Harry Redknapp has done brilliantly in the transfer market over the past few seasons. Landing the likes of James, Campbell, Defoe and Diarra have been a coup and it looks like [Read the rest of this entry »]

Harry Redknapp is just about to pounce in the transfer market by the looks of things [Read the rest of this entry »]

Fabio Capello has adopted the role of generous grandfather ahead of England’s crucial and desperately important friendly against the footballing superpower that are the United States of America. The BBC report that the Italian is going to allow the likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry the opportunity to open a whole can of ‘whup-ass’ on their opponents in a bid to help them forget their woes at missing out on the Carling Cup, Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League this season. What a kind-hearted old codger he is!

“I’m very happy to see Lampard in the midfield because I think he’s a very important player for us.

“For Chelsea players it is very important to play and forget the last game in Moscow.”

Meanwhile, he’s also revealed that Wayne Rooney will be getting a partner in crime up front against the States, rather than playing the Manchester United striker in a lone role. Who will be the lucky one out of Peter Crouch, Dean Ashton, Jermain Defoe or Gabriel Agbonlahor that is going to terrorise the most powerful nation in the world?

“It is very important for me to see Rooney not as the first but the second striker,” Capello told BBC Five Live.

It will be just typical of an England team that hasn’t qualified for Euro 2008 to go out all guns blazing on Wednesday night and beat USA 5-0 or something. Or will it just be the customary struggle to a 2-1 victory?

Many have cited Arsene Wenger’s decision to allow Lassana Diarra leave in January as a reason why Arsenal lost some serious momentum in the Premier League title race. While it’s probably absurd to suppose that a squad player (albeit a very good one) was central to any hopes the Gunners had of winning the league, the Frenchman may well have been made to feel more welcome if Arsene Wenger had known that Mathieu Flamini was jumping ship to Milan before the season ended.

The Independent reveals that Diarra never felt as though he could please his former manager at The Emirates Stadium, despite what he felt were some very strong performances when he had the opportunity to play. The midfielder has a chance to be an FA Cup winner with Portsmouth this Saturday and doesn’t exactly have anything complimentary to say about his old club.

“I don’t think about Arsenal FC now, I am just focused on Portsmouth,” the 23-year-old Frenchman said as he prepared for Saturday’s FA Cup final at Portsmouth’s Hampshire training ground. “I left Arsenal because I wanted to play every week. When you are in the team, and even if you play well, the manager doesn’t put you on the pitch [for the next game] you have to do something. Every time he put me on the pitch I tried to do my best. For him, I don’t know if it was good enough, but for me…”

As we’ve pointed out in the past, Diarra certainly isn’t short of self-confidence and his performances in a Pompey shirt have been of a very high standard. Indeed, the Premier League outfit will be glad he’s in the team to face Cardiff, especially as a lack of firepower without the cup-tied Defoe means they might have to rely on winning by a solitary goal as they did in the semi-final against West Brom.

Did Arsene Wenger make a mistake in allowing Diarra to leave for the South Coast or was it a case of having his hands tied in so far as he couldn’t offer the player first-team football and the Frenchman wouldn’t hang around to try and hold down a place in the starting XI?

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Should your team be bidding for Peter Crouch this summer? It’s clear that if the former QPR hitman gets a regular run of games for most Premier League clubs, he’ll score a fair few, both on the floor and in the air. It’s just a shame that Liverpool FC manager Rafael Benitez seems intent on persisting with a formation that includes just one forward, and that Crouch has to compete with the goal machine that is Fernando Torres.

While there’s been a whole heap of speculation surrounding Crouch all season, most of which has been rebuffed by the striker, it now appears as though the talented forward is moving to pastures new. Sky Sports report that Rafael Benitez has slapped a £15million price tag on his head (after getting a ladder out to reach that far), which is the equivalent of one-and-a-half Gareth Barry’s if Liverpool’s economics are anything to go by.

“Crouch wants to play every week but knows he must fight it out with Fernando Torres,” Benitez said.

“We keep seeing Portsmouth linked with the player but we have had no offer as yet.

“A £15m price tag would not be unreasonable.”

Which is basically the Spaniard’s way of saying ‘show me the money’ to potential buyers. Harry Redknapp is clearly a fan of Crouchaldinho, having been his manager when the pair were at Southampton. Will there be a little and large act at Pompey next season, with Crouch and Defoe wreaking havoc amongst opposition defences?

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It’s clear that Juande Ramos is going to to renovate his Tottenham squad in the summer. The Spaniard made a handful of changes during the January transfer window (Defoe out, Woodgate and Hutton in), although it’s likely that there’ll be exports and imports on a far grander scale as soon as the final whistle blows against Liverpool on the final day of the season.

The Daily Mirror reports that two players who may find themselves surplus to requirements are Paul Robinson and Ledley King, something that you couldn’t have predicted at the start of the season.

The Spurs boss said: “We will have to see what state he (King) is in.

We are going to have to wait for the diagnosis of the doctors. We will have to see if he is here next season.

“We don’t know what the squad is going to be like and we will make that decision then.

“Robinson’s injured and hasn’t trained for three weeks,” added Ramos.

“Unless he recovers his fitness quickly, it will be very difficult for him to play.”

Ledley King has been a loyal servant to Spurs for many seasons, although injuries have blighted his career, preventing him from playing a continuous spell of football for the club and hindering his international prospects at the same time. Even so, it will be a sad day if he were to leave the club in the summer, especially as he’s been one of Tottenham’s most consistent performers (when he’s been fit enough to play).

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There’s no doubt that the 2008 January transfer window will be remembered for the Benjani fiasco, with the striker failing to complete his transfer from Portsmouth to Manchester City before the Thursday midnight deadline last week. However, The Times today reveal the reason why it’s taken nearly another week for the deal to be completed, you just couldn’t make it up!

“In his own inevitable, wonderful way – and we all love Benji so much – he falls asleep at the airport and misses two planes,” Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie said. “You couldn’t write the script. The next plane at 7 o’clock got cancelled and the 8.30 was delayed. It just made the whole situation a fiasco.”

We’ve heard of players caught napping on a football field but this is surely a first of its kind? Manchester City have paid just £3.87 million to Portsmouth for the striker and, although this could rise to £7.6 million, the Hampshire club must be concerned that their books haven’t exactly balanced after splurging £9 million on Jermain Defoe last week.

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Aston Villa’s 21-year-old striker Gabby Agbonlahor won’t be able to play any part in England’s friendly this week after he suffered a nasty hamstring injury during the Fulham-Villa game at Craven Cottage. The game ended 2-1 to Fulham, and Agbonlahor will be doubly gutted that he won’t be able to impress Fabio Capello with his blitering pace and flashy moves. Villa boss Martin O’Neill said:

“I’m disappointed for him. It’s now down to the two medical teams but he hasn’t got a prayer of making it.

“He has earned his call-up to be with the big boys and I will let him go and meet up because he deserves that.

“But there is no way he will be involved. Right at the moment, we are not sure how long he will be out for.”

Pompey striker Jermain Defoe has been called up as a replacement for Agbonlahor in an already depleted position, so will Defoe grab this opportunity to impress Capello?

Picking through the wreckage of the late late transfer window dealings….

Kevin Keegan played the role of ‘Transfer Scrooge’ this deadline day…
…He vetoed a Swindon bid for England U-19 international Andy Carroll. (The Sun)
…pulled out of a move for centre-back Alvaro from Levante. (The Sun)
…And he also plans to have ‘crisis talks’ with Charles N’Zogbia, who appears to want to run far, far away in the summer. (Daily Star)

Everton boss David Moyes had a busy deadline day, flogging both veteran defender Alan Stubbs to Derby and Brazilian nonentity Anderson to Barnsley, whilst also finding time to pick up a 6’5″ defender on his way home. Shame the defender’s name is Anthony Gardner. (Various)

Benjani Mwaruwari’s move from Portsmouth to Man City still hasn’t been confirmed by the FA, which claims it didn’t receive the paperwork in time. (Various)
…All of which has left ‘Arry Redknapp in a sticky situation as he was counting on the Benjani dosh to finance his raid for Jermain Defoe. (BBC)
…And the actual amount that ‘Arry paid is also open to debate:
£12m (Daily Star)
£9m (Daily Mail)
£7m (Various)

Spurs boss Juande Ramos signed Hertha Berlin’s Brazilian left-back Gilberto from Hertha Berlin before the midnight deadline. (Express)

And Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez managed to convince his shady American paymasters to cough up a whopping £18.6m to pay the shady figures at MSI for Javier Mascherano’s shady midfield services.(Various)

And Rangers had a last minute sniff around Italian striker Andrea Caracciolo from Sampdoria but it was a case of too little too late. (Daily Record)

Bolton’s ginger supremo Gary Megson didn’t manage to bag Reading striker Leroy Lita despite frantically waving £7m around like a deranged city trader. (The Sun)

After getting his hopes up over a £2m move for goalkeeper Brad Guzan from Chivas USA, Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill had to cry himself to sleep on deadline night. (The Sun)

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos is trying to slide under the closing transfer window with Sevilla winger Diego Capel. (Mirror)

Arsenal striker Theo Walcott doesn’t want to be fobbed off with a loan deal and is going to stay and fight like a man for his place in the team. (Mirror)

Portsmouth gaffer Harry Redknapp is so desperate to get his hands on Real Mallorca winger Jonas Gutierrez that he is set to offer £5m and Lauren in order to bag his man. (Various)
…And if Benjani does a runner to Man City then Harry Redknapp will try and lure Jermain Defoe to Pompey. (Times)

Middlesbrough, frankly desperate for someone who can stick the ball in the back of the net, are trying to bag Inter Milan forward Goran Slavkovski on loan. (Times)

Aston Villa are Interested in taking Spurs midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng to Villa Park to rescue the German from his tepid Spurs career. (Times)

Both Norwich and Coventry are scrambling to secure the signature of Birmingham defender Martin Taylor. (Times)

Newcastle gaffer Kevin Keegan’s move for Levante’s Brazilian defender Alvaro has run aground. (Times)

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson reckons that if he ignores the fact that FIFA have blocked his deal for Rangers striker Daniel Cousin, he’ll be able to sign him anyway. (Mirror)

Charlton will only cough up Andy Reid if Sunderland give them Greg Halford and are ready to test Sunderland’s resolve by asking for cash plus Greg Halford in exchange for Andy Reid. (Star)

The Sun, taking a few moments to pause between asking its readers to write messages of comfort to a suicidal Britney Spears and launching a “national” vote on whether Jordan’s pre or post-op mammaries are better, has brought us the gloriously tenuous rumour that both Jermain Defoe and Shaun Wright-phillips are “queueing up” to sign for Newcastle.
According to Sun scribbler Shaun Custis both men are ready to leap aboard the good ship Toon, and an insider tells us about Kevin Keegan’s training ground edict:

“It wasn’t like a big speech by the manager or anything but it sounded like he would be making a few changes.

“With only a couple of weeks left in the transfer window, he has not really got time to assess what is already there. He has to make some quick decisions.”

Were not sure about this rumour, in fact we would bet our houses on the fact that this is utter tripe.

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The Sun today tell us that Jermain Defoe revealed to them exclusively that Spurs boss Juande Ramos has told him that he can leave if he wants to. Defoe said:

“The manager has said I can leave if I want — but I want to prove him wrong. I want to stay here.

“He called me into his office and told me. At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought he was going to say I would be starting against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, which was why he didn’t give me a game against Reading at the weekend.

“But he just said ‘You can leave if you want to’. Yet I have no intentions of leaving this club because I love it here.

“I would love to sign a new contract — and I know people at the top of the club want me to stay.

“But no one can expect me to sign a new deal if I can’t get a game.”

We are finding it pretty hard to decipher what Defoe is on about here, first he claims that he doesn’t want to go, but Ramos told him he can go, and then at the end he claims that no one can expect him to stay if he doesn’t get a game. Hmmm. Is he trying to set up an “I didn’t ask to leave, I was pushed” scenario?

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