Category Archives: news-t

Hammers handed Dorrans blow

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West Brom midfielder Graham Dorrans has ended speculation over his future by signing a new four-year deal with the Baggies to keep him at the Hawthorns until 2015 (West Brom – 4/5 to be relegated next season).

The Scotland international had been a summer target of West Ham, with Albion turning down three bids from the Londoners for the 23-year-old.

He only agreed a new deal with the Baggies in January but, underlining how desperate Roberto Di Matteo was to hold on to him, Dorrans was offered fresh terms and he has now penned a new four-year contract with the option of a further year after that.

The midfielder scored 18 goals in all competitions to help West Brom (40/1 to be top Midlands club next term) win promotion back up to the Premier League last season and Di Matteo is looking forward to building a team around him in the top flight.

“I’m delighted Graham has signed a new long-term contract, which is fully deserved,” the boss said on the club’s website.

“He made excellent progress last season and we’re now very hopeful he can make the step up to the Premier League.

“There has been a lot of media speculation about Graham’s future, but it hasn’t affected him one bit.

“Ever since he has reported back for pre-season training, his attitude has been as spot on as it always is and I know for a fact how much he’s looking forward to the new season.”

He added: “The exciting thing is that Graham knows he still has a lot of work to do and is yet to reach his full potential.”

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Reds bag Cole deal

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Liverpool are 9/1 to win the Premier League title next season and have boosted their chances of being among the front runners by landing Joe Cole on a four-year deal.

New Reds boss Roy Hodgson has pulled off something of a coup by landing the player as Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United and a number of clubs abroad were keen, but the player has opted for Anfield.

Cole has agreed terms and even though the player still has to undergo a medical, which will happen in the next 48 hours, Liverpool do not expect any problems and have announced the deal as done.

The news comes as huge boost to Liverpool, who have had to fend off constant speculation over the future of star players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres all summer.

The positive Liverpool fans will see this as an indication that both players are staying as Cole would surely want assurances that they would not be sold before he signed, while the more cynical may believe he is a replacement for Gerrard.

Time will tell but Hodgson has made it clear that Gerrard and Torres are not for sale and with Cole on board Liverpool should at least be looking at winning their place back in the top four.

They are 7/4 to do so but with Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham again looking strong, it will be a tall order even with Cole on board.

Premier League champions Chelsea have revealed they were unwilling to match Cole’s demands and were happy to let him go, obviously believing they can cope without him, but Liverpool are willing to match his demands and think he is worth it.

Yossi Benayoun left Anfield to move to Chelsea in a deal worth £6million in the summer so after the Reds landed Cole for free they will feel they got the best part of the deal.

Everything will become a lot clearer next season but for now Liverpool look to have pulled off one of the transfer coups of the summer so far.

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Cottagers close on Jol

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Fulham are 15/2 to be relegated from the Premier League next season but they should be nowhere near the drop zone as they close in on a deal for Martin Jol.

The Cottagers are stepping up their pursuit of Jol as they try to replace Roy Hodgson, and it looks as though they are closing in on their man after it was revealed the former Tottenham boss is ready to quit Ajax.

Jol has always been high on Fulham’s wanted list but there was always a big question mark over whether he would be willing to walk away from the Dutch giants.

The chance to return to the Premier League would always be tempting to Jol, but it would also take a lot to walk away from a club like Ajax who will be in the Champions League next season.

However it seems as though Ajax are unwilling to give Jol the kind of backing he wants in the transfer market this summer and that could result in him jumping ship to Fulham.

“My understanding is that talks have already begun with Fulham,” Ajax youth coach Arnold Muhren revealed. “I wouldn’t blame him if he left. Fulham is a good club. They play good football and they reached the Europa League final last year.

“Maybe he is thinking that there are better prospects for him at Fulham. If he thinks he can’t win the Dutch league at Ajax then he might leave.”

Replacing Hodgson was always going to be an almost impossible job but Jol could prove to be a very good appointment for Fulham if they can wrap up a deal.

Jol took Spurs to the verge of the Champions League before he was ousted and he has what it takes to continue all the good work that Hodgson did at the Cottage.

If Jol is to take charge he will wants assuarnces over how much money he will have to spend and he will also want to make sure there is no need to cash in on the likes of Brede Hangeland and Bobby Zamora.

Fulham are hoping to land Jol in the next few days and it looks as though he is almost certain to be in charge when the Cottagers kick off the season at Bolton on August 14th. (15/8 to win).

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Capello sorry over player index

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Fabio Capello’s son has moved to lessen the potential damage caused to the England squad’s moral (6/1 to Not Qualify For Euro 2012) by the World Cup player ratings on the Capello Index website after apologising on behalf of his father.

The Italian tactician angrily hit out at the decision to publish the rankings of the England players, and those from other teams, from the tournament in South Africa on the website without his permission.

Capello demanded that the Index be removed from the internet immediately on Saturday, claiming he had not seen or approved any of the material before it was posted.

The results showed Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe with the highest average score of Capello’s squad with 62.47, while goalkeeper Robert Green had the lowest score of 51.67 out of 100 – probably due to his howler to gift the United States an equaliser in the 1-1 Group C draw.

There were no England players in the top 45 and there was a real fear it could affect the squad as they aim to put their World Cup debacle behind them to focus on Euro 2012 (England 9/1 Tournament Winner).

Capello’s son and agent Pierfilippo has now spoken out to confirm that he is ‘very sorry and upset’ about the publication of the Index.

He told The Sun: “We had told the FA there would not be any ratings appearing on any of the England players.

“So to find out that the opposite has happened just a day later was something we were unhappy about.

“There is no commercial value in this to Fabio – he was just interested to see and compare how the statistics would compare with his own evaluations.

“These are not Fabio’s ratings and we are now looking to have his name removed from the title.”

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Milito confident of Masch deal

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Diego Milito believes his Argentinian team-mate Javier Mascherano will leave Liverpool (12/1 to win the Premier League) and join him at Inter Milan.

New Inter boss Rafael Benitez wants Mascherano to follow him from Anfield and the midfielder has yet to speak to new Liverpool chief Roy Hodgson about his future, despite the Reds boss’ attempts to contact him.

That has given Inter, who are the evens favourites with totesport to retain their Serie A title, confidence they will secure the Argentina international and Milito, for one, is sure the 26-year-old will eventually make the move to the San Siro.

“We are very excited about Mascherano joining us at Inter,” he said.

“He has made it clear he wants to be here and it’s just down to the relevant people agreeing the deal now.

“In my view we are getting the very best defensive midfield player in the world and Maradona calls him one of the three most important players in the Argentina squad along with Lionel Messi and (Carlos) Tevez. That’s how highly he is regarded.”

Milito added: “I think it’s unrealistic of Liverpool to think they can keep hold of Mascherano when they can’t even offer Champions League football and are not challenging Manchester United and Chelsea for the Premier League title.

“The boss and Mascherano have a good friendship so there were no other clubs on the cards for him after that, including Barcelona. He has wanted to join for a while but when the boss joined Inter I think that sealed the deal.”

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Brown backs goal line technology

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Wes Brown would welcome goal-line technology being introduced into the Premier League (Manchester United 11/2 to win the Premier League).

The issue was reignited at the World Cup when England’s Frank Lampard had a clear goal disallowed against Germany in the second-round tie between the two bitter enemies. The ball crossed the line and the decision arguably affected the destiny of the game.

Had the goal been awarded, England would have clawed the game back to 2-2 at a time when they were in the ascendancy. As it was, Germany eventually ran out 4-1 winners to hand England their heaviest ever World Cup defeat. Now, England need to bounce back by winning Euro 2012 (England 9/1 to win Euro 2012 ).

Speaking about video technology and that specific incident, Brown said; “I think it has to be brought in for the goal line.

“I was as disappointed as everyone else when I saw Frank’s effort disallowed against Germany. The ball was so far over it was incredible.

“It would only take a few seconds to check whether the ball had gone over. It works well in tennis and I think it would be a great addition to our game.”

Brown has been awarded 23 England caps but has fallen out of favour recently, largely due to injury. However, he insists that he is still positive about his prospects, both at international and club level. On the injuries, he admitted he is happy to bow to the expert knowledge of the physios.

Brown was conducting a question and answer session with supporters on manutd.com and also thanked France boss Laurent Blanc for offering him defensive advice during his spell at Old Trafford.

“He gave me lots of advice when he was at the club, just little things here and there, ” said Brown.

“He always talked about the different aspects of defending and really helped me with my game.”

In other United news, Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Dimitar Berbatov, describing the Bulgarian striker as a “class act”.

Berbatov has failed to shine at Old Trafford and has only scored 26 goals in 86 appearances, a dearth when compared to the likes of Wayne Rooney.

However, Ferguson believes that he adds value to the side beyond goalscoring and admits the future at United looks bright (Berbatov 40/1 to be Premier League Top Scorer ).

With Mame Biram Diouf, Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda all featuring in their recent friendly against Celtic at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, Ferguson is spoilt for options up front. Add Berbatov, Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Michael Owen returning to injury and it is clear that United will score goals next season.

Speaking about his strikers, and the 3-1 victory against Celtic, the United boss said; “We are happy with the strikers we have got. You have to decide what is the best combination.

“Berbatov and Diouf in the first half did very well.

“Diouf has got different talents to Macheda and Welbeck. He penetrates, he is quick and aggressive. He is an interesting player and it suited Berbatov.”

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Wenger wants Fabregas talk to end

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Arsene Wenger has called for stories about the future of Cesc Fabregas ‘to stop’ as the Arsenal boss is preparing his side for another assault on the Premier League (13/2 Winner).

The Gunners chief spoke out after watching his side comfortably defeat League Two Barnet 4-0 in their opening pre-season game on Saturday. And he called for questions regarding Barcelona’s summer-long pursuit of his captain to come to an immediate end by stressing for the umpteenth time that he is going nowhere.

“There was a lot of unneeded talk. It is not pleasant to read that every day. Now, the story has to stop,” Wenger said.

“Cesc is our captain, he is so important to us and we want to keep him, that is why we were not listening to any offers.

“It was not a problem of money, just the desire to keep him at the club.”

Barcelona (4/5 La Liga Primera Outright) president Sandro Rosell virtually conceded defeat in his efforts to sign Fabregas at the end of last week by claiming they would not offer silly money to try and land their former youth player after having an initial £30million bid snubbed.

Wenger must wait to see if Fabregas, who is enjoying a break following his World Cup winning exploits, pleads to be allowed to leave on his return to the Arsenal squad for the Emirates Cup on July 31/August 1. However, the Frenchman does not believe the player will cause any problems for him.

Wenger added: “We have shown our love and care for Cesc since the start.

“I believe Cesc loves the club, has shown his attachment to the club many times and I am very confident the story will end there.

“We want Cesc to be part of our club next year, and that is it.”

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Bhoys braced for Braga test

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Neil Lennon’s first competitive game in charge of Celtic since his appointment as the club’s permanent manager will be in Portugal against Braga in the third qualifying round of the Champions League (Celtic 4/5 – SPL 2010/11 Outright).

The Bhoys travel to the Iberian peninsula on either Tuesday July 27 or Wednesday July 28 for the first leg, ahead of the return clash at Parkhead a week later.

Last season, Celtic failed to make the group stage of the Champions League after coming up against Arsenal in the play-off round so Lennon will be hoping to get over his first big hurdle.

Should the Bhoys beat Braga, who were runners up to Benfica in the Portuguese Liga last season, then they will go into the play-off round again this time around where they could meet the likes of Tottenham, Sampdoria and Sevilla.

Celtic kick off their SPL campaign with a trip to Inverness on August 8 and they will hope to still be in with a shout of the Champions League proper by that time.

Braga have never been in the Champions League before in their 89-year history.

The Champions League final will take place on the much-maligned Wembley pitch on May 28, 2011.

Celtic continue their pre-season with a friendly against Manchester United in Toronto this weekend (Bhoys 4/1 to win).

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Zlatan committed to Barca cause

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Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has told Barcelona they have no chance of cashing in on him this summer (Barcelona 4/5f  – La Liga 2010/11 Outright).

The Catalan giants were this week forced to take out a massive 155m euros loan to cover their costs even though they have cashed in on the likes of Yaya Toure and Dmitri Chigrinski this summer.

Barca have also signed Spain World Cup winner David Villa to raise big question marks over the future of Ibrahimovic in their first-choice XI.

But the former Inter Milan hitman says he is staying at the Nou Camp despite a slow start to life in Catalonia following his move from Italy 12 months ago.

Ibrahimovic told a press conference in his homeland: “I was a Barca player when I left (to go on holiday) and I’ll be a Barca player when I go back.

“I have four years left on my contract.

“I want to congratulate everybody that has used my name, because it’s fun to have been at Chelsea, at Manchester City, without having been there.”

Ibrahimovic has also decided to make an international comeback after stepping away from the biggest stage after Sweden failed to make the 2010 World Cup (Sweden 33/1 – Euro 2012 Outright).

The 28-year-old has been handed co-captaincy duties, along with midfielder Anders Svensson, by new coach Erik Hamren.

Ibrahimovic claims he has now recharged his batteries after the disappointment of missing out on South Africa 2010.

He added: “What I have always said is that I am proud to play for the national team.

“You can count on me to be there at the national team’s next game.

“After the last game (against Denmark), when we didn’t get into the World Cup, I felt my motivation disappear.

“So I decided to give up. I had no desire to play. I’m a competitor, I play to win. After your career, you want to be remembered as someone who won.

“If I’m chosen for the next game, I’ll be there.”

Sweden have been drawn in Group E for the Euro 2012 qualifiers (Sweden 11/4 – Group Winner) where they will meet Holland (1/3), Finland (16/1), Moldova (250/1), Hungary (20/1) and San Marino (2500/1).

Totesport.com has installed world champions Spain as 7/2 pre-tournament favourites ahead of Germany (5/1) and Holland (15/2).

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Ollie slams ‘Ludicrous’ reports

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Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has dismissed speculation he walked out on the Seasiders over a contract dispute as “as ludicrous as it gets” (Blackpool 2/7f to be relegated).

Holloway led Blackpool to promotion via a play-off final win over Cardiff City, but with a limited budget the Bloomfield Road will face a massive challenge to stay in the Premier League.

However, the Seasiders boss believes unity and team-spirit will aid their bid for survival and claims the whole club are working together to give Blackpool the best possible chance of avoiding the drop.

“We will be doing things, but we will be doing what suits us,” explained Holloway. “We will be doing it together, we will be sticking together and we will be working together. That’s what got us where we are. When I say ‘we’, I mean the lads, the staff and the chairman.

“We are all in this together, whatever people might write and might try to cobble together as a complete pathetic story. Good luck to them but they won’t drive a wedge between any of us.

“There have been all sorts of rumours flying about everywhere, including myself walking out. That is about as ludicrous as it gets, but it’s a mad house in the Premiership and I’m glad I’m in it.”

Despite Holloway’s words of confidence Blackpool are still heavy favourites to finish rock-bottom of the Premier League with Totesport (10/11 rock bottom).  West Brom (10/3) and Newcastle (3/1), the other two promoted sides, are amongst the early contenders to finish bottom of the Premier League 2010/2011.

Blackpool are yet to add any new faces to the side that won promotion last season, and with a limited budget Holloway is not expected to make major changes.

However, following the World Cup business has been quieter than usual, with the possible exception of Manchester City and Wolves, and we may well see a few new faces arrive at Bloomfield Road between now and the start of the new campaign.

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