With the focus on football today, it's a relatively slow day in transfer news and rumors, but I've managed to scrounge up many of the day's best bits, including the latest on Kaka and Manchester City's other potential dealings. England Kaka is going to seal his £108m move to Manchester City next week.

Manchester United have agreed a fee to sign Charlton Athletic and Ireland u17 international youngster Sean McGinty.
The Premier League giants have reportedly reached an agreement for a compensation package for the youngster, and now McGinty looks set to join the youth ranks at Old Trafford.

The Johnstone Paint Trophy began its Round 2 in the Northern and Section section on Tuesday, October 6, 2009. Most of the home teams advanced with a few exceptions. One match was postponed, Accrington Stanley v Shrewsbury Town, because of rain and the officials ruling the pitch unfit to play on.

Here's a list of the results from Tueday's matches.

If you didn't get enough transfer gossip for breakfast this morning, we're back with another batch of fresh transfer news and rumors for you this evening.

We have fresh updates to our Premier League, Serie A, and Bundesliga summer transfer lists, as there are new signings to report from each of those leagues, and a few more faces could change places in the near future.

It's that time of year again - the worst fashion show of the year. Well, almost. The Premier League clubs are almost all kitted out for the new season, with only a handful of notable exceptions. A couple of clubs are staying as they were this season and Portsmouth will be keeping their fingers crossed that they don't sell out of replica shirts after the closure of Canterbury Clothing Company, but the overwhelming majority of clubs have not been able to resist the temptation of all that lovely lucre and gone for it for the 2009/10 season.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all qualified for the Champions League. The top three will go straight to the group stage, while the fourth-placed team will face a play-off.

English clubs are offered three places in the Europa League (formerly the Uefa Cup) - for the FA Cup winners, the Carling Cup winners and the fifth-placed team in the Premier League.

Adam Pearson, the new chairman of Hull City, has told manager Phil Brown that he has one more match to save his Hull City career.
"The manager was expected to be dismissed after the 2-0 defeat away to Burnley on Saturday, but it seems he has earned himself a stay of execution for one more game at least because of the woeful performance of Mike Jones, the referee, at Turf Moor.

Continuing on the theme of departures from the list, Michael Aspin is already leaving it having returned from Nakhon Pathom of Thailand back to Northwich Victoria, where his comeback has been warmly received. Another departure from the list is that of Simon Wiles. The midfielder was on a short term contract at Dunfermline, with the [.

All hail Rafa Benítez, conqueror of Europe and vanquisher of Real Madrid. Liverpool has developed a reputation as masters of the Champions League tie, punching well above their weight in cup competitions compared to their performances in the Premiership. To date Benítez has delivered an FA Cup, one Community Shield, the European Super Cup and of course [.

League One side Charlton Athletic have unveiled their new 2009-10 home kit. The new Charlton home shirt is manufactured by Joma. Kent Reliance Building Society (KRBS), with whom the Addicks signed a three year sponsorship deal recently, are the shirt sponsors. The shirt is primarily red in colour, with a white stripe running down the side [.

With a plethora of football books about to hit the shops ahead of the Christmas season, Scotty Kingsley reviews the offerings of the man they called 'Houdini'.

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Many years ago Lennie Lawrence threatened to write a book about his time a Charlton. There was certainly enough packed into his nine year spell at the club, including winding up orders, high court visits, numerous Chairmen, promotion, play-offs, relegation and of course ground sharing and the Valley Party to warrant one if not more volumes.

Delight and despair - Lee Hughes celebrates the goal that relegated Charlton (Tom Dulat/Getty)As relegations go there can't be too many more painful than Charlton's to League One this weekend. 2-0 up...

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Amongst the midweek action, Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes reached the Coupe de France final after defeating Grenoble 1-0 on Tuesday. Bocanegra, who typically plays left back for the French club, played centrally in the game that saw Rennes reach the cup final for the first time in 38 years.

Well, we haven't done this for a while, so I thought it would make a change to do it this evening. It's the second leg of the semi-final of the European Cup and it's Manchester United with a one goal lead from the first leg. The teams are as follows:

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Djourou, Gibbs, Walcott, Fabregas, Song Billong, Nasri, Van Persie, Adebayor.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United made sure of the Premier League title on 16 May

Manchester United were crowned champions of England for the 18th time on 16 May following their 0-0 draw with Arsenal.

United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all qualified for the Champions League.

It is enough to only take a look at the Championship standings bottom, where the three relegated clubs reside. It hasn't been even five years since Charlton, Southampton and Norwich were in the Premier League. That clearly points out who the biggest disappointments in worlds strongest second league are this year.

It seems like the football season has only just finished but the new campaign is already starting to take shape after the Premier and Football League fixture lists were announced.

Premier League champions Manchester United will kick off their title defence at home to new boys Birmingham City.

The Blues are set to snap up a young prospect from their London neighbours, Charlton Athletic, it seems. Chelsea are set to sign highly-rated Jonjo Selvey, an England youth international, from Charlton Athletic, according to a report from Sky Sports. The deal would apparently see the player signing for the Stamford Bridge outfit and then rejoining Athletic [.

SPL side Hamilton Academical FC's Home Kit for the 2009-10 season has been revealed. Accies have roped in Reid Furniture as their shirt sponsors. The new V-necked home shirt has red and white horizontal stripes, and is paired with all white shorts. Accies' sponsorship deal with Reid Furniture is reportedly the largest in the club's history.

Hola, amigos. Their isn't too much else going on on this Friday, but I figured that, as a break from our normal despairing about Arsenal's squad/new uniforms/transfer policy/Diaby, we could do something positive today.

If you recall, the official site has been running a summer-long event to name Arsenal's top 5 all-time goals.

We're now over halfway through Soccerlens' full season preview ahead of the big League kickoff this weekend. Today we're up to League 1, which contains fallen ex-Premier League teams Leeds, Charlton, Norwich and Southampton as well as smaller teams like Yeovil, Exeter and Wycombe.

Can the Saints overcome their points deduction, can Brentford keep on their buzz after winning League Two?

Harry should make Charlton an offer they can't refuse!

17 year old Jonjo Shelvey may well have signed a new deal at Charlton but If I were Harry Redknapp I would work out a deal that suits all parties to secure the future of the hugely impressive teenager.

In much the same way that the Tottenham boss purchased Kyle Walker from Sheffield United and then loaned him straight back to Bramall Lane, Redknapp should attempt to orchestrate a similar deal for the Addicks man.

Reports over the weekend linked former Boro favourite and now Peterborough forward George Boyd with a £6m move to Tottenham. Boyd has been arguably the Posh's best player in their first season in the Championship so far and his recent form is thought to have alerted Premier League clubs to making an offer.

Am i the only one who pores over the Annual Report, nodding and gasping without really knowing what it is telling us ?  Fortunately, Bryan Matthew does know his assets from his intangibles, and highlights the key points below in a way the rest of us can understand. So, after that hugely disappointing Forest defeat, [.

After 15 years of heartache, success and a little more success, Charlton Athletic Chairmen Richard Murray announced to a stadium of Addict fans in 2006 that legendary boss Alan Curbishley would be leaving his post at the end of the season. The announcement, made on the April 29th before a Premier League fixture, stunned thousands of [.

Who is to blame? In the Premiership years, Charlton Athletic were seen as the model for any clubs gaining promotion to join the elite. So what went so wrong at The Valley that saw the Addicks fall to the depths of the wrong end of the Championship. As they stare League One football in the face, Charlton's recent history leaves behind a sad tale of a football club that was just too ambitious at the wrong time.

Jonjo Shelvey, a towering attacking midfielder is wanted by West Ham. He chose the Hammers over Spurs. Although this is still a speculation.

The still 17 years old Shelvey is currently employed by Charlton Athletic which he has contract that ends on 2011. He is a record holder as the youngest first team player in his current club, and also its younger ever goal scorer when he scored against Norwich City in an FA Cup game.

It's all in the timing. The BBC couldn't have chosen a better time to run a special report on the state of finances in English football. The eve of the new English season is a time of optimism at most clubs, but in an interview with Radio5's Dan Road, the UEFA general secretary David Taylor expressed concerns about many aspects of the way that Premier League clubs in particular are running themselves, singling out the saddling of clubs with debt and the transfer activity of some (hello, Manchester City) as having a destabilising effect on the health of the transfer market.

The Big Story

UEFA again expressed concern at the spending by the likes of Man City, with general secretary David Taylor commenting "I would say in this financial climate, it is surprising - a little bit destabilizing of the market".

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(All times - UK)
Saturday 5th September
12:15 Charlton Athletic v Brentford, League One, Sky Sports 1 / Sky Sports HD1
Your Saturday of international football viewing gets underway with the only domestic game on TV. League One leaders Charlton aim to make it six wins out of six against Brentford in the first league meeting between these two since 1993.

Yes football geeks be excited.. I never buy Champ Manager because i dont have the time to justify the £30 to buy it and not play it..or then get sacked by Charlton Athletic after 7 games in charge But for the next 12 hours the makers of the game are doing a special pre sale for just [...]

Whilst it is normal for one or two Football League clubs to be given a bloody nose by a non-league club at some point during the early rounds of the FA Cup, predicting where this will happen is a slightly trickier business. Yesterday, ITV went with the "romance of the cup" and saw Norwich put seven goals past a Paulton Rovers side whose defence's pre-match training didn't appear to contain any extra "hap" sessions.

So what makes a great goal? I know it seems a easy question but honestly, what makes a goal truly great? Is it the goal that keeps a side up or a lob from the half way line? The goal that drags a side back in to a game when they're 2-0 or a last minute winner in injury time? Everyone has a different variation on what they judge to be a great goal or what the ingredients are that makes some goals stand out above all others.

Amid constant rainfall and swirling winds, Charlton's faint hopes of survival were blown away by an impressive Doncaster Rovers side. Phil Parkinson's men entered the game with confidence lifted by a recent turnaround in form. But sadly it proved a false dawn, as they were picked apart by a Doncaster side that play a style of [.

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Amongst the midweek action, Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes reached the Coupe de France final after defeating Grenoble 1-0 on Tuesday. Bocanegra, who typically plays left back for the French club, played centrally in the game that saw Rennes reach the cup final for the first time in 38 years.

Gillingham 1-0 Shrewsbury (23:05:09)
- click on photos to enlarge -
Our cousins from overseas must be affording themselves a giggle/scratching their collective heads at the ticket prices for what was - in old money - a Division 4 match. Bank managers look away now when I tell you that the cheapest tickets for this League Two Wembley Play Off decider were £31.

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Visit the combination messageboard and quasi-blog: The QPR Report Messageboard. QPR and other football news; nostalgia; and posters' views: No focus on politics, films, music, etc. No ad-hominem attacks on fellow posters. Just an (usually) intelligent focus on QPR and Football Recently-posted articles include:
- Parejo Backs Ronaldo to Succeed at Real Madrid
- William Hill May Abandon Certain Football Bets
- On This Day: Jim Smith Appointed QPR Manager 24 Years Ago: Remembering the Smith Era
- The Magilton Diaries (Satire)
- 2009-2010 Schedule: Important Dates
Forest Green Rovers Official Site
- 11/06/2009 - Queens Park Rangers confirmed for Pre-season Match
Further to the earlier press release regarding our pre season programme, we are now pleased to confirm that Queens Park Rangers will be the Championship side to visit the New Lawn, either on Tuesday 21st or Wednesday 22nd July.

It is less than one month since Burnley's victory in the Championship play-off final brought the curtain down on another memorable year in the Football League.

But as the Clarets look forward to mixing with English football's aristocracy, the release of next season's fixtures confirms that Charlton Athletic, Southampton and Norwich City are facing an altogether bleaker reality.

Name: Paul Clapson Date of Birth: 20th March 1983 Place of Birth: Chatham, Kent Position: Striker Previous position: Goalkeeper Previous Clubs: Sittingbourne Town, Clearwater Chargers, Countryside Lightning, KI Klaksvik Present club: Afturelding (Iceland) Paul Clapson is perhaps one of the strangest, yet one of the most prolific players profiled on Les Rosbifs to date.