James McFadden is expected to sign for Sunderland within the next week, on a short term deal, with Martin O’ Neill looking to bolster his striking options.
It was reported last month that the former Scotland International was on the verge of signing for the Black Cats. However, it wasn’t pushed through in time for the Tyne-Wear Derby.
Despite the deal not working out then, due to “communication issues”, O’Neill is still pursuing the move. The marksman is expected to put pen to paper on a deal which will keep him on Wearside till the end of the season, with an option to extend his contract further.
The Scotsman had a brief return spell at Everton before being released by David Moyes at the end of last season, and is hoping Martin O’ Neill will give him another chance to impress in the Premier League.
The fact that the player is versatile to playing as a winger or up front, is seen as a huge bonus for the Sunderland, who currently operate under a small squad it is believed that McFadden is also desperate to sign for the club.
A source close to the player told The Journal “James would still like the deal to be done. There’s no timeline on it at the moment and we’re not starting to look elsewhere or anything.
Obviously we’d like to have got the deal done a bit quicker but we’re still hopeful. We’ll just wait to see what happens now.”
McFadden did not feature in the Sunderland U21’s friendly against Hull City midweek, due to concerns over his injuries, and he is set to be eased back into action.
If any Sunderland fans are heading to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night, then don’t forget to download the FREE Screach App and vote for your ‘Man of the Match’
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Arsenal are believed to be preparing a January bid for Lyon midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, according to The Metro.
The Premier League side attempted to sign the 26-year-old last summer, but were unable to conclude a deal.
However, it appears he may be available this winter, with the Ligue 1 club in financial peril.
Due to this, the club’s president Jean-Michel Aulas confessed a number of players may have to make way to balance the books:
“We’re planning to sell two or three players for a total of €30million.” Aulas said.
He also admitted that Gourcuff may be one of those sold:
“If he (Gourcuff) returns to the highest level and he wants to go, then there could be a transfer.”
This news will delight Arsene Wenger who has been tracking the Frenchman for the past few seasons.
Gourcuff was once regarded as one of the finest talents in Europe, but a succession of injuries have halted his development.
He shot to fame during the 2008/09 season with an impressive loan spell at Bordeaux.
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The move from parent club AC Milan was made permanent the following year and more impressive displays tempted Lyon to splash €22m for his signature in 2010.
Since then he has struggled with ankle injuries and lost his position within the French national set-up.
However, his creative quality is still evident which may tempt the North Londoners to make a January swoop.
While non-football fans spend their weekend being blinded by city nightlife, there’s a devoted majority whose bedrooms are illuminated by the warm glow of a last minute winner. Championship Manager or rather Football Manager as it is now known in the modern era, is perhaps the most addictive entity in existence with players losing hours at a time merely by uttering the phrase, ‘just one more game.’
Each new addition of the game sparks a frantic search for those hidden gems that will help inspire your team to glory. Sports Interactive are renowned for their commitment to realism, but everybody makes mistakes and in the world of Football Manager, these mistakes mean some players enjoy a meteoric rise to the top when in reality they never fulfil their potential.
With this is mind I have decided to collate 15 legendary figures of this mesmerising simulation, the players who dazzled on your computer but never on your television screen.
Click on Michael Duff to get the ball rolling
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You can’t help but feel a touch of sympathy for Papiss Cisse’s current plight up at Newcastle United. After a stunning introduction to English football in which he scored 13 goals in his first 14 Premier League appearances, expectations were always going to become a little unrealistic for the Senegalese international.
The chances of him being able to keep up the glut of goals was a somewhat unlikely scenario, in the short-term anyway, but things haven’t been easy for the ex-SC Freiburg man. A change of formation from manager Alan Pardew has seen an already struggling Cisse flounder in front of goal, defences have begun wising up to him and as if that wasn’t enough, a dispute with his national team saw him banned from playing in the 2-1 defeat to Swansea on Saturday.
His relatively meagre return of one Premier League goal in 10 appearances this season has led some to cruelly dub Cisse as something of a one-hit wonder. Although that seems reactive, despite not having things his own way this term, he certainly hasn’t looked like quite the player that burst onto our scenes following his move to Tyneside at the start of the year.
His aforementioned run of form since he first arrived in England has certainly acted as a double-edged sword, certainly in terms of the expectation placed upon him. No one expects him to score goals from another planet every week, a la that goal against Chelsea last season, but a return of only three goals in all competitions has left some slightly underwhelmed.
A lack of goals certainly isn’t through a lack of trying, but Cisse has looked a little clumsy in some of his play this season. After 11 months in the Premier League, he’s hardly an unknown quantity anymore and where as once defenders maybe weren’t entirely sure what they were up against, we’ve seen Cisse far more effectively marshalled this term. His tendency to get caught offside especially, suggests that while defenders have raised their game to play against the Senegalese striker, the man himself needs to find a way to mix his up, too.
The looming presence of his more prolific countryman and seemingly continuous man of the moment in Demba Ba, ensures that comparisons are always likely to be made between the two. But while it may seem like a fair enough comparison to make, merely reeling off the superior amount of goals that Ba has put away is a very superficial observation to make at best.
It may be the case that Ba has scored a superb 8 Premier League goals in 12 games, but that doesn’t necessarily tell the entire story. Because given the preferential tactical advantage Pardew has afforded to the former West Ham striker, it should come as no surprise that Ba is far outscoring his team mate.
While Ba may have not been a particular fan of being deployed on the left-hand side of Alan Pardew’s 4-3-3 formation, he wasn’t half effective. He may not have been scoring the goals at the very height of Papiss Cisse’s goal scoring run earlier this year, but he was a vital component in the Newcastle United machine that ended up finishing fifth in the Premier League.
Unsurprisingly, Ba wasn’t a particularly positive advocate of being played slightly further away from goal and earlier on this term, he made his feelings as clear as day to Pardew about what might happen if he continued to deprive him of a central role. Call it a coincidence, but since his outburst, Ba hasn’t strayed too far away from his preferred central role. The legacy of which has seen both Cisse and the team as a whole, struggle to recapture the magic of last term.
When he’s removed from the role of lone ranger up front, Cisse has looked an uncomfortable fit within this Newcastle United side. He doesn’t have the wider talents of Ba to be an effective option on either flank in a 4-3-3 formation and his showings there when he has asked to play the role, has left much to be desired. The perceived compromise seems to be a flat 4-4-2 to accommodate both Ba and Cisse and although it’s been far from a resounding failure, the Senegalese duo haven’t felt like a particularly fluid fit as a traditional attacking pairing.
The biggest beneficiary has of course been Demba Ba, who looks as if he could be on course to rack up a 20-goal season at this rate. But far from just damaging Papiss Cisse’s role in this Newcastle team, it’s looked to have affected the balance and dynamic of the entire XI. It goes without saying that fans would rather finish fifth again with a healthy mix of goalscorers, rather than in eighth or ninth but with a Demba Ba golden boot to their names.
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Papiss Cisse’s struggles serve Alan Pardew up something of a dilemma at St. James’ Park. Although by his own standards he’s not been on top of his game so far this season, Cisse is a player who is capable of scoring a hatful of goals for the Magpies, but he’s not going to be able to do that playing alongside Demba Ba in a 4-4-2. Yet Pardew knows only too well the doomsday scenario that comes along with playing Ba on the left hand side.
While Papiss Cisse has had his troubles getting out of first gear this season, his goal drought tells a far bigger story than one of personal struggles. Something has to give up front for Newcastle sooner or later. Just who and what that is, could have very important consequences for the rest of their season.
What would you do about the Cisse/Ba dilemma up front for Newcastle this season? Join me on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and tell me what you think.
Tottenham won for the third Premier League game running, beating Fulham at Craven Cottage to move back into the top four.
Home victories over Aston Villa and Liverpool on home turf had eased the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas’ shoulders and put their Champions League ambitions back on track with all three points on the Thames.
Winning has become something of an alien concept for the Cottagers who haven’t tasted a league success since mid-October and dropped into the bottom half after a bright start to the season.
Gareth Bale, who later went off for a suspected hamstring injury, was booked for diving in the 24th minute following a challenge with Steve Sidwell.
It turned out to be the most notable moment of a drab first half that saw several players line up against their former employers, Tottenham pair Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele lining up against Fulham for the first time while ex-Spurs boss Martin Jol included erstwhile White Hart Lane star Dimitar Berbatov in his starting lineup.
Berbatov was uncharacteristically quiet on an afternoon where nothing went right for the hosts and it was no surprise when Sandro beat Mark Schwarzer with a low strike from range to break the deadlock for Spurs in the 55th minute.
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Having lost captain Michael Dawson to injury in the 17th minute Bale hobbled off just after the hour, but it made to difference as the Welshman’s replacement Gylfi Sigurdsson set up Jermain Defoe to score from close range in the 72nd minute and make the game safe.
Defoe struck again five minutes later, latching on to Dempsey’s weight through pass and cooly finish past Schwarzer to continue his excellent scoring run. Fulham mounted a feeble effort to save the game but Hugo Lloris was on hand to deny Mladen Petric.
Inter Milan are set to offer Marouane Chamakh a route out of Arsenal with a six month loan deal, according to The Metro.
West Ham have already reportedly enquired about the Moroccan striker in regards to a January loan move but the lure of Inter may be too much for the forward.
Chamakh has definitely failed to settle at Arsenal after the Reds went to great efforts to seal the deal, with the Hammers also interested in signing him before the Gunners jumped in last year.
No club seems set to match the £3million asking price that the Gunners have set but both Inter and West Ham would be able to match the £60,000 a week wages.
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The player has claimed that he would prefer a move back to France but with that not an option at present he may have a big decision to make in the January transfer window.
“Manchester United have reached the promised land.” The line Clive Tyldesley famously delivered during his commentary on the historic night Manchester United clinched the Champions League and completed the treble. It is a night that will remain in the hearts of United fans, and in my opinion was one of the most memorable moments in sporting history.
Moments such as that, Liverpool’s magnificent comeback against Milan, and Chelsea’s penalty shootout triumph last season to claim Europe’s biggest prize are what football is all about. Everyone longs for instances like these in sport, and the passion and euphoria they provide.
Patrice Evra has been vocal in praising the current crop at Manchester United, likening them to that of the 1998/99 season treble winning side and believes they have what it takes to deliver another of these moments by repeating the epic feat of 14 years ago.
While Sir Alex Ferguson will be confident he has the squad to be able to manage the busy schedule of games, maintaining a challenge on several fronts is a task that is becoming more and more difficult. I am not so sure they, or in fact any of the other Premier League sides had they been in a position to, currently have what it takes to pull off the magic Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League trio.
For starters, in my opinion the current squad isn’t as strong as that of 99′. Peter Schmeichel was a world class goalkeeper at the top of his game, the back four had the ever consistent Gary Neville and Denis Irwin, and the towering presence of Jaap Stam, while Giggs, Keane, Scholes, and Beckham were formidable in the midfield, with the dynamic duo of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole up front.
Albeit some of those first choice starters were actually missing for the Champions League final itself due to injury and suspension, but they had an experienced squad with players such as Ronny Johnson, Nicky Butt, and Teddy Sheringham.
Experience is vital when it comes to the business end of the season and winning the major honours. Luckily and extraordinarily for the current United squad, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are still around to help guide the younger players, but there is only so much they can do for them once it comes to producing the goods in pressure situations.
The Red Devils are still alive in the three competitions that they were in their treble winning campaign, currently leading the Premier League by five points. I believe the league has become more competitive and difficult to win in the current day and age. Whether that’s down to the top teams dropping in standard or the less a team’s improving is up for debate, but overall more teams seem capable of beating each other.
If United are to continue to get further in the Champions League and FA Cup then they are unlikely to have the luxury of having the title wrapped up early and will possibly face similar circumstances to those of 99′. Manchester City are out of Europe, like Arsenal were, and will have full focus on retaining their title. After it looked like they were fading from the race, they have put themselves right back in contention with a strong run of form.
In the Champions League, despite qualifying for the knockout stages with two games to spare this season, United were far from convincing and will vastly have to step up their game when they entertain former club hero Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates in the last 16.
As polished and consistent a players as Tom Cleverley and in particular Michael Carrick are in the Premier League, whether they have the ability to go and control a game against the top sides in the latter stages of the Champions League is another question. We have seen the United midfield overrun by the likes of Xavi and Iniesta in seasons gone by, and even against Atletic Bilbao in the Europa league last year and that’s where I feel may be United’s biggest problem.
Obviously the defence is an issue and the lack of a commanding goalkeeper, but I feel if the midfield still had a Roy Keane in his prime for example, and Scholes dictating games then it would help cover some of the cracks in the backline. United have looked stronger defensively since the return of captain Nemanja Vidic, and it is vitally important they continue to improve in this aspect.
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The area of the team they will be most confident about is the forward options at their disposal. With players like Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney who can produce a moment of magic out of nothing, you always stand a chance. What Van Persie in particular has given them, is a truly world class performer who produces consistently and in the big games as well. Something I feel the squad have been lacking since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
While I don’t believe the class of 2013 is strong enough to repeat the treble, stranger things have happened and it is a case of so far so good for Ferguson’s men.
The January transfer window is often, justifiably, referred to as the ‘silly season’ for the panic it inspires in owners, chairman and managers up and down the country as the clock ticks down until the close of the window on Thursday evening, with plenty of twists and turns still left to go.
Nevertheless, as Nikica Jelavic, Papiss Cisse and Steven Pienaar all proved last season, there are quite a few bargains to be had if you scour the Premier League, or indeed globe well enough and for those bosses that thrive under the pressure of a deadline, in a negotiating game of chicken, the last-minute deal is not always one to be sniffed at.
Click on Danny Graham to see some of the best last-minute deals around at the moment
Make sure you do your Tax Return before the 31st January, click here now
Another week in the season has passed and it pretty much sums up the life of a Coventry fan. The lows of the defeat to Crewe followed by the highs of the midweek victory over Bournemouth and ending with defeat to Swindon which all but ended any promotion ambitions. All this whilst the behind the scenes drama continued with the club now said to be in serious trouble with a chance of insolvency.
The Bournemouth match was a bit of a strange one. We were outplayed for the majority of the game yet came out 2-0 winners. It was one of them days where it just seemed it was going to be our day. I personally don’t feel we deserved the victory although we fought hard to get it.
The previous game against Crewe was the match where my concerns about how the team was playing began. I put this down to a hangover from the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie only days before but despite the result against Bournemouth I was left concerned again. We seemed to be forgetting the things that Robins had instilled in the squad.
These concerns were all but confirmed on Saturday against Swindon. Robins bought a lot to the club and the squad of players. He believed hard work was the basis and that still seems to have remained as the players have continued to fight.
He also believed in a solid game plan and this is where things have started to go wrong. Defensively and offensively we seemed to lack ideas despite the fact that only a couple of weeks before we were creating chances for fun and being reasonably solid at the back.
Defensively I can understand to some extent with the loss of Wood but the new lad from Southampton looks like a solid centre half and can fill the void left by Wood. His Centre back partner on the other hand well what can I say about Nathan Cameron. His performance on Saturday was poor to say the least. He was clumsy, nervous and lacked any real ability to read the game. With him at the heart of our defence we were always going to concede and how it took till the 86th minute for them to score I will never know.
I felt the even more worrying aspect though was how few chances we created. That is the one thing we have been really good at this year, not always taking them but always creating them. Under Robins we mixed our play a lot, we could pass it around and control games but also work hard and break opposition play up if they were in control.
Under Carsley this seems to have disappeared almost instantly and we now seem to be just lumping the ball forward and hoping Clark who has been getting goals but isn’t the most skilful player to do something with it which is unfair on him. It is not an outlet that we really have especially when he plays up front on his own.
It also stops arguably our other two best players this season from performing. Baker and Bailey both had their worst games for the club this season on Saturday and I actually don’t blame either of them for it. We bypassed them over and over again with long balls from the defence and then when they did occasionally get the ball the way we were set up and playing meant they had no options.
These are the two players who have constantly created chances and Baker has also been getting the goals. I don’t remember any occasion on Saturday where I thought Baker might get a goal and that shouldn’t be the case.
I do now feel that our season is unfortunately over in terms of a promotion challenge and a mediocre mid table finish may once again be on the cards. Combine this with all of the off the field problems and I am actually finding myself asking why would any manager want to take over at this club. It just wouldn’t make sense to me for anyone to want it.
Almost certainly a league one club again next season, threat of insolvency, no money for players and a transfer embargo which is not going to be lifted until the rent row is sorted which to me looks as if there isn’t going to be any kind of resolution to. Sounds like the ‘dream’ job on paper doesn’t it.
This would suggest that Carsley is here to stay at least for now in spite of the fact that he has publicly stated he doesn’t feel he is ready for the job. This is a concern as it is clearly not going to instil much trust and confidence in him from the players. A tough few weeks are ahead both on and off the pitch.
I keep hearing other clubs fans saying why do you city fans complain so much it doesn’t look bad at all from the outside. This I suppose is true in the sense we are perceived to have a fantastic arena with a squad capable of promotion. They however have not suffered like us city fans. Every team has their issues but apart from Wimbledon a few years ago and Portsmouth at the moment I would say we are easily one of the worst clubs to support.
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I really thought times were changing with Robins at the helm but once again it looks as though our hopes and dreams are going to be shattered and the club is going to be looking down instead of up. Many will probably say I am being far too pessimistic but everything is stacked against the club and I do feel we will need a rather large miracle to find the light at the end of what seems like an everlasting dark tunnel.
Liverpool have been dealt some serious blows in the transfer market over the past few seasons. While the club may not have fallen foul to the cult of the badge-kisser over the years, they have certainly had their fair share of fallen idols and unsavoury characters in and around the first-team squad.
The latest villain to add to the list, a player that has seriously let the club and it’s fans down with his actions was Fernando Torres, who moved to West London for a fee of £50m.
However, Torres is not the first player to let the club and it’s fans down. Whether it be due to an acrimonious departure, failure to live up to a price tag or simply because they’ve joined a rival club, Liverpool fans have seen there fair share of villains over the years.
So without further ado, here are my top ten Liverpool villains – click on Markus Babbel to reveal the gallery: