Welcome to the quick round up of Premier League goings on coming to you hot of the press, so to speak.
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Sunderland FC Stephen Hunt ignores Chelsea boos to score the first Premier League of the season only for Didier Drogba to score a couple to help Carlo Ancelotti’s side to a hard earned three points.
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Moyes closes in on a good pair of Championship players.
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It appears that the Toffees were either outbid or failed to land a number of transfer targets this summer. Everton fans certainly don’t appear to be particularly happy with the lack of activity on deadline day, and it appears as though it will be an uphill struggle to finish in fifth place again this season. This midfielder could have certainly helped the team if they’d managed to land him. [Read the rest of this entry »]
Good news for Reading fans. The BBC reports that striker Stephen Hunt has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with the English Premier League club that will sustain him at the Madejski Stadium until 2011 summer.
The Republic of Ireland is one of the key players in Steve Coppell’s exciting team and everyone at the club is happy that Hunt has decided to commit himself long-term to the Royals. Hunt himself is buoyed by the fact that the love affair between him and the club will last long.
Hunt says:
I am very pleased to sign this new deal and show my commitment to Reading. This club can keep going forward and I want to play my part in that process.
Reading’s performance in the last one and a half season certainly augurs optimism in the long term. But exactly how far can the Royals go?
Crime is everywhere it seems, including the home team’s dressing room after Reading’s 2-0 defeat against Manchester United. The Daily Mail report that no sooner had full-back Graeme Murty dived into the shower after the match, then one of his Royals team-mates had nabbed Cristiano Ronaldo’s swapped shirt off his peg.
But when he returned, the shirt was gone — prompting some choice words from the Scotland international: “Someone’s had it away and when I find out who it is, it’s going to be bloody,” he vowed. “It’s either a player, an apprentice or a member of staff but when I find out who it is there are going to be broken legs.
“I know who my list of suspects are. I’ve played against Ronaldo before but he was the nearest player to me. I said, ‘Can I have your shirt?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m knackered’ but the moment I came back from the shower, the shirt had gone.”
Who could it have been?
“It was pretty funny really,” said Reading goalkeeper and Sportsmail columnist Marcus Hahnemann. “Murts was looking for it everywhere, but Hunty finally came clean and gave it back to him in the players’ bar afterwards. And probably just in time!”
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Steve Coppell reckons that Sunderland’s relentless pursuit of Stephen Hunt is doomed to failure and that Roy Keane should give up the ghost in his efforts to bag the combative midfielder. Roy Keane seems to lodge bids for Hunt with obsessive regularity; and having seen efforts of £2.5m and £3m rejected by Coppell, Keane is planning yet another bid of £4.5m. Coppell remains strong claiming that: “They can come calling every day,”
The story doesn’t end there though, the Guardian’s Stephen James reports that:
“Hunt’s head appears to have been turned by Sunderland’s advances and, although he has not asked for a transfer, there is a feeling that he would welcome the chance to work under Roy Keane, the former Ireland captain. Coppell said the 26-year-old midfielder’s approach has not changed since Sunderland first expressed their interest.”
And in these days of player power, is continually battering down the door of a club that doesn’t want to sell, in essence just the same as illegal tapping up?
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Stephen Hunt has arguably been Reading’s player of the season so far. Aside from a couple of ill-timed challenges which may have merited red cards, the Irishman has notched seven goals from midfield, including a brace against Tottenham on Saturday. One of his biggest admirers appears to be Sunderland boss Roy Keane and, although Royals boss Steve Coppell has said the player isn’t for sale, Hunt seems to be reading from a different script according to quotes in the Daily Mirror.
Hunt said: “I told the club what I thought about that Sunderland’s £2.5million bid and that will remain private. I’ll just keep going and see what happens.
“The club know my situation and how I feel and we’ll see what materialises. It’s entirely up to Reading.
“Sunderland are a big club and Roy’s doing a great job there. But I’m here, Reading know my situation and I’ll give my best for them, that’s all I can do.”
Hardly a declaration of loyalty to Reading! It appears that unless the Royals offer him a vastly improved contract, Hunt will be the latest Irish addition to Roy Keane’s Sunderland squad.
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