Leaders Lille host Claude Puel’s Lyon as first meets fourth in a Ligue 1 blockbuster on Sunday.Four points separate the title rivals, and Puel’s men will be aiming to capitalise on Lille’s unexpected 1-0 defeat to Montpellier last time out and cut their gap on Rudi Garcia’s side to one point.Puel claims his side are in their best shape yet to topple the leaders, having scored four goals in each of their past two league outings.”There’s some chemistry within the squad,” Puel said. “It shows the quality of our squad and its mindset. If we keep that mindset, we can do some very good things until the end of the season.”Lille boss Garcia admitted his side did not look like genuine championship contenders in the Montpellier defeat, a result which ended their 13-match unbeaten streak.”We were no longer used to not taking points,” Garcia said. “We’ll have to refocus and make sure everybody does more because we didn’t see a team leading the league, and doing anything to take points.”Fresh from securing a spot in the final 16 of the Europa League, Paris Saint-Germain can build more confidence with a home victory over Toulouse.Elsewhere, Nancy, who have lost five of their past six league clashes, must overcome another large hurdle in their relegation battle when they host third-placed Marseille.On Saturday, second-placed Stade Rennes host relegation-threatened Lens, Saint-Etienne and Nice go head-to-head with both sides looking to break two-game losing streaks, while Sochaux welcome Montpellier to the Stade Auguste Bonal.In other fixtures, Valenciennes take on Lorient, Bordeaux host Auxerre, Caen travel to Monaco and bottom side Arles face Brest.
Injured England captain Rio Ferdinand has said the incident that ended his World Cup dreams in South Africa was a complete accident.
The Manchester United defender suffered a knee ligament problem when he clashed with Emile Heskey last Friday, but he has admitted it was just one of those things.
Speaking to reporters, he said:"The ball came in from one of the lads to Emile, I'd gone to try and tackle him from behind – he didn't actually see me coming – we both went off balance and Emile's weight went down on my knee.
"It's no fault of his at all. It's just a freak accident that could happen at any given time and it had no connection to any previous injuries I've had.
"I knew I wasn't going to be able to play in the World Cup even before I got the scan (result) – I was just waiting to get it confirmed.
"It's disappointing, but I've come to terms with it now.
"The first night was quite a pretty long night, going over what could've been and to not be able to represent your country in the World Cup.
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"I was going over scenarios in my head of what could've been.
"Leading out your country into a major tournament is the stuff of dreams and it's taken from under your feet. It was a long evening thinking about stuff like that."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Over the years some great players have pulled on a West Ham shirt, however there has also been a long list of truly bizarre and utterly frustrating catastrophes.
Narrowing it down to a top (or bottom) five proved a challenge due to the revolving door policy under Harry Redknapp, the over-priced, over-rated, has-beens of the Curbishley regime and the just downright ill conceived, reactionary purchases of Avram Grant and Glenn Roeder.
So the final shortlist is players that stand out for their shear bizarre ineptitude and incompetence that left many of us tearing our hair out and screaming into a cushion.
I could have made a list based on purely loan players that were never fit to wear the shirt, and there have been a lot of those. These include Sasa Ilic, who only played 50 minutes for the Hammers but managed to inspire Everton to a 4-0 victory at Upton Park before getting subbed.
Recently he appeared in some low budget films in his native Serbia, some say he had been acting as a goalkeeper his whole career. Mido was another shocker, he offered to play for just £1,000 a week, which appealed to the board at a time when our finances were in a similar state to Greece’s, it looks like we over-paid though.
Wayne Quinn took the biscuit. He was brought in with a host of loans signings during the first season back in the old Division 1 in 2003, his lack of pace, positioning, awareness and general ability to even kick a football amazed and confused fans and opponents alike. But as none of these geniuses were actual West Ham players they have all been left out for people we had to actually sign and waste money on.
First up in the hall of shame and propping up the rear with his massive backside, at number five, it’s Titi Camara. One of the many wastes of space Redknapp inflicted on us as he squandered the £18m we got for Rio Ferdinand. He was signed from Liverpool after earning a bit of a cult status for scoring some vital goals and playing after the death of his father.
At West Ham he only earned hatred and ridicule as he made 14 appearances between 2000 and 2003 before being loaned to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. During his spell he failed to score a single goal and when the club cancelled his contract for being useless and over-weight he tried to sue them…he was unsuccessful. He is now the sports minister and manager of the Guinea national team.
Number four is Joey Beauchamp. Signed by Billy Bonds as a promising young winger in 1994 for a then club record of £1.2m. After complaining about feeling home sick (for Oxford of all places) he couldn’t handle the traffic during his travel down the M40 to training each day. He was sold to Swindon (only 20 miles nearer to Oxford) without playing a competitive game.
Beauchamp makes the list purely because his sod-this-for-a-laugh attitude to football caused Bonds to question his faith in the game. Later he returned to Oxford United and became a very popular player for them. His story took a darker turn as he recently admitted to battling with drink and depression following his retirement.
Coming in at three is Marco Boogers. A Dutch striker signed by Redknapp from Sparta Rotterdam in 1995 as an answer to our goal scoring woes. In only his second appearance during an away trip to Old Trafford he was sent off early on for assaulting Gary Neville. Although extreme violence against Gary Neville is not he worst crime in the world, Boogers then legged it to Holland and reportedly hid in a caravan.
This turned out to be an urban myth and began with a misunderstanding by a journalist who heard ‘caravan’ instead of ‘car again’ when asking about Boogers travel arrangements to his rehab in Holland. He made a further two substitute appearances, then a recurring knee injury and a major case of don’t-fancy-it-itis saw him return permanently to the Low Countries. After he left Redknapp described him as an awful player and stated that he’d only seen him play in a video in which he looked ‘world class’…. a lesson there maybe?
The number two spot goes to the enigmatic Savio Nsereko. Supposedly a promising young striker who starred for the German under-19s, he was one of the more bizarre signings as part of Gianluca Nani’s ‘project’ during Gianfranco Zola tenure. He was signed to replace Craig Bellamy in the 2009 transfer window for reportedly up to £9m with add-ons from Brescia. Savio, as he was known, made a handful of less then average appearances in which he looked out of his depth in the Premier League, even against Hull and West Brom.
In the press conference at his unveiling his high-pitched voice sounded strangely similar to that of Michael Jackson’s, and as it turned out he kind of played like him too. He was later swapped as part of the Manual Da Costa deal with Fiorentina, where he failed to impress and was bounced around Europe in a succession of ever worsening loan moves. Most recently he fetched up at Serie B side Juve Stabia where he is now AWOL (for the second time) and currently being hunted by Interpol.
But the king of bad West Ham signings is Gary Breen. His constant poor performances during the 2002/03 relegation season have now become synonymous with the emotional roller-coaster of supporting West Ham and even inspired a book on the subject by Robert Banks.
Glenn Roeder signed him on a free transfer as Breen was without a club and had turned in some impressive performances for the Republic of Ireland during the 2002 World Cup, in particular scoring against known world beaters Saudi Arabia. On that basis Breen had the pick of European clubs, he chose West Ham over some ‘generous offers’, reportedly Inter Milan and Barcelona, and more realistically Charlton. In an interview reminiscent of David Brent in The Office he stated on Sky’s Goals on Sunday in 2009 that he would have moved to the San Siro if he hadn’t failed a medical.
After an infamous bust-up with Roeder following a defeat away to Manchester United, in which he was heavily blamed for many of the goals, Breen tried to suggest the wet turf was the reason he was unable to play to his usual high standard and even posses the most basic levels of foot and eye co-ordination. The Manchester United players seemed to cope with the conditions as they ended up winning 6-0. Breen was let go in the cull following relegation that year after making 18 embarrassing appearances.
Although no list of terrible West Ham players would be complete without mentioning superstars such as Gary Charles, Benni McCarthy, Nigel Quashie and Keiron Dyer, who will only be remembered as a drain on resources and taking vast amounts of money for being either drunk, fat, rubbish or constantly injured (in that order) and lacking any integrity or professionalism when it came to their supposed careers, the main five stick out as the biggest horror shows.
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There is seemingly no stopping Liverpool’s rise up the Premier League table right now as the Reds continue to go from strength to strength under the management of Kenny Dalglish. The victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was their fourth in a row, with their previous Premier League fixtures against Stoke, Fulham and Wolves ending in victories and even more impressively clean sheets, too!
Liverpool now find themselves sixth in the Premier League table, six points and thus just two wins behind Chelsea who are currently in the last Champions League qualification spot. With Luis Suarez yet to get up to speed with the Premier League and record £35 million signing Andy Carroll still to come back from injury, things are definietly looking up for the Reds.
Liverpool are now 9/1 to finish in the top four this season after another win under Kenny Dalglish on Sunday. bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth “Raul Meireles and Co are thriving under King Kenny and Liverpool’s odds to finish in the top four are tumbling by the week under his guidance.”
Also, Fernando Torres is now 10/11 from 4/5 to score 16 or more goals this season after being substituted against his former side. “Torres was well backed both pre-game and again at half time so we were pleased to see him fire a blank” added Freeth.
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Are Liverpool worth a punt at 9/1 to qualify for the Champions League? Make your bets now!
Luis Suarez has signed a new five-year contract with Liverpool, ending speculation over his future.
The Uruguay international has had a hot and cold time in England since moving to Merseyside from Ajax in January 2011, and has been linked with a move to both Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus in recent times.
Despite this, the South American has put pen-to-paper on a new contract and claims he is happy at Brendan Rodgers’ side.
“To sign a new contract with Liverpool is unbelievable for me because I am so happy here at both the club and also in the city,” he told the Reds’ official website.
“That is important for me and I am very happy with my new contract.
“When you are a kid, everybody wants to play for Liverpool. I am here now and it is a dream for me, and now I am a Liverpool fan.
“I am happy off the pitch because the people of Liverpool are good with me and my family. I try my best on the pitch and when you are happy off the pitch, you are happy on the pitch.
“I want to say thank-you to the fans because they are our 12th player. The supporters of Liverpool are unbelievable.
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“Five or six years ago I watched on TV the stadium and the club, and now I play here and the supporters have helped me. That’s very important for me,” he concluded.
Kevin Nolan has urged former Newcastle United teammate Joey Barton to join him at West Ham, the Mirror reports.
The former Magpies captain moved to Upton Park in June after a falling out with the clubs hierarchy over a new contract.
Barton has also quarrelled with owner Mike Ashley after his outbursts on Twitter and is available to leave St James Park on a free transfer.
Nolan believes Barton needs to escape the tyranny on Tyneside and insists he’ll be appreciated more in East London.
“Would Joey Barton come here? Well, I came here, so I can’t see why Joey Barton would not come,” Nolan said.
“It is a massive club. The way he has been treated over the last couple of years, he is probably looking for an escape.
“He knows I’m here, he knows Sam [who signed Barton for Newcastle in June 2007] is here and what we are about – I can look after him and he can look after me!”
With a year left on his contract Barton could leave Newcastle before the transfer window closes.
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It was current Hammers boss Sam Allardyce who signed him during his brief tenure on Tyneside but whether Barton would be prepared to drop down a division remains to be seen.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has revealed Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate turned down a loan move to Molineux.
The 31-year-old central defender is battling back to full fitness after a severe groin problem threatened to end his career, and it was thought he would opt for a loan spell in a bid to gain match fitness.
But McCarthy said Woodgate – who has not played for Spurs since November 2009 – turned down the offer to help Wolves in their battle to avoid relegation as he tries to win back a place in Tottenham’s starting 11.
“He doesn’t want to do it, he wants to fight for his place there, so fair play to him,” McCarthy said.
“I haven’t spoken to him, but that’s the message I’ve got back.”
Wolves, who welcome Stoke in an FA Cup fourth-round clash on Sunday, have so far failed to land a big-name player during the transfer window but McCarthy is looking forward to watching the progress of young striker Leigh Griffiths – a recent capture from Dundee.
“He’s scored 45 goals in 90 games and he’s got an eye for goal,” McCarthy said.
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“He’s not up to speed here yet, in terms of being a Premiership player, but he’s hungry to do it and he wants to get there.”
“If we can work with him and improve him, we may well have got ourselves a little gem.”
Cesc Fabregas struck the winning penalty for Spain as they made it to the Euro 2012 final after a dramatic shootout victory over Portugal at the Donbass Arena.
Following a goalless 120 minutes the two nations’ fate would be decided by the lottery of penalties with Barcelona midfielder Fabregas tucking away the decisive spot kick via the post after Bruno Alves has smashed his off the bar just moments earlier. It proved to be a thrilling finale to a game that could be considered one the dullest at the tournament so far. That is unlikely to bother Spain as they booked their place in Sunday’s final and kept their hopes alive of defending the trophy they won in 2008.
Portugal, in particular Cristiano Ronaldo, will be disappointed that they failed to see out the game in normal time having been the better team but failed to suitably test Vincente Del Bosque’s men. The World and European champions were clearly out of tune failing to settle into this usual passing rhythm as Portugal pressed the midfield areas using their physicality to good effect.
Spain’s best chance of troubling Paulo Bento’s side was down the wing and left back Jordi Alba had the warning signs blaring as he teed up Alvaro Arbeloa to thump an effort over the bar after being played in by Andres Iniesta. Ronaldo soon started influence proceedings rampaging past Gerard Pique like he wasn’t there and sending a teasing cross towards Nani that was plucked off his head by Iker Casillas.
The Real Madrid attacker then went close with a left foot snap shot before a rare attack from Spain saw Xavi and Iniesta combining for the latter to curly just over just before the break. Seeing that his team were struggling to breach the Portugal back four Del Bosque rang the changes with ineffectual pair Alvaro Negredo and David Silva replaced by Fabregas and Jesus Navas.
Stretching the play seemed to work for La Roja as Xavi started to find pockets of space in the midfield embarking on a dribble that showcased his poise and close control before firing straight at Rui Patricio. Portugal began to visibly tire as the second period wore on although Ronaldo went close driving a free-kick just over the bar repeating the trick in injury time.
Portugal then broke at speed but Raul Meireles’s pas to Ronaldo was weak forcing the captain to drag a shot agonisingly wide as extra time loomed on the horizon. Xavi was surprisingly replaced by Pedro as fatigue started to effect both teams with Spain having the best chance to steal victory when Alba picked out Iniesta’s run only for the midfielder to see his close range strike pushed around the post by Patricio. Sergio Ramos then thumped a free kick just over the bar before Patricio was called into action again by Navas.
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Fabregas then played Pedro through on goal but the winger didn’t have the legs to outpace the Portugal defence and it would boil down to penalties to decide who would progress to the final in Kyiv. Xabi Alonso and Joao Moutinho respectively saw their penalties saved first before Iniesta, Pique and Pepe converted from 12-yards.
Bruno Alves then stepped up for Portugal but was inexplicably called back by Nani who buried his spot kick followed by Sergio Ramos mimicking Andrea Pirlo’s ‘paneka’ penalty from the quarter final win over England on Sunday. Alves then stepped up but was clearly disturbed at being replaced in the order smashing the ball off the bar allowing Fabregas to score and send Spain into the final.
Arsenal look set to land long-term target Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain according to the Telegraph with Arsene Wenger finally making moves in the transfer market.
The Southampton winger has been tracked by the Gunners for some time and now looks set to follow in the footsteps of former Saint Theo Walcott in moving to North London.
A fee of £12 million has been protracted with Arsenal paying £7 million up front and the remaining £5 million being paid through performance-related add-ons.
Southampton’s insistence of adding a 40 per cent sell-on fee almost caused the deal to collapse only for both parties to reach an agreement after further talks.
His move to the Emirates will certainly prove to be a major coup for Wenger with the 17-year-old also being monitored by Liverpool and Manchester United.
However the England Under-21 star has always maintained that his preference was a move to the Emirates. Despite the prospect of a season of limited Premier League action he is keen to make the move to London.
It will also be a substantial boost to Wenger and the Gunners fan who have endured a difficult summer in the transfer market so far.
The deal for Oxlade-Chamberlain will certainly appease those in the stands who have craved some serious transfer activity with Gervinho the only major incoming.
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Arsenal expect the deal to be completed this week with personal terms expected to be a mere formality.
Bayern Munich moved to third in the Bundesliga after coming from behind to beat Wolfsburg 3-1 on Saturday.
The defending champions reduced the gap on second-placed Bayer Leverkusen to just three points with their triumph, which came thanks to three second-half goals.
After an uneventful first half, Bremen opened the scoring just after the break when Per Mertesacker converted after good build-up work from Sebastian Prodl.
But Bayern, undefeated in their last eight games in all competitions, fought back strongly and levelled proceedings when Dutch international Arjen Robben found the back of the net after 65 minutes.
Mertesacker turned from hero to villain when he turned the ball into his own net with 14 minutes remaining and substitute Miroslav Klose added the finishing touches with Bayern’s third four minutes from time.
Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese was given a straight red card in the dying stages which will see him banned, adding further misery to the day for Thomas Schaaf’s side, who are only three points above the bottom three.
Borussia Dortmund re-established their 11 point lead at the top of the league with a convincing 3-0 away win at Wolfsburg.
Leverkusen’s 2-0 win against Hannover on Friday moved them within eight points of Juergen Klopp’s side, but Dortmund answered the challenge on Saturday, making the perfect start when Paraguay international Lucas Barrios scored after just two minutes.
Further goals to Nuri Sahin and Mats Hummels wrapped up the victory, with Wolfsburg struggling in 12th after the defeat.
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In other matches, Nuremberg upset an in-form Hamburg 2-0 thanks to second-half strikes from Timmy Simons and Almog Cohen, while Isaac Vorsah’s fourth-minute goal gave Hoffenheim a 1-0 away win at Schalke.
In a battle between two of the strugglers in the Bundesliga, St Pauli thrashed Cologne 3-0, thanks largely to a Charles Takyi brace.