All The Latest Transfer Gossip

After a busy week in Europe, as the final Champions League group games were completed, and with the traditionally busy Christmas fixture list on the horizon, clubs across Europe are hard at work as they plan ahead for the second-half of the season.

Players will come and go in January, as clubs wheel and deal in the transfer window. There are numerous reasons why clubs and players move in the New Year. Some clubs may be be strapped for cash, others may be struggling in their respective leagues while others may boast an array of injured players and feel the need to freshen up their squads. Players themselves on the other hand may find they are surplus to requirements, maybe they are not playing on a regular basis for their clubs or have fallen out with their boss. They may also be out of contract in the summer and need to find a new club, or perhaps they are quite simply looking for more money!

AC Milan, PSG, Manchester City, Chelsea, Ajax, LA Galaxy, Valencia, Tottenham, Arsenal, Juventus, West Ham, Blackburn, Spartak Moscow, Aston Villa, Schalke, Olympique Marseille, Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Wolfsburg, Lazio, QPR, Birmingham City, Stoke, Newcastle and West Brom, Wigan, Napoli, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Cardiff, Burnley and Sheffield United are all caught up in transfer gossip as we speak.

Here is a round up:

AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani remains hopeful the club can agree a loan deal for Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez despite reported interest from Paris St Germain - footballpress.net and sportinglife.com

Chelsea and Manchester City are thought to be monitoring Ajax full-back Gregory van der Wiel (right), who says he will not sign a new contract at the club. The 23-year-old is also wanted by Valencia - The Sun and The Guardian

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has dismissed reports linking midfielder Frank Lampard with a move to LA Galaxy. Lampard appears to have fallen out of favour with Villas-Boas in recent weeks, fuelling suggestions the 33-year-old may be on his way out of Stamford Brigde and perhaps heading across the pond to ply his trade in Major League Soccer - skysports.com

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed his interest in signing wantaway Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka. owever, Allardyce, who worked with Anelka at Bolton, admits he is keeping tabs on the striker's situation, although he concedes he would only move for the 32-year-old on a free transfer in the summer rather than next month - The Sun and skysports.com

Spurs, Arsenal and Juventus are all reportedly interested in Chelsea's out-of-favour defender Alex - Daily Star and football.co.uk

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Steven Nzonzi is wanted by Spartak Moscow, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa also thought to be interested in the £7m-rated Frenchman - The Sun and The Guardian

Bundesliga side Schalke are keen to hijack Arsenal's interest in FC Köln's Germany international striker Lukas Podolski, 26. Schalke want to sign Podolski as a replacement for former Real Madrid man Raul, 34, who is contracted to the club until next summer - talkSPORT

Croatian international Ivica Olic (right) looks set to leave Bayern Munich in January. The 32 year-old Bayern forward is being tracked by Villarreal, Wolfsburg, Juventus and Lazio - skysports.com and sportinglife.com

Already tracked by several European top clubs and ready to leave Olympique Marseille, Ghanaian international André Ayew is now a primary target for Chelsea. The London club are thought to be ready to offer in the region of £10 million for the 21 year-old winger in January - footballpress.net

QPR midfielder Alejandro Faurlin is believed to be attracting interest from Napoli and two other Premier League clubs - Daily Mail

Meanwhile, Neil Warnock's side have joined Stoke, Newcastle and West Brom in the chase for Birmingham City defender Liam Ridgewell - Daily Mirror

Arsenal and Tottenham will be the clubs battling for signing Belgian international centre-back Jan Vertonghen from Ajax in January. The 24 year-old is currently on a deal with Dutch club until June 2013, and might decide to wait until the end of the season to leave - Metro and footballpress.net

Premier League sides West Brom and Wigan are both lining up moves for Nottingham Forest defender Luke Chambers, who is out of contract at the City Ground in the summer - Daily Mail

Stoke City are planning to offer £3m for Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha (right), and are looking at Blackburn Rovers winger Junior Hoilett as well. Enoch Balotelli, the 19-year-old brother of Manchester City's understated forward, might join the pair at the Britannia. Balotelli has been training with the Potters for a few weeks - The Guardian, The Metro and skysports.com

Aston Villa are holding talks with goalkeeper Brad Guzan over a new contract. The 27-year-old United States international is set to step into the breach tomorrow at Bolton, following an injury to Shay Given. His contract expires next summer and boss Alex McLeish is confident he can come in and make an immediate impact - skysports.com

Championship duo Cardiff and Burnley are chasing Sheffield United's Matt Lowton. The 22 year-old who can play at the back or in midfield has been an ever-present in the United side this season - skysports.com

All The Latest Transfer Gossip

With the English Football League season kicking off a week today and the Premier League season in two weeks time, transfer speculation is rife in the UK and right across Europe at the moment. Some of the biggest names in world football, even at this late stage, do not know where they will be plying their trade this coming season, while many clubs are desperately trying to put the the final touches to their squads before the big kick-off. Although the transfer window remains open until the end of August, I am sure most clubs would like to have their squads in place sooner rather than later, as last minute signings can sometimes be seen as panic buys, often bought at over-inflated prices!

Tottenham, Arsenal, Valencia, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City, Juventus, AS Roma, Sao Paulo, Liverpol, Palermo, Manchester United, AIK Solna, Lazio, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Napoli, Genoa, Bayer Leverkusen, Sunderland, Wigan, Newcastle, Fulham, Liverpool, Bolton, Newcastle, Galatasaray, Blackburn, Everton, Stoke, Wolves, QPR, Birmingham, Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille, West Ham, Leicester, Fulham, Bolton, Swansea and Nottingham Forest............are all currently caught up in transfer gossip.

Is your club involved?

Tottenham have tabled a bid of around £22m for Arsenal target Juan Mata. The Valencia winger is open to a move to the Premier League and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is a fan of the 23-year-old but he is yet to make a formal offer - Daily Mirror

Juventus have reached an agreement with AS Roma for forward Mirko Vucinic (right), La Gazzetta dello Sport has revealed. They have now agreed to pay Roma €15 million over the course of three years - soccernews.com & footballpress.net

Roma have also confirmed that Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze will join the club on a free transfer after the player left Marseille in June. Roma have signed the player on a one year deal - Internationalbusinesstimes.com

AC Milan chief Adriano Galliani has reiterated that neither Cesc Fabregas nor Kaka are on the Italian champions' radar this summer.

Arsenal captain Fabregas has been strongly linked with a £40million move to Barcelona this summer, but reports recently emerged that the Rossoneri had joined the hunt for his signature. Chelsea and Manchester City have previously been linked with Real Madrid striker Kaka this summer, while Tottenham are believed to have emerged as his latest suitors - skysports.com

Liverpool and Tottenham are set to go head-to-head for the signature of Sao Paulo midfielder Lucas, according to reports in Brazil - talkSPORT

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has revealed that Javier Pastore is on the verge of completing a move to Paris Saint-Germain for a fee in the region of €43m. Chelsea were thought to be chasing the talented youngster's signature, but it appears they have been beaten to the punch by the French Ligue 1 outfit - skysports.com & soccernews.com

Manchester United are tracking another teenage strker - Teteh Bangura (right) of Swedish side AIK Solna. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has sent brother and chief scout Martin to assess the Sierra Leone international - talkSPORT

After being frustrated in their rumoured £40m pursuit of Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder, Manchester United will switch their attentions to Lazio midfielder and Slovakia captain Marek Hamsik, who is available at a less costly £25m - fanatix.com/football

Despite recent rumours that Arsenal's Danish international Nicklas Bendtner (23) is about to join Sporting Lisbon, Leões chairman Carlos Freitas has reportedly denied it, calling it "just fictitious news" - footballpress.net

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has made a move for Fiorentina winger Alessio Cerci, according to reports in Italy - Gazzetta dello Sport

Meanwhile, Manchester City and Inter Milan will hold talks over a swap deal involving strikers Carlos Tevez and Samuel Eto'o this weekend - Daily Telegraph

The agent of Inter Milan forward Goran Pandev has hinted that his client would be interested in a move to Napoli. The FYR Macedonia international rejected a move to Genoa in exchange for Rodrigo Palacio, but his agent has now hinted that Naples is his preferred destination - soccernews.com & footballpress.net

AS Roma star Daniele De Rossi, who is a target from Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United will not be leaving the Stadio Olimpico this summer despite being out of contract in twelve months' time -Internationalbusinesstimes.com

Dimitar Berbatov's agent says the Manchester United striker will not be leaving the club, even if the Premier League champions sign another forward this summer - Inside Futbol

Several English clubs including Wigan, Sunderland and Newcastle are targeting Bayer Leverkusen's Swiss international winger Tranquillo Barnetta (right) - skysports.com

Everton are considering a move to sign Manchester City's Adam Johnson on a season-long loan. Johnson is behind midfielder David Silva in the City pecking order, and may feel he needs a move if he wants to keep his place in the England squad in the run-up to Euro 2012 - Daily Mirror

Having publicly declared he would not leave Tottenham for the northeast of England after Newcastle United showed interest, striker Jermain Defoe could be the subject of a bid by London neighbours Fulham - Footie Online

Liverpool are plotting a £15m double defender deal for Newcastle United's Jose Enrique and Birmingham City's Scott Dann - fanatix.com/football

Bolton Wanderers boss Owen Coyle has set a deadline of this weekend for the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs to come forward with an acceptable bid for defender Gary Cahill - Bolton News

Stoke, Wolves and top-flight newcomers QPR are all thought to be interested in the former Republic of Ireland international Birmingham right-back Stephen Carr - skysports.com

Queens Park Rangers manager Neil Warnock is lining up a loan deal for Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha - Daily Mail

Warnock also plans to make Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, 31, his last signing of the summer - The Sun

Real Madrid's, French international defender Lassana Diarra (26), has been targeted by Galatasaray, who are ready to offer €8m for him - footballpress.net

Argentinian striker Mariano Pavone, who is a free agent after buying out the remaining year of his contract at Real Betis, has confirmed that talks with Blackburn over a potential move have completely broken down. The 29-year-old had agreed a three-year deal contract at Ewood Park but the Premier League side were unable to finalise the deal - skysports.com

Blackburn are in talks to sign Romania striker Ciprian Marica (right) on a free transfer, having moved ahead of Marseille and Lokomotiv Moscow in the race for his services, after he left German side Stuttgart -Daily Mirror

West Ham have confirmed the signing of midfielder Joey O'Brien on a free transfer after he was released by Bolton earlier this summer - skysports.com

Birmingham City are closing in on the signing of former West Ham United utility player Jonathan Spector. The 25-year-old is available on a free transfer after his contract at West Ham expired - skysports.com

Big-spending Championship side Leicester are to bid £4m-plus for Birmingham striker Cameron Jerome, who is also a target for Premier League sides Stoke, Fulham and Bolton - Daily Mirror

Swansea City have had a third bid of £1.8million turned down by Nottingham Forest for goalkeeper Lee Camp - skysports.com

All The Latest Transfer Gossip

Finally the domestic football season across Europe is over, but already the race is well and truly on as clubs go in search of new players for next season. Clubs have not got a lot of time to bed any new signings into their squads with pre-season friendlies beginning in about six weeks time, and also some clubs (inc. British teams) having important UEFA Europa League qualifying round matches to negotiate, with the first round of games beginning on the 30th June.

For Fulham their first game in the competition will be on 15th July, for Stoke City and Hearts the 28th July, and for Tottenham, Birmingham, and Celtic the tournament begins for them on the 18th August. It's not just British clubs who have an early start to their season in Europe - there are some famous European sides also playing in the qualifying stages of this seasons Europa League competition, including Atlético Madrid, Red Star Belgrade, AZ Alkmaar, Roma, Schalke, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven and Lazio to name but a few!

Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Wolves, Sunderland, QPR, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Valencia, Newcastle, Swansea, West Brom, Everton, Norwich, Trabzonspor, Lazio, Wigan, Blackburn, Bursaspor, Norwich, Blackpool, Watford and Brighton...........are all currently caught up in transfer gossip.

Is your club involved?

Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole looks set to be reunited with Harry Redknapp, after Tottenham agreed a £3m transfer fee to sign the 29-year-old - Metro

According to inside sources and despite winning the Serie A title with AC Milan just a few weeks ago, Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not feel entirely settled at the club and is pondering on his near future.
Rumours that the Swede could leave this summer are mounting, even though there is nothing official in that regard yet. However, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo is reporting that Ibrahimovic is tempted to join Real Madrid and reunite with the coach he admires the most, Jose Mourinho - footballpress.net

If Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sold this summer, AC Milan will try to sign Mario Balotelli (right) from Manchester City by August - footballpress.net

Wolves have agreed to sign Jamie O'Hara from Tottenham for £5m. The mdifelder, 24, spent the latter half of last season on loan at Molineux - goal.com
However the Press Association have come out and said that reports that the deal has already been done are "premature".

Liverpool have made a new £18.5m bid for Sunderland's 20-year-old midfielder Jordan Henderson, £5m more than last week's opening offer - Daily Mirror

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been told he will need to find in excess of £20m to sign Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric - The Sun

Ashley Young, 25, wants to quit Aston Villa for Champions League football, and Manchester United are favourites to sign the £20m-rated forward - The Sun

Villa, in the meantime, have been making discreet enquiries about Real Madrid's out-of-favour mdifielder Fernando Gago, 25, (right) - Insidefutbol.com

Tottenham duo Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane could leave Spurs for newly promoted Queens Park Rangers. Midfielder Jenas, 28, would cost around £7m, while 30-year-old Keane is more likely to move on loan - Metro

Liverpool are reportedly readying a bid for Queens Park Rangers' Moroccan international playmaker Adel Taarabt, as Kenny Dalglish looks to bring in youthful additions to his Anfield squad this summer. Taarabat is the subject of great interest from a number of clubs both in the Premier League and from the continent - caughtoffside.com

Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan has given the green light to Liverpool and Sunderland to sign midfielder Charles N’Zogbia for £9million - Daily Mirror & caughtoffside.com

Arsenal and Liverpool are considering a bid for Barcelona's unwanted 20-year-old striker Bojan (right) - Daily Mail

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich remain confident they will be able to broker a fee with Manchester City for full-back Jerome Boateng's services. The 22-year-old has reportedly informed City boss Roberto Mancini of his desire to return to the Bundesliga, with Bayern eager to acquire the ex-Hamburg defender - skysports.com

Miroslav Klose is being linked with a move to Valencia after current side Bayern Munich confirmed his contract will not be extended.
A host of clubs - including Italy's Lazio, Premier League duo Everton and Norwich and Turkey's Trabzonspor are reported to have also been interested in signing Klose - skysports.com & TALKsport

Nicklas Bendtner has confirmed he will "100%" leave Arsenal this summer after growing frustrated at his lack of opportunities - Daily Mail

Watford have confirmed the club have accepted a bid of £3.5million for Danny Graham (right) from Swansea - skysports.com

Newcastle are closing in on Swansea defender Neil Taylor as they look to take advantage of a clause in his contract - football365.com

Wigan and Blackburn are interested in Bursaspor's Kenny Miller, the former Rangers and Scottish international striker - football365.com

Norwich City are on the verge of signing their second player of the summer by agreeing a deal to take Leeds United midfielder Bradley Johnson.
The 24-year-old is available on a Bosman free and will sign a three-and-a-half year contract with the Premier League new boys this week. He was also attracting interest from West Brom and Sunderland but preferred a move to the Canaries - caughtoffside.com

West Brom are stepping up their efforts to sign Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima (right) - football365.com

West Brom have begun negotiations about bringing out of contract Fulham midfielder Zoltan Gera, back to the Hawthorns. Baggies boss Roy Hodgson is also interested in Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan - caughtoffside.com

Brighton are closing in on the signing of Watford winger Will Buckley. The Championship new boys are believed to have come back with an improved offer as they look to land the 22-year-old - skysports.com

All The Latest Transfer Gossip

With the January transfer window less than two weeks away, rumours are rife both at home and abroad as Clubs look to reinforce their squads in an attempt to secure the services of new players for various reasons.
Some managers jobs may be on the line as a result of their teams failure to meet pre-season expectations, whether they were trophy or survival driven. There are unhappy players, owners and fans across Europe, and of course we are in the middle of an global economic recession.

Do clubs have the money to sign new players in an attempt to achieve their goals? Are clubs willing to risk putting themselves into debt in order to fund transfers and players salaries?

Whatever the situation, which varies hugely from club to club the transfer rumour mill is really hotting up!

It is interesting to note that there are some players that look certain to be on the move in January, but their destinations seem to vary according to the source of the rumour!

Manchester City, AC Milan, Barcelona, Wolfsburg, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Celtic, Zenit St Petersburg, Tottenham, Lazio, Birmingham, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle, Blackburn, Everton, West Ham, Blackpool, West Brom, Sunderland, Fulham, Norwich, Sheffield United, Millwall, Southampton and Swindon.............are all currently caught up in transfer gossip.

Is your Club involved?

Manchester City are reportedly planning a January move for AC Milan star Ronaldinho. The 30-year-old is thought to be surplus to requirements at the San Siro caughtoffside.com

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has renewed his interest for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko (right) and could offer over 20 million Euros for the Bosnian international. However, the German club officials want more than 30 million Euros - footballpress.net

Manchester City are set to battle Chelsea for the signing of Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko - imscouting.com

Manchester United are also interested in Dzeko and are planning a club-record £35m offer for the 24-year old - caughtoffside.com

West Ham are lining up a January swoop for Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor - The Sun

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier is ready to resume his pursuit of Joey Barton. He tried to sign Barton for Liverpool when the midfielder was at Manchester City and has joined West Ham in a bid to prise the 28-year-old away from Newcastle in January - Daily Mail

Fulham and Liverpool are interested in 24-year-old Irish midfielder Stephen Ireland, who wants to leave Aston Villa after a recent bust-up with coach Gerard Houllier - footballpress.net

Bayern Munich are lining up a £9m offer for Everton defender Leighton Baines - Daily Mail

Bayern Munich are planning to sign 26-year-old right-back Glen Johnson from Liverpool in January. The England international is valued at 15 million Euros - footballpress.net

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is reportedly interested in securing the signing of Zenit St Petersburg's attacking midfielder Danny (right) as well as young Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Marco Reus and Borussia Dortmund playmaker Mario Götz - sport360.com

According to Russian media reports, Zenit St Petersburg are tracking Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, and hope to sign him in January - footballpress.net

Arsenal's Brazilian midfielder Denilson is attracting the interest of Spanish giants Barcelona - imscouting.com

The Gunners will use the money from Denilson's sale to Barcelona to fund a move for Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott - Metro

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is planning a double swoop for Tottenham striker Peter Crouch and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips - caughtoffside.com

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is set to offer Newcastle £20m for striker Andy Carroll and could use forward Peter Crouch as part of the deal - Daily Express

Birmingham will bid £6m to pinch Tottenham forward Robbie Keane from under the noses of neighbours Aston Villa - The Sun

Blackburn want to start their rebuilding process by signing Blackpool's Scottish midfielder Charlie Adam (right) - Daily Mirror

Lazio chairman Claudio Lotito wants to sign an additional striker in January and one option is Bayern Munich's Miroslav Klose 33, who is for sale in January before his contract expires at the end of the season - footballpress.net

West Brom are set to make a January offer for Celtic striker Georgios Samaras - Daily Mail

Celtic's bid to sign Anton Ferdinand next month is set to be scuppered by a defensive crisis at Sunderland - Daily Record

A host of clubs are chasing Norwich midfielder Owain Tudur Jones, including Sheffield United, Millwall, Southampton and Swindon - Skysports.com

Spurs have a chance to show their credentials - Betting News with Betfred

versus

Tottenham Hotspur can hammer another nail in Chelsea's Premier League title ambitions at White Hart Lane on Sunday, and given Spurs' recent matches there should be no shortage of entertainment in this London derby.

Harry Redknapp's side have impressed in both the Premier League and Champions League so far this season, with their European heroics overshadowing their domestic form on many occasions.

On Sunday they welcome a struggling Chelsea side, that have been knocked off the top of the Premier League table after failing to win any of their last four league games, and seen them collect just five points out of a possible 18, as well as losing in midweek to Marseille in a Champions League tie.

Considering how well Chelsea started the season they have seen a real contrast in fortunes and Spurs could heap more misery on them at White Hart Lane - with the home side priced at 9/5 in the football betting to take all three points.

Spurs boast a wealth of attacking prowess, which has been proven with their average of three goals a game in the Champions League group stages, and they are likely to pose great problems for a Chelsea defence that has looked more fragile in recent weeks, than they have done in a very long time.

Although Spurs have scored goals for fun at times this season, finding the net has been Carlo Ancelotti's problem throughout this poor run. They have not scored more than once in a Premier League game since the end of October and are 6/4 in the Premier League betting to win on Sunday, meaning they will need likes of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka to step up.

Redknapp told 'Talksport' that Spurs are now at the same level as Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea - and if they are victorious this weekend then not many people can argue with this.

The veteran manager claimed Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon can "cause anybody problems" and the strikers at his disposal mean he sets out to attack teams. Chelsea would need a real turnaround in fortunes to reverse their recent run, and Spurs can close to within one point of their opponents with victory over their fellow Londoners.

My Tip of the Weekend:

Spurs'attacking prowess will prove too strong for Chelsea, and Tottenham to be winning at both half-time and full-time at 4/1 looks great value with Betfred.
Also with Jermaine Defoe fit again the 6/4 on offer with Betfred that he will score at anytime in the match looks a steal.

Sunday 12th December: Tottenham v Chelsea, kick-off 4pm, Live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

The Green-Eyed Monster heads to White Hart Lane - Betting News with Betfred

V.

It is a case of those ' who want to' facing those ' who already have' at White Hart Lane on Sunday when Liverpool take on Tottenham Hotspur.

The North London side finished in the top four last season and have now qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after some inspirational performances - and their form is reflected in their price this weekend, 11/10 to beat the red half of Merseyside.

How jealous Reds fans must be as they are forced to make do with a place in the Europa League competition, as well as seeing their side faltering in the Premier League. Indeed, the Premier League best odds make Liverpool 4/1 to finish in the top 4 this season compared to the 9/4 on offer for Spurs to do likewise.

Roy Hodgson will be hoping that Spurs have an off day after their Champions League win over Werder Bremen on Wednesday night. For inspiration he is likely to look at some of Spurs' previous results following their midweek European exertions, which include defeats at the hands of both Wigan and Bolton.

Liverpool are looking to end a poor run of form on the road, where they have taken just three points from 21 this season, and have won only twice away from Anfield since December 2009.
They are 13/5 in the football betting to take all three points on Sunday.

What must be of worry to Reds' fans is how regularly their side have conceded goals on the road, and now they travel to face a Spurs team that has been free-scoring in recent weeks.

Earlier in the week Christian Poulsen said Liverpool need to get "better and better" away from home, and they can be sure that their top four credentials will be truly tested at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Spurs are capable of ripping any side apart going forward with their free-flowing attacking football, just look how they destroyed defending European Champions Inter Milan, so this is a daunting examination for Liverpool.

Harry Redknapp's side look full of confidence and self-belief - the exact opposite to Hodgson's troubled troops. A lot will depend on how Liverpool cope with the man-of-the-moment, Welshman Gareth Bale, who is 8/1 to score the first goal, and the buy of the season so far, Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart.
It seems that if you can nullify their presence in midfield, then you are a huge step closer to getting a result over the Londoners.

My Tip of the Weekend:

Spurs have looked in great scoring form, but they are also susceptible to conceding, and the same can be said of Liverpool, so even money with Betfred for more than 2.5 goals in the game seems a good option. Also with leaky defences on both sides Betfred's 4/5 that both teams will score looks very tempting.

Sunday 28th November: Tottenham v Liverpool, kick-off 4pm, Live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Champions League Draw 2010/11 - Group Stages

Group A:
Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, FC Twente

Group B:
Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv

Group C:
Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor

Group D:
Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan

Group E:
Bayern Munich, AS Roma, Basel, CFR Cluj

Group F:
Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina

Group G:
AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre

Group H:
Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Partizan Belgrade


Fixture Dates:

Matchday 1: 14th/15th September
Matchday 2: 28th/29th September
Matchday 3: 19th/20th October
Matchday 4: 2nd/3rd November
Matchday 5: 23rd/24th November
Matchday 6: 7th/8th December

Tottenham 2 - Arsenal 1

Danny Rose, the first season, put a big thorn in Arsenal title hopes a fantastic volley from 30 meters to the Spurs on their way to victory.

But it was a Heurelho Gomes, who came the scent of roses at the end of a series of brilliant saves - three of them to deny Arsenal's Robin van Persie Supersub.

Gomes says to keep Spurs their first victory against Arsenal 21 times from 1999 - and a challenge to the fourth Champions League place.

There was a time when a joke was Gomes, Premier League, as he motioned around the penalty area and was in the darkness that Harry Redknapp has taken transfer.

Redknapp Tottenham fans do not praise or Gomes airport in the night, I could never have imagined in Brazil, Cult Hero comes.

Arsenal now have six points for Chelsea at the top of the table remaining four games, and I saw the title and Champions League dreams will die within a week.

They show that Van Persie has been adapted season could be a different story.

Dutchman was damaging ankle ligaments during five months of an international conference. But it was presented in conjunction with the remaining 23 minutes.

Gently pulse to facilitate the return to action Arsenal striker nowhere to go to the specific objectives, Rose and Gareth Bale at the beginning of the strike for a second time Van Persie had other plans.

Arsene Wenger said before the game that Van Persie has the class of Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney has been, and won for the Dutch law.

With 10 minutes left, Van Persie in the chest, turned and hit a volley Gomes that the address bar.

Then, once played for Arsenal a free kick, Van Persie goal at the top left and it seemed that he pins Gomes has been sent.

In one corner, Sol Campbell, the head goalwards, bouncing ball at Gomes and Luka Modrić bar.

The 85th Minute by Van Persie, Theo Walcott Lt on the right side with power and his heart was involved in low Nicklas Bendtner to break.

Suddenly, the status of the entire control of the Spurs for reeling and van Persie were again shown Gomes has 20 feet, but he went again and Redknapp people were hanged.

It was a foretaste of the primary pieces of the puzzle is missing arsenal. If Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas is also stored in each season known.

Wenger said: "Van Persie is our game.

"He has not played for five months, but he gives us something unique and something else."

Until the introduction of Van Persie, Arsenal struggled badly.

Although Campbell, who was terribly wrong on his return to White Hart Lane, sought clarification on the line, came together and showed commendable spirit Kannus you stop FA Cup semi-final against Portsmouth.

After 10 minutes, when Rose, almost his first touch, his eyes the ball after Manuel Almunia beats light, and returned with his interest volley operation of the control of fresh air.

try Management midfielder Modrić and Ledley King's command back to Arsenal to create opportunities for my success and became a desperate attempt to Bendtner.

Rose optimized knee and was replaced by David Bentley in the first half, but Spurs in March.

And has doubled two minutes of the second half, the interest rates.

Jermain Defoe by Campbell, the crucified and is slowly on the bottom and Bacary Sagna, Bale is considering satisfaction and feet visible side by Almunia.

Sagna Walcott is to a certain pace to the right and Van Persie to introduce the war began to create a grand finale.

Almost a miracle, but Gomes, Dutch, the better.

This is good news for Chelsea, whose position at the head of fixed Arsenal defeat Spurs and Manchester City are the number of fourth place.

Arsenal reward at the same time the housing is dust. Five years ago, and there is no reason to .

Latest Serie A News - Pato offers support to Huntelaar

It is certainly not new news when I tell you that Klass-Jan Huntelaar hasn't really had the impact at AC Milan that many had hoped he would. In fact he has already been linked with a move away from the club as early as January, but team mate Alexandre Pato has come out in support of the under fire striker, as have coach Leonardo and fellow Dutch team-mate Clarence Seedorf.

Pato, the Brazilian striker said of Huntelaar:

"I’m sure he will give much to Milan."

"I had a hard time too, when I just arrived here,”

"I found it difficult to speak Italian and off the field I could not communicate with others, I was afraid to make mistakes."

"Everyone saw that he was the best player in Holland and scored plenty of goals when he played for Ajax, has done well at Real Madrid and I am sure that even here he manages to make his contribution to Milan."

Huntelaar currently sits as fourth choice striker for Milan at the moment with Pato, Ronaldinho and Filippo Inzaghi all ahead of him. there is no doubt the Dutch international knows how to find

He has failed to hit the ground running at Milan since his arrival in August 2009, and has not scored in any of his eleven appearances for the club, and with three strikers in front of him his opportunities are looking somewhat limited.

There is no doubt the Dutch international knows how to find the back of the net.
At Ajax he scored 76 goals in just 92 appearances, prompting Real Madrid to get out the cheque book in January 2009, and pay £17m to secure his services.
He scored eight times for the 'Galaticos' in twenty appearances, before he joined Italian giants AC Milan for a fee in the region of £12m, just seven months later.
Huntelaar has also scored 14 times in 25 appearances for the Dutch national side (below).

Not helping matters are the rumours that Milan are continually being linked with a move for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko, who if signed from the Bundesliga club would push the Dutch striker further down the pecking order.

However reports coming out of Italy say rivals Juventus are trying to hijack the deal and bring the Bosnian hitman to Turin in January. Huntelaar's fate with Milan is not yet sealed, even though most of the Italian press have already written off the striker.

However things will have to start to change quickly on the pitch for the Dutchman, or Huntelaar may soon find himself back on the transfer list, and looking for his third club in a year.

In October, Huntelaar was linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur and a possible swap deal with Roman Pavlyuchenko during the January transfer window.
The North London side were again reportedly linked with the Dutchman earlier this month, although German side Hamburg are also now thought to be in the race to sign him.

Roll on this weekend where in Serie A, AC Milan and Hunlelaar entertain Cagliari in a league fixture at the San Siro Stadium.


Written by:

Mark Ferguson, a sports editor who blogs about where to purchase inexpensive quality football shirts.

(Today he is guest writing on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

North London Bragging Rights On The Line - Betting Tips with Betfred

The crunch tie to settle bragging rights in the North of London has to be one of the fiercest derbies of the football season.

With Tottenham and Arsenal currently level on points in the English Premier League, the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday (12.45pm), will show which team has the greater potential to finish in one of the top four spots come the end of the season.

Arsenal have already lost out to title rivals Manchester United and Manchester City this season while Spurs have been putting on strong performances to challenge at the top of the table, but a disappointing result last time out against Stoke City means they sit level with their bitter rivals five points behind league leaders Chelsea.

Tottenham captain Robbie Keane has come out to stoke the fires between the two clubs by claiming that his side has a greater strength in depth than their counterparts.

He said: "Arsenal have had the better of Tottenham over the last several years but Harry Redknapp's revolution at White Hart Lane means they are now on a par at least with their North London rivals."

Firing a clear warning to Arsene Wenger's men and their fans, the Irish striker claimed: "It will be judged at the end of the season but if you look at the bench we have, it is probably a bit stronger than their bench."

Spurs are entering the game on the back of a 2-0 victory over Everton in the Carling Cup, while Arsenal will be buoyed after their youngsters put on a fine display to earn a 2-1 victory over Liverpool.

An Arsenal win is priced at Premier League odds of 4/7 with Betfred, while Spurs although likely to be without the influential Lennon and Defoe, could be well worth an outside punt at odds of 4/1 to put one over their North London Rivals. As is often the case current form tends to go out the window in derby matches.
The draw is priced at 13/5.


By Charlotte Cook
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Babe Of The Month - Top Totty-enham as Spurs set Premier League pulses racing!

'Best Bet' - Championship Betting Tips with Betfair

Hi, my name is Tom Mallows, online sports writer with Betfair.
I am guest writing on this blog where I shall be previewing all the weekend games in The Championship along with the Carling Cup Final.
In addition, I will also be looking in detail at a couple of the weekends LIVE TV games.

Every fortnight, I will bring you all the latest football odds, preview the biggest matches, and hopefully try and win you some cash with my 'best bet' football tips.

A fortnight ago I had a 4 home win multiple bet come in, (see my article on 12th Feb) as Birmingham, Bristol City, Preston & Arsenal ALL won their respective games as I predicted.

'My tip of the weekend' was in the FA Cup tie between Coventry and Blackburn. I fancied the Sky Blues to turn over their Premier League opponents 2-1 at Ewood Park at odds of 20/1, and all was going swimmingly until Rovers' Chris Samba scored an equalizer in the third minute of injury time. C'est la vie!

This week the Championship returns with a full set of fixtures along with a Wembley date for Man Utd and Spurs. Here’s my pick of the action:

Carling Cup Final - Man Utd v Tottenham
Sunday 1st March KO 16:00 LIVE ON SKY

Go to Betfair for all the latest football betting on the 2009 Carling Cup Final.

With the World Club Championship already in the bag, United take their second step towards an unprecedented quadruple on Sunday with a clash against Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham. The London club face a battle just to stay in the Premier League and after playing two games already this week, you could forgive Redknapp for not seeing this as a priority.

Current Match Odds:

Man Utd 4/9 Tottenham 9/4.

Scorecast:
Man Utd 1-0 13/2 2-0 13/2 3-0 15/1

Tottenham 1-0 12/1 2-0 37/1 3-0 89/1


My 'best bet' prediction:

I’m sure Spurs will put up a brave fight and will not relinquish their hold on the Cup easily, but I think United have to much quality for Spurs all over the park and I can't see an upset on Sunday.
Man Utd 2-1 Tottenham @ 8-1


Sheff Utd v Birmingham
Sunday 1st March KO 12:15 LIVE ON SKY

Alex McLeish’s Birmingham need to re-discover their shooting boots if they are to secure automatic promotion after firing blanks against Palace and Coventry in recent weeks. Sheff Utd are in the hunt for a play-off place, but have struggled to find any consistency this year.

Current Match Odds:

Sheff Utd 6/4 The Draw 12/5 Birmingham 9/4

Scorecast:
Sheff Utd 1-0 7/1 2-0 12/1 3-0 30/1

Birmingham 1-0 17/2 2-0 16/1 3-0 49/1

The Draw 0-0 9/1 1-1 6/1 2-2 17/1

My 'best bet' prediction:

Birmingham are nine points and five places better off than their opponents and despite their striking woes I’m backing them to come away with a narrow win.
Sheff Utd 0-1 Birmingham @ 17/2


The best of the rest:
Fancy a sections list this weekend?
A multiple bet can win you some 'serious' cash.

Here are my tips for this weekend’s matches:

Home Wins:

Bristol City v Blackpool
Burnley v Sheff Wed
Reading v Nottm Forest
Swansea v Charlton
Wolverhampton v Plymouth

Away Wins:

Doncaster v Derby
Barnsley v QPR
Watford v Crystal Palace
Southampton v Cardiff

Draws:

Preston v Ipswich
Norwich v Coventry

My Tip Of The Weekend:

Neil Warnock's Palace make the short trip to Vicarage Road on Saturday, to take on a recently rejuvenated Watford side under the stewardship of Brendan Rogers. However after holding Birmingham to a goalless draw on Tuesday night, I fancy 'The Eagles' to take all three points.
Palace to win 2-0 at decent odds of 18/1.

Classic Football Quotations said by Football Fans or made about Football Fans - Part One

When we won the league in '89 it was the most cosmic thing that had ever happened. Better than any orgasm ever - EMMA YOUNG, an Arsenal fan, as quoted in Tom Watt's, The End: 90 Years of Life on Arsenal's North Bank, 1993.

At 6.45 the Millwall supporters were taken under escort towards the stadium. As they passed a public house, a group of 30-40 males came out, and bottles and glasses were thrown and pub windows smashed. After a while it became apparent that both groups were from Millwall and each thought the other were Bristol City supporters - REPORT from the National Criminal Intelligence Unit, before a match at Ashton Gate, 2001.

The only point worth remembering about Port Vale's match with Hereford on Monday was the fact that the attendance figure, 2,744, was a perfect cube, 14 x 14 x 14 - LETTER from a 'Disillusioned Supporter' to Stoke-on-Trent's Sentinel newspaper, 1979.

Adrian attends Bromley Comprehensive and is a keen goalkeeper. In his spare time he likes listening to music and playing computer games. His favourite players have left the club. - CRYSTAL PALACE programme on the mascot for a game v. Leicester, 1999.

It wasn't so much the death threats or the vandalism, but when you sit with your family in the directors' box and hear a couple of thousand people chanting 'Gilbert Blades is a wa*ker,' then you feel it's time to go - GILBERT BLADES, on resigning as Lincoln chairman in Anton Rippon's book Soccer: The Road to Crisis, 1982.

It's the right of every Englishman to fall asleep if he wants, particularly if he is watching Arsenal - JUDGE Michael Taylor quashing a fan's conviction for drunkenness after he dozed off during a match, 2004.

I went with two friends to watch Forest's game at Barnsley. It cost over £60 to watch the football equivalent of what French farmers have been feeding their cattle - LETTER to Nottingham's Football Post, 1999.

Man offers marriage proposal to any woman with ticket for Leeds v. Sheffield United game. Must send photograph ( of ticket ) - ADVERT in Yorkshire Evening Post as Second Division title race came to the boil, 1990.

I don't think it's much fun when 50,000 spectators are singing 'Posh Spice takes it up the ar*e' every weekend - VICTORIA BECKHAM on the TV documentary Victoria's Secrets, 2000.

At the Worthington Cup Final, when there was trouble on the pitch, with Robbie Savage involved, there was this guy behind me yelling: 'Savage, you cheating, long-haired, gypsy Welsh c*nt.' I had to turn to him and say: 'Oi mate, less of the Welsh.' - PAUL WHITEHOUSE, comedian, actor and Welsh-born Tottenham fan, 1999.


(To see more classic quotations made by Managers, Chairmen and Players alike posted on this site previously, type Quotations into the search box in the top left hand corner of the page).

Bend It Like Bentley!

Although we are only in October, the 'Goal of the Season' competition was effectively 'WON' last night by Tottenham midfielder David Bentley.

His glorious 35 yard long range dipping volley in the stunning 4-4 draw with Arsenal was arguably one of the 'greatest goals of its type' ever witnessed in the modern day era!

I know there are still about 6 months of the season remaining, but it is hard to imagine witnessing an equally good or an even better individual goal again this season........but we shall have to wait and see!

I can only think of two possible goals in recent times that might be considered on a par with Bentley's.
Firstly Matt Taylor's long range strike for Pompey v. Everton in 2006.Link

......and secondly Thierry Henry's volley against Man.Utd in 2000.Link


If you haven't already seen David Bentley's goal then watch it here now and all the goals in a quite extraordinary eight goal thriller!
Link


Mr.Bentley.......take a bow!

Cock-Sure !

The meaning of the adjective 'cocksure' - marked by excessive confidence; 'an arrogant and cocksure materialist'; 'so overconfident and impudent as to speak to the queen'; 'the less he knows the more positive he gets.'

It is rather ironic that this is one of those terms the origin of which we are far from cock-sure about. One point of certainty - it is old. Robert Whittinton, mentions it as early as 1520 in his grammatical tract Vulgaria:

'I haue knowen a man or nowe that thought him selfe cocke sure of his intent.'

Tottering Cockerels reel your necks in........I know it's not clever or original to bring up the current plight of 'The Spuds,' but what gives me the hump is all those fans of North London's 2nd Club, be it on radio phone-ins, on messageboards, on blogs, pub gossip & so on, but they think they are untouchable, 'to good to go down' not unlike teams of the ilk of Leeds & Forest in years gone by.
Your hear the rumblings of discontent for sure, but none of them seem to believe it could happen. Why ever not?

Here are some of the most stone cold simplistic observations as to why 'Spuds' fans' should indeed worry & why IT IS possible for the 'Spuds' to go down:

Results so far: P8, W0, D2, L6. These include defeats to Boro’, Sunderland, Hull & Stoke (no disrespect to the afore mentioned Clubs) but not quite the Premier Leagues’ heavyweights.

Lack of Premier League points: 2 from 24 (a points win ratio of just over 8%) & only 5 goals scored.
36 points were required last season to stay up, (Spurs finished in 11th position last season with 46 points). So in theory Spurs need another 34 from 30 games. However this season it looks like it will be a closer battle to stay up with more points required than last year to secure safety.
IF we say 38 points to be on the safe side then Spurs need another 36 points from 30 games which means a win ratio for a struggling side of 40% - 12 wins from their 30 remaining games.

The Manager: Juande Ramos – good overseas managerial record BUT NO previous experience in Premier League management. A jolly foreigner with arguably no interest in the spoken language & as a result only a token grasp of the native language of this country. Doubts about his tactical nous at this level are also doing the rounds.

Current Players speaking out publicly (rightly or wrongly) stating some home truths, namely David Bentley the expensive recent acquisition from Blackburn (& currently a shadow of his former playing self) called his own team sh*t & the experienced Jonathan Woodgate saying his Spurs team-mates 'need a good kick up the a*se.......and the way we are playing we deserve to be at the bottom.'

The Defence: 'Coco the Clown' alias Heurelho Gomez between the sticks & one clean sheet from their opening 8 matches says it all. A total lack of confidence is apparent in defence. May as well hire a behavioural therapist as a defensive coach.

Discipline: – or should that read indiscipline - 3 red cards in the last two matches......not down to bad refereeing, just insubordination: Premier League Statistics – 2 sent-off & 15 bookings in 8 games, 3 sent-off & 30 bookings in ALL competitions! Hardly subservient behaviour

Forthcoming Fixtures: – In the league Bolton, Arsenal & Liverpool next - a very tricky 4th round Carling Cup tie on the 12th November also against Liverpool & in danger of going out of the UEFA Cup at the group stage, with awkward ties still to play against Russian & Croatian opposition.

The Boardroom: The sacking of manager Martin Jol a year ago was the first of many big mistakes, a knee-jerk reaction to a generally disruptive working environment involving player unrest, an incoherent transfer policy, poor decision making at all levels & questionable on-field tactics.
Now Jol is at the helm of Hamburg & they currently sit proudly at the top of the German Bundesliga.
Damien Comolli, Tottenham’s Director of Football, deals with the transfer policy at Spurs & must be held accountable to a strategy which involved selling two seasoned and respected international strikers so near to the end of the transfer deadline, without first ensuring that appropriate signings had been made to fill the void. This was totally irrational & preposterous behaviour.

A member of the Tottenham Supporters' Trust recently cast his view across of the Clubs' current predicament when he said of the goings on. 'The people who run the club are obsessed by making money and they seem to think that volume, in terms of player transfer activity, adds up to quality. It isn't. Football has become obsessed with money and Tottenham are an arch example of that'

Players In/Out: Strikers – proven Premier League goalscorers Robbie Keane & Dimitar Berbatov sold (albeit for big bucks) to Liverpool & Man U respectively, only to be replaced by two inexperienced Premier League strikers in the shape of Roman Pavlyuchenko & youngster Fraizer Campbell.
To emphasise the point, top scorer this season is Darren Bent with 3 goals in the league.
For the next highest scorer see the column marked 'own goals.'


I for one firmly believe firing Ramos would be the worst possible solution.

Tottering Cock-Spur the trap door looms large!

Ramos to be next Premier League boss to leave/be sacked: Betting suspended.
Spurs to be relegated: 7/2.

Odds supplied courtesy of Coral bookmakers as at 16:45 on 24/10/08.

SIMON JORDAN on the state of our game, the Bostock fable, an array of his Infamous Quotes from over the years.....along with my own thoughts!

SIMON JORDAN has delivered the most damning verdict ever on the crumbling state of the beautiful game.

Jordan, the flamboyant Crystal Palace chairman has finally decided to walk out on football as the game descends into a bickering war over players’ inflated contracts, lack of loyalty, greed, corruption and arrogance.

The final straw came after seeing Tottenham run off with the Eagles' Academy gem John Bostock for the price of “a packet of crisps,” and culminating in Manchester United superstar Ronaldo’s absurd claim that he is being treated 'like a slave'.

Jordan admits to being disillusioned with the game even before he was pushed over the edge by an FA tribunal’s decision to award Palace just £700,000 compensation, (rising to £1.25 million with add-ons), for youth player John Bostock following his controversial transfer to Tottenham last month.

Jordan, who has run the show at Selhurst Park since 2000, is so dispirited by big clubs stockpiling all the best young talent that he is on the verge of quitting.

Palace, who lost in the Championship play-off semi-finals two months ago, handed Bostock his League debut at the age of 15 last season.

But their far-sighted investment in youth merely alerted big clubs to his potential, and Jordan felt bitter when Spurs manager Juande Ramos snatched the teenager.

Eagles manager Neil Warnock revealed: 'I’ve never seen Simon as disillusioned as I did over the Bostock affair. He’s still enthusiastic about Palace, but he feels utterly saddened by the way football is heading.'

He was devastated, absolutely rock-bottom, because he loves the academy and he knows how important it is to the club.

Jordan was so upset that he went back into the tribunal and told them, 'I don’t know what clubs like Palace can do to keep our brightest youngsters. Big clubs can tap up all the best 14 to 16-year-olds and we haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance of signing them now. We’ve nurtured Bostock since he was seven years old, we put him in the first team when he was still only 15 and we’ve done all the hard work.'

'And all we get for it is a tribunal fobbing us off by saying it’s a record fee for a player of his age - but they are out of date because really it’s peanuts.
Look at Aaron Ramsey - he’s only 18, but he’s just gone to Arsenal for £5 million, and we only get £700,000 for Bostock. It’s crackers.’

Warnock has warned Bostock that, for all the glamour of a Premier League club’s payroll, his talent could wither on the vine at Tottenham.


Certainly the youngster is unlikely to dislodge £16 million Croatian Luca Modric from the first team, and Warnock fears Bostock (right) may join the forgotten generation of home-grown prospects whose path to regular football is blocked by big-money foreign signings.

‘If anybody thinks the big clubs don’t go around tapping these kids up, they are going soft. They are living in cloud cuckoo land.’

‘I think Bostock would have broken into our first team next season and played regularly in the Championship. The only reason he didn’t play more often after Christmas was that he had ten O'level exams coming up.’
I was dead straight with him and told him that I had lined up this Australian lad (Nick Carle from Bristol City for £1 million), but I wouldn’t sign him if Bostock wanted to stay because I didn’t want to block his progress.’

So I asked him and his dad if they were going to sign for us, and they were adamant, ‘Yes, we’re definitely going to sign for Palace.’ Next thing I know, he’s off to Tottenham.

‘Is he going to get in their team ahead of Modric? There’s no way he’ll get in the side at Spurs for three or four years - he would have been better off getting 50 to 100 games under his belt with us.’

‘We need new legislation to stop big clubs tapping up all the best kids before they are 16 because, at the moment, there is nothing we can do to stop it.
It’s a sad day for football when you spend nine years cultivating talent in your academy system so the big clubs can just come along and pick them off.’

We all know Simon has his critics, but I think a lot of neutrals will look at this particular case and feel sorry for him because it’s just not right.

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Jordan has become one of the most outspoken personalities in football since buying Palace out of administration eight years ago at the age of 32, which made him the youngest chairman in the Football League.

He made around £40m after selling his firm The Pocket Phone Shop to the Carphone Warehouse and immediately pledged to have the South London club back in the Premier League within five years. He achieved his goal of seeing his boyhood club play in the top flight - albeit for just one season as Palace were relegated in dramatic style on the final day of the 2004/05 season.

But it did not take long for him to grow tired of the way football is run.

If Jordan, who used to step out with underwear model Sophie Anderton (below), does leave the game, football will be a duller place.


As the 40-year-old multi-millionaire businessmen prepares to sell his Championship club to the highest bidder, love him or loathe him, Simon Jordan always has something interesting to say:



Never short of an opinion, here are some of Simon Jordan's best lines.

1/ “You read on the front pages of newspapers about people unable to sell their homes and heading for the bread line - but you read on the back pages about footballers turning down £150,000-a-week offers!"

2/ “Footballers live on an island called ‘Football World’ where everything they do is right and everything that is said about them is wrong.”

Jordan is also disgusted that Chelsea’s England midfield star Lampard, 30, is continuing to hold out for a mammoth £150,000-a-week deal at Chelsea.

3/ “There is not a footballer or any kind of sportsman on the planet worth £150,000-a-week,” he said. “I can tell you a few surgeons who are - but no sportsman."

4/ “The more I watch this ‘Planet Football’ and see the back pages dominate the front pages and people like Coleen McLoughlin - who is just a plain little girl from Liverpool - set up as role models," I think to myself: "What the hell is going on?"

5/ “The moment the door of Selhurst Park hits me on the a***, I will not be coming back.”


He directed plenty of his venom at players’ agents, who he believes are responsible for many of the ills of the modern game.

6/ “Agents are nasty scum,” he said. “They’re evil and divisive and pointless."

7/ “They only survive because the rest of the sport is so corrupt and because leading football club people employ their sons in the job.”

8/ “In my opinion, no owner in their right mind would willingly invite an average agent into his academy, any more than a brothel owner would let a syphilitic nutter into his whorehouse."


But, amazingly, Jordan also took a pop at the long-suffering fans who have to dip further into their deep pockets every time a player agrees a new contract.
He insists the fans’ expectations increase the pressure on clubs to go after the best players and that in turn, hands all the power to the men in the dressing room.

9/ “If you get 60,000 people singing your name every week, you lose touch with reality.”

10/ “Fans wonder why they have to pay £50 for a kit for their son - but the price is that because they’ve been clamoring for better players.”

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Other off-the-cuff classic Jordan quotes include:


11/ "I had an Aston Martin phone worth £15,000 given to me as a present. I dropped it in a gin and tonic about 15 seconds after opening it."

12/ "I'd rather support Millwall than sell Andy Johnson."

13/ "What does Everton chairman Bill Kenwright think he will get for £6m? Andy Johnson's trainers."

14/ "Even if I built a 50,000 seat stadium and bought Ronaldinho there'd still be complaints about crap hot dogs."

15/ "In retrospect, of course I regret calling them (Charlton fans) morons. Imbeciles would have been more appropriate."

16/ "Charlton have a cheap matchday coach service that goes out into Kent to nick Gillingham fans - that's pretty clever. We might start sending a coach to Brighton."

17/ "In terms of the credibility the papers have in dressing rooms, I've had players arguing their worth based on the marks out of 10 they get in The Sun."

18/ "I don’t give a f*** about football protocol and the other club owners. They want me to sit and have lunch before the games. F*** that. I don’t go to football to drink chardonnay in the boardrooms with those tossers. I go to win games. I don’t have anything in common with 90% of football club chairmen. They don't interest me."

19/ "Without being arrogant, I am probably the highest-profile club chairman in the country. Whether it is because I am young or I fight causes or I have a big mouth or I date silly girls, I don’t know."

20/ "In some ways I admire football fans because in what other business can you serve up crap and then have people come back for more?"

My problems with Birmingham started when I went into the boardroom at St Andrew’s and David Sullivan (the co- owner of the then Coca-Cola Championship leaders) came up to me and said: ‘Simon, I have known you for a few years but you keep yourself to yourself. Are you gay?’

21/ (On Birmingham's David Sullivan and David Gold) "I think they are disingenuous. The ethics with which they do business, I don't appreciate. I have had enough dealings with them to be able to have that view. Am I surprised? They sell dildos for a living. That gives you a judgement on what they may or may not be."

22/ "If I see another David Gold interview on the poor East End Jewish boy done good I'll impale myself on one of his dildos."

23/ "I think in life you get what you deserve. Despite my distaste for the owners, I don't wish any club bad luck. If Birmingham go down, am I going to shed a tear? No. Because the best thing about Birmingham is the road out."

24/ (On suing Iain Dowie) "I would not issue a writ through my lawyers on a point of principle, I will issue it on a point of law because a point of principle is expensive, as Iain will find out."

25/ (On how he would deal with then Newcastle bad boy Craig Bellamy) "I'd strangle him with his own tongue."

26/ (When West Ham beat Man Utd in the first game after Alan Pardew had gone) "If I'd have been him, I'd have gone down the training ground, said ‘thanks lads' and pulled out an AK-47. They hadn't done it for him, but they could beat the champions for Alan Curbishley. F****** unbelievable."

27/ "At the end of the day, I have a certain hairstyle. Whether I'm too old to carry it off now, I'm not sure. But it's a subject for discussion, and there's only one thing worse than people talking about you - and that's people not talking about you!"

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In my opinion: Football needs more people like Simon Jordan not less - heart on his sleeve, money where his mouth is, and a true appreciation of what football means to its community.
He is simply saying what we all know to be true.

Simon Jordan’s comments capture what lots of football fans in general think today. The game has lost its way with inflated wages, huge transfer fees, spoilt egotistical footballers and their wags, and corrupt agents and foreign owners who have no idea what our game is all about.
Football is big business, with the sporting element now of secondary importance!

Those who are saying Jordan is only speaking out now he's going are wrong. Remember the stand he took over Steve Bruce going to Birmingham, Iain Dowie getting out of his contract to go to Charlton, or his refusal to pay Tim Cahill's agent a fee when Palace were trying to sign him from Millwall.

Jordan rescued Crystal Palace from going under. He rescued a club that he loves. He has put his money where his mouth his. He has supported his managers to the hilt. Jordan is a Palace fan, one of us and has the club and its supporters at heart. He wants the best for the club and the Bostock affair has left a foul taste in the mouths of all those involved with CPFC.

He may be disillusioned, as all true fans must be with the way football is going, but his stand over the Bostock affair has at least brought the matter of Academy development to the attention of UEFA. Whatever else Platini has said, surely it is no coincidence that he has since put forward proposals for the protection of Clubs who produce young local talent?

Fans must shoulder some of the responsibility. Surely they realize that each and everytime they put their hand in their pocket and spend their hard earned money on 'their' team, that all they are doing is simply continuing to feed greedy players, agents and owners.
Footballers have been treating supporters like mugs for years, and we fall for it every time. You can't moan about footballer’s earnings and then happily hand over the likes of 50 quid for a match ticket or an acrylic club shirt.

Sooner or later though the long suffering fan is going to say enough is enough and they are going to stop going to matches, stop purchasing merchandise and start cancelling their Sky Sports subscriptions.

I agree with the fans who now go to watch lower-league football - you'll see guys giving their all at a reasonable price.

As a Palace fan, I have great respect for Simon Jordan. He took a club he loves and I love out of the hands of the administrators, turned them around and did as he promised, took us to the promised land - the Premiership (albeit for one season). This man has always spoken his mind. So to all those who disagree with Jordan’s comments about football and want to slag him off – could it be because he is a successful businessman and a self made millionaire, and therefore you might be a tad bitter and jealous?

Good luck Simon Jordan in whatever you do next. Your chairmanship and loyalty will be sadly missed when you sell up.