Chris Hughton claims he will fight to improve Newcastle United's squad in the January transfer window. Since being made permanent manager it seems many people think he'll just be a 'yes man' a puppet and apologist for Ashley's regime but Hughton was keen to dispel such rumours, indicating that he's strong enough to get [. Click to continue reading...

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) kindly announced today that they would grant Chelsea's request for a stay in the club's transfer ban, meaning Chelsea will now be free to flash the cash in January. Of course their final judgement over the club's alleged wrong-doing over the signing of Gael Kakuta is still to come, but in the short-term Chelsea will be able to strengthen the squad if Ancelotti feels reinforcements are needed.

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A temporary reprieve for Chelsea and they will be allowed to sign new players. CAS has yet to render its final verdict. Gael Kakuta four month suspension has also been lifted.

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Hopefully Rafa saw the negatives in Andriy Voronin's performance last night; rather than claiming he is a good player who can have an impact on this season. He proved last night he is nowhere near good enough to play for Liverpool; it's time for the number 10 to move on. I honestly beleive he would struggle [. Click to continue reading...

! Article Start >It's a bit early for Christmas shopping, although I've seen some decorations up in Spennymoor when passing through recently(I mean howay........). And of course we've started the panto early up at The Stadium Formerly Known as St James' Park, but according to the rumours, it hasn't stopped Bolton gaffer Gary Megson adding Andy Carroll [. Click to continue reading...

! Article Start >In his statement when he took Newcastle United off the market, Mike Ashley said "... he is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focussing on gaining promotion back to the Premier League." Fair enough, but what's with all this nonsense about giving Hughton a million or two [. Click to continue reading...

This week saw the ridiculous suggestion that Rafa Benitez was trying to bring John Arne Riise back to Anfield; but what most people forgot before they ran the story was the original source (who I am not going to mention for obvious reasons), and the fact we already have 3 left backs at the club. The [. Click to continue reading...

Just some random odds and ends for you to read as you bide your time waiting for Lyon's Champions League clash with Liverpool.

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< Sid's Serious Captain-y Face.

If you're wondering why the captain's armband showed up on Cris last Saturday, despite Sidney Govou also being on the pitch, it's because our dear (former?

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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. Click to continue reading...

Sol Campbell fancies a move to Newcastle United but may be too costly for Hughton. However Matthew Kilgallon looks like a more affordable target. Campbell is currently trying to sort out the ramifications of getting out of his ill-fated contract at Notts County, but he found time recently to go public about his interest in joining [. Click to continue reading...

---- -----------------"Can I get back to you in five years?"
One thing has become crystal clear over the last few days of post-season naval gazing at BMO Field. It doesn't matter, who the head coach is, it doesn't matter how the star player feels, it doesn't matter what the supporters want - Mo Johnston (Yes, the Scottish Hall of Famer! Click to continue reading...

Loose-lipped AC Milan exec Adriano Galliani has boasted that the club are on the verge of officially announcing a completed deal to bring L.A. Galaxy star David Beckham back for another January-to-June loan spell. He would then return (presumably for good) to MLS after appearing for England at World Cup 2010. Click to continue reading...

New Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton hopes to get at least some of Mike Ashley's £20m cash injection to spend on players. Amidst Mike Ashley's popular announcement that he would be inflicting himself upon Toon fans for another season and a half, there was also the news that he's putting another £20m of his own money [. Click to continue reading...

Hey everyone, just wanted to clear a few things up in regards to the Blanco situation.
A source close to the situation told me that Blanco and Veracruz agreed to a one year deal -- which will begin in January -- with an opt out clause for any point in the year. This means that Blanco can choose to leave Veracruz at any point during the one-year deal and either return to the Fire (who will continue negotiating with Blanco and his agent), join another team or retire. Click to continue reading...

The Fire has confirmed an AP report that midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be leaving the club at the end of the year to join Mexican second division club Veracruz.

Blanco, who played for Veracruz in 2004, is in the final year of a three year contract he signed with the Fire prior to the 2007 season.

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I know, I know; we don't have any transfer funds. That seems to be the general consensus around the world when it comes to discussing Liverpool's prospects for signing a big name in the January window. Even without the transfer funds, that hasn't stopped a number of websites from linking us with some fantastic players [. Click to continue reading...

Rumours are intensifying concerning Valencia's (not to be confused with United's winger Valencia) two star players, David Silva and David Villa, joining Manchester United this January. According to reports from English tabloids, United are prepared to pay around 50M pounds for the pair, as Valencia are said to be prepared to sell them as the club [. Click to continue reading...

According to Fleet Street, Chelsea will launch an enormous transfer binge in January.
The FIFA transfer ban hasn't had much, if any, impact on the Chelsea gossip train – I guess journalists just aren't prepared to give up the stories that would fill hundreds of otherwise empty column inches every six months.

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According to Fleet Street, Chelsea will launch an enormous transfer binge in January.
The FIFA transfer ban hasn't had much, if any, impact on the Chelsea gossip train – I guess journalists just aren't prepared to give up the stories that would fill hundreds of otherwise empty column inches every six months.

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A pair of young prospects were linked over the weekend with imminent moves to the club. Firstly, Slovenian midfielder Rene Krhin - currently at Inter, who The People suggest is all but a done deal:

Krhin should join Hughes's revolution in the New Year, with City keen to do business now before he costs even more - and possibly appears in the World Cup finals for his country next summer.

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When discussing Manchester United's success over the past three seasons many people will point towards the mercurial talent of Cristiano Ronaldo as the cause for such riches. His gazillion goals, his one hundred stepovers a game, and his obsessive winking. He was the reason why United triumphed and climbed that rainbow where all the pots [. Click to continue reading...

Halloween will arrive in a few days, but for Atlético Madrid, this season has been a complete nightmare from the beginning. Los rojiblancos hit their low point with a dull thud on Saturday when they could not fend off a nine-man Mallorca team and settled for a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderón.

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"I'm god, I'm always right about everything", this speech was hold by Louis van Gaal in the dressing room in front of his players. The reality of course is a bit different; Bayern Munich must grapple with one of its biggest crisis in its club history.

At the beginning of the new season the Bayern officials praised their new coach Louis van Gaal as the most distinguished man in European football.

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I knew Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was supposed to be a heckuva soccer player, but now he's claimed on Twitter that he could actually go join pal Ronaldinho at AC Milan if the NFL experiences a work stoppage.Is this possible? Has anyone seen him play at a charity event or something?Watch... if he goes, suddenly everyone will be making "if they played soccer" XI's of guys playing other Click to continue reading...

Megson should be making a decision on the wonderfully named Camel Meriem soon. Meriem (or should I call him Camel?) arrived earlier this week (apparently in a "neat and tidy" condition) and the Ginger One said that he would decide near the end of the week what to do. Although I haven't been able to do much research on Meriem I do know he's 29, a Frenchman, and his first name's is Camel.

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Reports in this morning's papers – most notably on the back page of the Times – suggest that Chelsea are pushing the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to suspend FIFA's transfer ban while its appeal is being considered, freeing the club up to make purchases in January.
The Times' report suggests that Chelsea are already drawing up a list of targets which includes David Villa, Daniele De Rossi, Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson and, most worryingly, Emile Heskey.

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Reports in this morning's papers – most notably on the back page of the Times – suggest that Chelsea are pushing the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to suspend FIFA's transfer ban while its appeal is being considered, freeing the club up to make purchases in January.
The Times' report suggests that Chelsea are already drawing up a list of targets which includes David Villa, Daniele De Rossi, Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson and, most worryingly, Emile Heskey.

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According to The Chronicle, Newcastle United are tracking a 21 year old striker from Norway. The striker is a lad called Joakim Rudolfsen and he plays for Norway's famous third-tier Mo IL side. Apparently he was first spotted by Dennis Wise and has continued to be tracked by Norman Wooster, our Scandinavian scout. Click to continue reading...

He led his nation through qualifying, assisting in or scoring almost every big goal along the way. He impressed the world during the Confederations Cup, scoring a classic counter-attack goal against...

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Shortly after we posted up the much talked about Thierry Henry to RBNY rumors on the page, TheOffside Editor Daryl Grove took us all on a journalistic back tracking mission to disavow the validity of the headline, basically stating that the news was unsubstantiated, and that many journo's simply did not fact check their stories before running with them.

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Yes, I am a newly married man, and like many, I was wondering when the Red Bull organization would send me a gift for the momentous occasion. Well, here is a gift that I would willingly wait for, no matter how long it takes to receive it.

The Mail Online from England is reporting that Thierry Henry, Arsenal great and French legend, may be willing to choose Red Bull New York over a move to Manchester City.

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Robinho to join the Catalan giants?

Robinho has found himself in the middle of yet more speculation about his future this week. The latest rumours have him heading to Barcelona, which was previously talked about at the end of the summer.

The deal that is being discussed would be a £80 million swap which includes cash and players.

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I think I've found someone who can solve the country's fiscal woes. Just one primary question: are you at all concerned about an uprising?#1 - Get this. Well, maybe sit down first. You aren't ready for it, no matter how tough you think you are. Please table any glass ewers you may be holding. Your knees will wobble. Click to continue reading...

As speculation mounts about Chris Hughton's appointment as permanent Newcastle United manager, the man himself is chilled about the whole thing. The caretaker manager said: "I am very happy to do this job for as long as I am asked to do it. "Speculation about my future is something that I have very much got used to. Click to continue reading...

This doesn't please me. Apparently Benitez is keen on finishing 8th place as well. At least that's what will happen if he continues to concentrate his interest on donkeys. Take note Lucas Leiva. Emile Heskey is good for one thing, and one thing only. He's a big guy, a strong guy. Therefore, long, aerial balls could potentially [. Click to continue reading...