Shay Given has already started training with new club Manchester City, and now it appears as though Joe Kinnear has lost another of his best players to a Premier League rival. Will the Newcastle manager live to regret getting this player’s name wrong in an interview, or would it not have mattered a jot, with the midfielder wanting to jump ship a long time ago? [Read the rest of this entry »]

Some have gone as far as to claim that fifteen teams could be relegated from the Premier League this season, especially with West Brom, Hull and Stoke all putting up a decent fight. Clubs seem to be scrambling over each other to avoid sitting in the drop zone, with Tottenham still bottom of the table despite a recent resurgence. [Read the rest of this entry »]

You could never accuse David Gold of mincing his words at Birmingham City. The Blues co-owner has a reputation of shooting from the hip, and he’s becoming increasingly incensed by the antics of their former manager Steve Bruce. It’s fair to say that the former Manchester United captain hasn’t featured on Gold’s christmas card list recently, especially as legal action is now being threatened. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Does Gareth Southgate have another season of struggle on his hands? It remains to be seen, although he’s close to seeing another top-drawer midfielder leave the Riverside and join one of Middlesbrough’s Premier League rivals. [Read the rest of this entry »]

The Cottagers only stayed up by their skin of their teeth last season, and it’s likely to be a season of struggle for Roy Hodgson’s men again next term. They may have splashed the cash on Bobby Zamora recently, although it’s still hard to see them scoring bundles of goals, nor keeping too many clean sheets. [Read the rest of this entry »]

For a week or so, the press has been telling us that Andy Johnson’s family are happily settled in the North West. As a result, Wigan were the firm favourites to bag the Everton man with the bald pate and speedy whirring legs. Now though, a completely different rumour is circulating. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Word on the street is that Davie Moyes is starting to warm ever so slightly to the idea of letting Andy Johnson leave Goodison Park, and it might have something to do with the fact that he has his eye on this Argentine replacement. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Once upon a time, Andy Johnson was the 17th President of the United States. As we all know, he jacked that in ages ago, and he’s now a professional footballer with Everton, who – somewhat strangely – is being trailed by a veritable carousel of suitors. [Read the rest of this entry »]

We are now just weeks away from the new season and, once Euro 2008 finishes, the transfer market will explode and the rumour mill will spin wildly, but who do you hope your club will sign? [Read the rest of this entry »]

Everybody’s favourite tabloid The Sun reckons that Everton will start off their summer transfer shenanigans by getting rid of one of their strikers. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Arsenal begin the season by hosting West Brom, Liverpool travel to Sunderland, Tottenham make the long trip to Middlesbrough. Yes it’s fixture list day! You can spend the whole day debating possible debauched weekends up north or when your play your local rivals.
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It’s fair to say that Jimmy Bullard is Fulham’s best player. It’s also fair to say that one of the reasons why he left a vibrant Wigan team to join the Cottagers was due to his desire to move down south. Therefore, it doesn’t seem to make sense as to why the popular midfielder would want to leave the west London club to join Middlesbrough, as the Daily Mail are reporting today.

Middlesbrough are proposing a swap deal with homesick winger Gary O’Neil and Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson insists Bullard is not for sale, but any hint he would be allowed to leave would spark interest from Aston Villa, Newcastle and Sunderland.

O’Neill was deemed surplus to requirements at Portsmouth twelve months ago, and it’s hard to see him having anywhere near the level of impact that Bullard enjoyed last season, coming back from a serious injury to help his club stave off the threat of relegation.

Perhaps a little unwisely, Alex McLeish claims that the broken leg suffered by Eduardo in February had a negative effect on Birmingham City, and was part of the reason why they were relegated from the Premier League – as well as not being very good.

The Express and Star report that Big Eck acknowledges that the horrific injury to the Croatian put a severe dent in the Gunners’ season, although cites the incident as a turning point for Martin Taylor and the rest of the Blues team. Quite whether anyone will have a degree of sympathy for this club is open to question, especially given the emotionally-charged accusations that followed immediately after the challenge.

He said: “It was a factor here at Birmingham City, absolutely. Martin Taylor had played very solidly for a few games in the Premier League.

“He was affected as much as Arsenal FC were and we were affected by losing him.

“When he came back I didn’t think Taylor was quite himself. He played against Wigan and it wasn’t the Martin who had been playing before the Eduardo incident.

“Our other centre-half, Liam Ridgewell, must have played with five different partners last season. The one thing you see with the good teams, like Manchester United, is that their back four is pretty much the same.”

Most Arsenal fans were delighted to see the back of Birmingham City last season and won’t be wishing them a speedy recovery from relegation to the Championship. Especially as Eduardo was denied this and played no further part in the Gunners’ season, nor Euro 2008 for Croatia.

With rumours of a big squad clearout, it’s not hard to believe that there are going to be some fresh faces arriving at Anfield. Sadly, there aren’t many particularly exciting or high-profile names being thrown around just yet.

Hot on the heels of being linked to Wigan’s Luis Valencia, it seems that the tabloids have got Rafa having a bid rejected for James Milner while also pursuing City’s Michael Johnson – who combined would command fees in the 15-20 million range. Considering the brief for Benitez is to win the Premier League, we can’t see either of these lads taking the club to the next level even though they are young and talented.

Since Benitez is trying to clear out the piles and piles of average to slightly-better-than-average players this summer, surely he’d be better off saving up that money and looking for another Torres?

As Liverpool look to find the right players to finally, finally, FINALLY mount a push for the league the rumours being thrown around right now aren’t all that promising. After seeing the ridiculously impressive impact that a big name like Fernando Torres can have (although it didn’t do anything for the trophy case) the latest rumours are, well, a bit mental.

The People, *cough*, are suggesting that the club are pondering a 15 million pound bid for Blackburn’s David Bentley or an arguably even more insane 10 million pound shot at Wigan’s Luis Antonio Valencia.

Bentley is a big name being thrown around this summer and while he is undoubtedly talented the 15 million price tag does seem a bit steep. 10 million for Valencia just seems mental.

But with more creativity from midfield seemingly a need, would either of these two fit the bill for Liverpool fans?