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Liverpool manager looking to sue Warnock

If you ask most people in football whether they like Neil Warnock, the answer is no. The current Crystal Palace manager seems to find it easier to make enemies rather than friends, which is a shame as he’s actually a very nice bloke when you get to know him. The Guardian reports that Rafael Benitez has consulted his lawyer after the former Sheffield United boss questioned the Liverpool manager’s integrity in a recent newspaper column.

Benítez bristled at a question about Warnock’s comments and said: ‘Somebody told me [about them]. We knew he was bad as a manager and prehistoric, but we didn’t know he was a person like this. I will speak to my lawyer. We don’t need to waste time with him.’

It’s clear that Warnock is still bitter about the Blades’ relegation last season on the final day of the season. One of their relegation rivals was Fulham, who achieved a 1-0 win over a weakened Reds team. However, Benitez was not the first and certainly won’t be the last manager to do this when there are crucial games on the horizon. And anyhow, what exactly constitutes a weakened team when you have two players for every position anyway?

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James Beattie - was he treated badly at Everton?

Everton gaffer Davie Moyes has had a pop back at James Beattie, a clodhopping shire horse of a striker, who recently claimed that:

“I don’t think I was treated with the respect I deserved during my time with Everton.”

Moyes seemed a bit shocked to hear such tripe from an ex-player, especially one given ample chance to impress, and retorted with a restrained swipe. Moyes said:

“It surprised me to hear those comments. I don’t like talking about players at other clubs, but what I will say is that we always do well by players while they are here.”

A case of sour grapes from Beattie, a man who plumbed new depths of craptastic striking whilst at Goodison?

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Tuesday’s Transfer Rumours

Today’s turgid transfer twaddle…

Chelsea fat-boy Frank Lampard wants a new contract deal at least as porcine as his belly. The Chubster is asking for a £30m four-year deal, and if he doesn’t get it he’ll go somewhere where he can thank you very much. (Daily Express)

Chelsea and Tottenham are in a mad scramble for David Villa’s signature after the Valencia hot shot admitted he could be looking for pastures new. (Various)
…And Manchester United are also reportedly sniffing around David Villa with a view to signing him. (The Sun)
…Manchester United are in another transfer scuffle, this time with Liverpool; both clubs are fighting to secure the scribbled signature of Stade Rennais midfielder Stephane Mbia. (Daily Star)

Sheffield United striker James Beattie has clearly had enough of slumming in in the Championship and wants to move back to the Premier League - Aston Villa are rumoured to be interested. (Daily Mirror)
…But Martin O’Neill’s club seem to be having less luck with Porto full-back Jose Bosingwa. The Portuguese club has poo-pooed a £6m bid from the Midlands club. (Daily Express)

Everton’s superstar youngster 17-year-old Jack Rodwell has signed a two year contract with the club -the maximum permitted at his age. (Various)
…And on loan midfielder Steven Pienaar, an absolute revelation, will sign for Everton in the next 48-hours - leaving Valencia and Arsenal to look elsewhere for a lightweight dreadlocked midfielder. (Daily Mail)

Middlesbrough gaffer confident of Cup progress

Sheffield United may have knocked out Manchester City in the last round of the FA Cup, although they may have a far tougher assignment against Middlesbrough on Sunday. Gareth Southgate’s men are proving to be increasingly resilient on their travels, with victories at Bristol City and Mansfield already in the competition to date. Setanta report that the Boro gaffer is pleased his team are showing some backbone away from the Riverside.

“Our away form especially - four wins and four draws from our last nine - has been very pleasing,” Southgate said.

“Historically, we have been a bit of a soft touch on the road, and that has been a really good sign.

“The players have to take enormous credit. They are a strong unit at the moment.

“They have been able to put aside all the other issues which came up in January and they have focused on the job in hand.

“In recent weeks, we have gone behind at Bristol City in the cup and in the game at Newcastle, and the players have not panicked, they have been very positive in their response.

“They have to take a tremendous amount of credit. There is a strong team spirit amongst them now and they have got to keep that.”

The fact that the Blades have finally got rid of Bryan Robson this week adds a new dimension to this tie, with former assistant manager Kevin Blackwell now taking charge. He’s already engineered a draw with Liverpool when managing Luton; can he go one better and consign Boro to a last-16 cup exit?

Phil Jagielka, will he be another glorious signing for Everton?

David Moyes is fast becoming a master craftsman, taking rough lower division diamonds and coaxing sparkling performances out of them. First there was Tim Cahill, who we bought from Millwall and nearly went to Crystal Palace, but has since been widely accepted as one of the best goalscoring midfielders in the Premier League. Next there was Joleon Lescott, nabbed from Wolves and coming with glowing recommendations, it was the worry over his knees that presumably scared off the top teams, but yet again Moyes was proven right. And now we have Phil Jagielka, a man who had Premier League experience, but with the sinking ship that was Sheffield Utd - when he initially signed for Everton for £4.5million there were some doubters, and after a shaky start the doubts grew - but Jagielka has now settled and looks to be joining fellow Toffees Yobo and Lescott as being a quality defender. In Saturday’s game at Goodison, Jagielka not only scored the winner but put in a wonderful defensive performance too. Jags said:

“I would love to have come here and been a fans’ favourite within a month, but it was always likely to take a little longer. I knew I was coming here to be part of a team, rather than the shining light.

“It was still tough, though. From being a big fish in a small pond and playing every week I was suddenly in a position where, even if I did play, I couldn’t be sure of which position. I had friends and family round me who talked me through it and told me to be patient and I think I have cleared that hurdle now.”

“It was great to get the winning goal but, as a defender, I take most satisfaction from that challenge at the end.”

The Moyesiah himself said:

“He had a few doubts about himself in the early days,~” said Moyes, “and there were times when he seemed to wonder whether he had taken a step too far. It was a step up for him and it’s not always easy settling in straight away and proving you are up to it.

“But I never had any doubts. I knew what he was about and took the chance to tell him so whenever I thought he needed lifting. I would say things to him in training and make sure he worked hard at raising his whole tempo and gradually we are seeing him take it on board and grow in confidence.

“He was outstanding in this game, not just for his goal, but that saving tackle when we were in danger of dropping two points. He can be a great player for us in a number of roles and I think the supporters now realise he can be relied on every week.”

So will Jagielka be another great signing for Moyes?

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Arsenal were “freakishly unlucky” last season?…

The Times has analyzed last season’s results, taking into account all the teams’ efforts on goal that hit the woodwork, and calculating what the points tally wood look like if those chances had gone in the back of the net.

First off the boring news; Manchester United would still have won the Premier League - despite being number one woodwork hitters, they did so mainly in games which they went on to win anyway. Arsenal on the other hand would have been 13 points better off if their efforts hadn’t bounced off the post and bar, and the Times journo’s read this as meaning that it is possible that:

“they did relatively poorly last season only because of the freakish luck of being deprived of points by posts and bar all the time.”

The battle to avoid relegation last season brought some more interesting conclusions:

“Finally, to poor old Sheffield United. If their woodwork shots had counted, they would not have gone down. It would have been goodnight Fulham instead.”

So were Arsenal as unlucky last season as this report makes out, and if so should we really be surprised by their success this season?

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Manchester City want ‘balloon-gate’ investigation!

The Guardian report that Manchester City have lodged an official complaint to the FA about Sheffield United’s opening goal last Sunday, claiming that the referee should have disallowed it due to balloon distraction. Immediately after the match, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson seemed pretty philosophical about the incident in which defender Michael Ball was outfoxed by the travelling fans’, allowing Luton Shelton to nip in and score. However, the club are now taking action!

Eriksson has consulted the rule book and believes there is a watertight case that Sheffield United’s first goal should not have been allowed to stand after the ball ricocheted off the balloons in Joe Hart’s goalmouth.

City, who lost 2-1, have asked for an official explanation why the game was not stopped so that the balloons could be cleared away. Eriksson’s coaching staff had sent a message to the referee, Alan Wiley, to “kill the balloons” but the game was allowed to continue, resulting in one of the more freakish FA Cup goals and an embarrassing defeat for City.

Has Sven and City got a point or, like the balloons, are they just full of hot air? You can understand why the Swede feels deflated, considering the flat performances his team have produced recently.

Watch Manchester City live online

Thieves strike Manchester City dressing room

You could say that Manchester City were robbed on and off the pitch yesterday. The Guardian reports that more than £2,000 was stolen from the visitors dressing room at Bramall Lane, while City were being humbled by Championship opponents Sheffield United.

Although Eriksson did not refer to the incident in his post-match press conference, a visiting club official confirmed that South Yorkshire police had been called to investigate the break-in. A Sheffield United spokesman said: “We shall assist the police fully and in every way we can.”

The same article reports that Svennis is starting to show some uncustomary anger towards his players as, once again, they failed to deliver the goods away from home.

“Sometimes it’s not enough just to pass the ball to each other and play beautiful football. If you don’t stand up for the fight you won’t win and we didn’t. Sometimes players from abroad think it is easy if you meet a team from a lower league but it isn’t,” added Eriksson. “You lose and draw in the Premier League but this hurt more.”

Perhaps the Swede only has himself to blame then for recruiting players from abroad in the summer. He may have been particularly referring to Elano, who seemed increasingly riled as the game wore on and was withdrawn at half-time.

Watch Manchester City live online

Manchester City manager deflated by balloon incident

It’s surely got to be one of the more bizarre stories of the season. There were only twelve minutes on the clock when Manchester City defender Michael Ball was bamboozled by the many balloons still on the pitch, failed to deal with the danger and allowed Luton Shelton to open the scoring for Sheffield United. Talk about a twelfth man! However, the BBC report that Sven-Goran Eriksson is not taking the easy route of citing this incident as the main reason why his team lost the game.

“I’ve never seen a goal like that before,” said Eriksson. “The ball changed direction and the balloons played a one-two with Michael Ball.

“But we should not blame the balloons as we should have done better.”

“We asked the fourth official to tell the referee (Alan Wiley) to stop the game and take away the balloons or kill them,” said Eriksson.

“But the referee told our goalkeeper Joe Hart to do it during the game which is not fair. You can’t ask a player to clear the pitch when the ball is live.”

Would a more experienced keeper have insisted that the balloons were deflated before play was allowed to continue? There might be a new regime at City but that doesn’t seem to have brought an end to the same comical mistakes on the pitch.

Watch Manchester City live online

Friday’s Transfer Rumour Frenzy! Part 1

A veritable swarm of transfer rumours for friday….

Newly re-crowned Toon king Kevin Keegan is attempting to hit the ground running. Armed with a huge vat of cash but with just two weeks to spend it, Keegan will try and nab both Jermain Defoe (to add to Newcastle’s phalanx of strikers) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (because he has a ‘thing’ for wingers). (Various)
…But Keegan will have to be quick, apparently Jermain Defoe has been sighted at Villa Park. (Various)
…And Keegan is also having a sniff around Deco, Scott Brown, Daniel van Buyten and Manchester United’s Wes Brown too. (Daily Telegraph)

Birmingham have signed Everton’s Scot-God James McFadden, for a fee of £5m which will rise to £5.75m if he jumps through the required hoops. (Guardian)
…And Everton boss David Moyes will now turn to Barcelona’s Santi Ezquerro as a ready-made replacement. (Daily Telegraph)

Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez is looking to his native Spain to cure his team’s current ills. Benitez is running the rule over Athletic Bilbao defender Fernando Amorebieta and Spain under-21 midfielder Javi Martinez, as well as still pining for Gabriel Heinze. (Daily Telegraph)

Birmingham’s Olivier Kapo is being chased by Sunderland and Wigan; and both Steve Bruce and Roy Keane are prepared to fight tooth and nail for him. (Daily Mail)

Celtic are trying to nab West Ham’s bright young thing, midfielder Mark Noble – but will face a fight to get him. (Daily Mirror)

It looks like Fred said no to Tottenham’s advances, the North London club couldn’t agree personal terms with Lyons’ Brazilian striker. (Times)

…And now Tottenham head honcho Juande Ramos could turn to Russia striker Alexander Kerzhakhov, a man who Ramos already signed when manager of Seville. (Various)

Portsmouth are to boot defender Djimi Traore into touch, with French team Rennes said to be keen on taking him. (Various)

With Ugo Ehiogu looking poised to move to Sheffield United, Rangers boss Walter Smith will attempt a swoop for West Ham’s Christian Dailly. (Daily Record)

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What was the biggest FA Cup shock of the day?

Upsets left right and centre in today’s FA Cup action. But what was the biggest shock?Coventry somehow managed to obliterate Blackburn 4-1, whilst League One Huddersfield beat Birmingham 2-1. Special mention should also go to Sheffield United who booted out Bolton with a 1-0 win lowly and injury ravaged Oldham, who beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park.

So what was your upset of the day?

Here are today’s 3rd round results in full:

Barnsley 2-1 Blackpool
Blackburn 1-4 Coventry
Bolton 0-1 Sheff Utd
Brighton 1-2 Mansfield
Bristol City 1-2 Middlesbrough
Charlton 1-1 West Brom
Chasetown 1-3 Cardiff
Chelsea 1-0 QPR
Colchester 1-3 Peterborough
Everton 0-1 Oldham
Huddersfield 2-1 Birmingham
Ipswich 0-1 Portsmouth
Norwich 1-1 Bury
Plymouth 3-2 Hull
Preston 1-0 Scunthorpe
Southampton 2-0 Leicester
Southend 5-2 Dag & Red
Sunderland 0-3 Wigan
Swansea 1-1 Havant and W
Swindon 1-1 Barnet
Tottenham 2-2 Reading
Tranmere 2-2 Hereford
Walsall 0-0 Millwall
Watford 2-0 Crystal Palace
West Ham 0-0 Man City
Wolverhampton 2-1 Cambridge Utd
Manchester United LATE KICK OFF Aston Villa

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Sunday’s Transfer Rumours Part 2

The second half of our big batch of Sunday transfer rumours…
Liverpool’s interest in Czech Republic defender Tomas Ujfalusi has abrubtly stopped after he rebuffed a £500,00 move to join Rafa’s men…for now… (Observer)

Manchester City’s Sven Goran Eriksson is planning to splash his vast amounts of cash and swoop for Arsenal’s Lassana Diarra, Athletic Bilbao’s Andoni Iraola and Ajax ace Hedwiges Maduro. (News of the World)

Bolton’s Gary Megson is keen to cash in on Nic Anelka, and is awaiting a formal Chelsea offer, but Megson won’t be bringing in another striker; he’s after Sheffield United’s defender Chris Morgan and Dundee’s ‘keeper Grzegorz Szamotulski. (Daily Mail)

Wigan boss Steve Bruce reckons that signing a Derby defender will sort out Wigan’s defensive frailties, and Bruce will attempt to bag Derby’s Tyrone Mears to do just that. (News of the World)

After leading the line brilliantly in Tottenham’s stupendous 6-4 win over Reading, striker Dimitar Berbatov could yet move to Manchester United. (Daily Mail)
…Both Tottenham and Newcastle are leading the chase for Manchester United’s defender Wes Brown. Faced with losing Brown on a Bosman free in the summer, United could look to cash in. (Daily Mail)
…And 21 year old Dutch full back Urby Emanuelson wants to move from Ajax to White Hart Lane. (Sky Sports)

New Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has been given a £15m January transfer kitty and will make Watford’s goal-sniffer Marlon King his first signing. (People)

Everton’s James McFadden is after a move to Celtic and could throw in a transfer request to force Moyes into letting him go. (Sunday Mail)
…But Birmingham’s Alex McLeish has different plans, he wants to keep McFadden south of the border. (News of the World)
…While David Moyes wants to bring Bayern Munich’s defender Daniel van Buyten to Goodison. (various)

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Transfer Rumour Frenzy!

Arsene Wenger is keen to bring Barnsley keeper Heinz Muller to Arsenal. The cost? A very Arsene Wenger-like £1m. This move would also pave the way for Teutonic gaffe-lord Jens Lehmann to move back to Borussia Dortmund. (Various)
…And there is “no chance” of a Cesc Fabregas move to Real Madrid according to Cesc’s agent. (The Sun)

Manchester City are apparently in the lead in the frantic scramble to secure Luka Modric’s signature. The Croatia and Dinamo Zagreb midfielder will set Sven-Goran Eriksson back a whopping £20m. (Daily Express)
…Avram Grant is also keen on Modric, especially as Frank Lampard has added himself to Chelsea’s swollen injury list. (Guardian)
…And in his first opportunity to mould the Chelsea team in the way he desires, Avram Grant is set to blow £50m on Nic Anelka, Daniel Alves and Maicon Douglas too. (Independent)
…Avram Grant is also looking to emulate Arsene Wenger’s success with Cesc Fabregas by making a move for Barcelona’s 16-year-old wunderkind Thiago Alcantara. (The Sun)

Tottenham striker Darren Bent is reportedly eager to join his former Charlton gaffer Alan Curbishley at West Ham, and selling Bent could free up some more dosh for Tottenham boss Juande Ramos. (Daily Star)

Sunderland’s Roy Keane is frothing at the mouth with joy about bagging “kicking, screaming, Gucci little piggy” Robbie Savage. Keane is set to pay Blackburn Rovers £1.5m for the midfield agent provocateur. (Daily Mail)

Ginger Mourinho Gary Megson wants to take Portsmouth’s Matt Taylor to Bolton, but the £5m price tag that ‘Arry has placed on Taylor is leaving the Bolton gaffer feeling a little queasy.(Daily Mail)

…And it looks like Everton’s very own Moyesiah is trying the same tactic with Mikel Arteta, putting a huge £25m price tag on the Spaniard’s head in a bid to ward off Valencia. (Daily Mirror)
…And the hunter becomes the hunted! Moyes is planning a double swoop on Valencia for midfielders Albelda and Manuel Fernandes. (various)
…Celtic meanwhile are determined to bag James McFadden and have doubled their efforts, and are hoping to bag their man in time to play Rangers on 2 January. (The Sun)

…Bobo Balde will have a natter with Celtic about his future, and if things aren’t satisfactory he could leap into the arms of either Birmingham or Sunderland. (Daily Express)

Rangers are sniffing around Aston Villa’s young striker Luke Moore and Martin O’Neill may agree to the deal, but only if it is a permanent move and not a loan transfer. (The Sun)

Steve Coppell is hoping to bag Nigerian striker Udo Nwoko. The Reading boss with wave £1.25m in the face of Portuguese club Leixoes hoping they accept. (Daily Mirror)

Middlesbrough’s Gareth Southgate is having a hearty sniff around Sheffield United’s Rob Hulse, and could secure the striker for £2.2m (Daily Mirror)

Sheffield United head honcho Bryan Robson wants new acquisition Gary Speed to convince Bolton’s Ivan Campo to follow suit and leg it to Bramall Lane. (The Sun)

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Derby boss confident of new signings

Derby County boss Paul Jewell is convinced his team needs new blood in the January transfer window — and he’s confident he can actually make it happen. “We’re hopeful of getting one or two players who might excite people,” Jewell told the Daily Mail. “We owe it to the supporters and the players already here because they need help.”

Yeah, no kidding they need help. The Rams have been absolutely horrific. Seven points from 18 games and an a goals tally of eight for and 41 against speaks for itself. But why would any player in his right mind want to join what is essentially a Championship team — and not a very good one at that? According to Jewell, “the name Derby County, the facilities and the supporters do help make it attractive to players.” Uh, OK — if you say so, Paul.

Anyway, who exactly is Jewell targeting? For starters, he will recall all players currently out on loan, reports the Derby Evening Telegraph. Defender Lewin Nyatanga, 19, and Irish striker Jon Macken will be brought back from Barnsley on January 2, joining 34 year-old Michael Johnson, who has already returned from a three-month spell at Hillsborough. Bob Malcolm and Mo Camara will come back from Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City respectively.

As for new acquisitions, Derby chairman Adam Pearson told the Rams official website “two or three players from outside the UK” were being targeted. One of these is Macedonian international defender Vlade Lazarevski, who was brought in last week for a trial, according to Sky Sports. Lazarevski currently plays for Polish club Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski.

West Ham defender Calum Davenport is another name that has come up, along with his teammate Bobby Zamora. Wigan midfielder Kevin Kilbane is also said to be on Jewell’s list. The Rams may move for Nigerian striker Patrick Ogunsoto, currently with Belgian club Westerlo, according to The Sun. Jewell has separately denied reports that Giles Barnes has been sold to West Ham.

One player Derby won’t be getting is Bolton Wanderers veteran Gary Speed, if Times Online is to be believed. The website reports the Welsh veteran is joining Sheffield United on loan from Janiary 1 with a view to a permanent deal. The Blades are 14th in the Championship and have about as much as a chance as playing in the Premiership next year as Derby do.

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Transfer Rumour Frenzy: Part 1

The first part of our joyous Christmas transfer rumours bundle…

Arsene Wenger quite fancies a bit of Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov, and isn’t afraid to mount an audacious bid. Wenger said that Berbatov’s performance in the weekend’s North London derby was excellent, and apparently this means he’ll fight tooth and nail to gobble him up in January. (Daily Mail)

Rejoice! Arsenal’s loon keeper Jens Lehmann may finally leave the Gunners and move to Wolfsburg. (Guardian)

…Meanwhile Derby are after Nigeria’s Patrick Ogunsoto , the striker who currently plies his trade in Belgium, is a top target for manager Paul Jewell. (The Sun)

Sunderland’s Daryl Murphy could be moving to moneybags club QPR. (The Sun)

Bolton’s Gary Speed, 38, is set to join Sheffield United on loan in January with a view to making the arrangement permanent. (The Sun)

Aston Villa’s Olof Mellberg has turned his back on the near-constant rumours linking him with a move to Juventus and will stay with Aston Villa for the duration of his contract. (Independent)

Terry Venables is apparently very interested in taking the reigns at Fulham. (Independent)

Blackburn’s Mark Hughes is after Djurgardens’ South Africa international Lance Davids, and is ready to shell out half a million quid for his services. (Mail)

Word on the street is that Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard is set to be kicked into touch for performing the ultimate Catalan no-no, losing to Real Madrid at the Camp Nou (only the second time they have done so in nearly a quarter of a century). (Mail)

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