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[navanman]

9.53pm Sky Sports News have just reported that Villarreal have offered Arsenal £2m to take Pascal Cygan away from Highbury (sic). Presumably Arsene Wenger left Cygan there when the rest of the club moved to the Emirates Stadium. We'll see how that one develops.

9.55pm Scrap what I just wrote. Arsenal have accepted Villarreal's £2m bid - well, would you think about it for any longer. That must mean Gallas is heading their way.I have nothing to add.

WTF, this is just surreal, its like the maddest game if musical chairs EVER!!

 

[Mama Smurf]

Hey I just realised Chelsea play Liverpool and Man Utd play Arsenal on the same day in a couple of weeks. What does this have to do with the transfer window? NOTHING

 

[Mama Smurf]

God there are some whiney bastards around. If you're following the Guardian transfer blog, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. This sort of comment is why I hate talking to just met people about football:

"Man Utd buying Aldo Duscher would be worse than Real Madrid buying Gravesen from Everton," says Ahmed. "We'd be ridiculed for years on end, just like we would have been if we had bought Senna."

Who the hell was going to ridicule them if they bought Senna? What's wrong with Senna? He was great for Villarreal last year in the CL. Is a Spanish international not good enough? It's not like he would have cost much or would even have necessarily be first team with Carrick and Scholes there. Same goes for Duscher, it's a squad buy for a position which lacks strength in depth, you already spent almost £19m on a centreal midfielder this year. Who cares if they get ridiculed, everyone ridiculed United when they bought Sheringham at the age of 31, but they had to shut the **** up when he helped win them the Champions League a few years later.

You're top of the league, scoring freely, playing fantastically well and perhaps about to make yourself even stronger SO SHUT UP YOUR WHINING.

I hate people, seriously. Good job you're all bots.

EDIT: OH GOOD, another one:

"I think like all united fans I am going to have to insist that you stay there until there is some sort of an announcement by the club on a major signing. Granted this might keep you occupied to January but we are desperate now."

Desperate? Seriously, it's just pathetic.

 

[radicalbunny]

PSV send DeMarcus Beasley to Man City for a 1-year loan.

 

[Osorio]

PSV send DeMarcus Beasley to Man City for a 1-year loan.

Another American in the Premiership I see. Falch, did he play much for PSV? And if he did, how'd he do?

 

[navanman]

only 10 mins to go till deadline and Cole deal hasnt gone through yet. Gallas has done his medical for Arsenal already.

 

[Mama Smurf]

They'll wait until the last minute to announce it. The drama queens.

tick tock

 

[Wes]

only 10 mins to go till deadline and Cole deal hasnt gone through yet. Gallas has done his medical for Arsenal already.

Really bored of this already. Why don't they just announce it for crying out loud.

PS: Still pissed Milner got recalled by Newcastle. What's the deal with sending him down to us, knowing we're going to make an offer, and then call him back at the last minute! Grrrr.

 

[navanman]

Just getting away from all the transfer sagas, West Ham are going to have one of the best teams in the Premiership.
Mascherano and Reo-Coker in midfield and Tevez, Ashton, Zamora as strikers is not too shabby.

 

[navanman]

Really bored of this already. Why don't they just announce it for crying out loud.

PS: Still pissed Milner got recalled by Newcastle. What's the deal with sending him down to us, knowing we're going to make an offer, and then call him back at the last minute! Grrrr.

Jesus, Sibierski to Newcastle, WTF is Roeder thinking!!

 

[Mama Smurf]

I don't see what the big deal is personally. He'll be behind Martins, Rossi and Amoebi for most of this season, then with Owen back he'll drop to 5th place....or if Owen returns when Rossi goes back to United, stay 4th place.

Either way he's clearly just a signing for cover.

 

[navanman]

It's over. Time to go to bed.
Good luck and Good Night !!

 

[hadareud]

I guess it didn't go through after all

 

[Mama Smurf]

Oh I wouldn't expect deals signed right before the deadline to be announced just yet. I'm sure there are still some to find out about.

 

[MrPing1000]

Bah **** the Glazers.

 

[Falch]

Another American in the Premiership I see. Falch, did he play much for PSV? And if he did, how'd he do?

He's been with PSV for the last two years. These are his stats:

2004/05 PSV 29 6
2005/06 PSV 27 4

As you can see, he's doesn't exactly score often, although he made some important goals for PSV in the Champions League in his first season. He always played on the left side of our attack (we always play with 3 strikers), while for the USA team he was often used as a midfielder.

Too be honest, I'm not upset about him leaving us, especially not since we've signed Tardelli. Beasley had a decent first year at PSV, almost always playing the whole match. Last season though, we got Kone, who is a much better player in every regard, and he's taken over Beasley's place as our left striker. Most of the matches Beasley played in last season he played for the last 15-20 minutes.

Beasley's second season was quite disappointing. He made little progress, in contrast to Farfan (who arrived at PSV at the same time and scored 21 goals last season). He himself wasn't happy to be benched so much.

Problem with Beasley is that he hardly ever gets past a defender, and if he does he gets fault (sp?). He's a real lightweight too, so I think it'll be even tougher for him in the more physical Premier League.

I'm not saying he's a useless player, but unless he miraciously (sp?) gets his act together, I'm afraid he's not going to be making much of an impact.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Yeah, **** 'em. **** 'em for taking you to your joint best points total in the last 6 years. A total that would have won you the league the last two times you did. **** 'em for getting you back into the top 2. **** 'em for running the best team you've had since you last won the title. **** 'em for letting you spend £40m in the year and a bit since they took over. They even tried to let you spend another £17m on yet another player, the complete bastards.

 

[hadareud]

**** them all

 

[MrPing1000]

The performances on the pitch have nothing to do with Glazer. And the money they have spent ain't that much in the grand scheme of things, especially when considering the money earned through selling players, carrick was £13mill the rest is performance related, Tomasz Kuszczak is a loan, probably will cost £2.5mill or so next summer, Ruud we got around £10mill for, Obi Mikel we got £12mill for (6 this summer 6 next) Lets not get into the big old debt thing either.

 

[Mama Smurf]

But just so we're clear, it's their fault you either haven't signed anyone else or got Duscher? That makes sense, with the £17m they made available for Hargreaves.

 

[MrPing1000]

IN:

Michael Carrick (Tottenham) £14m*
Tomasz Kuszczak (W.B.A.) Loan (p/ex)

Total: £14m




OUT:

Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid) £11m
John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) £6m*
Jonathan Spector (West Ham) £500k
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Plymouth) £250k
David Bellion (Nice) Undisc.
Luke Steele (W.B.A.) P/Ex
Paul McShane (W.B.A.) P/Ex
Quinton Fortune (Bolton) Free
Liam Miller (Sunderland) Free
Markus Neumayr (Duisburg) Free
Mads Timm (Odense) Free
Mark Howard (Brondby) Free
Eddie Johnson (Bradford) Free
Phil Picken (Chesterfield) Free
Colin Heath (Macclesfield) Free
Tommy Lee (Macclesfield) Free
Kyle Moran (Free Agent) Released
Gerard Piqué (Zaragoza) Loan
Guiseppe Rossi (Newcastle) Loan
Chris Eagles (NEC Nijmegen) Loan
Lee Martin (Rangers) Loan
Phil Bardsley (Rangers) Loan
Tim Howard (Everton) Loan
Ben Foster (Watford) Loan
Adam Eckersley (Brondby) Loan
Jonathan Evans (Antwerp) Loan
Danny Simpson (Antwerp) Loan
Darron Gibson (Antwerp) Loan
Fraizer Campbell (Antwerp) Loan

Total: £17.75m~
Squad depth and wage bill: Decimated
Net Outlay: -£3.75m

* = initial payments

Obviously most of the outs aren't first team or anywhere close but u get the idea.

 

[Mama Smurf]

And of course, you never sold players for lots of money before the Glazers. Beckham, Stam, Veron, Cole...those must have been dreams of mine, and your funding came entirely from other sources.

 

[Wes]

So much hate. Guys calm down!

You got to say, at the end of the day, the Premiership looks set to be far more exciting up until January than it did at the start of the day.

 

[Shinobi]

I think its more a case of...

"We at Chelsea, think you at Arsenal have been twats in this Cole transfer, thus, we're going to be difficult for you..."

Takes one to know one...

9.53pm Sky Sports News have just reported that Villarreal have offered Arsenal £2m to take Pascal Cygan away from Highbury (sic). Presumably Arsene Wenger left Cygan there when the rest of the club moved to the Emirates Stadium. We'll see how that one develops.

9.55pm Scrap what I just wrote. Arsenal have accepted Villarreal's £2m bid - well, would you think about it for any longer. That must mean Gallas is heading their way.


I have nothing to add.

:lol

Hey I just realised Chelsea play Liverpool and Man Utd play Arsenal on the same day in a couple of weeks. What does this have to do with the transfer window? NOTHING

I've had that date circled for two months now...the double header to end all double headers. It's going to be a treat.

Yeah, **** 'em. **** 'em for taking you to your joint best points total in the last 6 years. A total that would have won you the league the last two times you did. **** 'em for getting you back into the top 2. **** 'em for running the best team you've had since you last won the title. **** 'em for letting you spend £40m in the year and a bit since they took over. They even tried to let you spend another £17m on yet another player, the complete bastards.

:lol You hate United fans even more then I do. :lol

I reckon the deafening silence indicates one of two things...either Arsenal, Chelsea or both ****ed up and didn't fax the neccessary papers in time, or the papers were faxed in time and everyone's just making sure the fine print is in order before making an announcement. If nothing had got done, we probably would've seen both parties say so by now, what with all the other bi-daily announcements they made about talks being off in the last month.

Personally I'd be delighted with the deal...I've heard anywhere from 5 to 10 million in cash, and I figured Arsenal would be doing good if they got 7 or 8. It isn't what they'd want, and in some respects it's a bit of a jip, but beggars can't be choosers. I'd rather take Gallas and the small change and get on with business.

The Reyes/Baptista swap is a great move as well...I'm really happy with that one. Hopefully Reyes is able to shine there, though it's kinda funny that his most controversial moment last season was at the Barnebau (sp) when he got "injured", fell down out of touch, then rolled back in so play could be stopped. :lol And people wonder why I don't like his ass...

I just hope this Cole/Gallas swap got done...it'd be such a waste for everyone involved if it didn't.

 

[MrPing1000]

And of course, you never sold players for lots of money before the Glazers. Beckham, Stam, Veron, Cole...those must have been dreams of mine, and your funding came entirely from other sources.

How is this relevent?

I'm saying that the Glazers are dwindling our buying power in the transfer market as they have to pay bills. A restraint that was not upon the club before they bought us. Of course our inability to buy is not just down to them, our suits have been useless at fufilling deals for a long time back when Peter kenyon was running things it was just as bad. They totally ****ed up the Senna deal. Regardless our buying power has been decimated by the Glazers and the state of the club as well. We've made our reserve team tiny, reduced their fixture list, not to mention the mass exodus of back room staff.

It's not all doom and gloom but I'd rather be without them.

 

[Mama Smurf]

How is this relevent?

How is it not relevant to spending power? You're claiming they're selling so they can buy, which is true to a degree (they've still bought more than they've sold, overwhelmingly so when you take into account the £17m that was there for Hargreaves), but it's always been true to a degree. Those 4 players I mention brought United £62m between them. Who have the Glazers gotten rid of for £15.5m since they've arrived? And that's only because Cole's transfer scews it downwards, without him I'd be asking who you've sold for £18m.

You think you'd have bought the players you did without the money brought in from those transfers? Maybe one or two of them you would have. Not all of them.

I'm saying that the Glazers are dwindling our buying power in the transfer market as they have to pay bills.

And yet they were willing to spend over £30m this summer (well over, they are going to have to pay the majority of that Carrick fee sometime, even if not all of it, the cost isn't just going to disappear) and £12.5m last winter. I don't see much drop in spending power.

I mean, who else would have bought Carrick for that much? Chelsea obviously...I really can't see anyone else doing it. And then they were willing to give the same amount again for Hargreaves!

We've made our reserve team tiny

I really don't know about this (I mean, at all, I have no knowledge on it), but earlier on you were having a go at your squad depth. I think you have an awesome squad, 2nd best in the league. Sure, you have a lot of players out on loan, but that won't matter unless there's an injury crisis and you can just recall them if that's the case.

It's not all doom and gloom but I'd rather be without them.

Because that had been going so well recently.

Fact of the matter is...since the Glazers have come you're spending just fine (I haven't added it up, but I'm pretty sure Chelsea alone are ahead of you), you're ambitiously going after big players, your team is fantastic, you're top of the league, you've kept almost all your best players (and given that the Van Nistelrooy thing is just like Beckham and Stam, I think we can safely say that wasn't Glazer motivated), you're stadiums getting even bigger and if the exact same events had happened only the Glazers had never taken over, United fans would be seeing this as a revival.

Now maybe this won't last. Maybe this is just to get United fans on their side and in 5 years time the Glazers will be selling the best players to cover their debt...but right now, United fans should be the happiest in the country (yes, even ahead of hammers) based on how things are going.

 

[Shinobi]

Well, it looks like both clubs are on the verge of making an announcement.

http://www.chelseafc.com/index.asp

Chelsea's got Cole's face on their front page with a link to a statement concerning the swap, but the article isn't up yet (Arsenal's site has nothing up so far). But yeah, looks like they got this done with seconds to spare...though it would be pretty ****ing funny if it wasn't allowed to go through, forcing Chelsea to change the front page. :lol

 

[radicalbunny]

What a crazy ****in day.

 

[Shinobi]

So officially it's Cole for Gallas and 5 million pounds...basically what I said I'd be fine with a week or two ago. Glad it's done...wouldn't wanna see two players being miserable when such an obvious fix was right there.

Of course the question for the Gunners is where will Gallas play? He hates playing the wide back positions, but it's something I gotta think Wenger will want him to do at least for a few games. Long term I guess Senderos will be on the bench.

I wonder if Toure could play left or right back? I'm not sure he'd be anymore interested in that then Gallas, and I'm not sure he's fast enough, but that might be another option for Wenger.

 

[psycho_snake]

I dont agree with MrPing at all. At the moment the glazers have done nothing wrong. The only thing that the glazers are responsible for in terms of transfers is supplying the money needed to buy the players and this year they were willing to lewt Fergie spend upto £30 million this transfer window and £12 million during christmas, so they are in no way stopping us from buying players. Its not the glazers fault that we coildnt get hargreaves or trezeguet, thats because of the other clubs who were unwilling to sell their players. The only thing that I dont like about the glazers is that they have put a massive debt on the club, but if we are a successful club we shouldnt have to worry about that debt

The thing that pisses me off about my fellow United fans is how they want us to buy really big named players. This season torres was rumoured to be coming to United and every United fan seemed thrilled about it, but I really didnt want it to happen because I think that we play better football with the strikers we have at the moment. When we were looking to buy a midfielder every united fan only seemed to be satisfied if we bought riquelme, but he would have been an awful buy beause he is used to having a lot of time and he wouldnt get that in the premiership. A;lthough he was overpriced, I would rather have bought carrick than any other midfielder because we needed a player who can keep possession of the ball and distrabute it properly. Had we signed hargreaves too I couldnt have been happier becauise it would have been perfect. Unofrtunately we couldnt, but no one should blame the glazers for that. They were going to supply us with the money but bayern wouldnt sell.

Now maybe this won't last. Maybe this is just to get United fans on their side and in 5 years time the Glazers will be selling the best players to cover their debt...but right now, United fans should be the happiest in the country (yes, even ahead of hammers) based on how things are going.

That wont hapen if we become a club who can win major trophies. Fergie is building another young team who look very determined to win things. So far we have plkayed the best and most effective football this season. Now some will argue that itds against easy oppositioin, but Arsenal played Villa and could only manage a draw, liverpool did the same with sheffield united and chelsea lost to boro, so our form isnt just down to playing weaker opposition, its down to the ability of the team. The first few games have given me and hopefully all the other fans optimism tha we can win the premiership. Its still a long way to go but the players have proven to themselves that they have the ability to do it. As long as we are a successful club we wont have to worry about finances.

 

[Ghost]

Just remembered ive got P. Chimbonda in my fantasy team so spurs better play him ><;

 

[hadareud]

I am happy that the swap worked out in the end, even though 5 million is maybe a bit on the lower side for my liking. But whatever.

Arsenal now probably have the fastest back 4 in the Premiership, if not Europe:

Eboue (Lauren) - Toure - Gallas - Clichy (when he's fit again in November obviously).

Also a very physical back 4 - I like it!

with a midfield that looks something like this

Ljungberg - Fabregas - Diaby (when he's back) - Rosicky

and Henry and Van Persie upfront - there's some serious pace in this team. That's not even including Theo Walcott.

BTW, does anyone know what Baptistas preferred foot is and if he can play in right midfield? I haven't followed this guy at all.

 

[Shinobi]

From what I've read Baptista used to be a defensive midfield...the last couple years he's played as an attacking midfielder or forward. And according to my Winning Eleven 9 option file, he's a right footer. :lol

The really cool thing about the Brazi/Argentina friendly at Emirates stadium is that he's in the lineup, and I gotta think he'll play some decent minutes in what's now his brand new home. Also Hammer fans will be able to see their new boys Tevez and Mascherano. I'd give anything to be at this game...I'm just thankful I'll be able to see it on TV.

On the subject of the internationals, is anyone excited about them? Along with Brazil/Argentina I'm pretty excited about seeing Canada/Jamacia on Monday (hey, it's the country of my parents' birth versus the country I now live in...better then nothing!), and I'm interested in seeing how England plays under McLaren. Plus the Italy/France game next Wednesday might be the fastest World Cup final rematch of all time...should be a fascinating game to watch. But I get the sense that most people see this international break as far too soon, doing nothing but interupting the club season that's only just come back (which is true).

 

[Mama Smurf]

Looks like we've kept Neill. I know we'll probably lose him on a free now, but that's ok, the £2m or whatever it was Liverpool offered wouldn't have made too much difference. I mean we just sold Kuqi to Crystal Palace for £2.5m. And you never know, perhaps by the end of the season we'll have progressed and won the UEFA Cup and he might decide to stay afterall.

Arsenal now probably have the fastest back 4 in the Premiership, if not Europe

Is Gallas that fast? I've never though of him as slow, but not fast either. Maybe it was just him playing by Carvalho which made me think that, who is definitely faster.

Of course the question for the Gunners is where will Gallas play? He hates playing the wide back positions, but it's something I gotta think Wenger will want him to do at least for a few games. Long term I guess Senderos will be on the bench.

While he might not be as big a liability as Hoyte, Djourou hasn't exactly filled me with confidence so I expect Gallas will go into the centre. Wenger should really be playing this right now:

Eboue-----Toure------Gallas------Flamini

I don't know what he suddenly has against Flamini at left back. It's like he's playing Hoyte there just because he's a defender normally, but he tried out almost every defender possible last year before discovering Flamini was better than any of them out there.

Maybe he can use Djourou at left back now, did he try that one last year?

On the subject of the internationals, is anyone excited about them?

I'm always excited for England games, though I'm finding it hard to build up much enthusiasm for the Argentina-Brazil game, even though it's being shown live over here. I think it's because of the WC, I kind of got my fill of internationals not involving England.

I'm going to be disappointed if we don't beat Andorra by 4. Alright, I suppose we don't have to score that many so long as we win and should have scored at least that many but were unlucky (great keeping from them on the day or something), I just don't want to see some pretty comfortable low scorer where we don't tear weak opposition apart. I've had enough of that in the last 5 years.

McClaren really is lucky to have this game right after Greece. One of the worst sides in Europe, we're more likely than not to score freely and not concede...and everyone can sing his praises again. Think I'll wait until we're facing Croatia, Russia and Israel before I give any sort of judgement on his abilities.

 

[Ghost]

I'm always excited for England games, though I'm finding it hard to build up much enthusiasm for the Argentina-Brazil game, even though it's being shown live over here. I think it's because of the WC, I kind of got my fill of internationals not involving England.

I'm going to be disappointed if we don't beat Andorra by 4. Alright, I suppose we don't have to score that many so long as we win and should have scored at least that many but were unlucky (great keeping from them on the day or something), I just don't want to see some pretty comfortable low scorer where we don't tear weak opposition apart. I've had enough of that in the last 5 years.

What channel is Argentina - Brazil on? Gotta watch that now.

 

[hadareud]

Is Gallas that fast? I've never though of him as slow, but not fast either. Maybe it was just him playing by Carvalho which made me think that, who is definitely faster.

well, he's not the fastest player around I think. But certainly alot faster than Senderos, so on average Arsenal should have the fastest back 4 now.

Of course this is assuming the strongest line up, not the current one. Eboue is very quick (and Lauren is too, should he get his place in the starting line up back), so is Toure. Clichy is not slower than Cole I think. Gallas, while not as fast as the other ones, should be quick enough.

He also brings alot of experience with him, which is exactly what Arsenal have been lacking.

We're gonna win the league!

 

[Mama Smurf]

What channel is Argentina - Brazil on? Gotta watch that now.

It'll be on BBC1.

Now I check, there are lots of games being shown. Germany - Ireland is on BBC3 on Saturday night and Brazil - Wales is also on BBC3 on Tuesday.

YET THEY CAN'T BUY THE RIGHTS TO AWAY ENGLAND QUALIFERS

ahem

 

[Ghost]

well, he's not the fastest player around I think. But certainly alot faster than Senderos, so on average Arsenal should have the fastest back 4 now.

Of course this is assuming the strongest line up, not the current one. Eboue is very quick (and Lauren is too, should he get his place in the starting line up back), so is Toure. Clichy is not slower than Cole I think. Gallas, while not as fast as the other ones, should be quick enough.

He also brings alot of experience with him, which is exactly what Arsenal have been lacking.

We're gonna win the league!

Tough talk from the side in 17th

 

[Shinobi]

A lot of the games are available over here on digital cable. Of course the England matches are on PPV, but it's a pretty decent number of games on both Saturday and Wednesday, even though most of the matchups have little appeal (Italy/France being an obvious exception).

BTW, Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of Saturday's game with a bruised toe, but should be back for Wednesday. One of Michael Dawson or Wes Brown will likely replace him.

 

[Shinobi]

BTW, here's the full list of yesterday's moves...


MIDDLESBROUGH: The confusion over central defender Robert Huth's (Friday, 0900) move finally comes to an end. It seemed the deal had collapsed with the paperwork not being completed on time and Chelsea appearing unwilling to let two centre-backs go without signing more cover. But the signature's that matter are on the dotted line and Huth is a Boro player. He joins Jason Euell (1636) in switching to the Riverside.

ARSENAL: So, the summer's longest-running transfer saga, the Ashley Cole affair, is over. The clocked ticked past midnight and there was still no news - had the whole thing fallen apart? It was not until 0125 that a joint statement put everyone out of their misery - Cole joins Chelsea and Gallas heads the other way, along with £5m. Elsewhere, the Gunners agreed a swap loan deal which will see Jose Antonio Reyes heading to Real Madrid, and Julio Baptista (2000) coming the other way for one season. Meanwhile, one defender looks to be off - Villarreal have agreed a £2m fee for Pascal Cygan (2152).

CHELSEA: Peter Kenyon's car was apparently still at Stamford Bridge very late but it was worth it. Chelsea finally get Ashley Cole, to the delight of everyone at Stamford Bridge. Except maybe Wayne Bridge.

TOTTENHAM: Spurs left it late, but they finally completed the signing of Pascal Chimbonda (0000) from Wigan, confirming the deal as the transfer window shut. No detail of a fee, but Wigan say it is the most they have received for a player and it is believed to be about £6m. Earlier, Spurs won the race to sign Fulham contract-rebel Steed Malbranque (1306).

WIGAN: A very busy day at the JJB. The Latics have splashed out £2m on Bristol City's David Cotterill (2209). Everton's Kevin Kilbane (1752) has joined on a three-year deal believed to be worth about £2m. And Portsmouth's Svetoslav Todorov (2342) has moved on loan from Portsmouth. How will they fund such extravagance? Well, the Latics sold Pascal Chimbonda (0000) for a 'club record' to Spurs. Also, Graham Kavanagh (2017) has gone to Sunderland for £500,000, where he'll be joined by David Connolly (2305).

MANCHESTER CITY: Boss Stuart Pearce has secured a season-long loan deal for PSV Eindhoven's USA international winger DaMarcus Beasley (2201). That will come as a boost after veteran striker Andrew Cole followed David James in taking the Eastlands exit route to Portsmouth, while Antoine Sibierski has joined Newcastle.

NEWCASTLE: Just when it looked like all was quiet in the north-east, Glenn Roeder has signed Frenchman Antoine Sibierski (2140) on a one-year deal from Man City. In the last week, Roeder has bolstered his Newcastle attack with the signings of Obafemi Martins and Guiseppe Rossi, who joined on loan from Man United. James Milner's talks with Aston Villa look to have collapsed.

PORTSMOUTH: The deadline is looming, but Pompey are still signing players. Cameroon international Roudolphe Mbela Douala (2049) becomes their 10th summer signing, joining on loan from Sporting Lisbon. He joins Hajduk Split star Niko Kranjcar (1725), who is believed to have cost £3.5m, while former England international striker Andrew Cole (1053) has joined from Man City. Moving up north is Svetoslav Todorov, with the striker going to Wigan on loan.

LIVERPOOL: Defender Jan Kromkamp's short spell at the club is over after Liverpool confirmed his move to PSV Eindhoven (1951). After splashing out nearly £25m over the course of the summer, boss Rafa Benitez was never likely to be too free with his cash. It's gone quiet on the Lucas Neill front. The Anfield wage bill was reduced earlier with the departure of Florent Sinama Pongolle on loan to Recreativo de Huelva in Spain.

BLACKBURN: Another new arrival for Blackburn boss Mark Hughes as Shabani Nonda (1833) has signed from AS Roma on a season-long loan with an option to make the move permanent. Jonathon Douglas has moved to Leeds, defender Andy Todd is being tipped for a move from Ewood Park and Lucas Neill has been linked with Liverpool.

SHEFFIELD UNITED: The Blades have signed striker Colin Kazim-Richards (1752) from Brighton for a fee believed to be in the region of £150,000. But BBC Radio Sheffield reports that the Blades have had a bid of £1.25m turned down by Colchester United for Greg Halford. United have also been linked with a £4m deal for Preston's highly-rated England Under-21 striker David Nugent.

WEST HAM: The shock deal of the day is done. Argentina internationals Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano (1705) have signed permanent contracts at Upton Park, joining from Brazilian side Corinthians. It overshadows West Ham's other capture of the day, Czech Republic under-17 keeper Marek Stech (1324).

CHARLTON: New Addicks boss Iain Dowie has gathered a lot of new talent at The Valley and the latest arrival is Uruguayan Omar Pouso (1651). The midfielder has arrived from Penarol on a season-long loan, but Jason Euell (1636) has gone to Boro and keeper Stephan Andersen (2236) has joined Leeds on loan.

FULHAM: Going the other way in the Steed Malbranque to Spurs deal is Wayne Routledge (1306) who moved to Craven Cottage in a one-year loan deal. Massimo Maccarone has also been rumoured to be heading to the Cottage, but Sylvain Legwinski has left for Ipswich.

ASTON VILLA: Villa's move for Newcastle's James Milner collapsed after talks. Boss Martin O'Neill signed Stilian Petrov from Celtic, but appears not to have captured another former Bhoys player, defender Didier Agathe. Javier Saviola turned his nose up at a move to Villa Park and will stay with Barcelona.

BOLTON: Sam Allardyce did not choose to add to the signing of Nicolas Anelka. Rumours were that Zenit St Petersburg's Pavel Mares was on his way - but he returned to Russia.

EVERTON: Following the captures of £8.6m Andy Johnson and £5m Joleon Lescott, David Moyes did not splash his cash too liberally. But one player left - Kevin Kilbane is now a Wigan man.

MANCHESTER UNITED: It seems Sir Alex Ferguson's £18.6m capture of Michael Carrick is United's only big signing this summer. There was some transfer action, though. NEC Nijmegen have signed Chris Eagles (1758) on loan until the end of the year, while Liam Miller (2247) has gone to Sunderland.

READING: Steve Coppell has shown no great desire to break up last season's Championship-winning squad and was never expected to make any raids the transfer market.

WATFORD: It was all quiet at the Hornets, but any big action at Vicarage Road was always unlikely. They re-signed former player Tommy Smith from Derby on Wednesday.

 

[speedpop]

And with that, it shall be another dismal year for the Toons.

 

[hadareud]

Tough talk from the side in 17th

Tough talk it maybe, but after seeing the interviews with West Ham fans on skysports yesterday saying they were gonna challenge Arsenal now (did I even hear the word "easy"?) I felt obligated to respond

 

[Shinobi]

Hell they owned our ass last year...they've got every right to talk shit. :lol And it's hard for me to hate on the team that helped us gain 4th place in the most incredible Arsenal season finish since 1989.

 

[hadareud]

nah, I don't hate West Ham at all either. I couldn't resist though.

 

[Mama Smurf]

And with that, it shall be another dismal year for the Toons.

Don't worry, you just got Olivier Bernard on a free :O

I think you've got a great attack, a good midfield, a great goalkeeper...but my god that defence.

 

[Mama Smurf]

This is from The Mirror so....yeah....but apparently Mourinho and Kenyon had a big bust up over Gallas's sale (and Huth's, a bit). They even say Mourinho's future is in doubt...I assume they mean at Chelsea and not that Abramovich is going to have him whacked.

I doubt anything will happen anytime soon, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Chelsea have a new manager this time next year. I don't think winning the league would be enough (they're not even certain to manage that), they need to see more progress. Especially given the money spent on big name players this year. Maybe he'll be ok if they can win the FA Cup at last along with the league, but Europe seems like the real key. It's kind of harsh on Mourinho to say they've underperformed under him, they did get to the semi-finals two years ago and both times have been knocked out by the eventual winners, for a normal club that would be fine. Chelsea have higher expectations though. Unfortunately for Mourinho, they have such a hard group they may not even get out of it this year and even if they do they could well end up in second palce again and have to face someone like AC Milan.

I can understand his unhappiness at Gallas and Huth leaving. They now only have these defenders:

Terry
Carvalho
Cole
Bridge
Ferreira
Boulahrouz
Geremi

If we take away those who can't really play at centre back, we're left with:

Terry
Carvalho
Boulahrouz

For a start they ideally want to play the latter at right back, but what if Terry picks up a 5 month injury against Andorra tomorrow? You're left with two centre backs you desperately have to hope don't get injured or suspended in that entire time? They'd be living on a knife edge, far more dodgy position than they've been in in the past.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea recall Alex from PSV at some point, if they need to. Most people don't even know he's a Chelsea player it seems to me as they bought him and loaned him immediately, but he's certainly an option.

 

[Shinobi]

They even say Mourinho's future is in doubt...I assume they mean at Chelsea and not that Abramovich is going to have him whacked.

Never assume when it comes to a Russian billionaire...

It is curious that with all of Chelsea's billions, that they've left themselves short in a position the last three years. I don't know if that's a case of high end arrogance or stunningly inept planning, but I wouldn't wanna be anywhere near Stamford Bridge if Terry busts his foot.

Ah well...that's not my problem. :lol

 

[Ghost]

West Ham Takeover Discussions have begun!

Thats all West Ham are saying, other than that there are no 'contractual' links between this potential takeover offer and the Tevez & Mascherano (hey i spelt it right, awesome) deal.


Probably way too early to say whats going on, they are listed on the stock exchange so they have to reveal whenever theres even a sniff of possible takeovers, might not be a serious deal.

 

[Falch]

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea recall Alex from PSV at some point, if they need to. Most people don't even know he's a Chelsea player it seems to me as they bought him and loaned him immediately, but he's certainly an option.

Do you have a source or something for that, because as far as I know that's not even possible. I can't see PSV agreeing with something as radical as that, Alex is our topdefender. There have even been talks about PSV buying the transferrights from Chelsea.

Besides, can he even get a work permit yet?

Oh, and Dutch media have reported that the Ball to Blackburn deal fell through, but I guess you know that.

 

[hadareud]

I don't know, for some reason this company seems a bit dodgy to me. I hope I'm wrong, but those deals seem very strange.