The Sun has uncorked yet another of its top Ten lists, this time the Top Ten Signings of the Season. The top three were:

1.Fernando Torres
2.Roque Santa Cruz
3. Anderson

But we’re not too concerned about what The Sun thinks, what is your top 3 Premier League signings this season?

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It’s one thing getting Birmingham promoted and then keeping Wigan afloat in the Premier League, it’s another thing managing some of the best players in the world and pitting your wits against Europe’s finest. Steve Bruce has demonstrated his managerial ability over the past couple of seasons and has the chance to prevent Manchester United from winning the title on Sunday.

However, surely there are others nearer in line to the throne if Sir Alex Ferguson decided to call it a day at the end of the season (although knowing the tenacious Scot, he might last another ten seasons at the helm!)? Sky Sports report that Wigan chairman Dave Whelan won’t stand in the way of the former Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Crystal Palace and Birmingham manager if the Red Devils come calling. Not that Bruce should be holding his breath…

“When United come to choose a new manager, if they go for Steve Bruce you have no chance of standing in their way,” Whelan said in the Daily Star.

“I wouldn’t contemplate doing so if United came for Steve. I would be delighted for him and sorry for the club.

“If Sir Alex wins another European title this year – which I hope he does – he may decide he has had enough.”

If SAF does step down in the summer, who do you think should replace the great man? Many have touted Carlos Queiroz, Fergie’s right-hand man as the natural successor, while some people make a claim for Mark Hughes, another former United great. Whoever takes the reigns will have a tough act to follow!

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Thirteen years ago, Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League title, despite losing 2-1 to Liverpool on the last day of the season. This was because rivals Manchester United just simply couldn’t get over the finishing line at West Ham, drawing 1-1 and spurning several chances to land the spoils. Could history be about to repeat itself at the JJB Stadium?

Despite a question mark over Steve Bruce’s allegiances to the Red Devils, his players are talking up their chances of ruining United’s big day in a big way. Emmerson Boyce has told the Daily Mail that the bobbly pitch, the way that the Latics will be organised and a burning desire to make their own headlines could stop Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in their tracks.

He said: “People don’t like coming to our ground and playing against us.

“It will help against Manchester United. On a perfect pitch all their top players will have a field day, but they will have difficulty passing and running with the ball on ours, even though they are top-class players. They won’t be able to play the game they’re used to, it’s nowhere near the standard of Old Trafford.

“We can get in their faces, test their touches and it will help us. A lot of people have moaned about it this season, but that’s usually because we have either got a good result or given them a tough game. We have got good results against the big teams because we love being the underdogs and there will be no pressure on us on Sunday, it’s all on them.”

He added: “We would like to emulate West Ham. People still talk about that team that cost Manchester United the title 13 years ago and I’d love people to remember us in 13 years’ time. We are loving the publicity. Everyone will be watching us across the world and it shows how far we’ve come as a club. We are going to enjoy being in the limelight.

“People are talking about Wigan right now and that’s a good thing. The fact we can have a say in the title race has given us extra motivation. I and the rest of the players want to show people what we can do against Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez and if we cost them the title everyone will talk about us. We are safe in the table. They are the ones with everything to lose.”

This will be music to the ears of Avram Grant and his Chelsea mob as they set about destructing Bolton on Sunday while holding a transistor radio to their left ear. That’s apart from Didier Drogba who will be moodily sitting on the subs bench, listening to his ipod as usual. Wigan managed to hold Arsenal to a goalless draw recently, thus helping to end the Gunners’ title challenge. Emile Heskey then scored in the dying embers of the match at Stamford Bridge to make it ‘advantage United’ in the title race. Will the Latics’ final act be to deprive the champions a second successive league title?

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Steve Bruce steered Birmingham back into the Premier League last season, although he didn’t stick around very long at St Andrews this campaign. Instead, the uncertainty over the club’s ownership saw the former Manchester United player leave the Midlands and take charge at Wigan, whom he’s managed to keep afloat with games to spare.

Not that it was a clean break between Bruce and his former club last autumn. Far from it, there’s been a spat between the two parties which have run over the past few months, becoming increasingly bitter in the process. The Wigan manager was forced to pay back some of the upfront cash he received from City for image rights, something that clearly rankles with him when asked about his former employers and their current predicament at the foot of the table.

Bruce said: “I will be sorry for the players, staff and fans if they go down. Anyone else at the club? No, that’s it.”

Miaow! Sky Sports report that Brum’s co-owner David Gold is not taking these comments lying down, snapping back in customary fashion. Do you think he and David Sullivan take turns to verbally volley with their former employee?

When quizzed recently “Steve has consistently made attacks on the board. Does he hold all seven of us responsible including Jack Wiseman, who is 90, or just some of us?

“At the moment an old man thinks he is responsible along with the rest of us and he’s not.

“So come on Steve, show some courage. Name names. Anything else is cowardly.

“It’s time he told everybody what it is we’ve done wrong. The truth is we have done nothing to be ashamed of. We treated him generously and acted more than properly.

“He should sit down with people other than ‘yes men’ and take proper counsel and he will then learn that we have acted more than fairly.

“We reduced substantially what we were owed on his image rights and told him to pay £300,000 over three years because we have shareholders to think about. There’s about £30,000 left to pay which shouldn’t make too much of a dent in the huge bonus he’ll get for keeping Wigan up.”

Indeed, there’ll be a Brucie bonus and a half coming from Dave Whelan after the Latics manager kept them in the Premier League for the third season running. However, you might not be able to put a price on watching Birmingham get relegated for their ex-gaffer, especially as he won’t have to visit St Andrews next season!

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Have the Wanderers squad been on the lash ever since beating Sunderland on Saturday? According to Sir Alex Ferguson, they’ve certainly been letting their hair down ever since they made sure of their place in next season’s Premier League. Indeed, much has been made of Wigan’s approach to Sunday’s game against the Red Devils, yet there’s been little mention of how motivated Bolton are likely to be, following something of a great escape in recent weeks.

The Manchester Evening News reports that SAF continues to play his own special brand of mind games, questioning the motivation of the Trotters ahead of their visit to Stamford Bridge. Whether they’ll notice the Scot’s words of warning is another matter, those hangovers often take some sleeping off.

“All the press seem to be talking about is the integrity of Wigan,” said the United manager.

“Nobody has questioned Bolton. Nobody has even mentioned Bolton. It is interesting the different attitudes. All we have had is Wigan players saying we will beat Man United and that’s fine.

“We have no problem with that. We are a big club.

“And then you hear about Bolton players out celebrating all week. It amazes me the difference in attitude.

“Both teams are safe. Both can relax. Both are confident but one team can celebrate while the other is all keyed up to play Manchester United!”

It now appears that Gary Megson has ordered his players to stop drinking. At least on the Saturday before the match. Well, at least they’ve been asked to stay off the spirits and just stick to long drinks like beer and wine. But will they pay attention to their manager now that they’re safe. Cheers!

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What happens when a team who have won just one home match all season come up against a side who have won one away match in the league this term? All will become clear at Pride Park on Sunday, when Derby host Reading in a match which the visitors need to win if they’re to stay in the Premier League.

The Press Association reports that County boss Paul Jewell is far from happy with some of the comments made by Royals assistant manager Kevin Dillon ahead of the match. The latter has said the following.

“Let’s put it this way, if we can’t beat Derby, it will be hard to take.”

However, the fiery Scouser has not taken these comments lying down and Reading probably could have done without indirectly motivating a team who might otherwise have gone through the motions instead at the weekend.

“Kevin Dillon’s comments lack tact. You would think Reading had been playing Champions League all these seasons instead of down in the Championship and the Second Division where Derby and Wigan also came from.

“At Derby this year we’ve been sneered at, we’ve been laughed at, we’ve been ridiculed and I can accept it after the season we’ve had – but for Reading to say things like that is not right.

“The lads have been speaking about it and if I was Reading, who do you want to come to last game of the season? A side that have won once at home all season – but it’s a dangerous game they’re playing,” Jewell added.

Can Derby go out with a bang and drag Reading into the Championship with them? It doesn’t bode well for Steve Coppell’s men, who have failed to score in their past six matches and will be relegated if Fulham win at Portsmouth anyway. Just what is going to happen at Pride Park on Sunday?

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What a contest the Champions League final promises to be. The bookmakers can’t split Manchester United and Chelsea in the betting, with both teams packed to the brim with talent. Just one moment of brilliance or madness could make all the difference in Moscow. Or maybe just the colour of a goalkeeping jersey…

The Daily Mail have revealed that Petr Cech is almost certain to wear a bright orange goalkeeping top for the contest against the Red Devils. He’s claiming it’s more likely to distract the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez when they’re bearing down on goal with the ball at their feet. Could there be anything in this?

“Studies say the orange colour spreads the most when the striker attacks, in the split of a second as he focuses,” said Cech, whose side need to get a better result at Stamford Bridge than United achieve at Wigan to win their third title in four seasons.

“This colour is like a sort of alarm or alert which really spreads and is very difficult to avoid, so this should be good for me.”

Petr, as a goalkeeper, your hands and arms should be very good for you, not the colour of your goalkeeping shirt. Apparently there’s no truth in the rumour that Edwin Van Der Sar is going to dress up as a clown for the final, squirting water out of a flower and into the eyes of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Which is a shame as we all would have liked to have seen that!

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Avram Grant, John Terry and Michael Ballack are all confident that Wigan are going to try their level best against Manchester United on Sunday. Or at least they have stated this in public. Why shouldn’t Manchester United be asking the same of Bolton Wanderers, who now travel to Chelsea knowing that they will be playing in the Premier League next season?

Nevertheless, the Daily Telegraph report that Wigan boss Steve Bruce has cited two million reasons for his team to beat the Red Devils on Sunday. It’s hardly convincing as an argument, especially when put up against the motivation for their opponents to land the three points.

Bruce, who helped United to win three Premier League titles during his nine years with the club, said: “We’ve got to be professional and we will be. The difference between finishing two places in the Premier League these days is almost £1.5 million.”

Wigan were floundering in the lower reaches of the top flight when Bruce took over and he’d certainly have bitten your hand off if you’d offered him Premier League safety at the end of the season. Therefore, while there may be a couple of million to play for, it’s only the same as what the Latics manager might expect to receive for keeping the Lancashire club afloat. We should also remind you of Sir Alex Ferguson’s tendency to phone his former player earlier in the season.

Chelsea will be hoping that Wigan deliver a similar performance to that which beat Villa 2-0 last Saturday, although the six matches between the two teams have yielded the same result every time and it’s extremely difficult to see any other outcome on Sunday.

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It’s possible that Sky may have missed a trick by not showing Portsmouth v Fulham on Sunday, especially as the Cottagers’ chances of survival (along with Birmingham and Reading’s) rest in their own hands. However, the Sky Sports website reveals that they’ll be televising the matches from the JJB Stadium, Stamford Bridge and St Andrews instead – which game will you be watching?

Sunday’s title showdown is in danger of being a complete anti-climax, especially if Manchester United tear into Wigan from the off as they did against West Ham last Saturday. The ITV website reports that Michael Ballack expects the Latics to put up a decent fight, although it was only a fortnight ago that Steve Bruce was reporting a smooth operator that goes by the name of Sir Alex Ferguson had been calling him up.

“The pressure is on and I hope Wigan are proud enough to give everything in the last game and we have to beat Bolton.

“United have everything in their hands, but we are relaxed now. We did our job. We will give everything to beat Bolton at home and we will see what they do.”

Goodness me, the German captain is really getting into this fighting talk malarkey. One minute he was out of favour with Mourinho, now he’s leading the calls for United’s opposition to give it their best shot! Let’s also hope that the Wanderers play with pride at the Bridge after essentially guaranteeing their Premier League safety against Sunderland.

The match being televised at St Andrews could also be pretty dull, although the Sky cameras are likely to have some gratuitous shots of football fans in tears, with Birmingham extremely likely to be relegated after their 2-0 defeat at Fulham. Watch out for small children sobbing their hearts out – and a few grown men too!

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There’s an almighty scrap at the top of the Championship to determine who will be playing Premier League football next season, which teams will the likes of West Brom and Stoke City be replacing? The bookmakers still don’t give Fulham much of a chance, despite their heroic comeback at Manchester City last weekend. A victory against fellow-strugglers Birmingham on Saturday would mean that their top flight safety could potentially be in their own hands!

Surely Reading fans are a touch on the concerned side, considering their team’s inability to score, let alone win a game. OK, so they managed a creditable 0-0 draw at Wigan last weekend, although the decision to bring back Leroy Lita from his loan spell at Charlton smacked of desperation, while the Daily Mirror report tension in the camp ahead of Saturday’s game against Spurs. The Royals record signing won’t play for his ‘stupid team’ anymore apparently.

“It is not clever at all to suspend your own players, it is stupid,” said the 24-year-old. “The sanction is heavy – two weeks!

“I cannot understand their attitude. I refused to play with the reserves and they said: ‘Okay let us meet on Thursday’.

“But in the meantime I received a letter saying I am axed.

“They are not courageous enough to tell me things in the eyes, man to man, in five minutes.

“I am an adult, I can recognise when I make mistakes. I can also admit to people when I am wrong. The team needs all their players for the last two games.

“For sure my future is not with Reading.”

Not exactly what you need when you’re teetering on the edge of the drop zone, although perhaps this will galvanise the rest of the Reading squad, who face a last-day trip to Derby after the weekend game against Spurs. Bolton are in action at home to Sunderland and will at least have the comfort of the Black Cats having nothing to play for after their 3-2 win over Middlesbrough last weekend.

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Read a newspaper, watch a TV channel or talk to a random in a pub and you’ll hear the same talk about whether Avram Grant will stay on as Chelsea manager by the end of the season? Where did this speculation start? When the Blues lost the Carling Cup final to Tottenham in February? Has it been fuelled by some of the Israeli’s recent substitutions during a game, despite many of them helping to change the match?

It appears that ever since Grant decided to give some ill-advised monosyllabic responses to the press pack after his team had drawn 1-1 with Wigan (imagine if they had won that match!), the talk has been of Mourinho’s replacement not being able to handle the pressure of managing a big club. Ireland Online reports that captain John Terry is baffled by the rumours.

“Avram plays a massive part along with the players, Steve Clarke, Henk ten Cate, the fans and everyone at the club. It is a credit to ourselves and the way we have dealt with things this year because at times it has not been easy.

“I think he (Grant) deserves respect and rightly so. It is the first time in the club’s history we have got to a Champions League final – it has never been done by any manager or set of players before and he does deserve it.

“To get to where we are and still question the manager’s role at the club is unbelievable. But it is not just the manager, it is the players, and Henk and Clarkie, who have a big role to play behind the scenes. They keep players motivated. We have got such a big squad of players and they manage to keep those not playing motivated and that is a credit to them.”

Tabloid journalists aren’t dumb and it’s clear that many are changing their tune to cover previous comments about Grant being out of his depth as Chelsea manager. Readers also easily forget previous criticisms made by hypocritical reporters, who are bordering on racist with some of the things that they have said about Avram Grant. Sure enough, he may not be a smooth talker, a snappy dresser or have charisma in abundance. But he’s worked damn hard to get this Blues team on the verge of Premier League and Champions League success this season.

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They have just two matches to save their Premier League bacon, and if Birmingham fail to get anything from Saturday’s match at Fulham, it’s possible that relegation will be out of their hands. Alex Mcleish saw his Blues team storm into a two-goal lead against Liverpool on Saturday, before being pegged back to a 2-2 draw, a result which keeps them in the bottom three.

According to Liverpool and ex-Brum winger Jermaine Pennant, it didn’t have to be this way. The Daily Mail reports that he reckons City would be safe if they had kept hold of Steve Bruce as manager. After all, the Wigan boss has done extremely well at the JJB Stadium instead, steering the Latics away from the drop zone with several games to spare.

Pennant said: “If they go to Fulham and get a result I am sure they will get out of it, but without a shadow of a doubt they have missed Steve Bruce.

“He got the club up and did well for Birmingham. Now he is doing it for Wigan because they have scrapped their way out of it.

“Birmingham miss him and it will prove costly because getting a new manager halfway through the season when you are in a tight spot is a massive upheaval.”

After Bruce left the club, Blues co-ower David Sullivan stated that they were better off with McLeish at the helm and had done very well for themselves. These words could come back to haunt him, especially with the public spat that has ensued between the Birmingham board and their former manager in recent months.

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A draw simply wouldn’t have been enough for the Blues and Michael Ballack’s controversial late penalty puts them level on points with Manchester United with just two matches remaining this season. However, it’s difficult to see the champions slipping up in either of their final two matches – West Ham at home is about as easy as they come and it’s hard to imagine Wigan will be particularly motivated against the Red Devils at the JJB unless they need points for survival.

In addition, Chelsea appear to be playing Newcastle at the wrong time next weekend. This is a Magpies team who have won their last three home matches without conceding a goal and will be desperate to prove themselves against one of the ‘Big Four’. Bolton visit the Bridge on the final day of the season, and will almost certainly require something from the match to try and ensure their Premier League safety.

Meanwhile, the BBC report that United are predictably far from happy with the referee’s decision to award Chelsea a late penalty in the lunchtime game. Carlos Queiroz bemoans the fact that Alan Wiley denied the visitors a penalty of their own.

Queiroz said: “How can the referee not see that Ballack has jumped on Ronaldo?

“It must be necessary for a player to bring a gun and shoot one of our men in the box for us to get a penalty.”

He added: “The referee was five metres away from both penalty incidents but he gives only one penalty.

“It is a hard to say what is going on with this game. I have to talk about some of the decisions in the last few weeks that have damaged this football club.”

Goodness me, we’ve heard this somewhere before haven’t we? Was it not Arsene Wenger who bemoaned the decisions that have gone against Arsenal in the last couple of months? Did the referee favour Chelsea or have Man United only got themselves to blame for this defeat?

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Reverse psychology or is Gary Megson just stating how he sees it? Bolton managed to clamber above Birmingham in the Premier League last weekend, yet the Wanderers gaffer is making the Blues favourites to stay up at the expense of his team or Reading.

According to ITV, Megson thinks that City having two home matches left gives them a far greater chance of accruing the points required for survival, whereas his Bolton team still face trips to Tottenham and Chelsea.

“When you look at the games Fulham, Birmingham, ourselves and Reading have got I think you would probably look and say that Birmingham are favourites in this relegation battle to stay up because of the fact that they have got two home games,” Megson said.

“I know they got a poor result against Villa last week but I think one of the things they’ve got is a huge partisan crowd.

“I know very well from being in that part of the world and I don’t think it’s any coincidence the amount of penalties and free-kicks they seem to get at that place that have enabled them to pick up results.

“So I would say that Birmingham are probably favourites to get out of this because of the two home games.”

Alex McLeish’s men face an understrength Liverpool team on Saturday, while they’ll be playing a Blackburn team on the last game of the season with nothing but pride to play for. Meanwhile, Reading have a tricky trip to Wigan on Saturday, while they also have to host Tottenham and visit Derby.

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Avram Grant might have played the yes/no game in Thursday’s post-match conference after his Chelsea team beat Everton 1-0. However, he was a bit more forthcoming when speaking to the BBC on television and radio afterwards. The Blues boss is clearly unhappy with the way he’s been represented in certain quarters of the media and you couldn’t blame him for being curt after Chelsea’s hard-fought victory. However, read on for his real thoughts!

“It was a good win. We were behind Manchester United from the beginning of the season so it never was in our hands. It is in our hands to do our job and that is what we did.

“On Monday after the game [a 1-1 draw against Wigan] we spoke about how we conceded the late goal.

“Even towards the end we were attacking with six or seven players and they scored the equaliser on the counter-attack, but I like it because we want to change the style of the team.

“We controlled the game. We had chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0 but our last pass was a bit sloppy. We scored a fantastic goal though.

“Tonight we wanted to score again to wrap it up, but in the last few minutes it is important to make sure you win the points.

“Despite all the speculation, it’s not hard to focus. It’s just part of life.

“I have been in life for many years now and pressure is part of it. Journalists who say we are having a bad season are trying to do their job, but maybe sometimes not in the right way.”

This constant denial that the title has always been out of Chelsea’s hands does Grant no favours. He’s also continued to omit any mention of whether his team are still in the title race, although he does give an impression that they’re simply chasing United to the finishing line now, rather than have a real chance of catching them.

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