Thursday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Bonfire society to burn 30ft effigy of fireworks fan Balotelli
A bonfire society unveiled its annual celebrity guy today as Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli in a dig at the player's house recently catching fire after a firework went off in his bathroom.

The 30ft effigy is the second footballer to be chosen by Edenbridge Bonfire Society in as many years, after Wayne Rooney was burned at the stake at last year's event.
Jon Mitchell, a committee member of the Kent-based society, said it had been difficult to come up with someone foolish enough to take the honour of being the guy this year.
He said: "We were getting a bit worried because nobody had done anything silly enough to be our guy.
"We'd been watching politicians and celebrities but no-one had really done anything really stupid.
"We chose Balotelli because he made a bit of a fool of himself a few weeks ago by setting his house alight with fireworks.
"He's now capitalising on his little disaster as he's joined the campaign for firework safety so we fully support him on that."
Now Balotelli fronts a firework-safety campaign
The giant model of Italian Balotelli is dressed in his light blue Manchester City strip and is holding a model of a house in one hand and a giant rocket in the other.
His shirt bears the words "Why always me?" - he recently wore a top with the same words on it in a game against Manchester United.
Mr Mitchell said the plan was for the rocket and house to be set on fire before the rest of the guy goes up in flames on Saturday night.
Around 20,000 people are expected to watch the annual spectacle, which also involves a procession and fireworks display and raises money for local charities.
Other past guys include Cherie Blair, Katie Price, Gordon Brown and Russell Brand.

Emmanuel Adebayor 'to be offered to Spurs for cut-price £10million'
Tottenham will be invited to make a cut-price offer for Emmanuel Adebayor in January, which would allow Manchester City to bankroll moves for Napoli duo Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik.
Spurs are currently paying half of Adebayor’s £170,000-a-week wages as part of his one-year loan deal from City, and have the option to buy the striker outright in the summer for £14million.
The 27-year-old has hit three goals in seven starts this season for Tottenham, and has previously expressed his desire to quit City permanently.
The Blues are also desperate to get the Togolese misfit off the books, and they’re reportedly ready to accept a bid of around £10million from Spurs when the transfer window reopens.
That would mean they could pursue prime targets Cavani and Hamsik, who manager Roberto Mancini has supposedly targeted in order to ensure City claim their first top-flight league title since 1968.
The Ethiad Stadium outfit are currently five points clear at the top of the table after ten games.

City youngsters make loan moves
Manchester City strikers Andreas Mancini and Luca Scapuzzi have completed loan moves to League One side Oldham Athletic. Manchester City strikers Andreas Mancini and Luca Scapuzzi have completed loan moves to League One side Oldham Athletic.
Mancini, the son of City manager Roberto, will spend an initial month at Boundary Park with a view to extending his stay, while Scapuzzi will make a two-month switch until the beginning of the January transfer window.
The young forwards will link up with former City striker Paul Dickov, who is now the manager at the Premier League side's Greater Manchester neighbours.
"We have got a couple of strikers out with injury and I am really grateful to Roberto Mancini for allowing these deals to go through," Dickov told Manchester City's official website.
"Luca's confidence is high at the moment after his appearance, assists, and goal in the League Cup against Wolves and hopefully he will bring that with him."
"I have seen both Luca and Andrea play this season and they are both decent players. They train here for the first time today (3 November) and then we will see where we go from there."
"We have four games in the next two weeks so they will definitely see some action."
20-year old Scapuzzi has made two first-team appearances for City, both in the League Cup, while 19-year old Mancini arrived from Serie A outfit Bologna in November last year and is yet to make his senior debut.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

OTHER BOLLOX
Real Madrid are set to complete the £48m signing of Brazilian striker Neymar in January - and will make the teenager one of their highest-paid players. talkSHIT

Blackburn plan to place a hefty £18m price tag on Canadian forward Junior Hoilett, whose contract expires at the end of the season, in the hope of averting interest from Tottenham and Newcastle. Daily Mirror

Tottenham target Casemiro will not be sold until after 2013, his club Sao Paulo have said after Inter Milan made an inquiry regarding the attacking midfielder. talkSHIT

Arsenal forward Gervinho wants Belgian midfield sensation Eden Hazard to leave Lille and join him at Arsenal. the Sun

QPR are lining up an ambitious bid for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. Hoops boss Neil Warnock will offer £8m for the England forward in January. Daily Mail

Fulham and QPR are set to compete for out-of-favour Juventus striker Amauri in the January transfer window, according to reports in Italy. talkSHIT

Doncaster boss Dean Saunders is keen to sign West Brom striker Marc-Antoine Fortune on loan. Daily Mirror

England boss Fabio Capello will speak to the Football Association before deciding whether to include John Terry in his squad for the friendlies against Spain and Sweden. Daily Telegraph

Former Crystal Palace and Reading manager Steve Coppell is in talks to become the new Portsmouth boss, 15 months after announcing his retirement. Daily Mirror

Huddersfield boss Lee Clark has emerged as the favourite to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as Leicester manager, and could cost the Foxes £300,000 in compensation. Daily Mirror

However, the Daily Mail reports that former Ipswich manager Roy Keane has been targeted to take over at the King Power Stadium. Daily Mail

Brighton manager Gus Poyet has revealed he will quit his post if he is asked to change his team's style of play following a mediocre recent run. talkSHIT

Aaron Ramsey has upset Welsh football bosses after following Gareth Bale by posing in a Team GB Olympic shirt. the Sun

West Ham's turgid 0-0 draw with Bristol City was livened up by an appearance from reality TV star Amy Childs sporting a Hammers claret and blue shirt. Metro

more bollox later ....

[Chinners]

Extra Bollox
Corinthians president dismisses Kia influence over Man City's Tevez
Corinthians president Andres Sanchez has dismissed Kia Joorabchian's influence on Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.
Joorabchian insists Tevez wants to remain in England should he leave City.
But Sanchez says: "Kia is not the manager. The agent is Adrian (Ruocco). Kia is a partner of Tevez, a great friend. If we have to negotiate, we'll send a letter. At the end of the year, let's make another try."

QPR striker plots Manchester City shock
JAY Bothroyd has warned Manchester City they better be prepared to rough it at Loftus Road on Saturday – or else.
Rangers will be hoping to produce another shock against Roberto Mancini's millionaires following their west London derby win against Chelsea a fortnight ago.
Midfielder Shaun Derry insists the Blues 'lost their heads' following some tough tackles from their rivals, and Bothroyd has warned the Premier League leaders they're in for the same treatment.
He said: "We have to frustrate them as much as we can and try and nick a goal.

City's David Silva shaping up among world's best midfielders - Andrew Cole
David Silva is good enough to become one of the greatest foreigners to play in the Premier League.
With Carlos Tevez currently out of the Manchester City team, Silva has stepped up to become City's star. He has been the best player in England this season.
Silva is a joy to watch. I love seeing him go past people when he drops his shoulder and makes it look easy, but he's a selfless player, too. He's always searching to slip someone else into play with an intelligent pass. He's a centre forward's dream and I'm sure Fernando Torres's fortunes would be very different with his Spain teammate behind him at Chelsea.
Silva needs to play at this level for at least three years before he can be elevated to the level of Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Gianfranco Zola, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo – the best foreigners to play in England.
I played with or against all of those legends. At United, we held Henry, Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Bergkamp in the highest regard. Arsenal were our main rivals and games often got very heated between us. The United lads would joke about the way Henry raised his arms and did other little, petulant things to irritate us, but those Arsenal players were all legends.
I played against Henry when he was a youngster at Monaco, but he was a one-trick pony who would kick the ball and chase after it. Arsene Wenger transformed his game and his position when he arrived at Highbury. I remember thinking: "Wow, this boy can play."
Henry's partnership with Bergkamp, who had a glorious first touch and vision, was majestic. Henry had pace to burn and could go past anyone when one-on-one. He was inventive and had an eye for a goal. What more do you want from a player?
Not that Patrick Vieira was far behind. He and Roy Keane had some magnificent battles, but that Arsenal team were so good that we had to get in amongst them and knock them out of their stride. We had to go to war with them because that was the only way to beat them.
It didn't matter what our fans thought, we knew Arsenal were our main challengers. They played football like no team could play. They were faster than the rest with the pace of Henry and Marc Overmars.
They had a midfield who mixed it physically and a solid back four. They were one of the best teams in the world, a proper team that functioned as a unit.
Vieira is a nice guy. That's one thing all the people I've mentioned have in common – they're quality people on and off the pitch. I saw Henry in July in New York and he was brilliant with me. You shouldn't always form an opinion of a player's personality from how they comport themselves on the pitch.
I mean, look at what I was like. I could be angry and surly. Zola once came up to me when I had blown my top. I was ready for lashing out at someone.
"A player like you shouldn't act like this," Zola said to me. "You have the class not to get angry."
I had to smile at that. There was only one player who had class in that moment and it wasn't me.
Not all great players are like that. George Weah was an idol of mine who turned out to be an arrogant egotist when I met him. Never meet your heroes, and all that.
Weah was the exception. Zola is a lovely fellow. I played against him a few months ago in a veterans game. He's long retired, but he was still easily the best player on a field of former greats. He could have replaced Eric Cantona at Man United and lit the place up, he was that good.
There were other great foreigners in the Premier League.
Ronaldo arrived as an unknown, worked his socks off, wanted to be the best and left as a global superstar.
And how could I not comment about Cantona, my old strike partner?
People said we didn't get on. Nonsense, we got on fine. He saw how hard I worked and we didn't have problems. Eric came to a great team which was lacking a little bit of magic – and all for just £1 million (Dh5.87m). He gave United that magic and was a star at the biggest club in England. Like the others I've mentioned, he's remembered as a legend.
Silva isn't at that level yet, but if carries on playing like this for a few more years he will be.

[craigmcfc]

That Amy looked dog rough on Celeb BB but scrubs up ok in that picture.

[Lev Bronstein]

Tesco clothes.com - I mean, jeez Chinners are you strugling?

[Chinners]

Variety dear Lev ... variety

[Chinners]

Man City youth policy slammed by targets father
Manchester City have been criticised for their handling of younger players by AZ Alkmaar midfielder Adam Maher’s father, as the young Dutch player deals with reported Interest and City have been a long term admirer it seems.
Adam Maher has in recent months attracted the more attention from the elite European clubs though he has not gone unnoticed as his father revealed “ A Few years ago he could have gone to Manchester City, Lyon or AC Milan” and it seems that Maher Senior had strong word’s for City’s youth development system.
“His agent, Sigi Lens, isn’t even taking calls from abroad. In any case, we’ve seen what can happen to young players who join big clubs like Manchester City”, it is thought that Maher Senior has a desire for his son to stay in his home land for the time being to develop as a player but don’t expect to see him at Manchester City anytime soon after the criticism directed towards the Etihad Staduim.
Barcelona are the latest side to express an interest in the 18-year old however Manchester City will want to point to the development of young stars such as Abdul Razak who has just signed a new contract after impressing in the Carling Cup, and in recent months City have put an emphasises on youth development rather than paying big fee’s for players.

[Slim]

Extra Bollox
Corinthians president dismisses Kia influence over Man City's Tevez
Corinthians president Andres Sanchez has dismissed Kia Joorabchian's influence on Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.
Joorabchian insists Tevez wants to remain in England should he leave City.
But Sanchez says: "Kia is not the manager. The agent is Adrian (Ruocco). Kia is a partner of Tevez, a great friend. If we have to negotiate, we'll send a letter. At the end of the year, let's make another try."

In other news, Andres Sanchez has a new advisor who is in absolutely positively no way Kia Joorabchian, pictured below.