Wednesday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Man City target Sporting Lisbon defensive ace
Big spending Manchester City are tracking Sporting Lisbon defender Daniel Carrico.

Ambitious City want a new centre-half as cover for first choice pair Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott, and are looking at several options. Carrico, 21, has been watched by City several times in recent weeks and is also interesting Atletico Madrid and Valencia.

Manchester City weigh up move for Italian starlet Andrea Poli
Manchester City scouts have been impressed by Sampdoria midfielder Andrea Poli.

City scout Barry Hunter went to watch Sampdoria against Lazio, to run the rule over possible striker targets.
But Italy U21 international Poli caught the eye and City will monitor the 20-year-old's progress as they weigh up a busy summer.


City striker Emmanuel Adebayor meanwhile insists he is happy to stay despite interest from AC Milan.

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Manager Mick McCarthy has conceded that Wolves have little chance of keeping £6.5m striker Kevin Doyle if they are relegated from the Premier League. Aston Villa, Fulham, Everton and Sunderland are all set to battle to sign the Republic of Ireland international if his side slip into the Championship.
Daily Mirror

Wilson Palacios has stunned Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp by admitting he is using Spurs to get a move to Real Madrid. The Honduran midfielder has been a key player for Redknapp's side following his £12million move from Wigan last January. But Palacios, 25, reckons he has bigger fish to fry.
The Sun

BABE OF THE DAY
http://uk.stars.ign.com/objects/142/14233161.html

OTHER BOLLOX
Four years after arriving at Chelsea on a £121,000-per-week contract, German midfielder Michael Ballack has been offered a new one-year deal at half that salary.
The Sun

Chelsea have reopened negotiations with striker Nicolas Anelka over a contract extension that may result in the France international staying at Stamford Bridge until 2013. Anelka's deal was set to expire in 2012 but there is still no sign of a new contract for Joe Cole, whose current contract expires in the summer.
Daily Mail

England will step up their security as they attempt to hunt down and identify the culprits behind the security breach at their team hotel in Hertfordshire. A six-hour recording of team meetings is said to be in existence and has been offered to media outlets.
Daily Mail

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is set to escape disciplinary action after he appeared to aim a V-sign at referee Andre Marriner during Monday's defeat by Wigan.
Daily Telegraph

Stoke full-back Andy Griffin, currently on loan at Reading, has laughed off suggestions he could snatch a World Cup berth with England after some impressive performances that have guided the Royals away from the Championship relegation zone.
Daily Mirror

Wigan's Victor Moses could be set for a World Cup appearance with Nigeria after he invited officials to watch him play and train for the club. Moses, born in Lagos, has represented England at youth level but could be tempted to switch allegiances.
Daily Mirror

Fabio Capello's biggest World Cup selection headache is over the goalkeeping position - according to tennis legend Boris Becker. After a recent dinner with the England coach, Becker said: "I understand why the players are a little bit afraid of him because he's a very serious guy who doesn't joke around much. We talked about goalkeepers and Capello was just smiling so we didn't get into that." (Press Association)

[Vhero]

Keeley! *Licks Lips*
*EHEM*.... I'm married dammit :p

[Beeks]

Thank god the bollox is back to normal!

[craigmcfc]

Keeley! *Licks Lips*
*EHEM*.... I'm married dammit :p

Very nice indeed

[dazby]

Keeley! *Licks Lips*
*EHEM*.... I'm married dammit :p

I'm sure Keeley is cursing for the exact same reason sexy guy. ;-)

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Keeley! *Licks Lips*
*EHEM*.... I'm married dammit :p

Just out of interest, how old are you mate?

Genuine question, no pisstake.

[Chinners]

Is there not the slightest touch of envy over Carlos Tevez?
“Welcome to Manchester” was the message that irked many when Carlos Tevez moved from United to Manchester City last summer. Tevez has now played for both Manchester clubs and he certainly has been welcomed at both- although the way he left United was not accompanied by a ‘good luck’ message. Currently the blue half of Manchester are enjoying his services to the extent that the red half will only wonder if it was a bad idea to let him go.
The form of Tevez will make United fans, if not the hierarchy, think that he could still be producing the goods. This comes especially at a time when United seem to be suffering a striker breakdown. Owen is out for the season, Rooney’s knee is playing up, Macheda has only just made a comeback to training, Diouf is a rookie and Berbatov plays every match with a question mark over his head. United fans may have barracked Tevez in the three matches that the clubs have played against each other this season, but is the club looking out of its window, glancing across Manchester and resentful at the fact that the Argentinean is now showing his class to their fierce rivals?

Looking at the strikers City have got then the way they are using Tevez is getting the best out of them and the best out of the man himself. He seems to have been given the license to drop deeper rather than play as an out-and-out striker, and has backed that up with a fantastic goals return. In Manchester City’s 4-2 victory at Chelsea at the end of last month Tevez scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season, whilst at United, last season, he managed 15 in 51 appearances. That leads to the argument that Tevez was never used in his best role at United and always seemed to make more of an impact when he came on as a substitute. What Tevez is doing at City is proving that he is not just a workhorse but someone who is capable of going on a scoring streak. It could be that Ferguson got his estimation of Tevez wrong. By bringing him on during the last 20 minutes of a match, when a defence is tired, the last thing they wanted to face was Carlos Tevez. However, Roberto Mancini, and Mark Hughes before him, starts Tevez in pretty much every game because of the money they spent on him.
The transformation of the Manchester City striker is one that can be looked upon with envy because after a slow start, which saw him score only twice before December, he looks like a totally different player. Now that he has matched his tremendous work rate with a consistent goal-scoring run, he is City’s version of Wayne Rooney- the player that ultimately kept him out of United’s team. The comparisons between Dimitar Berbatov and Tevez has lasted all season but, with the way certain football players are, you can never get Berbatov to play like Tevez and vice-versa. Tevez’s form has been highlighted more because of the success he has been at City.Even with Tevez quickly becoming the main man at City, along with The Blues fans really taking to him, it will not make people jealous of the impressions he has made at the club. Footballers move on, football clubs move on, but Tevez’s name gets mentioned regularly because of the failure of United’s strikers, apart from Rooney. Ever since the Argentinean arrived in England he has made an impression at each of his three clubs, but his career at City started in an attempt to prove United wrong. In his mind he may feel that he has made the right move so however well he performs at City, it should really be reflected upon as the qualities being shown by a blue Carlos Tevez.

Arsenal's William Gallas could be in line for a reunion with his former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri at Roma after the club's director of sport Daniele Prade reportedly came to London, where he watched the Gunners' Champions League game - although Gallas did not play because of injury. (imscouting.com)

Bayern Munich boss Louis van Gaal has conceded that his side's progression to the Champions League quarter-finals is no guarantee Franck Ribery will stay at the club beyond the end of his current contract, which ends in 2011. "If I read the newspapers I think he won't stay," said the Dutchman. "It is difficult. If he wants to go we should sell him now, because it brings in money and is good for Bayern." (Press Association)

BBC turns down Gordon Brown as Match of the Day 2 guest
A Downing Street request was denied after the BBC decided it would be inappropriate this close to a general election
Gordon Brown has recently extended his media appearances beyond news bulletins, most recently with his Piers Morgan interview.
Gordon Brown is a sports fanatic whose passion for Raith Rovers, the football team he has supported since childhood, is a matter of public record. But the BBC has barred the prime minister from appearing on its Sunday night Premier League highlights programme Match of the Day 2, saying it is too close to an election to have him on as a guest.
Downing Street asked if Brown could appear in the MOTD2 studio alongside the presenter, Adrian Chiles, and pundits, who include Lee Dixon, towards the end of last year. The prime minister's advisors wanted him to talk about England's bid for the 2018 World Cup, but after taking advice, the show's production team declined.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "We made the judgment it wouldn't be appropriate in the run-up to the election".
The BBC must adhere to strict guidelines about impartiality in the months before a general election, giving equal airtime to representatives of the main political parties. Brown's appearance was part of a No 10 campaign to soften his image in recent months by encouraging him to extend his media appearances beyond the news bulletins. Brown's confessional ITV1 interview with Piers Morgan last month was regarded as a success by his advisers.
Tony Blair was the first prime minister to appear regularly on TV outside news and current affairs programmes, agreeing to be a guest on ITV's This Morning on several occasions.
That approach has since been aped by the Conservative leader, David Cameron, who regularly appears on breakfast TV and has given ITV unprecedented access to his private life for a Sir Trevor McDonald documentary to be shown on Sunday.
In November 2005, Blair was a guest on Football Focus, BBC1's Saturday lunchtime show.
A BBC insider said Football Focus is regarded as a lifestyle show with a wide range of guests and pointed out it is highly unusual for anyone who is not a pundit to be invited on Match of the Day or its Sunday spin-off show.