Plenty of rumour-tism this morning so here's a quick round up of the most prominent.
A Babel in it's natural habitat
Rumour No. 1: Birmingham have inquired about the availability of Liverpool
winger Ryan Babel. There is rumoured to have been a £9 million bid on the table
from Brum but it fell some way short of the £12 million that Liverpool have the gall to value the
Dutchman at.
Like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, Italian soccer has returned to our airwaves, and this
week's matches saw the return of David Beckham, the goal of the year, and some good calcio
as well. As reports roll in of players leaving Italy in transfers, the question is what moves
will the contenders make in the next few weeks to boost their run at the scudetto or a
European competition.
Every year around this time the Oscar del Calcio award ceremony is held in Milan. The awards
ceremony has been held since 1997 and awards the best players in the peninsula from the previous
season. Last year Zlatan Ibrahimovic cleaned house as he won Best Foreigner and Best Overall
Player, as well as Goal of the Season.
There were rumors this week that Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano and manager
Gigi Delneri had been involved in a training ground bust-up with shouting and
Cassano had even threatened to never play again all season. Of course these were all unconfirmed
rumors so we don't really know what went on.
A slightly mesmerizing ode to football to open the weekend. Carlitos opened up a world of marketing
possibilities for G-Nev. (Studs Up) Meerkats banned from Scotland. Bastards. (The Spoiler) Antonio
Cassano sensationally (!) has a falling out with a coach. (Italy Offside) Broken hearts for the
love handles.
By Chris Wright
I am the Rumourrection and I am the life. Here's the round up...
Has Antonio had his head turned by City?
Rumour No. 1: Roberto Mancini is reportedly planning a sensational shopping
trip around the upper echelons of Serie A with Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano
said to be the Manchester City manager's top target.
S'infiamma il calciomercato della Serie A, a cinque giorni dalla chiusura delle trattative. Sembra
davvero fatta per il passaggio di Cristian Ledesma dalla Lazio all'Inter di Mourinho, dove
ritroverebbe anche l'amico ed ex compagno in biancoceleste Goran Pandev. Mentre il portoghese
aspetta l'ennesimo rinforzo, Mancini sogna Antonio Cassano, il quale ha ormai rotto con Del Neri ed
è sempre più lontano da Genova.
Scelta tecnica.
Con questa motivazione, l'allenatore della Sampdoria, Del Neri, lascia ancora una volta a casa
Antonio Cassano e punta forte sulla coppia-gol formata dall'ex viola Pazzini e il giovane Pozzi
(entrambi in gol nella vittoria ottenuta per 3 a 2 ad Udine la scorsa settimana).
Ancora un'esclusione, dunque per il fuoriclasse barese il quale, anche contro l'Atalanta, dovr
rimanere a guardare e non potr fornire il proprio contributo alla causa blucerchiata.
