Gameweek 22 sees a double gameweek for Manchester United and Hull as their match was moved due to Cup commitments. That means this weeks fixtures are, on paper, a dream for Manchester United: home to both Burnley and Hull.
Whilst on first glance it may appear to be worth loading up on Man Utd players, be wary of getting caught short for the following gameweek.

By now we've all all read and heard about the decision that Houston Dynamo attacking midfielder Stuart Holden has to make: Should he sign a new contract with the MLS and stay in Houston on a much better one then he has had the last few seasons, or taking the next step to get to the promised land of where the world's best compete on a weekly basis?

Before Holden ships off to go on trial at Burnley, he woke up early to be on Good Morning America.

What does one write about on a day where this is the lead Guardian headline: Owen Coyle finalising switch to Bolton from Burnley?
I don't know. I think I'm hitting my first real football slump. Other followers seem to have a genetic predisposition to go apoplectic over running various DEFCON scenarios on an MLS lockout, but recently I haven't been feeling it.

By Chris Wright

Here's the hottest transfer gossip to dribble off presses this morning...

Gerrard catches up on a little light Reading

Rumour No. 1: One of those 'sources close to/someone in our office reckons' stories has surfaced this morning as, according to The Daily Star, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has one eye on the exit door at Anfield.

I guess most of us were worried about losing Song to the Africa Cup of Nations. Now that he is back and I am assuming he will play against United, it is worthwhile taking a look at just how badly did we miss the Cameroon hard-man.

Song left for Angola after helping us win the Cup tie at West Ham.

Arsenal host Manchester United on Sunday in the weekend's big clash. Also on Sunday Pompey go to Manchester City. On Saturday, Burnley host Chelsea, Wigan welcome Everton, West Ham welcome Blackburn, Bolton go to Liverpool, Hull host Wolves, Fulham host Villa and Spurs go up to Birmingham.
Preview I
Preview II
Lawro's Predictions
Not participating on Sunday.

Former Chelsea stud Eidur Gudjohnsen has joined Tottenham
We predicted an Arsenal - Aston Villa draw, as well as a 2-goal Everton win on Monday, (pats self on back) but now we are back to our regularly scheduled weekend gameweeks, so let's get to it:
I. Manchester United @ Arsenal: Sol Campbell is old, and much slower, and will face off against a Wayne Rooney in the form of his life on Sunday.

I can admit when I have been overly optimistic and wrong, and I was both of those things in last night's column about Stuart Holden. Stuart Holden was indeed on ABC's Good Morning America this morning, unfortunately, his appearance had nothing to do about his future in MLS. Instead, Holden appeared in one of those little bumpers between commercials and news to quickly discuss the upcoming World Cup finals in South Africa and to support GMA's coat drive.

Hi all! Happy New Year etc etc.
dN
Just 2 things to report, and they are both interesting items:
Stuart Holden has accepted a deal for a tryout at Burnley in England. Curious that he could not just get a straight out deal even on a free transfer. Fox Houston talks to Dynamo COO Chris Canetti who confirms it.

Could it be the last time we see Stuart Holden on US soil for a while? Below is his New Year's Day interview on Good Morning America. Not much to see in this interview as far as his upcoming trial with Burnley goes.

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Piers Morgan is running a poll for the Best British Player of 2009. Burnley's Graham Alexander and City's Craig Bellamy are racing out in the lead.

Let's really piss him off by getting Ryan Giggs to win his poll.

VOTE FOR RYAN GIGGS

"VOTE for Ryan Giggs on Piers Morgan's Poll" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

The second of our four half-term report cards (check out the first part here) for the 09/10 Premier League season features Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham and Hull City:

BURNLEY (14th, 20 points from 20 games)

It's a breeze to sum up the Clarets' season so far: excellent at Fortress Turf Moor, lamentable away from Fortress Turf Moor; Burnley have failed to win any of their ten games on the road, with just one draw and nine defeats.

According to Suzanne Geldard at the Lancashire Telegraph, Burnley are considering going after Stoke City assistant manager Peter Reid if current manager Owen Coyle joins Bolton.

Call me a naive American, but how capable are the United Kingdom and football officials in coping with extreme weather conditions? Most Yank readers of EPL Talk will know that when extreme weather hits the States, the process to clear roads, sidewalks and major interstates immediately begin (and usually with quick results).

UPDATE: According to Bolton's official website, Owen Coyle was official appointed manager of Bolton.

January 4th, 2010 Burnely's official website is reporting that a decision on whether Owen Coyle will leave will not be made in the next 24 hours.

Lots of news has occured lately, and with a weekend of action coming up, five Premiership matches were postponed, here is a list of the matches postponed:
Hull City - Chelsea
Burnley - Stoke City
Sunderland - Bolton
Fulham - Portsmouth
Liverpool - Tottenham
Togo National Team Attacked on way to ANC Cup


The Togo National team bus was attacked by gunmen on their way to the African Nations Cup, the driver was killed, and two players were hit by bullets, goalkeeper Obilale Kossi, and Serge Akakpo.

Fox Soccer Channel will announce Tuesday that it'll launch it's second all-soccer network named Fox Soccer Plus on March 1, 2010, according to the Associated Press.

The news comes almost one week after EPL Talk broke the story that Fox had acquired the trademark and domain name to Fox Soccer Plus and that Fox was involved in negotiations to acquire Setanta Sports US.

Mark Clattenburg hasn't come across terribly well this week, between his justification of sending Darren Fletcher off to failing to understand the offside rule.

Today, Darren Fletcher has revealed that Clattenburg, the referee who once sent someone off because Steven Gerrard told him to, told our midfielder it was 'a man's game' when he complained about being fouled.

By Chris Wright

I hope, for his mother's sake, that Mancini was a C-Section

Rumour No. 1: If their loan deal for Inter Milan's lightbulb-headed winger Mancini falls through, Olympique Marseille will look to Liverpool's Ryan Babel as a direct alternative.

EPL on ESPN2: Stoke - Liverpool at 7:30pm. On Fox Soccer Channel: Chelsea - Sunderland at 10am, Everton - Manchester City at 12:30pm, and Portsmouth - Birmingham City at 5pm. On Setanta: Manchester United - Burnley at 10am, Spurs - Hull City at 5pm, and Wolves - Wigan at 8:30pm. Bundesliga on ESPN Deportes: Bauer Leverkusen - Mainz at 9:30am and VfB Stuttgart - VfL Wolfsburg at 12:30pm.

A Football Report brought this video of Jozy Altidore urging you to support those who have been affected by the earthquake in Haiti to do your bit. To find out more click here...

50% off printable voucher for the Fulham v Burnley game(vouchercodes.co.uk)

Which former Premier League manager wouldn't mind the Liverpool hotseat?

(video gol, 1-0. Berbatov)
(2-0. Rooney)
(3-0. Mame Diouf)

Wayne Rooney hammered in 4 goals to destroy Hull City at Old Trafford today.
Karma for Hull City after bringing in Amr Zaki?
Or just some brilliance from Wayne - who will look to hit top form prior to the World Cup...
With Drogba in Africa with the Ivory Coast, it looks like Rooney can wrap up the Golden Boot over the next few weeks with a few further performances like this one.

Can the real Liverpool team please stand up? A week after beating Spurs 2-0 at home and looking once again like contenders for that 4th Champions League spot, Liverpool traveled to Wolves and could only manage a 0-0 draw.

Even with captain Steven Gerrard back in the line-up, Liverpool lacked that cutting edge in front of goal, something that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez alluded to in his post-match press conference.

Arsenal return from Villa Park with a point. As we'd discussed a couple of days ago, it's not a bad result by any means, except perhaps from the point of view of those people who actively seek out reasons to be negative.

Curiously enough, this is our third away draw of the season and all have come away to teams playing in Claret and Blue colors.

Maddy's Note: Since our readers seem to be connoisseurs of fine cinema and of a certain Mr. Tarantino I shall continue the trend with my next four posts and adopt a style that he most certainly pioneered.

Chapter 1 Villains

Vil-lain [vil-uh n]

Noun A cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.

Chelsea snatched three valuable points as the Stamford Bridge outfit overcame a determined Burnley side at Turf Moor. Nicolas Anelka gave the away side the lead but Steven Fletcher equalized after being found by a fantastic Robbie Blake past which the Clarets striker put away expertly.

Man of the moment, for all the wrong reasons, John Terry then headed the Blues back into the lead late on and the west London side held on for a crucial win.

The Christmas holidays were getting a tad boring so I flicked on the telly and The Big Match Revisited was on, unfortunately there was no Arsenal Playing it was Fulham and Manchester City. I started to watch these 22 men playing on what looked like a ploughed field all covered in mud, amazingly there was still some good passing but I started thinking how football has changed.

I can admit when I have been overly optimistic and wrong, and I was both of those things in last night's column about Stuart Holden. Stuart Holden was indeed on ABC's Good Morning America this morning, unfortunately, his appearance had nothing to do about his future in MLS. Instead, Holden appeared in one of those little bumpers between commercials and news to quickly discuss the upcoming World Cup finals in South Africa and to support GMA's coat drive.

The English Football Association (FA) Cup 3rd Round begins with several matches on Saturday, January 2, 2010 including Bristol City v Cardiff City. The match will be covered live on various sites at the links below.

Free Live Sports TV Milton Keynes Dons v Burnley English FA Cup 3rd Round Saturday, January 2, 2010 15:00 GMT

Live Football Streams Milton Keynes Dons v Burnley English FA Cup 3rd Round Saturday, January 2, 2010 15:00 GMT

It was announced recently that Stuart Holden, former Houston Dynamo player, has accepted a trial with English Premier League club Burnley. After his contract with the Dynamo finished, Holden is now a free agent and doesn't require a transfer fee. There has been speculation that Blackburn Rovers have also been interested in Holden but it appears Burnley has the upper hand.

Earlier this season Manchester United were humbled by Burnley at Turf Moor, the champions had few complaints about that 1-0 reverse on that occasion. It was a defeat that hurt, not least because Burnley have spent so much time out of the top flight - the Lancashire club are essentially a lower division outfit.

According to Alan Nixon at MirrorFootball, Burnley boss Owen Coyle has decided to quit the club and take the coaching position at Bolton.

It is reported that Bolton are "prepared to pick up the tab for his compensation, which is around £1 million.

So its the day after the Leeds United humiliation, and many disappointments are apparent for many reasons. Happy new year NOT
The turn of the decade has started with many stating the dreaded word when used in reference to a football team.
"Transition"
Yep, I've heard it several times now.

Well it certainly sounds like Owen Coyle will be moving the 25 or so miles to Bolton Wanderers to replace the sacked Gary Megson. After being given permission to talk to the Trotters, Coyle looks set to become the manager of a club he served so well for two years between 1993 and 1995.

It was a weekend of despondency and despair at sports desks around England, FA Cup Saturday failing to live up to their expectations. Shocks were noticeable by their absence, Reading holding Liverpool was the only result which whetted voracious appetites for demeaning the Premier League sides.

So apparently Owen Coyle is mulling over a managerial move from Burnley to Bolton Wanderers. Other than the fact Coyle used to play for Bolton, making 78 appearances, I cannot for the life of me think of any good reason why Coyle should want to make this move. OK, Bolton will probably have a marginally bigger budget, to accompany their marginally bigger (albeit much newer) stadium, and their marginally bigger reputation having been in the Prem for quite a while now.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good morning all. It's already a busy Tuesday so let's just jump right into the action:

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Guillermo Barros Schelotto is ready to secure his green card, a move that would suggest Schelotto isn't quite ready to leave MLS.

Well, it appears beloved Burnley manager Owen Coyle will soon be off to replace recently sacked Gary Megson as manager of Bolton. The following is a transcript of Coyle informal interview during his recent meet with Bolton chairman Phil Gartside.

Gartside: Obviously, Owen, we know your accomplishments at Burnley and we'd love for you to join us, but if you don't mind, I do have a few questions to ask you.