before his arrest, the Portsmouth manager had typically laughed off suggestions that he could become the next England manager, while also describing the role as a ‘dream’ and one ‘you’d have to be a traitor’ to turn down. It would now be a surprise if Redknapp gets anywhere near the FA shortlist, despite no charges being brought against him.

Conspiracy? Or just bad timing for the floppy faced one?

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