Emmanuel Adebayor has put himself firmly in the frame to start against former club Arsenal after his hat-trick in Manchester City's 3-1 Europa League victory over Lech Poznan.
The Togo striker had been a peripheral figure at Eastlands during the opening months of the campaign but opened his account for the season with a treble against the Polish side.
Speaking afterwards, City boss Roberto Mancini suggested the former Arsenal striker is likely to retain his place when the Gunners arrive for a Premier League clash on Sunday.
"He's scored a hat-trick and he has a good chance of playing against Arsenal," he admitted.
"He gave an excellent performance. It was very important for us and for him. A striker needs to score goals and he scored three, so I'm happy for him."
City are now top of Group A and Mancini is happy with their unbeaten start in Europe.
"This was a good victory for us because we are first in the group now," he added.
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"I watched Poznan four or five times, they are a good team. But we played very well in the first half. In the second half we started so-so.
"I thought they could be a problem but the third goal finished the game."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Harry Redknapp is reportedly chasing Roma striker Mirko Vucinic, according to Mirror Football.
Redknapp is on the lookout for a new striker with the 27-year old high on his list. The Montenegrin scored 9 goals in 24 league appearances as Roma stuttered to 6th place and bidding is expected to start at £12 million.
Spurs are looking to overhaul their striker force after inconsistent performances from Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuvchenko whilst Robbie Keane’s Tottenham career is seemingly over.
Vucinic first signed for Roma in the Summer of 2006 and has gone on to score 62 goals in 196 appearances for the club. Preferring to play on the left side of the attack, Redknapp apparently sees the forward as key to Spurs re-qualifying for the Champions League.
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Vucinic has scored 11 times in 21 caps for Montenegro but was injured during the 0 – 0 Euro 2012 qualifying match with England in October of last year. Having scored twice in the qualifying stage already he will be looking to add to his tally in the return leg this October.
Regardless of how the rest of this season pans out, the future of Blackpool’s want away captain, Charlie Adam, is likely to dominate headlines throughout the summer transfer window. Reports this week suggest that Tottenham’s Niko Kranjcar appears set to leave North London with a view to getting more regular first team action, and with this being the case, the Seasiders’ star attraction could well be the man touted to replace him.
Bearing in mind that Adam was bought from Rangers for half a million pounds 18 months ago, the thought that the dynamic midfielder could become the subject of a bidding war is likely to please the money men at Blackpool. Ian Holloway, on the other hand, might have a few regrets about seeing his most prized asset leave in the summer, particularly if the club are contemplating life in the Championship.
Holloway may consider himself lucky to still have Adam at the club at all. It is understood that there were a number of passionate exchanges between player and manager in the final days of the transfer window as Adam attempted to negotiate a move higher up the Premier League food chain. A fragile truce appears to have been reached for the time being, however, it appears that should the Scotsman be plying his trade at Bloomfield Road come August hell may very well have frozen over.
Yet, of his potential suitors, the most likely destination for Adam could well be the most damaging for his career prospects. Having struggled to make a proper impact in the SPL when at Rangers, the thought of becoming a squad player at Tottenham should in theory encourage the Scottish international to look elsewhere.
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If Tottenham do make the Champions League next season, the imperative for them will be to continue to build on a squad that has not quite had the consistency this season to challenge for the title. The focus should arguably be on recruiting reinforcements up front, as Spurs have an incredible amount of midfielders on their books.
How Adam would react to going from being the main man at Blackpool to anything but that at a ‘bigger’ club is incredibly difficult to gauge. Having made few appearances at Rangers across his six-year stay in the SPL, and the history of similar players to have made moves to White Hart Lane in recent seasons, the omens for Adam are not brilliant.
It is equally difficult to know who else would want to obtain Adam’s services. Liverpool were one party interested in the midfielder in January, but the effect that having a summer to spend further funds may well weaken their resolve to try again. Other Premier League clubs may be interested, but with those potential buyers not consisting of any of the current top four, the former Ross County loanee may see the white half of North London as his only realistic choice.
Blackpool’s captain was understandably frustrated at missing out on what he must have seen as the best chance he will get to play in the Champions League again, and to secure regular Premier League football. That being said, the chance that Adam now has to secure his current employer’s Premier League survival before moving on is something he may well feel he owes to the club that made his name south of the border.
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Fulham boss Mark Hughes praised Blackburn Rovers for putting up a terrific fight in the Cottagers’ 3-2 home win on Saturday.Rovers twice came from behind in the English Premier League encounter to level with Fulham following a Damien Duff brace, but Bobby Zamora eventually clinched the three points for the hosts with a late penalty.Hughes paid tribute to his former employers after the thrilling contest, while also praising his players for standing up to the challenge.”It was a difficult game today, Blackburn are a very strong side, I love their physicality and they kept us on our toes,” Hughes told Sky Sports.”For long periods we weren’t able to play as we wanted to and that’s the pressure that Blackburn put us under, but we stuck to it and were determined to get the ball down and play our stuff.””We created a number of chances in the first half, converted one of them, and restricted Blackburn to very few.””(The) second half went back and forth, to and fro, and we really tried to keep momentum and I think we did that.””I think we were brave, we wanted to play our stuff, and kept on creating chances and got our noses in front again.””Thankfully, in the end, we got the benefit of a penalty decision and we’re pleased about that.”Steve Kean felt referee Mark Clattenburg’s decision to award Fulham the match-winning penalty – after Grant Hanley was adjudged to have fouled Aaron Hughes – was harsh, but the Blackburn boss stopped short of criticising the official.”I asked the referee to look at the situation and his recollection is that Grant Hanley had both hands around Aaron Hughes and that’s why he gave the penalty,” Kean said.”I’ve looked at it again a number of times and I think, technically, he’s right – there is contact.””But what I said to him is that, if that’s a penalty, then you’ll probably have at least ten every Premier League week.” “So, we feel aggrieved, but we’ll accept his decision, he has a very hard job and we respect his interpretation.””(We feel) very hard done by, I feel we did well in every single minute of the game.””If we only got a point from this game we’d have been disappointed and now, to find myself without any points, it really is a tough day.”
Wikipedia tells me there are four types of defender: centre back, sweeper, full back and wing back, but I’m struggling to see where any of the players I will mention in my list represent these positions.
Defending is an art, and since the Premier League’s inception in 1992 it has given us world class defenders such as Tony Adams, John Terry and Steve Bruce. These players, like so many, commanded their backlines, put their bodies on the line to block a shot and popped up with the odd goal.
Like so many wonderful things there is always a downside, this downside comes in the form of ten reckless, clumsy and talentless defenders who have somehow made in onto the world’s biggest footballing stage.
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Aston Villa are on the verge of signing Charles N’Zgobia after talks resumed with Wigan, according to the Daily Mail.
The Latics has rejected Villla’s original £9 million offer for the French midfielder after they failed to meet the original valuation.
But a compromise appears to be close after discussions between the clubs saw Villa up the bid to around £9.5 million with the deal only needing Wigan chairman Dave Whelan’s approval.
N’Zogbia will talk personal terms with Villa in the next 24 hours if an agreement is reached.
A medical will follow before the player signs, what is believed to be, a five-year deal at Villa Park.
However Alex McLeish taking nothing for granted after his failed pursuit of N’Zogbia last season whilst he was Birmingham boss.
Completion of the transfer will provide relief for both clubs with Villa’s search for a winger to fill the holes left by Ashley Young and Stewart Downing finally coming to an end.
The deal also suits Wigan who are receiving a large fee for a player who would be able to leave on a free transfer at the end of next season.
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If he signs N’Zogbia will have to wait before joining up with his prospective new teammates. The Villa squad are touring Hong Kong and the Frenchman doesn’t have the required work visa.
Tottenham are reportedly set to offer Ledley King a new one-year contract at White Hart Lane, according to The Daily Mail.
The cultured centre-back is notorious for long-term knee injuries, and has been in and out of the north London club’s first team over the last couple of seasons due to injury.
With his contract expiring in the summer, it was thought that Harry Redknapp’s men would let their stalwart leave the club as he has failed to remain fit or hold down a consistent position in Spurs’ starting XI.
However, rumours indicate that King will be given another season with the Premier League side, but may well have to take a drop in his basic wage, thought to be £70,000-per-week.
King did make 23 appearances for Tottenham last season, and Reading are thought to be monitoring the situation and ready to make a move for the centre-back if things do not materialise at White Hart Lane.
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Former Ajax and Holland great Johan Cruyff has returned to the Dutch club in an advisory capacity.
Ajax, who are third on the Eredivisie table and a mere three points from leaders PSV Eindhoven, have set up three ‘sounding board’ groups in an effort to help them recapture their world-beating glory.
Cruyff, who won eight league titles and three European Cups with Ajax as a player, will serve as a technical advisor.
The other boards will focus on financial and association matters.
The former Holland international also led Ajax to four league titles, a Cup Winners’ Cup and a European Cup as a manager before leaving Amsterdam Arena in 1988, and has since been critical of the club’s move away from attacking, technical football.
Ajax are also believed to be discussing the possibility of expanding Cruyff’s role into the future, with the aim of ending their decade-long European trophy drought.
Ajax’s last international title was the 1995 Champions League, won over AC Milan in Vienna.
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Cruyff was famously discovered by Ajax as a teenager kicking a football in the streets of Amsterdam.
He is equally revered at Barcelona, where he won the 1974 La Liga crown as a player and guided the Catalan club to four Spanish titles and their first European Cup as a coach.
West Bromwich Albion manager Roberto di Matteo was fuming his side was not awarded a penalty in their 2-0 defeat at Blackburn on Sunday.
Rovers’ Jermaine Jones fouled Peter Odemwingie close to the edge of the penalty box on 68 minutes, but referee Mark Clattenburg adjudged that the Hawthorns striker was felled outside of the area.
Di Matteo disagreed.
“Yeah absolutely (it was a penalty), it was quite clear from where I was standing that the foul was inside (the box),” the Italian told Sky Sports.
The Albion boss said his side did not deserve to trail at half-time by a Gabriel Tamas own-goal, but conceded Albion did not maintain their form following the break and some poor defending allowed Junior Hoilett to score Rovers’ second.
“Before we conceded the first I thought we defended quite well, we were quite solid,” he said.
“At 1-0 down at half-time we were still in the game, but the way we came out in the second half was very disappointing.”
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Blackburn manager Steve Kean heaped praise on goalkeeper Paul Robinson for keeping a clean sheet at Ewood Park.
“He was outstanding, absolutely outstanding. He’s a top class goalie. He’s really at the top of his game at the moment,” Kean said.
Micah Richards has been continually linked with a move to White Hart Lane in recent weeks, as question marks remain over the City star’s long term future at Eastlands. A move to Tottenham could be the kickstart the 21-year-old defender needs, so he can fulfil his undoubted potential.
It’s fair to say that Richards career has curtailed somewhat recently, after making his debut for England aged just 18, and in the process becoming the nation’s youngest ever defender and he hasn’t hit the heights as quickly as people expected. Injuries and some off-field issues may have contributed to his loss of form and his fall from the international set-up.
Should he join Spurs then it could be a chance for him to carry on where he left off and get himself back into the England set-up. Looking at the forums the general consensus amongst Spurs fans is that he would be a good addition to the squad as he would offer some much needed pace, strength and aerial ability. Equally there are some fans that worry about his attitude and believe that he isn’t consistent enough, however he is still only 21-years-old and those problems can be overcome with good management.
It could be that he has been mis-managed at City as they have gone through a number of managers during his time there, and constant changes like that can’t be good for a young player’s development. Richards also famously launched a touch-line tirade at Stuart Pearce when he was in charge of City. Pearce was the man who gave Richards his City debut and it is possible that his attitude problem didn’t get sorted out there and then, and has developed and held him back. Harry Redknapp is an excellent man-manager and as he has shown throughout his managerial career that he knows how to get the best out of young players and help shape their careers. Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone and Gareth Bale are prime examples and you do wonder if he could work his magic with Richards as well.
However another question must be asked which is would Richards want to leave Manchester City, given the clubs’s massive ambitions? It remains to be seen whether Roberto Mancini truly rates him as he has been at the club for only six months and has yet to properly make his own stamp on the team. Interestingly City have recently signed German defender Jerome Boateng from Hamburg and he is a very similar player to Micah Richards so it could be that Mancini already has plans to move Richards on in the summer. Should he be deemed surplus to requirements then Tottenham would be a decent move for Micah and White Hart Lane could be a place where he finally can get his once promising career back on track.
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Click image below to see a gallery of the Dutch babes at the World Cup
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