Throughout the past few weeks, there has been ongoing speculation that Manchester United have been negotiating with Brazilian club Sao Paulo to sign attacking midfielder Lucas Moura. United have reportedly offered a hefty €35 million for the 19-year-old, a bid that appears to have been rejected. Since the bid, United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed his interest in the midfielder, saying that negotiations are ongoing. It appears that a bid of at least €40 million will be necessary to secure the Brazilian’s signature, a staggering price that has many pundits and fans alike wondering whether an unproven commodity is worth such a fee.

While Moura may not be the finished product, one look on YouTube of his game action skills shows exactly why United are willing to pay as much as Tottenham are asking for a more proven player like Luka Modric. Moura has dazzling footwork, exceptional ball skills, and lightning speed. While he is known as a selfish player who sometimes lacks a finished product, no one doubts his potential. While Moura wouldn’t be a perfectly polished player at the moment, his skills, as well as his selfishness, brings to mind the attributes of an 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, whom United signed for €15 million in 2003. While United paid significantly less money for Ronaldo, considering the direction the transfer market has gone in terms of spending, and the fact that Ronaldo was in financial terms their best signing of the decade given his resale value, Moura’s fee is not that outrageous. While it is unlikely that Moura will ever become as complete a player as Ronaldo, he would provide the flair that Manchester United have missed since they sold their biggest superstar. While they have managed to maintain a high level of success since the sale of Ronaldo, United have distinctly lacked flair and stardust. While Wayne Rooney has become an exceptional goalscorer, Valencia has become an effective winger, and Nani has been brilliant at times, if consistently inconsistent, they have never really replaced Ronaldo. While it would be unfair to place such heavy expectations on Lucas Moura, if Ferguson were to sign him, United would finally have a player who truly catches the eye and who can put people in the stands single-handed.

It can be argued that Manchester United should focus on spending the €35-40 million they have available on a proven midfielder, a position that has been the focus of criticism even before Ronaldo’s departure. With the likes of Modric and Sneijder available for around that price, it would be easy to go for the safer option. However, both Modric and Sneijder are already in the prime of their careers and have likely reached their maximum potential. Moura, in contrast, could be a United mainstay for the next decade. While there is no doubt that Lucas Moura represents a risk considering the price tag, if United ever want to get back to the heights that Cristiano Ronaldo took them, he is there best chance to acquire a player who can lead them there.

As reports continue to surface that Gareth Barry may not be fully fit in time for the World Cup, Owen Hargreaves chances of boarding the plane with the rest of the England squad for South Africa have apparently increased. Despite making only one appearance for Manchester United in the past 20 months, a 2 minute cameo against Sunderland last weekend, Fabio Capello appears to see a role for the tough tackling midfielder. While his opportunities may end up being limited, his grit and versatility could prove enough to make the Canadian-born veteran a risk worth taking.

However, the England staff has a lot to consider if they want to avoid turning the Hargreaves situation into another Theo Walcott, Sven Goran Eriksson fiasco. For the past few months, it is believed that the red devil has been healthy but not ready to play. Sir Alex chalked up the delay to the psychological difficulties of playing on two surgically repaired knees. Due to the fragility of those knees, Hargreaves may not have the steel and nerve to show the determination in the tackle that defined him as a footballer and therefore, wouldn’t have the impact that his national team manager is looking for.

Even if this isn’t this case, it is difficult to find World Cup form after a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Players who are injured often have a heavy touch and unusually poor field awareness. There is no way of knowing whether Hargreaves will have the necessary technical abilities to be ready for this level of competition after only two minutes of competitive football in almost 2 years. In the eyes of many, Fabio Capello would be hard-pressed to include him in the England squad.

Still, Hargreaves credentials indicate that, if fit, the only choice for the Italian is to take him to South Africa. Not only can he fill Barry’s void at holding midfield, he can also fill the possible hole that Glen Johnson’s injury may create at right back, where Hargreaves has played many times for club and country, or on the right side of midfield, where he played at times for Manchester United during their 2007/2008 Champions League run.

Also, his experience in big games rivals that of any other England player. He has not only started for Manchester United in Champions League final two years ago, he played for Bayern Munich in 2001 while at the ripe age of 20, winning on both occasions. In 2002, he started twice for England at the World Cup in South Korea, and four years later, he was voted England’s player of the year, mainly for his performance at the 2006 tournament in Germany, where he played a crucial role behind Gerrard and Lampard in midfield. He has the experience to provide leadership for the scandal-ridden side, that if not from the field, will at least be useful in the somewhat divided locker room.

Hargreaves can be a valuable member to this England team; yet, by selecting him, England run the risk of picking a player who isn’t mentally or physically ready for the grind of a strenuous tournament. One often overlooked feature that the3 lions can be confident of, is his ability to convert his penalty in a shootout if ever necessary – a skill England teams have never possessed. While Hargreaves may be an afterthought once England kicks off their World Cup campaign on June 12th against the United States, until then, he will be weighing heavily on the mind of Fabio Capello.

The Premier League season may be effectively done and dusted but there’s still plenty to play for in fantasy land, so walk this way for some top tips to help you end your campaign in style.

Rockin’ Robin

Arsenal can and should be applauded for their efforts in this seasons title race but in the end it all proved to be just to much for Wenger’s men. Would they have gone the extra mile if Robin Van Persie had stayed fit throughout? Quite possibly.

The Dutchman has bagged eight goals in just fifteen games this season and despite only returning from injury recently, was quickly back amongst the goalscorers with an early strike against Blackburn Rovers on Monday.

The Gunners finish their season with a home tie against a Fulham side with two eyes, an arm and eleven sets of legs very much on the Europa League final against Athletico Madrid just three days later. If there’s ever a time to stick Van Persie in your team it’s now.

And now the end is near (but before you go, pick…) –

Robin Van Persie (Arsenal)

Wings of a Dove

To the delight of traditionalists everywhere, Spurs have pipped moneybags Manchester City to the final Champions League spot and now look set to celebrate with a party at Burnley’s expense.

The Clarets have been in free-fall ever since they decided that a Championship reject was the right man to keep them in the Premier League and they should be no match for a free flowing Spurs side on top form and in even better spirits.

Winger Aaron Lennon started the season superbly and looked a shoo-in for England’s right wing berth before picking up an injury in December, which kept him out for four months. The 22 year old will now be desperate to reassert himself in Fabio Capello’s mindset and will not get a better chance to impress than against a leaky Burnley defence.

And now the end is near (but before you go, pick…) –

Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur)

Get Back

Arguably Burnley’s main weakness, aside from Brian Laws, has been their commitment to open attacking football. Personally, I think they should get a lot of credit for the way they have played but unfortunately pretty football doesn’t always bring success and sometimes it’s best to be a bit more cautious. Or in the case of Wolverhampton Wanderers, forget that you have an attack altogether.

Fair play to Mick McCarthy and co, Wolves have surprised many by staying up and in the end, did so fairly comfortably. It’s not been pretty however and just 30 goals in 37 games tells its own story.

Naturally then, they’ve stayed up on the back of a well organised defence and this has been led admirably by their newly crowned Player of the Year, Jody Craddock. Amazingly, Craddock is also the club’s second top scorer with five goals and with a final match against hopeless travellers Sunderland in the offing, he may just get the opportunity to add to more than just his clean sheet tally.

And now the end is near (but before you go, pick…) –

Jody Craddock (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

There’s no need to panic though, as fantasy football tips are back with a bang this weekend to help all you managers in that final push for glory.

Chelsea midfielder Deco has likened the last three games of the season to warfare, so don those helmets and batten down the hatches because we’re in for a bumpy ride.

Shore up the defence

In times of war a good defence is crucial. The oft unsung heroes work tirelessly week in, week out, to keep opposition attacks at bay, knowing full well that when they do go astray it rarely goes unpunished.

Defending has not been a strong point for too many Premier League sides this season but two of the teams that have done it better than most are the two sides left in the title race. Chelsea and Manchester United both know that one more mistake at the back could destroy their respective campaigns, so their defences are likely to be even more resolute than usual.

For Chelsea, John Terry will miss their match with Man City through suspension, thus giving Alex the chance to become a hero. The Brazilian has rarely put a foot wrong when given an opportunity and also weighs in with the occasional goal.

Meanwhile for Manchester United, Nemanja Vidic has been as steady as ever this term and also has the added bonus of not having to face Fernando Torres between now and the end of the season.

Your manager needs you –

Alex (Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

Pick a leader

Teamwork is crucial and every great team has an exceptional leader, so if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to choose your Winston Churchill and give him your full support.

Frank Lampard has quietly gone about his business this season but that’s not to say that he has been any less effective than usual. Weighing in with 18 goals and 12 assists he has been a pivotal part of a Chelsea side that are just three wins from glory.

With John Terry enduring a difficult campaign (mostly of his own making), Frank has stepped up to the mark time and time again and will undoubtedly continue to do so, with his compatriot missing in action once more.

Your manager needs you –

Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Don’t forget the heavy artillery

It should be powerful and it should be reliable so make your choices and tool up. Liverpool and Arsenal are both out of the title race, arguably due to injuries to their respective ‘big guns’ and were it not for the consistency of Carlos Tevez, Manchester City would be nowhere near their top four aim.

The Argentinian has been in imperious form all season, scoring a whopping 22 goals for a side that has often flattered to deceive. With City still stinging from last weekend’s derby defeat, Tevez looks to be just the man to personify the inevitable wounded animal tag.

Your manager needs you –

Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)

Now that all this volcanic ash business appears to have died down, there’s every chance I’ll be AWOL again next week, but fear not, as I’ll be back for what should be a thrilling climax to the 2009/10 Premier League season.

So in honour of the south coast sufferers, let’s forget about glitz and glamour for a week and concentrate on those players that should be avoided like a shady ‘billionaire’ businessman.

The sinkers

Some say Burnley’s relegation fate was sealed the moment they took the decision to hire Brian Laws as manager. Whilst I have sympathy for Brian, (it was rather like asking a boy on a push bike to go out and win a Moto GP) I completely agree with them.

The Clarets have been going backwards ever since they gave Mr Laws a route back into employment and have not won a solitary game since February 6th. A 6-1 home mauling at the hands of underachievers Man City will hardly have helped matters and it would be no surprise to see their winless streak continue until the end of the season.

Warning! Beware of the…

Burnley player

The crocks

Quite simply, you can be the best player in the world but if serious injury strikes, you become about as useful as a racing car with no wheels. Cesc Fabregas is a wonderful footballer but can he help Arsenal win the title? No. Can he score any fantasy football points? No. Can he help his wife with the housework? Probably not.

Here are a few of the key players that are likely to be spending the rest of the season planted firmly in front of the tele.

Warning! Beware of the…

Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

William Gallas (Arsenal)

Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)

Michael Essien (Chelsea)

Dan Gosling (Everton)

Fabio Aurelio (Liverpool)

Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)

Joleon Lescott (Manchester City)

Michael Owen (Manchester United)

The holidaymakers

Let’s face it, Fulham are already on their holiday’s and have been for some time. They seem to be enjoying them too and in a traditional British manner have already upset their hosts in Ukraine, Italy and of course, Germany.

With Premier League safety secured some time ago, the Cottagers can be forgiven for putting all their efforts into the Europa League and if anything, should be commended, as too many teams kill themselves trying to get into Europe and then show a distinct lack of ambition when they finally make it (I’m looking at you O’Neil, Redknapp, Megson).

With this in mind it would perhaps be a tad foolish to pick any Fulham players and expect them to give it their all domestically between now and the end of the season. That is of course with one notable exception. Bobby Zamora has been in excellent form all term and is still desperately trying to impress Fabio Capello enough to secure a place in England’s World Cup squad. He’ll probably be rested in the remaining European weeks but may still be worth a second glance.

Warning! Beware of the…

Fulham player (excluding Bobby Zamora)

And for what it’s worth

My tip for the Grand National is Snowy Morning. Weight was a factor last season but if he makes it round the course, 2008’s third place finisher stands a great chance.

So fix up, look sharp and waddle this way for your latest instalment of fantasy football goodness…

Find your messiah

With time running out to reel in the leaders, balance and caution can become a luxury that those in arrears can ill afford. If that applies to you, then it’s time to bite the bullet and throw some resources behind a prospective saviour. This man wont come cheap but if anybody can produce an Easter miracle it’s Fernando Torres.

Despite enduring an injury plagued season, the Spaniard has still managed a whopping 18 league goals, including five in his last three games. When he’s in that sort of form and has the added bonus of team-mates that are finally starting to produce the goods, “El Nino” borders on the unstoppable. To leave him out now would be madder than a chocolate teapot.

The chocoholics choice –

Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Embrace the cross

They may be a dying breed but tricky wingers can still be utilised to devastating effect. Nani has had a slow start to his Manchester United career and he may never fully step out of Ronaldo’s shadow but the Portuguese international is slowly starting to impress in the Premier League and has six assists and one goal to his name this term.

Sure, he faces difficult opposition this weekend but that didn’t stop him putting on a scintillating display at the Emirates back in January, where his greatly improved distribution played a key part in a crucial 3-1 victory. Apparently, Easter’s real meaning has more to do with crosses than chocolate, so please the purists and give Nani a go.

The chocoholics choice –

Nani (Manchester United)

Never rule out a comeback

West Ham aren’t quite dead and buried but following six straight defeats they are most definitely on life support. Despite this, a comeback cannot be ruled out and teams, particularly those with attacking talent, can often hit a hot streak just when it matters most.

The Hammers have that talent in abundance and whilst players such as Carlton Cole and Benni McCarthy may not be in the form of their careers, they do have the ability to change the course of a match or even a season.

Another person who had that ability was Gianfranco Zola and he will be desperate to inspire his troops to a great escape, starting with a visit to Goodison this weekend. In order to achieve this, a lot of emphasis will be placed on young starlet Allessandro Diamanti, who has provided one of the bright spots of an otherwise bleak season.

The Italian will no doubt be desperate to help his compatriot resurrect West Ham’s fortunes and you know what? Stranger things have happened.

The chocoholics choice –

Allessandro Diamanti (West Ham United)

It’s the Premier League season that just keeps on giving. Nobody is running away with the title, there’s a four way battle for fourth position and bar Portsmouth, nobody has been cast adrift at the bottom. As a result, this season has been fiendishly difficult for fantasy football managers, with shocks a plenty and consistency at a premium.

Chances are, this has left many of you short on transfers, so this week it’s time to cut out the one night stands and settle down. Sure, they may not blow you away but they can be relied upon to play and pick up points week in week out. So without further ado, here are the candidates for Mr. Reliable:

Left back? Left back in the changing room more like!

It may be one of the least glamorous positions in football but one left back that has almost certainly not been the subject of that age old put down is Patrice Evra. The Manchester United full back has played in every league game for the Red Devils this season and while his goal tally may be blank, he does pick up the occasional assist and more than his fair share of clean sheets.

If you want to ditch those pre-conceptions and take the plunge then Patrice is your man.

Looking for love? Call –

Patrice Evra (Manchester United)

The ugly duckling

To say it’s been a long time coming is a serious understatement but Bobby Zamora has finally found his feet in the Premier League. He’s still not the most fashionable of forwards but one thing he has been this season is effective. The England wannabe has notched 14 goals in all competitions already this term, aided by a fitness record that his more illustrious strike partner, Andy Johnson, can only dream of.

He may still have work to do to win over a certain Italian but there’s no doubt that Bobby is blossoming.

Looking for love? Call –

Bobby Zamora (Fulham)

A diamond amongst the rough

Gerrard has looked uninspired, Carragher tired and Torres injury prone, but one player that has consistently excelled for Liverpool this season is the man between the sticks – Jose Reina.

The Spanish stopper has been in fine form and despite the failings of his team-mates has still managed a very respectable 12 clean sheets in the league, along with a penalty save last weekend and an ever present record.

With all to play for and a relatively easy run in for the Reds, there look to be few safer options than our ‘Pepe’.

Looking for love? Call –

Jose Reina (Liverpool)

Anyway, to business. Just like horse racing, it’s crucial that you’re able to separate the fine young fillies from the rusty old nags if you’re to succeed at fantasy football. In order to do this, you should remember three things:

1. Check the form
Form can do funny things to players/teams/horses. Take Emile Heskey for example – when he’s in form (an all too rare occasion nowadays) he often looks like an International striker, even one capable of starting for a country with serious World Cup aspirations. Yet, when he’s out of form, he just looks like, well, Emile Heskey.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you ever select Emile Heskey. Not even when he is in form. But I am suggesting that you take a look at his team-mates. Villa play two games against bottom half opposition in the coming fantasy week (Wolves and Sunderland). Both are at Villa Park and both should really end in home wins. Add Villa’s good recent form into the equation (only one defeat in their last sixteen games) and their miserly defence (six clean sheets in their last nine league games) and Villa players suddenly look more attractive than a thoroughbred in a top hat.

The handicapper recommends –
Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)
James Milner (Aston Villa)

2. Don’t ignore the obvious (pt.2)

Sometimes it doesn’t take in-depth statistical analysis, or dodgy tips from Irish bartenders, to know that you’re onto a good thing. Sometimes, it’s just a case of noticing the bleedin’ obvious and getting in there before the horse has bolted.

Anybody that introduced Wayne Rooney into their side last weekend will already know the benefits of following this particular pointer but if you didn’t then all you need to know is this. Didier Drogba is a fiendishly good, if somewhat petulant striker. He should be fired up after his mid-week nightmare against Inter Milan. He will be a part of a Chelsea side that play Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth. And most importantly, he WILL score goals.

The handicapper recommends –
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

3. Remember that life doesn’t always make sense

Sometimes all the knowledge and planning in the world just doesn’t make a jot of difference and a big favourite can have a mare for no particular reason (just ask backers of Dunguib and Master Minded). So why not stick your neck out and throw Jimmy Bullard into your side.

Why? I hear you ask. Well, why not?! He’s back from injury, he has a new manager, which can often inspire a reaction, his side take on the all but relegated Portsmouth and he has brilliant hair.

The handicapper recommends –
Jimmy Bullard (Hull City)

With the 2009-10 Premier League season entering its final furlong, there are still thousands of managers searching for an all important edge to make their team stand out from the crowd.

Ok, so there may be a select group of fifty that get the most publicity and are supposedly under the most pressure but anyone that’s played fantasy football knows that it wont just be Arsene Wenger and co that are faced with crucial selection dilemmas this weekend.

Just like the professional game, the road to glory can be littered with obstacles and pitfalls, so in order to ease the burden just a little bit I will be compiling a weekly selection of tips to help guide you towards the promised land. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.*

Build from the back

Many a top flight manager has built his success upon a solid defence. George Graham at Arsenal, Gerard Houllier in his treble winning year at Liverpool and Don Revie at Leeds United all placed a huge emphasis on their respective back-lines and while their style of play was not always pleasing on the eye, it certainly reaped rewards.

With plenty of points on offer for clean sheets, fantasy football managers will also know the benefits of a good defence and this week in particular should prove to be a productive one for the boys at the back.

As the season nears its climax and points suddenly become more valuable the goals often tend to dry up, with teams placing a greater emphasis on defence. This is especially the case for those fighting the drop and as such the matches taking place at the Reebok (Bolton v Wigan) and Turf Moor (Burnley v Wolves) are unlikely to be awash with attacking flair.

The scorers may also remain untroubled at St Andrews as the Premier League’s second lowest home scorers (Birmingham City) take on an Everton side one position and two points below them.

Express recommendations –

Leighton Baines (Everton)

Phil Jagielka (Everton)

Graham Alexander (Burnley)

Make hay while the sun shines

If there is one side likely to score goals this weekend it’s Arsenal and if there is one side likely to concede them it’s Hull City.

The Gunners knocked five past FC Porto in midweek, while poor Hull were still trying to get over their 5-1 thumping at the hands of Everton.

Nicklas Bendtner doesn’t have a particularly good reputation when it comes to making the most of goalscoring opportunities but the young Dane netted a hat-trick on Tuesday and is also likely to be available on the cheap.

Express recommendations –

Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)

Don’t ignore the obvious

Hidden gems can often make the difference in fantasy football but that doesn’t mean you can afford to leave out the big hitters.

Wayne Rooney has been so hot in recent weeks that few would be surprised if the England talisman was to literally burst into flames. Indeed, if any fantasy manager still needs convincing of Wayne’s worth after a routine destruction of AC Milan on Wednesday night, then quite frankly they need sectioning.

This weekend’s opponents Fulham are strong at home but do tend to buckle at Old Trafford. Add to this a taxing midweek trip to Juventus and Roy’s boys should be a prime target for the goal hungry striker.

Express recommendations –

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

*In case of any unexpected turbulence please ensure that seatbelts are kept securely fastened at all times. I can not be held responsible for any Keegan-esque meltdowns triggered as a result of this advice.

Here’s an interesting little fact for you: the two longest serving managers in Premier League history also happen to be in charge of the two most successful teams in Premier League history. So why is it then that fans and chairmen are so quick to jump on the back of a struggling manager and demand change?

This weekend saw a Liverpool side, missing its captain and shorn of form and confidence, defeat rivals and champions Manchester United 2-0, to relieve the pressure on Red’s boss Rafael Benitez. But should Benitez have even been under such pressure to begin with? After all, Liverpool are a far tougher prospect now than they were when he took over five years ago.

Last season they finished in their best position since 2002, with their highest points tally since the Premier League began and yet four defeats in a row (two League, two European) were enough to put their manager’s neck very much on the line.

Fortunately for Benitez (and Liverpool fans, if he goes on to turn their season around), the pressure on the Spaniard has now been alleviated and in one fell swoop, Liverpool’s title odds fell from 18.0 to 12.0.

The simple fact is, had the club’s American owners panicked and had a new manager take over at Anfield, Liverpool’s prospects of success would have been seriously hampered in the short term, with no guarantee of silverware any further down the line.

It takes time to stamp a mark on a football club and very rarely does a change in manager lead to instant success. Another fact for you – only one man in Premier League history has won the title in his first season in charge and that was the self proclaimed ‘Special One’, who also enjoyed the advantage of a sizeable transfer budget.

So why is it then that so many clubs see chopping and changing as the way forward? It certainly didn’t help Newcastle United, whose fans saw four different men try and fail to keep the Magpies in the Premier League last season. It also hasn’t helped Tottenham, who took a backwards step after sacking their manager of three years, Martin Jol in 2007. Indeed, were it not for Harry Redknapp, they too may have been playing Championship football this season.

So next time you call for your manager’s head, sit back, take stock and ask yourself if hiring a new man really is the best way to make progress or if a little patience is all that is needed.

Here’s an interesting little fact for you: the two longest serving managers in Premier League history also happen to be in charge of the two most successful teams in Premier League history. So why is it then that fans and chairmen are so quick to jump on the back of a struggling manager and demand change?

This weekend saw a Liverpool side, missing its captain and shorn of form and confidence, defeat rivals and champions Manchester United 2-0, to relieve the pressure on Reds’ boss Rafael Benitez. But should Benitez have even been under such pressure to begin with? After all, Liverpool are a far tougher prospect now than they were when he took over five years ago.

Last season they finished in their best position since 2002, with their highest points tally since the Premier League began and yet four defeats in a row (two League, two European) were enough to put their manager’s neck very much on the line.

Fortunately for Benitez (and Liverpool fans, if he goes on to turn their season around), the pressure on the Spaniard has now been alleviated and in one fell swoop, Liverpool’s Premier League title betting odds fell from 18.0 to 12.0.

The simple fact is, had the club’s American owners panicked and had a new manager taken over at Anfield, Liverpool’s prospects of success would have been seriously hampered in the short term, with no guarantee of silverware any further down the line.

It takes time to stamp a mark on a football club and very rarely does a change in manager lead to instant success. Another fact for you: only one man in Premier League history has won the title in his first season in charge and that was the self proclaimed ‘Special One’, who also enjoyed the advantage of a sizeable transfer budget.

So why is it then that so many clubs see chopping and changing as the way forward? It certainly didn’t help Newcastle United, whose fans saw four different men try and fail to keep the Magpies in the Premier League last season. It also hasn’t helped Tottenham, who took a backwards step after sacking their manager of three years, Martin Jol in 2007. Indeed, were it not for Harry Redknapp, they too may have been playing Championship football this season.

So next time you call for your manager’s head, sit back, take stock and ask yourself if hiring a new man really is the best way to make progress or if a little patience is all that is needed.

Ever wondered what a Saudi Prince likes to do in his spare time? Well, it’s not marriage counselling according to Prince Faisal’s aide Barry Didato.

According to Didato, the Saudi Royal could be set for a takeover bid of Liverpool football club but he still has concerns over the club’s debt and does not want to get involved in any dispute between co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

“His Highness’s shareholding could go from anything from nought to 100%,” Didato told BBC Sport.

“But he cannot be seen as a solution to the debt or problems in the existing relationship between the owners.”

“His Highness would not want to get involved in the [problems between the pair], he is not a marriage counsellor.”

The relationship between Hicks and Gillett is seemingly at breaking point, due to a very public fallout shortly after the pair took charge at Anfield. The situation is further complicated by the fact that each has a 50% share in the Premier League club but neither party can sell without the others approval.

Prince Faisal has only held talks with Gillett so far and Didato says that the duo have a “chemistry and shared vision”. However, any deal seems reliant on Gillett first reducing the debt at the club.

“The debt has to be at a manageable level before Prince Faisal would invest and the current level is high,” said Didato.

“He cannot be looked to as someone who is going to clean up the balance sheet – Gillett has to deal with this.”

Should Gillett and Prince Faisal enter into a partnership, that could spark trouble for Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, who was criticised by Gillett earlier in the week. In an interview with fans union Spirit of Shankly, the American said: “If it’s not getting better, it’s not Gillett and Hicks, it’s the manager, it’s the scouting.”

Benitez has had run-ins with the co-owners before and nearly lost his job in 2007, after a breakdown in communications led to Jurgen Klinsmann being approached about the managers position.

The Spaniard saw out that particular storm but any takeover involving Gillett may prove to be a double-edged sword for Benitez and his supporters.

It may only be the start of October but Pompey have already been the subject of an on-off takeover bid, a huge exodus of star players, a mini signing spree and the worst start to a domestic season in the history of the top flight.

Much like a soap opera, the drama is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. Over the last few days new owner Sulaiman Al Fahim has pledged to inject £50million into the club, fought off rumours of impending administration after it was revealed that the players had not been paid on time and now, according to reports, been admitted to a Dubai hospital. The problem is believed to be nothing more serious than kidney stones but the news will do little to quell the speculation surrounding the club.

The main concerns seem to be regarding financial stability – a far cry from the positivity that greeted the original news of Al Fahim’s proposed takeover. That revelation was made way back in May, when it was announced that Portsmouth had accepted a bid from the businessman. Yet it was another four months before a deal had been completed.

After doubts emerged over Al Fahim’s financial backing, the move appeared to be off, with talk of a new takeover bid, led by chief executive Peter Storrie. However, former owner Alexandre “Sacha” Gaydamak eventually decided to stick with Al Fahim, leaving Storrie’s future in doubt.

Speaking to local radio station The Quay, Storrie remarked: “I am very, very disappointed, but its Sacha’s club. He decides.”

Since then, Storrie has decided to stay on at Portsmouth but little has been done to assure fans as to the stability of the club, with matters on the pitch quickly going from bad to worse. The team, led by Paul Hart, have lost seven out of seven, scoring just three goals in the process and are now big favourites for the drop.

Regardless of Al Fahim’s intentions, Pompey’s short-term future looks bleak. With no transfer window until January and the Premier League odds stacked against them for their next two fixtures away at Wolves and home to high flying Tottenham, their plight may just get worse before it gets better.

A few short years ago there were increasing concerns as to the tactics being employed in the Premier League. Certain bottom half clubs have always been defensive through necessity but it had got to a point where even title challengers like Chelsea and Liverpool were accused of a lack of attacking ambition, with pundits pointing disdainfully towards the increasing popularity of the lone striker role.

At the time they may just have had a point – as anybody who watched some of the pre-2008 clashes between the two will testify. Yet the last couple of seasons have seen a notable switch in the managerial mindset, as the delicate balance between attack and defence lurched back in the direction of the former.

Some statistics for you: in 2005-06 and 2006-07 the top six teams scored an average of 62 goals apiece. In 2007-08 and 2008-09 that total rose to 67. This season at the current rate, the figure will top 90. While it’s highly unlikely that the top six will continue to score at quite that rate, another significant increase does look to be on the cards.

So why the sudden change? At Liverpool this is their best goalscoring start to a league season in over 100 years. This could well be put down to manager Rafa Benitez who has adopted a more attacking approach, by fielding a flexible formation in which a minimum of four players are given a license to attack.

The tactic sees the majestic Fernando Torres spearhead an attacking quartet that also features the likes of Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard. The reward for this approach is there for all to see – in the last four league games, these five players have scored 15 goals between them.

Liverpool of course have been far from the only team to champion attacking football this season. Arsenal have been revelling in free flowing football for years and after a season of stagnation, Spurs are again finding their shooting boots.

In fact, throughout the Premier League there are teams looking forward and not back. Chelsea have switched to two up front; Ancelotti dismissing the myth that Anelka and Drogba can’t play together. Sunderland have signed Darren Bent, one of the most potent strikers in the country and have been rewarded with 14 goals in seven games. Burnley have shrugged off a horrendous fixture list to net five in three at Turf Moor and even second bottom Hull have hit six in seven.

Maybe it’s down to a weakening of the ‘big four’, resulting in a more balanced division, maybe it’s down to fine attackers and poor defenders or maybe it’s down to Premier League managers finally deciding to stop being so cautious and “have a go”. Whatever the reason it’s hugely entertaining.

Former Stoke manager Alan Durban once said that if you want entertainment, you should go to the circus.

For once it looks like the circus may have come to us.

After two successive weeks of top of the table clashes and fiercely contested derby matches, last weekend’s fixtures had looked about as attractive as a day trip to a pencil museum (there’s one in Keswick, believe it or not). A shock result at Wigan and 37 goals later and all of a sudden this Premier League season looks like it may just live up to the hype.

A few short years ago there were increasing concerns as to the tactics being employed in the Premier League. Certain bottom half clubs have always been defensive through necessity but it had got to a point where even title challengers like Chelsea and Liverpool were accused of a lack of attacking ambition, with pundits pointing disdainfully towards the increasing popularity of the lone striker role.

At the time they may just have had a point – as anybody who watched some of the pre-2008 clashes between the two will testify. Yet the last couple of seasons have seen a notable switch in the managerial mindset, as the delicate balance between attack and defence lurched back in the direction of the former.

Some Premier League statistics for you: in 2005-06 and 2006-07 the top six teams scored an average of 62 goals apiece. In 2007-08 and 2008-09 that total rose to 67. This season at the current rate, the figure will top 90. While it’s highly unlikely that the top six will continue to score at quite that rate, another significant increase does look to be on the cards.

So why the sudden change? At Liverpool this is their best goalscoring start to a league season in over 100 years. This could well be put down to manager Rafa Benitez who has adopted a more attacking approach, by fielding a flexible formation in which a minimum of four players are given a license to attack.

The tactic sees the majestic Fernando Torres spearhead an attacking quartet that also features the likes of Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard. The reward for this approach is there for all to see – in the last four league games, these five players have scored 15 goals between them.

Liverpool of course have been far from the only team to champion attacking football this season. Arsenal have been revelling in free flowing football for years and after a season of stagnation, Spurs are again finding their shooting boots.

In fact, throughout the Premier League, there are teams looking forward and not back. Chelsea have switched to two up front; Ancelotti dismissing the myth that Anelka and Drogba can’t play together. Sunderland have signed Darren Bent, one of the most potent strikers in the country and have been rewarded with 14 goals in seven games. Burnley have shrugged off a horrendous fixture list to net five in three at Turf Moor and even second bottom Hull have hit six in seven.

Maybe it’s down to a weakening of the ‘big four’ resulting in a more balanced division, maybe it’s down to fine attackers and poor defenders or maybe it’s down to Premier League managers finally deciding to stop being so cautious and “have a go”. Whatever the reason it’s hugely entertaining.

Former Stoke manager Alan Durban once said that if you want entertainment, you should go to the circus.

For once, it looks like the circus may have come to us.

After such an eventful weekend, it would be easy to lose sight of some of the Premier League’s lesser lights but away from the glitz and glamour of the Manchester and London derbies a strange thing happened – all three promoted teams won. Stranger still, it wasn’t the first time such an event has happened this season.

As a result Burnley, Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers all find themselves positioned safely in mid-table and with established Premier League sides like Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers struggling badly, they may just be good enough to stay there.

For those battling the drop home form is crucial. Stoke City are a perfect example – last season they won just two games on their travels but ended up finishing in a comfortable 12^th position after picking up a very impressive 31 points at the Britannia Stadium. This season, relegation favourites Burnley are already well on the way to replicating such a feat, with three wins from three home matches.

What makes Burnley’s feat even more impressive is the quality of opposition that has been dispatched – Everton, Sunderland and champions Manchester United have all left Turf Moor with tails between legs.

Another good way to beat the drop is by defeating your fellow relegation candidates. In this sense Birmingham City have got off to the perfect start. Their football isn’t always the most exciting to watch (in the Championship last season they managed just 54 goals in 46 games) but three in six this season has proved enough for a respectable seven points. Crucially six of those points have been secured against the bottom two of Hull City and Portsmouth, giving the Blues an immediate advantage over two of their main rivals.

As for Wolves, they don’t seem to be following any sort of pattern, claiming four points from a possible nine at home and three from nine on their travels but for boss Mick McCarthy that will not matter one iota. Last time he led a team in the Premier League (Sunderland) they finished with just 15 points, which at the time was a record low. With seven points already, it looks like McCarthy may have learnt from past errors.

For all three promoted sides to survive this Premier League season would be unprecedented but with the relegation odds on each club lengthening on a weekly basis, some of the Premier League’s more established teams may be in for a nasty surprise.

Somewhere in amongst the furore that surrounded Emmanuel Adebayor’s Saturday afternoon, a football match took place.

I know it’s difficult to spot and you may have to search through a pile of seething Arsenal supporters and endless reams of video evidence to find it but I assure you, it did take place. Nor was it’s outcome predictable or irrelevant; a 4-2 victory by Manchester City is really quite exciting news for those hoping for a new top four/title challenger.

Prior to Saturday’s match, many were happy enough to take City’s 100% Premier League record with a pinch of salt and perhaps rightly so. After all, they had enjoyed a relatively straightforward start to the season but still only managed to score five goals against their first four opponents- nothing to be overly concerned about but hardly what you would expect from such an expensive forward line.

However, one victory against a member of the esteemed ‘big four’ later and Mark Hughes side are suddenly starting to look like an altogether tougher proposition. Manchester City’ title odds have been cut to 12.00 (compared to Arsenal’s 11.00) and a Champions League spot would appear to be a minimum target.

For Arsenal it was an all to familiar tale as they were once again left scratching their heads and wondering what might have been. Time and again their build up sparkled only for the target to elude them. They are certainly still in the title race (anybody dismissing any team’s chances after two defeats is likely to look silly come May) but they have to start making their domination pay and perhaps consider signing a new goalkeeper; Almunia has too often looked out of his depth against quality opposition.

So for Wenger, it’s a second consecutive matchday of head scratching and wondering what might have been. For Hughes it’s some more justification for his oft questioned summer transfer activity. For the fans, bookmakers and pundits it’s another sign that maybe, just maybe, the Premier League trophy will be heading to unusual surroundings in the not too distant future.

The biggest problem faced by the current system is the widespread tapping-up of players and the lack of either a deterrent or preventative measures. Prior to last week’s transfer ban on Chelsea, little had been done to catch offenders and even when charged, the resultant punishments have been meaningless. A five or six figure fine for example, is going to do nothing to deter a team that regularly shells out tens of millions on their latest acquisitions.

Back in 2005 Chelsea were involved in one of the most high profile disciplinary cases in Premier League history, when they were accused of tapping up Ashley Cole. When they were found guilty, it should have signalled the start of the big clean-up; after all, Chelsea are far from being the only culprits. However, there was no big clean up and not even a big punishment, with the club receiving a mere fine and suspended points deduction.

So come 2009, nobody should be surprised that we are again in the midst of transfer controversy. However on this occasion Chelsea (yes, them again) have been on the receiving end of a meaningful punishment, which providing it sticks, should act as a major deterrent.

Maybe Fifa are finally starting to see sense but can we do anything further? Perhaps impose some laws that prevent tapping up, so there is no need to punish it? Player’s chief Gordon Taylor believes that we should start by imposing a ban on the transfer of anybody under the age of 18.

“There’s been a general feeling that a ban on movement of players under the age of 18 would be better for the game,” Taylor told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Football is about competition. You can’t have all the best youngsters at the biggest, richest clubs.”

Whether this idea is the answer is up for debate but there is no doubt that football clubs have to start tidying up their act or face the consequences. As such we should all be hoping that Chelsea’s appeal is rejected and that other clubs are picked up on their own offences and are punished in the same manner.

If this is not the case and Chelsea again receive little more than a slap on the wrist, expect those all important five words to be broken up and discarded for a few more years.

Harry Redknapp has been in management for 25 years and has consistently overachieved with limited resources. At Bournemouth he led the team to promotion and a famous cup victory over Manchester United, at West Ham he consistently finished in the top half of the Premier League and at Portsmouth he won promotion and then, unbelievably, the FA Cup in 2008.

Tottenham meanwhile have consistently underachieved, finishing fifth or lower every year since the Premier League’s inception, despite spending large amounts of money at regular intervals; their potential has been talked about for a long time but never fulfilled. However, with Redknapp at the helm there is a renewed sense of optimism at White Hart Lane.

Of course, early season performances can be deceptive, but Tottenham’s form cannot be put down to a kind fixture list, nor a lot of good fortune. Redknapp’s men have outplayed last year’s runners-up, destroyed a Hull team that pushed Chelsea all the way, picked up three impressive points at Upton Park and showcased a new found persistence in Saturday’s late win over Birmingham.

Whether they can last the distance and claim a place in the top four, or even challenge for the title, remains to be seen but with a proven manager at the helm, plenty of momentum and an impressive depth to their squad, Spurs should not be written off so casually.

They were 100/1 shots pre-season to win the title, compared to an over-hyped Manchester City, who were backed in to 14/1. With a history of being made to look silly by Redknapp, the bookmakers may just be ready to rethink those odds.

Liverpool’s opening defeat to Tottenham Hotspur certainly whetted the appetite but it could also have been perceived as a mere anomaly in an otherwise predictable process. In order for that result to take on greater significance, another had to follow; that’s where Burnley come in.

It’s certainly not unusual for Championship play-off winners to be written off, but following an opening day defeat to Stoke, the negativity surrounding Burnley’s chances of Premier League survival plunged to new depths. With this in mind, few expected the Clarets to trouble champions Manchester United but trouble them they did, as a fine Robbie Blake strike earned the home side a famous victory.

It’s also a victory that vindicates the football odds of a much tighter league from top to bottom – last season’s top three lost a combined total of three games against the bottom 16 teams, this season the tally already stands at two.

One of the main reasons for this sudden change also happens to be the reason for the gap in the first place – money. The likes of Manchester United and Chelsea no longer have the pick of the worlds best players and when a team like Manchester City or Real Madrid comes calling, they face a struggle to keep hold of their own stars.

It doesn’t matter what anybody inside Old Trafford tries to tell you, United are weaker without Ronaldo and Tevez and against Burnley and to a lesser extent Birmingham, it showed.

All of which makes it so ludicrous that some were writing off Liverpool after their defeat to a rejuvenated Spurs side. Sure enough, last year’s runners up moved quickly to silence the doubters as they cruised to victory against Stoke. Few have written off United, yet the 4-0 win puts Liverpool above the holders on goal difference.

Elsewhere Chelsea picked up a second straight win but question marks remain over their new formation after two less than impressive performances. So that leaves outsiders Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur as the only other potential challengers on maximum points; a recipe for an exciting, dramatic and unpredictable season if ever there was one.

Manchester City have been tracking the 26 year old for most of the summer and appear to have stepped up their bid, following John Terry’s decision to stay at Chelsea. However, Everton manager David Moyes appears determined to keep Lescott and has already rejected two bids for the defender.

Purists may be quick to criticise Manchester City’s financial juggernaut and the players that have gleefully hopped on board but it takes a lot to reject such an offer. Whether Everton fans will be quite as understanding remains to be seen – they cheered Lescott throughout a recent friendly match with Malaga but are unlikely to be as supportive now he has pinned his colours to the mast.

Lescott is currently on international duty with England and has yet to comment but his manager has made his feelings clear.

“I have always said that we are not selling any players and that has not changed,” David Moyes told the Everton website.

Given the Toffees are in direct competition with Manchester City for a top six spot, Moyes’ stance is understandable. Everton have made great progress under the Scot and will be desperate to keep moving forward, following two successive fifth place finishes and an FA Cup final appearance.

Lescott joined the club for £5million in 2006 and has played a key part in Everton’s revival. It would be a safe football bet that to lose him would be a major blow for Moyes and a huge addition to a Manchester City defence that conceded an unenviable half century of goals last season.

The big problem for Everton is the frowned upon issue of player power – Kaka and Terry rejected City’s millions because they wanted to stay at their respective clubs; for Lescott that is not the case. As with Xabi Alonso at Liverpool, what a player wants, a player normally gets.

Unfortunately for Moyes and the purists money talks and Lescott is clearly listening.

The deal is believed to be worth £14million and will bring to an end a lengthy and eventful pursuit from Sunderland boss Steve Bruce.

Bent finished as Tottenham’s top scorer last season with 17 goals but has fallen out of favour with manager Harry Redknapp and would have been fifth choice striker, had he chosen to stay at White Hart Lane.

Steve Bruce declared an interest in the England international early in the summer but it has taken a long time for the two clubs to agree a fee and Bent’s frustration was highlighted last week after he posted an online rant on social network site Twitter. The striker accused Spurs chairman Daniel Levy of disrupting the deal but has since apologised, saying: “I appreciate that transfers are seldom straightforward.

“I regret my actions and did not intend to offend Daniel Levy or anyone with the nature or the content of my posting.”

However it seems a safe football bet that Bent’s actions have not put off his prospective new manager, who told the Sunderland Echo: “Footballers aren’t just objects. There’s a human being in this who is obviously caught up in the middle and wants his future sorted out.”

Bent is currently in the north east for a medical and should become the Black Cat’s fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Lorik Cana, Paulo Da Silva and Frazier Campbell.

Tottenham’s strike-force will be cut to four, however Redknapp has not ruled out further signings and is actively tracking Real Madrid forward Klaas Jan Huntelaar.

The departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez will seriously dent Manchester United’s title challenge, according to Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka.

Ronaldo joined Real Madrid for a world record £80million, whilst Tevez left for rivals Manchester City after his loan deal expired. United have signed Luis Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen and Gabriel Obertan in a bid to replace the duo but Anelka thinks the champions may struggle to retain their title.

“I don’t think they’ll be as strong this season” said the French international.

“Ronaldo and Tevez have gone and maybe it will give us more of a chance to win the title and be stronger than United.”

The Old Trafford club have won the title for three successive seasons and in doing so have equalled Liverpool’s record of 18 league championships. However, they are likely to face increased competition this season, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal all desperate to dislodge them and Manchester City spending around £80million in a bid to break into the ‘big four’.

Anelka thinks the title race could be closer than ever. He said: “It will be a tough title race. All the teams at the top are very strong and even Manchester City have some good players.

“Because United have lost two big names, it gives everyone else – including ourselves – a big chance to win it. We will fight until the end and see.”

Anelka’s comments could well provoke a response from Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. The Scot has already got the mind-games underway ahead of the new season with a dig at Manchester City. Speaking during a pre-season tour in China he claimed City pose little threat and are a “small club with a small mentality”.

With three weeks to go until the big kick-off and sparks already starting to fly, 2009-10 may prove to be one of the most explosive seasons in Premier League history. Premier League betting may certainly be interesting this season!

The 28 year old has been in Hull since Friday but Tigers boss Phil Brown says Zamora has been laid low by jet lag. He told BBC Radio Humberside: “Bobby landed on Friday afternoon and was suffering badly from jet lag so needed the weekend to rest.

“Hopefully Monday, Tuesday I’ll be sitting down with Bobby, bringing him up here and showing him round.”

Zamora is likely to find himself pushed down the pecking order at Craven Cottage by the return to fitness of Diomansy Kamara. However, despite scoring just two goals in 35 league appearances for Fulham, Zamora did manage 40 goals at former club West Ham United. He is also a former England Under-21 international, after impressing during a spell at Brighton & Hove Albion where he scored 77 goals in 130 appearances.

French defender Steven Mouyokolo is currently Hull’s only summer signing and manager Phil Brown will be keen to add more new faces to a squad that survived Premier League relegation by the narrowest of margins last season.

Former Charlton and Portsmouth winger Jerome Thomas is currently on trial at the club and Brown says he has made a good first impression.

“It’s quite positive, he’s certainly been impressive in terms of his wing play, impressive in the way he can go past a player and produce a cross or even a goal.

“They’re areas we want to improve on and the early signs are quite positive. We haven’t sat down to talk terms yet or where his future lies. It’s a case of him looking at us and us looking at him”, Brown added.

Living in an age where people demand everything instantaneously is not always a good thing. Sure it has given us super fast computers, the iPhone, the Playstation3 plus hundreds of other gizmos. But not everything can be made faster and certain aspects of life take time before they bear the fruits of success. However, English football seems to have forgotten this and in our mile-a-minute world if managers aren’t producing results within the first ten games you can bet their job will be on the line.

So we come to one of the new boys in Roberto Martinez, set for his first Premier League season as the new manager of Wigan. Like every new manager the former Latics player will have his own ideas about who should play for Wigan, how they should play and other aspects such as training methods. Having seen Martinez’s former club Swansea last season and Wigan under Steve Bruce there will be some big changes to the way the Latics play.

Bruce is pretty much your traditional English manager, looking for players with good physical attributes before judging their football skills. Thrown into that mix will be your flair players to add a different dimension to the side and that is it, albeit broken down to its most basic structure.

Martinez doesn’t work like that and with Jordi Gomez, along with a number of other Spanish players, on their way in the folk at the DW Stadium could be in for a culture shock. Expect the ball to spend the majority of its time on the floor when Wigan have it and look for a style of play similar to that of Arsenal.

The change should be a refreshing one for those of us who believe Brain Clough was right when he said ‘if God had wanted us to play football in the sky, he would have put grass up there.’ However, just like so many managers who have been before him the big question will be whether Martinez is given enough time to implement his strategy.

Looking at last season there were a number of managers who probably weren’t given enough time to realise their dreams. Paul Ince at Blackburn, Tony Adams at Portsmouth and Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea all spring to mind. I suppose the other big question will be if things don’t go well for Martinez from the start how long will Wigan chairman Dave Whelan and the Latics board give Martinez before hitting the panic button?

I am going to stick my neck out and say Whelan will give Martinez all the time he needs to mould his Wigan side. The Latics chairman seems to realise that the club are punching above their weight already and understands that staying in the Premier League will qualify as yet another good achievement for the north-west side. I am hopeful that Martinez will be successful and that he is capable of bringing the kind of football we saw at Swansea to the top table of the English game.

For a very, very long time Manchester City have been dwarfed by their local rivals Manchester United. When it comes to winning trophies there are no comparisons, United are in a league of their own when it comes to success. That’s the way it will be in the future to, City will never be bigger than United while the Red Devils keep their firm grip on all the glory.

There has been constant speculation that City would become bigger than their rivals thanks to becoming the richest club in the world. However, that hasn’t happened. Last season United were once again kings of the Premier League while City failed to even qualify for next seasons Europa League. While a lot of City fans claimed they weren’t disappointed you can’t help but think there was a small part of them that thought they would do better.

Well as the players return from their summer holidays and the transfer market starts to gather momentum things are looking up if you are from the blue half of Manchester. Finally Mark Hughes side seem to be actually attracting a few big names, rather than just throwing money into the dark and hoping a star will come out of it. Carlos Tevez looks set to join Robinho as the second big name player to join the club.

The Argentina international looks to be on the verge of joining United’s local rivals after walking away from Old Trafford. Certainly that will make a few United fans pig sick that they couldn’t keep the bullish striker who has become so popular with their fan base. United fans might be even sicker to see City bring in Samuel Eto’o, then man who help break United hearts in last seasons Champions League finally.

As we will have read City have made a monster off for Eto’o and Barcelona president Joan Laporta seems to have hinted the Cameroon international will consider the deal. The signing of Eto’o would certainly send out a message that City are capable of bringing in the big boys, albeit through singing some very big cheques.

If Tevez and Eto’o do join City you can see more star names being inclined to follow and while the rest of the Premier League is seemingly struggling to attract the attention of Europe’s top stars City look like they could buck the trend. It’s too early to say what will happen next season, with Hughes still to finalise his squad, but it already looks like City could be capable of challenging for a top fur finish.

Alongside Emmanuel Adebayor’s future, Fabregas has dominated the headlines when it comes to transfer speculation at the club and up until now hadn’t really given us a true reflection on how life at the club had for him been since 2005. The 22-year-old midfielder was in the side that overcame Manchester United on penalties in the FA Cup final. Four years down the line and while Fabregas has gone from strength to strength Arsenal have not.

Now the captain of the side Fabregas has to be the leader in the dressing room and on the field, but I fear with his recent outburst that if he does stay at the club he may have already lost some of the respect from the players. On the other hand though he may have gained even more respect from the fans. It’s not every day one of your top players comes out and sums up how a lot of Arsenal fans are feeling.

There is a lot of anger and frustration amongst Arsenal fans; this is clear, and while you get the impression the players feel the same too, not too many have come out and said it. Where I feel Fabregas let himself down and showed a lack of commitment towards the club was his failure to offer up any solutions on how to end Arsenal’s barren run.

Once again he talked about what is the easy way out in leaving the Gunners to join another club, this time Real Madrid. That is probably where Arsenal fans will have been most annoyed with Fabergas, as like all great players he can just leave and walk into another side. Whereas Arsenal fans are stuck with the club we have supported for our whole lives, hoping that our star players stick around long enough to bring us success.

It was an odd collection of quotes Fabergas gave because on the one hand he expressed how a lot of fans feel while on the other hand shunning the club by saying he could leave. Perhaps the most powerful line to come out of the interview was the one that said he felt the current Arsenal squad had tried their best but just weren’t good enough. This to me indicates a total lack of faith in Arsene Wenger and a lot of the players that things will get better. To me Fabergas is perhaps giving himself reasons as to why he should leave the club rather than looking for reasons to stay.

Over the course of Saturday, Sunday and Monday I saw Middlesbrough put up a limp-wristed fight at home to Manchester United, witnessed Newcastle put in a pathetic performance at Liverpool and was nearly bored to tears with Sunderland’s inability to look threatening. So after those three torturous games I was pleasantly surprised to see that one side does still have a bit of fight within them. Despite the run Aston Villa were on, Villa Park is never an easy place to go, especially when you have won just one of your last 18 games.

Although Phil Brown’s side were up against it, with Geovanni and Daniel Cousin’s decision to fight amongst themselves hardly helping the situation, the Tigers put on a decent display. Watching the game with a Hull fan I was expecting a desperate evening which would end with me having to put an arm round his shoulder and try to explain how Peterborough away won’t be so bad. Instead I was the optimistic one who was trying to convince him that things will be ok.

With essentially the same Championship side they had last season, plus a couple of extras, Hull seriously threatened Aston Villa in the second half and were perhaps unlucky not to get a draw out of the game. They had to rely on Boaz Myhill to make three outstanding saves to keep them in the game but then what are goalkeepers for if not to provide that last line of defence.

Hull were the only one of the sides I watched this weekend actually prepared to fight for the game when they fell behind, unlike the north-east trio who looked decidedly flat after conceding the first goal. What they lacked in quality they tried to make up for in fight and desire. Getting anything from Villa was always going to be a long shot and I will concede that Martin O’Neill’s side weren’t at their best but then neither were Everton, Man Utd or Liverpool and they managed to make their opponents look very ordinary.

Next weekend will be the decider with Hull facing Stoke at home in a game they must win to probably put the final nail in the coffin of the bottom three. Failure to beat the Potters though and a win for either Middlesbrough or Newcastle will spell trouble for Hull with games away at Bolton and home to Manchester United to come. However, that will be a worst case scenario for Phil Brown’s side and I expect them to overcome Stoke so they can begin to think about their second ever season in the top flight. Football betting over the next couple of weeks is set to be very interesting indeed.

The transfer merry-go-round has begun to turn once again as we approach the summer when all there is to talk about is who you would like your club to sign. For Liverpool top of their list appears to be Gareth Barry from Aston Villa, and David Villa and Raul Albiol from Valencia. The problem for the Reds is that their cash flow isn’t the best at the moment, what with George Gillett and Tom Hicks plunging the club into massive amounts of debt and being unable to fund the repayments.

So what to do for Rafael Benitez’s nearly men? Well the obvious answer is to sell some players but then that will leave the Spaniard and his band of merry men in the same position they find themselves this season. For the majority of the season questions have been asked of Liverpool’s strength in depth, or apparent lack of it. Talking to a couple of Liverpool fans last week they all said the same thing, they have 11 good players but they don’t have the replacements that will do the same job for the side.

The problem for Benitez is that no one is going to want his average squad players, not at the prices they will need to charge if they are going to pay the £40million asking price for Villa. So then they will have to sell one or two of their decent players which leaves them just replacing a good player with one who may or may not work out at the club. In essence then Liverpool will still have 11 good players and a rubbish bench, a side worthy of finishing runners-up once again.

Here’s hoping I don’t have to eat those words come the end of the season but winning the title is the only way I can see Mr Gillett and Mr Hicks digging into their wallets for a bit of extra cash rather than forcing Benitez to become the Del Boy of the Premier League transfer market.

As for those who I think Benitez may be forced to sell off well Sami Hyypia is the first name that springs to mind with the defender now getting on a bit. The second would be Xabi Alonso who, despite having an excellent season, still isn’t reportedly seeing eye-to-eye with Rafa. My third and final pick to be given the boot from Anfield, should it be necessary, is Andreas Dossena after his terrible first season in English football.

Now watch none of those three leave in the summer as Liverpool upset the football odds and find a treasure chest from somewhere. If they don’t happen to make such a discovery then they will continue to go around in circles unless they give the team the strength in depth it needs to avoid being number two for a second season.

That was until I saw Clint Dempsey putting forward his boss Roy Hodgson for the award and it clicked that perhaps the former Blackburn Rovers manager did deserve some recognition for his work this season. Let’s face it there would have been very few of us who would have thought that Fulham would be in contention to qualify for Europe this season after their Houdini style escape from the drop last time out.

The turn around has been nothing less than remarkable, working with limited funds and keeping a lot of the same players he had last season Hodgson has turned Craven Cottage into a fortress. The Cottagers have the third best home record in the league and this season have beaten the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal on their own patch, upsetting all the football odds in the process. Away from home they have continued to struggle but have become a tough nut to crack.

Mark Schwarzer has enjoyed an excellent season for Fulham, brought in by Hodgson during the summer, and has kept 14 clean sheets for the side. Brede Hangeland has become hot property in the Premier League with Arsenal reported to be interested in the central defender who was slaughtered by television pundits when he first came to the club last season. The whole spine of the team is strong with Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora working well together up top since they joined the club.

Hodgson has proved that if you get the basics right and get the side playing for each other then you can’t go far wrong. They may not be the most spectacular side to watch but you can’t deny how well they have done this year. If Fulham do secure that last Europa League spot then the Premier League should take their heads out of their backsides and take a look at another club in west London that doesn’t wear blue. Only one manager has received the award when they haven’t won the league, that was George Burley at Ipswich, and Roy Hodgson certainly gets my vote to become the second.

If Boro are to stay up it is going to require a small miracle, something we saw last season with Fulham and in the past with other sides who have escaped the drop. The problem for Middlesbrough is that miracle doesn’t seem to be coming and looking at the club there is a reason why. Boro’s captain Emmanuel Pogatez hit the nail on the head when he said the club had failed to replace the good players they had lost. Instead Southgate has had to rely on the kids and the lack of experience they possess is what is going to cost them their place in the Premier League

A look through their squad list provides the evidence you need because out of those 30 or so players available to them a large proportion lack much Premier League experience. Without being unkind to those youngsters that turn out week-in, week-out for Boro they don’t possess the same quality you get at Arsenal, Manchester United or even West Ham. The youngsters Southgate has been forced to field have struggled to fill the gaps left by the likes of Mark Schwarzer, Yakubu, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, George Boateng and even the manager himself.

Don’t get me wrong, Middlesbrough have some talented youngsters in Matthew Bates, Adam Johnson and David Wheater but they are playing in arguably the best league in the world where you get very little time to learn your trade. Unlike Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Southgate hasn’t had time to blood his young players through the Carling Cup and FA Cup before introducing them to the Premier League. That’s not to say that Southgate is totally blameless in the fact that Boro’s squad lacks any depth, bringing in Justin Hoyte and Marvin Emnes was hardly the way to solve the issue.

Middlesbrough have an excellent chairman in Steve Gibson but having poured a lot of money into the club it appears as though the coffers have run a bit dry and the promising youngsters Gibson may have expected to have been ready for the Premier League by now still need time in the oven.

Southgate himself lacks the experience needed as a manager to pull the club to safety and football betting currently suggests that he will pay for that with his job. It is a worrying time at the Riverside and I can see Boro struggling to regain their place in the top flight if they do go down because the decent youngsters they have will be snapped up while those experienced players who are still left at the club will more than likely walk.

Another weekend of Premier League action and another cracking Dirk Kuyt goal. Now who would have predicted that this time last season? Certainly not me and with good reason because his goal tally in the league last season was just five, managing 11 in all competitions for the Reds. So far this time around the Dutchman has already managed five in the league, seven in all competitions.

Kuyt’s transformation from potential big money flop to an invaluable part of the team has certainly been a steady one. Signed from Feyenoord in 2006 for £9million I must admit I thought Liverpool had bought yet another striker who wouldn’t cut it for them. The likes of El Hadji Diouf, Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer had all arrived with big price tags and failed to improve Liverpool’s goal tally.

It’s always a fair assumption to make that players arriving from overseas will take some time to adapt to the English game. For example Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t an instant success but he certainly has become one. It would be fair to say that the most important thing Kuyt did in his first season was to dispatch the penalty that put Liverpool through to the 2007 Champions League final.

Perhaps Kuyt had been resting on that one spot kick to keep the Liverpool fans on side for the next season. Signed as a striker the Dutch international was expected to bang in the goals but struggled and was instead deployed out on the right hand side of midfield. There is no doubting Kuyt’s work rate, as he seemed to endlessly sprint from one part of the field to another, but his end product was what was being called into question.

Those asking the questions became so loud that there were rumours that Hamburg were preparing to make a bid for the flying Dutchman in the summer. However Rafael Benitez is thought to be high on Kuyt based on his endless work rate and has stayed put for now.

Good thing to because Kuyt’s rich vein in form has co-inside with Liverpool’s sustained push for the Premier League title. The football odds on Benitez’s side lifting the Premier League trophy have been shorten, albeit the campaign still being in its early stages.

Kuyt had become known as a big game player but as he demonstrated against Bolton on Saturday the 28-year-old has become indiscriminate about who he scores against which will please all of those who cram into Anfield every other week.

Truth of the matter is that whilst Kuyt is having a good season so far he is certainly being helped by the team around him who are actually mounting a serious title challenge for the first time in along time. It’s an old cliché but Kuyt is part of a well oiled machine, which will continue to improve if the Dutchman keeps up his standard of performances.

One point off the relegation zone is the last place Sheikh Mansour would have expected Manchester City to be when he took over at Eastlands in September. Now with the club verging on a relegation battle rather than one for a Champions League place must have the ADUG questioning whether Mark Hughes is the right man for Man City.

Hughes is apparently flying to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to discuss potential transfer targets for January but with the club languishing at the wrong end of the table who do they think they will attract? The Arab owners may believe that the only thing that will attract the big names they want to Eastlands will be a renown manager in charge at the club.

Rumors have been rife that the likes of Jose Mourinho or Roberto Mancini could be in line to takeover on the touch line and with the start City have made to the season Hughes is doing himself no favours in establishing himself as the man to take the club forward.

The football odds where against City to make a European place this season and I hope that the ADUG realised that before taking over the club. The January transfer window would always be the period when City were expected to drop the big bucks on some big names. The likes of Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres and David Villa have all been banded around as possible targets.

Now there is no doubt Hughes is a good manager, the job he did with Blackburn was a brilliant one and many had expected him to do the same with City under then owner Thaksin Shinawatra, but his aims where a little lower than Premier League winners in two years.

City have a tough month to come as well with unpredictable Hull away next week followed by games with Arsenal and then Manchester United in the league. The football odds would suggest that Hughes’ men would be lucky to take between four and five points from those games.

Sheikh Mansour will have to make a tough call because if he does want to appoint a new manager then he will have to do it quickly so he can assess the squad before deciding who they believe the team needs. After so many years of instability at the club though it would seem a silly move to unsettle the squad halfway through the season. My hope is that ADUG give Hughes until the end of the season before deciding the former Manchester United forwards fate.

However if they do take the sensible option of keeping on Hughes until the summer it remains to be seen if he will last any longer than that. Sparky just doesn’t seem to suit the look and style ADUG are going for and I would very much doubt that he will enjoy a reign as long as Sir Alex Ferguson at City’s deadliest rivals. So even if Hughes turns things around I would expect to see him at another club in the not so distant future with City appointing a European manager, the likes of which have brought so much success to the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

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Another promoted side, another embarrassing defeat for the Gunners and the north London side look like they have taken a step back after being out muscled at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. Back are the bad old days for Gunners fans when they were pushed off the park by the likes of Bolton and Blackburn. Whilst they managed to overcome those teams this season it was same old same old for Arsene Wenger’s men as they were well truly beaten by a side that are one of the favourites to go down.

With Manchester United travelling to north London on Saturday the young guns look to be well and truly out of their depth in terms of a title challenge. There are even fears that they may not make it into the Champions League next season if their current form continues. The football odds now place Arsenal at 20/1 to win the Premier League and with a difficult month to come those odds may be even longer by the time we head into December.

The Gunners face Man Utd, Chelsea and Aston Villa in November with Man City away not an easy match either. Despite Wenger’s faith in his young squad it seems glaringly obvious to everyone that Arsenal need a) a midfield general and b) a leader. Perhaps the French manager is now praying that the transfer window will open early so he can draft in the players he needs but something tells me he will stick with what he has got.

Wenger’s gamble to stick with his current squad will be nothing short of a massive gamble because there is no doubt that Arsenal could attract any number of quality players. Whilst Wenger’s faith in his young squad is admirable patience is begging to wear thin around the Emirates with the ‘transition’ period from the last title winning squad to the next one taking longer than the fans may have expected. A trophy of some kind will be a necessity this season, although as the Premier League odds suggest they are going to be at least fourth in the pecking order for the FA and Carling Cup, being even further down the ladder when it comes to the Champions League.

This Saturday’s game against the reigning Premier League champions will be a good measuring stick of how far Arsenal still have to go before they can be considered title contenders. Whilst you can not totally write of the Gunners for the weekend, and an expected win in mid week against Fenerbache will certainly help boost confidence levels, it’s hard to see how they will overcome Sir Alex Ferguson’s team. For the time being Arsenal will be an exciting team to watch and when they turn it on a brilliant footballing side but for the time being Wenger’s men will have to watch on as the other three of the big four divide up the trophies.

As we arrive at the quarter mark for the current Premier League season the standings are starting to take shape, although who would have ever thought we would see Tottenham rock bottom or Hull City in the Champions League places. As such it is another big weekend of fixtures coming up and about time players started to perform. Here we will have a quick look at those who might be expected to up their game.

• Robbie Keane – With Fernando Torres set to miss this weekend top of the table clash against Chelsea a lot will be riding on the former Spurs striker. Having scored in midweek against Atletico Madrid Keane finally looks to be settling down at Anfield and perhaps the game at Stamford Bridge may be the place where the Irish forward can stake a claim to the second strikers position alongside Torres. Keane has yet to score for Liverpool in the Premier League and Chelsea will be a difficult place to break his duck. However Keane has a decent recent record against the Blues, having scored in two of their last five meetings. The 28-year-olds goalscoring odds maybe be worth a look this weekend.

• Joey Barton – With Newcastle short of players jailbird Joey maybe in with a shout of getting his first start against Sunderland since completing his six match suspension. Barton failed to make friends (surprisingly) in last seasons Tyne-Wear derby when he was guilty of a horrific challenge on Dickson Etuhu but managed to escape any punishment. The former Man City midfielder has this week said he would like to become a role model and knows he has done wrong with this Saturday’s match giving him the perfect opportunity to show he has mended his ways.

• Jo – Since arriving for a then club record fee of £18m the Brazilian striker has failed to set Eastlands alight with some of the samba magic we might have been expecting. Having missed a number of games through injury at the start of the season Jo has begun to get a decent run in the City side but despite a goal against Portsmouth more has been expected of the 22-year-old. With the visit of Stoke this weekend Jo might be expected to shine against a mediocre defence and try to step out of the shadow cast by a certain other record breaking Brazilian. However Jo is low on confidence and I don’t expect him to boost Manchester City’s Premier League odds any time soon.

• Tottenham – Having said I would only single out players this whole page could have been filled with under performing Spurs players. Another week, another bout of misery for Tottenham fans as they were first humbled by Stoke before suffering defeat to Udinese.  Heurelho Gomes hasn’t been the goalkeeper many were expecting and his display in the Uefa Cup won’t have inspired any confidence. The likes of Johnathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson have hardly held things together at the back to be fair whilst Luka Modric and David Bentley are still finding their feet at White Hart Lane. Finally we come to major problem, the strikers, Darren Bent seems low on confidence whilst Roman Pavlyuchenko is still adjusting to the Premier League. With a shocking record of five Premier league goals scored in nine games it is hard to see how Tottenham are going to turn it around. This Sunday presents a glorious opportunity to boost confidence at the club before the north London derby with Arsenal when they face Bolton at home. The Trotters themselves are struggling for goals and were fairly poor last time out against Blackburn. Juande Ramos must get his tactics right this weekend because Spurs fans patience is wearing thin and they will expect a result on Sunday.

Everton manager David Moyes has finally ended months of speculation by signing a new five-year contract with the club, worth a reported £16.5million. Some have said that Moyes’ failure to sign the deal has contributed to the Toffees poor start to the season, with the club currently in 15th place with eight points from their opening seven matches. Not only has their league form been poor but they already find themselves out of the Carling Cup and the Uefa Cup just two months into the new campaign. However will Moyes’ signature really help the Merseyside club our or are they destined for a tough season?

Last season Everton very nearly made the Champions League and had a very good year by their own standards. Since Moyes took over at Goodison Park in 2002 the only way has been up for the ‘peoples club’ but this season it looks as though Moyes magic may be beginning to wear off. Its not just Everton’s poor start but the fact that they don’t look like the same team they were 12 months ago, Joeleon Lescott and Joseph Yobo looked like rocks in heart of the Everton defence last time around.  However this season they look like they have never played together before. Right through the team things don’t seem right, perhaps its because of Mikel Arteta, who they rely on so heavily as a creative influence has been lacking this season or maybe its because Tim Cahill has been struggling on and off with injuries. These two are instrumental for Everton but neither have quite managed to hit the heights of last season and with Arsenal away this weekend  Everton’s Premier League odds don’t look like they are going to improve.

So will Moyes agreeing his contract sort all this out? Probably not because the clubs future is still surrounded with uncertainty. Chairman Bill Kenwright has admitted he would be interested in selling the club and with the help of Keith Harris the two have begun a search for potential buyers. Kenwright has admitted that the club need to find some financial backing if they are to compete with the ‘big four’ along with completing the proposed new stadium.

So as one cloud is lifted another still remains in the form of the future of the whole club and the question must be asked whether this is a bigger doubt than Moyes’ new contract ever could be. For example with new owners will come new ideas on how the club should be run and those might not include David Moyes or perhaps a proportion of the current squad. Whilst the sale of Everton is probably months, possibiliy even years away, these doubts may still be lingering around a side that really needs to concentrate on its football if they want to maintain the high standards of previous seasons.

As such I am predicting a difficult season for the Toffees, although they are too good to go down it looks as though  they will struggle to reach Europe again and look to be heading for a tedious middle table finish. Unless Moyes can turn it around once again Evertons odds for success are destine to take a nose dive.

With the prediction by Lord Triesman, head of the Football Association, that the current global economic crisis could spell a ‘terrible danger’ to clubs with spiralling debt, meaning could we actually see a Premier League club go to the wall? According to Triesman the Premier League is currently in £3bn worth of debt so the possibility is looming ever larger.Triesman’s prediction comes on the same day when West Ham’s chairman and major shareholder, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, saw his Icelandic bank Lanksbanki nationalised and he was sacked from the board.

Despite reassurances that Gudmundsson’s assets are spread out and that this won’t effect West Ham you do have to start to wonder whether even the foreign investor can save the over spending Premier League club. Lord Triesman’s predicts that Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea account for nearly a third of the £3bn worth of debt so are even the big clubs safe from financial ruin?

Well you would have to say Chelsea and Manchester United will be fine what ever the global economy throws at football but Liverpool seem to be being hit hard. Liverpool Chief Executive Rick Parry has tried to play down claims that the credit crunch has meant the Reds won’t be able to build their new stadium on Stanley Park for perhaps a year.

The club are riddled with debt after the takeover by George Gillett and Tom Hicks but they are not the only ones. A while back there was a story that Michele Platini only wanted clubs who were debt free to compete in the Champions League and Uefa Cup. It turned out that only three clubs, under Platini’s rule, would have been eligible to compete. According to one report those clubs were Stoke City, Newcastle and West Ham, although I feel that may have changed now with the Toon’s ownership dilemma and the Hammers looking like they might have to fork out up to £50million in compensation to Sheffield United.

So could we be on the verge of seeing a Premier League club go to the wall? Well it’s rare to see a club go out of business in any level of football so you would have to think not but perhaps it might be the end of large transfers. That is apart from Manchester City, whose owners have more money than sense and if things carry on as they are in the economic world City could be a good bet to win the Premier League a few years down the line. However looking at the story of West Ham’s foreign owner in financial trouble you even have to wonder if outside investors have enough to save the Premier League.

There is a real possibility that we will have big clubs like Leeds United be financial ruined by over spending and end up being stuck in the lower tiers of English football. This is a very pessimistic outlook but things are very worrying for everyone and it looks as though football will not escape unscathed.

The Premier League can not continue in the same way it has been going on for the last few years and the effects of the credit crunch can already be seen in the stands where there are a growing numbers of empty seats. The Premier League’s bubble is going to burst, it just seems like most club are not ready for it and it will have disastrous consequences for owners and fans alike.

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To say that Tottenham’s season had not got off to the best of starts would be an understatement and things don’t appear to be getting any easier for the north London side. Having managed just two points from their opening six matches Spurs have made their worst start to the season for over 50 years. The worrying sign for Tottenham fans is that there are no signs that they are beginning to turn things around. Against Portsmouth on Sunday they looked toothless and rarely threatened, the complete opposite to what some experts predicted at the start of the season when many thought Spurs would be one of the highest scoring teams in the Premier League this season.

Many of Tottenham’s expensive summer signings have failed to make any kind of impact with the likes of Giovanni and Luka Modric starting on the bench against Portsmouth on Sunday. Things won’t get any easier on Thursday night when they travel to Poland for their Uefa Cup first round, second leg tie against Wisla Krakow.

Anybody who was seen the Real Football Factories will know that the fans in Krakow take their football very seriously and there will be an intimidating atmosphere at the Stadion Wisly. On the pitch things don’t get any better for Tottenham with Wisla getting off to a brilliant start in their domestic league as they find themselves second, winning five of their seven games.

Spurs may hold a slender advantage over Krakow after their 2-1 victory in their home leg but the Polish side showed enough in that game to suggest that they may have enough to turn over their Premier League opposition. The odds are certainly stacked against Tottenham but they are still favourites in the Uefa Cup betting.

Taking a glance at tonight’s ties you would have to think that one of the Premier League sides in action tonight will go out and other than Everton Spurs would have to be favourites to get the push. In fact it wouldn’t come as a surprise if both Everton and Tottenham found themselves without European football for the rest of the season.

The Toffees have been poor for the majority of the season, a perfect example of that coming against Liverpool at the weekend when they didn’t manage a shot on target. There is obviously something wrong with the Merseyside club because they have retained the same players from last season that nearly carried them to a Champions League spot.

Everton are a real mystery at the minute but there is clearly something wrong with the set-up and their opponents Standard Liege have already shown that they are capable of breaking down the Toffees. The 2-2 draw from the first leg also hands the Belgian side the advantage and they are clear favourites heading into tonight’s match as they look to take out their Champions League heartache at the hands of Liverpool out of their local rivals.

Its going to take a lot for these two English sides to come through their respective ties and make it into the Uefa Cup group stages and you certainly have to bet on their European opponents.

The tournament shapes up with four groups of four teams with the top two from each group advancing to the knock-out stages. Basically its exactly the same as Euro 2008, except without the full international teams. That concept was abandon after the first World Cup in 1930 and now as you may know the gold medal is contested between players under 23 with each side allowed to draft in three over 23 years of age.

Four years ago it was Argentina who walked away with the gold medals and they are favourites to repeat their success again in Beijing. However the build-up to the competition has not been without its controversy. Barcelona and Schalke 04 have been very vocal about allowing their players to leave for the Olympics, both have important Champions League qualifiers coming up in that period and they have contested the ruling by Fifa. However on Wednesday Fifa upheld the ruling that clubs had to let players U23 leave to compete in the Games. For a look at the odds on the Olympic football head this way.

Its not just on the continent where a storm has been brewing, Liverpool have been vocal about allowing Ryan Babel and Javier Mascherano represent their respective countries. Let me list the clubs that will be losing a player or a couple of them for the start of the Premier League campaign:

• Arsenal: Alexandre Song (Cameroon)
• Aston Villa: Brad Guzan (USA)
• Blackburn: Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand)
• Chelsea: Saloman Kalou (Ivory Coast)
• Everton: Victor Anichebe (Nigeria)
• Fulham: Adrian Leijer (Australia)
• Liverpool: Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Ryan Babel (Holland)
• Manchester City: Jo (Brazil)
• Manchester United: Anderson (Brazil)
• Portsmouth: Franck Songo’o (Cameroon)
• West Brom: Gianni Zuiverloon (Holland)

So looking at the list it is clear that Liverpool will be hit hardest by the departures of Mascherano and Babel, both first team players who will miss the Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege, along with the start of the season. However like all the clubs mentioned in this list you’d think that they had sufficient cover to cope with the departures. For example Leijer of Fulham has spent a year at Craven Cottage but is yet to make his first team debut. Them same would go for Songo’o at Portsmouth, both are bit part players who neither side will be that upset about losing. In fact you’d think that the African Cup of Nations causes more grief to clubs than the Olympics. With the Cup of Nations players are gone for 6 weeks during mid-season when things are beginning to get a bit tasty.

With the Olympics players just returning from their summer breaks you might think that whilst it isn’t great for managers to lose any player it might be a chance for them to gain confidence and fitness at the Games ahead of their return to domestic action. You’d think that most managers would consider it an annoyance rather than a worry, apart from the obvious danger of serious injury.

In fact I think that the Premier League has gotten off easily in terms of losing players where as Serie A is losing quite a clutch of players. In the end as Premier League clubs all of them should be able to cope with the departures and as many of the players themselves have said that they want to play for their country there doesn’t seem much point in fighting it. In fact I would advice everyone to sit back and enjoy the Olympic football, it can be very entertaining and a break if you very quickly get bored of the new football season. For the Premier League odds click here.

Having suffered the heart break of not reaching Euro 2008 perhaps now, as we gear up for the new season would be an interesting time to look at England’s World Cup qualifying schedule. With just less than seven weeks to go before England start their campaign against Andorra we can begin the build up to whether we are set for another summer picking teams out of a hat to support of it we will be there in South Africa taking it to the world’s best.

This might seem like a strange time to look at England with the last international competition well behind us and many people focusing on how their clubs will do when they start again in August (head here for all the footballs odds for the new domestic season). However I for one am looking forward to this campaign and believe that this will be a very crucial time in English football. When it starts in September the following 15 months will show us if Fabio Capello can turn a bunch of rich individuals with plenty of potential into a functioning team that we can be proud of.

Last time we started a qualifying campaign there was a sense that we would walk the group, that the likes of Russia and Croatia could not match our band of Premier League stars. Despite having the incompetent Steve McClaren in charge people still expected to make it to Euro 2008. However I think people who knew football realised that it wouldn’t be that easy and so they were proved right that fateful night at Wembley when England fell flat on their face. To be fair we can’t just put it down to one night, it was a collection of performances that let everyone down, England at their overrated best.

This time though people are prepared, you could see when the fixtures were announced that England supporters took things seriously for once. I remember listening to Radio Five Live and hearing the pundits sucking air through their teeth at the prospect of Belarus away. That is unheard of in a country where many people are still ignorant enough to believe that we have a god given right to be the best at football. This time though I think people are more realistic and seem to be taking it seriously from the start. For a start we have a proper manager in charge, I will go out on a limb here and give my 100% backing to Capello not matter what happens, not that he would be devastated if I didn’t! The guy has a proven track record and his guidelines he set out when he took over are what the spoilt brats at England needed. I don’t know whether you read the Football 365 England diary they did whilst Euro 2008 was on but I encourage you to read it if you want true mickey taking of the national side. Here is the last chapter.

Lets move on and take a glance at the fixtures for the qualifying campaign ahead:

6^th September – Andorra (A)

10^th September – Croatia (A)

11^th October – Kazakhstan (H)

15^th October – Belarus (A)

1^st April – Ukraine (H)

6^th June – Kazakhstan (A)

10^th June – Andorra (H)

9^th September – Croatia (H)

10^th October – Ukraine (A)

14^th October – Belarus (H)

So looking at that I think it could have been a lot worse, you would hope that by the end of the Belarus game away England would have something in the region of 9 to 10 points. Andorra away should be a walkover but then will come the real first test for Capello, a trip to Zagreb. Croatia made England look foolish last time they played there and who would beat against them doing it again after their impressive performances in Euro 2008. Kazakhstan at home you would think haboured another three points followed by Belarus away. Another tricky away trip but one that I hope England will manage to take three points from if Fabio has them organised properly.

So around nine or ten points at that period would be a decent total heading into the new year and the first game against the Ukraine who are one of those sides who aren’t brilliant on their travels so I would hope the England would take three points from that one. This could be the first time that we see a clash between club and country because with the game beginning in April and the domestic season coming to a close a lot of the clubs won’t want to see their players pick up an injury. Be interesting to see if anyone drops out with an injury they might have played through if this was a club game.

Then we are on to Kazakhstan, the furthest trip England could have been given and to a country who should really be classed in the Asian qualifying sector. Anyway at the end of a long season this will be the last thing the players will want and Capello will really have to get them up for that one because otherwise England could be rolled over. Andorra at home and another three points before the big one. The return of Croatia to Wembley will probably decide the group with both teams probably on the same points at this point. Much like the away game I am going to sit on the fence and hope for a draw.

That result will leave England needing something in the Ukraine, reminiscent of the trip to Russia for the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. I would guess that Ukraine will be the third team in this group and a defeat here would put a lot of pressure on England going into the final game against Belarus. Ukraine face Andorra in their final group game and England could be facing déjà vu if they don’t get something in the former Soviet state. A draw would be nice although either way I can see England turning over Belarus in their last game.

So that’s it, England have qualified! Fabio is hailed as a hero and we can begin all the build-up to the finals. Well that will be the dream at least but with some tough away fixtures to come England will have to be prepared for the coming tasks. Anyway don’t forget about England if you support them and join in the excitement when they start against Andorra in September. To have an early flutter on the game here are the England odds.

This year saw the birth of Indian Premier League cricket. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, it’s a shortened version of the regular game played by the best cricket players in the world with all the glitz and glamour you would never have associated with cricket ten years ago.

In essence it was a million miles away from the traditional game with cheerleaders and fireworks — an aspect of cricket you would never see down on you local village green. The reason I have mentioned this is because the IPL had some very wealthy backers and to get the league off the ground they offered crickets best players sack loads of money to take part in the competition. I read an article which said that the average player taking part in the IPL would earn around £250,000 for six weeks work. As such many of the worlds players dropped everything and went off to India to take part. I was lucky enough to talk to one of the player taking part and he said the money was so good he would have been a fool to turn it down.

The fact is he is right. If someone offered you a year’s salary for six weeks work you are hardly likely to turn it down. The problem many people had with the game was that the players had no connection with the teams, or franchises as they were known, they were playing for. People from Mumbai and Delhi had come to support their local sides but the players who were competing were from Australia or West Indies rather than India.

This brings me onto the Premier League, already we can draw some similarities between these two leagues just by reading the papers and looking at the ridiculous wage demands some players make.

I am too young to remember this but I am always told that footballers used to take the local bus to games with the fans and that nearly always the whole squad was made up of players from the local area. Now you look at sides and you struggle to find anyone born within 50 miles of their side’s stadium. I am not a xenophobe by any means. I think that players from overseas have made the Premier League brilliant but the thing I have a problem with is a lack of loyalty they have with any of the sides they play for. Let’s go back to the IPL again and there were examples of players in that league who were prepared to miss months of games for their teams, even their countries, in order to earn the big bucks and the Premier League is no different. A current example of a mercenary is Emmanuel Adebayor. He is holding Arsenal to ransom over his wage demands and it looks like he will only stay if they give him the £120,000-a-week he is demanding. Today that doesn’t shock me but when you think about it things like that it should disgust you. Head this way for all the transfer odds.

Firstly how can someone demand that much money just to play football and secondly how can they treat a club which has helped establish them like that as well. I know Adebayor started his career with Monaco but if it wasn’t for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger he wouldn’t be the star he is today. The classic example of a player lacking loyalty has to be Nicolas Anelka who is the most expensive player in the world following all his transfers across the globe. I believe that he doesn’t care who he plays for as long as they have the cash. I know this is an old cliché but top level football has too much money, so much money in fact that they are willing to pay players what ever they want and yet they are somehow all in debt. The amount of money in sport in general is astronomical and cricket seems to have become the latest sport to take some of the free flowing cash.

The IPL will have generated millions of pounds for the Indian cricket board and many of the organisers which is great but I fear that, like football, cricket will begin to lose touch with reality. Football and now cricket are no longer sports in their original formats but rather businessman play things, where people are prepared to plough millions, if not billions, into a side just to get a brief taste of success. For who will taste that success here are the football odds. To me the IPL has taken what they saw in the Premier League and transferred it to their national sport because it seems that if you have enough money people will do anything. I know I am being idealistic in thinking we should revert back to the days when players used to take the local bus rather than a Ferrari to games but it would just be nice for players to show a little bit of loyalty and respect to clubs. It is very rare to get a player remain at one club for the whole of his career, soon it will be practically unheard of. The likes of Jamie Carragher and Ryan Giggs will be things of the past in years to come when three years will be considered as doing the club a good service.

Football is riddled with problems that are no closer to being solved but as long as there is success on the pitch people don’t seem to mind. That is where we see another similarity with the IPL because as long as their side was winning people didn’t care how much they were earning or where they came from. In sport winning is everything and I am one of those people that can’t stand to see their side lose but if I knew that the team I was applauding off felt the same way I did then perhaps myself and many more would have a bit more respect for those players and perhaps that would be reciprocated.

As I mentioned earlier though the thing that annoys me the most is the pundits and co-commentators, let start with the BBC’s choice for Euro 2008. Firstly the good things, which consist of Alan Hansen and Martin O’Neill. Hansen is still in my eyes the best pundit on television, he has a good insight into the game and unlike most people I find what he says actually interesting and informative. O’Neill has impressed me as well, like Hansen I am interested in what he has to say about football because he is currently involved in the game and you always get the sense that he is giving it exactly as he sees it. That’s where the good bits end and the bad ones emerge starting with Mark Lawrenson who managed to get my back up a treat on Sunday evening during the Spain against Italy quarter-final. Why bother being a commentator if all you are going to do is moan about the game, yes it was boring but was there any need to reiterate that point over and over again. Perhaps in my naivety I thought co-commentators were supposed to analysis the game and provides some insight making the match interesting but instead Lawrenson was making things worse with his unhelpful comments, adding to my frustration with the game.

Why they insist on putting John Motson and Lawrenson together I will never know because they are the worst commentary combination going. I would advise you to push the red button and listen to Five Lives commentary which is usually excellent but they have decided to go off their heads and employ Steve McClaren and Graham Taylor as colour commentators. I wonder if they are starting a failed England manager collection, we should expect to see Glenn Hoddle join them soon. I can’t stand McClaren, his voice is so boring and monotonous that it could put insomniacs to sleep whilst he babbles on about how he tried to sign this player and that player when he was at Middlesborough as soon as the aforementioned player does something well.

Speaking of monotonous voices we shall move on to Alan Shearer, a fantastic player but still one of the worst pundits I have ever seen. He revealed himself to be a massive hypocrite on Sunday evening after berating Italy for playing so defensively and claiming it was a “victory for football” when Spain had won despite spending the majority of the season on Match of the Day praising teams who did exactly the same thing against the likes of Arsenal to stop them playing football. There isn’t enough time to pick out all the faults with the BBC’s Euro 2008 coverage, Gary Lineker is another one, but I will finally return to my one about the ridiculous short videos they put on about nothing in particular. Does anyone else remember the star gazing man who was predicting France’s fortunes at the tournament or where Adrian Chiles had become so ‘stressed’ he had to see a psychiatrist because he was in the home land of Sigmund Freud. I still do not understand the reasoning behind these mini films and probably never will but please stop it.

Now onto ITV and it doesn’t really get any better here, the good aspects of their coverage would probably be Steve Rider who is actually a good presenter and holds the show together. They don’t have stupid videos about Sigmund Freud, instead going for the radical option of including bulletins about football in their football programme. Finally they have a couple of good commentators in Peter Drury and Clive Tyldesley, that’s not to say the BBC don’t have a decent collection themselves, I enjoy listening to Steve Wilson and Guy Mowbray who do a good job.

The problems for ITV begin when they decide to put David Pleat in the co-commentators chair. How this man was ever a successful manager I will never know because he is about as insightful as a baby’s pop-up box. During the Germany V Portugal game the commentator asked Pleat a question and he responded by saying: “yes, both teams are trying to pass the ball.” Now I may not be a football manager but isn’t that one of the key elements of the game? At this point I would have liked to have reached through my television screen and shaken him until he came out with something useful but I thought my arms would get sore before that miracle happened. Back in the studio it doesn’t get any better with poor Steve Rider having to try and hold an intelligent discussion with Andy Townsend who is still working out how to use the replay machine so he can illustrate his point. Alongside him could be anyone ITV can lay their hands on that is remotely involved with football, could be Gary Neville who still thinks his teenage moustache is cool and is probably more concerned with what sweets he can get from the canteen after the game. In fact I don’t know why ITV bother employing pundits because they have so many advert breaks that they can only get 30 seconds in before they cut to another advert telling me I need to become a driving instructor.

I do occasionally wish that Sky Sports were covering Euro 2008 but then I realise that the advert breaks are just as bad as ITV and I would have to watch Jamie Redknapp try a pronounce Russian names which would be more frustrating than a Rubik cube.

The only thing to do is sit back with your fingers in your ears and enjoy the football, place a cheeky bet to make it more interesting.

For Guus Hiddink and Lars Lagerback tonight will be a real test of their character and ability because whilst Sweden only need a draw sending a team out set up for that 0-0 can be a risky tactic which could easily backfire. The Swedes played for a draw against Spain and look what happened there, a lapse in concentration combined with a moment of brilliance and David Villa snatched a point away from the 1992 tournament hosts. This was a classic example of a sides tactics imploding and Lagerback must be wary not to do the same thing again. Russia may not possess a play with the same qualities of David Villa but they do have a couple of dangerous strikers to watch out for. Sweden must go out for the win, get themselves a couple of goals ahead and then allow yourself to sit back and soak up the pressure. Spain have shown us that the Russians aren’t the quickest at the back and are susceptible on the counter attack, something which Lagerback will have noted.

Sweden’s side may be an ageing one but together as a unit they are extremely effective, with the exception of the two strikers and Freddie Ljungberg there are no star names in the squad. What Sweden have done successfully over the years is picked a squad built around the ethic that it’s the sum of the parts that make the machine which is important rather than the individual parts themselves. In essence what that means is Lagerback picks the players which best correspond with the formation or tactic he has in mind, rather than picking the best players and shoe-horning them into roles which they aren’t suited for, like England do. The Russians face a tough task to get past the group stage for the first time in 20 years since they were runners-up to Holland in 1988. In their last game against the Greeks though Russia showed us that they weren’t pushovers and that they can play some good football. They may have been hanging on slightly come the final whistle but they were certainly the better side on the night. Guus Hiddink is working with the youngest squad in the Euro’s and with youth comes inexperience and naivety, aspects we saw against Spain when they were cut to shreds. In that game they failed to counter the Spaniards quick passing and movement, their defenders trying to go toe-to-toe with Villa and Fernando Torres in a foot race they were always going to lose.

Now though I think Hiddink’s inexperienced side are beginning to show some real grit and determination, something they were accused of lacking in the first game. Greece may be a poor side now but it still takes a lot of hard work to break them down and defend their constant high balls into the penalty area. I was impressed with the likes of Yuri Zhirkov and Dmitri Torbinski, not huge in stature but who got stuck in against the Greeks and had impressive games.

In the end though I fear experience may shine through this encounter, with the Russians possessing the least experienced squad I do not hold out much hope for the side. Sweden already hold the advantage with only needing a draw, although if Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn’t fit their goal threat will be reduced greatly. But only needing a draw means that if Sweden sneak a goal then it will be a long run back for the Russians. Even with the return of the influential Andrei Arshavin this could prove to be a test which the young Russians are unable to complete at this moment in time. The tournament has come too early for the former Communist country as they begin to re-establish themselves on the world footballing stage. As for the Swede’s well the quarter finals will be as far as they go, they are at the opposite end of the spectrum in that this tournament has come along too late for a proportion of their team. The quarters will be as far as they go in Euro 2008 where they will face Holland, a side who will go all the way, unlike the two Group D contenders.

For all the odds on Russia V Sweden click football betting

Before this tournament started a lot of people had Croatia down as their dark horses to cause a major upset in the European Championships and who cold blame them after Slaven Bilic’s side came through a tough qualifying group to make it to this years competition. But having watched them struggle to overcome Austria last night my faith in the Croats to cause any kind of upset has slowly drained away.

Their performance last night was far from impressive having hung on for the majority of the second half against a team who are ranked below Mozambique in the FIFA rankings. Take nothing away from Austria though who gave it everything and with a bit more luck could have easily taken a point from a game which after the first 15 minutes I thought the Austrian’s where going to be steamrollered. The Croatia we saw briefly at the beginning of the first half was the side that so many pundits had placed as their possibly side to upset the apple cart. They played the balls to feet quickly and where constantly going forward and causing the Austrian defence all kinds of problems. The likes of Luka Modric and Daniel Srna looked lively and much of Croatia’s play went through them. The major weakness that the Croats face is a lack of goals now they have lost Eduardo who managed to net 10 in qualifying for this tournament. This lack of threat really showed last night as Ivica Olic and Mladen Petric worked hard for the cause but never really threatened, the sight of Petric blazing a golden opportunity into the crowd in the first half could be a sign of things to come.

In fact having watched Croatia again since they beat England back in October I am now very worried that my pick for the Euros will struggle to get past the group stages. With the Germans coming up next a point will be vital if they hope to go into the last game ahead of Poland who I expect to dispatch Austria. But the chances of Croatia getting anything from that game could well have dried up. Germany looked pretty good last night and should have put at least three past the Poles, Mario Gomez more guilty than most of wasting chances. If the Germans click into gear against Croatia then the Balkan country could be in for a long and nervy night. Click here for the last Euro 2008 odds for Croatia Vs Germany or any of the games taking place in the competition.

That said I’m sure Bilic will have his troops fired up for their encounter with the Germans on Thursday and as the BBC have pointed out Croatia are slow starters when it comes to major tournaments. In fact its fairly impressive that Croatia have a team at the Euros at all being the smallest country in the tournament in terms of population with just 4.4million residing their. It puts to shame the likes of England who failed to qualify with all their money and facilities when you compare them with what Croatia have to go on. Bilic is paid just £35,000-a-year to manage the side, an amount which some English footballers earn in a few days. From having seen the side play and read about them on the internet there is certainly a large amount of pride involved with playing for the national side, something which a few sides lack. Last week Ronald de Boer claimed that the Dutch side lacked the pride required to pull on the orange shirt. It’s also plain to see that some of the England players don’t take much honour in supporting the three lions on their chest, for them its just another means to increase their profile.

That’s why I went for Croatia before the tournament started, the way in which they showed up England in qualifying was a sight to behold, especially the 3-2 victory at Wembley. Whilst most English fans believe that their side deserves to be there it was Croatia who earned the right to play at this summer’s tournament. Despite the doubts cast by the side with their performance last night I believe that if they can get themselves together for the next game against Germany then they will give the favourites a run for their money and possibly maintain their tag of dark horses, although that is easier said than done.

Good luck with you football betting and enjoy the tournament.