1. The shock of the summer so far. Job seeking Michael Owen signs for Man Utd to the total surprise of everyone. The striker will take take a substantial cut to his £110,000-a-week wages at Newcastle to around £30,000-a-week, although he will earn a similar figure if clauses related to goals, appearances and success are met.

Just seen this story on some website. It has Birmingham City supposedly interested in Persija striker Bambang Pamungkas.
How true it is remains to be seen. The article is lacking in things like quotes...lots of use of the passive voice...
Indonesian international footballer, Bambang Pamungkas, is reportedly a target for Birmingham City, newly promoted to the Premiership.

Alex McLeish and Birmingham celebrated their return to the Premier League by breaking the club's transfer fee record. The recipient of this fee is a Mexican Primera Division club, Santos Laguna. The player, Ecuadorian international striker Christian Benitez. The fee, £9million surpassing the previous £6.

Not as easy a game as many would have you believe.

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The two protagonists of the last meeting between these clubs Arsenal's Eduardo and Birmingham defender Martin Taylor both miss out through injury.

Carson Yeung, the Hong Kong tycoon, a fan of slick passing football had been taught a painful lesson by one of the best in England as they were clinically out-played in this fixture.ARSENAL outclassed Birmingham City 2-0 in the Emirates Stadium. Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby goals put the Gunners into a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes.

Just hold me After Alex McLeish guided Birmingham back into the Premier League at the first time of asking (congratulations, Blues), Kevin Phillips just wanted to be close to his manager. Just look how delicately Phillips' hand is placed upon Big Eck's shoulder. They may or may not have enjoyed a tango up and down the [.

Veteran Birmingham City defender Stephen Carr has agreed a new deal. The right back came out of retirement in February 2009 and helped Blues in their return back to the top flight. Blues boss Alex McLeish had this to say, "We will make an attempt to keep Lee Bowyer and everything has been agreed with Carr.

Today has been a big day for Arsenal; We are to face Celtic in Champions league qualifying which as "harregas the gooner" said on the post below is very ironic and many transfer stories have stated prevailing in the last few hours, so the papers should be full of them tomorrow.

Arsenal to up Chamakh bid

The Daily Mail is saying Wenger will up his bid for the Moroccan forward to £7.

Time to stand up and be counted.

Portsmouth Vs Liverpool Tickets Still Available!

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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is hopeful Fernando Torres will be fit, and the striker has been in light training as he recovers from a groin injury.

Birmingham City have announced that they will play Cheltenham Town in a pre season friendly on August 2, 2009 at Whaddon Road. This is Birmingham City's first official confirmed pre season friendly for 2009/10. Alex McLeish's Blues secured promotion to the Premiership on the last day of the 2008-09 Championship season, while Cheltenham were relegated to [.

The latest transfer stories affecting the English Premier League

Birmingham City Biggest Ins: Christian Benitez from Santos Laguna is a proven goal scorer in Mexico. Barry Ferguson and Lee Bowyer should form a decent partnership as the spine of the midfield. Joe Hart coming in on loan should provide him plenty...
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Of the 20 clubs in the English Premier League, only 8 have English managers. Four clubs have Scottish managers, and there are two each from Spain, Italy, and Wales. Here is the complete list of Premier League managers by nationality:

8 - England: Sam Allardyce (Bolton), Gary Megson (Bolton), Roy Hodgson (Fulham), Phil Brown (Hull City), Paul Hart (Portsmouth), Steve Bruce (Sunderland), Harry Redknapp (Spurs), Mick McCarthy* (Wolverhampton)

4 - Scotland: Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United), Alex McLeish (Birmingham), Owen Coyne (Burnley), David Moyes (Everton)

2 - Italy: Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea), Gianfranco Zola (West Ham)

2 - Spain: Rafael Benitez (Liverpool), Roberto Martinez (Wigan)

2 - Wales: Mark Hughes (Manchester City), Tony Pulis (Stoke City)

1 - France: Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)

1 - Northern Ireland: Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)

*Mick McCarthy was born in England, but played internationally for the Republic of Ireland.

We get sent many Press releases about various products , services and news. This one jumped out at us today and we thing you'll enjoy! We all love the pint of Fosters and the Aussie spirit even more! Just when Rafa Benitez thought things couldn't get any worse, a study published by Foster's today reveals the [.

Depending where you live in the world, there's a good chance that a Premier League club will be traveling during the summer of 2009 to play friendly matches near you. Here's the latest schedule of where the clubs will be playing, as of press time (dates are subject to change):

• Arsenal: Other than training in Austria, Arsene Wenger doesn't take his team too far away from England on their summer preseason schedule.

Awards on Thursday and Top 10 goals on Friday should wrap up the season review stuff unless something strikes me. In addition, there may be a review of the CL final tomorrow, depending on circumstances (yes, you know what I'm implying).
But first, relegation.
I don't know why the idea hadn't struck me sooner, but promotions and relegations affect Liverpool.

According to James Nursey at the Daily Mirror, Birmingham are interested in Barcelona Sporting Club defender Giovanny Espinoza.

Boss Alex McLeish is planning on scouting Espinoza when he plays for Ecuador against Argentina.

UPDATE: According to Andy Walker at Birmingham Mail, Barcelona Sporting Club defender Giovanny Espinoza has agreed to join Birmingham and is now just waiting for a work permit. Espinzoa has agreed to a two-year deal with the club.

Michael Owen's transfer to Manchester United may not be the shock of the summer. Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is hitting the streets to find a new midfielder, and all rumors point to Joey Barton, Barry Ferguson, and... Patrick Vieira.

The former Arsenal captain has fallen hard and far from his days as a Premier League winner, and with his place in the Inter Milan squad all but gone, Vieira could be on the move this summer.

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- Just in Time: Blackpool Sign a Defender!

Can Alex McLeish lead the Blues to long term Premier League survival?

Its hard to think of another team who have suffered relegation after relegation, followed by promotion after promotion, but thats what Alex McLeish and Birmingham City have once again gone through. Former Scotland manager McLeish, took over from former manager Steve Bruce in November 2007, who had already steered Birmingham through two promotions, and suffered one relegation, whilst heading for another.

With apologies to our former colleagues at Yahoo!Eurosport, here's an early look at the team news floating around the interwebs in advance of tomorrow's pre-match press conferences.
Fit again Foster and Brown set to lift champions United

Ben Foster and Wes Brown are likely to be fit for champions Manchester United's opening Premier League game at home to Birmingham City after a close-season full of injuries and high-profile departures.

Like the odd Manchester City player, I have been absent without leave recently.
Sadly, the marriage of the dongle and the great outdoors proved not to be all that was hoped for.
And so I have left my poor readers bereft and adrift.
How can I ever make it up to you?

Table toppers take on newly promoted Brum.

Tottenham came through their Carling Cup match with Doncaster without any new injury worries.
But Benoit Assou-Ekotto will undergo a late fitness test on a ankle knock picked up against West Ham last Sunday.

Birmingham's Kevin Phillips (back) and Keith Fahey (bereavement) return to the squad after missing the midweek Carling Cup win over Southampton.

With rosters bound and chained until the new year and this obnoxious international break now in full swing, there seems no better time than the present to effuse an EPL preview, one which -- despite three to four rounds having been waged already -- will feature a table read grossly different than the one incumbent.

Via YahooUK!/Eurosport:Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is poised to hand a first Premier League start to striker Christian Benitez in Sunday's derby with Aston Villa at St Andrew's.Benitez, signed from Santos Laguna, has impressed as a substitute and is now at full fitness after undergoing shoulder surgery at the beginning of the summer.

Very sad individuals indeed.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has slammed Birmingham's fans for chants which he describes as 'atrocious'.

Blues fans sang 'There is only one Martin Taylor' after Liam Ridgewell had slid in hard on Theo Walcott during Saturday's game at Emirates Stadium.

UPDATE: According to the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has ruled out the possibility of going after Dynamo Kiev striker Andriy Shevchenko. McLeish said,

"Shevchenko is not on my radar. Sammy has not told me he has made inquiries.

Poor run of form, you say? Every team has them. Manager on the brink of extinction? Extinction doesn't exist, just ask Kirk Cameron (who may or may not be batshit crazy). Injuries spreading like chlamydia in Deadwood? Al Swearengen says injuries are for ********** **** (audio NSFW). Bring on Birmingham City.

It's a sad and sorry looking Liverpool side that play host to Birmingham City on Monday night as round 12 of the Premier League draws to a close.
The Reds' 3-1 reverse at Fulham last weekend took their tally to five losses in 11 league games this season - an alarming figure, considering that they suffered just two defeats in the entirety of the previous campaign.

Goal video highlights from the Liverpool vs Birmingham City Premier League game on Monday, November 9, 2009. Game kicks off at 20.00 UK time/ 21.00 CET at Anfield, Liverpool. Liverpool are seventh in the league going into this game, but could jump to fifth if they beat Alex Mcleish's Blues. Liverpool vs Birmingham City goal highlights [.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has challenged Yossi Benayoun to fill the probable void left by the ongoing injury problems of Steven Gerrard.
The Reds are again expected to be without captain Gerrard for Monday's match with Birmingham at Anfield as the England ace continues to struggle with the groin problem sustained against Ukraine in October.

Rafa Benitez's future hangs in the balance after his side fails to get past Birmingham at home. Alex McLeish may feel hard done by as David Ngog dives to win the penalty that hands Liverpool a point.

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Keith Hackett stating the obvious.

"I have said to managers in the past that this is an area of great difficulty for referees and it can come down to the viewing angle of the referee."

I think it is time to give him the goods on the human eye. The game has gotten a lot quicker and the art of deception even more perfect.

Who would be an international manager? George Burley has been on a hiding to nothing since he got the job. Fabio Capello has to keep his cool in the face of increasingly hysterical attempts to get him to pick a woefully out of form and uncomfortable Michael Owen.George and Fab are both bearing the brunt of some dishonest journalism.

So spake the Daily Mail Birmingham City is the first man to be promoted to the Premier League. As you can imagine, he doesn't quite have the financial clout of an entire football club. You read it here first. Unless you read the Daily Mail before you read Off The Post, in which case your opinion doesn't [.

UPDATE: According to Andy Walker at the Birmingham Post, Birmingham is looking to sign another South American player, which seems to be Giovanny Espinoza. Co-owner David Sullivan said,

"We're hoping to sign a few more players from South America in the next two to three weeks.

According to Sky Sports News, Birmingham are still interested in permanently signing West Ham United midfielder Lee Bowyer. Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said,

"Lee did well for us after coming here and he would definitely be a worthy addition to the Birmingham squad.

UPDATE: According to Birmingham's official website, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is confident they will sign Lee Bowyer. He said,

"We believe Lee will rejoin the cause and that we can we add other midfielders - one, possibly two before the season starts.

English Premier League is one of the most difficult competitions in football and this especially stands for the teams promoted from the Championship. Only once in the Premiership history have all three promoted teams survived their first season and that happened in 2001/2002 when Fulham, Bolton and Blackburn all avoided the drop.