Sorry I haven't been around lately, it's been a bit hectic over here recently. Luckily it was an international break and nothing much happened in my absence, but I now dutifully bring you what did.

As you may have read in TheSpoiler (highly recommended by the way), Darius Vassell, ex-Man City striker, has been experience a few bumps over in Turkey.

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Darius Vassell is considering a return to England after he was evicted from his Turkish hotel because his club Ankaragucu failed to pay the bill.

The 29-year-old has voiced concerns over the club's financial problems following a recent change in ownership. Players' wages have frequently been paid late, training has been cancelled and now he has been thrown out of his hotel.

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All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

Insane video taken Rafik Saifi of the Algerian national team as their bus is attacked by rock-throwing Egyptian fans. [Goal]

Rangers not happy with their "moronic" fans. [STV]

Even when wearing a dress that went through a broken shredder, Abbey Clancy still looks hot.

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That's a fat one there, he is . . . (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)Former England and Man City striker has found himself evicted from his hotel in Ankara. Now playing for Turkish side Ankaragucu, the 29-year old found himself confused after his... Click to continue reading...

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Darius Vassell's future in Turkey has been cast into doubt after he was thrown out of his hotel where he was staying late at night.

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.Arsenal Transfered In: Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax, £11m), Damian Martinez (Club Athletico Independiente, £1.3m), Jamie Edge (Cheltenham, undisc) Transfered Out: Abu Ogogo (Dag & Red, free), Amaury Bischoff (Academica de Coimbra, free), Emmanuel Adebayor (Man C, £25m), Kolo Toure (Man C, £14m), Jay Simpson (QPR, loan), James Dunne (Exeter, free), Rui Fonte (Lisbon, free), Rene Steer (Oldham, free), [. Click to continue reading...

Bad luck for Matt Derbyshire, whose permanent deal at Olympiacos in Greece has got off to a bad start. The former Blackburn Rovers man picked up an abdominal injury during the pre-season and is out until sometime next month, as he has needed surgery. We wish him a speedy recovery. It's three games and two points [. Click to continue reading...

Now that Man City have hit the big time there was little need to employ Mr. Vassell in any capacity he was sold to Turkish side Ankaragücü (I haven't got a clue how to say it either) and you know what...he's only gone and scored a goal. If you look at the former Aston Villa man's face he actually looks genuinely surprised to have scored, which given he is a professional footballer who's job it is to score, is a little worrying, perhaps he'll get used to this sensation, but we doubt it!

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The transfers a side makes over the course of the summer can generally be seen as an indication of the current position of the club, but perhaps more important, of what their intentions are.
Plenty has been made of our summer transfers totalling the (easy headline grabbing) £100 million mark, but what that amount of money of course brings is quality. Click to continue reading...

Thanks to Total Manchester City for first posting the picture.
Not quite as manic as Darius Vassell's arrival, but Elano definitely looks far more concerned by the goings on around him.

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Now we're never one to spread non-stories or blatant lies on Les Rosbifs, but rumours coming out of Turkey this afternoon suggest that Sol Campbell will be on his way to join Super Lig side Ankaragücü. This would make the Portsmouth central defender, who is currently out of contract, the third Englishman to sign for [. Click to continue reading...

Reports coming out of Turkey suggest that former Norwich City striker Ian Henderson has joined Turkish Süper Lig side Ankaragücü. It means it is the second English player the Turkish side have signed in recent days, following the arrival of former Aston Villa and Manchester City striker Darius Vassell at the club. Click to continue reading...

Fulham making some noise now:

• Talks heating up on Fredy Montero to Craven Cottage.
  
• Peter Crouch interest too.
  
• Livorno, the Italian team interested in Landon Donovan, also likes Ricardo Clark.
  
• That Eto'o/Zlatan switch could be closer.
  
• Some Turkish team got Darius Vassell.

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It's not often you feel sorry for footballers. After all, their heartache is pretty minimal when you hold it up against the light of the real world.

Three weeks till payday and not a penny in the bank account? Well Carlos here never got a single text off Sir Alex in all the time he played for Manchester United!

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Plenty of new additions will be going on to the Les Rosbifs list in recent weeks as the transfer window remains ajar. Recent searches in Australia have thrown up a huge quantity of Englishmen playing in the top tiers of the state leagues (one level below the A-League) – there will be a special on [. Click to continue reading...

So he's gone. After a week of not so much 'Will he? Won't he?', more 'When will he?', he finally willed yesterday evening.

Emmanuel Adebayor signed a 5 year deal with Manchester City. Arsenal receive a fee believed to be around £25m and it's good business for all concerned. City get a striker better than Darius Vassell and we get a load of money for a player who didn't want to be at the club anymore.

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Man City are continuing their relentless pursuit of John Terry, with crazy figures like £300k per week being mooted in the press, in addition to a possible £30m transfer fee.

Is he worth it? Purely as a player, arguably not. He is 28, increasingly injury prone, and there are whisperings of impending vulnerability.

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Real Madrid fans have been waiting over a year for C-Ron's arrival, and today they got their wish. Word is that the Portugueezer has passed a medical in Madrid (the same one Jonathan Woodgate passed, so it can't have been that hard) and according to Marca will wear number 9 (just like the other Ronaldo [. Click to continue reading...

DMB has admittedly had the year from hell (fell out of favor at Rangers and floundering at the national-team level).
He's chalking it up as an off year and vows to come back strong.
That would be lovely.
Now the links:

• C-Ron calls his former league too physical.

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Seven stories from the past week on The Offside and WCB: Darius Vassell: Big in Turkey Separation of church and soccer? Brand Beckham takes a whack from Landycakes Barcelona don't need C-Ron... ...because of things like this Confed Cup over, World Cup worries resume Some very unconvincing tumbles Click to continue reading...

It is probably the most surprising transfer of the year: Ankaragucu has transferred Manchester City's Darius Vassell on a free transfer. He signed a 2+1 year contract and he will earn 900k Euros per year.
Ankaragucu is an interesting team with a passionate supporter group. They always manage to avoid relegation somehow and this year they will be celebrating their 100th year. Click to continue reading...

As Darius Vassell mulls over a move to Turkey, we look at those who have blazed the trail for him. 1. Colin Kazim Richards CKR - the Coca Cola Kid - not only made himself at home in Turkey, he bagged a Champions League goal for Fenerbahce against Chelsea and broke into the Turkish national team. He [. Click to continue reading...

Former England striker, Darius Vassell, arrived in Turkey to discuss a transfer with Turkish club Ankaragucu. Around 3,000 fans of Turkish side Ankaragucu turned out to welcome Vassell. The boisterous contingent went into delirious joy when Vassell finally appeared. The former City striker was mobbed by the hysterical fans who surrounded him and draped him in scarfs and flags. Click to continue reading...

We've all seen fans get a little too crazy over a signing - some of us have even been guilty of the slightly overzealous behavior. But you get the feeling mediocre things don't happen to the fans of Ankaragucu often, much less good things, as they've set the new standard for going overboard. Darius Vassell has [. Click to continue reading...

Looks like former England striker and Manchester City cast-off Darius Vassell has finally found somewhere he is wanted.
Amid chaotic scenes, 3,000 fans of Turkish club Ankaragucu, turned out to greet the faded-England striker, who was mobbed and surrounded by the excitable well wishers who were draped with flags in the club's colours, chanting his name and letting off flares in his honour. Click to continue reading...

They do know they have bought Darius Vassell, right? It's not some silly mix up. This procession looks eerily like those organised in repressive regimes who have to threaten people to pretend to support them, there simply can be no other explanation for this somewhat disturbing scene! For the record . Click to continue reading...

Darius Vassell is more than a player Kaka might have attracted 50,000 to the Bernabeu, but Darius Vassell brought in a respectable 3,000 punters to urge him to sign for Turkish outfit Ankaragucu. The fans came armed with banners, placards and a level of vocal support more befitting the Second Coming than the arrival of a [. Click to continue reading...

This is a great picture just for the sheer bemusement on Vassell's face.
I had imagined that Vassell would likely end up at a top level Championship side (or even one of the promoted clubs) but maybe he fancied the challenge of playing abroad at this stage of his career.
It is easy to dismiss his time at City, but when he arrived at the club he was not far removed from the England set up and had a decent reputation. Click to continue reading...

CITY have confirmed the list of players released from the club.
Danny Mills, Daniel Sturridge, Darius Vassell, Glauber Berti, Didi Hamann and Michael Ball will all be playing their football away from Eastlands next season. Goalkeeper Richard Martin has gone, report www.mcfc.co.

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According to Manchester City's official website, Manchester City have released:

Danny Mills, Daniel Sturridge, Darius Vassell, Didi Hamann, Michael Ball, Glauber Berti, and Richard Martin.

According to Portsmouth's official website, Portsmouth have released:

Djimi Traore, Glen Little, Lauren, Noe Pamarot, and Jerome Thomas.

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Darius Vassell has travelled to Turkey to hold talks with Ankaragucu over a prospective move to the Super Lig side.The former England international appears to have no future at Manchester City with manager Mark Hughes linked with a host of big-name signings.

>>sky sports.

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Only ten minutes remain until Darius Vassell officially descends into the Bosman realms of the free transfer as a four-year tenure at Manchester City draws to a close, the contract he signed back in 2005 under the Stuart Pearce era expiring on July 1st. Many would talk down the opinion that the former England striker is a glittering target in the modern-day transfer window but there is colossal excitement originating from the Turkish capital of Istanbul. Click to continue reading...

Well, two days are left until the transfer window opens again and Manchester City look like they've signed two strikers to help Mark Hughes drag them up the table. I suppose they need some good news down at Eastlands after the ground flooded on Saturday due to flash floods. With both signings, City could have an incredible 12 strikers on their books at the last count, but that number will fall by one on July 1st as young prospect Daniel Sturridge has agreed to join Chelsea.

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- For cutting-edge, continually-updated news about QPR: Visit the combination, quasi-blog/messageboard QPR Report Messageboard. QPR and football. Nothing else! All posters and all views welcome!
- Some Terrible-Looking Playing Strips
- Flashback: QPR's former CEO Simon Crane (who was replaced by David Davies)
- Flavio Briatore's Websites
- Video: 1969/1970 Fifth Round FA Cup: QPR vs Derby County (Rodney Marsh vs Dave Mackay)
Mirror Interest in Darius Vassell? Click to continue reading...

I say "Forward, my friends! Forward!"
With the news today that Manchester City have signed star Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz for 30M, I started thinking about the wealth of attacking options at the club.
The club literally has ten (yes, ten!) strikers on the first team. In a traditional 4-4-2 lineup, that would leave eight awfully unhappy men sitting on the bench. Click to continue reading...