In The Stands can reveal that Manchester United have completed the signing of Ashley Young from Aston Villa for £20million.

The 25 year-old winger passed a medical in Manchester on Thursday and has put pen to paper in a four year deal.

Young joins highly-rated Blackburn youngster Phil Jones, who made the switch to the Theatre of Dreams having finalized a £16.

As the transfer windows edges closer to the end so does a conclusion to the Gary Cahill transfer saga. Arsenal have been linked with a move for Bolton's strong solid leader Gary Cahill all summer, and with only one season remaining before leaving on a free it looks like wenger is about to pay up and get his man for a reported £16.

My admiration for Luka Modric has never been hidden. The first article I wrote on this site was basically a declaration of my footballing love for him.

From the minute the season ended there has been speculation that Luka may be targeted by Manchester United or Chelsea. Throughout I have maintained that I believe we would remain strong and that Modric was the kind of player who would give us one more year to go for the promised land again.

Against Ipswich, Arshavin picked up two assists. Here is what he said of his own performance,

It wasn't a supermatch for me. But I'm satisfied with the result. I'm glad that I was useful to the squad.

I don't think he could have said it any better even with the help of the best PR agents in the world.

As you know on here I have posted an argument for Fernando Torres to play in front of Didier Drogba at the moment provided we can play to his strengths. Now I know there are Chelsea fans out there that have the same belief but are others that find it ridiculous to have Torres in front of Drogba in the pecking order at the club.

There are times in life when an incident takes place which lifts your belief in humanity to a higher level - and thankfully, for all of its ultra professionalism, it can still happen in football....
Continue to the full story

As of June 16, 2011, Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira is a free agent after finding himself outside the plans of Manchester City's manager Roberto Mancini. The 34-year-old Senegalese-born defensive midfielder spent a year-and-a-half long spell at the Blues, scoring three goals in 28 matches.

Now that he is a free agent, we can't resist but ask the question: Can he be the salvation for Arsenal's arguable lack of winning mentality?

How many teams can miss that many first choice players and eke out a fairly comfortable win in the Champions League? I think that is the big question and one that many might have missed when entangled in observations pertaining to Arsenal's defence, which undoubtedly needs a lot more work.

As expected, Wenger rested a number of key players.

Wearing pink has helped Wojciech

Arsene Wenger finally chose his first choice custodian for the club and it's not surprise that a Polish national is the incumbent. The only surprise is that it is not Lukasz Fabianski but Wojciech Szczesny. It is a really big statement for the manager to make.

A Letter Of Thanks & Appreciation To Gunners Dear Arsenal, The game against Barca was pure magic, and we love your total dedication and belief. You have made us proud, and we salute you from every corner of the world. Each of you has a special place in our hearts and you deserve thanks and [...]

Most online sports betting pundits will still have Barcelona down as favourites to progress to the last eight of the Champions League at the expense of Arsenal. This is despite the 2-1 win for the Gunners last night at the Emirates.
One man who believes the English team can overcome the Spaniards in their own back yard in a couple of weeks though is Arsenal Wenger.

Arsenal 1 (Ramsey 56) Man United 0
(Premiership)

If there is one phrase I have become sick of in the last few weeks, it is 'mental strength', primarily because it has been used by Arsene Wenger when that trait has plainly not been in sight. Ironically enough, he didn't use the platitude today, which is a shame because, unlike some performances of late, this was one packed with belief, fight, determination and a complete refusal to allow United to take control in any part of the pitch.

It could be that Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is warming to the football crazy fans on Tyneside. Alan Pardew wants to give fans hope and belief Newcastle had good support from the Newcastle fans once again yesterday in London, and they were able to celebrate a draw when local lad Steven Taylor, who had [.

With the new season just over a fortnight away, there are still questions surrounding Arsenal as the Gunners try to win their first silverware in six seasons.

The Cesc Fabregas drama refuses to go away, with the London club stating today that they want a resolution to the situation with Barcelona by the week's end.

Manager Kenny Dalglish insists there will have no problem in keeping a sense of perspective at Liverpool this season.
The Reds recorded an impressive 2-0 win at Arsenal on Saturday – their first away Barclays Premier League win over the Gunners in a decade.
Dalglish is in no doubt the squad is stronger this season following significant investment, but accepts only time will tell if those transfers have been "bold or stupid".

Martin Kelly has handed Liverpool a welcome boost ahead of Saturday's clash with Manchester United by declaring himself fit for the north-west derby.
The young defender was sent back to Melwood last week by the England under-21s having complained about tightness in his groin.
Since then, however, Kelly has been able to train for Liverpool and will be available for selection when Kenny Dalglish choses his starting XI.

Since April 10th we have lost 5 and drawn 3 games away from home, a dismal and painful run of games that has seen our defence and confidence take knock after knock.

The abject display in August at Old Trafford saw a very humbling score line result in cries for Wenger to walk now, before we fell apart at the seams was the cry of the naysayer's.

Seattle Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid on how players and team grow during the off-season:
"I think you saw glimpses of it last year, but it grows. I always view it as really the amount of work that's put in during the offseason. When guys are really buying in, when they're really committed, then they're very conscientious in their offseason and come in prepared to play.

A year on from having their Champions League ambitions shattered by Lionel Messi at Camp Nou, Arsène Wenger believes Barcelona will face not only a "mentally tougher" Arsenal FC, but one determined to "show how good we are" when the sides contest the first leg of their round of 16 tie in London on Wednesday.

Inter Milan have been revived in 2011 under Leonardo but as the coach takes charge of the holders in the Champions League for the first time, against the side the Nerazzurri beat in last season's final, he admits that European football is another thing entirely. Bayern Munich are also in good form going into Wednesday's round of 16 first leg and Louis van Gaal says the return of the likes of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry has turned their season.

As you would expect, Tottenham players are staying positive (in public at least) about their bid to finish in the top four this season and midfielder Sandro believes it could be just a matter of winning our remaining games.

Speaking in the English press the Brazilian said: "Fourth position for us is difficult but not impossible

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Last weekend Arsenal beat the soon-to-be Champions Man United. They worked hard, played well, raised their game and deserved the three points from that game.

Yesterday, Arsenal lost 3-1 to Stoke City. They were careless, complacent, slipshod and deserved absolutely nothing from the game.

And it sums this Arsenal team in a nutshell.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes that he has been successful in changing the club's overreliance on some players.
In past seasons the Reds appeared to be heavily reliant on the performances of either skipper Steven Gerrard or striker Fernando Torres - who has since made a move to Chelsea.

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel believes that Sir Alex Ferguson is the best manager in the world.
The Scot has won 11 Premier League titles and looks set to win a 12th with just one point needed from the club's remaining two games, while he has also won the Champions League twice with the Red Devils.

Again claims are being made that the breakaway league, the Liga Primer Indonesia, will not continue after the mid season break. Again though the claim is being made by PSM which doesn't seem to stop them being linked with Edward Wilson Junior and Pierre Njanka.
Yesterday, on Twitter so it must be true (!

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QPR Official Site - Minutes from meeting between OSC Committee and QPR 03/06/11
Attendees:
QPR:
Joe Kyle
Daniel Laryea
OSC Committee:
Karen Hampshire (Chair)
Ian Stenning (Vice Chair and Trust Liaison)
Brian Ahearne (Treasurer)
Linda Favell (Secretary and Assistant Treasurer)
Rebecca Favell (Assistant Secretary)
Brian Paterson
Zach Hampshire
OSC stated that they had called this meeting because they wanted to try and give
some answers to the fans about Season Ticket prices and other areas of concern.

As we all saw earlier today, the scheduled pre season game against Vitesse Arnhem has been cancelled. The official Chelsea website broke the news this afternoon and The Guardian is running it's take on the reason the game was called off and they believe that it's all AVB's doing. The article states that AVB felt that to play a preseason game just five days after training started was too soon.

We've know for ages it was happening, and this morning it became official: Darren Pratley is a Wanderer. But just who have we signed? He was a big name in the Championship last season, but many of us don't follow it as closely as we should. You may have read the BN's 10 Things You Didn't Know About Darren Pratley, which is a good start, but I think we need something a little more comprehensive.

I know at the moment especially with Michael Essien now out injured for 6 months, rumours have once again intensified after AVB had said he was not planning on making drastic changes.
Now I still believe that Chelsea were not too far away from winning the league last season with the players we had once we got our form back, we just lacked that little something extra to take us beyond United.

I call you a plankton who only sings when we are winning, and cries like a 3 year old girl when things go against us.

One thing has always set apart proper genuine football fans, from all teams around the world, that I have personally come across in all the many years I have been a fan of the game is a spirit, a belief.

Arsene Wenger accepts there are now more doubts than ever over the future of his young Arsenal side.

However, the Gunners manager wants those challenges met head on in Tuesday night's Champions League play-off first leg against Udinese at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal have lost their captain Cesc Fabregasas he rejoined Barcelona in a £35 million deal, and contract rebel Samir Nasri has labelled fans "disrespectful" for abusive chants against him during the Newcastle game.

2010-11 Recap In their first season back in Serie A since 1990, the belief was the Seahorses would only enjoy their stay in the top flight for all of 38 games. After three weeks in, Cesena were the darlings of Serie A, sitting atop the table alongside Inter. The experience at the top didn't last for long and the club became embattled in the relegation race late in the season.

Winning is a habit, however, occasionally competitions have to be prioritised and anyone slating the team selection for the Olympiacos game needs to understand that.

Football is down to money, and whilst the Champions League may bring in more money than the majority of football clubs could ever dream of having, one away tie with the group already won can afford to be treated as an insignificant game.

For a number of managers in the football league as well as some household names in the Premier League, the new year has brought anything but cheer so far. Five football league managers have already been given the boot this year, with two more – Darren Ferguson of Preston and Brian Laws of Burnley – [.

"I think you can see there's a bit of belief now coming back into the players," he said, and it's nice that after six months of having a Liverpool manager manage to say one wrong thing after another to the press there's finally a man in charge who isn't quite so fond of putting his foot in his mouth and throwing players under the bus.

It's been a fabulous week to be a Lecce supporter, after a fantastic win in the capital in week 19 against Lazio, they backed that up with a courageous performance on Sunday evening against league leaders Milan to earn a 1-1 draw and instill some new found belief in their fight for Serie A survival.

DOHA, Qatar FIFA has announced that there are no plans to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter to alleviate concerns over the country's climate. As temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius in the summer in Qatar, there had been strong indications that FIFA was ready to move the tournament. President Sepp [.

Kenny Dalglish has hailed the efforts of his Liverpool players after their 3-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux.
Two goals from Fernando Torres and a cracking strike from Raul Meireles gave Dalglish his first win during his second spell as the club's manager.
And he was delighted by the display his men put on for the travelling support and hopes it will help the Reds kick start their season.

Players will do anything to make it in Professional Football.
And any player from Canberra needs to work a little harder, have a little more belief, and support, than players from the big Aussie A-League cities.
Checkout former Woden Valley junior local boy Nick Humphrey, now living in Hungary, and his desire to succeed.

Carlo has spoken about our recent poor form and especially our away form heading into the game at Bolton tonight. Without a win away in the Premier League since October, Carlo was asked about our philosophy and whether or not a change of style would be on the cards. He said:

"For Chelsea to win games, we have to play good football.