Monday's B*ll*x (updated)

[Chinners]

Firstly, sorry for the lack of bollox over the weekend ... compooter deceiced to blow up ... bah

Wright-Phillips can go for free
Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, who cost a staggering £30 million in his last two transfers, has been told he can leave for nothing as the big spending Eastlands club want him off their wage bill and cannot find a club willing to pay a fee and take on the player's salary, according to ESPNsoccernet sources.
One of the many clubs chasing the former Chelsea player, who has been valued at around £4 million, told ESPNsoccernet: "Manchester City are no longer looking for a fee. They want to get the player off the wage bill.
"If he was on £30,000-a-week he would be worth £6-8 million - but on £65,000-a-week he has no value unless a really top club wants him."
Fulham boss Mark Hughes, who signed the England international from Chelsea for £9 million in 2008, is reportedly keen to work with the winger again and has jumped to the front of the queue.
City are believed to be holding out for a permanent transfer and will not sanction any loan deal, but Hughes faces competition to sign him as Wright-Phillips' agent* claims that the midfielder is already considering 'five offers'.

* believed to be a Mr I. Wright


Manchester City finally find a buyer for Emmanuel Adebayor
Eastlands outcast set for return to Ligue 1
Manchester City’s unsettled striker Emmanuel Adebayor is on the verge of re-joining Ligue 1 outfit Monaco for £9 million.
The Togo international actually started his career in the Principality, where he first made his name, before Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger brought him to the Emirates for £6m in January 2006 and turned him into a goal machine who City paid £25m for in July 2009.
However, Adebayor has endured a tough time of it at the City of Manchester stadium since Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as manager and this season has barely featured at all for the club.
But, with City demanding that any club who wants to sign the player must cover both his £165,000-a-week wages, as well as his transfer fee, there have been few suitors for him.

Wolfsburg and Stuttgart in scrap for Man City striker
Felipe Caicedo is finally set to seal a permanent move away from Manchester City.
The Ecuadorian striker has been a major disappointment since arriving at Eastlands in a £5million deal in January 2008 and has been loaned out on three occasions.
He is currently enjoying an impressive spell at Levante in the Spanish top-flight, where has scored seven times in 14 appearances.
And that has attracted the attention of German clubs Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, who are both hoping to push through a deal for the 22-year-old this month, according to a report in Spanish daily Marca.
City, who boast the likes of Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko in attack, could be willing to do business for as little as 1million Euros.

Phil McNulty's Blog Bollox
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/ ... start.html

Notts County fans go mad for Man City FA Cup tickets
EXCITEMENT is building ahead of Notts County's glamour FA Cup tie with billionaires Manchester City.
Hundreds of fans queued for hours outside Meadow Lane over the weekend in the hope of getting a ticket for the Magpies' fourth round tie against the Premier League giants.
Tickets went on general sale on Saturday evening – with some fans even skipping the Magpies' home match with Carlisle United to be first at the ticket office.
Haydn Green Family Stand regular Jennifer French was one of the first to buy tickets after queuing outside the ground for 90 minutes.
Ms French, 62, of West Bridgford, bought two tickets for herself and her nine-year-old grandson, Isaac Pattinson.
She said: "I should have been watching the match but queued for 90 minutes outside instead. It was worth it.
"Isaac is a Junior Magpie and he really wants to see Carlos Tevez play for City. It'll be the biggest match he's ever seen.
"We might pull off a shock but I think it depends if we've still got all of our players."
Notts fan of more than 40 years, Lewis Knowles, 78, of Arnold, also bought six tickets for the cup tie.
He queued with his wife, Janet, 77, daughter Helen Sloss, 47, of Grantham, and grandson, Alastair Sloss, 13.
Mr Knowles said his son, Jonathan Knowles, 44, and other grandson, William Knowles, 16, would be flying in from Norway to join them at the match. He said: "I'm getting to the age where watching the match at home in a comfortable environment is more attractive, but I felt I just had to be there in person to soak up the atmosphere."
Lewis added: "I'm really excited as it'll be the biggest match I've seen involving County. If we won 2-1, that would be fantastic."
Roberto Mancini's City side currently sit third in the Premier League.
Both sides warmed up to next Sunday's clash with 1-0 defeats at the weekend, as Notts County lost to Carlisle and City at Aston Villa.
Paul Ince's side have already beaten Premier League opposition with a 2-1 win at Sunderland in the third round.
Around 11,500 tickets have so far been sold, with County expecting the game to be the club's first sell-out match at Meadow Lane since Nottingham Forest visited in 1984.
It is estimated the club could receive around £350,000 from the FA Cup clash, which is being broadcast live on ITV1.
The ticket office is due to be open between 8am and 8pm daily this week. Call 0115 9557204 for more details.

Joey Barton: I will end my career with United
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastl ... get-bottom


Chelsea hope to finalise the £26m transfer of 23-year-old centre-back David Luiz from Benfica in the next 24 hours. Daily Mail

Liverpool have stepped up their attempt to land Luis Suarez by flying out to the Netherlands for further talks with the Uruguay striker. Suarez's club Ajax want £20m for the 23-year-old. the Sun

Reds manager Kenny Dalglish could be ready to bid for Paris St Germain striker Guillaume Hoarau, who would cost the Anfield club about £6m. footylatest.com

Blackpool captain Charlie Adam wants to join Liverpool before the transfer window closes on 31 January but faces a bitter fight with the Tangerines over his departure. Liverpool are prepared to pay up to £5m for the 25-year-old. Daily Mirror

However, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway thinks Liverpool's valuation of his prized asset Adam is "derisory" and "insulting". Daily Mirror

Tottenham must stump up £18m if they want to sign former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder Lassana Diarra, 25, from Real Madrid. Daily Mail

Meanwhile, Spanish side Real Madrid are pondering a loan deal for Tottenham's 29-year-old forward Roman Pavlyuchenko as the short-term answer to their current striker crisis. Footylatest.com

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is determined to clinch the £4m signing of Stoke City striker Ricardo Fuller on Monday. Daily Mirror

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed he is closing in on 17-year-old Southampton striker Alex Oxdale-Chamberlain in a deal worth about £10m. Daily Mirror

Adebayor's move means Everton are set to revive their interest in Monaco striker Dieumerci Mbokani but Hoffenheim and Sunderland are also interested.Daily Mail

Sunderland are preparing to make an audacious bid for Porto's £30m-rated striker Givanildo Vieira de Souza, 24, better known as Hulk. Footylatest.com

The Black Cats are also set to sign Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari on loan until the summer. Sunderland will also have an option to buy the 26-year-old Ghanaian international for £6m. the Sun

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp claims he can only offer injury-plagued defender Jonathan Woodgate a pay-as-you-play deal at Spurs when his current deal expires at the end of the current season. Redknapp has also dismissed talk that the former England international could be joining Arsenal. Daily Mirror

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish heads into Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final, second leg against West Ham under increasing pressure from owner Carson Yeung. Daily Mail

Blackburn boss Steve Kean is hoping to tie down the likes of defenders Michel Salgado, Ryan Nelson and Chris Samba to extended new contracts at Ewood Park. talksport.co.uk

Newcastle striker Andy Carroll faces two months out with a torn thigh muscle. The England striker, 22, is unlikely to play again for the Magpies until the home game with Wolves on 2 April. the Sun

Edwin van der Sar will reject Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's offer for him to become the club's goalkeeping coach when he hangs up his gloves at the end of the season. The 40-year-old says he wants to take a couple of years out of the game. the Sun

Ossie Ardiles has shown interest in returning to League One strugglers Swindon as manager, amid increasing pressure on current boss Danny Wilson. Argentine Ardiles started off his managerial career with the Robins in 1989. Daily Mirror

Manchester United midfielder Anderson has no intention of cutting off his dreadlocks because it would reduce him to tears. He stated: "My hair is my life."Daily Mirror

more bollox later.

[Beefymcfc]

I knew there ws something missing this weekend.

[Beefymcfc]

The Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen award for most obvious love of home furnishing
Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)

He may be famed for his brutal temper, gimlet eye and ruthless, merciless pounding of oppositions, but MTW is sure we've found Sir Alex Ferguson's true vocation in life.

Yes, we can exclusively reveal that Fergie, the terrorising football manager supreme, is actually more at home when he's talking about interior design.

"Fulham's dressing rooms when we played there this season were an absolute disgrace," the Scot tutted as he inspected the West London club’s setup. "It really was ridiculous. The room you got was no more than eight square yards.

"I think there should be standards; they are in the Premier Division."

What wasn't picked up in the interview were his further comments: "I mean, really! Their feng shui is all over the place. There are no scatter cushions and their curtains don’t match the shower-heads. Awful."*


*Sir Alex didn't actually say this.

[Guy Debord]

According to Cruyff we've made an offer for Alves or we might have or if we do Cruyff thinks he should accept. Or some other Bollox.

http://www.abc.es/20110124/deportes-fut ... 41051.html

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Good to have your bollocks in front of my eyes again.

[DoomMerchant]

Good to have your bollocks in front of my eyes again.

change of pace from the other guys bollocks you've had in your mouth all weekend then?

Variety is the spice of life.

[avoidconfusion]

9m for Adebayor... I cannot believe we cannot get more than that... what the fuck is going on...

[DoomMerchant]

9m for Adebayor... I cannot believe we cannot get more than that... what the fuck is going on...

we've neutered him...sad. he's probably worth at least 15-18M based on his results, maybe more.

The fact that Villa just paid at least 2x as much as that quoted figure for Darren Bent says something in terms of "what have you done for me lately" i guess.

it's a timing thing i reckon...

cheers

[ashton287]

9m for Adebayor... I cannot believe we cannot get more than that... what the fuck is going on...

we've neutered him...sad. he's probably worth at least 15-18M based on his results, maybe more.

The fact that Villa just paid at least 2x as much as that quoted figure for Darren Bent says something in terms of "what have you done for me lately" i guess.

it's a timing thing i reckon...

cheers

In much the same way as players we want to buy double in price, players we dont want half in value. Every club in europe know that we have to offload the dead wood before the FFP rules come into effect and will take the piss out of us.

[Beefymcfc]

9m for Adebayor... I cannot believe we cannot get more than that... what the fuck is going on...

we've neutered him...sad. he's probably worth at least 15-18M based on his results, maybe more.

The fact that Villa just paid at least 2x as much as that quoted figure for Darren Bent says something in terms of "what have you done for me lately" i guess.

it's a timing thing i reckon...

cheers

In much the same way as players we want to buy double in price, players we dont want half in value. Every club in europe know that we have to offload the dead wood before the FFP rules come into effect and will take the piss out of us.

And will players be worth as much once the FFP comes in?

[DoomMerchant]

9m for Adebayor... I cannot believe we cannot get more than that... what the fuck is going on...

we've neutered him...sad. he's probably worth at least 15-18M based on his results, maybe more.

The fact that Villa just paid at least 2x as much as that quoted figure for Darren Bent says something in terms of "what have you done for me lately" i guess.

it's a timing thing i reckon...

cheers

In much the same way as players we want to buy double in price, players we dont want half in value. Every club in europe know that we have to offload the dead wood before the FFP rules come into effect and will take the piss out of us.

fair enough, but with a player of quality it ought to create a small bidding war that pushes them closer to market value, don't you think?

cheers

[ronk]

fair enough, but with a player of quality it ought to create a small bidding war that pushes them closer to market value, don't you think?

cheers

We also have limits on who we'll do business with. Adebayor is expensive, unhappy and coming with an intimidating reputation as a difficult player. Newcastle and AC Milan should be all over this, but meh.

[Patrick]

Same problem with wages as swp