Transfers & Rumours

Transfer Rumours: Football is awash with gossip, hogwash, tittle tattle and rumours and we’ll dutifully round them all up here for you and assess them in our own wry, irreverent way.

• Jermain Defoe told to sign for Spurs or rot in reserves September 17th, 2007 Tottenham Hotspur

  It’s all fun at White Hart Lane at the moment isn’t it? At the start of the season, dreams of the top 4 were at the fore… now? It’s all gone a bit awry. Now, a spat between Martin Jol and Jermaine Defoe seems to have reached boiling point. Apparently, Jol has told Jermain Defoe to sign a new contract, or rot in the reserves.

• Site of the week: Kickster September 17th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Kickster is Shiny Media’s new blog dedicated to women’s football. With the women’s World Cup in full swing (and England set to play Argentina in a crunch group match later today, at 1pm), Kickster brings you all the latest news, plus match reports and gossip. After the World Cup has finished, it’ll be back to […]

• Why is Robbie Savage so scared of this football? September 17th, 2007 Blackburn Rovers

  
  There was a lot to frighten a football fan at Stamford Bridge this weekend. Flying boots leaving players hospitalised? Check! Ranting Portugueser? Check! Shocking linesman? Check! Shevchenko playing like a Rushden & Diamonds part timer? Check check check!
  All frightening, but what the hell spooked Robbie Savage here? Let us know what you think, and we’ll post some kind of answer just as soon as Mr Savage’s agent picks up his phone…

• Join Pies In The Community and win an iPod Nano September 14th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Greetings Pies folk! This post is directed directly at you, directly. Not that all the usual posts aren’t, but, er, anyway – WE HAVE A WHO ATE ALL THE PIES COMMUNITY, is what I’m trying to say.

• Pete Doherty playing football… September 14th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Yesterday we broke the news that drugs fan Peter Doherty is to manage his own football team. Eek. Well in illustrating that piece we unearthed a crusty old photo of the QPR crooner having a kick about. It got us thinking, just what kind of a player can someone that messed up make? Technically we always think we play 10% better with a hangover. And Gazza was great, as was Tony Adams even in his glug-glug-drivey-drivey period, but on the other hand you’ve never seen Keith Richards playing for England have you.
  Anyway our answer has been delivered with this clip. We’d rate Doherty’s ball skills about 1.2 out of 10…
  

• The managed by Pete Doherty XI September 13th, 2007 Top 10s & lists

  BRRRRRRRREAKING NEWS! Slightly smelly super hoops fan Pete Doherty apparently wants to become a football manager. According to a report on NME.com today, the singer who once said “QPR is the only thing he prefers to narcotics”, is being lined up to manage a team suitable name Doherty FC. The team will then face celebrity opposition (Ralph Little and friends) on telly. As much as we hate most celebrity football, we’d actually love to see that. So who would be in the Babyshambles Moss poker’s starting eleven. Click continue reading to see who we think he’d be most at ease with…

• Ken Bates Vs Freddy Shepherd September 10th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Talk of ex Newcastle bloke Sir Fred buying poor Leeds from Sir Ken, which of these two elderly evils would you prefer in charge of your club? Let’s compare the two…

• Tuck into a Nicolas Anelka burger from Quick September 4th, 2007 Bolton Wanderers

  French fast-food chain Quick has launched its Anelka burger in honour of Bolton’s sulky striker Nicolas. The burger comes with a hint of pepper, apparently. If it is anything like its patron, you would imagine the burger fills a gap at first but leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth and a lot of bellyache.
  

• Goal of the week: Yaya Toure, Barcelona v Inter August 31st, 2007 Tottenham Hotspur

  A lovely instinctive strike from Kolo’s younger brother, signed by Barca this summer for a reported fee of €10m. On this evidence, they have picked up a bargain.
  

• Uefa Cup review: Blackburn 2-0 MyPa (Blackburn win 3-0 no aggregate) August 31st, 2007 Blackburn Rovers

  Goals by David Bentley (pictured) and Jason Roberts helped Blackburn overcome a resilient MyPa to reach the first round of the Uefa Cup. MyPa keeper Janne Korhonen played a blinder, otherwise Rovers might have won by four or five.
  ‘We have got the job done and I am delighted we have progressed,’ said Rovers manager Mark Hughes. ‘That was the aim but fair play to MyPa they worked extremely hard and kept going until the end.’

• LIVE NOW! Champions League group stage draw August 30th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Click below to read our live blog of the draw:

• Man Utd need another striker before the transfer window shuts. Who should Fergie sign? August 30th, 2007 Man Utd

  
  Ole Solskjaer is hanging up his deadly boots, Wayne Rooney is out injured (although he’s reportedly recovering faster than expected), Alan Smith and Guiseppe Rossi have moved on, Louis Saha’s body can’t be trusted, Carlos Tevez is settling in…

• Top 10 Transfer Window Stories: Zat Knight involved in drugs bust hours after signing for Villa, Anelka stays at Bolton, Man Utd want Defoe August 30th, 2007 Top 10s & lists

  There’s always a hint of ‘desperate boyfriend looking for a half-decent present at the 24-hour garage for his missus on Christmas Eve’ about Premier League managers at this time of the season. Panic sets in – do I have a strong enough squad to survive the season, or until January at least? Here, according to […]

• Six British teams in the Champions League draw – which one has the best chance of winning it? August 30th, 2007 Arsenal

  So there are six (count ’em!) clubs in the group stages of this season’s Champions League: the big four in England, plus Celtic and Rangers. The English clubs can’t meet each other, because they are all amongst the top eight seeds, but there’s a very strong chance that we’ll see another so-called ‘Battle of Britain’, […]

• The Snapshot: Antonio Puerta, RIP August 30th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  
  A girl writes a message in memory of Sevilla player Antonio Puerta on the outside of the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on August 29, 2007 in Sevilla, Spain. Puerta, a 22-year-old Sevilla player, died on August 28 after suffering a heart attack during his team’s Liga match against Getafe in Sevilla. The message reads ‘See you soon Puerta, always in the hearts of Real Betis and especially Sevilla fans’.
  Photo Denis Doyle/Getty Images

• Carling Cup review: Michael Owen scores first competitive goal since 2005 and Man City march on August 30th, 2007 Man City

  
  Photo Getty Images
  He’s still got it! When Little Michael Owen tucked the ball under the body of Barnsely’s keeper and into the net, it was the first time he’d scored in a competitive game since December 2005, some 20 months ago. The finish was a bit scuffed, but still, Owen thrives on goals, and this is welcome news both for Newcastle and England.

• SuperLiga Final review: CF Pachuca 1-1 LA Galaxy (Pachuca win 4-3 on penalties, David Beckham picks up knee injury) August 30th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  So David Beckham missed out on picking up his first trophy Stateside. Instead, he picked up a potentially serious knee injury, which may jeopardise his involvement in England’s Euro 2008 qualifiers in September. Doh! says Steve McClaren and the rest of us.

• Gamper Trophy review: Barcelona 5-0 Inter Milan August 30th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Barca thumped Internazionale (who had rested several stars, including Zlatan) to win their annual Joan Gamper Trophy. Inter deserved to lose for bringing a weakened team to the Camp Nou.
  With Messi, Henry, Ronaldinho and Eto’o to call on, Barca’s attack is shaping up to be, well, scarily good – and don’t forget Mexican wonderkid Gio dos Santos, who has just earned Spanish citizenship (as has Ronaldinho). Gio made mincemeat of Inter’s defence, and this could be his breakthrough season. Yaya Toure, Kolo’s little bro, also scored this belter:

• Champions League review: Arsenal 3-0 Sparta Prague (Arsenal win 5-0 on aggregate) August 30th, 2007 Arsenal

  Photo Getty Images Smiles all round at the Emirates, as Arsenal breezed past a distinctly average Praha side. Eduardo da Silva (seen here being shown position one of the Kama Sutra by team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor) scored for the first time this season, to add to earlier goals by Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas, and looked […]

• Portsmouth ready to sell David Nugent – is he really that bad? August 29th, 2007 Portsmouth

  ‘Arry Redknapp is renowned for his wheelin’ and dealin’ skills but even a master sometimes makes mistakes like, ‘buying the first one you see only before the end of sales bargains arrive.’

• Liverpool want Julio Baptista – but do they need him? August 28th, 2007 Liverpool

  He might not have made much of an impact at Arsenal during a foreign exchange loan deal for Reyes last season, but The Beast could be back in the Premier League.

• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man Utd career, in pictures August 28th, 2007 Man Utd

  Ole brings the ball under control during a Champions League match against Fenerbahce in 1996. Photo Clive Brunskill/Allsport

• Andriy Shevchenko – should he stay or should he go? August 24th, 2007 Chelsea

  He’s gone from the country’s most expensive signing to a misfiring misfit who’s struggling to command a transfer fee, but Andriy Shevchenko still has his admirers.

• Sunderland sign Andy Cole – but is he going to play or preach? August 24th, 2007 Sunderland

  Apparently, Andy Cole is on the verge of signing for Sunderland after Harry Redknapp agreed to release the 35 year-old from the last two years (!?) of his Portsmouth contract.

• Arjen Robben and Gabriel Heinze join Real Madrid – does Real now have the strongest squad in Europe? August 24th, 2007 Transfers & Rumours

  Real Madrid new signings Arjen Robben and Gabriel Heinze are presented at the Bernabeu stadium on August 23, 2007 in Madrid, Spain. Photo Jasper Juinen/Getty Images With Robben and Heinze on board, Madrid now have one strong-looking squad – consider that this summer they have also signed Dutch wonderkid Royston Drenthe, German centre-half Christoph Metzelder, […]