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Every single transfer window, supporters in the Premier League seem to crave signings, expecting a number of players to come into the club and take them on to the next level. Players that come into a side in a transfer window always feel they have something to prove, whether it be repay the price tag or prove the doubters wrong.

If a club is playing well then what is the need for mid-season signings. I can understand a side in the bottom three feeling the need for something new but shouldn’t the summer signings and existing players be given a season to prove their worth? Historically, January signings are not as influential as the summer signings and there are many reasons for that.

A summer signing will have a pre-season with a new club behind him and time to get to know his new team mates and club before competitive matches, where he is ultimately judged. A January signing will have less than a week to train with the first team squad sometimes and learn how the club is run, something that is tough in any line of work, especially football with thousands of people watching you each week.

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The price of a player will also increase during January as clubs become desperate to land their preferred signings. An example of a signing such as Andy Carroll moving to Liverpool for £35million last January should be brought up in every board room after Christmas, highlighting the dangers of the January transfer market. Carroll’s lack of form could be to do with anything from moving to a new city, feeling the pressure of the price tag or getting used to the style of a different club.

Supporters should not expect big singings at the start of the New Year as it is not always a good idea to disrupt and add to a squad throughout the season. Is the grass always greener when new signings arrive? Spending money is becoming rare for some Premier League clubs and it should not take spending to satisfy fans who demand new blood in the dressing room.

The future of English football could also be in danger from transfer window’s that let clubs bring in players for two months of the season, seemingly dismissing youngsters looking to break through into the first team. If the January transfer window did not exist, I guarantee that more youngsters would be a success in English football. Long term injuries and poor form could prompt clubs into making unnecessary big money signings in January, whereas it would be a lot more refreshing to see youngsters getting a first team chance at the highest level.

If the club allows youngsters to play as cover for the 25-man squad that is registered then that is surely enough players to not have to indulge in spending money half way through a campaign. Give the youngsters a go and get rid of the January transfer window to enable English football to be fair through the season and giving youngsters a well earned break.

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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…

Glenn Moore:

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Patrick Barclay:

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Martin Lipton:

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Continue to the NEXT PAGE for the predictions in full…

Glenn Moore (The Independent):

Birmingham V Bolton D

Cardiff V Barnsley H

Coventry V Hull D

Derby V Swansea D

Leeds V Ipswich H

Notts Forest V Doncaster H

Portsmouth V Middlesbrough H

QPR V Crystal Palace H

Scunthorpe V Leicester A

Watford V Sheffield Utd H

QPR V CRYSTAL PALACE: Palace are becoming strong defensively but Rangers have enough to edge a low-scoring game.

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Patrick Barclay (The Times):

Birmingham V Bolton D

Cardiff V Barnsley H

Coventry V Hull A

Derby V Swansea A

Leeds V Ipswich H

Notts Forest V Doncaster H

Portsmouth V Middlesbrough D

QPR V Crystal Palace H

Scunthorpe V Leicester A

Watford V Sheffield United H

BIRMINGHAM V BOLTON: Big Eck’s double dream still on.

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Martin Lipton (The Mirror):

Birmingham V Bolton A

Cardiff V Barnsley H

Coventry V Hull A

Derby V Swansea A

Leeds V Ipswich H

Notts Forest V Doncaster D

Portsmouth V Middlesbrough H

QPR V Crystal Palace H

Scunthorpe V Leicester A

Watford V Sheffield Utd H

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

England have risen one place in FIFA's world rankings despite their World Cup debacle.

Fabio Capello's side have moved up to seventh in the world despite failing to make it past the round of 16 in South Africa.

The Three Lions were thrashed 4-1 by Germany in the second round after labouring through a group which included the United States, Algeria and Slovenia.

Elsewhere, Spain have replaced Brazil at the top of the rankings following their final victory over the Netherlands on Sunday.

Holland are up two places to second with Brazil – who only reached the quarter-finals despite being pre-tournament joint favourites with Spain – have slipped down to third.

France and Italy were the biggest losers after slipping 12 and six places to 21st and 11th respectively.

Both the 1998 and 2006 winners failed to qualify from their groups and have fallen dramatically in the rankings.

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Meanwhile, Uruguay are the big winners after moving up ten places to an all-time high of sixth following their impressive run to the semi-finals.

New Zealand, who were the only team not to lose a game during the finals, have rocketed up the standings from 78th to 54th.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Football will always benefit from tactical innovation. To continue to improve its necessary push the boundaries. Cologne’s Sporting Director Volke Finke looks to have provided new manager Stale Solbakken greater publicity and a bigger stage to showcase his ideas.

Prior to his arrival at the RheinEnergieStadion, the Norwegian Solbakken was at FC Kobenhavn between 2006 and 2011. He won the Danish league title in five of his six seasons at the club. Now in North West Germany, it will be interesting to see whether Solbakken’s zonal marking taken to the extreme can succeed in the long term.

Defensively, it should help Cologne but conceding five away to Schalke earlier this season illustrates more work is required. However, the new system has also allowed for fluidity going forward which was shown by their 4-1 thrashing of bitter rivals Leverkusen away from home. On their day Cologne are a formidable outfit.

This is the problem though. Despite the Billy Goats overcoming Hannover 2-0 at the weekend with a good performance Solbakken needs to find some consistency. His new side have won four, drawn one and lost four this season and if the team are to reach their potential, the new coach will need more from his side.

However, the players look like they adore their new coach and the importance of having the whole squad buying into the ideas of the coach cannot be underestimated. Lukas Podolski, a man who has struggled on the domestic scene over the last few seasons, has rediscovered some scintillating form. Having scored the second of his two goals on Sunday, he rushed, along with the rest of the team, towards Solbakken and embraced him.

Considering the short amount of time his new coach has been there, it demonstrates some show of affection. Perhaps with Podolski, it’s something to do with the added freedom he appears to have been given in the new system. If you also take into the account the supposedly volatile nature of the Cologne dressing room in past seasons, Solbakken is doing well so far to keep control.

After quite a few years of instability at the club, Cologne must ensure their new man is at the helm for many years to come. There is definite room for improvement in the team but most importantly for now, Stale Solbakken is making steady progress in the Rhine Valley.

Matchday 9 Results:

Werder Bremen 0-2 Borussia Dortmund – Jurgen Klopp’s team take the points thanks to goals from Ivan Perisic and Patrick Owomoyela. It means Werder’s 100% home record is over but Borussia move into the Champions League places.

Bayern Munich 4-0 Hertha Berlin – Die Roten obliterated their capital rivals with apparent ease – Jupp Heynckes’ side march on.

Mainz 0-1 Augsburg – Newly promoted Augsburg finally secure their first win of the season with a late penalty as Thomas Tuchel’s Mainz shouldn’t have had Nicolai Muller’s goal disallowed however but this is no excuse for their defeat.

Stuttgart 2-0 Hoffenheim – Shinji Okazaki and Pavel Pogrebnyak secured the win for Stuttgart as Die Hoffe are frustrated in the Mercedes Benz Arena.

Wolfsburg 2-1 Nurnberg – The Wolves move away from the relegation places after a double from Mario Mandzukic. Nurnberg meanwhile struggle for consistency.

Gladbach 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen – In the pick of the weekend’s games, Borussia will be disappointed they couldn’t hold on to their 2-1 lead late on. Stefan Reinartz nodded in for Bayer but Lucien Favre’s men came back strongly. Marco Reus and Patrick Hermann took two of many chances created by Gladbach. André Schurrle though curled in a great late equaliser meaning a share of the spoils.

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Schalke 1-2 Kaiserslautern – A surprise home defeat for the Royal Blues came thanks to a determined performance from the visitors. Kouemaha grabbed the winner for the Red Devils after two converted penalties and two sending’s off had kept the sides level.

Freiburg 1-2 Hamburg – Hamburg continue to show signs of life with an important away win. Thorsten Fink takes over on Monday. Ilicevic’s late goal settled this contest but Papiss Demba Cisse missed a late penalty for the home side.

Cologne 2-0 Hannover – The Billy Goats secure victory thanks to two goals from Lukas Podolski. Hannover were very unlucky to have a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside at 1-0. Slomke’s side failed to offer enough in the match to merit a result though.

Rank

Club

Matches

W*

D*

L*

G*

GD*

PTS*

1

FC Bayern Munich

9

7

1

1

25:1

+24

22

CL*

2

Borussia Mönchengladbach

9

5

2

2

11:6

+5

17

CL*

3

Borussia Dortmund

9

5

1

3

15:7

+8

16

CL*

4

VfB Stuttgart

9

5

1

3

14:6

+8

16

CL* Qual.

5

SV Werder Bremen

9

5

1

3

16:12

+4

16

EL* Qual.

6

FC Schalke 04

9

5

0

4

18:15

+3

15

EL* Qual.

7

Hannover 96

9

4

3

2

11:12

-1

15

8

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

9

4

2

3

12:13

-1

14

9

1899 Hoffenheim

9

4

1

4

12:9

+3

13

10

1. FC Köln

9

4

1

4

15:18

-3

13

11

Hertha BSC Berlin

9

3

3

3

12:13

-1

12

12

VfL Wolfsburg

9

4

0

5

11:16

-5

12

13

1. FC Nuremberg

9

3

2

4

10:12

-2

11

14

1. FC Kaiserslautern

9

2

2

5

7:13

-6

8

15

1. FSV Mainz 05

9

2

2

5

12:19

-7

8

16

FC Augsburg

9

1

4

4

7:16

-9

7

Play-offs

17

SC Freiburg

9

2

1

6

14:24

-10

7

Relegation

18

Hamburger SV

9

2

1

6

11:21

-10

7

Relegation

Table from Bundesliga Website

Every now and again rumours surface of a dressing room uprising at a club; that player power has truly taken hold of the manager’s domain – well with Carlton Cole waxing lyrical about Scott Parker’s half-time team talk against West Brom after a truly diabolical first half, it leaves us with a burning question, just how much sway does the West Ham Vice-Captain currently have over his fellow players? And furthermore, why wasn’t beleaguered manager Avram Grant reading the riot act just the same as Parker?

In a week where West Ham all but sealed the keys to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford ahead of London rivals Spurs, it was a bad time to go three goals down to a fellow struggling side in West Brom – especially when some were questioning the logic behind giving West Ham the stadium at all when they could feasibly be playing Championship football at the start of the 2014/15 season such is their fluctuating fortunes.

To be quite frank with you readers, I have an at times inordinate amount of affection for all things Scott Parker, some would say to the extent that it even borders on an unhealthy appreciation for his talents. I’ve long since championed his inclusion in the England starting eleven, and he has at times, almost single-handedly kept West Ham in games over the last couple of seasons. He’s an inspiration, pure and simple. The fact that his half-time team-talk instilled a new-found sense of belief in his team-mates to go out and turn things around in the most unexpected and surprising of manners as occurred in the 3-3 draw with West Brom last weekend does not surprise me in the slightest.

However, in some quarters, there are already those that are beginning to question the influence Parker may have over his colleagues in the dressing room after Carlton Cole‘s recent comments. To my mind, his rousing speech is exactly what a captain (in the absence of the injured club captain Matthew Upson) should be doing. Few, if any, could argue that Parker is a divisive figure. Far from it; he regularly unites the side behind his own tremendous personal will to succeed. He is quite simply a fantastic character to have in your side.

Carlton Cole stated that: “We had been diabolical but at half-time Scott was inspirational. He was ‘in the zone’. I’ve never seen him like that. He spurred us on so that we did not disappoint ourselves, the manager, our families and the fans” before adding that it left many a player around the dressing room “with a tear in their eye.” It’s not hard to imagine Parker reading the players the riot act at half-time, but why on earth wasn’t Grant doing just the same?

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You can imagine the scene at half-time now. Heads down, Grant in the corner mumbling some form of incoherent nonsense, and Thunderbird Parker erupting in a pique of emotion; well and truly letting rip at his team-mates. The now infamous quote from Gareth Southgate, where he goes on to describe Sven Goran Eriksson’s laidback managerial style during his days as England manager immediately springs to mind when thinking of a typical Avram Grant half-time team-talk and certainly applies when talking about the Israeli‘s managerial style: “we went into the changing room expecting Winston Churchill, all we got was Iain Duncan Smith.”

Grant has a dodgy record in the Premier League. He did fairly well at Chelsea and came within a John Terry slip of winning the Champions League, but that was with a squad that he inherited and that he changed little to, if anything at all. At Pompey, he struggled badly and only their forays deep into cup competitions helped to mask their truly atrocious league form, that would have seen them relegated even if they weren’t deducted points for their financial irregularities.

His appointment at West Ham seemed baffling to say the least at the time and only a bungled move for Martin O’Neill a few weeks ago secured Grant a temporary stay of execution. His status within the English game seems to have come more from his connections and who he knows as opposed to any inherent managerial prowess that he may possess.

Grant has a quiet, shuffling manner about him, and while this may relax the players on the training ground, it isn’t ideally suited to the intensity of the Premier League come match day. He looks devoid of ideas at times and incapable of rousing his troops. I would seriously question Grant’s suitability for the role of managing a side fighting for their top flight survival.

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I very much doubt that Parker is ‘calling the shots’ in the Upton Park dressing room at the moment, it’s just that he’s being forced to act due to his own manager’s deficiencies and icy demeanour. The one thing we can gleam from Carlton Cole’s dressing room admission is that Avram Grant is coming up short of what’s required in the man-management stakes when it’s needed most.

It‘s not quite Jean Tigana sitting in the corner at half-time reading a book, as he famously once did while manager of Fulham, but it‘s not a million miles away. Parker’s inspirational speech only highlights what most fans have known all along, that his players are now filling in the gaps where Grant’s authority should be of higher importance.

The proof is in the pudding as they say, and the roots of Parker’s inspirational half-time team-talk most certainly lie in Grant’s deficiences as a manager. He may resemble a dead man walking at times, but what’s concerning for discerning Hammers fans is that he’s now starting to act and manage like one too.

Jermain Defoe has claimed that Fabio Capello was ‘unlucky’ during England’s dismal World Cup campaign in South Africa. It’s a nice sentiment from the Tottenham forward, but he isn’t fooling anyone.

Defoe argued:

“If you speak to the players, they all say the same – he’s a great manager. He was just a little bit unlucky” (The Sun)

The Three Lions were awful in the group stages following draws with both the USA and Algeria, then got over-excited about a 1-0 victory over the mighty Slovenia. In the second round England were pitted up against Germany and were then soundly beaten 4-1.

Capello was heavily criticised for continuously playing a dated 442, fielding Emile Heskey, wasting Steven Gerrard out on the left of midfield and seemed to upset his squad with his overly strict regime. This is nothing to do with luck, he just made mistakes and he knows this.

However, he was unlucky with some things as players like Wayne Rooney decided not to show up, forget the basics of the game and disappointed on the world’s stage. He was also unfortunate that John Terry decided to air the problems within the camp so publicly, which seemed to cause tension between the Chelsea man and the captain Gerrard.

It’s clear to all that Capello must change his way, but clearly Defoe believes that the Italian is the right man for the job and so do the FA…however, keeping him on may have more to do with the price it would take to sack him.

England were rubbish and Defoe’s words just sound like arse-kissing to me much like his talk of Joe Cole’s “passion and drive” in order to convince the former Chelsea midfielder to sign for Spurs and join him at White Hart Lane.

Alternatively, Defoe is doing nothing more than publicly backing his coach but it is something that did not need saying. The fans want an apology, not meaningless excuses and tales of hard-luck.

Are fans tired of hearing the England players/coach/Football Association come up with these excuses and why is it so hard to get a simple ‘sorry’?

Click on image below to see the ITALIAN babes at the World Cup

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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

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Real Madrid eased to a 2-0 La Liga victory over Levante to mark another milestone for incomparable manager Jose Mourinho.The win meant the Portuguese manager has not lost a league match at home for nine years as a manager in four different leagues, with FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.The last time Mourinho was in charge of a losing team on home territory was Porto’s 3-2 loss to Beira Mar on February 23, 2002.Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the seventh minute against Levante after a mazy run from Angel di Maria, before former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho scored just his third goal of the season four minutes before half-time to help record Mourinho’s 122nd home win in his past 147.The victory also maintained Real’s push to catch leaders Barcelona, cutting the gap to two points with the Catalans to play on Sunday.Sporting Gijon continued their rich vein of form when they held third-placed Valencia to a scoreless draw at the Estadio de Mestalla.The result meant Gijon have secured 11 points out of their past six league matches – including a draw against leaders Barcelona – to leave them two clear of the drop zone.Atletico Madrid beat Real Zaragoza 1-0 at the Estadio de la Romareda courtesy of Sergio Aguero’s 66th-minute goal, helping Atletico into seventh spot on the table.

Manchester United – Madonna

Well, it couldn’t be anyone else could it? The parallels between the Red Devils and Lady Madge are uncanny. For consistent periods, both have been definable as the biggest players in their respective fields; United as the undisputed biggest club in the world and Madonna as the biggest artist in the world. Both have reinvented themselves after comparable periods of quiet (displaying what Iain Dowie would refer to as ‘bouncebackability’).

Sir Alex Ferguson has managed to build several different title-winning teams, such as the mid ’90s side of Ince, Kanchelskis and Cantona, the late ’90s side of Yorke/Cole, Giggs, Scholes, Beckham & Keane, as well as the late noughties side of Ronaldo, Rooney, Ferdinand, Vidic et al. After several stints in the musical wilderness Madonna has repeatedly comeback to top the charts, succeeding with her early ’80s music, her mid-90’s ‘Ray of Light’-era return and her early noughties success with ‘Music’.

Liverpool – Guns N’ Roses

Anfield may not resemble ‘Paradise City’ at the minute, but that is not the only reason I have chosen to liken them to hard rockers Guns N’ Roses. Both enjoyed overwhelming success during the late ’80s, but have failed to return to those heady heights since. Band and club alike retain hopes of maintaining their place at the ‘top’ despite intense internal conflict; Liverpool find themselves in the midst of messy ownership, management and personnel problems, whilst Guns N’ Roses have suffered from having a fluctuating line-up and the departure of key members.

Chelsea – U2

Unreasonably successful, intensely disliked and full of old men. This sentiment could apply to both U2 and Chelsea in equal measures. The arrogance-fuelled hatred of Chelsea is not dissimilar to the vitriol aimed at U2’s brash frontman Bono. Since 2005, Chelsea have enjoyed a glorious period of trophy-laden success, whilst U2 continue to sell out the world’s biggest arenas.

Unfortunately for Mr. Abramovich, the club’s failure to land that elusive Champions League crown means that he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.

Arsenal – Cheryl Cole

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Aside from the reprehensible treatment afforded to them by all-round good egg Ashley Cole, the similarities between Arsenal and Cheryl Cole are unquestionable. Both unequivocally look the part, with Arsenal renowned for their pretty football, and Cheryl adored for her stunning looks. However, both flatter to deceive – Arsenal’s aesthetically-pleasing football has yet to yield silverware, whilst Cheryl Cole has failed to ally her good looks with the ability to sing.

Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul

As the Premier League closes in on 20 years it is certainly a time to look back at the good, the bad and the damn right ugly.

There is no doubting that in the past two decades we have witnessed some fantastic sides, brilliant matches and individual performances that will live long in the memory and if you support Manchester United, you certainly have witnessed something of a golden period – with no fewer than 12 League titles that sees the Red Devils surpass Liverpool as the most successful side in England. Fergie has certainly had his challenges, notably in Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, but has always managed to come back time after time to recapture their crown.

One of the great aspects of the Premier League, since its inauguration, has been the array of players plying their trade from all corners of the globe in English football, which has made the League richer for their presence within it. We have been privy to some of the very best players in the world, although it is fair to say we have witnessed some absolute shockers as well. It is fair to say that it is not necessarily down to their lack of ability, but for one reason or other their spell in England was simply a disaster.

This article is a celebration of the latter and the top 20 ‘waste of spaces’ that the Premier League has ever seen:

Click on Tomas Brolin to unveil the top 20

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