Scottish Mag

TRANSFER RUMOURS Spurs have edged closer to signing striker Darren Bent from Charlton for a fee between £12-14m. (The Sun) West Ham have been offered Argentina striker Javier Saviola to replace Carlos Tevez. (The Sun) Newcastle have slapped in a take-it-or-leave-it £2.8m bid for Paris St Germain defender David Rozehnal. (Daily Star) Sunderland boss Roy Keane wants Wigan skipper Leighton Baines - but will have to pay £6m for the defender. (Daily Mirror) Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira says French striker Thierry Henry will leave unless Arsenal spend big to strengthen their team. (Daily Mirror) And Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o says he expects Henry to join him at the club next season. (The Times) Meanwhile, Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly has angrily denied reports that he is tapping up French pal Thierry Henry. (The Sun) Middlesbrough have rejected a bid of £10m from Portsmouth for striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu. (The Independent) Everton are in talks to sign Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley. (Various) Sampdoria have told Celtic they need to find £3m if they want to land Italian star Gennaro Delvecchio. (Daily Record) Aston Villa and Birmingham are competing for the signature of West Ham striker Marlon Harewood. (Daily Star) Swiss midfielder Bruce Lalombongo has turned down a move to Everton. (Daily Mirror) Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is still hopeful of snapping up striker Fredi Kanoute. (Daily Star) Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse is in talks about spending another season on loan with Marseille. (The Sun) If Cisse is not allowed to leave for another loan spell, Bolton are ready to move in for him. (Daily Mirror) Everton and Celtic are both chasing 20-year-old Chateauroux defender Yassin Moutaouakil. (The Times) Wigan and Portsmouth are both keen on Reading's Stephen Hunt. (Daily Mirror) OTHER GOSSIP Sven-Goran Eriksson is on the brink of accepting the Manchester City manager's job. (Various) Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins has told of his terror after a gang of masked gunmen fired at his car in Nigeria. (The Sun) Celtic are to set up 30 soccer camps in the USA in a bid to unearth the latent football talent in the country. (Daily Record) AND FINALLY Reading have been asked by the Premier League to test the latest Hawk-Eye goal-line technology during youth team matches. If it is a success, it could be in the Premier League within two years. (Daily Mirror) Nottingham Forest are planning to create an East Midlands 'super-stadium' with a 50,000 capacity which will help re-establish them as a leading club - and which can be used for the 2018 World Cup. (The Guardian)

I don't pay anything as my other half, whilst she does not work there, owns a salon with her sister..

Nothing wrong with highlights..

The Fish can recommend you some shampoo...

Just over £60 but will get about £5 back from Quidco so £55 for all that and another one of those chairs. Theres a 20% off code for Millets kicking about that expires tomorrow.

*tin hat* I would take him as a replacement for Owen. *runs* I agree. We should get Stuart Downing whilst we're raiding Middlesbrough's frontline. Now there is an overrated player..

Liverpool have been revealed as the mystery club backing Sheffield United's fight against the Premier League, reports BBC Radio Sheffield. A two-day hearing has started to decide if the Blades should be reinstated to the top flight after West Ham breached player ownership rules. They were fined £5.5m but avoided a points penalty over the signing of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry was called as a witness on Monday. An independent arbitration panel has been set up and is expected to deliver its verdict on Tuesday. If the panel decides to overturn the original decision, Sheffield United will ask the Premier League to reinstate them for next season. If the panel finds in favour of the Blades, the Premier League could relegate West Ham, keep both clubs in the top flight, offer a compensation package or refuse to overturn the decision. Blades plc chairman Kevin McCabe is adamant the panel will rule in favour of his club over a saga that started back in March. In that month, West Ham were found guilty of acting improperly and withholding vital documentation over the Argentine pair's ownership but they escaped a points deduction and Tevez was allowed to continue playing. He and Mascherano, who is now at Liverpool, were part-owned by a third party but the Hammers then ended that agreement, which satisfied the Premier League. Tevez was one of the major factors in the club's late escape - scoring a goal on the final day of the season at Manchester United to help the Hammers stay up. The Blades finished on the same number of points as fourth-from-bottom Wigan but were relegated on goal difference. "I think the Premier League accept they wish the arbitration was not happening," McCabe said last week. "But in the knowledge it is happening and it cannot be prevented, then if the decision is overturned we should be reselected to the Premier League. "Since we really looked into the whys and the wherefores of the Tevez affair it became apparent that a wrong decision was made." Presentations by the Blades have also been made to the European Commission. "We expressed our concerns of the whole affair," said club spokesman Andy Pack. "It wasn't a question of trying to enlist support or lobby, rather a chance to inform them of where we are."

I need plenty of Vodka and Cider..

T in the Park

Irn bru marinated haggis on a bed of sliced deep fried mars bar..

Sam Allardyce has warned Newcastle United's players they have to accept the pressure of public expectation on Tyneside despite the negative atmosphere which engulfed the club last season. Allardyce's arrival as manager and new owner Mike Ashley's takeover has ushered in an exciting new era at St James's Park, but there is still much work to be done to persuade supporters that decades of under-achievement are finally over. Several United players muttered their exasperation with the pessimistic mood which soured their relationship with the club's fans last season, but Allardyce has insisted it is part and parcel of playing football at a club where the passion of the fans has gone unrewarded for so long. United's new manager is keen to dispense with the disillusionment which characterised last season's dreadful campaign, but he admitted he will need players with the mental strength to cope with the challenge. His predecessors, Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder, made much of finding players with the right characters to succeed on Tyneside, but ultimately neither found enough of them as their bold boasts about recruiting proper men and their supposedly detailed research into a player's character came crashing down around them. "Let's be honest, it's been more than a couple of years of negativity at Newcastle United," said Allardyce, who is determined to succeed where so many others have failed. "I've talked to Gary Speed about this before and this is a great place to play if you're winning, but it can be a daunting place if you're losing. The players have to know the expectations of the fans. Even when things aren't going well, the fans still attend games, they still fill the stadium. "A lot of fans would just stay away, but the flip side of that is Newcastle fans do show their disapproval if they don't think players are playing well. That is what you have to live with when you play here. We have to be very careful about the character of the players we bring to this big and very famous football club." Several Newcastle players, including former captain Scott Parker and England internationals Michael Owen and Kieron Dyer, were booed by their own supporters last term as their patience, after decades of disappointment, broken promises and shattered dreams, began to snap. There were also intermittent protests against chairman Freddie Shepherd and the board throughout the season, while fans called for the sacking of Roeder after the final home game of the season against Blackburn Rovers - a protest followed by his resignation just 48 hours later. Allardyce hopes his arrival, as well as Ashley's seizure of ultimate power from Shepherd in the boardroom, will help bring a divided club back together. However, the former Bolton boss has also re-affirmed his desire - perhaps as a boundary marker to both Shepherd and Ashley - that he has to be given full autonomy when it comes to making the decisions which shape the playing side of things at St James's Park He said: "Newcastle haven't had enough top-six finishes in the last 10 years for whatever reason. This club has not been as successful as it should have been. It's been a hugely frustrating time and that's what makes it such a difficult job for me. There have been a lot of managers who have preceded me who have done their best, they've had a real go, but it hasn't worked out. "It's my time now and I've got to do things my way. It's got to be my way, I can't have anyone trying to influence me about what should be the way forward for Newcastle. That's my main focus, it's got to be my way or not at all because I believe that's the best way to bring success to this football club." Meanwhile, Newcastle have been linked with another batch of transfer targets this weekend, with former West Ham striker Frederic Kanoute, now at Seville, rumoured to have been lined up as a possible replacement for either Michael Owen or Obafemi Martins. However, The Journal understands Allardyce is more interested in two of his former players at Bolton, Nicolas Anelka and El Hadji Diouf.

Thought this was a thread about FM, not your wanking habits..

Beckham is quality. And fair play to him for the professionalism he has shown this season. After being made a scapegoat for Englands shite performances at the World Cup and then Capello trying to humiliate him he was the bigger man and returned to the England team and the Real team with some canny performances when many others would probably have told Capello and McClaren to fuck off. I agree that he gets much of his stick down to who he is rather than what he does on the park. A good few years back when he first came into the Man United team I thought he was just an another overhyped pretty boy but his performances on the park proved to me that he was different class.

Reyes

TRANSFER RUMOURS Tottenham are ready to make a £3m swoop for Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi, the player who was headbutted by France's Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final. (The People) Curtis Davies is set to ask West Brom for a transfer, with Tottenham tipped to make a bid for the defender. (Sunday Mirror) Liverpool target Yossi Benayoun will tell West Ham he wants to leave when the midfielder returns from holiday this week. (The People) Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi, who has been linked to Juventus and who had loan spells at Newcastle and Parma, wants to be given the chance to prove himself at Old Trafford. (Various) Striker Carlos Tevez, who has been linked with a move to Inter Milan, is on the verge of agreeing a deal to stay at West Ham, which would cost the London club £9m for the next season. (News of the World) Chelsea winger Arjen Robben turned down two offers of a new deal in the past week and wants permission to speak to Real Madrid about a move. (News of the World) West Ham want Benfica midfielder Manuel Fernandes, who had spells with Portsmouth and Everton. (The People) Middlesbrough want midfielders Gary O'Neil and Sean Davis in a swap deal for Portsmouth target Yakubu. (The People) Sheffield United captain Phil Jagielka, who has been linked to Everton and Wigan, will stay with the club if they are saved from relegation by the Premier League's arbitration panel. (The People) Everton have joined Fulham, Blackburn and Middlesbrough in the battle for West Ham striker Bobby Zamora. (News of the World) Wigan are set to join the race to land Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage, who is also a target of Sheffield United. (News of the World) Liverpool have opened talks with Real Zaragoza striker Diego Milito. (Various) Ipswich are eyeing Birmingham midfielder Neil Kilkenny. (The People) Fulham have made the first firm bid for West Ham striker Marlon Harewood, who has been told he can leave. (The People) Sunderland are set to make a £2.5m bid for Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. (The People) Lyon's Alou Diarra and Watford's Hamuer Bouazza are top of Portsmouth's midfield shopping list. (The People) Celtic are keen on Barcelona midfielder Ludovic Giuly, who has also been linked to Monaco, Marseille, Newcastle and Tottenham. (The People) Everton are poised to make a £2.5m bid for Manchester United striker Alan Smith. (News of the World) West Ham midfielder Hayden Mullins, who was part of the failed deal to bring Charlton striker Darren Bent to Upton Park, is still set to join the Addicks. (News of the World) OTHER GOSSIP Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is set to become the new manager of Manchester City - if ex-Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's £120m takeover of the club goes through. (Sunday Mirror) Former world player of the year Zinedine Zidane says David Beckham is "one of the game's greatest players" and believes Real Madrid should have done everything in their power to keep the midfielder, who is set to join LA Galaxy. (Sunday Mirror) American-based entrepreneur Daniel Williams is the man behind a £67m takeover bid for Blackburn. (The People) Former Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has launched a bid to take over Coventry. (News of the World) Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says that, with 14 names linked to replacing him in the 2006-2007 campaign, he might have left the club if he had not been "in a mature state of mind within myself". Inter Milan's former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira believes the uncertainty at the Emirates Stadium following the departure of vice-chairman David Dein is harming the club. (Sunday Mirror) Wigan boss Chris Hutchings wants his one-time assistant at Bradford, Martin Hunter, to leave Norwich and become his new number two. (The People) Scott Parker, West Ham's new arrival from Newcastle, does not have a get-out clause in his contract because he believes his new club will keep their Premier League place, despite Monday's arbitration tribunal. Relegated Sheffield United are challenging the decision not to dock points from the Hammers for breaking ownership rules over the signing of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, who is now at Liverpool. (Various) Former England and Arsenal defender Tony Adams has hit out at the coaching set-up in his home country but wants to manage the national side one day. (Sunday Mirror) AND FINALLY A new Premier League theme will be played when teams toss the coin before each fixture next season, with DJ Judge Jules' old top-flight tune being replaced by a ditty composed by Peter Lawler and which was recorded at the Abbey Road studios by session musicians. It will also be used on the preview and review shows that are screened the world over. (The People) Fulham defender Moritz Volz's holiday in Miami has been hit by toilet problems. He said: "The hotel toilet would not stop flushing and flooded the bathroom. Luckily, no solid waste was involved but after a long flight the last thing I wanted was to change rooms in my pyjamas. Then it got worse when the toilet in the new room made siren noises that were louder than the local fire engines." (The People) Former Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro has revealed that one of the reasons he joined Chelsea this summer was his passion for horse racing. The Peruvian owns 35 horses, which race in his homeland, Argentina and England.

What one is he?

1. Home this early again as the other half works every weekend which is a right royal bastard 2. Drinking alone now 3. Struggling to think of anything else to put so will need to do a Magma 4. Bored 5. On Msn (told you i was doing a magma)

James Beattie and Jeremie Aliadiere as replacements for Mark Viduka and Yakubu. I can't imagine the Boro supporters are too happy...

Could form quite a decent central midfield with Muntari and Mendes. With James, Sol Campbell, Distin, Taylor and Lauren at the back if they can bring in a couple of strikers they would have the makings of quite a decent starting 11.

I got it damn I'm so not ITK The Northumbrian kept posting both on here and N-O about Setanta deals so much so that people thought that he had to work for them. You didn't miss much at all...