Van der Saar Breaks Record

Edwin Van der Saar has tonight set another record by going 12 consecutive league games without conceding a goal. When Van der Saar passed the 1104 minute mark Setanta flashed the record up on screen.

On Tuesday he surpassed Peter Cechs record of 1025 minutes during the 2004/05 season to set the Premier league Record, which will keep rolling on until he concedes again.

However, Everton Goalkeeping Coach, Chris Woods set a record of his own in his playing days which he does not acknowledge Van der Saar's as coming close to breaking. Chris Woods went 1196 minutes without conceding for Rangers during 14 games between November 1986 and January 1987, however this was in successive games. Woods feels that as United have let in goals against Derby and Tottenham with Ben Foster in goal his record is more impressive. More so, as it was across league, Scottish cup and UEFA Cup fixtures.

Barnes To Fulham On Loan

Fulham have secured the services of promising youngster Giles Barnes on loan until the end the season. Fulham will look to make the deal permanent in the summer.

Giles Barnes has showed tremendous promise for Derby, and will be happy to have the opportunity to show off his talents in the Premier League. Barnes recently got two goals at Old Trafford, after coming off the bench in the League Cup Semi Final, Second Leg.

Derby fans posted the below tribute on to you tube. If Fulham fans don't know much about Barnes, this should whet their appetites.

Fulham have also been today linked with a move for Inter Milans Olivier Dacourt. Dacourt has only played 15 minutes under Jose Mourinho and is expected to be allowed to move on loan.

++Faubert To Real Madrid++

Julien Faubert has moved to Real Madrid on a loan deal until the end of the season. Real are understood to have offered £1.5m in fees to West Ham to secure Fauberts services.

Real Madrid will weigh up whether to offer a further £4.5m in the summer to make the deal permanent.

Vidic Handed One Match Ban

Nemanja Vidic has been handed a one-game Champions League Ban following his red card in Decembers Club World Cup Final. The suspension is accompanied by a 5,000 CHF fine.

Vidic will miss the away leg against Inter Milan on 24th February, however he will return for the home game on 11th March.

United will be happy that the ban was not lengthier as the red card was after an elbow to the face of LDU Striker Claudio Bieler just minutes into the second half.

Quiz Questions Round Up

What football club did Gordon Banks play for when he won his 1966 World Cup medal?
Correct Roy, The answer is Leicester City.

How places were allocated to African Teams at the 2006 World Cup?
The answer is 5. Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Tunisia.

Which England Manager was the first to give David Beckham the captains armband?
Watzy said Glen Hoddle, which was incorrect. Correct answer is Peter Taylor.

Liverpool are the team to top the Premier League this Christmas Day. When was the last time they were top on Christmas Day?
2001

Since the start of the Premier League, who are the only team to have been bottom on Christmas Day but escape relegation that season?
West Brom, 2004/05 Season.

Hargreaves Will Return In 2009/10 Season

The BBC is reporting that Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Owen Hargreaves should be fit for the start of next season following a second operation on his tendinitis.

Hargreaves has made 37 appearances for Man Utd since his move at the start of the 2007/08 season, and despite an injury interrupted first part to the season, he returned and was a key player in the second half of the season that saw Man Utd win the Premier League and European Champions League.

El-Hadji Diouf Moves To Blackburn

El-Hadji Diouf has agreed a move to Blackburn from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee. Diouf had signed for Sunderland in the summer 2008 has failed to get a goal in his 14 appearances for Sunderland.

He has a chequered disciplinary history, including a penchant for spitting at players and fans. However, he did enjoy 3 good years under Sam Allardyce at Bolton and both will be hoping that he can recapture and build upon that form at Blackburn.

Diouf will not be available for Blackburn on Saturday having missed the 12pm registration deadline today.

City Have Latest Bid For Santa Cruz Rejected

Man City have had an improved bid for Roque Santa Cruz rejected by Blackburn. This is despite Santa Cruz again openly stating his desire to move away from Blackburn.

City boss Mark Hughes has also confirmed that the club have made an offer for Shay Given, and are waiting to hear back from Newcastle.

Arsenal Granted Work Permit For Arsharvin

Arsenal have been granted a work permit for the signing of Andrei Arshavin. The fee is reportedly not agreed between the two clubs, but the deal is likely to take place given the high profile nature and Arsenals need for a quality signing in midfield.

Arsene Wenger has said today that he would like the deal done within 24 hours.

Nolan Moves To Newcastle

Bolton Captain Kevin Nolan has secured a move to Newcastle and a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee believed to be around £4m.

Nolan, 26, has spent his entire career at Bolton, making 345 appearances and scoring 50 goals. He has been subject to a number of England call up rumours but has not yet had his chance.

Nolan is expected to make his Magpies debut in the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday.

Wembley Stadium To Host 2011 Champions League Final

UEFA have selected Wembley to host the 2011 Champions League Final ahead of Allianz Arena in Munich and The Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Lord Triesman of the FA said "We are delighted that UEFA have chosen Wembley Stadium to stage the Champions League Final in 2011," he said. "This is fantastic news for London and the UK and is acknowledgement of Wembley's ranking alongside the very best football stadiums in the world.

"Wembley is a stadium for the big games and has a unique history that is sure to inspire Europe's finest players."

The news means that Arsenals Emirates Stadium can no longer stage the 2011 UEFA Cup Final, that will now be held at Dublin's Lansdowne Road. The competitions conclusion will be renamed the Europa League Final.

BBC Retains The Rights For MOTD

The BBC has today retained the rights to broadcast Premier League highlights until the end of the 2013 league campaign.

This will be a big boost for the BBC which has never had the rights to show live premier league games, and has this season lost the rights to show live FA cup matches and England internationals.

Yet More Tottenham Transfer News

Tottenham have rolled back the clock again. Not content with reuniting Jermain Defoe with his former Tottenham colleagues, Harry has brought back Pascal Chimbonda to the club just months after he left for Sunderland in the summer.

Redknapp's purchases have not ended there with Carlo Cudicini also completing a move to Spurs, providing competition to Heurehlo Gomes. As Gomes is currently injured, Cudicini will get his chance right away, and may become first choice from his first game which will be against Stoke in midweek.

The transfers might not end there for Tottenham. SkySports.com already have asked Harry about his interest in yet another former Tottenham player, Robbie Keane. Keane is struggling to nail down a regular slot at his boyhood favourite club, and seems a little disillusioned. Redknapp said "I wouldn't sit here and say I wouldn't like to have Robbie Keane at my football club, I'd be a liar, but he belongs to Liverpool so it is not an option unfortunately."

Giggs Offered New Deal At Man Utd

SkySports.com has a report that 35 Year Old Ryan Giggs is to be offered a contract extension at Old Trafford.

Giggs has spent his entire professional career at Man Utd and enjoyed unprecedented success in his 19 years, including 10 Premier League Titles, 2 Champions League Medals, 2 World/Intercontinental Titles, 1 Super Cup, 4 FA Cup Medals, 2 League Cup Medals, 7 Charity Shield Medals and won PFA young player of the year on 2002 and 2003. If all of that wasn't enough he was also awarded an OBE in December 2007 for services to football.

Scholes IX

Just seen this over at The Times. Paul Scholes has picked a Man Utd IX of players he has played alongside... there are some noticeable absences, such as the current Fifa World Player of the Year. Here is Scholseys team:

Schmeichel, G Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Irwin, Beckham, Keane, Robson, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy, Sheringham

Friday Transfer News

Hull have concluded the signing of Jimmy Bullard for £5m on a four and a half year contract.

Villa have signed Emile Heskey for £3.5m from Wigan. Heskey was out of contract in the summer and looked doubtful to stay at Wigan.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has said that he is no where near close to signing Chelsea's Carlo Cudicini; but did not deny his interest.

Big Sam has re-stated his determination to keep hold of Roque Santa Cruz. He also said that a loan deal for Eidur Gudjohnsen is looking unlikely.

Rafa Benitez has said he is not looking to sign any one before the end of the January window.

Drogba to Man City

More gloomy news for Chelsea fans, as one of their favourites, Didier Drogba is being linked with a move to Man City. There is further speculation that Chelsea would be prepared to let Drogba go, but as part of a deal that would see Robinho move the other way.

Both forwards are out of favour with their respective managers, so it is not beyond the realms of possibilities.

Fulham Accept Offer From Hull For Jimmy Bullard

SkySports.com is reporting that Hull have had an offer of £5m accepted by Fulham for Jimmy Bullard.

Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Sunderland have all been monitoring Bullards situation who is after an improved contract from the Cottagers, despite having 18months left to run.

Updated 19:31 with link to article.

Derby County vs Nottingham Forrest

This is an interesting Blog Post from Mike Norrish of the DT prior to the game.

AIG Ends Shirt Sponsorship Deal With Man Utd

A few months ago during the credit crunch, when financial institutions were falling over like dominoes one of the worst hit companies was AIG. They currently sponsor Man Utds shirts. Because of the downturn taking its toll they have needed assistance from the US Government to be able to keep trading.

As a result, they have no more money to be splashing out on European Football sponsorships, so they have announced today that the deal will come to an end in 2010.

Indian Company Sahara have been quick to confirm they are interested and have contacted Man Utd with a view to making an offer.

AIG have been paying £19m per year for the shirt deal, so the replacement company will likely need to improve on that. What with the European and Club World Cups sparking away in the Old Trafford Trophy Cabinet, Man Utd will probably not be too worried about offers coming in.

Palacios Has Medical At Spurs

Tottenham are poised to sign Wilson Palacios for £14m from Wigan, the player has undergone a medical today.

The addition to Palacios into the Spurs Midfield begs the question who is going to make way. According to SkySports.Com, Tottenham already have 15 registered midfielders, not including Gareth Bale and Ledley King who have are also capable of playing there. Admittedly a number of these are in the young and untried bracket, but Harry Redknapp has a lot of people vying for a spot in midfield now.

I speculated when Tottenham signed Defoe that it could mean Jermaine Jenas would be the odd man out. Since then, Inter have been linked, though Jose has dismissed this as an untruth based on the fact that he picked JJ in his DT Dream Team.

General Comments

Let me know if you have any feedback about the blog I want to hear what you like and don't like. We are averaging between 5 and 8 hits a day (woo-woo!) so there are a few regulars here.

Also, the blog now has a dedicated email address. If you want to raise an issue or make a point and would rather not do that via the comments fields, please email footballbanter@googlemail.com

Ungentlemanly Conduct

I have been speaking with Roy earlier who asked me to raise the following point on the blog.

Man Utd V Chelsea = the corner before the goal. Why was it disallowed? Rooney took the corner, Giggs crossed it and Ronaldo scored. What was wrong with it? As a Chelsea supporter I believe it changed the whole game and may have cost us the league ( J ). Seriously – I couldn’t see anything wrong with the corner or the goal.

What is the opinion of this blogs readers. I expect Roy will be happy to debate via the comments field.

Man City Update....

The deal for Bellamy is done. He has signed a four and a half year deal which would see him through until he is 34. Mark Hughes is delighted to have signed Bellamy, and West Ham fans are seemingly united in their delight at seeing him leave.

Talks in Milan have ended. Silvio Berlusconi has been on the TV to say that no deal is done, and approx 1,000 fans are gathered outside AC Milan's HQ protesting the clubs decision to accept the bid. City are saying that they do not think the deal can be done at this time.

With all of this going on, Sam Allardyce has slapped a £40m price tag on Roque Santa Cruz, by equating his place in the team and the value of staying in the Premier League. City will likely turn their attentions to Santa Cruz now that Kaka will not be joining them.

Bellamy To Have Medical At Man City

Sky Sports is reporting that a deal has been agreed between Man City and West Ham for Craig Bellamy. The fee is undisclosed, though Bryan Swanson of Sky Sports believes the fee to be up to £14m. That is about £94m less than their projected bid for Kaka.

Gianfranco Zola will now make a striker top priority and will have at least some of the Bellamy funds to spend.

Abramovich Sounding Out Buyers?

Chelsea fans will be upset to learn that the rumours about Roman Abramovich looking to offload Chelsea have made it to the Times Newspaper, who are reporting that the oligarch is rumoured to be sounding out money men from the Gulf over a potential sale.

It may not be all doom and gloom for Chelsea. Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan is looking to splash out £107m on Kaka, and it looks like they can outspend the rest of the Premier League. As unthinkable as it would have been 2 or 3 years ago, Chelsea are not the richest club in the world anymore, they are even behind Championship club QPR.

A few billion quid doesn't buy you what it used to.

Saturday Round Up

Man Utd have jumped to top of the league with a late, last gasp goal from Dimitar Berbatov saw them overcome Bolton 0-1.

Chelsea left it late as well, but reversed a one goal deficit to win 2-1 in injury time, Lampard and Belletti with the goals. Stoke will have been disappointed to have come away with nothing.

Big Sam's Blackburn rocked troubled Newcastle thumping them 3-0.

Man City did not need £107m Kaka to see of Wigan, who have not had a good week in Manchester.

West Brom are off the bottom following a convincing 3-0 win at home against 'Boro. Gareth Southgate's team have been heading down the table for a while now, they need to hold on to Steward Downing and start getting some results fast.

Aston Villa also came from behind to win 1-2 against Sunderland, Ashley Young saw Red at 1-1 after a dangerous tackle of Dean Whitehead. Villa went ahead with 10 minutes left thanks to a Gareth Barry Penalty. At this point they were heading for third in the table; but for Chelsea's own late rally.

Hull almost pulled of a draw against Arsenal at the KC Stadium, Cousins scoring in the 65th minute to cancel out Adebayor's first half goal. Late goals from Nasri and Bendtner secured the points for Arsenal.

Talking points have to be changes at top and bottom, Man Utd have taken the top spot after a tough away fixture and quite a few players out with injury. Tottenham have slipped to the bottom and play host to Pompey tomorrow. Liverpool play Everton Monday Night. Villa also look like they are not giving up on catching the front runners and could still cause the biggest upset for many years if they keep up their good form.

Pennant to Pompey

Liverpool have accepted an offer for Jermaine Pennant, thought to be in the region of £2m. Pennant is no longer in Rafa's first team plans. He almost sealed an move to Real Madrid recently, but it reputidly fell through because of his inflated wage expectations.

I think, that come the end of the season, this could be seen as the best bit of business done in the Transfer Window (certainly thus far). Pompey are securing a player arguably of Champions League Quality for a "relatively" low fee, who will be desperate to play his heart out for his new club. It is the kind of transfer former boss Harry Redknapp would have been drawn to.

Bellamy Transfer Request Rejected

Sky Sports is reporting that Craig Bellamy has requested to be placed on the Transfer List, this request has however been rejected by the Hammers. This follows of from Bellamys recent rejection of a contract extention.

Hammers fans tend to have a hostile reaction to want away players, so the reception Bellamy will receive in front of the home fans on Sunday when West Ham host Fulham.

It is likely that Bellamy will get his way in the end, having actually made a formal request. Zola has been looking to trim the squad of some of the big earners and also to bring in some talent of his own, though it is doubtful he will have wanted Bellamy to leave.

Tottenham and Man City are the interested Parties, with Tottenham being the more likely, with Man Citys current focus in Milan. However, if Tottenham fail to strike and the Kaka deal does not come off, City can out price Tottenham from negotiations. If The West Ham board do accept that it will be better to cash in on Bellamy they will want a replacement in place.

What Man City Are Getting For Their £110m

When you have as much money as Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan it is completely pointless debating whether their extravagances are warranted or not. So here is a glimpse of what they are going to get with the Sheik's money.



Note: I wonder if Man City have though this through. If City pay £110m for Kaka, they may inadvertently be helping United hold onto Ronaldo in the summer. After all if Kaka is £110m, surely Ronaldo is worth at least £150m ??

Boa Morte Rejects Hull

Luis Boa Morte has rejected Hull after failing to agree personal terms. It would appear his wage demands were too high for the Tigers.

I am still somewhat shocked when a player turns down regular Premier League Football, to stay on the bench, but I guess that also shows that West Ham must have offered Boa Morte some crazily high wage to sign him in the first place.

Oxford United Docked 5 Points For Fielding An Ineligible Player

Oxford United have been docked 5pts for fielding Eddie Hutchinson in the team who was not registered with the Conference League at the start of this season. This will be an exceptional disappointment to Oxford United fans and Eddie, mostly because he has been at the club for nearly three years.

The 5pts may be viewed as light punishment, Oxford United have gained 11pts when Hutchinson has played this season. The deduction mean Oxford now drift 14pts off the last playoff place.

I wonder what West Ham and Sheffield United fans make of the punishment?

Big Phil To Drop Drogba

The Telegraph is reporting here that Big Phil has not included Didier Drogba in the squad to face Southend United tonight.

Big Phil describes tonight's FA Cup replay as "The Game Of The Year", and also remarked that Chelsea are under performing and that his players are not ready to win a trophy.

Are these comments refreshing honesty from a Premier League Manager in regards to his squad or a tactical mistake?

Update 1.07pm: Just seen this on Sky News. The sharks are already beginning to circle; Marseille have approached Chelsea to enquire if Drogba is available.

Keegan Interview

I asked "Did Rafa not see what happened to Kevin Keegan and Newcastle all those years ago?"

Well, just in case the answer is no.......

Man City for Kaka?

AC Milan are denying that Kaka is to leave after Man City officials spoke with the club. After capturing Robinho in the summer, the sky is the limit for City.

But, will they really be able to tempt the best players in the world mid-season?

++ Breaking News ++ Christiano Ronaldo Named World Player of the Year by Fifa

So after little speculation, very uncontroversially Christiano Ronaldo has been named FIFA World Player of the Year for 2008. Wikipedia is already updated with the news.

After winning the English Premier League, the Champions League and the Club World Cup with and scoring an unbelievable 43 goals along the way in the 2007/08 season the boy from Madeira has reached the pinnacle of the world game at just 23 years of age.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Christiano Ronaldo has been the outstanding player of the last two years, and it is encouraging to finally see a player from the English Premier League handed the accolade, after having some notable near-misses.

A quick look back the winners since the award began in 1991 reveals perhaps the final hurdle for the Premier League. If they want the reputation for being the globes top league, then there will need to be more winners from the English Clubs. There has never been a winner of English Nationality, David Beckham came second twice (1999 & 2001), and Frank Lampard once (2005). Alan Shearer got third (1996) as did Gary Lineker (1991).

No doubt the award will not have escaped the attention of Real Madrid, who will undoubtedly be talking to the press regarding Christiano in the coming days.

FIFA World Player of the Year winners:
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) Manchester United
2007: Kaka (BRA) AC Milan
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (ITA) Real Madrid
2005: Ronaldinho (BRA) Barcelona
2004: Ronaldinho (BRA) Barcelona
2003: Zinedine Zidane (FRA) Real Madrid
2002: Ronaldo (BRA) Real Madrid
2001: Luis Figo (POR) Real Madrid
2000: Zinedine Zidane (FRA) Juventus
1999: Rivaldo (BRA) Barcelona
1998: Zinedine Zidane (FRA) Juventus
1997: Ronaldo (BRA) Inter Milan
1996: Ronaldo (BRA) Barcelona
1995: George Weah (LBR) AC Milan
1994: Romario (BRA) Barcelona
1993: Roberto Baggio (ITA) Juventus
1992: Marco van Basten (NED) AC Milan
1991: Lothar Matthaus (GER) Bayern Munich

Rafa's Tactics

Rafa Benitez almost since he walked through the door at Liverpool has had his on-field tactics frequently questioned. Some ex-Liverpool players have very openly and strongly criticised Benitez for his faith in his rotation policy.

Today however, I have to question his off field tactics. Benitez, seem to be a quiet manager, he is not in the news every week like Sir Alex Ferguson is, and like Jose Mourinho was during his time at Chelsea.

But I am not sure what Rafa's recent digs at Sir Alex Ferguson were supposed to have achieved? I would have thought that being top of the league, a preemptive verbal attack across the bows of the third placed team would be a little distracting to the squad, when the focus surely should have been to focus on your own teams efforts. Did Rafa not see what happened to Kevin Keegan and Newcastle all those years ago?

Has the attack worked? Well lets look at the weekends results....

Stoke 0 - 0 Liverpool
Man Utd 3 - 0 Chelsea

It is my assertion that Rafa has unnecessarily added to the pressure of a team that are unaccustomed to being top of the Premier League in the second half of the season, and that have not convincingly challenged for the league title in nearly two decades. Am I wrong?

Unrest at Chelsea?

I blogged here the other week about a rumour that is on the Internet suggesting that Roman Abramovich may be falling out of love with Chelsea.

We David Platt, on Sky Sports is now suggesting that maybe a few Chelsea players have fallen out of love with the club too. He singled out Didier Drogba for particular criticism, here is an excerpt.

"He's not performing because he perhaps wants to get away to Inter and that could be the catalyst for what is going on at Chelsea."

The goal before half-time yesterday seemed to kill of Chelsea's appetite for the game, and it looks certain that United will leap-frog Chelsea in the table, being only one point behind, with two games in hand. Is the Drogs mind in Italy already?

With the Transfer window open, should Chelsea now venture into the market? Has the Russian Revolution at Chelsea ended or merely stalled?

Man Utd Misfiring?

I have just seen this analysis of Man Utd's Strike force this season on the BBC. Includes a contribution from Andrew Cole.

This will be a key weekend in Man Utd's challenge, a defeat will hurt their challenge but not irrevocably; however, a win will give some needed momentum. After the defeat to Derby, Sir Alex will probably not surprise anyone with his selection this weekend, but a bad performance this weekend may prompt changes to the established order as Man Utd head into their traditionally strongest section of the season.

Chelsea and Big Phil need to travel to Old Trafford, Anfield and Villa Park within the seven games they play before the Champions League resumes in February. Will Chelsea be celebrating on Monday that they again have some advantage in the Premier League over Man Utd?

Update 12-Jan-09: Momentum Achieved, 3-0 Victory to Manchester United.

Christiano Crash

One of my favourite movie lines is from the film "The Rock" and is spoken by a long haired grungy extra. After Nick Cage has rolled a "borrowed" yellow Ferrari under a tram, completely wrecking it, the extra looks on in amazement and says "Hey dude, you just f****d up your Ferrari" to which Nick Cage replies "It's not mine".

I only mention this because I thought of it when I saw this on Sky News.

Excellent Start For Nigel Clough

Derby have beaten Man Utd 1-0 to register a shock first leg win in the League Cup Semi Final.

I made mentioned yesterday that Cloughs appointment had added to the Romance of Football, and it looks like his presence in the stands had a BIG influence on his new players.

I still think United will make it through to the final, but the second leg will be very interesting now.

Football Funnies

Football Owners Richlist

FourFourTwo.com has published their Football Rich List of owners. The headline news is that Roman Abramovich has dropped to third place.



Top of the tree is Shehk Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan owner of Manchester City with a personal fortune of £15bn.



Two of the separate top 5 entries are the joint owners of QPR.



See the article here.

Tottenham Transfer Talk

Jermain Defoe has made the move back to Tottenham, reputedly Tottenham generously waived the sell on clause that they had inserted when they sold Defoe to Portsmouth, so they could avoid paying themselves £4m (presumably not tax free). But next to the £16.5m they paid for Darren Bent, it would still appear a good deal.

I think Spurs fans will agree, but I suspect those that may not will change their tune if Defoe starts banging in the goals pretty quick. I don't think this is a case of mistakenly rolling back the clock, more correcting the mistake of letting Defoe go in the first place.

Now for my theory. I think Harry will predominantly set out two up front, so it is likely that Bent and Pavlyuchenko will still feature regularly, with Frasier Campbell coming from the bench when needed. However, I suspect that this will mean that Modric will now drop back to a more traditional midfield role next to either Tom Huddlestone, or Didier Zokora. So I ask the question, where will this leave Jermaine Jenas in the pecking order?

In other news, it would seem Tottenham have had a second bid for Stewart Downing rejected. 'Boro Chairman Steve Gibson has commented that he will work hard to convince Stewart Downing that his ambitions are best served on Teeside. Having acted early in January to prompt a move, Downing will likely hold his ground. I suspect that Downing, like everyone else can see that 'Boro have a young, talented team emerging that will do well in future seasons, I suspect that Downing is no longer willing to be the big fish in the small pond and wants to go to a bigger club now rather than wait for the rest of the team to develop sufficiently which may take three or four seasons and then no guarantee that they will be genuine challengers.

I also have a suspicion that Jamie O'Hara may offered to 'Boro as part of the deal.

Clough Takes Over At Derby

The great thing about football is that despite the sensational shocks that sometimes come along that make the game constantly thrilling, every now and then something happens that was just meant to be.

The appointment of Nigel Clough as manager as Derby is one of those things that feels very natural. Clough is very aware of the clubs history and tradition. He does not need anyone to remind him, (but you might) that his father took over Derby in 1967, took them up from the second tier, to the top tier, won the league and guided them to a Semi-Final in the European Cup.

Personally, I think this is a good appointment for Clough and for Derby and adds to the romance of that never ending story that is football.

How is the blog?

So, it has been a bit of time, and despite this being the 17th post, overall the blog has only generated 6 comments.

So let me know what is good, what is bad. What you enjoy, have not enjoyed. Is there something that you would like to see more or less of (quiz questions, links to stories etc?). Is there anything that needs explaining?

I have the functionality to offer automatic email updates to anyone whom wishes to receive a notice every time something new is added to the blog - if you would like this let me know what email address you would like to receive this to.

Also, the good people at Reuters have allowed (free of charge) an RSS feed set to provide automatically updating links on breaking news on UK football stories back to Reuters. Once the traffic is up on the general contribution I will endeavour to get braking news up faster for comments.

Daniel

Downing "Slaps" in a Transfer Request

Stewart Downing has requested to leave Middlesborough. Full Story Here

Football Banter 2008 Awards

This blog may be new but its is probably overdue that we have our own awards, minus glitzy award ceremony.

So, let me know your nominations for the below categories.

1. Footballer of the Year
2. Team of the Year
3. Mupp of the Year
4. Football related Website of the Year
5. Goal of the Year
6. Football TV show of the Year
7. Manager of the Year
8. And of course, the honorary Lifetime Achievement Award

Trouble at Chelskea?

There are rumours circulating on the Internet that Chelsea's Billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich fortune has dwindled from €16.7bn to €2.25bn, thanks to the credit crunch. In what might prove to be the silliest of rumours this January, Abramovich may soon face a heart wrenching decision, sell the yacht (€200bn Pelorous) or sell the Premier League Football Club. The rumour goes that Abramovich considers the yacht too close to his heart.... Poor Roman.

The credit crunch has already caused some belt tightening at Chelsea. Big Phil has been told to sell before he can buy as there are no longer any spare millions floating around. That would make the move of Wayne Bridge to Man City - the newest club to hold the title of Richest Club in the World, for a potential £12m seem like a good bit of bit of business. This follows on from the clubs decision to force players pay for their meals at their Cobham training ground.