Egyptian striker Amr Zaki was the revelation of the English Premier League a few months ago.
With 10 goals through October for club team Wigan Athletic, Zaki was the leading scorer in England and being hotly pursued by clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United.
Now? He's in the dog house.

Sir Alex has to rebuild his Man Utd team. When players like Ronaldo and Tevez leave, rebuilding is probably an appropriate term to use.

He started that process when he signed Wigan's star Antonio Valencia. There have been immediate comparisons to Ronaldo which are natural given the circumstances but the two players have very intrinsic differences.

Those Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink-esque thighs won't be showcased at Wigan
Egyptian bad boy Amr Zaki is out at Wigan. The club's chairman Dave Whelan revealed today that there is "no chance" that Zaki returns to the club. A pretty harsh analysis by Whelan followed:
"I didn't even shake hands with him at the end.

England international Shorey to Portsmouth

• Follow all the transfer deadline day dealings live as the clock ticks away [Telegraph]

• Aston Villa defender Nickey Shorey will be loaned to Pompey. The left back would have been pushed down the pecking order with Villa's capture of Stephen Warnock from Blackburn [Goal]

• Portsmouth wins one, but loses a bigger one.

With a little more than half of the season gone, the race for the golden boot award is just as tight as the title race. While the Premier League title is arguably a two horse race, the race for leading goalscorer is between three main candidates: Nicolas Anelka is currently top with fourteen league goals; Robinho has eleven league goals at City; and Cristiano Ronaldo, with all of his troubles this season, is also on eleven goals.

Stuff to read while you watch this Sunday pub league player hit a sitter like a Sunday pub league player#8230;#8230;. Amr Zaki is starting to sound an awful lot like Mido. (Unprofessional Foul) How America is Ruining Soccer. (The Spoiler) Trap could probably use a break, the internationals seem to have overloaded his brain.

Amr Zaki; an Egyptian God in his homeland. A demon in Wigan. After the latest international break, the striker went AWOL. Again. This the fifth time. Eventually he returned, ten days later. Rumours that he had to swim part of the Nile and walk some of the Sahara desert, just to make it back to British land were later unfounded.

Amr Zaki's stint at English side Wigan looks to be over.
Wigan manager Steve Bruce has confirmed he will not be signing the Egyptian striker on a permanent basis.

Zaki joined Wigan in July 2008 on a year-long loan deal from home-country club Zamalek and was an instant hit, with eight goals in his first 10 games.

It's finally Friday, and after work today I'll be driving over Hogback to HollyCornblog's house! She says she'll have the chiminea going and some homebrews ready for sampling when I get there!

In soccer news I see that, apparently, a share of the LA Sol is going to be up for grabs soon. Any buyers?

For the record, I wanted to thank Kartik Krishnaiyer for calling my ¨wise¨ words ¨prophetic¨. It is cool to have a colleague recognize you that way, but I can't take all the credit. I also have to give credit to my friend Ibrahim Dabo. For years, he is the one that told me that the Pharoahs were a team to watch.

Wigan Athletic Biggest Ins: James McCarthy coming from Hamilton in Scotland is a long term project but is the typical Roberto Martinez mold of a midfielder. Jason Scotland comes in up front, hoping to replicate the goal output from Amr Zaki....
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Still high-tide in rumors:

• Milan VP says Beckham return "very probable."
  
• Amr Zaki to join Portsmouth.
  
• D.C. gets 'keeper from Timbers.
  
• Mascherano unhappy at Liverpool.
  
• United eyeing three Inter dudes.
  
• Toni not leaving, says Munich.

Although there were four big play-off games in Europe for us all to watch along with numerous friendlies, possibly the biggest game of the day was held in Cairo between Egypt and Algeria.

A rivalry that goes back to 1989, the intensity leading up to the game today reached fever pitch only a few days ago when the Algerian team bus was attacked by fans with rocks.

With a little more than half of the season gone, the race for the golden boot award is just as tight as the title race. While the Premier League title is arguably a two horse race, the race for leading goalscorer is between three main candidates: Nicolas Anelka is currently top with fourteen league goals; Robinho has eleven league goals at City; and Cristiano Ronaldo, with all of his troubles this season, is also on eleven goals.

Here's the video of Tasha Kai's goal for the USWNT in the 90th minute versus Iceland ... thank you AMR (whomever you are!). Meanwhile, I guess Pia wasn't so happy with the first half ...according to the quote sheet ... On if she was pleased with the match: "Yes and no. It's great to be a winner, 1-0, [.

I admit it. I was fully dazzled by Amr Zaki when he first came to play in England. The stunning goals came so quickly. And they were gorgeous. Wigan Athletic's unknown striker just needed half a second on the ball to make miracles happen and it seemed like the goals were going to stream from his thirsty feet all season.

According to Sky Sports, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce is not going after Amr Zaki, who's loan deal with Wigan Athletic ends at the end of the season. When asked about the reports linking the club to Zaki, Allardyce said,

"There's nothing in that one, no"

It is being said that Amr Zaki will make the decision about his future next month as Wigan Athletic will not be making his loan deal permanent.

Manchester City and Aston Villa are both thought to be among clubs in the running for Wigan Athletic striker Amr Zaki. The Egyptian is on loan at the JJB and the club have no interest in keeping him around for...

Betcha didn't think the highlight of the weekend would be from Egypt's friendly with....checking....checking....Oman. Amr Zaki, the new/old Mido, hasn't made himself very welcome at Wigan as of late. In fact he was famously called by Steve Bruce the most "unprofessional" athlete he's ever worked with - no small charge.

UPDATE: According to Zack Wilson at Goal.com, Portsmouth have a 65% chance of signing Zamalek striker Amr Zaki. Zaki's agent Nader Shawqi told Hayat TV's 'Al Malaeb Al Yawm' show,

"Amr Zaki is close to Portsmouth, there is a 65% possibility of seeing him with them.

Pompey make move for former Wigan striker.

Portsmouth have made a bid to sign Egyptian star Amr Zaki, skysports.com understands.

The 26-year-old striker is currently back in his homeland with Zamalek, having spent last season on loan at Wigan.

He made a huge impact in the first part of the season, before falling out with the club and he returned home without a permanent deal.

If you read our African World Cup qualifying finale preview post yesterday, then you knew that Egypt vs Algeria was big. Historic bad feeling, exacerbated by Egyptian fans attacking the Algerian team bus in Cairo big. There was also the beautifully weighted qualification situation in Group C, where Egypt needed to beat Algeria by three goals or more to qualify for World Cup 2010 at Algeria's expense.

Looking back at last season, there were many twists and turns to the Premier League season. For Wigan, it was a rather emotional season. Rooted in the relegation battle in the fall, Wigan fans rejoiced when Steve Bruce resigned from Birmingham to take control of the Wigan reins again. Steve Bruce successfully steered the club clear of relegation, and a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in April ensured safety.

Over the course of Premier League history, fans have seen some whacky characters. From Eric Cantona to Jose Mourinho, certain people just stuck out as people who believed in entitlement. Similar to the American view of manifest destiny, in football we see players and managers feel entitled to winning things.

Thanks, AMR, for the link to this very special bracket!  (I must say I'm a bit disappointed to see that he didn't also complete a bracket on the women's side.  There's still time, Mr. President!) I am also trying to figure out if there is any way to get his picks into our pool here ... [...]

Egyptian striker Amr Zaki is currently on loan at Wigan Athletic but may have a future at the club, according to his agent Nader Shawky. Shawky told superkoora.com: "I had a phone conversation with Bruce Friday morning and am sure they still need to strike a permanent deal with Zaki ... I am working with my [.

Amr Zaki did not return from international duty with Egypt - where the hell is he?! Steve Bruce doesn't know. His agent doesn't seem to know. But can you find him? Click on the photo to enlarge...

Copy this photo with Zaki ringed, email it to us at contact@footballsup.com, and you'll be entered into our prizedraw.

The least punctual player in Premier League history, Amr Zaki (6.1M) could be back-i. The Egyptian scored 10 goals in the first half of the season, but has yet to score in 2009.
He's fit again, and spring is here - so my gut tells me he may just find a few goals before the end of the season.

It's a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, and that means rest and relaxation for millions. Premier League players included...
Notable fantasy footie studs missing from the starting lineup today include: Cristiano Ronaldo, Glen Johnson (hamstring), Amr Zaki, Rio Ferdinand, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Jermain Defoe.

We have the players to play 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1. Look at our attackers and midfielders who can adapt to several positions. In a 4-3-3 GK: Almunia, Fabianski DR: Sagna, Eboué DL: Clichy Gibbs, Traoré DC: Touré, Djourou DC: Gallas, Vermaelen, Song DMC: Song, Denilson, Diaby MC: Cesc, Ramsey, Denilson MC: Nasri, Rosicky, Wilshere AMR: RVP (plays there for the Netherlands, Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri, [.

According to Sky Sports News, Portsmouth have made a bid for Cardiff City striker Ross McCormack. However the club won't let the striker leave unless they receive a good bid.

According to Zack Wilson at Goal.com, Portsmouth are attempting to sign Amr Zaki on loan.

In an article written by Neil Allen at The News, Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie discussed the club's current situation with several of their transfer targets. Such targets discussed were:

Lee Naylor, Amr Zaki, Mark Viduka, Onismor Bhasera

According to The News, Sulaiman Al Fahim admitted that Portsmouth are in talks with Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez. He also mentioned that the club is trying to sign striker Amr Zaki. He said,

"We are in negotiations with Amr Zaki to bring him in on a loan deal with a view to a permanent transfer.

According to SSN, Sulaiman Al Fahim has revealed Portsmouth are in talks to sign Jonas Gutierrez and Egyptian striker Amr Zaki. Whilst we'll obviously be pretty disinterested about the Zaki link, Spiderman would be yet another hole in our ever decreasing squad and is something to ponder. Of course, Al Fahim, a businessman out in Dubai, [.

Wigan Athletic

Last Season: 11th, 12-9-17 (45 points, -11 goal differential)

Recent Form: WLLLW

Away Form (last season): 4-4-11

Last Meeting: Wigan Athletic 1-Arsenal 4 (4/11/09)

Back to league action tomorrow with a home matchup against Wigan.

When Steve Bruce ended his playing career, everyone seem to know that the next logical step for him was to have a career in club management. His no-nonsense and inspirational defender's display was supposed to provide a springboard for him to inspire, motivate and drive a club forwards as manager.
Even when other former players are finding the transition to club managers difficult, Steve Bruce has proven himself to be a very good Premiership-level manager.

I wish Arteta was fit so I could replace Lampard with an absolute on the ball genius
This international break has not been meaningless by any means- in fact, it's been quite exciting as Nic Anelka gave France a 1-0 lead over Ireland, and former Fantasy Premier League stars Obafemi Martins (Nigeria) and Amr Zaki (Egypt) got their countries one step closer to South Africa as well.

Update: Portsmouth have distanced themselves from speculation that Avram Grant will take over for Hart.
Portsmouth manager Paul Hart has left the club with immediate effect.
He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he just wasn't a results guy. And we're in the results business. After 10 losses in just 13 games, and on the heels of a dreadful performance at Stoke which once again exposed his tactical deficiencies - it looks like Paul Hart is out as manager of Portsmouth.

Amr Zaki could do no wrong at the beginning of the season. Now Steve Bruce looks like he just wants to wash his hands of the man.

Tottenham are supposedly lining up an offer for Wigan Athletic loan-star Amr Zaki, according to The Daily Mirror. Boss Harry Redknapp is looking to bid £5 million for the Zamalek player or pay a one-year rental fee.