The Football Association have charged Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson with improper conduct on Thursday.Ferguson was quoted by club channel MUTV as stating he ‘feared the worst’ when he saw referee Martin Atkinson was to take charge for United’s English Premier League clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, before commenting that his side failed to get ‘a fair referee or a strong referee anyway’.The comments were fuelled by Atkinson’s decision not to send off Chelsea’s David Luiz, despite the Brazilian seeming to trip United striker Wayne Rooney while on a yellow card.To rub salt in United’s wounds, the central referee later gave captain Nemanja Vidic his marching orders in second-half injury time, ruling the centre-back out of his side’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday.The 69-year-old Ferguson looks likely to face a two-game touchline ban when his case is heard next week, with the ban delayed given the FA regards such a case as ‘non-standard’.The Scot’s two-game ban is likely given he served two of a suspended four-match ban last season for comments regarding referee Alan Wiley’s fitness.The delay in enforcing the punishment means Ferguson will be allowed in the technical area at Anfield.
Liverpool have agreed a deal in principle with Rangers for teenage defender Danny Wilson.
The 18-year-old had been due to fly out with the rest of the Gers squad for their pre-season tour of Australia but will now remain in the UK to finalise the transfer.
Chief executive Martin Bain said of Wilson, who had just 12 months of his Ibrox contract remaining:"We have agreed a deal in principle with Liverpool for the transfer of Danny Wilson.
"Liverpool's offer will see the club receive £2million up front with add-ons linked to games played taking the total value of the deal to £5million.
"Danny was entering the final year of his contract with the club and had indicated that he felt it was in his interests to move on.
"Given that and the value of the offer from Liverpool, it was deemed appropriate to accept that offer given the player wanted to go.
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"We are aware that with Kevin Thomson and Danny leaving the club in the last week that there is a need to add to the first-team squad."
Wilson made his debut for Walter Smith's side nine months ago and went on to start 24 first-team matches for the club last season.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Chelsea’s on-loan goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has claimed that he would like to play for either Tottenham Hotspur or Fulham in the future.
Courtois, who has been identified by Chelsea as the long-term successor to Petr Cech, is currently on a year’s loan with Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid.
The 19-year-old claimed that he is likely to spend a further year with Atletico before hopefully landing a temporary deal with Spurs or Fulham.
“Chelsea told me that I would spend two years in a team like Atletico. At the moment it is only one year, but if they want me for a second Chelsea are fine with that,” Courtois told Onda Cero.
“After that I would then spend one more season with an English club, like Fulham or Tottenham, to allow me to adapt to the English league.”
Courtois has kept five clean sheets in seven La Liga games this season.
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Article courtesy of Matt Wood from the excellent Clean Sheets All Round
It’s a rarity this weekend as we have a full Premier League programme to enjoy, with teams battling for places from the top to the very bottom of the Premier League table. The match that stands out is the one at Anfield on Sunday, with Liverpool and Manchester United going head-to-head and you can bet that the Reds would love to put a dent in Sir Alex Ferguson’s title hopes. Elsewhere Arsenal will look to put the pressure on the Red Devils at The Emirates Stadium against Sunderland, while the West Midlands derby between Birmingham and West Brom at St Andrew’s has big implications at the bottom of the Premier League table. Here is what the experts think…
Continue to the NEXT PAGE for the predictions in full …
Andy Dunn (News of the World)
Arsenal V Sunderland – H
Birmingham V West Brom – A
Blackpool V Chelsea – A
Bolton V Aston Villa – H
Fulham V Blackburn – H
Liverpool V Man United – A
Man City V Wigan – H
Newcastle V Everton – A
West Ham V Stoke – H
Wolves V Tottenham – H
City v Wigan: Wigan’s defending last weekend was amongst the worst I’ve ever seen in the Premier League. If they take that form into this game, they’ll lose – Manchester City win.
Birmingham v West Brom: Birmingham are better than their league position suggests and they will be hugely bouyed up by their Carling Cup success.
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Bolton v Villa: Villa’s disappointing FA Cup exit at Manchester City should spur them into a backlash against Bolton – especially as Gerard Houllier left many of his big guns on the bench against City and will have cup-tied Darren Bent available again.
Last weekend’s 1-1 draw with the USA didn’t exactly represent the best of starts for England in the 2010 World Cup. All the anticipation and excitement for the tournament was lost when ‘keeper Rob Green somehow let in Clint Dempsey’s tame shot. The more and more it was replayed on TV the harder it got to watch, but will he get his chance to redeem himself against Algeria? Although Fabio Capello’s men weren’t dreadful, they were far from brilliant and will have to step up their performance in their second Group C encounter. But what did Westwood think of the match?
The big dawg himself, Radio 1Xtra DJ Tim Westwood has decided to turn his hand to football journalism for the 2010 World Cup and is producing a weekly column exclusively for the News of the World. Signed up for his straight-talking, Westwood certainly delivers with both barrels in his first blog where Green and the rest of the England team fail to avoid the criticism handed out by the big dawg. There’s no sign of Westwood easing himself in gently, he’s certainly not afraid to let us know what he thinks!
He airs his views after watching the first few games of what has admittedly been a slow start to the 2010 Word Cup in South Africa. Westwood’s take on England’s lacklustre performance was that the overpaid players were lacking the emotion needed to take them far in the tournament, while he doesn’t hold back when it comes to Rob Green. The big dawg’s heart is ruling his head when it comes to his thoughts on England’s chances, which maybe could be improved by taking a leaf out of Tiger Woods’ book…
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To read Tim Westwood’s first contribution to his exclusive News of the World column in full head to: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/world_cup/848429/Tim-Westwoods-first-exclusive-World-Cup-blog.html
We’ve now enjoyed a wonderful 20 years of Premier League football since it’s inception in 1992/93. In that time we’ve seen wonderful foreign players ranging from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo to Thierry Henry, not to mention the English stalwarts of the division like Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney. Manchester United have inevitably dominated during the modern era, overhauling rivals Liverpool’s record of 18 league titles and Arsenal have been their main rivals from an early stage.
However, we’ve seen challenges from certain money rich clubs to the dominance of those two sides, with Blackburn initially spending Jack Walker’s millions to land the title before Roman’s Russian revolution of Chelsea saw them catapult their way into the upper echelons of English football. However, Manchester City have now joined the elite, winning their first Premier League title thanks to their oil rich owners. In two decades, England’s top flights has seen tons of goals, assists, bookings, saves, corners and all the rest and to celebrate 20 years of Premier League football, we bring you the best 20 Premier League stats.
Click on Alan Shearer to unveil the top 20 stats from the Premier League
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With player power playing a more significant role in transfers these days it’s not common to hear of a footballer forcing a move for himself for those so called ‘football reasons.’
It’s becoming all too common seeing a player cry on in a newspaper or tweet he’s ‘gone as far as he could’ or ‘wants a bigger challenge’ in an attempt to engineer a transfer to a desired club. In a few rare circumstances these reasons are valid but 99% of the time money is the key motivation for moving.
Players crave the highest wage possible and clubs are struggling to meet their sky high demands. It makes better financial sense to give a player the move he wants rather than having him linger round a stadium he doesn’t want to call home any longer.
The lengths that some players go to in an effort to force through a transfer are at times comical. Scanning twitter to find a player beaming widely into a camera whilst lugging his expensive bag off an airport conveyer belt or spotting them having a secret meeting with the manager trying to sign them then walking out none the wiser when the flashbulbs are glaring are funny.
But 99% of the time their actions could pop the blood vessel that is quickly becoming more and more prominent on the brow of fans. Threats of striking, ridiculous twittering and lacklustre performances are all traits of a player who wants out. Fans crave loyalty in an age where players pledging their allegiances to a side means absolutely zilch. It all boils down to money and players engineer their moves to get the best deal for them even if it means moving to a team lower down the league.
So here you have it the Top TEN rogues who engineered their own transfer!
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Arsenal fans are currently in jubilant mood following the Gunners’ 2-1 victory over La Liga champions Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium last night in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League. The performance from Arsene Wenger’s men certainly impressed a lot of fans, including Arsenal’s rivals for the Premier League title: Manchester United. Here is the match from the perspective of a Man United fan…
Preamble
So the first leg of a potentially pulsating 2-legged knockout tie lived up to the hype and some, proof that maybe Tyldesley isn’t as bad as his Sky counterparts when it comes to over hyping games that inevitably result in drab affairs with barely a sniff of regular goal-scoring opportunities. That said after reflecting on the game, one can’t help but feel a little smug that Barcelona .. the prophets of football were brought down to earth by what many consider the false prophets, a brief playing out of the reformation if you like.. mighty infallible Catholics, found fallible by the Protestants who themselves were just as full of shit as their predecessors.
Anyway a brief recap of both sides tactical set up before we delve into the nitty gritty… Both sides were typical 4-3-3 with interchangeable forwards and scoring on the counter-attack after winning the ball high up the pitch was the name of the game. After a frantic opening exchange in which Arsenal briefly had the upper hand it soon settled into a rather predictable one sided rampage with Barcelona threatening to deflower the Gunners in a brutal manner reminiscent of last years showdown… thankfully for the Arse, they improved in the second half, displaying a hitherto not seen resolve and they took it to the superstars of Catalonia, grabbing two well-deserved goals, the latter which will live long in the memory. Without further ado, here are 5 Things I Noticed…
1. Predictable Walcott
After all the talk about how Barcelona feared the searing speed of ‘THE One’, and were soiling their pants at the thought of how to shackle him, one would not have been blamed for thinking in the summer Arsenal would be more worried about losing Walcott to the Nou Camp Necromancers, rather than their much sought after Captain.
Despite a promising opening in which he showed pretty nifty close control, taking on a few defenders before laying it off to Fabregas who proceeded to lift it over the Barcelona back line locating Van Persie, who was then thwarted by Valdes, Walcott soon lost his lustre and was met with the usual tactic utilised by opponents intent on snuffing him out… sitting back and cutting off the space he can run in behind, and forcing him to be more cute and clever. Its the sort of tactic that has been employed by the likes of Patrice Evra, one which nearly always works and one that Theo has not really showed any signs of overcoming.
What Walcott lacks is quality footwork, more precisely a few tricks in his locker and furthermore he doesn’t utilise his weaker foot enough which renders him rather predictable and devoid of ideas when robbed of his usual tactic of kicking it past a defender and running fast into the space in behind. If Arsenal had Nani in their side tonight on the right wing, the score could’ve been even more devastating in Arsenal’s favour.
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2. Wizardly Wilshere
An excellent display last night, in a role which was more befitting of his talent and experience than the one he was told to take up for England the other night against markedly inferior opponents than Barcelona. Alongside a more mobile defensive midfielder, Wilshere was given licence to break free when in possession instead of having to be careful, conservative and playing the easy pass backwards.
Last night his excellent first touch, brilliant one touch passing, vision and ability to run with the ball all caught the eye, not to mention his quality turns in tight spaces under pressure, reminiscent of another Englishman Paul Scholes. To put in such a beguiling effortless display in such a heated atmosphere (by Emirates standards) and to even stick the foot in with precise tackling when required to, was simply put.. magical.
3. Colossus Koscielny
It is a rare sight to see Arsenal win a game of consequence, a rarer sight still to witness an Arsenal defender garner a great deal of plaudits for his tough no-nonsense defensive display. On a CL week of firsts, (Tottenham showing tactical astuteness and a great deal of grit & determination) Koscielny proved himself to be money well spent earlier in the summer and the wall which Barcelona struggled to climb over.
He possesses a fair bit of pace, a decent amount of strength and is very much Wenger’s version of Vidic-lite to Vermaleans ‘Rio’ impression. That said he has struggled over the course of the season which is fair enough considering its his début season, Gunners fans will hope this coming of age display will settle him down and make him feel like he’s an integral part of the first team for this season and beyond.
Continue to the NEXT PAGE…
4. The Barcelona Triumvirate
We are constantly told by certain footballing aficionados that without Xavi/Iniesta.. Messi would be found wanting and that the recent World Cup was proof of that particular axiom, I on the other hand thought the Argentine was rather impressive despite not hitting the unrealistic heights expected of him by the majority of the footballing world.
Last night despite a 25 min spell in the first half where Xavi and Iniesta pulled the strings with consummate ease, the majority of the game was about Arsenal shackling the all-powerful Messi and creating their own havoc, having successfully subdued the illustrious midfield duo who are usually responsible for providing the foundations behind most of Barcelona’s victories.
It’s not hyperbole to claim that Fabregas and Wilshere outplayed their World-Class counterparts tonight, pressing them if not into mistakes, than more conservative passes than they would usually make and preventing them from recieving as much possession as they would usually be accustomed to. Messi on the other hand, remained Barcelona’s ‘Go To’ player, constantly on the ball, running in between defenders and if not racking up efforts on goal then he was at least slotting team mates in with numerous well-disguised through passes and was unfortunate to have bagged himself a brace.. a brace which would’ve ended that wretched run of having scored no goals in England. He’ll be back in the return leg though, don’t you worry about that.
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5. The Arsenal Triumvirate
In the first half I tweeted, ‘Van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri need to up their game #Arsenal’… little did I know Wenger used my Twitter as a motivational tool at half time.
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In the initial 45 minutes, we were subjected to a out of sorts, still injured Nasri.. not really running directly at the opposition as we know he can, and reluctant to put the ball into the box, likewise Van Persie was also very cumbersome and the pace of the game seemed like it was too much for him and his usually assured touch and underrated heading ability seemed to have deserted him… there were calls in some corners for the introduction of Bendtner.. which would sum up his first half display.
As for Fabregas, whilst he was still pretty influential he was guilty of being caught on the ball in dangerous areas and not the sharpest of players in the final third. He like the aforementioned players, was a man transformed in the second half and if the likes of Wilshere came of age.. the same could be said for this particular trio of players, all of whom are considered very talented yet still to break through into the elite category of the Worlds leading footballers.
Van Persies finish past Valdes was fortunate but also intelligent, in that he seized onto the fact that Valdes had anticipated a cross and left his near post gaping wide… Fabregas’ through ball to unleash Nasri was mesmeric and typically Cesc… and Nasri topped it off with a composed pass across the box, perfectly weighted for Arshavin to expertly tuck away into the right hand corner.
Conclusion (looking towards the 2nd Leg..):
So a gutsy, one of those magical ‘I was there’ nights for the Arsenal. The question is… was this a one off Arsenal flukey display or a genuine coming of age performance which will mark a watershed for the gunners and propel them to the next level.
The answer in my opinion is that Arsenal have undoubtedly progressed in comparison to last season, Wilshere gives their Midfield a new dimension, Nasri likewise has developed into a pivotal figure, Szczesny looks the real deal so far in the problem area of goalkeeper and Koscielny might finally settle down and become the perfect partner for Vermalean if he ever overcomes injury. That said.. the Nou Camp might prove a step too far and one can’t see Barcelona struggling to score goals. The return of Puyol could go one of two ways, one outcome could be that they could tad tighter at the back, but on the other hand will their lack of pace defensively come back to haunt them and will this win give Arsenal the confidence to see it out and expose Barcelona’s shortcomings. The Stage is set for a quite wondrous finale….
Last week, I charted the careers of ten Championship Manager cult heroes who had failed to reach the big time. This week, I’ll be looking at another ten virtual sensations who found footballing success elusive…
Ibrahima Bakayoko
Age: 33
Current Club: PAS Giannina
Country/Caps: Ivory Coast/45
CM said: Africa’s greatest ever player
In reality: Known as ‘Baka-Joke-O’ and ‘Yoko-OhNo!’ amongst Everton fans, PAS Giannina forward Ibrahima Bakayoko has carved himself a reputation as somewhat of a journeyman. An infamous late ‘90s spell at Everton was unfruitful, with the Ivorian bagging just four league goals for the Merseyside outfit after a £4.5m move from French side Montpellier. After eight months in England, Bakayoko returned to France, where he enjoyed a moderately successful four-year stay at Marseille.
Bakayoko, scorer of 30 goals in 45 appearances for the Ivory Coast, enjoyed varying degrees of success throughout the noughties, having turned out for Osasuna, FC Istres, Livorno, Messina, Larissa and PAOK.
Bojan Djordjic
Age: 28
Current Club: AIK
Country/Caps: Sweden/0
CM said: the eventual successor to David Beckham at Old Trafford
In reality: After being awarded the ‘Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year’ award in 2000, big things were expected from the then 18-year-old Bojan Djordjic. The Serbian-born former Swedish U21 international left Manchester United having made just two senior appearances in six years at the club, with this time punctuated by loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday, AGF, Red Star Belgrade and Rangers.
Djordjic moved to Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer, where he made 40 appearances over the course of two years at Home Park. However, Djordjic was placed on the transfer list by manager Ian Holloway due to his lax attitude, and eventually moved to Swedish side AIK, where he recently helped the club to the first league and cup double in their history.
Gareth Jelleyman
Age: 29
Current Club: Unattached
Country/Caps: Wales/0
CM said: The Welsh Roberto Carlos
In reality: Tipped as one for the future during his Peterborough United days, Welshman Gareth Jelleyman has endured a career of mediocrity. After making over 100 appearances for ‘the Posh’, Jelleyman moved on to Mansfield Town in 2005. Following Mansfield’s relegation from the Football League in 2008, Jelleyman made the move to Rushden & Diamonds. A short spell at Rushden has since been followed by stints at both Telford United and Barrow.
The left-back has gained notoriety amongst fans of English football show Soccer Saturday, after presenter Jeff Stelling referred to the then Mansfield Town man’s dismissal in a league match by stating “looks like Jelleyman’s thrown a wobbler.”
Adrian Mihalcea
Age: 34
Current Club: Aris Limassol
Country/Caps: Romania/16
CM said: a mixture of late-nineties Michael Owen and David Villa
In reality: Three-time Romanian Cup winner Adrian Mihalcea, now winding down his career at Cypriot side Aris Limassol, will look back at his career and wonder about what could have been. The speedy forward came to prominence at leading Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest, where he scored 68 goals in a glorious five-year spell at the capital club. Mihalcea earned his first cap whilst at Dinamo, but failed to score in sixteen outings for the national side. Mihalcea was snapped up by Italian side Genoa in 2001, and managed to finish his first full season at Genoa as the club’s top scorer before moving to Hellas Verona.
However, the Romanian struggled at Verona and moved back to Dinamo Bucharest, where he failed to hit the heights of his first spell. This was followed by a brief stint at Korean side Chunnam Dragons, before again returning to Romania with FC Vaslui. Mihalcea moved to current side Aris Limassol in 2006, and has been nothing short of a revelation in the Cypriot first division, having scored 46 goals in 86 appearances and being appointed club captain.
Johnnier Montaño
Age: 27
Current Club: Alianza Lima
Country/Caps: Colombia/5
CM said: skilful, goalscoring midfielder a la mid-noughties Ronaldinho
In reality: At 16, Montaño had the world at his feet. Capped for the Colombian national side at the age of 15, Montaño then went on to star at the 1999 Copa America, and managed to score in Colombia’s 3-0 victory over Argentina. Montaño earned his big-money move to Europe (with Italian side Parma) and was set to become one of the best players of his generation.
Unfortunately, Montaño failed to develop as expected in Italy. The Colombian made just six appearances in five years at Parma, and has since embarked upon a nomadic career. Since leaving Parma, Montaño has had spells at América de Cali, Santa Fe, Al-Wakra, Cortulua, Sport Boys and Alianza Lima, whilst failing to add to his five caps for Colombia.
Continued on Page Two
Daniel Nardiello
Age: 27
Current Club: Blackpool
Country/Caps: Wales/3
CM said: the next Alan Shearer
In reality: Having made just four competitive outings for Manchester United over the course of three seasons, Nardiello permanently joined Barnsley after two loan spells at the Yorkshire side. His good form at Barnsley led to international recognition, with Nardiello making his debut for Wales against New Zealand in May 2007. Despite earning fans’ favourite status at Oakwell, Nardiello invoked the wrath of Barnsley chairman Gordon Shepherd by moving to Queens Park Rangers.
After failing to settle at Loftus Road, Nardiello moved to Blackpool in the summer of 2008. Nardiello has made just seven league appearances for the newly-promoted Premier League side, and has been shipped out on loan to Hartlepool United, Bury and Oldham Athletic over the course of the past two seasons.
Alex Notman
Age: 30
Current Club: Wroxham
Country/Caps: Scotland/0
CM said: Manchester United’s next number nine
In reality: Another hotly-tipped graduate of Manchester United’s academy, Alex Notman failed to make the grade at the top-level. The presence of the likes of Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer meant that Notman failed to make a single appearance for the Old Trafford outfit, and the Scotsman left for Norwich City in November 2000. After regular outings in his first two seasons at Carrow Road, Notman was forced to retire from the professional game after badly damaging ankle ligaments during an East Anglian derby in late 2002.
Since then Notman has competed at non-league level, turning out for King’s Lynn, Boston United, and more recently, Norfolk side Wroxham.
Chucks Nwoko
Age: 31
Current Club: Unattached
Country/Caps: Malta/46
CM said: Malta’s first ever football superstar (approximately 365 times better than Michael Mifsud)
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In reality: Nigerian-born Nwoko, a naturalised Maltese national, struggled to forge a career outside of the tiny Mediterranean island. Nwoko spent 11 years at Birkirkara, making over 200 appearances and scoring 59 goals, as well as winning three Maltese league titles. The midfielder also managed to rack up 46 caps for his adopted homeland, managing to score once in a friendly against Kazakhstan in 2003. A firm fans’ favourite at the club, Nwoko underwent an unsuccessful loan spell at Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia in 2006, before leaving Birkirkara permanently in 2006.
Since then, Nwoko has endured injury-plagued spells at Maltese sides Marsaxlokk, Sliema Wanderors and Qormi. Due to injury, the midfielder has failed to appear since his contract at Qormi expired in the summer of 2009, leading to suggestions that Nwoko may have hung up his boots for the last time.
Stefan Selakovic
Age: 33
Current Club: IFK Göteborg
Country/Caps: Sweden/12
CM said: the Swedish Robert Pires
In reality: Attacking midfielder-cum-forward Stefan Selakovic is yet another Championship Manager Swede to have disappointed in real life. His early career was marked by domestic success, having won the Swedish league title with Halmstads in 2000 and finishing as the league’s top scorer in 2001. This attracted the interest of Dutch side Heerenveen, who subsequently signed Selakovic in 2001.
Despite spending four years at the Eredivisie club, Selakovic was unable to reproduce the form he had shown at Halmstads, and returned to Sweden to join current club IFK Göteborg in 2005, where he has managed to add another Swedish league winners’ medal to his collection. Selakovic managed 12 appearances for the Swedish national side during 2001 and 2006, scoring four times in the process.
Andri Sigþórsson
Age: 33
Current Club: Retired
Country/Caps: Iceland/7
CM said: Better than (fat) Ronaldo
In reality: Destined for greatness in Championship Manager 3, the actual career of retired Icelandic forward Andri Sigþórsson failed to mirror that of his virtual one. After languishing in Bayern Munich’s reserve side, Sigþórsson moved back to hometown club KR, where he enjoyed four prolific seasons.
Capped seven times for Iceland, Sigþórsson spent the last three years of his career abroad, first at Austrian side SV Salzburg, and latterly at Norwegian outfit FK Molde. Unfortunately, Sigþórsson’s career was cut short by serious injury in 2004.
READ PART ONE – How Championship Manager’s finest failed to make the big time
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Roberto Mancini talked up Owen Hargreaves following his debut strike and performance at the Etihad Stadium last night. The Italian believes that on this sort of showing an England call-up will be inevitable, providing he can remain injury free.
Elsewhere in the papers Joey Barton suggested that his ruckus with Gervinho prevented a move to Arsenal; Andre Villas-Boas suggested his players were superhuman, while FIFA are forced to backtrack over Hayatou.
United eye Scottish starlet – Sky Sports
Mancini tips Hargreaves for England recall after City debut – Guardian
Barton: Gervinho ruckus halted Arsenal move – Daily Telegraph
My players were ‘superhuman’ – Sun
Owen is a scorer of great goals who, sadly, fell short of greatness – Independent
Deplorable chants of sick Manchester United and Leeds yobs branded disgusting – Daily Mail
Arsenal eye £10m Fiorentina winger (plus video) -Mirror
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Fifa forced to backtrack over Hayatou – Guardian
Tottenham plot January striker swoop (plus video) – Mirror
Wenger not in the mood to meet Gunners fans after disastrous start – Daily Mail
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