Tottenham close in on Palacios

UPDATE: Tottenham Hotspur have increased their offer to Wigan for Honduran Wilson Palacios. The original offer of £14m was then put on hold as neighbours Manchester City expressed an interest.

"I haven't given up hope of keeping the boy, but it is difficult," said the Wigan Boss Steve Bruce. "I'm the manager of a club where we will lose our better players if the big clubs come calling, that's a fact of life. But one thing I wanted to avoid was losing them halfway through the season. A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work in building this side over the last 14 months."

After recently playing some very average football at the JJB Sports Stadium, Harry has obviously assessed the Tottenham Hotspur midfield group of players and come to the conclusion that it is light weight and could benefit from Latics favourite Wilson Palacios.

One comment that I read on the BBC Sports blog was that if Diarra was worth £21m then Palacios was definitely worth £14m. Crazy cash, you might say. However if all transfer fees are relative then Spurs have paid more money for players such as David Bentley and Darren Bent, should Spurs sign him Harry Redknapp will be hoping for consistent displays like the one he witnessed on Sunday. Palacios covered every blad of grass against Spurs as my Dad and I looked on at a deflated Lily whites team. His strengthes are breaking up the play and maintaining possession, he also displayed great athleticism with a spectacular overhead kick.

Steve Bruce is gently hinting that the deal is close, providing great player revenue to Wigan Athletic and Spurs with a quality, young midfielder.

Kaka, Kenwyne Jones, Latest

Football isn't a funny old game any more. It is just pure madness. Some football clubs could be bought in its entirety for the recent £91m bid tabled for Brazilian international Kaka by Manchester City to AC Milan. £500,000 per week as a wage in the credit crunch....not bad really. Despite Kaka saying that he wants to 'grow old' one would imagine that money will talk yet again in our beautiful game. Although it is crazy numbers, if you've got it why not spend it.

"We believe the deal is very close," Bowen said today to BBC Sport Wales.

"We are selling the future plans of the club to the player.


Tottenham's latest target is Kenwyne Jones, who has impressed for Sunderland. The rumour is that Spurs have offered £15m for the Trinidad and Tobago international.

Chelsea feel the wrath of the Cigar of God

Diego Maradona's love for cuban cigars was apparently the reason for the disruptive night at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel at 7am on Sunday morning prior to the big clash with title holders Manchester United.

The Sun quoted a fireman at the Radisson Hotel: "It looks as though it was set off by Diego and his entourage smoking cigars on the 14th floor. I saw most of Chelsea outside shivering. It wasn't the best preparation for a vital game."

Although the Greater Manchester Fire Service couldn't confirm in a statement what caused the alarm, a fireman said that Maradona and his associates were responisble.

Hotel manager Steve Miles was quoted as saying: "We followed procedure. It was a genuine alarm."

A tired looking Chelsea were taken to school in their 3-0 loss at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. Despite Scholari saying that this put a dent in the Premier League aspirations, I think Chelsea could come good and win the Premier League.

Portsmouth v Manchester City and Fulham v Blackburn Rovers called off

Premiership matches at Fratton Park and Craven Cottage have been called off because of the winter cold snap.

Portmouth do not have undersoil heating at their ground, alternatively they opt for a heated blanket and blowers to prepare during winter frost.

Should these standards be higher for all Premiership clubs?

Hughes keen to pair up with Santa Cruz

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has had a £12m bid refused by Premiership strugglers Blackburn Rovers.

Roque Santa Cruz played under Hughes last season at Ewood Park and has impressed since he came to the Premiership in 2007. It is expected that Manchester City will bid again, however with the credit crunch looming in terms of its impact on the footballing world Hughes has no real competitors in his quest to get Santa Cruz.

The Paraguayan striker recently signed up for four year contract at the Rovers in the summer but has attracted alot of interest and speculation in the Premier League.

Carling Cup latest: Derby 1 Manchester United 0 Kris Commons goal

New Derby boss Nigel Clough watched his side from the stands as they managed a euphoric Semi-final victory against Premier League champions Manchester United.

Kris Commons from early on in the first half looked impressive with a real cultured foot - one for the future perhaps spectators possibly thinking...with an expectation of an onslaught from the Red Devils.

However, after 29 minutes it was Commons that scored an absolutely fantastic goal from 25 yards leaving Man Utd 'keeper Tomasz Kuszczak routed to the spot. Make sure you see this one people.



In the second half, Manchester United were wasteful in possession and Derby managed to put together some good passing moves and threaten the Manchester United goal.



After all of the recent negative publicity with Paul Jewell's exit, this was a fantastic night for all Rams fans.

Arshavin linked with Arsenal and Juventus

St Petersburg and Russian international Andrei Arshavin is linked with Arsenal and Juventus for a fee of around £20m.

Arshavin, one of the big stars of Euro 2008 impressed in the recent tournament which led to rival Tottenham Hotspur's interest in the forward but the two clubs couldn't agree on the transfer amount.

Apparently St Petersburg are demanding the whol transfer fee in one amount, whereas this fee is commonly negotiated on the amount of appearances across the contract period and in multiple installments for cashflow reasons.

Rodallega signs for Wigan

23 year old Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega is expected to sign for Steve Bruce's Wigan Athletic by the end of this week for a reported £4.5m.

Rodallega played for Necaxa previously, racking up 15 goals in 36 matches. He is potentially a replacement for soon to be out of contract Emile Heskey. Strikers Camara could also be leaving as well as the Zaki rumours reported back since November although Steve Bruce is denying the latter.

Lactics boss Steve Bruce said: "He is an exceptional player in South America and will be an exceptional player for us.

"I hope we can tie it up. He is only 23 but he is an exciting player and it would be great if we could get him.

"He's fast, he's big, about 6ft 1in, he's good in the air, rangy rather than thick-set, can score a goal. He's just a genuine all-round striker.

"We're close to it (a deal) but when you're dealing with someone from abroad it is already racked with problems.

"We have to go and apply for a work permit. I believe that has been set for some time next week and I believe that's on the agenda.

"I don't envisage there will be any problems, I hope not anyway."

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

FA Cup Review 2009

After the upset of the weekend at the City of Manchester Stadium where Notts Forest won 3-0, it is fair to say that the magic of the FA Cup is very much alive. As Portsmouth proved in 2008, any team can defy the top 4 Premier League clubs and take this great trophy.

After Manchester United beat Southampton at St Mary's Stadium 3-0, Tottenham fans' fears were confirmed: away at Old Trafford. Fantastic Merseyside derby is the tie of the fourth round draw is Liverpool vs Everton at Anfield. Should Chelase beat Southend away they would face Ipsiwch Town at home and Arsenal are away at Cardiff City.

FA Cup 2009 fourth round draw:
Liverpool v Everton
Manchester United v Tottenham
Hull or Newcastle v Millwall or Crewe
Sunderland v Blyth or Blackburn
Hartlepool v West Ham
Leyton Orient or Sheffield United v Charlton or Norwich
Cardiff v Arsenal
Portsmouth or Bristol City v Histon or Swansea
Chelsea or Southend v Ipswich
Cheltenham or Doncaster v Aston Villa
West Brom or Peterborough v QPR or Burnley
Torquay v Coventry
Kettering v Fulham
Watford v Leicester or Crystal Palace
Derby v Nottingham Forest
Birmingham or Wolves v Middlesbrough

FA Cup 3rd round results

Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan had the first FA Cup match of 2009 at White Hart Lane on Friday 2nd January. Spurs won 3-1 with Ukranian striker Roman Pavlichenko showing good form and scoring twice.

The biggest upset of the weeken so far was Manchester City losing 3-0 at home to Championship team Nottingham Forest.

Southend also managed to scored an equaliser at Stamford Bridge in injury time against Chelsea to secure a tricky away replay for the Blues.

Arsenal looked comfortable against Plymouth Argyle in their 3-1 victory with Robin Van Persie scoring twice and taking the role of captaincy for the first time.

Liverpool were away at Preston North End and took the lead with Rierain the 25th minute and looked extremely vibrant but struggled to get a second goal. Captain Steven Gerrard made his feet do the talking after a difficult week with the arrest regarding an alleged assault on a DJ over the Christmas period. It was Gerrard that broke through in the 93rd minute with no Preston defensive cover and passed generously to a Fernando Torres (just returned from injury) to slot home a second to secure the Reds' progression to the second round.

Today's fixtures in the FA Cup 3rd round:

FA Cup 3rd Round 4th January 2009
Gillingham v Aston Villa 13.30
Southampton v Man Utd 16.00