Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that his Manchester United squad’s injury list is getting shorter, as Nani is on the verge of returning to training.
The Portuguese winger has missed the Red Devils’ last three games, but the Scottish coach has revealed that he, and Phil Jones, are improving.
“There are no problems with injuries,” he told the club’s official website.
“It’s much better now. There was Jones getting that bout of ‘flu but he’s back. Jones was actually back on Friday but we didn’t risk him on Sunday. He’ll be available.
“So they’re all training apart from Nani, who should not be far away and might start training this week, while Anderson and Michael Owen are the only other ones out.
“Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher are obviously still long term,” he concluded.
United will look to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League when they face Fulham on Monday night.
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Iran’s women’s football team has been banned from playing an Olympic qualifier because their Islamic dress broke FIFA rules.Females have to comply with a mandatory dress code in the Islamic state, which means they play matches in tracksuits and full head covers.
But FIFA rules for the 2012 Games state that teams are not allowed to display political or religious messages or slogans on their equipment.
The Iranian team was prevented from playing a qualifier against Jordan on Friday because of the dress code violation, and their forfeit handed their opposition a 3-0 win.
Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation Farideh Shojaei said Iran had made alterations to their uniforms after a similar ban last year, and that FIFA had approved those changes.
“We provided a kit. Mr Kafashian took it to FIFA and showed it to Mr Sepp Blatter. And they proved that this conduct conforms to the fourth article of the FIFA constitution, which says (a kit should be) devoid of politics or religion,” Shojaei said.
“And in reality, this kit is neither religious, nor political, nor will it lead to harm a player. They proved this, and Mr Sepp Blatter accepted this and we participated in the Olympics.”
FIFA banned the hijab in 2007 and informed Iranian officials before the match that they would not be able to play in head scarves for safety reasons.
The world governing body declared that Jordan were also told about the ruling – with the country deciding not to select players who elected to wear the Islamic dress.
At the 2010 Youth Olympics, Iran’s girls were able to play in specially designed head gear.
Every so often, your team makes an absolutely inexplicable signing. United may never provide an explanation for the purchase of Bebe last year and the Gunners likewise with Amaury Bischoff in 2008, so who are Tottenham’s most baffling signings since the Premier League began?
It is important to distinguish between Spurs worst signings and their most inexplicable. Jason Dozzell features in most Tottenham fans nightmare elevens but when he was signed he was considered a great talent so he’s not making this list. This criteria will automatically shorten the list, it is not the practice of football clubs to knowingly spend money on someone pants, still it is amazing how often they do.
All of these signings must have been closely followed by the question ‘why did we sign him?’ These are the players that make you question the value of a scouting network or even its existence. The top ten players that were never going to make the grade but were signed anyway.
Click on Milenko Acimovic to unveil the top 10
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Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu may return to Barcelona in the future according to the player’s agent, as the Spanish giants have reportedly a buy-back option in the youngster’s contract.
It is believed that the European champions have the right to bring the defensive midfielder back to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2012 or 2013 should they so desire, after selling the starlet to the Stamford Bridge club in the last transfer window.
With Romeu impressing in his first season in England, the player’s agent Javier Magico Diaz has revealed that it is his client’s dream to one day play for Barcelona.
“Will Romeu return? His dream before leaving was to be a Barcelona player and that still stands, but we cannot ignore the opportunity Chelsea have provided. We’ll have to see if it’s appropriate for the club and the player to return to Barcelona,” the representative is reported to have said in The Guardian.
“We need to know if he’ll keep developing at Chelsea and playing. Maybe it will be more convenient to stay for another year and then return in 2013.”
Despite Romeu’s dream of playing for the Catalan giants, Diaz admitted that the player feels indebted to Chelsea for the opportunity to play first team football at a high level.
“Oriol has made a name for himself in the Premier League and is playing regularly. We’re committed to the club and we cannot leave them hanging,” he concluded.
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Newcastle’s track record of signings isn’t exactly the best, especially when Freddy Shepherd was running the club. He might have helped to bring Alan Shearer to Newcastle, but when he was Chairman from the mid ‘90s to 2007, he was also responsible for signing the cheques for Albert Luque, Marcelino and Jean-Alain Boumsong to name just a few Newcastle flops. However, with Manchester United due to travel to St James Park tomorrow, Shepherd said that Red Devils striker Michael Owen is the worst deal he’s ever done.
Speaking to the Sunday Sun, Shepherd said the Owen deal “was probably the worst deal I did at Newcastle. That is just being frank. We paid £16million and we didn’t get £16million worth of value out of him. And there was no added value off the pitch . . . the added value was nil off the pitch. I’m not having a go at the kid as he was fine when he got on the pitch. It was a nightmare from an injury perspective.”
Do you agree with Shepherd that Michael Owen was the worst signing he agreed when Chairman of Newcastle? There’s plenty of competition for that rather unfortunate accolade, as in addition to Luque, Marcelino and Boumsong, he also splashed the cash on Titus Bramble, Hugo Viana, Carl Cort; need I go on? But do you think that Owen was the worst of a bad bunch, or does another Newcastle flop go down as being an even worse signing than the England striker?
Leave your suggestions below…
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Former France international Patrick Vieira has announced his retirement to take up a development role with Manchester City.The 35-year-old, who was listed for a free transfer after City opted against renewing his contract last month, has been named the club’s new football development executive.
“This role is a fantastic new challenge for me and I am very grateful to Manchester City for offering me this opportunity,” Vieira said.
“I have a lot to learn about the non-playing areas of the business but there are many very experienced people here for me to learn from and I am confident that I can make a significant contribution to the club’s ongoing success.”
“I am particularly pleased to be given the opportunity to work with the club’s community scheme.”
“Everyone at Manchester City – the fans, the staff and the players – have made me and my family feel very welcome here over the past two years.”
“I am very happy to have been given the chance to stay and develop my career away from the pitch.”
Viera retires after more than 400 appearances at club level for the likes of Cannes, Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester City, winning three English Premier League titles and four FA Cups with the Gunners.
He was capped 107 times for France and was part of Les Bleus’ 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 winning campaigns.
“Whilst it is sad to see Patrick’s playing career come to an end, we are delighted that he has chosen to extend his time with Manchester City in this new capacity,” said City’s chief operations officer Brian Marwood.
“Wherever he goes he commands the respect of his audience and we believe he will make an invaluable contribution to our club as we build on our recent successes.”
We are starved of Premier League action this weekend, but Premiership teams are playing in the FA Cup, with the pick of the ties undoubtedly Manchester United v Arsenal at Old Trafford, while Reading are the last remaining Championship outfit in the world renowned competition.
The Championship is hotting up as the race for promotion reaches the finishing line as teams battle for the top places. There is a good chance that there’ll be a Welsh team in the Premier League next season, and Cardiff and Swansea will both be looking for three points at home to Barnsley and away to Derby respectively. Elsewhere QPR can will look to extend their lead at the top of the Championship league table against Crystal Palace at Loftus Road.
Here are those all-important predictions from the country’s newspaper jounalists…
BIRMINGHAM V BOLTON: Big Eck’s double dream still on.
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NOTTINGHAM FOREST V DONCASTER: Forest’s promotion charge has stalled recently and the extra pressure could take its toll with Doncaster free to just go out and play their game. More dropped points at the City Ground
Scott Parker may have moved on to Tottenham, but West Ham has moved quickly to bring in two players, who should bring real quality to the Championship. David Bentley and Henri Lansbury have both joined the club in season-long loans.
Lansbury spent much of last season on loan at Norwich City, helping the club win promotion to the Premier League. There were rumours that Lansbury might be set for a permanent switch to Norfolk, but it is unclear if Arsenal would be prepared to sell the player at this stage.
In a way it is interesting that Lansbury has been allowed to leave Arsenal at all, considering Arsene Wenger had said that the player would get a chance in the first-team this season. Lansbury has also made appearances for Arsenal from the bench already in the Premier League this season. But it seems that it has been decided that Lansbury’s further education is best served by playing more regularly in the Championship.
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West Ham will be getting a player who is technically very good with great vision and passing ability to create chances for his new team-mates. Lansbury also likes to get forward and has a tendency to score goals himself. He also has a fantastic engine and work-rate, which is sure to make him a fans’ favourite this season.
David Bentley’s career has been going down the toilet at Tottenham, so he needed to get out and play some football. If the player can recapture the form that he showed at Blackburn after leaving Arsenal then West Ham should create plenty of chances.
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Clearly losing the services of Scott Parker is disappointing. However, the England midfielder was never going to put up with playing Championship football. West Ham fans should look to the future and remember that the club could well be back in the Premier League next season and there is no reason why Lansbury and Bentley can’t become permanent additions to the squad.
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Overall even though Parker has now gone the West Ham squad looks in good shape and the club is clearly in a good position to gain automatic promotion this season. It’s also good to see a number of English players in the squad and that should put the Hammers in good stead, when the club is back in the Premier League. With the move to the Olympic Stadium and an experienced manager at the helm things are going to get a lot better.
Referees were once again centre of attention on a controversial afternoon of Premier League action. Firstly Martin Atkinson has been criticised heavily by everyone for the ridiculous sending off of Jack Rodwell, while Mark Halsey and his officials handling of the game at Molineux has come under scrutiny.
Elsewhere in the papers Arsenal are looking to scrap their zonal marking system; Sir Alex Ferguson plans four more years at Old Trafford, while John W Henry has been discharged from hospital after accident.
Arsenal to scrap zonal marking system – Guardian
Henry ‘discharged from hospital’ after accident – Guardian
Fortune favours Newcastle but stiffer tests await against top dogs – Independent
Kean defiant ahead of Blackburn’s India tour as fans call for sacking after City thrashing – Daily Mail
Sir Alex plans four more years at United – Mirror
Redknapp hails Modric and says exit would have caused mass exodus – People
Beckham ‘prefers Spurs transfer’ to PSG switch – Metro
Andrey Arshavin given bumper pay deal to remain at Arsenal – People
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Bellamy faces objects of hate and Everton face an investigation – Daily Mail
Villas-Boas says Sturridge has turned from a boy into a Hulk – People
One thing never goes out of fashion: Retro. This of course can mean absolutely anything that isn’t now, which is precisely why it never goes out of fashion. The new England kits, both suitably dapper and marvelously chic are certainly retro. The home one belongs in the Stanley Matthews era, where football shirts were essentially rugby shirts, before rugby shirts became essentially football shirts. The away one is – of course – an homage to ’66, as indeed almost every away kit ever produced by England since has been in the bizarre assumption that this will somehow help us, despite the fact that neither of our most successful (or least disastrous) attempts to win a trophy since has involved us wearing red away shirts. But never the less, the retro prevails, and the back to basics look endorsed by Umbro for England, has been similarly embraced by Brazil, Argentina and a fair few others. But what other fashion trends could we see making a comeback this World Cup? Or indeed, next season? And more to the point, what’s due a comeback?
Short Shorts – Who wears short shorts?. We wear…oh hold on, no, no one does. Short shorts are long overdue a return. The baggy look was all the rage in the 90s – what with grunge and Brit Pop and Ryan Giggs’ floppy hair – but somewhere around the mid noughties the shirts got tight again. The physically fit metro sexual man liked this. Not so much Barry from Seven Sisters, who found it rather undignifyng to squeeze himself into Spurs’ ultra sexy Kappa Kits. Cristiano Ronaldo’s personal life aside though, the shorts have remained long. Booo. If Diego Maradona remains sane enough long enough to stay in charge of Argentina after the World Cup, you’d hope he would extol the virtues of shorts barely bigger than your pants to his team’s erstwhile kit makers.
Perms – Another staple of the 80s was dodgy barnets. Perms, mullets, you name it, footballers loved it. Despite Cesc Fabregas and Nicklas Bendtner doing their best to restore the mullet at Arsenal and Lionel Messi heartily endorsing the “my mum did it” aesthetic, the closest we’ve got to a perm in the modern era PL is Luis Nani’s Lionel Ritchie Jheri curl. For shame footballers of the 21st century. No one in the England set up (David James aside) has remotely interesting hair. With Beckham out of the picture, it’s surely now up to Rooney to help bring back the funky dos. The Bobby Charlton springs to mind?
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Orange sheepskined Managers – Ever since Big orange Ron slinked off our screens and out of our ears (which is an appalling mental image I apologize for) the bling’d up eccentric manager in the style of Malcolm Allison has gone the way of broadcastable racism. Big fedora’s, sheepskin coats, the old cliché of the managerial spiv has been dead so long it’s no longer really applicable. The new cliché is of a dour track-suited man terrified for his job. The Mourinho/Mancini dapper suited foreigner is the closest we’ve got (though Phil Brown certainly tried his best to reintroduce the tanned pillock look). Bring back smoking cigars on the touchline I say. Though that’s probably illegal now. Broken Britain ey Noel? The world’s gone to hell in a Top Man handcart.
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Lip Rugs – The beautiful football moustache is most certainly a thing of the past. Even die hard aficionados Graeme Souness and David Seamen have shorn theirs off, and they kept them for far too long after the fashion had died anyway. With Wayne Rooney a dedicated practitioner of the moustache’s arch enemy – the moustache-less gnome beard – the future looks bleak for the return of the lip snake. Even David Beckham doesn’t dare touch it, and whilst Gary Neville has probably just about enough all round facial hair to form one decent ‘tash, it seems unlikely he’ll change his ways now he’s so close to reaching his life long goal of growing a semi-respectable beard. No, the moustache is dead, and it’ll take a brave man to bring it back. A hero is waiting to be made.
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Garish eveningwear – Yes Becks has stepped out in some cringe worthy rubbish over the years, but it’s also been just the right side of annoyingly trendy – even the skirt! Where are the modern day Spice Boys? Paul Ince and his Chess board suits? and Kevin Keagan’s open shirted medallion man look? The England suits for South Africa are made by Marks and Spencer. Marks and Spencer for Christ’s sake!! You couldn’t get more conservatively dull if you tried. They should all be made to wear something by Vivienne Westwood if it were up to me. Bring back the garish. Footballers shouldn’t be trendy, they should be lost in a bubble of their own mad eccentricity. Rio Ferdinand remains the key I feel. Come on Rio, we know you can do it!