Berbatov could stay, says Spurs sporting director

August 29, 2008

LONDON (AFP) – Dimitar Berbatov could still stay at Tottenham despite the Bulgaria striker’s determination to join Manchester United, according to the club’s sporting director Damien Comolli.

Berbatov was left out of the Spurs squad for last weekend’s defeat against Sunderland after handing in a transfer request, but he has been training with the team this week and Comolli insisted boss Juande Ramos has no desire to lose his star striker.

Asked if Berbatov would still be at Spurs when the transfer window closes, Comolli told Sky Sports News: “I hope so, of course.

“He’s a very good player and, as Juande (Ramos) has said many times, we’re delighted he’s with us.

“I don’t really want to comment about speculation, but we just hope he’s going to stay.”

Even if Berbatov does stay, Tottenham appear to be pressing ahead with their bid to sign Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who was pictured arriving at London’s Heathrow airport on Friday.

Comolli refused to be drawn on that transfer and added: “We will comment and will let you know when we’ve got news.”

Writtend By :AFP

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Premier League Predictions: Gameweek 3

August 29, 2008

Can we not talk about last week’s predictions please? Well I guess you want to laugh at me with the same intensity I kicked my own backside. Only five predictions correct (eleven of twenty so far this season), missed the banker entirely (one for two on banker predictions). The only two solaces I had was placing the insurance chip on a game that lost me no points (two for two in that category) and getting one score right on the nose (so far the only one this season). Even doing better than Mark Lawrenson didn’t comfort how bad I was last week.So here’s this weekend’s installment of predictions banker to insurance. Again all times are Eastern and replay times are subject to change without notice.

Banker Game: Chelsea v Tottenham (Sunday 8:30 am Setanta Sports. Replays: Sunday 7 pm, Monday 6 pm, Tuesday 12:45 pm, Wednesday 2:45 pm). I almost feel for Tottenham right now as they are stuck with a sourpuss in Berbatov, and problems scoring goals. I have a feeling Chelsea are going to run riot over Tottenham. Oh and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a red or two here. Chelsea 3 Tottenham 0.

Bolton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion (Saturday 10 am. Setanta Sports Saturday 2:15 pm, Sunday 4:15 pm, Monday 8 am, Tuesday 9:15 am, Wednesday 12:45 pm, Thursday 11 am). I see this game going one of two ways depending on if Elmander plays. If he’s passed fit and plays, I don’t see this being much of a contest. If he doesn’t play, it will be a tight little affair. West Brom though have nothing up front and Bolton should pick up the result. Bolton Wanderers 1 West Bromwich Albion 0.

Hull City v Wigan Athletic (Saturday 10 am. No TV). Hull City have to be riding the highest of highs after their first two results while Wigan have been ‘so close but yet so far’ in their first two. I don’t see much changing here. Well maybe Dean Windass finally getting on the park. Hull City 2 Wigan Athletic 1.

Middlesbrough v Stoke City (Saturday 10 am. Setanta Sports 4 pm, Monday 11 am & 2:45 pm, Thursday 6:15 am and 12:45 pm). I think Middlesbrough will take the lessons learned from last week and apply them here. Stoke City will give them a fight that’s for sure, but I see Mido yet again proving the difference with a late winner, possibly in second half injury time. Middlesbrough 2 Stoke City 1.

Arsenal v Newcastle United (Saturday 12:15 Fox Soccer Channel. Replay: Monday 1 pm). This game proves to be an interesting one. Arsenal looked good midweek but have looked absolutely awful in their first two Premier League games. Maybe Wednesday was good for them, but at the same time Newcastle have Michael Owen working back to being fully fit and we saw how dangerous he was last weekend. That said however, Arsenal at home should do the business. Arsenal 2 Newcastle United 0.

Sunderland v Manchester City (Sunday 10 am. Fox Soccer Channel 4:30 pm). I see Manchester City struggling on the road all season. Sunderland is looking a decent side that despite losing their home opener to Liverpool, should get their fair share of results at home. The only question I have for Sunderland is who do they start up front. Even with that said, Sunderland should get the three points. Sunderland 3 Manchester City 1.

West Ham United v Blackburn Rovers (Saturday 10 am Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Broadband 2. Replay Wednesday 3 am). West Ham were ripped apart last weekend but the comforts of home could do them good. Jason Roberts is starting to emerge as a second option with Roque Santa Cruz, and that should worry most Premier League teams. I expect one of them to nab a late game winner. West Ham United 0 Blackburn Rovers 1.

Everton v Portsmouth (Saturday 10 am. Setanta Sports from 9:45 am. Replays: 5:45 pm, Sunday 2:15 pm, Monday 12:45 pm, Tuesday 2:45 pm, Thursday 10:30 am). Tough game for me to call. If it had to be said, I seriously thought about putting my insurance chip on this game. However Portsmouth are struggling mightily up front and Everton at home should have just enough to take all three points. Everton 1 Portsmouth 0.

Insurance Game of the Week: Aston Villa v Liverpool (Sunday 11 am Fox Soccer Channel. Replay Thursday 3 pm). This game has Liverpool late winner written all over it to me, but I’ve just got a gut feeling Aston Villa was share the spoils. Either way, expect there to be plenty of tension. Aston Villa 2 Liverpool 2.

These are my thoughts on the weekend, what are yours?

Source EPLTalk

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How Chelsea Ruined Shaun Wright-Phillips

August 29, 2008

The way Chelsea Football Club ruined Shaun Wright-Phillips is a travesty.

Go back in time to 2005 and the dimunitive winger was tearing down the right wing at the City Of Manchester Stadium. The player was such a joy to watch as he took on players and went on mazy runs often beating two or three opponents. His form at the time was simply spectacular and I was recommending that he be selected for the 2006 World Cup team and to start instead of David Beckham.

Three years later, Wright-Phillips has returned to Manchester City after mostly sitting on the bench at Chelsea for three years. The player got few starts. After not playing for so long, it was obvious that the confidence he had at City and the speed down the right wings had disappeared.

Reportedly one of the main reasons Chelsea bought Wright-Phillips in the first place was to prevent the winger from joining Liverpool, who would have obviously benefitted immensely from a player of his calibre. Instead, one year later, Liverpool signed Jermaine Pennant, a poor man’s version of Wright-Phillips.

Now that the winger is back at Manchester City, I really hope the player can regain his form and get a consistent amount of appearances under his belt as well as getting back into the England squad. Wright-Phillips has a lot to prove and hopefully, under Mark Hughes’s tutelage, the winger can improve the one part of the game he continually is weak in: putting in that killer cross.

Source EPLTalk

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Cheryl Cole Goes Back to the Hood, so to Speak!

August 29, 2008

Cheryl Cole and her hubby went to see Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson in his stage debut last night.

Cheryl and Ashley went to see the young dancer who is currently starring in West End show ‘Into The Hood’.

The WAG looked fabulous as usual in a black shirt, high waisted jeans and some red patent boots that certainly made a statement.

I’m not keen on them personally, what do you think?

Source WagsBlog

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Poll: 2008 UEFA Super Cup – Do You Care?

August 29, 2008

Tonight is the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco. For the uninitiated, this is a game between the Champions League winners and the UEFA Cup winners. Why? I’m not sure. It’s certainly not to decide the best team in Europe, since the two competitions are so unevenly matched.

Best way to think of it is more like Europe’s Community Shield/Super Coppa/Supercopa/Trophée des champions etc. That kind of thing.

This year it’s Man Utd vs Zenit St Petersburg, with both teams seemingly keen to win the thing. It’s actually not a bad looking trophy. But – whether you support either of these teams or not – do you care about the UEFA Super Cup?

Vote below:

UEFA Super Cup 2008

Source TheOffside
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The Ankle and the Miss-hape

August 29, 2008

Let me state the obvious: Terry’s miss in Moscow was infinitely more tormenting for him than Jesus’ one for him. This was Supercoppa. And while every Romanista would have been thoroughly pleased with another one, very few would be aggravated at Totti for his penalty.

No. What mattered more was the knock he took from Maicon and the fact that he won’t be playing in Derby del Sole this weekend. In my last post I said that I was worried ever since he came on against Frosinone because of his knack to return to the game in half amount of the predicted healing time. Please, Francesco, if resting you for even another *month* is better for your health, we won’t mind it at all. You don’t have to play against Palermo by any means. You don’t even have to play in the group stages (I’m pretty sure rest of the boys can make it past Bordeaux and Cluj at least). You need not worry about the missed penalty or the Capocannonaire title for next season. Worry about that ankle instead. I think I may have to compile a list of injuries he has sustained over the past 2.5 years and see how many of them are on the same leg. If the answer is staggering and does prove that he got more of them because of having minimal rest, I may get some guys from Offside and fly to Italy to take over medical duties at Trigoria by shooting down all the current staff first.

Source TheOffside
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CL/UEFA Cup Draw: Luca Toni’s Reunion and Trips to Romania

August 29, 2008

The qualification rounds of this year’s European competitions concluded yesterday.

The good news is, that no Bundesliga team has been knocked out yet. The bad news is, that Schalke made the overcrowded UEFA Cup even more overcrowded, by losing to Atletico Madrid (1-0 / 0-4). I give them credit that they were missing five starting XI regulars due to injury though – two of which were the big money signings. Still, they looked particularly nervous and devoid of confidence in the second leg, and Kevin Kuranyi keeps scheduling his big performances for the odd Energie Cottbus home game.

Those following the Champions League ugly little sister will also be happy to hear that the convoluted and chaotic UEFA Cup qualification rounds are over. That means you only have to wrap your head around the convoluted and chaotic UEFA Cup itself from now on.

Said UEFA Cup, features a pre-group stage knock-out round and the Bundesliga sides were pitted against the following opposition.

Hertha BSC Berlin – St. Patrick´s Athletic (Ireland)
VfL Wolfsburg – Rapid Bucharest (Romania)
Apoel Nikosia (Cyprus) – Schalke 04
Tscherno More Warna (Bulgaria) – VfB Stuttgart
Borussia Dortmund – Udinese Calcio (Italy)
Hamburger SV – FC Unirea Urziceni (Romania)

Wolfsburg and Dortmund were unseeded and picked up the toughest opponents compared to the other Bundesliga sides. Also, only Schalke and Stuttgart get to play their second leg at home, which is usually considered an advantage.

Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich where meanwhile drawn into the following groups:

Group B
Inter Milan (Italy)
Werder Bremen
Panathinaikos (Greece)
Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)

Group F
Lyon (France)
Bayern Munich
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Fiorentina (Italy)

If Bremen hadn’t blundered against a Greek team last season, I would say that this is a manageable draw for Bremen. Lyon and Fiorentina could pose a problem to Bayern in their current form.

All in all, plenty of Romanian and Italian sides to visit this year. Luca Toni will be especially pleased to meet his former club mates, after missing out on this chance in the UEFA Cup last season.

Source TheOffside
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New Forums

August 29, 2008

Hey Liverpool monkeys, if you haven’t registered on the new Offside/World Cup Blog Forums, do it. Pick a fight, stab someone in the eye, or just have a nice conversation over tea.

So how do you get on these new awesome forums? Click Here, then register. Show your support for the Reds… or else!

Source TheOffside
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Marching on Together match preview Bristol Rovers

August 29, 2008

Leeds is staring at a critical match Saturday with Bristol Rovers visiting Elland Road. With Bristol holding a one-point advantage over Leeds at the eight spot in the table, Gary McAllister’s club cannot afford to drop points. After only three matches Oldham and Leicester are already showing themselves as the class of the early League One season and Leeds needs to keep up with them.

Bristol is coming off a 6-1 destruction of woeful Hereford, that looks like it is ready to skip the campaign, do not pass go and go immediately to League Two. While I believe Bristol is a fine squad, that could make a serious run for a playoff sport, this match was a one-off, akin to Leeds pummeling of Chester City.

They will stack and pack the midfield with a 3-5-2 but for the most part, do not have the pace to truly counter-attack against Leeds. Their highly disciplined play and organization structure in lines is their strong-suit as well as set-plays but for the most part their strike-force is slightly lacking offensive firepower and creativity in the midfield. However they will sternly capitalize on errors and create absolute havoc on set plays and Leeds will need to be much sharper defending corners or Rickie Lambert, in particular, will light up the score-sheet. Leeds needs to mark him tightly as it’ll greatly compromise Bristols attack and equally be more disciplined in the back-line. Clearly Paul Telfer should be in the starting grid for Leeds and lock-down this concern.

While I am being highly repetitive, Leeds needs to use the same or the near the same lineup used against Crystal Palace with a highly aggressive attacking style. Bristol will attempt to slow the pace of the match down but if controlled and at a high work-rate, Leeds will be rip open their defensive wall as easy as Crystal Palace, with the same results.

I will be posting a full review after the match concludes. Until then, We’re Marching On Together.

Source TheOffside
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Porto Champions League draw

August 29, 2008

Porto was draw into Group G of the Champions League with Ukraine powerhouse Dynamo Kyiv which devastated Spartak Moscow to advance, Arsenal of England’s Premier League and the Luis Aragonés-led Fenerbahçe of the Turkcell Süper Lig. The match listing is as follows:

Matchday One – Sep 17
Porto – Fenerbahçe SK

Matchday Two – Sep 30
Arsenal FC – FC Porto

Matchday Three – Oct 21
Porto – Dynamo Kyiv

Matchday Four – Nov 5
Dynamo Kyiv – FC Porto

Matchday Five – Nov 25
Fenerbahçe – Porto

Matchday Six – Dec 10
Porto – Arsenal

Source TheOffside
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