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Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has ruled out the possibility of Robinho joining the European champions. (Press Association)

Tottenham, Sunderland and Stoke are locked in a three-way battle to sign Portsmouth goalkeeper David James before the transfer deadline. Daily Mirror

Spurs will offer £8m to capture both James and Pompey midfielder Niko Kranjcar. Daily Mail

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is still hopefully of concluding deals to bring Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh and Inter Milan's former Gunners midfielder Patrick Vieira to the Emirates. Daily Mirror

West Ham and Wolves are both in talks to sign Valencia's 6ft 7in Serbian striker Nikola Zigic. The Sun

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill wants to sign either Matthew Upson or James Collins from West Ham before Tuesday's deadline. Daily Mail

Stoke are keen on bringing Manchester City winger Martin Petrov to the Britannia Stadium, but could face competition for his signature from Tottenham. Daily Star http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/vie ... t-project/

Everton are weighing up a move for Coventry goalkeeper Keiren Westwood. The Sun

Sunderland are in talks with Hull over a £9m swap deal for defender Michael Turner. The transfer could see Frazier Campbell move in the opposite direction. Daily Mirror

Portsmouth are hoping to sign Aston Villa left-back Nicky Shorey. The Sun

Everton's £6m-move for Atletico Madrid defender Johnny Heitinga is in danger of collapsing over the player's large wage demands. Daily Mirror

Blackburn have turned down a bid from Olympiakos for Norwegian winger Morten Gamst Pedersen. The Sun

Newcastle's Andy Carroll could be set for a surprise exit from St James' Park with Bolton and Wolves keen on the young striker. Daily Mirror

Bolton are hoping to complete the loan signing of Nantes' Crotian forward Ivan Klasnic on Monday. The Sun

Nottingham Forest are keen to sign Sunderland defender Nyron Nosworthy on loan. Daily Mirror

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is battling to rush through a loan deal for Rapid Vienna striker Stefan Maierhofer. Daily Mirror

Derby defender Jordan Stewart is in talks with Sheffield United over a possible move to Bramall Lane.
Daily Mirror

OTHER GOSSIP
Chelsea defender John Terry will become the highest-paid player in the country after agreeing a new £8m-a-year deal with the London club. The Sun

Former Portsmouth boss Tony Adams has emerged as the top target to fill the hot seat at Championship side Barnsley. The Sun

Everton manager David Moyes has vowed to axe some of his Goodison flops following their poor start to the season. The Sun

The FA are to clamp down on footballers who goad rival supporters following a number of incidents this week of players criticised for celebrating in front of opposition fans.
The Sun

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson says he would love to coach Great Britain's 2012 Olympic team.
Daily Mirror

WAG OF THE DAY
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... ia-cannavo

AND FINALLY
Arsenal's Arsene Wenger wasn't the only manager sent to the stands over the weekend. Former England boss Steve McClaren, now with FC Twente in Holland, suffered the same fate in his side's 1-1 draw with Feyenoord on Sunday. (Daily Star)

Tranmere manager John Barnes and his number two Jason McAteer have been nicknamed "Dumb and Dumber" by their own players. (The Sun)

Can really see Petrov at Stoke.... not.

Thats got to be funniest yet.

Hopefully this business of Harry trying to bring in James & the Chairman being reluctant to sanction it will be the 1st step toward a 'typical Spuds' & 'typical Harry' situation where he ruins a perfectly good team by being unable to stop pissing about in the transfer market (& getting his cut) & the chairman starts to worry that he's going to piss all the money away on old crocks so the usual Spuds behind the scenes rift develops.

Extra CITY Bollox
Leslie salutes Manu
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/vie ... hero-Manu/

Barca rule out Robinho raid
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... R=Football

I can't wait to play against my former Arsenal team-mates, says Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0PkbWJlRB

Manchester City's early season promise suggests they are the real deal
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion ... 39187.html

Emmanuel Adebayor looks class apart for Manchester City http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -City.html

What a spanking Bank Holiday WAG, tremendous stuff

Goaters 103 wrote:Can really see Petrov at Stoke.... not.

Thats got to be funniest yet.

Would prefer him there than Top Hats.

Interesting piece in the Torygraph . . .

Manchester City's lottery winners refuse to behave badly

By Mike Norrish Football Last updated: August 31st, 2009

Bit boring, aren’t they? It’s a year now since Manchester City won the lottery. But - disappointingly - they’re refusing to follow the Michael Carroll template.

Carroll, you’ll remember, is the infamous Lotto Lout - the teenage binman who won £9.7 million only to bosh the lot on cars, drugs, prostitutes and massive gold bracelets.

It was marvellous entertainment, and kept the papers full of fun right up until his eventual arrest and bankruptcy.

Being that entertaining should be a minimum requirement for those who - through sheer happenstance - become ludicrously wealthy. And after scooping the Abu Dhabi jackpot, it seemed City would happily comply with that responsibility.

Take the Carlos Tevez poster, for example. Carroll would have adored that. He would’ve also liked Gary Cook’s “bottled it” rant at AC Milan, and their head-spinning pursuit of John Terry. It was millionaire mischief-making of the highest order.

However, since the season has started, City have been no fun whatsoever. They have been an incredibly solid, pragmatic football team who swat aside limited opponents with the minimum of fuss. They stick corners on the forehead of their giant centre-forward and then rely on their fabulous goalkeeper to keep them out at the other end. Snore.

City may have more strikers than a French haulage firm, but there hasn’t been a peep of discontent from anyone so far. Even Robinho was dropped on Sunday without storming off to Brazil on his private jet. Who’d have thunk it?

Surely City should have started the season a bit like Real Madrid, who beat Deportivo 3-2 on Saturday. Exactly as expected, they were hugely exciting going forward and hugely vulnerable at the back. City, in contrast, are still to concede in six hours of football this season.

Tougher tests lie ahead of course. But the critics who wrote off City’s chances of breaking into the top four this season must be a little surprised about the manner in which they’ve started.

Because City don’t look like nouveau-riche imposters. They look like a grown-up football team. They have pace, strength and dynamism, both in attack and defence. They work incredibly hard for one another. Emmanuel Adebayor has even been spotted tackling.

Until now, though, few seriously considered that City could emulate Chelsea; that they could succeed in buying the title. There seemed to be a general impression that City, being City, would find a way to mess it all up . “A small club with a small mentality,” shrugged Fergie after Tevez signed, while Arsene Wenger was blase enough to flog them two of his best players.

But with every clean sheet, and every away win (two already this season matches City’s entire total for last year), that impression looks ever more uncertain.