Premier League goal records were broken this weekend as all clubs managed to get on the score sheet to contribute to the full total 41. A large chunk of them came at Old Trafford, where Dimitar Berbatov became only the 4th player to bag 5 goals in one game, joining the likes of Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe.
In the papers this morning there is a mixed bag of stories, which includes David Gold explains Downes appointment; Berbatov explains the Rooney factor and Harry Redknapp is going potty over penalties, plus much more…
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Gold explains Downes decision – Sky Sports
Chelsea’s pursuit of Begiristain stalls – Guardian
Hughton hails Carroll – Daily Telegraph
Arsene Wenger planning a ‘strong’ Cup bid – Daily Mail
Real Madrid keen on Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool target Eden Hazard – IM Scouting
Berba: Roo return fired me up – Sun
Harry going potty over poor penalties – Mirror
Hannover to battle Juventus and Roma for West Ham right-back Valon Behrami – IM Scouting
Arnesen’s departure will leave Ancelotti isolated – Daily Telegraph
Court ruling exposes broken promises made by Warner – Guardian
Delegate from ‘worst nation’ may decide England bid – Daily Telegraph
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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson declared himself content with the point gained up from a 'hard-fought' goalless draw with Sunderland.
United found themselves under the cosh in the first half at the Stadium of Light and had to rely on goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to keep the Black Cats at bay in the closing moments of a difficult afternoon in the north-east.
The Red Devils have drawn all four of their league games away from Old Trafford this season, but afterwards Ferguson suggested it was a point gained rather than two lost for his side.
"Sunderland had the most chances in the game and I have to say we were fantastic defensively," he declared.
"That's the area in which we have been leaking goals and throwing games away this season, so I am pleased with that.
"It was a very determined Sunderland team, their home record this season has been very, very good, so I am not pleased but I am satisfied."
Meanwhile, Ferguson admitted he was becoming concerned with United's failure to win away from home following draws with Fulham, Everton, Bolton and now Sunderland.
He added:"It's a concern, the first three.
"I can't class today's as a disappointment because we had to battle to get the point today. But we have thrown the other three away.
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"We had no attacking purpose in the first 25 minutes of the match.It wasn't until towards the end of the first half that we got any semblance of keeping possession of the ball.
"In the second half we did a lot better, there was more threat by us, but they had chances from set-pieces."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
In light of the launch of the new football gaming phenomenon that is ‘Goaldash’ I decided to look at the top six Sir Alex Ferguson moments in charge of Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson has this weekend insisted he still has no plans to retire despite the fact he turns 70 at the end of this year and the veteran manager will clock up 25 years as Manchester United boss on November 6. Whatever you may think of him, Ferguson is a legend of the modern game and one that will be remembered as probably the greatest ever football manager. Lets have a look at some of his greatest moments during his 25 years at Old Trafford.
1.Securing the Treble 1998/99
Probably he greatest of all Ferguson’s achievement’s, which will be remembered forever by Red Devils fans, was that famous treble in 1999. After winning the Premier League and FA Cup United went and pulled off an astonishing comeback against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Injury time goals by Sheringham and Solskjaer sent the fans into wild celebration and Alex Ferguson went into the history books as the only manager in English football to have won the treble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZzwWMum658
2. Beating Mourinho to the Premier League 2007/08
Ferguson and Manchester United had gone three years without a title and José Mourinho’s Chelsea looked an unstoppable force. But started United season on-fire with four goals against Fulham in the first 19 minutes of the season and continued this rich vein of from throughout the season. With Cristiano Ronaldo moving from good to great, Ferguson’s team swaggered to the title and Ferguson had his crown back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPntU3l1iAI
3. Winning his first Premier League title 1992/93
After struggling to even hold onto his job in his first season in charge at Old Trafford, Ferguson managed to turn a team of no-hoppers into the inaugural Premier League Champions. It put down a real marker that United were force once again after 25 years in the wilderness and Ferguson’s reign over English football had begun.
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4. Winning his second Champions League title 2007/08
Defeating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow will forever be remembered as one of Ferguson’s greatest moments as his Manchester United side became the best club side in Europe for only the second time during his management. The game itself wasn’t a classic but United did enough to win the penalty shoot-out and guarantee Ferguson’s legacy remains.
5. Catching Newcastle United to win the Premier League 1995/96
The most romantic of Ferguson’s titles. Alan Hansen infamously stated that United could not win anything with kids, but they had Eric Cantona and Peter Schmeichel in the form of their lives: the pair combined in a series of 1-0 wins in the run-in as United destroyed Newcastle’s 12-point lead and drove Kevin Keegan to a very public meltdown.
6. Surpassing Liverpool’s 18 with Manchester United’s 19th Premier League Crown 2010/11.
Last season Manchester United became the most successful club in the history of English football and overtook great rivals Liverpool, something that famously Ferguson has always set out to achieve. Will it be 20 for United and Ferguson this season?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d691D1pyQZw
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So what is Goaldash all about then?
‘Goaldash’ is a fabulous concept which fuses the Lottery format with pre-chosen football fixtures. Whereas you may use birthdays or your own favourite numbers to pick your six numbers, with ‘Goaldash’ you need to use your foresight of the Beautiful Game to select the six teams that are likely to score the quickest in the pre-selected 24 fixtures.
It only costs £1 a pop to enter and you have the chance to win a million pounds, every given week.
All you have to do is scour the 48 teams and pick out the 6 teams that are likely to score the quickest on the Saturday afternoon. The matches are chosen from the Premier League, the Football League, as well as the Scottish divisions therefore you will have plenty to work out and strategise before you make your selections.
Playing the Lottery has just got fun, especially as your odds are a damn sight greater.
Fancy your chances? Fancy winning £1million pounds? Why not give it a go!
Over the last few days there have been rumours strongly linking Arsenal ’s Emmanuel Frimpong with a loan move to Wolves this January.
The young Ghanaian has impressed on a number of different occasions thus far this season, putting in a particularly eye-catching performance against Man City in the Carling Cup despite the Gunners losing the tie. However, it’s clear that he’s far from the complete package and it makes a lot of sense for him to be sent out on loan to pick up valuable experience.
Whilst he adds to Arsenal a much needed steel and competitive edge, his youthful over-exuberance often broils over into recklessness. Given a fair amount of time in the first team you could see him picking up a large number of yellow and potentially red cards that could cost the Gunners.
It will be of some benefit then, for him to move to a well disciplined Premier League team who are willing to give him the appropriate amount of game time and help him learn to curtail the more brash side of his game.
I’ve seen some suggest that a club like Wolves simply doesn’t share Arsenal’s mentality and thus won’t provide a decent training ground for this youngster. Now Wolves may not be renowned for their fine free-flowing attacking football, but on their day they are a solid, imposing side with a decent fighting spirit. All qualities that Arsenal fans would love to see blossom and bloom in Frimpong.
Besides, I don’t think that Bolton share too many similarities with Arsenal and yet Jack Wilshere got one of the best possible footballing educations during his year on loan at the club.
What’s important at the moment is that Frimpong gets a decent amount of game time at a Premier League club. If he’s got the natural abilities to make it at a club like Arsenal in the long run, they’ll soon become apparent when he’s playing regular football. It’s quite clear that he’s got the passion and competitive edge to succeed and from what we’ve seen recently he’s also effective with the ball at his feet.
Whilst I’d rather see him join a club like Swansea City or Norwich City who have shown some attacking flair thus far this season, I’m not against him joining Wolves. I’d be particularly happy if the deal stipulated that he had to play a certain amount of games during his time at the club.
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But what’s your take? Would a loan move to Wolves be the best move for Emmanuel Frimpong?
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has stated that striker Steven Fletcher is an important player at the club, and will not be sold n January.
The Scotland international has scored six Premier League goals this season, and has caught the eye of the British media due to excellent performances for the Molineux outfit.
Despite rumours linking Fletcher with a move to a bigger club, McCarthy insists he is going nowhere.
“No. If I say yes then I’ve suddenly put him up for sale haven’t I? So, categorically, no,” the Wolves boss told Mirror Football.
“He’s a Premier League player scoring goals so he’s going to get headlines. Players always do when they’re scoring goals.
“All Fletcher can do is play and score, for his career here and his Scotland career.
“He’s still only a young man, so all he can do is keep playing well and scoring. It’s a great feeling as a footballer to be playing well.
“He’s a very good player, he’s excellent. It’s his all-round game, but as with all strikers it’s his goals that top his performances off.
“And he wants to score. He loves scoring,” McCarthy concluded.
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Fletcher will look to continue his good run of personal form for Wolves as they take on Stoke at home on Saturday.
Much has been written on the life of Mario Balotelli, indeed he has now transformed himself into one of football’s favourite characters. To honour the Italian, here is the ultimate A-Z of Balotellisms.
A – is for AC Milan. Appeared on TV whilst in the employment of bitter rivals Inter wearing an AC shirt.
B – is for Bibotelli. We’ve all seen the video of him failing to put on his bib during a pre-match warm up. Twice.
C – is for Christmas Eve. Went into the Tudor Pub in Manchester and put £1000 behind the bar for the locals to enjoy. He then turned up to midnight mass and stuck another £250 in the donations pot.
D – is for Darts. And especially throwing them at youth team players. It was his idea of a ‘prank.’
E – is for Exaggeration. There are so many rumours flying around about Balotelli that you could literally make up anything. It has been suggested the Italian employs an agent to spread such information to get good publicity. The latest to do the rounds was that Mario paid for 100 homeless people to stay at the Hilton over Christmas.
F – is for Fireworks. Has a fondness for the flashy sticks of explosive. Especially when they’re let off in his bathroom.
G – is for Grass. Suffered an apparent allergic reaction during a match against Dynamo Kiev.
H – is for Homeless. Won a shedload in a casino during a night out with Chris Samba, only to give a tramp outside a cool grand.
I – is for Impoundings. His Maserati has currently attracted 27 impoundings since his move to Manchester that has resulted in fines of £10,000. Also parked across City’s training ground entrance and blocked out the staff.
J – is for John Lewis. Needed to buy an iron, mop and hoover for his Mum. Came back with a giant trampoline, Scalextric, two Vespa scooters amongst other things.
K – is for Killing Time. When selected as a substitute for Italy’s game against the Faroe Islands, Balotelli decided to pass the time by playing his iPad on the bench. Italian boss Cesare Prandelli was reportedly not impressed.
L – is for Ladotelli. Apparently visits clubs with friends and gets said friends to say to the girls, ‘Balotelli will see you now.’
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M – is for Mafia. Was once given a tour of Naples by Mafia bosses. Questioned after by police for apparent links. Mario claims not to have known they were gangsters.
N – is for National Shirt. Mario turned out for Italy in a friendly against Uruguay but appeared for the second half wearing the old Italian shirt despite sporting the new kit in the first half. He doesn’t have much luck with tops.
O – is for Over Confidence. The one downside to Balotelli. He rather loves himself, something that comes across in a rather arrogant manner as displayed by his pre-season backheel against LA Galaxy.
P – is for Prison. Him and brother Enoch were stopped after trespassing in a Women’s Prison in Brescia. Mario said he was ‘curious.’
Q – is for Quad Bike. Designed his own racing track for his back garden.
R – is for Rooney. Spotted the prostitute Mr Rooney once had his way with in an Italian restaurant where he proceeded to chant ‘Rooney, Rooney’ at her.
S – is for Swearing. After City’s FA Cup victory, Balotelli said live on air to the BBC ‘I’ve been s**t this season. Can I say that?’ No Mario, no you can’t.
T – is for Truancy. When a young admirer asked for an autograph, Balotelli questioned why he wasn’t in school. Upon hearing the young lad was the victim of bullying, he promptly drive to the school and resolved the issue with the Head Teacher.
U – is for Unbelievably Rich. Balotelli was stopped by police in Manchester with £25,000 on his passenger seat. His reasoning? ‘Because I can.’
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V – is for Violence. Balotelli is often known as a hot head on the field, but clashes with teammates have been frequent since his move from Inter. Had a recent dust up with Micah Richards, not to mention previous scraps with Jerome Boateng, Vincent Kompany and Aleksandar Kolarov.
W – is for Why Always Me. The infamous T-Shirt celebration after scoring against rivals Man Utd.
X – is for X Rated Magazines. Mario was once rumbled flicking through the saucy stuff on the top shelf of a newsagents.
Y – is for Young Player. Mario was at his humblest when accepting the award for Best Young Player in Europe. When asked about runner up Jack Wilshere, he replied:“What’s his name? Wil … ? No, I don’t know him, but the next time I play against Arsenal I will keep a close eye on him…Perhaps I can show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won it.”
Z – is for Zealous. After City’s astonishing 6-1 win over rivals United in which Balotelli played a key part, the striker drove round Manchester high-fiving anyone he saw sporting a City shirt, being the excitable young character he is.
The name Joey Barton is synonymous with controversy and trouble and you can normally expect a trail of unsavoury incidents to be linked to his name. After he signed for Newcastle in 2007 he spent time in prison as a result of fight in Liverpool. Soon after his release he served a Premier League suspension for his fight with former Manchester City team mate Ousmane Dabo. Not the ideal start to his career at a new club! After parting with £5.8 million pounds to bring the Liverpudlian to the North East the Newcastle fans weren’t seeing much of Barton on the pitch. Furthermore, Barton spent the majority of Newcastle’s Championship campaign sidelined with an injury. However this season he has finally started to produce the football he is capable of for the Toon Army.
Barton has one year remaining on his contract and has been linked with a move away from St James’ Park. So is it time for Newcastle to cash in on their unpredictable midfielder to avoid him leaving on a free next summer, or is he worth fighting for? For me it is simple, of course he is worth fighting for, Newcastle should be doing everything in their power to ensure he pens a new deal.
Barton has unquestionably been one of Newcastle’s stand out performers this campaign and with his misdemeanours in the past, the Newcastle fans won’t want to see the back of him. Although, with no immediate signs of Barton looking to sign a new contract, the club could decide the best option is to sell the player this summer. Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has been touted as the man chasing Barton’s services and Barton himself could be tempted by a return to his hometown. It’s widely believed Barton’s reluctance to sign a new deal with Newcastle is because he doesn’t want to commit to the club if Newcastle are going to sell key players in the summer.
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Barton was quoted in the Mirror earlier this month talking about his future, “I told them I might stay this summer because we have some good players and money to spend. But I’m going to wait and see if players like Kevin Nolan, Cheik Tiote and Jose Enrique stay.” With Kevin Nolan on the verge of extending his stay at St James Park, it will go someway to allaying Barton’s fears surrounding the sale of key players. Barton went on to say, “If Nolan signs a new deal, I will as well. But I hope the club step things up. I want to be ambitious and I think the club share that desire.” If Barton will be true to his word or not is open to debate, but I don’t see any value in selling the player this summer for £5 million if the club can demonstrate their ambition to him.
Newcastle have a year to convince Barton that signing a new contract is the right move for him. So selling the former Manchester City man this summer makes no sense to me. If the Magpies can build on the current squad over the summer and make a successful start to next season there’s no reason why it shouldn’t encourage Barton commit his future. With Tiote having signed a six year deal and Nolan on the brink, Newcastle have already showed they are intent on keeping their best players.
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Additionally, I still feel Joey Barton has more to do to repay the club and the fans who have stuck by him so vehemently throughout his time on Tyneside. If Newcastle can persuade Barton to put pen to paper this summer it will put an end to this contract saga. Then Barton can put all his efforts and ambition into helping Newcastle get back into the higher echelons of the Premier League where they belong.
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Listen to the third episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin, who performs a live version of his cult tribute to Mark Viduka, with Razor on backing vocals!
Veteran defender Sol Campbell still believes that he can force his way back into contention for an England spot by impressing for Newcastle United.
The 34-year-old has not featured for his country since November 2007, but insists that he could still do a job for Fabio Capello's side.
He told The Journal:"I haven't come to Newcastle as a last hurrah and I still believe I have what it takes to play for England.
"I still have the passion, the fire in my belly. I want to win. But you just can't do anything about it anymore, so I am not going to fight.
"I am going to fight on the pitch for Newcastle and if it comes to the stage where someone says 'can you fight for England' then I'll fight for England.
"I am not going to go on about it. It is just not worth it.
"If people don't like you, people don't like you. It's as simple as that. I think it all comes down to who is at the helm and the people behind the associations.
"They are going to make all the decisions and also the mentality of the nation. You go to Italy and defenders and goalkeepers can go on and on and on really.
"You can roll the names off of the guys who have played well into their late 30s at international level, so I think it sometimes goes down to mentality.
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"If you are still fit, still strong and still want it, it doesn't matter where you are at with your age.
"If you are fit and you are strong, then you have got the experience, so I think there should be no problem really."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
From Tottenham’s all-time record goalscorer to Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer: Congratulations and well done, you lucky, lucky b*****d! And that is a message of genuine goodwill from me. Even with Thierry Henry and Paul Scholes both making sensational comebacks during the past couple of weeks, I think it’d be a bit far-fetched for me to get my old shooting boots out of the attic, at the age of 71. But I was full of envy when I watched Henry score the only goal of the match on his fairytale comeback against Leeds.
I quit professional football at the age of 31, a year after Spurs let me go to West Ham. Yet, in truth, all I really needed was a sabbatical – a year out of the game or perhaps even just six months. They always say that the timing of your own retirement is the most difficult decision any professional sportsman will ever make, and I’ll admit that I got my timing completely wrong. I don’t really even remember deciding I wanted to be a professional footballer. I just sort of became one. Then at 31, I suddenly decided I didn’t want to be one any longer.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if more managers didn’t look at the impact of an Henry or a Scholes and try to tempt a few more retired players back into the big time. Henry hadn’t retired, of course, but by quitting Barcelona to go and play in Major League Soccer 18 months ago, the Frenchman certainly went into semi-retirement, moving away from the intense pressure of international and European club football for a far gentler life. And yet, after a while out of the spotlight, Henry clearly could not resist the opportunity to come back on to centre stage.
Within a year of my own retirement, I was desperate to go back again – but it would not have been straightforward then, in the days before freedom of contract. How I’d have loved the opportunity to do what Henry has done and return to one of my old stomping grounds at Spurs or Chelsea. I now know that I wasted three or four years of prime playing time and I regret it. I started drinking too much when I retired and although I wouldn’t solely blame the end of my playing career for that, the adjustments needed to cope with retirement can be a tough time mentally for any sportsman or sportswoman.
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Making a top-flight comeback might only have delayed my problems by a few years, I couldn’t honestly say, but I sure as hell would have benefited from the sort of opportunity Henry and Scholes have been handed. As it happened, it was not for another four years that I started playing football again – in the non-league with Brentwood, then at Chelmsford City and Barnet. Crazy at it seems, I played some of my best football as a midfielder at Barnet in my late 30s.
I never did get the chance to add to my 266 Tottenham goals, though. 34-year-old Henry has moved on 227 for Arsenal, I see. He’s still got a long way to go before he catches my Spurs goal tally but you wouldn’t bet against him returning to the Emirates again after this brief loan spell. And I’m sure Henry realises, now more than ever, that you really are a long time retired.
Leaders Borussia Dortmund travel to Kaiserslautern, while Bayer Leverkusen visit Eintracht Frankfurt in this weekend’s Bundesliga action.
With 13 games remaining, Juergen Klopp’s Dortmund side head to the Fritz-Walter-Stadion 13 points clear of second-placed Leverkusen, seemingly on an unstoppable march towards a seventh Bundesliga title.
Captain Sebastian Kehl, recovering from a hip flexor injury that has kept him sidelined since September, emerged unscathed from a midweek training game and could feature.
The experience and defensive nous of the 30-year-old would be welcomed as the title race nears its closing stages.
Second-placed Leverkusen face a must-win trip to Eintracht Frankfurt if they are to keep alive their dreams of a first German league title.
Bayern Munich, who relinquished a 2-0 lead before losing 3-2 to relegation battlers Cologne on Saturday, welcome Hoffenheim to Allianz Arena.
Louis van Gaal will be able to call on the services of prized Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who missed the Cologne game through illness, as his side look to improve on their fifth-place standing.
In other Saturday matches, Schalke host Freiburg while Stuttgart will look to haul themselves out of the relegation zone when they welcome Nuremberg to the Mercedes Benz Arena.
Following this week’s sacking of Steve McClaren, caretaker manager Pierre Littbarski takes charge of Wolfsburg for their home clash with Hamburg, while bottom-placed Borussia Monchengladbach visit St Pauli.
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On Sunday, Hannover will aim to continue their European ambitions alive when they visit struggling Werder Bremen, who are just one point outside the bottom three.
Sunday’s other match sees Cologne, fresh from their stunning comeback win over Bayern, welcome third-placed Mainz to the RheinEnergieStadion.