English football in 'shambles' shocker. With a major tournament around the corner, the FA intervene and strip John Terry of the England captain without consulting the manager. The manager resigns. England have no captain, no manager and naff all chance of winning Euro 2012.
In many ways, I don't blame Fabio Capello for leaving.

The John Terry controversies a complete list - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

John Terry on his day is one of the best central defenders in the Premier League, and certainly an important player for Chelsea and England.

However, the 31-year-old is in danger of missing out on Euro 2012, after being stripped of his nation's captaincy due to the ongoing allegations of racism against the Barking-born man.

Following John Terry's stripping of the England captaincy for the second and probably final time the man who briefly stepped into Terry's shoe's following his affair with Wayne Bridge's girl-friend has also ruled himself out of the running to replace the serial cheat.

Rio tweeted: "I don't want to be England captain after the last episode.

It happens to the best of us.

Well, not us personally, but it does occur nonetheless.

The gradual decline of attractiveness is a peculiar one, and we have to admit we've felt it happening to one of our former beloved 'ballers, Wayne Bridge.

Sure, his career has been nothing short of sinking ship, playing for three teams in as many years since parting ways with Chelsea FC.

Anton, or is that your name? Now, touch my skin. Worship it.

One should ask the FA why they did such a thorough job investigating Luis Suarez's racial abuse of Patrice Evra and then drop the ball on John Terry doing the same against Anton Ferdinand? Suarez gets an eight match ban, while Terry gets rewarded with a deferment of his trial till after the 2012 Euro is over and retains his captaincy of the Three Lions to boot.

John Terry Good Or Bad For England's Euro 2012 Campaign? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The extraordinary delays in a resolution to the Terry-Ferdinand affair have already resulted in the wholly unnecessary cop-out by the FA and the Premier League in asking Chelsea and QPR to forego handshakes in their recent league clash.

The transfer window for English club's slammed shut last night at 11pm, with Everton grabbing former midfielder Steven Pienaar from Tottenham on-loan on the final hour.
Harry Redknapp one of the shrewdest managers in the transfer market surprisingly signed injury prone Everton striker Louis Saha, also in the final hour after losing Roman Pavlychenko for £8m to Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow .

The transfer window came to a close yesterday with some very interesting signings across Europe. Once again attention was centred on the EPL where a host of clubs were keen on bolstering their squads for the remainder of the season.

However, it was to be a bitter sweet day for league leaders Manchester City who despite capturing Roma midfielder David Pizarro on loan, suffered a 1-0 away defeat to Everton.

The winter transfer window across Europe closed on Tuesday, and a number of teams -- not the usual big-spenders -- that were scrambling to fill vacancies and address needs for the second half of their respective seasons were able to add some valuable pieces to the puzzle.

Queens Park Rangers fall into that category, adding firepower in the form of former Lazio striker Djibril Cisse and Fulham forward Bobby Zamora.

After turning down a move to Celtic last summer, playing just 78 minutes of first team football with Man City this season and having his manager suggest that he now spends his Saturdays playing golf, Wayne Bridge has joined Sunderland on loan until the end of the season. Presumably, he will actually play football there.

The winter transfer window across Europe closed on Tuesday, and a number of teams -- not the usual big-spenders -- that were scrambling to fill vacancies and address needs for the second half of their respective seasons were able to add some valuable pieces to the puzzle.

Queens Park Rangers fall into that category, adding firepower in the form of former Lazio striker Djibril Cisse and Fulham forward Bobby Zamora.

The winter transfer window in Europe is set to close today, and teams are still scrambling to fill vacancies and address needs for the second half of their respective seasons.

While we don't seem likely to have any megastars making winter transfer moves, despite resurgent rumors of Carlos Tevez to AC Milan, there is still some serious talent changing addresses.

Arsenal have signed this guy to partner RVP. Alive and kicking?

If you are an Arsenal fan, your level of excitement should be deader than a dodo.

Wayne Bridge goes to Sunderland and Arsenal can heave a sigh of relief. Ravel Morrison, the Man Utd teenager with a self destructive streak but the skills of a young Paul Scholes, goes to West Ham.

By Chris Wright

The Sky Sports News 'Babelcopter' takes to the skies once again!

What with it being Transfer Deadline Day and all, we diligent folks at Pies are going to endeavour to keep you abreast of all the confirmed moves, rubber-stamped loans and the most goddamn ludicrous rumours that crop up until the window shuts tonight or at least until we can't be arsed any more.

It's here. Transfer deadline day. We'll be updating this post throughout the day with all the latest transfer deals, rumours and humorous observations on Sky Sports News' coverage. Leave your own rumours and reactions in the comments section below. 2.29pm: Spurs have an £18m bid for Loic Remy rejected, according to Marseille's chairman.

Chelsea's up coming against Queens Par Rangers will be the first meeting for both John Terry and Anton Ferdinand since claims that Terry racially abused Ferdinand surfaced last October.

And according to chief racism campaigner, Lord Herman Ouseley, he expects the duo to diffuse the tension surrounding the incident by shaking hands during the customary pre match formalities.

By Chris Wright

While his club are urging him to, there is still a fair old wodge of uncertainty as to whether Anton Ferdinand will shake John Terry's hand before QPR's FA Cup tie against Chelsea at Loftus Road on Saturday.

As you will be all-too-well aware by now, Terry is due to attend a hearing at West London magistrates court four days after the match on charges of racially abusing Ferdinand after referring to the QPR centre-half as a 'farting black klutz' or something similar when the two sides met in the Premier League back on October 23rd of last year.

It looks like it could be a race between Sebastien Bassong and Giovani Dos Santos to be the first through the White Hart Lane exit door this month with our defender being the first dissenting voice of this transfer window.

Bassong could have gone to Bolton as part of a Gary Cahill deal in the summer but a more likely destination could be QPR, who have been linked with most of the fringe defenders in the Premiership.

I wish I could furnish you today with news of multiple transfers, but alas I live in the real world. There is very little out there to report.
Looking through this list on Football 365, you realise that we're not alone. There is very little movement happening anywhere in the prem, even at Man City.

Here is one for you: Andrey Arshavin has become the athlete of the year for the fourth year in a row according to a body known as the all-Russian public opinion research center. No, I am not making this up (for once). It says so, here, in black and white on AA23′s very own website.

Now, I really want to like our little Russian.

Arsene Wenger has constantly admitted that he just needed a "short-term" solution to Arsenal's defensive injury problems, and he has now made it clear that he will be taking someone on until the end of the season. Wenger said: "I do not want to go for a permanent solution because we have to pay all [.

Arsene Wenger has been asked about whether there is any news on the Arsenal transfer front, and he again stated that he is likely to bring in a loan player (Wayne Bridge?). Wenger said: "At the moment nothing, we don't have a concrete case but we don't rule it out," "A loan defender is the [...]

Arsene Wenger has been asked about whether there is any news on the Arsenal transfer front, and he again stated that he is likely to bring in a loan player (Wayne Bridge?). Wenger said: "At the moment nothing, we don't have a concrete case but we don't rule it out," "A loan defender is the [...]

Arsene Wenger has made it clear that a temporary signing of a left-back is an immediate priority for Arsenal before the Gunners play their next League game against Swansea, and it seems that he could be close to signing one, according to the Metro this evening. There are three top-class left-backs on the market right [.

Theo Knows

A bit of a break before the Monday FA Cup third round tie against Leeds United. After a hectic last one week of football, it's a welcomed breather for the team. 7 out of 12 points from our last 4 games is not ideal but it isn't bad either. Could've been more had the team not collapse in the last part of the Fulham game.

Losing to Fulham to start 2012 hurt but it has hopefully served as a wakeup call for Arsene Wenger that his side cannot continue to challenge for the top four without recognised fullbacks. The regulars are out injured and have been for a considerable time. Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson are on the treatment table for the foreseeable future so now the January transfer window is open, Wenger must invest.

As City wheel and deal in another transfer window, Samir Nasri falls further down the pecking order. And he just joined. Think how early-adopter Wayne Bridge feels.

It's hard to watch several leagues simultaneously, which somewhat tempers the distaste for the phenomenon of sugardaddied Manchester City and makes the team an intriguing entity to behold.

John Terry's BFF, Wayne Bridge rumoured to be on Wenger's radar

A bridge to nowhere. With Thomas Vermaelen out with a calf strain, there is officially no left back specialist left on the Arsenal senior roster. In the match Wenger subbed off Vermaelen replacing him with Francis Coquelin who looked a bit suspect when tracking back but looked in his element pushing up the channel.

Wayne Bridge apparently didn't really enjoy the statement made by his manager at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, who sort of hinted that the player's persistence in staying with the Eastlands is only because of money.

In contrary to Mancini's previous explanation about how Bridge continuously refuses several offer, the wing back insisted that it's the club who worried more about cash than he ever did.

Injury problems and also the upcoming African Cup most likely will force Arsene Wenger make some activity in the January transfer market especially in covering the full back and striker positions.

Arsenal are set to lose Gervinho along with Marouane Chamakh for the African Cup, while their main full backs such as Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson are all injured.

Player-Manager sideshows are interesting to say the least and it seems like Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has gotten himself involved in another spat with an unhappy player.

The dust from the Tevez debacle is yet to settle and already the Italian tactician is involved in a war of words with defender Wayne Bridge.

The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, recently accosted the Manchester City player Wayne Bridge for, apparently, seeming to be happy and content at being nothing more than a paid squad member at the Manchester club. Wayne Bridge never features, is rarely even on the bench, and is not highly valued by his coach.

I've been banging the drum about the need for new signings for a while now, so I suppose it's time for me to actually come up with a few suggestions. I'm going to stick to players I've actually seen play - a revolutionary concept on the internet, I know.
* Gary Cahill
I suppose this is just worthy mentioning briefly, if nothing else because it's not going to happen.

Having a footballer that thinks more about money more than playing seems to irritate Manchester City's manager, Roberto Mancini, who publicly suggested those who didn't have a place in his team to accept playing at other teams, despite having lower payment.

The player that Mancini refer to is Wayne Bridge, who have been rejecting several offers in the summer and continue staying at City despite not being considered as part of the first team member.

"No, Anton, I said I caught a bleak and a carp." John Terry is in a row with his neighbours over his plans to build a fishing pond at his £10million Surrey mansion, according to Mirror Football. The England skipper is seeking planning ­permission to develop a "featureless paddock" on the seven-acre plot, claiming it [.

The England national football team will jet off to Poland and Ukraine next summer with the hope of achieving something their forbearers have not. Namely, winning the European Football Championship. Yet the inhabitants of Krakow and Kiev would be hard pressed to place a cigarette paper between our brave English Lions, with their matching suits, [.

Arsenal defender Andre Santos is set to be missing from action for three months, the club has just announced.

A report on the website says: "Arsenal Football Club can confirm that, following investigations and subsequent medical opinions by Club specialists, left-back Andre Santos will have surgery to repair ligament damage in his right ankle sustained in the game against Olympiacos last week.

Arsenal defender Andre Santos is set to be missing from action for three months, the club has just announced.

A report on the website says: "Arsenal Football Club can confirm that, following investigations and subsequent medical opinions by Club specialists, left-back Andre Santos will have surgery to repair ligament damage in his right ankle sustained in the game against Olympiacos last week.

After a few weeks off due to international breaks and facing sides nobody really cares about—or ones we simply find too distasteful to bother talking to—Tea and Crumpets decided it was about time to shake off the rust, so we headed out for a bite and a chat with Graham MacAree of We Ain't Got No History, one of the more approachable Chelsea sorts out there and also our boss.

England: John Terry no longer needed - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

England face Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday as Fabio Capello looks to sign off 2011 in a flourish. On Saturday England claimed a deserved 1-0 victory against, World Champions Spain, which will be remembered as one of the highlights of a successful year for the Three Lions.