I've already gone on record in thinking that NUFC are among the mid-table clubs that have done very well for themselves thus far. They've gone from highly volatile and a bit long in the tooth to more solid if perhaps a little less potentially spectacular. West Brom has quietly solidified themselves in the back with some solid acquisitions as well.

Generally when a team fires a coach midseason, they will schedule it before a series of easier opponents. This gives the new coach a chance to start off his tenure with some good results, and from a PR perspective it makes it easier to convince the fans that the change was for the better based on those results.

Liverpool is reportedly interested in Bayer Leverkusen attacker Renato Augusto.
The Brazil international has been compared to compatriot Ronaldinho and has been lighting up the Bundesliga with a series of cultured displays.
According to sources in Germany - as rehashed by tribalfootball.com - Liverpool is one of a number of clubs monitoring the 23-year-old, who is said to be keen on a move to the Barclays Premier League.

I haven't had the chance to gauge the general sentiment of the fans about the transfer of Clichy to Man City so I will just share my views. I think this transfer is good for all concerned.

From the player's point of view, this move will give him a fresh start in a completely different environment where he will get much better defensive support than he did at Arsenal in the last three years.

The new Chicharito? What Liverpool fans can actually expect from Marco Bueno

Football Spy has signed up some of the web's top foreign football experts to provide you with first-hand information on the latest Premier League transfer targets. Here's Joe Krishnan on Liverpool target Marco Bueno.

It seems that Newcastle United will be limited to one or two player acquisitions during the January 2011 transfer window. Alan Pardew states that: "We are probably only looking at bringing one player in. Maybe we'll bring in two – but it definitely won't be more than two. "Whether it is a loan or a [.

No, I'm not talking about the latest Robert Ludlum novel. I'm talking about the fact that a member of the RBNY squad seems to have disappeared from the club's roster without any explanation whatsoever. Yes, take a close look - a certain long Bosnian name beginning with "U" is missing. Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who was drafted by RBNY in 2007 and made a respectable 84 appearances over four seasons in New Jersey, has been cut, traded, sold or his contract may simply not have been renewed.

One team looking to bounce back from a rough 2010 and another looking to prove it still belongs among the league's elite kick off their respective 2011 MLS campaigns at RFK Stadium in the nation's capital.

D.C. United faces optimism and high expectations after a horrid year was followed by an offseason that included the acquisitions of Charlie Davies, Dax McCarty and Perry Kitchen.

I've never seen Arsene Wenger look as frustrated as I did on Sunday during the defeat against Aston Villa.
He looked like a man who was told he could spend the night with Nicole Scherzinger but, unfortunately for him, he suffers from impotence.
His demeanour and the angry looks tell me a thousand words.

Liverpool striker David Ngog is reportedly set to join Sunderland for a £5 million fee.
According to News of the World, the Black Cats have agreed to buy the striker and thereby reduce the fee due for the transfer of Jordan Henderson earlier this week to around £11m.
Henderson passed his medical at the Anfield club on Wednesday, allowing his transfer to be completed and mark one of the first major Premier League acquisitions of the summer.

Liverpool striker David Ngog is reportedly set to join Sunderland for a £5 million fee.
According to News of the World, the Black Cats have agreed to buy the striker and thereby reduce the fee due for the transfer of Jordan Henderson earlier this week to around £11m.
Henderson passed his medical at the Anfield club on Wednesday, allowing his transfer to be completed and mark one of the first major Premier League acquisitions of the summer.

Photograph by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

When the D.C. United front office rebuilt a lackluster roster that compiled a league-worst 6-20-4 record in 2010, no two offseason acquisitions were prized more than midfielder Dax McCarty and striker Charlie Davies.

Amidst a plethora of midfield signings at his club, Liverpool winger Dirk Kuyt has expressed his excitement about the upcoming season.
Despite scoring 13 goals and being a mainstay of the Liverpool side throughout last season's Premier League campaign, playing in 33 matches, Kenny Dalglish's spate of transfer acquisitions has left Kuyt with some serious competition for a first-team place.

Galaxy bound? Fiery Irish striker Robbie Keane is on his way to the Galaxy media reports suggested today - and the Galaxy have not denied the rumors (AP Photo).

Multiple media reports today have linked Tottenham Hotspur striker Robbie Keane, 31, to the Galaxy with forward Juan Pablo Angel being traded to an East Coast MLS team to make room for a player that would become the latest Los Angeles DP.

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Done deal. Four and a half year deal.

Darren Bent has officially completed his move from Sunderland in what will be a record transfer deal for Villa (£18m rising to £24m the most popular claim) and will be eligible for Man City on Saturday. I think he'll probably play, don't you?

Bent brings undoubted quality exactly where we need it the most.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The Los Angeles Galaxy have signed Juan Pablo Angel as the club's third Designated Player, the team announced on Wednesday. Angel was chosen by the Galaxy in the Re-Entry Draft last December.

Los Angeles is in dire need of a forward after the recent departure of Edson Buddle to the German second division.

As the transfer window is almost closed there has been a flurry of activity in the peninsula over the last few days. No doubt many of you will be aware of the acquisitions made by both sides in Milan. Milan picked up Mark van Bommel, Urby Emanuelson and Didac Vila. Meanwhile, Inter splashed the cash on Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini, with Jonathan Biabiany moving in the other direction.

Anfield hero Ian Rush has showered praise on Kenny Dalglish for his management of Fernando Torres' move to Chelsea and believes Liverpool are stronger without the World Cup winner.
A former team-mate of Dalglish, the Welshman insists the swift acquisitions of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll after Torres' departure underlines the capabilities of Dalglish as a manager and will go a long-way in taking Liverpool forward.

Photo by Hugo Ivan Munoz/DC United

Charlie Davies passed all his tests, and he'll be a member of D.C. United in 2011.

The club announced that it has signed Davies to a 12-month loan from FC Sochaux, and it will be holding a press conference this afternoon at RFK Stadium to introduce Davies to the media.

Union

Jonathan Tannenwald reports the Carlos Ruiz deal is complete and that a signing announcement should be expected today or Tuesday. He reports the "source with direct knowledge of the deal" also says Ruiz has been training with the Union. No further details are presently known.

From the Union website, one of the major benefits from the upcoming trip to Greece will be bonding within the team.

The Fire have announced the signing of Orr Barouch and Mike Videira bringing the total number of "signed" players on the roster to 25. Barouch, a 6'-2" nineteen year old forward and product of the Tigres UANL youth system scored 4 goals against the New York Red Bulls reserves last month. Videira, 25, has MLS experience with New England and can play midfield or defense.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire's makeover continues.

The team agreed to deals with trialists Michael Videira and Orr Barouch on Thursday, adding two more names to the fold in a season full of acquisitions. The Fire now has 25 players on its senior roster.

Liverpool and Arsenal are reportedly leading the chase for Bolton defender Gary Cahill.
The 25-year-old's future has been the subject of intense speculation over recent months and Metro reports that things will come to a head when the transfer window reopens in the summer.
According to Metro, 'serious' interest from Liverpool will galvanize Arsenal into spending upwards of £18 million in order to land the centre-back, while Bayern Munich are also expected to register an enquiry.

Liverpool are reportedly monitoring Sevilla winger Diego Perotti with great interest, but will face competition from Everton in their pursuit of the Argentine.
According to talkSPORT, scouts from the Merseyside rivals have been to the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to watch the 22-year-old in action and have been 'highly impressed' by his performances.

Liverpool are reportedly closely monitoring Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan as they ramp up their search for potential summer acquisitions.
The 23-year-old Argentina international moved to Benfica from Boca Juniors last summer and has scored seven times during his debut season in Portugal.
According to the Mirror, Liverpool has dispatched scouts to compile a report on the fleet-footed attacker and a bid for Gaitan's services could be in the offing.

The New England Revolution has made a number of player acquisitions both in the preseason and during the 2011 campaign. Between signing the likes of Ousmane Dabo, Didier Domi and Rajko Lekic and drafting A.J. Soares and Stephen McCarthy, manager Steve Nicol has an intriguing cast of players to choose from in trying to navigate his team back to the MLS playoffs.

Written by Mr Arsenal

Arsenal's fans have endured another disappointing conclusion to a long season- the defeat to Bolton firmly put to bed any dwindling hopes of silverware. The inevitability of the capitulation, however, has been the most painful part of the demise, prompting many fans to question Wenger and the direction in which the club is moving.

Arsene Wenger has no intention of selling his best players, and especially Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin, despite the numerous rumours to the contrary. Fabregas has been tapped up by Barcelona for a few years and there have been many rumours lately that Arshavin will be sacrificed this summer to make room for further acquisitions [.

Teams typically begin each season with high expectations. The previous season's performance, new player acquisitions and coaching changes raise anticipation of the upcoming campaign. Some these expectations are realistic and some are not. As a result, as the season begins to play out, many teams meet or exceed expectations but some some fail to live up to their perceived potential.

This rumor appears to be a little late, but it appears that KC was interested in trying to acquire Panamanian forward Orlando Rodriguez. Rodriguez was recently let go from his contract with Leon de Huanuco in Peru and appears set to rejoin his former club Arabe Unido for the 4th time in his career. Rodriguez was on the 2009 Panamanian Gold Cup team and apparently during this year's Gold Cup was on the radar for Sporting KC, along with Chivas and the Red Bulls before apparently making the decision to return to Arabe.

photo courtesy SAFC.com Gardner is a Black Cat | Latest Sunderland News | Team & Transfer News | Sunderland AFC | Sunderland Steve Bruce has completed the signing of Craig Gardner from Birmingham City. The Solihull-born 24-year-old joins Sunderland on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, becoming the Black Cats' third signing in just over 24 hours following the acquisitions of Connor

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Real Madrid wrapped up it's American jaunt in the 2011 Herbalife World Football Challenge with a modest 2–1 result in their friendly against the local MLS club Philadelphia Union. Their match featured a few recent acquisitions, as well as most of their first team players.

To read more about this friendly, visit this link.

Kenny Dalglish's Anfield spending spree

In pics: Kenny Dalglish unveils Liverpool's summer acquisitions.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2011-08-03 17:04:33 from: The Telegraph

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

New Liverpool signing Jose Enrique is determined to make the most of his opportunity to play at a "big" club and has set his sights on winning the Premier League.
The Spanish left-back completed his £6 million move from Newcastle in time to be considered for today's season-opener at home to Sunderland.

[Editor's note: Quality fanpost, though it does leave out Harvey's impact a bit too much - he is mentioned. Front page'd]

Faryd Mondragon. Carlos Valdes. Brian Carroll. Carlos Ruiz.
These were the Union's four biggest offseason acquisitions. The first three have played almost every minute of every game, providing stability in the back.

With big expectations this year, Liverpool has been busy as ever in the transfer market though most of their acquisitions have been to their midfield. Only recently did Liverpool start addressing their defensive concerns by signing left back Jose...
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I was wrong to write off Fergie five years ago and Arsenal fans are wrong to write off Arsene now

Now and again, a ­journalist will write an article that is proved ­spectacularly wrong by time. I wrote a book about Bill Shankly and Sir Alex Ferguson. It was published five years ago.

By DAVID GUBALA

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill -- After five years without lifting a trophy, the longest drought in the club's 14-year history, the Chicago Fire moved one step closer to giving their fans a new trophy to celebrate.

The Chicago Fire defeated the Richmond Kickers, 2-1, in the semifinals of the U.