Paul Jewell resigns at Derby County

Struggling Derby County have parted company with Paul Jewell today, leaving assistant Chris Hutchings in charge of the Championship team.

Despite leading the Rams to an exciting Carling Cup semi-final tie against Manchester United, their 1-0 home defeat against Ipswich Town was the last straw for Jewell.

Derby County are currently 18th in the Championship and chairman Adam Pearson expected this resignation as Derby County are in danger of slipping down another division.

"It was probably one result too far for Paul," said Pearson. "He came to see me after the game and said that he felt it just wasn't working out and didn't want to club to suffer as a result.

"He just feels that the club needs a fresh impetus and a new direction.

Football Transfer Latest : Craig Bellamy being pursued by Spurs and Aston Villa

Tottenham Hotspur have had a £6m bid for Craig Bellamy rejected by cash-flow challenged West Ham United. The bid was made by Harry Redknapp on Christmas Eve and shows Tottenham's priority in this transfer window is to get a fourth striker. It is expected that Spurs will go back to West Ham and bid a second time but Chief Executive Steve Duxbury is insisting that Bellamy is not for sale.

Martin O'Neill is also rumoured to be putting a bid in for £7m, as well as ongoing interest for Bellamy from Manchester City.

Christmas Premiership matches 2008

Premier League Football Tips Boxing day 2008 Premier League

The Christmas period can make or break a Premier League club's season. I am really pleased to be visiting West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on the 28th December with my beautiful girlfriend who is 4 months pregnant. We found out that he is a boy on Monday, so I would like to dedicate this post to him and his second Spurs match (1st one was at home vs Wigan....not a classic). Here are the Boxing Day fixtures:

Friday, 26 December 2008
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa v Arsenal, 17:15
Chelsea v West Brom, 13:00
Liverpool v Bolton, 15:00
Man City v Hull, 15:00
Middlesbrough v Everton, 15:00
Portsmouth v West Ham, 13:00
Stoke v Man Utd, 12:45
Sunderland v Blackburn, 15:00
Tottenham v Fulham, 13:00
Wigan v Newcastle, 15:00

I fancy Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd and Tottenham to all win.

Happy Christmas to all!

Cesc Fabregas injury leaves Wenger with a 4 month problem

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will be out for up to four months after rupturing his knee ligaments against Liverpool in the Premier League clash on the weekend. the injury happened when Fabregas went into a challenge with Xabi Alonso and came out worst off.

This is a big blow to Arsene Wenger's league campaign with both Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky also injured and set to come back well into 2009. Fabregas is a clever midfielder who links up well with Robin Van Persie and his general composure will be missed in this four month period.

Football managerial sackings make way for impact managers

As Gary McAllister joins the list of other young managers to be sacked (arguably premature), he exits at a time when chairmen like Ken Bates are looking for instant results and will not wait for any manager to pull through a bad patch and create continuity in the long term.

It has to be said that Sunderland's chairman Niall Quinn has proven to be an exception with the recent issues at The Stadium Of Light. It appears that Quinn most definitely did not want ex Man United captain Roy Keane to leave the managerial post after 2 years in charge and wanted to support him in the long term. In the premiership it is fair to say that this is a rarity. Since 2001, Daniel Levy is now on his 6th manager. Now, in the case of Martin Jol and more recently Juande Ramos Levy would argue that he had no choice but to sack both coaches, as would many Spurs fans. It could even be said that Ramos was a success in his brief time at White Hart Lane as he did win a competition and bring in some decent players.

Historically, 'impact managers' were used in relegation battles to not only give the club a fresh start but simply do whatever it takes to survive. Managers such as Big Ron Atkinson and more recently Steve Bruce at Wigan Athletic were incentivised heavily to keep their club in the top flight. The transfer window now acts as a mid-point to give a manager the opportunity to improve his chances of better footballing performance. Chairmen will review the teams performance consistently and will only give the manager funds to buy new players if they trust them and believe long term that it is them that they want to employ as coach.

After being swiftly terminated by Newcastle United, Sam Allardyce is back where he belongs in a Premiership managerial position. His impact? Similar to Harry Redknapp he is a superb motivator of players and led his new club Blackburn Rovers to an important 3-0 victory against Stoke City. Paul Ince's loss is Allardyce's gain. Whether he will be given more time to succeed at Ewood Park remains to be seen.

What is the risk of this short termism? That you don't create a long term strategy from the club's Academy upwards to the first 11. Liverpool fans - take note. Benitez is a superb manager who got incredible levels of criticism last season for tinkering too much with his team. Is it possible that the Reds just weren't good enough in terms of ability last season? If the Liverpool board had made a hasty decision then they probably wouldn't be top of the Premiership this Christmas.

It is interesting to hear Alex Ferguson's views on this topic because he is the shining example of continuity paying off even when the team's performance at times is not what you'd want it to be. He blames 'hangers on' - non-director shareholders that want a say and try to influence senior decisions at board meetings. He refers to it as the 'second board' - corpoarate hospitality types that add pressure, demanding instant results that have a direct correlation on the financial health of the football club.

Leeds United sack Gary McAllister

Gary McAllister is the latest managerial casualty of this football season as boss of sleeping giants Leeds United.

Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has taken action against their dip in form and sacked manager Gary McAllister after an 18 month spell.

Leeds, currently in ninth position in Coca Cola League One are in danger of drifting away from promotion with a 15 point gap between leaders Leicester City and themselves. After losing 4 consecutive matches including falling out of the FA Cup when losing against non-league Histon, McAllister looked vulnerable with Bates looking for quick results. It is expected that a new manager will be recruited quickly to give the new leader some time in the transfer window to strengthen the squad.

Ex assistant coach Gus Poyet has been strongly linked for obvious reasons as he was supposed to be instrumental in Leeds' success under Dennis Wise before departing for Tottenham Hotspur. Aidy Boothroyd has also been linked with the position.

Eduardo makes a return in Arsenal Reserves

After 10 months out with a career threatening knee injury Croatian forward Eduardo pulled his hamstring in reserves. Last season Birmingham defender Martin Taylor strongly tackled Eduardo which led to the injury and this left him sidelined for the Gunners.

Despite picking up an injury that keeps him out until the new year, Eduardo is delighted to be back and remains positive about his prospects.

"I'm just so happy to be back playing after 10 months out. I hope to be back playing at the same level or even better, but now it's just good to forget about all the bad things in my life."

Paul Ince sacked by Blackburn Rovers

Ex Manchester United and MK Dons boss has been sacked by struggling Premiership club Blackburn Rovers after six months in charge. Blackburn Rovers have had a terrible run of form taking them to 19th in the division. Paul Ince started managing Blackburn on the 22nd June and joins Ramos and Keane to be the thitrd Premiership manager part company with their clubs. Blackburn's last victory was in September against Newcastle United and pressure has increased since Roy Keane's difficulties at Middlesborough lead to hs resignation.

Blackburn's club statement read: "The board, having selected Paul Ince back in June, were desperate for him to succeed and wanted to give him as much time as possible in the unforgiving environment of the Premier League, where time is such a precious commodity."

Ray Mathias, Archie Knox and Karl Robinson from the Blackburn coaching team will be managing agains Stoke on Saturday 20th December.

British coaches such as Roy Keane, Paul Ince and Tony Adams should represent the future of English management and will need the support and patience that Niall Quinn showed at Sunderland. Although there is nothing wrong with having a foreign manager for our national team I think most Englishmen's prference would be to see one of our coaches have the right types of opportunities in the Premiership and, for that matter top divisions in other European countries to see us have a truly English team.

Premiership result Chelsea 1 West Ham 1

RESULT: Chelsea 1 West Ham 1 14th December 2008


Gianfranco ZOla's return to Samford Bridge West Ham was successful with a vital point against his old club.

The home team started brightly but West Ham managed to deny Anelka any space in dangerous areas.

Scott Parker worked hard in midfield to break up the rhythm of Deco and Lampard. The Hammers kept deep and defended well, with Matthew Upson continuing to show good central defensive judgement. Then in the 32nd minute West Ham got to the byline with Noble and passed in to Craig Bellamy who in turn controlled and volleyed in emphatic style past Cech to open the scoring very much against the run of play.

In the second half the home team statred more aggressively with Drogba coming on to join Nicolas Anelka upfront. It was the in form frenchman Anelka however that got the equaliser, volleying home a delicate chip in the box from Frank Lampard to net his 14th goal of the season.

More pressure followed from Chelsea as the had most of the possession, camping in West Ham's half forcing them to sit on the 18 yard line with little rest. West Ham 'keeper Robert Green commanded his area well, and in the last 5 minutes West Ham slightly came into the game possesssion wise. Frank Lampard had a well struck free kick that he steered straight towards Green, apart from that West Ham were good for a point on this frustrating day for the Premiership leaders.

RESULT: Portsmouth 0 Newcastle 3

Premiership result: Portsmouth 0 Newcastle 3 14th December 2008
Newcastle move into 14th position ahead of Tottenham on goal difference after their first away win of the season at Fratton Park against Tony Adam's Portsmouth. Portsmouth dominated in the first half but Defoe and Crouch were a bit wasteful of possession in the final third of the pitch. Newcastle hit the post with a fantastic twenty yard swerving drive from forward Obafemi Martins.

In the second half Portsmouth squandered more chances, then Newcastle took advantage of some inaccurate passing and put Michael Owen through in on goal. Owen took a heavy first touch but then more than made up for it with a delicate chip over Portsmouth keeper David James to open the scoring at 0-1.

Newcastle started to gain more possession and confidence after the first goal and it was Martins that scored the second goal in the 76th minute after some bad defending and a premature dive from James.

It was Guthrie who completed a great win for the visitors with the third goal after a through ball fell nicely into his path and he smashed it past David James who perhaps could have done more to prevent this goal as well as the second.

Spurs 0 Manchester United 0

Spurs 0 Manchester United 0

Dimitar Berbatov's return to White Hart Lane was frustrating for him and Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils as Tottenham Hotspur managed to keep a clean sheet against the Premier League champions.

In the first half, this match was quite tight, Modric went close with a header from a David Bentley cross and then towards the end of the first 45 mins Manchester United began to dominate possession but with no end result. David Bentley also had a spectacular volley saved by Van der Sar. Christiano Ronaldo netted from a corner in the penalty box but it was judged to have been handled by the Portuguese international.

In the second half, Manchester United continued to pass the ball fluently but Spurs were resolute in defence with great performances fom Michael Dawson and Didier Zokora. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were brought on towards the end of the match to attempt to break the Spurs defence down but the home team managed to keep things under control and had a good chance from Modric going just over the crossbar. Overall, Tottenham were good for a point and moved Harry Redknapp's Spurs up to 14th position. However this result made things difficult for Man Utd as the gap between them and Chelsea increased to 6 points.

Everton 2 Villa 3 Ashley Young scores a late winner

Match Report: Everton 2 Villa 3

Ashley Young left it until injury time to score a fantastic winner to give Aston Villa all 3 points at Goodison Park, after Everton had equalised in the attack just before it.

Steve Sidwell scored from 20 yards with a strong shot to give Villa the lead and then left back Lescott levelled to 1-1 from close range.

Aston Villa were gifted the second when a terrible backpass from Phil Jaglieka was directed into Ashley Young's path and the England international slotted the chance home with great composure.

Joleon Lescott then scored a second with a spectacular acrobatic volley to bring Everton level again. Then came the drama. A long kick from Everton was headed by defender Martin Laursen which was then in turn passed on in midfield to Young who cleverley passed the ball around Lescott, picked it up after sprinting past him and then curled the ball around Tim Howard to win the match with the last kick of the game.

Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0

Match report - Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0

Manchester United left it until the 90th minute to secure 3 points against Sunderland, under caretaker manager Sbragia after Man Utd put heavy pressure on the visitors for the majority of the game.

After several attacks in the last half an hour, Berbatov put a close range header over the bar and it looked like with good defending from Anton Ferdinand it looked like Sunderland might hold on. Then, with only 2 minutes to go, man of the match Michael Carrick struck a 20 yard shot which hit the post and defender Vidic followed the rebound up like a striker would to get the win in typical Manchester United fashion and secure third place with Arsenal in fourth.

Carling Cup semi-final draw

Carling Cup semi-final draw

Tottenham v Burnley (First Leg w/c January 5th, White Hart Lane)

Derby County v Manchester United (First Leg January 5th, Pride Park)

Evra banned by FA for improper conduct

Manchester United left back Patrice Evra has been fined £15,000 and handed a four match suspension after the FA founded him guilty of improper conduct in a confrontation with Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell. This occurred in the Man Utd v Chelsea match on 26th April, allegations of racism from the groundsman towards Evra have not been proven which was claimed by assistant manager Mike Phelan. Evra struck the grouundsman on the head and coninuted the row after it had been broken up. Chelsea were also fined £25,000 for this infamous 'Battle of the Bridge' incident.

“Manchester United notes the announcement from the FA and is disappointed with the decision and in particular considers the sanctions against Patrice Evra excessive,” a statement said. “Manchester United and Patrice will consider all options once there has been an opportunity to digest the full reasons for the decision. There will be no further comment.”

Evra’s ban starts from 22nd December, however he is also banned for the game on the 21st December 2008 against Spurs for receiving five bookings this season.

Roy Keane leaves Sunderland

Roy Keane, ex Manchester United and Republic of Ireland midefielder has resigned from his managerial post at Sunderland after a bad spell of winning only 1 game out of the last 7.

This will be a big blow to Niall Quinn who has been in talks since the weekend after their heavy home defeat against Bolton to convince Keane to stay put as manager of Sunderland after a 2 year spell. Sunderland are currently lying in 18th with 15 points and have had resources financially and board support for Keane. However in recent matches Keane has stubbornly put key players on the bench and this has negatively affected the fans' perception of him as their leader.

Paul Ince, another one of the great Manchester United players under Ferguson will now undoubtedly be under pressure as Blackburn Rovers are now in 19th position. Similarly, he is relatively inexperienced for a Premiership club management position.

First team coach Ricky Sbragia is now the caretaker manager at the Stadium of Light and will have 2 assistant coaches in Neil Bailey and Dwight Yorke. Sbragia has a massive challenge in playing Manchester United at Old Trafford at 5.30pm - not exactly an easy first game in charge.

Burnley 2 Arsenal 0 2nd December 2008 Carling Cup Result

Burnley’s Carling Cup Run continues into the semi-finals

Burnley's incredible Carling Cup run continued this evening with an impressive 2-0 win over an Arsenal team full of the younger players.
Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen said before the game that he “didn’t want 6 more one-on-ones” after his penalty shoot-out heroics in the Chelsea match – and this is exactly what happened. Nicholas Bendtner was through on goal and couldn’t make it count, and the other senior player Silvestre also had a poor game. The Arsenal team were guilty of looking for the final pass too early but this was Burnley’s night.

Captain Kevin McDonald opened the scoring in the 6th minute after the Arsenal keeper Fabianski spilt the ball in his path and McDonald took full advantage. After holding up well the Gunners pressure, McDonald then made it 2 by curling home a shot from 15 yards out to complete a memorable victory at Turf Moor on this cold Tuesday night.

Liverpool 0 West Ham United 0 Monday 8th December

Premiership Result Liverpool 0 West Ham United 0

Rafael Benitez's men went top tonight after a frustrating 0-0 draw which narrows the gap to 1 point between Chelsea and the Reds in pole position.

After recently drawing 0-0 at home to Fulham, Benitez will be dissapointed to not have maintained their superb Premiership start and assert their authority as the early leading Premiership team. Zola's team were well organised to keep the Reds out. Quite a non-eventful first half led on to a second half with a flurry of goal mouth incident but Keane and Kuyt lacked the finishing power needed against West Ham keeper Robert Green who is growing in reputation as a strong candidate for the England team.

Despite Liverpool's dominance it was Craig Bellamy who struck the inside of the post from over 25 yards with Liverpool keeper Jose Reina well beaten. This indeed would have been an ironic winning goal for the former Liverpool striker but the wood work kept it out on what was a game that Liverpool will look back to as 2 points dropped too easily.

Robin Van Persie's double gives Arsenal a lifeline Chelsea 1 Arsenal 2

Chelsea 1 Arsenal 2
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal were given a lifeline with a brace from Dutch international Robin Van Persie. Chelsea opened the scoring when a strong attack down the right with a cross from Bosingwa was directed by Arsenal defender Johan Djourou into hs own net.

In the second half this tie was fought out in typical derby style, fast moving and physical. Van Persie's equaliser looked suspiciously offside and was commented on by Chelsea coach Luis Felipe Scholari.

"I accept that the referre is wrong sometimes. All I ask is that he says 'I was wrong' to me," said Scholari.

Wenger also admitted that this goal looked offside but implied that this is just part of the game as we currently know it.

Shortly after this the Gunner's crafted a second goal with a free kick from captain Cesc Fabregas, headed on from Adebayor to Van Persie who swivelled and brilliantly volleyed into the bottom left hand side corner making it impossible for Petr Cech to save.

This win puts Arsenal back into fourth just below Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea - just seven points adrift of the top position.

Drogba to stay at Chelsea

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is apparently staying at Stamford Bridge amidst rumours that he is unhappy and eyeing up moves to potential other football clubs. African players award contenders Drogba, aged 30 is under contract for 18 months and Peter Kenyon insists that he will see this time out.

In the first half of this season it has been surprisngly Nicolas Anelka who has made Chelsea tick upfront, and with the imminent court action reagding the coin throwing incident at Burnley, it has been suggested that Drogba may want to move in the transfer window.

Chelsea club chief executive Peter Kenyon said: "Didier's under contract for the next 18 months. He will be going nowhere in January."

Drogba had been linked with Italian club Inter Milan to link up with his former boss Jose Mourinho however Kenyon emphasised that he wants Drogba until 2010.

Arsenal promise cash for signings

After a tough first half of the Premiership season, Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has stated that there is fund available for Arsene Wenger to spend in the transfer window. Its well documented that the best players are bought pre-season and that buying players in January rarely changes a team's performance but the pressure will be on to strengthen the Gunners defence and defensive midfield where Arsenal have looked vulnerable. Arsenal are currently fifth behind Aston Villa and have lost 5 league matches already. There has been friction with the captaincy of William Gallas and have lacked the finshing of Adebayor, who should play today at Stamford Bridge in the 4pm match against Chelsea.

"He certainly has money if he wants to spend it," Hill-Wood told Arsenal TV.

"There have been suggestions we keep stopping him from buying - that is not the case.

"He's very sensible with the way he approaches the transfer market, he's not going to buy anybody just because the press or fans say he should.

"He's only going to buy somebody if he thinks they're going to improve what is a young squad but a very talented one."

Zaki exit from Wigan Athletic rumours

Amr Zaki, on loan at Wigan from Zamalek will be sold at the end of the season and it will be the parent club that will be responsible for this sale.

Zaki has scored 8 goals in his last 12 seasons and has definitely impressed in the Barclays Premier League.

The following statement was made on Zamalek's official website:

"Amr Zaki has been in the limelight for a while, and the mass media have been fuelling speculations over his next move and whether Wigan would let him seal a new deal or not and so forth.

"We hereby assure that we have the legal rights to either accept or reject offers for the aforementioned player, and no other club are authorised to interfere in potential negotiations.

"We would accept the highest bid for the player."

Manchester City 1 Spurs 2 and I was there shouting like a nutter!

Manchester City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

This was my fourth trip to The City of Manchester Stadium, out of the 3 I'd seen Spurs win twice so despite Man City having a very strong squad I was quietly confident of Tottenham gettng something out of this classic fixture.

Manchester City started brighter than Spurs in the first twenty minutes, with Shaun Wright-Phillips delivering the pace and Robinho dazzling quality with effortless through balls. This culminated in the opener with Robinho slotting home within the box after the Spurs backline crumpled under some pressure from the home team. With the early dominance, this looked to be set up for a home win. However there was a big surprise when Fernandes accrued two yellow cards for bad challenges, the second on Bentley led to his sending off which silenced the home support. Tottenham then did a great job of capitalising on the extra man by passing the ball continuously to tire the City players. Darren Bent scored shortly after Modric had a shot saved at close range and this set the scene for the second half.

In the second half, Spurs struggled to penetrate Mark Hughes' stubborn 10 men. After having most of the possession, in the 64th minute a long pass from Huddlestone reached Jenas who controlled the ball, passed to Bent who calmly side footed the ball into the net off of the far post.

Manchester City then had Dunne sent off towards the end for a foul on Darren Bent who was directly in on goal. After Ekotto was sent off for a second yellow card it was 9 versus 10 and Manchester City had some superb chances but Harry's men held on for another win. This lifted Spurs out of the bottom three and showed the home team that Spurs away support is very strong. A friend commented that the Tottenham fans were 'the best away support at Eastlands this season' and it clearly meant a lot to the Spurs players as they celebrated in front of the away folllowers.

Did we enjoy it? Oh yes. This was the real away tribal experience, standing all the way through the game, chants consistently flowing and plenty of drama. Great stuff Harry.

Manchester City v Spurs EASTLANDS DAY OUT!

Bit of a trip out to Eastlands - an hour journey and I will be in front of my beloved Tottenham Hotspur. This will be an intriguing contest between two teams that are both well funded and in recent years have both had dramatic developments both on and off the pitch.

Manchester City with their huge budget fueled by the pre-season takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group have a fantastic talent in Robinho, as well as the return of Wright-Phillips. No doubt in the transfer window they will continue to add some very expensive signings to this squad, with a rumoured £190m to spend in January 2009.

Tottenham Hotspur contrastingly have had yet another managerial catastrophe with Juande Ramos struggling to get any wins in the Premiership and the set up between him and Damien Cammoli (also sacked) has given new manager Harry Redknapp an unbalanced squad with 4 left backs and 3 strikers. However, out of the last 3 games Redknapp has motivated the team to generate 7 out of 9 points, notably a win against high flying Liverpool and 1 point against North London rivals Arsenal. However other team in and around the drop zone have also had good results and Tottenham still remain bottom. Today will be a big test against the fashionable Man City - if King can keep Robinho in check then Spurs could win.

Prediction: 1-1

Terrible football betting tips!

Why do people bet on football? My tips for midweek in the Champions Leagure were awful and a reason why 'dead cert' betting in football in particular the Premiership is a very risky game.

Perhaps so far my football betting tips have been totally rubbish, but I still think I can pull off this today:

Sunderland v Portsmouth
West Ham v Everton
Wigan v Stoke

All to be under 2.5 goals. we'll see!

Benitez looking for a long term contract at Liverpool

Rafa Benitez is looking to quickly secure his new contract at Liverpool to concentrate on the job at hand. With 18 months remaining on the current deal and Liverpool looking good in the Premiership Benitez may be looking at a 5 year contract. Benitez's track record at Liverpool in his four year reign is good - winning the Champions League and the FA Cup in this period. Keeping this mangerial consistency is a similar approach to rivals Manchester United and Arsenal which may well pay off for them in the long term.

Arsenal vs Manchester United Preview 8th November 2008

Arsenal v Man Utd 8th November 2008 Preview
What a fantastic fixture this is. Memories of clashes over the years come back - mainly of the fierce midfield competition between Roy Keane and Patrick Viera that fueled the atmosphere. How much would Arsene Wenger love Viera in that midfield today which has lacked the physical prescence since his departure to Inter Milan three years ago. The new Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has recently remarked on the physicality of the Premier League this season and Wenger has hinted that this is Arsenal's biggest weakness. The Gunners have lost three games this season and will know that the pressure is on to get something out of this game to keep up points wise and prove that they are still a dominant force in the race to win the Premiership.

“The morale is of course down when we don't win,” said Wenger, in a recent interview to club website arsenal.com.

“One week ago on Wednesday night we played very well against Tottenham and we didn't win. But it doesn't take away the fact that we played in a very convincing way. Afterwards at Stoke we had a lot of possession but we were not really sharp and I believe it was a hangover [from the Spurs game].

“Against Fenerbahce we dominated and had 70 per cent of possession but we didn't score. If we had scored and forced them to come out we could have scored plenty of goals.

“That’s why we have to keep winning, learn from what has happened to us and continue to believe in our strengths.

“But now we want to focus on Man United because it is a fantastic opportunity to show how strong we are when everyone is doubting us.”

Manchester United did show signs of a hangover from the 2007/2008 season after their Champions League and Premiership double. They are unbeaten in their last seven Premiership matches and Berbatov is showing signs of adding a fantastic new dimension to the creative energy that makes Man Utd a team that you can never write off despite Chelsea's machine like success so far this season. Wes Brown will miss the trip to the Emirates but Gary Neville will be available for selection.

Despite Arsenal's recent dip in form Alex Ferguson's guard will be up. In early November Arsenal are 20/1 to win the Premiership but Arsene Wenger will be drawing on his 12 years of Premiership experience today to grind out some points today.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Manchester United

Liverpool grab last minute equaliser against Athletico Madrid

Did Gerrard dive....do we care?!

Liverpool 1 Athletico Madrid 1

94 minutes into this game and Athletico Madrid must have thought that this Champions League tie was won. After Maxi Rodriguez's first half goal, Athletico defended gallantly in an attempt to preserve the lead and get to the top position of Group D. However Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard had other plans and controversially went down after a challenge with Marian Pernia. The Athletico Madrid players looked around shear disbelief when the penalty was awarded. Gerrard netted the penalty, 4 Athletico players got booked after as they showed their distaste to the referee/linesman's decision.

Predictably Steven Gerrard's actions has created a media witch hunt against this fantastic English footballer. Personally, I think its simple. Diving where there is no contact at all is definitely 'simulation' and can easily result in a yellow card with the use of modern TV replay technology. Where a player goes down where there is contact between two players can raise debate for days after the incident currently - and the game has changed to favour the attacking player in this scenario. Most professional footballers in a tight game will go down in the area if they are contacted by a defender. This is not a new phenomenon and I don't see much wrong with it. This type of activity is much more like gamesmanship in comparison to the traditional diving which originated in South America in the late 1980's as a way of influencing refereeing decisions.

Steven Gerrard may be a player that never excels at the international level but the criticism that he gets is ridiculous and football fans should enjoy his fantastic skills and talent as opposed to elements of his game that most international players possess.

Champions League betting tips

Being a Spurs fan, what do I know about the Champions League?! Well, I do know that the English sides are strong in Europe so my accumulator for this week's Champions League fixtures has 3 English teams to win:


Barcelona to beat Basil
Liverpool to beat Athletico Madrid
Manchester United to beat Celtic
Arsenal to beat Fenerbahce


Lets hope these games come in now..!

Torres set to play against Athletico Madrid

After the first three matches Liverpool and Athletico Madrid are both on 7 points in Group D going into tomorrow evening's Champions League match at Anfield.

Fernando Torres has recovered from a hamstring injury and should partner Robbie Keane upfront against his old club. He will have a late fitness test and has a "70% chance of featuring in the game" according to Rafa Benitez.

Sergio Aguero scored twice against Real Mallorca in their 2-0 victory on the weekend and will play against the Reds.

Premiership review - football results 2nd November 2008

After a fascinating weekend of football, the Premiership title race is entering a new phase where the big teams know that one loss can mean that they are off of the pace for the whole of the season. Manchester United are well experienced with this type of pressure with players such as Ryan Gigg and Paul Scholes that have been playing in the Premiership for over 10 seasons. Chelsea are setting that pace currently and on paper probably have the strongest squad but you cannot predict what the next few months can bring in terms of form and in particular injuries to key players.

Liverpool and Arsenal must be the teams most aware of this 'must win' pressure. Both sides are desperate to win the Premiership and have really struggled in recent years to lead the pack with confidence for a prolonged period of the football season. Liverpool have been showing the right type of behaviours - consistency in their first eleven, winning away at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and (by far the most important) winning by narrow margins when not playing very well. However the Reds wobbled yesterday with a 2-1 loss at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur. Despite the Harry Redknapp factor, Liverpool dominated hitting the post twice and the bar once. Spurs 'keeper Gomes looked weak to say the least but Spurs managed to keep the game at 1-1 until the last minute where Pavlichenko snatched a massive win for Tottenham. Liverpool were unfortunate but cannot afford too many more defeats in the Premiership if they are mounting a serious bid to win the title.

Arsenal play the most attractive football in the Premiership in many people's eyes but in the last two games have only got one point. It started with a curnch North London Derby against Spurs where they conceded four - Gallas and Silvestre didn't convince as a robust central defensive partnership and then away at Stoke where the misery worsened when they lost 4-3. The two goals that Arsenal conceded were from Rory Delap throw-ins which have caused many Premiership teams problems were tough to defend but the Premiership winners will be able to deal with that type of set piece pressure. Wenger is now in a tricky position, where their issues at the back and deep midfield are really limiting their success. This may well be something that he has tried to confront with Mikael Silvestre who was signed in August 2008 on a 2 year deal from Manchester United. However the back four of he Arsenal team do have great talent it is apparent that not only are they missing a 'Tony Adams' style centre half but the type of cover that Partick Viera supplied for the Arsenal defenders is now missing. Denilson is a great player but is not neccessarily the best defensive midfielder.

"We tried hard to win but Stoke, at the moment, are very sharp physically," he said. "We looked a bit jaded because we have played a lot of games recently.

"At the moment we are suffering. I don't believe it is confidence; we put a lot in on Wednesday night and we play again in midweek in Europe.

"We have very bad injuries. We have Adebayor, Walcott and Sagna as well as one or two others who have knocks, but that's the kind of game we played here. When you are not as sharp, you are less agile and you can't get as quickly out of tackles."

He added: "We had lots of possession against a team who defended very well and was very well organised, but we were not sharp enough to to create chances with the possession we had."

Maradona set to be named as Argentina's new coach

48 year old Diego Maradona may be confirmed as Argentina's new coach next Tuesday by the Argentina Football Association. If Maradona gets the post, then he will be travelling to the UK when Argentina play Scotland in a friendly. Argentina are struggling in their World Cup qualifying group and are currently third. Undoubtedly Maradona is a player that the Argentinian squad have idolised but the drugs ban that he had does not make him best placed to be a role model for youngsters interested in football.

2 out of 2 - not a great start

It was a 452-1 bet for the Arsenal v Spurs match to finish 4-4, apparently a lucky punter put £10 on it! Stoke beat Sunderland 1-0 with a spirited performance but Chelsea and Vila did win but tips wise I need to go back to the drawing board - ah well we shall see what the weekend may bring...

Head of the Olympics Jacques Rogge has stated that London's new 2012 stadium doesn't need to have an athletics track and therefore could be used in the future for other forms of recreation. The IOC boss said: "If the best solution is to transform the track into something else then we would be in favour of that."

Tottenham's Daniel Levy said that he did consider this as a potential option for Spurs and West Ham United have been rumoured to be interested in the proposition.

Hull 0 Chelsea 3

Hull City's outstanding winning streak was brought to an end last night by an outstanding Chelsea team. The first goal you have to check out - Frank Lampard has been displaying world beating midfield skills recently and this delicate chip was another example of why he is one of the easiest choices for Capello to make in the England set up. Anelka added a second which made Hull crumble against the Premiership high flyers and Malouda scored to truly finish off the Premiership new boys. On reflection Phil Brown will take this as education for his team that have so far over delivered - 7-8 more wins and they will have secured premiership safety which is amazing with the resources this club have.

North London derby game of the season

Arsenal 4 Tottenham H 4

An 8 goal thriller at the Emirates stadium was the game of the night of the midweek fixtures. A potential goal of the season from David Bentley opened up the game and forced even more pressure on the Spurs defence as a result. From a football spectator's point of view this was a classic but defensive/goalkeeping coaches would have been cringing. Both Almunia and Gomes made terrible errors as well as Clichy and Hutton - but this contributed hugely to the entertainment factor. On this evidence, Arsenal have the same beautiful game that we know of but are defensively too naive to win the Premiership as things stand. Tottenham Hotspur need strengthening but Harry Redknapp has galvanised his squad giving the players more spirit and confidence. All four goalscorers for Spurs were English (Bentley, Huddlestone, Bent and Lennon) which is also an encouraging positive point for the international scene.

Paolo Maldini looking forward to teaming up with Beckham

AC Milan veteran Paolo Maldini backs Beckham's imminent loan move to the Italian club as not just a means of keeping fit but that he is still hungry for success at the very highest level. Despite the deal being not completely signed and sealed it looks on the cards that he will be joining Kaka, Ronaldinho and other big footballing stars.

"Beckham is coming here to train, to remain in good form and to still be an important part of his national team," Maldini said.

"Milan has no reservations signing veteran players and has always taken into account the image and communication factors.

"As long as you have image and technical values together, all is well."

NEW Football Betting Tips

I would hate anyone to lump on seriously with any Football Tip I give. Why? Because I have the kiss of death when it come to gambling on anything. However I want to try out a theory which is if I give football tips but don't gamble on them, does my record improve? It may become obvious therfore that I am superstitious when it comes to this stuff but anyway here goes.

On Wednesday there is a full premiership programme (shown below) and I would go for Arsenal to beat Spurs at the Emirates, Aston Villa to beat Blackburn at Villa Park, Chelsea to beat Hull and Sunderland to beat Stoke. Lets see now how good my predictions are....

Wednesday 29th October 2008
Arsenal	vs.	Tottenham	20:00
Aston Villa	vs.	Blackburn	19:45
Bolton	vs.	Everton	20:00
Fulham	vs.	Wigan	19:45
Hull	vs.	Chelsea	19:45
Liverpool	vs.	Portsmouth	20:00
Man Utd	vs.	West Ham	20:00
Middlesbrough	vs.	Man City	20:00
Stoke	vs.	Sunderland	19:45

Harry Redknapp replaces European style management team at Spurs

Well, as a loyal Spurs fan I must admit that I am completely speechless afer this weekend's developments. The madness started with Daniel Levy sacking Juande Ramos, Gus Powet and Damien Comolli being sacked late last night (26th October 2008) after a series of tragic results underpinned from some tragic player acquisition at the Lane. I awoke to a text message at 8.15am from an old friend who is a Bradford City fan telling me that Harry Redknapp was our new manager. With a mixture of shear disbelief and excitement I scrambled for the trusty Sky Digital remote control to go on to SSN. Then the news unfolded. After taking 2 points from a potential 24, this premiership campaign had gone terribly. The disharmony from Ramos and Camolli was so blatant; here was a Spanish coach who wanted to demand his player choices stuck but then had more than a thorn in his side with Levy having a bias towards the Sporting Director's views.

After a decade of trying to force a square peg into a round hole with the Director of football two-tiered management structure, Daniel Levy has hit rock bottom and ate Humble pie at the lowest ebb of Tottenham Hotspur's Premiership history. Ramos was the man that Levy and Camolli both gambled on with great confidence, prizing him away from Spanish side Seville after Martin Jol's results took a downwards turn. With relegation staring Gus Poyet and Jaunde Ramos right between the eyes, something had to give.

"The results are what counts in football and we all know how this world works," Ramos said. "Now we just have to see if this decision is the best one for the team to recover and have a good season."

Harry Redknapp joins Tottenham Hotspur from a very successful second spell in management at Portsmouth. After winning the FA Cup and getting Pompey into Europe, Redknapp hinted that the £5 millon that Levy offered was too tempting a payment for Portsmouth to take. However, emotionally this move to Spurs had been on his mind in previous years and his willingness to succeed came from connections with the club on many levels.

"I could have come here maybe 18 months ago, in all honesty," said Redknapp. "I nearly came here, it was a long story but things happened.

"I nearly went to Newcastle and people said I didn't want to take on the challenge of a big club. I felt that once this happened (with Spurs again), I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.

Whatever will happen at the Lane next? A great start today with a 2-0 victory against Bolton with Pavlichenko and Bent scoring, but relegation is still a huge threat to Tottenham Hotspur - the table does not lie. Either way, today was a huge step forward for the Spurs. Harry Redknapp is the best English manager that we have and shows the strength and resilience that Tottenham need to either get out of the bottom three or to bounce right back into the big time.

Sunderland v Newcastle United result 25th October 2008

Sunderland 2 Newcastle United 1 Attendance 47,936

This midday Premiership fixture was a mouth watering North East derby and lived up to the expectation with both teams showing lots of commitment in the tackle and desire to win. Cisse scored first in the 20th minute stabbing home a Melbranque cross. Shola Amoebi then made it even only ten minutes later with a well worked move finished off with a firm header from the Nigerian.

But it was in the second half that Kieran Richardson made the Stadium of Light erupt with a thunderbolt free kick hitting the top corner of the net. This was a wonderful goal showing superb techinque to bend and swerve the ball at high speed - Shay Given had no chance.

Newcastle's performance was stronger and are showing more signs of improvement currently from Spurs but Joe Kinnear will feel the pain of losing a local derby whilst being in the bottom 3.

Everton v Manchester United result 25th October 2008

Everton 1 Manchester United 1 Attendance 36,069

Darren Fletcher opened the scoring 22 minutes in at Goodison Park from a Ryan Giggs assist. Man Utd then dominated the possession with slicking passing and movement. In the second half Everton were subjected to more pressure from the Red Devils but then in the 63rd minute Everton turned the game on its head with a counter attacking football spell beginning with great passing move involving a Phil Neville cross which Fellaini headed home to make it 1-1. Quickly after this Yakubu then hit the post from a narrow angle at close range. Anderson came on for Park in an attempt to take some pressure off of the Manchester United defence. Everton played with style and aggression in attack with Yakubu putting heavy pressure on Ferdinand and Vidic. The game evened out and although Fergie will see this match as two points lost in the premiership battle, Man Utd could have easily dropped all three.

Iain Dowie sacked at QPR

Chairman Flavio Briatore has sacked Iain Dowie after only 15 games from his managerial role at Queen's Park Rangers. With 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 wins this year. This is the second time that Dowie seems to have been prematurely sacked after 12 games. There have been rumours that Briatore has been trying to tinker with the QPR team selection and there have been board friction with the sporting director Gianni Paladini and vice chairman Amit Bhatia.

Terry Venables, Darren Ferguson, Roberto Mancini and Alan Curbishley have all been linked with the positon.

Premiership preview 24th October 2008

The big game of the weekend is on Sunday 26th October as Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge taking on in-form Chelsea. Despite missing Torres through a hamstring injury, Liverpool have displayed good team cohesion and depth in squad this season. Benitez seems to have got the core to his team right and must have more focus on the leagure than ever before. In their victory against Manchester United in September they proved that they can now be competitive with the big boys without Gerrard and Torres. Catch this big game on Sky Sports 1. That said, the one team no-one wants to face currently is Scholari's men...

Manchester United are away at Everton and will be hoping that Wayne Rooney's explosive, prolific form continues. The England striker is chasing his 100th League goal of his career - he only needs one more!

Down at the bottom, Juande Ramos faces the Trotters at White Hart Lane. Bolton will be looking to capitalise on Tottenham Hotspur's low confidence and lack of discipline which has been illustrated by 2 red cards in the last games - as well as unforced errors leading to losses.

Tottenham 2 Udinese 0

Tottenham Hotspur's dreadful start to the season worsened with a 2-0 away loss to Udinese. Udinese's first goal was an unforced error from goalkeeper Gomes who failed to deal with a run of the mill back pass and brought down italian striker Fabio Quagliarella for a penalty kick. Di Natale converted the spot kick in the 24th minute. Spurs looked good in the first half but struggled to capitalise from their possession. Luka Modric had a good game but during the second half was let down by team mate Jamie O'Hara who received 2 yellow cards in a minute to be sent off. However after this, a Darren Bent assertively headed a superb cross from Giovani goalwards which was superbly saved from closs range. In the 87th minute Udinese add to Spurs woes by making it 2-0 with a cool finish from substitute Simone Pepe.

Chelsea 1 Roma 0

Chelsea 1 (John Terry) Roma 0

Match report to follow

Athletico Madrid 1 Liverpool 1

Athletico Madrid 1 (Simao) Liverpool 1 (Keane)

Match report to follow

Beckham joins AC Milan on loan

David Beckham has agreed a loan move from LA Galaxy to AC Milan. His season in the US Major Soccer League ends this week and after being selected for the England squad in consecutive World Cup qualifiers Becks is clearly looking to boost his ftiness and club playing profile.This is a short term move as the MLS starts again in April 2009. He will join great players such as Ronaldinho, Kaka and Alexandre Pato in the AC Milan squad. AC Milan will have the option of playing Beckham in the UEFA Cup aswell as Serie A.
Beckham's club history
Manchester United - 1994 - 2003
Real Madrid - 2003 - 2007
LA Galaxy - 2007 - 2008
AC Milan - 2008 - ...

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said: "For me, it will be a pleasure. Beckham is a serious athlete, a great professional," he said. "If he'll be available for us, we'll be very happy."

Fenerbache 2 Arsenal 5

Fenerbache crumbled in the first half at home against Arsenal with their visitors taking a 3-1 lead. Adebayor opened the goal tally with a cool side footed finish in a one on one situation. Walcott added the second showng great pace and a cool head in finishing. In the second half Arsenal continued fantastic attacking football against the Turkish side and despite a late second goal, Ramsey made it 5 to conclude a great away vitory for the Gunners.

Champions League action with Arsenal and Manchester United

Arsenal will have to face the hositlity of Turkish supporters as they face Fenerbache in Group G of the Champions League. It is expected that they will play a 4-1-4-1 formation with Adebayor as the sole striker. It is expected that The Walcott will play. Manchester United play Celtic in the classic Bristish tie at Old Trafford. Celtic will be looking to repeat their 1-0 victory at Parkhead 1 year ago.

Newcastle get a point against Manchester City

Newcastle Utd 2 Manchester City 2
A 4 goal thriller at St James Park saw Newcastle getting a point against Manchester City. Newcastle had a man sent off for fouling Robinho who showed flashes of brilliance, played with spirit and determination but couldn't keep it tight enough at the back to stay at 2-1. Ireland got the equaliser quite late though (86 minutes) after a superb through ball from Robinho. A fair result and a lifeline for the Geordies.

Milano 3 Sampdoria 0

San Siro - 'The place where dreams come true' - well, this ground did have a lasting impression on me. The Meazza lies in a beautiful suburban area in South Milan and has a carnival like atmosphere with memorabilia stalls everywhere and lovely little bars and restaurants. On Sunday 19th October it was a sunny day and on entering the ground I was in awe of this fortress of football. we were in the upper tier of the North Stand which seemed very very high - the views were amazing as on a clear day you can see the famous Duomo Catherdral from this seat position.

And the football? Sampdoria I thought had the better of the first half and put 2 men on Ronaldinho. In the second half both teams started brightly but it was AC that broke the deadlock with a penalty. The defender who was judged to have handled a drive from Clarence Seedorf was sent off which from a neutral's perspective is always a shame. Ronaldinho drove the pen home into the roof of the net.

After this the home team dominated the game completely with Ronaldinho and Seedorf running the show. It was not long until Ronaldinho netted a second with a flowing football move leaving the Brazillian in a great position and he clinically finished.

Inzaghe finished off a hard afternoon for Sampdoria to make it 3-0.

A memorable day for me - superb stadium and seeing Milan's hero in great form made it all a fantastic experience. Thanks Lucy!!!

18th October 2008 Carling Premiership football review and fixtures

After winning 5 out of the first 7 fixtures, Chelsea are away at the Riverside playing Gareth Southgate's men. Liverpool have also won 5 out of 7 in this Premiership campaign.

Man United won their last 2 matches with Wayne Rooney on fire.

Stoke Spurs 18th October 2008 Carling Premiership football fixtures Middlesbrough v Chelsea Arsenal v Everton Aston Villa v Portsmouth Bolton v Blackburn Fulham v Sunderland Liverpool v Wigan Manchester United v West Brom Sunday Hull City v West Ham Stoke v Tottenham

Michael Owen injury

Michael Owen has picked up a groin injury in training just days before their clash with Manchester City (21st Oct, Monday). Owen will have a scan but Joe Kinnear is concerned that a torn muscle could keep him out for 1 month. This comes at a bad time for Owen from both club and country angles as England's 4th highest scorer of all time has struggled to impress Fabio Capello.

He joined Newcastle United after a brief spell in Real Madrid in 2005 and has suffered from injury problems over this 3 year period.

England score World Cup Qualifier: Belarus 1 England 3

England have played 4 and won 4 in Group six now after a professional 3-1 victory in Minsk against Belarus. England started steadily and played good containing football. Steven Gerrard opened the game up quite early however with a wonderfully crafted 20 yard shot. However Belarus managed to string together some good passing sequences and managed to equalise wth Sitko (28). In the second half England then took the lead again with a counter attack from Emile Heskey setting up Wayne Rooney to score from close range in the 50th minute. Rooney then added a superb second strike with a wonderful passing move with Gerrard involved in the build up (74). Gerrard said after match: "Playing for England you've always got a point to prove. As long as I've got a place in this team then I'm happy. There have been lots of times that I have felt that I haven't hit the heights that I can do but I always keep going."

Rio Ferdinand added: "The key was to make sure we were a tight unit firstly and we did that. I'm delighted for Gerrard, he's been over critical of his play but we've seen him do it for Liverpool and we've seen him do it for England so I was really pleased for him."

Editor's note 15/10/2008 SAN SIRO SIZZLER!

As I am a very fortunate man, my partner has arranged for a weekend away in Milan for my birthday. I was delighted to find out on my birthday that we will be going to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, or better known as the San Siro. AC Milan take on the mighty Sampdoria (lying in 17th after the first six games) and I cannot wait to go to one of the great football grounds in the world. Boasting an 82,000 capacity, the San Siro has a carnival atmosphere with history going back over 80 years. I feel fortunate that on this trip our timing co-insides with a game; when I was in Madrid a few years ago there was no game at the Bernabeu but I went on the tour anyway. This was a fantastic experience in it own right and you can do the same with the san siro stadium and these tours are hourly on match days with regular coaches to take advantage of.

If its good enough for Ronaldinho its good enough for me...

O'Neill working on keeping Young

At the end of the current 2007/2008 premiership season Ashley Young will have 2 seasons left but already Martin O'Neill is putting in place a plan and some type of remuneration package to retain the player.

When questioned by the Birmingham Mail O'Neill: "We are making progress. There's nothing untoward about it.

"I would have liked by now to have been able to report something and maybe by the end of the week I might be able to.

"With a bit of luck the contract should reflect the progress that he has made and where he is positioned.

"He has just won the Player of the Month again, which is great."

2008 African players award contenders

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that 4 premiership players - Amr Zaki, Emmanuel Adebayor, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba have been shortlisted for the 2008 African Player of the Year award.

THE CONTENDERS...

Zaki
What a year 2008 has been for Zaki. The striker scored 4 goals in the African Nations Cup in Ghana this February for Egypt in their successful defence of this trophy.

Didier Drogba
The Ivory Coast striker is a big face in the Premiership. Drogba has already won the award in 2006 and has been in the top 3 over the last 5 years. Drogba has a distinct achievement in that he is the only professional footballer to have scored in 3 League Cup finals, in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Michael Essien
Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien finished second last year to Sevilla striker Fredi Kanoute and has made the top three for the last three years. The Ghanian midfielder is nicknamed 'the Bison' and has played for Chelsea for 3 years having moved from Lyon in 2005 for £24m.

Emmanuel Adebayor
Togo striker Adebayor is in his second season at the Emirates and made a big impression in te 2007/2008 season by coming joint second with Fernando Torres for the Premiership golden boot.

The results of the African players award will be announced in December after 53 managers of the international associations have voted.

England travel to Belarus without Robert Green

West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green will not be travelling to England's fourth World Cup qualifier due to a sore knee. The squad will travel to Minsk this Tuesday without Green, with David James and Scott Carson being the only 2 options for Fabio Capello to choose from. David James will be expected to start as England's number 1 with Carson on the bench. Capello's men go into this Belarus game with much confidence after opening with a 100% record in the Group six qualifying group.