Chelsea News: Benayoun Hat-Trick Helps Israel To Victory
Follow us on Twitter
Israel 3 Malta 1
Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun hit a hat-trick for Israel as they defeated Malta, 3-1, in their opening qualifier for Euro 2012.
The midfielder hit goals in the seventh, 64th and 75th minutes as Israel easily defeated Group F’s lowest-ranked side.
The match had been switched to a Thursday kick-off as the Israeli FA did not want to play on the Jewish Sabbath. Euro 2012 qualifiers are being played on Fridays and Tuesdays instead of Saturdays and Wednesdays as previous qualifying games have been.
Benayoun had a goal disallowed for handball on just two minutes but slotted the ball past Andrew Hogg in the Malta goal five minutes later. Jamie Pace headed an equaliser for Malta from a free kick in the 38th minute against the run of play, but Israel took control in the second half with Benayoun scoring from the spot on 64 minutes after Almog Cohen had been brought down. He completed his hat-trick 11 minutes later with a header after Hogg saved from Vermouth.
West Ham’s Tal Ben Haim also played in the game. Israel’s next match is in Georgia next Tuesday while Malta host Latvia.
Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch makes the starting line-up for Scotland for the first time three years for tonight’s Euro 20102 qualifier in Lithuania.
Six Rangers players make the starting eleven with Steven Naismith, Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker, Kenny Miller and David Weir joining McCulloch along Middlesbrough duo Stephen McManus and Barry Robson are included while Alan Hutton, Scott Brown and team captain Darren Fletcher complete the side.
Manager Craig Levein defended the selection of both Weir and Hutton. Weir becomes the oldest Scottish international at the age of 40 while Hutton has not featured for Spurs this season after a summer hernia operation.
“I think everybody would recognise that he would be our first choice right-back,” Levein said of Hutton on Wednesday.
“Anytime you get a good player fit and available that you didn’t expect to get then it’s a real bonus.”
Speaking of Weir, Levein said “Davie Weir is probably the best centre-back we have got at this time. He is playing week in, week out at the highest level and playing to such a standard that this type of football is something he can cope with easily.”
McCulloch will probably play in a holding role with Fletcher and Brown in the centre of central midfield while the selection of Miller as a lone striker comes as no surprise.
“One of the important things is to pick players in form,” Levein said of Miller who has hit five in three games for Rangers this season.
“Kenny Miller would probably have played anyway but it’s good to know he’s in form.”
Injuries ruled out Craig Gordon, Kevin Thomson and Gary Caldwell. Chris Iwelumo withdrew this week along with Steven Fletcher and Andy Webster. Jay McEveley and Garry O’Connor were drafted in.
Scott Carson is the latest player to pull out of the England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers with Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday and in Switzerland on Tuesday. The West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper has been released from the squad to attend to a family bereavement. Watford and England Under-21 keeper Scott Loach has been called up in place of Carson, though this only demonstrates the lack of goalkeeping options England has.
Phil Jagielka trained with the squad on the Wembley surface on Thursday, the first time since he picked up an ankle injury in Everton’s game with Aston Villa on Sunday, and manager Fabio Capello suggested that the defender could start.
“He is fit, he trained well, there is a little bit of pain but I think for tomorrow he will be 100%.”
Michael Dawson, Joleon Lescott and Gary Cahill are all on stand-by in case Jagielka fails to make the starting eleven.
Capello also suggested that he was close to knowing his starting eleven.
“The keeper, Hart, Rooney, Steve [Gerrard], Barry, [Ashley] Cole, Johnson, Jagielka, more or less. I know 10 or 11, with a little doubt about one,” Capello said on Thursday.
“The training was really good, the players are okay and some problems we had in the last two days are getting better.”
Chelsea’s John Terry and Frank Lampard have been ruled out because of injuries, Terry with a hamstring problem and Lampard missing the match to have a hernia operation.
Meanwhile Capello has suggested that this isn’t the worst crisis of his management career.
“I hope pressure brings out the best in me. Up to now it usually has,” he said.
“It’s not the worst situation I’ve been in. It’s been the same two or three times, in Madrid, Milan, and now.”
Bulgaria Team news v England
Bulgaria manager Stanimir Stoilov says his players will try to “close” the English as efficiently as possible and will seize every opportunity to score. However, Bolton Wanderers winger Martin Petrov suggests that there isn’t a team spirit within the England camp.
“Everyone knows that England have names and very good players. If you take every player from the team, they are very good players.
“But I don’t think they have a team. I don’t know why. In the middle and up-front, they have big names, they have a big manager too, but they just don’t do it.”
Dimitar Berbatov has retired from international football so Ivelin Popov will most likely start as he tries to show Blackburn Rovers fans what they will be missing after work permit issues caused the failure of his transfer to the Premier League club.
Birmingham City News: McLeish Quit Rumours Refuted
Follow us on Twitter
McLeish, Pannu Play Down Quit Rumours
Birmingham City vice-chairman Peter Pannu has rejected suggestions that talks between team manager Alex McLeish and the club’s board have stalled.
Reports earlier today suggested McLeish was annoyed about a remark made by vice-chairman Pannu in which Pannu suggested that his wage demands would put him in the same bracket as Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho and that was a demand the club wasn’t prepared to meet.
“I have been in talks with his representative and he was asking for a very large amount of money which I was not prepared to meet,” Pannu is reported to have said yesterday and while he agreed the manager deserved a bonus for his performance last year, he felt McLeish was still not the finished article:
“He has not been tried and tested yet. The club was relegated, then promoted and last year we stayed up, so he has done well, but to suggest that he is in the top class like a Mourinho, well, he is no Mourinho yet. The ball is in his court.”
Today, though, Pannu adopted a more conciliatory tone and rejected the notion that McLeish was close to quitting the club.
“This is all nonsense,” he said. “We are just perhaps inches away from Alex signing a contract, possibly by next week. Our relationship is phenomenal, we are very strong and close, and I want to dispel this notion that there is anything wrong.”
McLeish is on a rolling contract that pays him £750,000 and is looking to up that to £1 million a year, a salary level not unusual for a Premier League manager, but somewhat less than the £5 million Mourinho is said to be earning at the Bernabeu. However, the Birmingham boss is refusing to be drawn into a public argument:
“I don’t want to talk about my contract publicly,” he said. “
I don’t think it’s the right place to discuss demands and all that. I’m not going to comment on it.
“We’ve signed three players and that’s all I want to talk about.”
McLeish did make comments to a fan’s forum this week in which he suggested that a deal was imminent and that he was not thinking of leaving:
“We’re really close. I have got a project here. We’ve done a lot on the infrastructure. We’ve invested in some new players. I’ve not thought about abandoning ship, and it’s not a ship that’s sinking, it’s a boat that’s turning in a very positive direction.”
With regards to his contract McLeish added: “I’m sure we will have good news on that front very, very soon – within the next week.”
Wigan Athletic have named a 20-man Premier League squad.
Chris Kirkland,
Mike Pollitt,
Charles N’Zogbia,
Emmerson Boyce,
Gary Caldwell,
Ben Watson,
Hendry Thomas,
Ronnie Stam,
Jordi Gomez,
Hugo Rodallega,
Mohamed Diame,
Maynor Figueroa,
Steve Gohouri,
Daniel De Ridder,
Ali Al-Habsi,
Antolin Alcaraz,
James McArthur,
Steven Caldwell,
Roman Golobart,
Mauro Boselli.
_______________________________________________________________________
Wigan athletic,wigan,wigan football,jobs in wigan,jobs in Lancashire,web design Lancashire,hotels in wigan,hotels in Lancashire,quality hotel wigan,Britannia hotel wigan,wedding photographer Lancashire,Lancashire double glazing,car hire wigan,land for sale Lancashire,land for sale lancashire
Tottenham have named a 25-man Premier League squad.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto,
Sebastian Bassong,
David Bentley,
Vedran Corluka,
Peter Crouch,
Carlo Cudicini,
Heurelho Gomes,
Michael Dawson,
Jermain Defoe,
William Gallas,
Tom Huddlestone,
Alan Hutton,
Jermaine Jenas,
Younes Kaboul,
Robbie Keane,
Ledley King,
Niko Kranjcar,
Aaron Lennon,
Luka Modric,
Kyle Naughton,
Jamie O’Hara,
Wilson Palacios,
Roman Pavlyuchenko,
Stipe Pletikosa,
Rafael van der Vaart.
Blackpool have named a 23-man Premier League squad:
Charlie Adam,
Alex John-Baptiste,
Chris Basham,
Stephen Crainey,
Malaury Martin,
Daniel Coid,
Ishmael Demontagnac,
Neal Eardley,
Robert Edwards,
Jason Euell,
Ian Evatt,
Matthew Gilks,
Elliot Grandin,
Marlon Harewood,
Dekel Keinan,
Brett Ormerod,
Keith Southern,
Ludovic Sylvestre,
Gary Taylor-Fletcher,
Luke Varney,
David Vaughan,
DJ Campbell,
David Carney.
Blackpool Given Go-Ahead To Sign Australian Winger
Blackpool have signed Australian left-sided midfielder/defender David Carney from Dutch champions Twente Enschede. The 26-year-old was a last-minute addition to Blackpool’s squad on transfer deadline day and the Seasiders had an anxious wait for the Premier League’s approval of the deal.
“We got the e-mails back from FC Twente just before six so it was a mad dash to get them printed off and faxed over to the FA and Premier League,” said club secretary Matt Williams.
”Fortunately the confirmation came through on Wednesday morning and I was delighted to tell the Gaffer and Carns that the move had been given the green light.”
Carney had a spell with Everton as a youth and played in the team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2002 alongside Wayne Rooney. After brief spells with Oldham and Hamilton Academical he returned to Australia and joined Sydney FC but came back to England for a two-year spell with Sheffield United that ended with a loan at Norwich. He then left for FC Twente last summer and although he was out of action with a shoulder injury Carney returned to the team for the end of a season which saw them lift the Dutch league title for the first time in their history.
Carney told the Blackpool official website: “It has been a busy 24 hours but I am delighted it is done now and I am looking forward to getting out there playing. The way Blackpool play suits me and I am looking forward to meeting the lads and getting started.”
Carney joins up with his new club after playing for Australia against Switzerland in St-Gallen on Friday.
Meanwhile former Strasbourg midfielder Mamadou Bah has spoken of Blackpool’s interest in him. Work permit problems prevented Bah from moving to the Seasiders and he completed a move to Bundesliga side Stuttgart, but the 22-year old has spoken of his desire to play in the Premier League: “I heard Blackpool were very interested,” Bah told skysports.com.
“I am a Stuttgart player now and I want to give my best to my new club and prove myself in one of the top leagues in all of the world.” He added: “I love the Premier League and maybe one day I will be there to play, all good players dream about it.”
Shrewsbury To Pick Up £500k If Hart Starts England Game
Follow us on Twitter
League Two Side To Pick Up Bonus If Hart Starts Against Bulgaria
League Two side Shrewsbury Town will pick up a £500,000 bonus if Joe Hart starts for England against Bulgaria at Wembley tomorrow night.
The Shrews will pick up the bonus as part of the transfer deal that took goalkeeper Hart to Manchester City in May 2006.
“That will be huge for the club,” Hart said, “last time when I played in the friendly [against Hungary], they thought they were getting it but it has to be a competitive game.
“It is huge money for a team like that and I am pleased for them although there is only one player left from my time there. Everyone else has gone.”
Former Charlton and West Ham boss Alan Curbishley is in the frame for the vacant manager’s post at Aston Villa.
Curbishley is believed to have been interviewed for the job on Wednesday. The 52-year-old had a brief playing spell at Villa in 1983-84 when he made 36 appearances for the club. He had a 15-year spell in management at Charlton which saw him take the Addicks to the Premier League in 2000, and then managed for two years at West Ham United, but Curbishley has been out of the game since parting company with the Hammers in September 2008.
Kevin McDonald is still the bookies’ favourite to land the post with former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson not far behind. Ronald Koeman has publicly thrown his hat into the ring but is considered an outsider while David Moyes has also been linked with the post but is thought unlikely to leave Everton.
Blackburn Rovers Deny Popov Transfer Work Permit Issues
Follow us on Twitter
Rovers Claim Full Complement Of Strikers Despite Short-Handed Squad List
Blackburn Rovers have denied reports that they missed out on Bulgarian striker Ivelin Popov because he was refused a work permit.
Rovers were reported in the Bulgarian media to have agreed a fee of 3 million euros (£2.5 million) for the Bulgarian international with his club Litex Lovech. However, reports in today’s Daily Star and Daily Mirror suggest that the Home Office refused a work permit for the 22-year-old on the grounds that he had not played in enough internationals for his country over the past 12 months. Popov has played 15 times for his country since making his debut in 2007.
Litex Lovech posted on their website two weeks ago that Popov would be joining Blackburn, though at the time Rovers insisted that he was only on trial at Ewood Park. Now, chairman John Williams says that Popov was only going to join the club had Jason Roberts secured a move on transfer deadline day. “It just isn’t true,” Williams said in response to the reports that Popov’s transfer failed because of work permit issues. However, Williams claims with Roberts staying at the club, boss Sam Allardyce has his full complement of strikers. Nevertheless, Rovers have only named a 21-man squad to the Premier League rather than the full 25.
Popov himself has now joined Turkish side Gaziantepespor after also being linked with newly-promoted Spanish side Hercules. The Alicante outfit refused to pay the 3 million euro fee, however it is reported that Gaziantepespor have reportedly paid only 1.5 million euros for Popov, who is expected to play for Bulgaria in their Euro 2012 qualifier with England on Friday.
Arsenal News: Nasri Expected To Play In Bolton Game
Follow us on Twitter
Samir Nasri is set to return for Arsenal in their game with Bolton on 11 September.
Nasri is back in training and looking as sharp as ever after a knee operation following the 1-1 draw at Liverpool on 15 August. The Frenchman was expected to be sidelined for around four weeks following the surgery but is in training ahead of schedule and hopes to be fit again after the international break.
Arsenal are still without strikers Nicklas Bendtner with a groin injury, and Robin van Persie, with an ankle injury.
Manchester United News: Ferdinand Plays 45 Minutes for Reserves
Follow us on Twitter
Ferdinand Comes Through Reserve Test
Rio Ferdinand successfully came through a 45-minute run-out for Manchester United reserves last night, and reserve team coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer declared that the England captain is ready to play again for the first team.
Ferdinand played in United’s 2-1 Manchester Senior Cup tie win over Oldham Athletic at Stalybridge Celtic’s Bower Fold ground last night. The 31-year-old had not played any football since damaging ligaments in a challenge with Emile Heskey during England’s first training session on arriving for the World Cup in South Africa.
Solskjaer declared that he was satisfied with Ferdinand’s contribution and said: “There was no problem whatsoever. It was always planned that he would play 45 minutes. I am not sure he needs any more games. Rio is a naturally fit lad.”
Solskjaer added: “Today was about distances and getting tighter to the ball. Now he is available for selection again.
“Rio is always the same player, it is a while since he has played but he was still calm.
“He has got through an important 45 minutes, straight after two very hard training sessions yesterday and the day before so we are delighted with him.”
Ferdinand will not be available for England’s forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers with Bulgaria and Switzerland; however he could play in United’s Premier League match with Everton on 11 September.
Last night’s match also saw the return of Brazilian midfielder Anderson, who has been out since February with cruciate ligament damage. Fernando Machedo scored the winning goal for United in their 2-1 win.
West Ham have named their 25-man Premier League squad:
Ruud Boffin,
Robert Green,
Tal Ben Haim,
Manuel da Costa,
Danny Gabbidon,
Herita Ilunga,
Lars Jacobsen,
Winston Reid,
Jonathan Spector,
Matthew Upson,
Luis Boa Morte,
Valon Behrami,
Jack Collison,
Kieron Dyer,
Julien Faubert,
Thomas Hitzlsperger,
Radoslav Kovac,
Mark Noble,
Scott Parker,
Pablo Barrera,
Carlton Cole,
Zavon Hines,
Benni McCarthy,
Victor Obinna,
Frederic Piquionne.
Marcos Angeleri,
Phil Bardsley,
Darren Bent,
Titus Bramble,
Fraizer Campbell,
Trevor Carson,
Lee Cattermole,
Paulo Da Silva,
Ahmed El Mohamady,
Anton Ferdinand,
Craig Gordon,
Asamoah Gyan,
David Healy,
Steed Malbranque,
George McCartney,
John Mensah,
Simon Mignolet,
Nedum Onuoha,
Andy Reid,
Kieran Richardson,
Crisitjan Riveros,
Michael Turner,
Robbie Weir,
Boudewijn Zenden.
Fulham have named their 25-man Premier League squad as follows:
Mark Schwarzer,
David Stockdale,
John Pantsil,
Fredrik Stoor,
Aaron Hughes,
Rafik Halliche,
Chris Baird,
Brede Hangeland,
Carlos Salcido,
Stephen Kelly,
Zoltan Gera,
Clinton Dempsey,
Bjorn Helge Riise,
Dickson Etuhu,
Kagisho Dikgacoi,
Danny Murphy,
Jonathan Greening,
Simon Davies,
Damien Duff,
Andrew Johnson,
Diomansy Kamara,
Moussa Dembele,
Bobby Zamora,
David Elm,
Eddie Johnson.
Everton have named a 21-man squad for the first part of the Premier League season. Each club is entitled to name a 25-man squad, however, this does not include players under the age of 21 who can still be fielded regardless.
The squad is as follows:
Tim Howard,
Mikel Arteta,
Jan Mucha,
Steven Pienaar,
Iain Turner,
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov,
Tony Hibbert,
Phil Neville,
Seamus Coleman,
Tim Cahill,
Phil Jagielka,
Louis Saha,
Sylvain Distin,
James Vaughan,
John Heitinga,
Victor Anichebe,
Leigton Baines,
Yakubu,
Marouane Fellaini,
Jermaine Beckford,
Leon Osman.
Petr Cech,
Branislav Ivanovic,
Ashley Cole,
Michael Essien,
Ramires,
Frank Lampard,
Yossi Benayoun,
Didier Drogba,
John Mikel Obi,
Florent Malouda,
Jose Bosingwa,
Yury Zhirkov,
Paulo Ferreira,
Salomon Kalou,
Ross Turnbull,
John Terry,
Alex,
Nicolas Anelka,
Henrique Hilario,
Daniel Sturridge,
Patrick van Aanholt,
Jeffrey Bruma,
Gael Kakuta,
Fabio Borini,
Josh McEachran.
Bolton Wanderers have named a 24-man Premier League squad. The club was entitled to name 25 players but will also be able to field any player at the club who is under the age of 21.
The club have agreed to cancel the contract of defender Danny Shittu who is now free to leave the club. Winger Mustapha Riga has also not been named in the squad but goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi has been named as one of the 25 despite being on loan at Wigan. This opens the possibility of Al-Habsi being recalled to Bolton; first-choice keeper Jussi Jaaskalainen was sent off in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Birmingham and his place was filled for the rest of the game by 22-year-old Hungarian keeper Adam Bogdan.
The squad is as follows:
Robbie Blake,
Adam Bogdan,
Gary Cahill,
Tamir Cohen,
Kevin Davies,
Mark Davies,
Sean Davis,
Johan Elmander,
Ricardo Gardner,
Stuart Holden,
Jussi Jaaskalainen,
Ivan Klasnic,
Zat Knight,
Chung Yong-lee,
Fabrice Muamba,
Andy O’Brien,
Joey O’Brien,
Martin Petrov,
Sam Ricketts,
Paul Robinson,
Jlloyd Samuel,
Gretar Steinsson,
Matt Taylor,
Ali Al-Habsi.
Bolton wanderers,Bolton,Bolton football club, bolton wanderers football club,Lancashire,greater Manchester,north west England,pack horse hotel Bolton,hotel in Bolton,hotel Bolton,hotels in Bolton,Bolton hotels,hotels in Lancashire,Lancashire hotels,car hire Bolton,Bolton shirts,accommodation in Bolton,accommodation Bolton,jobs in Lancashire,Lancashire double glazing
