Here I go again with August's report card and September prediction/expectation for another 6 clubs from England's finest football league.      Aston Villa Aston Villa had a flying start to the season when they outplayed a somewhat disorganized Manchester City side by 4 goals to 2 but then their fortunes took an inexplicable turn when they were [. Click to continue reading...

After a couple of days to reflect on our actions in the transfer market since the start of the summer until the close of the transfer window, the question has to be asked; Were the powers that be just too timid in their actions?

We didn't want to sell Robbie Keane, we sold Robbie Keane. We didn't want to sell Dimitar Berbatov, we sold Dimitar Berbatov. Click to continue reading...

LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez has defended his tactics at Aston Villa.

The Anfield side gained a creditable point from a goalless draw with Martin O'Neill's team.

But the use of striker Robbie Keane out wide on the left provoked a lot of comment.

However Benitez insists it was the right decision. Click to continue reading...

FOR all Liverpool's wheelings and dealings during the transfer window, this summer will forever be remembered for the one player who didn't go anywhere.

The Champions League semi-final defeat to Chelsea had barely began to sink in when Rafael Benitez started planning for the new season in earnest with a £10m bid for Gareth Barry. Click to continue reading...

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Kilburn Times/Noam Friedlander - Dexter relishing Villa challenge

Having secured a rare passage through to the third round of the Carling Cup last week, QPR have been given the chance to test their mettle against Premier League outfit Aston Villa later this month.

The Hoops were drawn against Martin O'Neill's side in Saturday's draw and, according to striker Dexter Blackstock, they might even surprise their top flight opponents at Villa Park on Wednesday September 24. Click to continue reading...

Saturday's match between Arsenal and Newcastle featured a glimpse of something you rarely see on television someone drinking a pint of beer. It's ridiculous, really. Millions of football fans around the world drink beer either at home, the pub or from the refreshment kiosks when watching football, but it's against the law in England to [. Click to continue reading...

Few noticed last week when Juande Ramos called for a shortening of the transfer window, but the nuclear fallout from Monday's race to the finish seems to support his argument. Prior to Monday, Robinho had been settling in nicely at for another season at Real Madrid, Kevin Keegan was sorting out his first proper [. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal are reported to have had an eleventh hour offer of £14million rejected by Liverpool for Spanish International Xabi Alonso.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been heavily linked with a move for the EURO 2008 winner all summer, along with the man the Anfield club had identified as the Spaniards replacement at the Reds, Gareth Barry of Aston Villa. Click to continue reading...

Pick up a newspaper today and the chances are the back pages are filled with talk of Robinho, Berbatov and the many other players moving to new clubs before the Premier League transfer window closed last night.

Yet for all the players grabbing the headlines and milking the spotlight, there are those that have been shown the door to make way for them in recent weeks. Click to continue reading...

The Premiership woke up this morning to a lot of excitement. Everton fans were celebrating breaking their transfer record, West Ham fans were incredulous that they had sold half their defence without replacing them, Liverpool fans were "overjoyed" at signing two foreign 18 year olds to add to their increasing collection of foreign 18 year olds, [. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Ryan Donk (AZ Alkmaar, loan), Borja Valero (Real Mallorca), Abdoulaye Meite (Bolton), Scott Carson (Liverpool), Marek Cech (Porto), Roman Bednar (Hearts), Luke Moore (Aston Villa), Gianni Zuiverloon (Heerenveen), Kim Do-Heon. Notable departures: Curtis Davies (Aston Villa), Kevin Phillips. Click to continue reading...

There had been a lot of speculation, and even some facts mixed in, that a Premier League rival, thought to be Aston Villa or Portsmouth, or both, were interested yesterday in signing the skillful former Manchester City midfielder. Joey Barton - I owe the Newcastle club and fans so much However, Barton has now made it clear [. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Michael Tonge (Sheffield United), Tom Soares (Crystal Palace), Danny Higginbotham (Sunderland), Ibrahima Sonko (Reading), Amdy Faye (Charlton), Abdoulaye Faye (Newcastle United), Thomas Sorensen (Aston Villa), Seyi Olofinjana (Wolves), Dave Kitson (Reading) Notable departures: Jon Parkin (Preston), Anthony Pulis. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Xisco (Deportivo), Ignacio Gonzalez (Valencia), Fabrizio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna), Sebastien Bassong (Metz), Danny Guthrie (Liverpool), Jonas Gutierrez (Real Mallorca) Notable departures: James Milner (Aston Villa), Abdoulaye Faye (Stoke City), Emre (Fenerbahce), Steven Carr, Daniel Rozehnal (Lazio). Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Justin Hoyte (Arsenal), Marvin Emnes (Sparta Rotterdam), Didier Digard (PSG) Notable departures: Jonathan Grounds (Norwich, loan), Luke Young (Aston Villa), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), George Boateng (Hull City), Lee Cattermole (Wigan) What grade do you give them for this... Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Deco (Barcelona), Jose Bosingwa (FC Porto) Notable departures: Andrei Shevchenko (AC Milan), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen, loan), Tal Ben-Haim (Manchester City), Khalid Boulahrouz (VfB Stuttgart), Claude Makelele (PSG), Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa), Ben Sahar. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Mark Bunn (Northampton), Vince Grella (Torino), Keith Andrews (Milton Keynes Dons), Julio Santa Cruz (Cerro Porteno), Danny Simpson (Manchester United, loan), Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Carlos Villanueva (Loan). Notable departures: Paul Gallagher (Plymouth, loan), David Bentley (Aston Villa, Tottenham),. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: James Milner (Newcastle United), Carlos Cuellar (Rangers), Luke Young, (Middlesbrough), Nickey Shorey (Reading), Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Steve Sidwell (Chelsea), Curtis Davies (West Brom), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA). Notable departures: Shaun Maloney (Celtic), Patrik Berger (Sparta Prague), Olof Mellberg. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle -- Finally the Gunners show some championship potential. RVP with a brace and Arsenal had a 23-4 shot advantage. Dang...

Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool -- Borefest saw Torres get hurt and Villa fans heckle the crap out of Benitez for trying to steal Gareth Barry.

Man City 3-0 Sunderland -- SWP debuted with a vengeance, netting two fairly simple attempts. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea 1 - 1 Spurs
After three weeks, there is not a single team that has a 100% record. Chelsea and Liverpool were the only clubs to win their first two matches, but they both were held to draws over the weekend. Chelsea took the lead when Darren Bent's attempted clearance went in the Spurs goal off Juliano Belletti, who was making a rare start.

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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has reiterated that he wants to keep Xabi Alonso at Anfield.

The midfielder has been linked with Juventus and Arsenal throughout the summer transfer window and it was thought he could leave to finance a move for Aston Villa's Gareth Barry.

However, with a deal for Barry having been ruled out last week, Benitez has confirmed he will not be allowing Alonso to leave in any deadline day deal. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Borja Valero (Real Mallorca), Abdoulaye Meite (Bolton), Scott Carson (Liverpool), Marek Cech (Porto), Roman Bednar (Hearts), Luke Moore (Aston Villa), Gianni Zuiverloon (Heerenveen), Kim Do-Heon. Notable departures: Curtis Davies (Aston Villa), Kevin Phillips (Birmingham City), Zoltan Gera (Fulham),. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Ibrahima Sonko (Reading), Amdy Faye (Charlton), Abdoulaye Faye (Newcastle United), Thomas Sorensen (Aston Villa), Seyi Olofinjana (Wolves), Dave Kitson (Reading) Notable departures: Anthony Pulis (Southampton), Marlon Broomes (Blackpool) Potters ready to pry winger away from Liverpool Pulis has. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Ignacio Gonzalez (Valencia, loan), Fabrizio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna), Sebastien Bassong (Metz), Danny Guthrie (Liverpool), Jonas Gutierrez (Real Mallorca) Notable departures: James Milner (Aston Villa), Abdoulaye Faye (Stoke City), Emre (Fenerbahce), Steven Carr, Daniel Rozehnal (Lazio). Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Justin Hoyte (Arsenal), Marvin Emnes (Sparta Rotterdam), Didier Digard (PSG) Notable departures: Luke Young (Aston Villa), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), George Boateng (Hull City), Lee Cattermole (Wigan) A slow day on Riverside. Mido not going anywhere http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_soccerblog/2008/09/carling-cup-dra. Click to continue reading...