Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is offering his non-playing staff a share of a £1million bonus if they beat Arsenal in this afternoon's match. Ashley is reported to be a Spurs fan, and a Newcastle win would secure Champions League football for Andre Villas Boas' side providing they are able to beat Sunderland in today's other [.
1. Rafa Benitez can relax For once the opposition manager will be disliked nearly as much as him. AVB was never quite the right fit in the Chelsea hot-seat, although he was still a better fit than Benitez. 2. Andre Villas Boas could ponder what might have been... but he doesn't want to John Terry's [.
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has taunted north London rivals Spurs, claiming they do not have enough quality. The Poland international reckons the Gunners will secure another season of Champions League football by finishing in the top four and he seemed to indicate that they will be joined by Chelsea.
Gareth Bale achieved an amazing PFA double last night when landing both the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards. He becomes only the third player to win both accolades in the same season, and the first since Christiano Ronaldo in 2007. With Spurs' chances of playing Champions League football next season still hanging in the balance, will the Welsh wonder now be on his way out of White Hart Lane?
Former Tottenham and Arsenal boss George Graham is apparently a huge horse racing fan and perhaps he should stick to trying to predict the finishing order of the 2013 Kentucky Derby horses rather than voicing his unwanted opinion on Spurs in the press as he has been recently. Graham believes that both Chelsea and Arsenal will finish above Tottenham this season, meaning that we will once again miss out on Champions League football by the narrowest of margins.
Some reports suggest that Porto midfielder Joao Moutinho remains as Spurs' number one priority in January but could the failure to secure the player's signature in August see the club miss out?
Tottenham had reportedly made a £22 million pound bid which was accepted by Porto but time simply ran out on the transfer as the clock ticked past the window.
Liverpool will attempt to bring talented Barcelona youngster Cristian Tello to Anfield as part of any deal that takes goalkeeper Pepe Reina to the Spanish champions. Barca want to bring 30-year-old Reina to Camp Nou to replace Victor Valdes, who is expected to leave the club this summer. Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is keen to [.
Last season, Chelsea became one of the worst teams in the history of Champions League football,
rivalled by Liverpool, to win the competition. After being outplayed in pretty much every single
game, somehow they managed to drag themselves to a penalty shoot-out in the final which they
won.
For all their success in the cup competitions, Chelsea fell some way short, finishing 6th, 25
points behind us and City.
New Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is confident his vision for the club will persuade his star
players to remain at Anfield.
Despite the Northern Irishman conceding that a lack of Champions League football could mean the
Reds lose players, he felt that the future he had envisioned for the Merseysiders would be enough
to soothe any doubts some may harbour.
1. If you thought there were no winners in a draw, think again: it was Arsenal on this occasion. 2. Emmanuel Adebayor is sure to have some nasty blisters on his feet this morning. He showed finishing and mobility skills unheard of unless he's in need of a new contract. 3. The route to Champions [...]
1. Before you demonstrate a complete lack of cultural awareness, consider that biting is actually a very common gesture to signify good defending in Uruguay. 2. He might have a taste for human flesh, but Luis Suarez made the race for Champions League football very interesting with his late, late equaliser against Chelsea.
Spurs' battle for Champions League football appeared to take a blow last night after their talisman, Gareth Bale, was stretchered off during the Europa League clash with Basel. Bale's ankle twisted to right angles, forcing him off the pitch late in last night's match. But manager Andre Villas Boas has since delivered some optimistic news.
Not pretty numbers coming out of Anfield today. For the ten months ending 31 May 2012, Liverpool announced a loss of £40.5m and an increase in the club's debt to £87m. That compares with £49.3m in the previous twelve month period with the club changing its accounting dates to coincide with the football season.
According to Russian newspaper Izvestia, Liverpool are tracking Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike as a future replacement for Luis Suarez. Liverpool face the very real possibility of losing star striker Suarez in the summer if the Reds fail to secure European football, and as a precaution, have earmarked Emenike as a possible replacement.
Liverpool is going to have to pull out all the stops to keep hold of Uruguayan ace Luis Suarez as Juventus set to launch a bid for him in January. Suarez has been in inspirational form this season scoring nine Premier League goals and Liverpool will no want to think where they could be had they not had him.
Clint Dempsey is training with his American team-mates ahead of the U.S. Men's national team's
upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica.
Getting back on a soccer field has to be a relief for Dempsey, who was embroiled in one of the
longest running transfer saga's of the summer as he pushed to leave Fulham for a bigger club.
Tottenham Hotspur have wrapped up the signings of France international goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
from Lyon and U.S. international Clint Dempsey from Fulham.
Lloris had been in London the entire afternoon to complete a medical and finalize terms, but
negotiations had stalled between the involved parties for a few hours.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been tight-lipped about the prospect of signing another
midfielder to replace Alex Song but it seems that he can steal a massive bargain in the form of
Chelsea star Michael Essien.
Essien, who was once considered one of the Premier League's strongest defensive midfielders, has
struggled for a consistent place in the Blues' startling line-up since returning from a serious
injury last season and finds himself significantly down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge in
this campaign.
There is an interesting battle going on at Real Madrid over Nuri Sahin. The 23-year-old, former
Bundesliga Player of the Year has been told by Jose Mourinho that he needs to go out on loan this
season, in order to get some much needed playing time.
Sahin wants to play in the Premier League and that is where the problem lies.
Real Madrid's in-demand Nuri Sahin is set to decide on his future this week after Liverpool joined
Arsenal in making a loan offer for the midfielder.
The Turkish international has been told he can leave the league champions on-loan after failing to
establish himself in Jose Mourinho's midfield, making just 10 appearances following his move from
Borussia Dortmund.
Can Newcastle repeat last seasons Heroics? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Undoubtedly one of the biggest surprises of last season was the performance of Newcastle United,
who finished fifth in the Premier League, and were in contention for Champions League football
throughout the campaign.
Liverpool Boss Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that the Reds are in talks with Cardiff City over
the possibility of Craig Bellamy rejoining the Welsh club.
Bellamy scored six goals in 24 appearances for Liverpool after moving to Anfield on a free
transfer little over 12 months ago.
"We have been in talks with him and Cardiff," said the Liverpool manager.
As we all know, Chelsea have to register 25 players and no more ahead of the new season for the
Premier League and Champions League competitions but we have a problem. At the moment with our new
signings, promotions and returning loan players, we have 31 players in our first team squad.
Remembering that although he is listed as part of our squad, Patrick Van Aanholt has already been
loaned out this season with Vitesse again.
Rafael van der Vaart has played down reports linking him with a return to Hamburg, this summer, as
"just gossip", the playmaker insisting that he is thoroughly enjoying his time in the Premier
League.
The Dutchman has been a revelation at Spurs, since his arrival in 2010, but rumours had begun to
surface since Euro 2012 that the midfielder could be tempted to rejoin his old club in Germany.
Our new defensive signing Jan Vertonghen has spoken to the press about his recent move and
naturally the Belgian international is targeting Champions League football. Beyond that however,
Jan believes that the club is capable of a tilt at the title.
"Over the last years Spurs have become a very big club in England," Jan said on Spurs TV.
Fabio Borini has signed for Liverpool for a free rumored to be around £10 million. The Italian
International is Brendan Rodger's first signing since he arrived at Anfield. Borini who knew
Rodgers from his time at Chelsea has also played under him during his loan spell at Swansea.
He has joined Liverpool on the back of a good season at Roma where he managed to score 10 goals
from 26 matches.
Hulk, Falcao, Schurrle and Chelsea's attacking options to replace Didier Drogba - originally
posted on Soccerlens.com
Chelsea's Champions League success in 2011-12 has given the club a real boost, with Roman
Abramovich looking to bolster his squad to challenge on all fronts next term. Despite the
enterprise and talent of new midfielders Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Marko Marin, with Didier
Drogba's departure a new top-class striker replacement is needed.
Vertonghen vindicated: Ledley King's replacement has big shoes to fill at Tottenham - originally
posted on Soccerlens.com
After a protracted summer transfer saga, Tottenham have finally landed their number one target,
Jan Vertonghen, who joins the north London club from Ajax. Much has been made over the Belgian's
addition, as the defender's performances have had some of Europe's top clubs sit up and take
note.
Gareth Bale has been grabbing the headlines again over the last few days with three goals in his last three matches including the first in Wales' 2-1 win over Austria last night. Unfortunately, a run of form like this will always bring more stories about a possible move abroad and Spurs' head coach Andre Villas-Boas has admitted that the club may need Champions League Football to keep Gareth at the Lane.
Andre Villas-Boas may not have directly used this Alan Partridge based quote but that was
essentially the gist of his first press conference as Tottenham's manager.
AVB took the time out to speak about his plans for the club and he also gave an insight into
some possible transfer deals into and out of the Lane.
Arsenal vs Olympiacos preview, predicted line-up and score prediction. KJ
We're finally back to mid-week Champions League football. There's always something special about the tournament; the theatre, the atmosphere, everything. Arsenal have a tricky home tie against Greek champions, Olympiacos.
Having made a cursory tour of the blogosphere and the attendant media the common emotion one
picks up after Arsenal's no show at yesterday's transfer deadline is that of frustration, of
disbelief, and a sense of resignation that once again what seems so obvious to us is lost on the
manager and the boardroom.
and the madness has begun. It's all based around Theo Walcott and his apparent refusal to sign a
new contract with the club. As I mentioned on yesterday's blog, he was one of the players I felt
could leave the club this week because of his contract issue. The situation is he has less than 12
months left on his deal, Arsenal face the prospect of losing him on a free and for that reason
alone his departure would not be a surprise.
It all worked out for Mourinho tonight. Essien and Varane played well, he outcoached Mancini, his players gave him the performance he wanted and of course: he won.
I asked my friend, sports writer and Aston Villa supporter Peter May,
to give us his take on what we can expect from Aston Villa as an opponent this Tuesday. Thanks
Pete!
Aston Villa conclude their pre-season tour at Portland Timbers on Tuesday with a mood of genuine
optimism prevailing around the squad and back home.
The Pot 4 Club returns! Dinamo Zagreb is a post from: Just Football
The Pot 4 Club is back for another year on Just Football, reloaded with new teams, new competitors and inspired by Pot 4 alumni and last season's Champions League quarter finalists APOEL FC new ambitions.
Featured player Nicklas Bendtner's club future looks to be sorted, after weeks of rumours flying
around about the Danish attackers future it looks to have been decided yesterday with Bianconeri
director Beppe Marrota confirming N.B-52 is 'already in Italy and will undergo a medical
tomrrow'.
Perusing acres of statistics that can be found in newspapers on the opening weekend of the
football season can be a most enlightening way to pass the couple of hours, even if focusing on the
attendance figures rather than the results themselves does require a certain degree of furtiveness.
At the top end of the game, there are few surprises to be found.
PSV Eindhoven: Dick Advocaat comeback begins with false start is a post from: Just Football
It was after PSV conceded their second goal that Dick Advocaat
knew he was truly back in the Eredivisie. The maddest league in Europe, and he
couldn't have started in a more significant setting – RKC Waalwijk's Mandemakers Stadion –
scene of PSV's last (and now most recent) competitive defeat.
Luis Suarez's souring relationship with English football may open the door to a move to Serie A
giants Juventus, reports from Italy suggest.
Italian outlet calciomercato suggest that Juventus are willing to offer the perturbed Liverpool
forward a route out of the Premier League, as they consider alternatives should they fail in their
attempts to lure Arsenal's Robin Van Persie to the club.
