By Chris Wright

A flurry of late goals saw Chelsea rack up an impressive scoreline against Championship paupers Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge, with Juan Mata sticking away Florent Malouda’s cut-back just after half-time before Ramires (85th and 87th minutes) and Frank Lampard (93rd) padded out the rout as the clock dwindled down to nowt.

By all accounts, Nando played well again for the 88 minutes he was on the pitch – fighting, milling, linking, creating – just not scoring. His season in microcosm.

As an afterthought, just how impressive-a-season is Ramires having this time out? Given his incredible physical exertion and impeccable current form, he’s almost indispensable to AVB, no?

Chelsea will now play QPR in the fourth round (should the R’s squeeze past the MK Dons in the replay), which *ahem*JohnTerryAntonFerdinand*ahem* should be a splendid game of football.

Photos…

You’l have to venture this way for the highlights I’m afraid. The bleeders won’t let us embed.

Photos: PA

                          

By Alan Duffy

There has always been an alleged whiff of alleged dodginess allegedly surrounding the alleged football manager Harry Redknapp. Well now the man touted as the next England boss will be facing actual charges in an actual courtroom rather than flimsy rumour and speculation.

Redknapp has been charged, along with his former boss at Portsmouth Milan Mandaric, with cheating the public revenue after allegedly accepting two payments totalling around £180,000 from Mandaric when the current Spurs manager was in charge at Fratton Park. The payments were allegedly (sorry, it’s tiring I know)  made to a secret Monaco bank account, which had been opened by Redknapp. Mandaric left Pompey in 2006 and is currently chairman of Sheffield Wednesday.

Poor old ‘Arry has only just undergone heart surgery and the stress of having to face a criminal prosecution surely won’t do him any good. The trial itself is due to take place at Southwark Crown Court on 23 January 2012.

As for his England hopes, they must surely now be hanging by a thread. Allegedly, of course.

                          

Soccer Saturday is already crammed  full of over-acting buffoons (see “Merse” and his screeches when the ball goes anywhere near the goal in his particular game). However, while Paul Walsh was reporting on Pompey’s game with Nottingham Forest at the weekend, a fan made the most of his moment in the limelight…

… and then made the most of his second moment in the limelight, this time pretending to eat a fly. Genius or lunatic? You decide.

                          

By Ollie Irish

One of the most disgusting – and upsetting – acts I’ve ever seen on a football pitch in Britain:

Of course, to call this a horror ‘tackle’ is grossly unfair on horror tacklers everywhere. This was a flat-out assault: deliberate, brutal and criminal. The FA suspended Thatcher for eight matches for this incident, with a further 15-match suspended ban for two years. He got away very lightly.

Imagine if such an incident were to happen today. We would all be foaming at the mouth, calling for the aggressor to be banned for life – or longer. As I remember it, although people were sickened by Thatcher’s assault on poor Pedro, and some people did indeed want him banned for life, it wasn’t to the extent where the entire media was screaming for his head on a stick; I even remember some people defending him with the classic line “he’s not that sort of player”, which in Thatcher’s case plainly wasn’t true (and also smacked of “foreign players don’t like it up ‘em” xenophobia) – he was very much that sort of player.

Angry young man: Thatcher in action for Man City in 2006

As for Thatcher, he’s currently a free agent after his contract with Ipswich Town was terminated in February 2010. At 35, and with dodgy knees, his pro career is almost certainly over – he won’t be missed at all and I couldn’t care less that he curbed his temper as he got older.

Mendes, who is only 31 (I thought he was a couple of years older, to be honest), currently plays for Sporting Club in his native Portugal.

                          

By Ollie Irish

Portsmouth FC administrator Andrew Andronikou is still optimistic that creditor Alexandre Gaydamak, owed more than £2.2m by the club, will cut a deal and thereby prevent Pompey’s untimely demise.

This from PA:

Asked whether the Championship game at Hull would be the club’s last, Andronikou told BBC Radio 5 live on Saturday: “I think common sense will prevail and all parties will come to the table this weekend – but it has to be this weekend.

“Yesterday evening’s activities were really a wake-up call for everybody to say ‘look, we just can’t sit here whilst everybody else finesses their position. It is about coming to the table and cutting a deal’.

“I’m waiting to hear from (Gaydamak) or his representatives and I’ve made it publicly known I’m available 24/7 to get this done.

“Next time I speak to the press I want to be announcing we’re out of administration.”

Andronikou explained Pompey’s proposed offer to Gaydamak as follows: “He’ll start having payment over the next five years along with all other creditors.

“(The disagreement) is effectively timing and, I would imagine, from his point of view (ensuring) that he is actually secured, and we have used our best endeavours to get him as secured as possible.

“From where we are today he will be paid first. The point is that we’ve all got to compromise to move forward.”

Your move, Alexandre…

                          

By Ollie Irish

A view of Stevenage vs Portsmouth in the first round of the League Cup. Pompey won 2-1 at the Lamex Stadium, thanks to goals by youngster Nadir Ciftci and hardman (aka dirty bar steward) Michael Brown, and so progress to the second round.

Photo: Adam Davy / EMPICS

Darren Murphy scored the consolation for the home side (at the time, it was the equaliser to Ciftci’s opener), a bit like this:

And he celebrated like this:

Click the photos to see the XXL versions.

                          

By Ollie Irish

Pompey keeper David James has agreed to sign for Sunderland.

After Craig Gordon broke his arm, Steve Bruce began the search for a reliable keeper and he met with Jamo’s people last week to discuss terms. Now it seems James has agreed to move to the north-east.

                          

By Chris Wright

Here’s the chooglin’ round-up…

Rumour No. 1: L.A Galaxy’s prize cash cow David Beckham has apparently promised to give West Ham a decision as to whether he plans to end his career at the club ‘during the next few months’.

Beckham was born in east London and has hinted before that he may finish up at the Hammers, and co-owner David Gold has now revealed that the two parties have held preliminary talks over a move;

“We had some discussions with David’s agents a few months ago and it was a possibility. He’s preoccupied with a number of projects at the moment but he’s promised he will give every consideration to the possibility of joining us.”

Rumour No. 2: After watching him expertly pick out Robbie Savage‘s snooter in the media gantry from 60 yards away last season, Liverpool have decided that Aston Villa anchor Stiliyan Petrov is the man they want to replace the seemingly outbound Javier Mascherano in their midfield spine.

Manager Roy Hodgson is said to be a known admirer of the Bulgarian international’s style of play, and is therefore ready to offer Villa upwards of £7 million in order to tempt them into selling.

The Best of the Rest: Aston Villa full-back Luke Young‘s prospective £2.5 million switch to Liverpool is in jeopardy as he is seeking a ‘contract reimbursement’ from Villa in order to take a wage drop at Anfield.

Arsenal are in talks with Bundesliga side Stuttgart over a £10 million move for their German international defender Sedar Tasci.

Manchester United are lining up Aalesund’s young Norwegian ‘keeper Anders Lindegaad as a potential long-term replacement for veteran stopper Edwin Van Der Sar.

United are also close to wrapping up an £6.75 million deal for Ghanaian midfielder Anthony Annan, who currently plays his club football in Norway with Rosenborg.

Chelsea are hoping to complete the £17 million signing of Benfica midfielder Ramires before the Premier League season gets underway.

Tottenham are hoping a cheeky £4 million bid for Craig Bellamy will be just enough to tempt Manchester City into offloading the volatile forward.

West Ham have been linked with moves for former Marseille defender Laurent Bonnart (who is currently a free agent) and Vitesse Arnhem ‘keeper Piet Velthuizen.

Turkish giants Besiktas are planning a shock bid for Aston Villa target man John Carew.

Wigan and Sunderland are both in the hunt for £7-million-rated Chilean striker Humberto Suazo, who plays for Mexican side Monterrey.

Blackburn have agreed to sell Australian midfielder Vince Grella to Galatasaray for £2 million.

Championship side Bristol City have offered a twelve-month contract to Portsmouth ‘keeper David James, who is scheduled to hold talks with Celtic over the next few days.

                          

By Chris Wright

Out of the loop. Here’s the round-up…

Rumour No. 1: It would seem that things are poised in such a way that Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli‘s imminent £30 million move to Manchester City is going to spark a multi-player transfer merry-go-round.

Inter will use the considerable windfall to fund a move for want-away Liverpool holding man Javier Mascherano (who has been told he can leave Anfield after holding talks with manager Roy Hodgson), a deal that may see Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari moving the other way in part-exchange.

The Nerazzurri will also attempt to lure Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan to the Giuseppe Meazza over the remainder of the summer, whilst Balotelli’s arrival at Eastlands will see Emmanual Adebayor join Juventus on a season-long loan.

Crazy!

Rumour No. 2: With the recent departures of Fabio Aurelio and Emiliano Insua, Liverpool are currently looking decidedly threadbare when it comes to options at left-back – an issue they plan to address with the £3 million signing of PSV’s Mexican international defender Carlos Salcido.

Salcido impressed whilst on World Cup duty with El Tri and his Dutch employers are therefore keen to cash in on the 30-year-old, despite him having two years left to run on his contract at the club.

The Best of the Rest: Manchester City have offered Aston Villa their £6-million-rated winger Shaun Wright-Phillips in a bid to secure the signing of James Milner.

The Premier League board may intervene should Chelsea lodge a bid for Benfica midfielder Ramires, as the Brazilian international is part-owned by international super-scheister Kia Joorabchain.

Arsenal are weighing up an offer from Osasuna for Manuel Almunia and, should the Spanish stopper rejoin his former club, may move for Cagliari ‘keeper Federico Marchetti as a replacement.

West Ham have told Tottenham that they will have to stump up £15 million if they want to sign Scott Parker before the transfer window shuts.

Fulham, Bolton, Sunderland, Cologne, Bayer Leverkusen, Sochaux and Genoa are all known to be trailing Portsmouth forward John Utaka.

West Ham, Newcastle and Bolton have all made enquiries about Liverpool striker David N’Gog, but none are willing to meet the club’s £6 million asking price.

Roma are stepping up their efforts to sign West Ham utility man Valon Behrami and are willing to include ‘keeper Doni and striker Stefano Okaka in the deal.

Ajax, for some unfathomable reason, want to re-sign Mido from Middlesbrough.

                          

By Chris Wright

Stuck on 799. Here’s the round-up…

Rumour No. 1: Inter Milan have opened talks with Liverpool over the possible £25 million signing of their holding midfielder Javier Mascherano and, although the talks are yet to move past the initial stages, there are reports that the transfer could be completed as early as next week.

Mascherano has made no secret about his desire to reunite with former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez at the Inter, describing a move to the Italian champions as a ‘dream’.

Rumour No. 2: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has told a New York press conference (City are in the States on a pre-season tour) that LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan is a ‘possible’ signing, describing the USA international as a ‘good player’.

However, City officials were quick to dismiss the Italian coach’s comments, insisting that the club had no plans to pursue the £12-million-rated American star.

The Best of the Rest: Chelsea have tabled a £20 million bid for Benfica’s Brazilian midfielder Ramires, but the Blues will have to see off competition from Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Arsenal have opened negotiations with Udinese over the €12 million signing of Colombian centre-back Cristian Zapata.

Following the release of Fabio Aurelio and the sale of Emiliano Insua to Fiorentina, Liverpool are currently without a recognised left-back in their squad and will therefore move for Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge to redress the balance.

Liverpool are also hoping to steal a march on West Ham in the race for Nice striker Loic Remy by including Damien Plessis and Nabil El Zhar in the deal.

Liverpool’s wayward Spanish winger Albert Riera is close to joining Olympiakos after the Greek side saw their £4 million bid accepted.

However, West Ham are still in pole position to sign Remy after agreeing to pay the entire £13 million transfer fee in one single transaction.

The Hammers are also chasing Ajax’ 21-year-old Serbian winger Miralem Sulejmani, but will have to wait until the furore over current coach Martin Jol‘s future is resolved before they make their move.

Tottenham are trying to engineer the season-long loan signing of Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy.

Sevilla have made a £9 million bid for Everton playmaker Mikel Arteta.

Sunderland have joined Celtic in the pursuit of Portsmouth’s veteran ‘keeper David James, with the Black Cats confident that the England stopper will want to remain in the Premier League.

Wigan are lining up a £2 million bid for PSV’s Mexican full-back Carlos Salcido should Maynor Figueroa decide to join Liverpool this summer.

Stoke have offered Wigan £7 million plus striker James Beattie in a bid to land the Latic’s Colombian forward Hugo Rodallega.

Former Hull City midfielder George Boateng is training with West Brom.