QPR are negotiating a deal for Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole, according to reports from Sky Sports.
The 31-year-old has been a bit part player at Anfield under Brendan Rodgers this term, leading to speculation that he may be available to leave during the January transfer window.
Super Hoops manager Harry Redknapp believes that he can take advantage of this to bring the playmaker to Loftus Road when the transfer window opens later this week.
Should an acceptable bid be made it’s likely that Liverpool will accept, as they are keen to remove Cole’s £90,000-per-week wages from their expenditure.
It remains unclear as to whether the ex-Chelsea man will want to stay and fight for his place at the club, but with Daniel Sturridge and Tom Ince rumoured to be close to moving to Merseyside, it would appear that competition for attacking roles may increase.
Redknapp is keen to add to his squad at QPR, in a bid to haul them clear of the foot of the Premier League table.
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Having coached Cole earlier in his career, ‘Arry knows of the attacking midfielders abilities and will be confident that he can add some creative quality to his side.
Cole was absent from Liverpool’s squad as the teams met on Sunday, furthering speculation that he is set to leave the club.
Manchester United are said to be close to agreeing a deal to bring Blackpool’s Thomas Ince to Old Trafford, The Daily Mail claim.
The talented midfielder has impressed at Bloomfield Road since moving to Ian Holloway’s men from Liverpool, and has been recognised with his first call up to the England under-21 squad.
The Red Devils are thought to be keen on the Blackpool man, who is the son of former United battler Paul Ince.
A £6 million bid is thought to be adequate for the Tangerines to part with their star man, who played in his side’s 3-0 defeat to Cardiff at the weekend.
Ince was wanted by Swansea in the summer, but rejected a switch to the Liberty Stadium in favour of staying with Blackpool.
However, it is believed that the draw of signing for one of the country’s biggest clubs would be too good to turn down, with a move set to be completed for the January transfer window.
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Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), has dismissed suggestions that nets should be erected behind goals to protect players from attacks by supporters.
His comments come after Rio Ferdinand was left with a cut above the eye from a coin thrown by a Manchester City fan towards the end of United’s dramatic victory at the Etihad.
But Clarke feels netting is unnecessary, pointing to the vast reduction in arrests at grounds over the last year.
He told The Guardian: “Netting is not something we feel is necessary to have. No one condones the throwing of missiles, but arrests last season were 24% down on previous seasons and not many social phenomenon alter that much.
“It is undoubtedly improving and I think before we start making knee-jerk reactions to particular incidents we ought to bear that in mind.”
Sunday’s scenes had prompted Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, to suggest separating fans from players with netting.
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Taylor told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I think you’ve got to give consideration to possibly, as has been suggested, some netting in vulnerable areas, be it behind the goals and round the corner flags.”
Thirteen arrests were made at the Etihad Stadium, nine of whom have been charged for a variety of offences, including racially aggravated public order offences and football banning orders such as drunk and disorderly behaviour and pitch encroachment. All nine are due before Manchester City magistrates court on 4th January.
Day 2 of the FootballFanCast.com Advent Calendar gives you the chance to win an England shirt, as worn by Roy Hodgson’s men in Euro 2012.
Euro 2012 might not have been a great success for the Three Lions, seeing as England were knocked out by Italy on penalties in the Quarter Finals, but Roy Hodgson’s men have a chance to redeem themselves in qualifying for World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
The shirt is manufactured by Umbro, as has been the case for a number of years and features a red star above the Three Lions crest, which represents Bobby Moore and Co’s 1966 World Cup success at Wembley.
Congratulations to Samantha Fernley, Kyle Cann and Vicki Elizabeth Cullen who won a copy of the Secret Footballer yesterday.
Fancy winning an England shirt?
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To be in with a chance of winning click below to FOLLOW FootballFanCast.com on Google +
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The winners will be announced tomorrow, when we will also be unveiling our prize for Day 3. Don’t forget to come back to FootballFanCast.com then!
There shouldn’t have been much surprise when Real Madrid attempted to hijack Bayern Munich’s move for Robert Lewandowski back in December of last year. The Spanish side would have had the Polish international’s four-goal master class against them in the Champions League still fresh in the memory, topped by the fact that Lewandowski has made himself known as one of Europe’s premier forwards under Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.
Real Madrid’s problem is that Florentino Perez treats the club like a vanity project. Football comes second – unless, of course, we’re talking about the 10th European Cup, which has managed to sidestep Real’s attempts since 2002. The club always need to have the best, even if it means sacrificing the talents of those coming through the academy. In a break from the norm, the start of last season brought much more joy to the supporters, with the club recruiting young Spanish players and promoting from within.
But naturally the major story from last summer was the acquisition of Gareth Bale, a ‘Galacitico’ in status, price and ability. That need to cannon ball into the pool of Europe’s superstar names isn’t set to end. Real Madrid under Perez don’t do things quietly.
And they may land another superstar this summer if Perez has his way. Luis Suarez was inconsolable following Liverpool’s 3-3 draw away to Crystal Palace in the penultimate game of the Premier League season. Were there tears of an impending breakup mixed in with the soon-to-be-confirmed failure to land the league title?
What is certain even at this stage is that we still don’t have a clear understanding of where Real Madrid and Perez will move this summer. They may need defensive additions if there are any departures, as well as another midfielder depending on Sami Khedira’s future and Asier Illarramendi’s development. But that’s small time and isn’t worthy of making the headlines. Perez wants a star forward who will score, delight and sell. Suarez maybe, though it could also be Radamel Falcao or Sergio Aguero.
Under Carlo Ancelotti this season, Real’s sole senior forward Karim Benzema has had one of his better campaigns in the Spanish capital. The other standout year was the season in which the team won the league title with Jose Mourinho. Interchanging with Gonzalo Higuain, who scored 22, Benzema grabbed 21 goals in the league alone. This season, he has been up from his return of last season, 11, by netting 17 times in league play. Zinedine Zidane has been a big help, but it’s also a plus when the manager doesn’t hold a fluctuating feeling of resentment towards you (where have we had that one before?).
But this season has also seen the rise of Jese Rodriguez, who has not only usurped Alvaro Morata from his place as first-choice backup, but who has also grabbed a hatful of hugely important goals throughout the year. Jese’s ACL injury early on against Schalke was a bitter pill to take after such progress.
Both Morata and Benzema’s future is unclear. The former has been heavily linked with a move away, while the latter’s contract expires next summer. If both were to leave at some stage over the next few months, then yes, Real will need to move with purpose to land another centre-forward. However, if they were to stay on, the club would have little need for Suarez. Cristiano Ronaldo’s form, Bale’s improvement and the host of scorers throughout the rest of the squad negate the need for another superstar forward, especially one that would cost upward of €70 million.
You wonder, though, whether Perez may cash in on Morata and Benzema to ensure this team doesn’t lose any of its shine. The league is gone for Real and it is possible they’ll lose to Atletico in the Champions League; after eluding the club for so long, maybe the European Cup isn’t done frustrating Los Blancos. If that were the case, what better way to move on than with some retail therapy?
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Perez’s constant neglect for the less glamorous positions on the pitch and cohesion throughout have been to the detriment of the team’s European Cup hopes in the past. The club president will unlikely be asking the questions of whether the team needs Suarez over what they currently have in Benzema, whether Ronaldo wants Suarez in the squad – because it will come up eventually – and whether €70 million can be better invested elsewhere; how about on new contracts for the Spanish youngsters or addressing the problems the team face when Xabi Alonso is absent?
Real may find themselves in a position where they’ll need another centre-forward this summer. But as things stand, that ‘need’ is an unnecessary ‘want.’
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has picked up a thigh injury whilst on international duty with Netherlands.
The current PFA Player of the Year was substituted at half-time of the Oranje’s 4-1 victory over Hungary as a precautionary measure after taking a heavy challenge from an opposition defender.
Louis van Gaal has stated that the injury does not look to serious, but he was eager not to risk the Red Devils’ man.
“We took off Robin for precautionary measures. It doesn’t seem to be too serious, but you never know. We didn’t want to take any risks,” The Guardian report the trainer as saying.
Sir Alex Ferguson will hope that the knock will not keep the star on the sidelines for any prolonged period of time, especially given that Wayne Rooney is currently recovering from injury also.
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It remains to be seen whether Van Persie will be available to feature for the Old Trafford outfit in their next fixture against Wigan on Saturday.
It has been a busy week at Ipswich with the club receiving bad news as well as some good news.
The bad news is obviously the story about Micheal Chopra being accused of offering bribes to a jockey however, the former Newcastle striker’s involvement is not fully known and of course he has not been found guilty of anything as of yet.
It seems to be that most Ipswich fans are furious with Chopra but I am about to make myself very unpopular and stick up for the 28-year-old frontman.
The key factor to remember with this story is that it happened well before Chopra was signed by Ipswich and the club was well aware of his troubled past. When the club signed him they were probably aware that a story like this could come out because of the players past but they obviously accepted the fact that they would just have to deal with it at the time.
The question I would put to those who have grown to dislike the forward is; has Chopra had any gambling problems since joining Ipswich?
As far as we are aware Chopra has beaten off his addiction and only ever been thankful for the clubs support with his personal problems.
Chopra has had many personal problems to overcome since joining Ipswich and it will have no doubt effected his performances. He may not have lived up to the hype on the pitch and if fans don’t like him because of his performances on the pitch then that is a completely different matter. It has to be said that if Chopra was scoring every game then everybody would have supported him through this case.
The bottom line is whatever happened is just an addition to the player’s troubled past and whatever he has done outside of football years ago should just be dealt with outside of football. After all, if Chopra is found guilty he will be banned from any horse racing event but outside of horse racing the verdict should have no effect on him, especially not at Ipswich Town.
The club have supported Chopra through all of the problems that haunt his past and this is no different. If both the fans and the club get behind him every game regardless of whether he is innocent or guilty that could well bring the striker back in form.
Personally, I like having Chopra at the club as he is a character who has over come his problems and is just trying to get back to his best. When you think about it isn’t Chopra a lot like Ipswich? He used to have a good reputation in the distant past, had a few bad years where he didn’t perform, had some money troubles and is now struggling to get back to his best. Maybe if the club treat him well and he does the same back then the two struggling parties can get achieve something great together.
The fans need to take a realistic outlook and see that when the club isn’t doing well, you can’t get the players you want and you have to take a gamble on players like Chopra. As a result you have to take the bad times with the good, stick with the players through the bad times and hope that they come out of it positively.
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The prime example is Lee Martin whose Ipswich career started awfully and he looked like he wasn’t good enough for League One. Everyone gave him a break and eventually he has worked his way back into a starting role within the team. Chopra’s situation is very different but the principle is still the same in that the club need to stick by him and hope that he regains his best form.
On positive note, it is great to see the club have secured some decent loan signings. Although I am not sure about Richie Wellens the capture of Bilel Mohsni and DJ Campbell could at least turn things around in the short-term. Hopefully they will impress on their loan spells and the club can then look at signing Mohsni and Campbell in January.
Brazil 1-7 Germany. No matter how many times you hear it or read it, yesterday’s World Cup semi final scoreline doesn’t lose any of its shock value.
After such a shambolic defensive showing, Chelsea and Jose Mourinho must be laughing all the way to the bank. At the time, Paris Saint-Germain’s decision to shell out £50 million on David Luiz was ridiculed. And after last night’s performance, these sentiments escalated quickly on Twitter.
The defender may have netted a stunning free kick against Colombia in the quarter final, but the 27 year old was nowhere to be seen as Germany ran rampant over the hosts.
Almost inevitably, some users on social media decided to have a little fun at the former Chelsea man’s expense.
In any case, one positive to emerge from last night’s debacle in Belo Horizonte is that Piers Morgan’s “status” as a football pundit may have taken a hit…
Andre Villas-Boas has revealed that he could go back to using one single striker for Spurs’ Manchester City clash this Sunday.
Tottenham enjoyed their first Europa League victory of the season last night, with the 4-4-2 system despite the manager never having used it so far this season, switching from the 4-5-1 formation.
However, Villas-Boas insists that the structure of team has not permanently changed ahead of the Manchester City game.
He said: “We’re still a team that creates a lot of attacking opportunities with one striker. We go four steps up in competition [on Sunday], it’s a different scenario.”
Villas-Boas is pleased with his team’s Europa League performance last night after some poor results previously, but has warned that Manchester City’s players will be fresher.
He said: “”It was a good performance, it was important for us to bounce back. To do it in such a good manner was fantastic. At the weekend we play the champions of England [who are] a totally different proposition. They will want to bounce back after a run of bad results. City have two days extra than us, this is the main difference. The reality is they have that extra freshness. But there is enough time to recover. The body takes 48 hours to recover from physical effort and we’ll be able to make that recovery.”
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Last night’s goals scored by Jermain Defoe, whose hat-trick took him into second place in Tottenham’s leading scorers in Europe behind Martin Chivers.
When these sides met back in October we saw several battles that were somewhat unexpected at White Hart Lane.
The Hammers players were playing in the unusual formation of 4-6-0 and it appeared to catch Spurs off guard, allowing Sam Allardyce’s side to capitalise all over the park and run out comfortable 3-0 winners.
And this Capital One Cup Round 5 meeting promises to provide much of the same approach from both sides, but this time there will be surprises when it comes to the key battles on the pitch.
Here are the three big clashes to look out for…
Hugo Lloris v Jussi Jaaskelainen
At one stage this season both keepers boasted the best record in the Premier League. Despite that changing somewhat in recent weeks, both still play important roles within their respective teams.
Their place in the starting XI for this cup tie may be questionable, but it could be argued that at this late stage in the competition there can be no room for resting your best performers.
With a combined 13 Premier League clean sheets between them so far this season, both have been on top of their games and, additionally, will be looking to get back to their best after conceding an unusually increased amount of goals in recent weeks.
If they both play, they’ll both be important to their side’s chances of progressing to the Capital One Cup semi-finals.
Christian Eriksen v Ravel Morrison
Ravel Morrison stole the show at White Hart Lane in October and has showed that he is capable of performing consistently at this level week in, week out with his performances for the Hammers and England U21’s since.
However, Eriksen’s first season at White Hart Lane hasn’t got off to the best of starts. One goal in twelve appearances in all competitions hasn’t really helped him live up to his £11million transfer fee.
But the Dane has a big chance to start impressing now Andre Villas-Boas has left the club, and he’ll want to use the West Ham game as the perfect opportunity to show the Spurs faithful what he can do. If he can keep Morrison quiet then he should have no problems in winning this midfield battle and aiding his side’s quest for Capital One Cup glory.
Andros Townsend v Guy Demel
Townsend has been in fine form for both Spurs and England this season, but he struggled to make a real impact when he came up against West Ham’s Guy Demel in October.
Although Demel is not known for his blistering pace, while Townsend undoubtedly is, he managed to restrict the England international to cutting in and shooting from long range. It was arguably his best performance in a West Ham shirt to date and it went a long way in ensuring West Ham were rarely threatened.
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That will be on Townsend’s mind when they do battle this time around and Demel will have his work cut out if the 22-year-old winger can find the space behind him and get the ball into the West Ham box.
And that’s exactly what Andre Villas-Boas will be looking for Townsend to do as West Ham continue to struggle with injuries to defenders and face at least another six weeks without Winston Reid.
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