• Liverpool have turned down a £35 million offer for Fernando Torres from Chelsea; Torres may have a £50 million minimum release clause in his Liverpool contract.
• Fear not, Liverpool fans: Harry Harris says that Fernando Torres is going to ask for a move to Stamford Bridge, which almost certainly means that it isn’t happening.
• Liverpool have also failed to meet Aston Villa’s demands for Stephen Warnock; Warnock was targeted as a possible loan to cover at left back while a deal with Fulham for Paul Konchesky’s return was being worked out.
• Sir Alex Ferguson – who’s apparently Blackpool’s new BFF – has questioned the legitimacy of the £25,000 fine imposed against Blackpool for fielding an understrength side. Ferguson would really prefer it if every team were free to field understrength sides when they play Manchester United.
• Manchester United will be without Patrice Evra and Edwin van der Sar when they travel to Southampton in the FA Cup. No fine is expected.
• West Ham is close to working out a loan deal for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane.
• Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel has yet to make a decision on his retirement.
• A car dealer who relieved John Carew of £250,000 has been sent to prison for 40 months.
• Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra looks set to complete a loan deal with Monaco.
• Borussia Dortmund playmaker Shinji Kagawa will miss the rest of the season after suffering a foot injury while at the Asian Cup.
• Inter plan on making a £40 million offer for Gareth Bale in the summer.
• Keisuke Honda’s agent has quashed talk of a possible transfer to the Premier League this January. Being that there’re only three days left in the window, I’d say that’s a fair bet.
• Fenerbache striker Mamadou Niang says he’d love to move to Liverpool; the way things are going, Fenerbache are likely to require nothing less than £50 million and a 25% cut of all Liverpool’s television revenue for the 31 year old striker.
• Club America have sacked manager Manuel Lapuente three matches into the Clausura championship.
• Mexico will play Venezuela in a friendly match set to be held in San Diego.

Bent already has one goal to show for his kit change

You may have notice the jerseys on some of the players on your fantasy team have changed colour.   This is not because they were bored with what they were wearing.  It means your man has been transferred to a new squad in the January transfer window.

A move can be good or bad news in terms of fantasy points.  A benchwarmer on one team could be a starter on another and vice versa.  Here’s a few of the more notable transfers and what they mean for you…

Darren Bent – Sunderland to Aston Villa
Bent immediately became Aston Villa’s deadliest striker upon his arrival and he showed it, scoring moments into his first game with the club.  I don’t think he will regain his amazing form from last year, but I see more goals in his future.  Buy him if you need a striker.

This transfer is also good news for owners of other Sunderland forwards Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck who will reap the awards of more playing time in Bent’s absence.

John Carew – Aston Villa to Stoke City
Carew has struggled this year for playing time, which has resulted in the once-powerful striker having a grand total of zero goals so far.  The change of scenery might help, but a better option would be his cheaper and more proficient teammate Kenwyne Jones.

David Bentley - Tottenham to Birmingham
I’ve always thought Bentley was better than he showed in his limited playing time with Tottenham. But without a born goal scorer up front,who is going to get on the end of his crosses at Birmingham?  I’d steer clear for now.

Steven Pienaar – Everton to Tottenham
The speedy South African midfielder finds himself in a very crowded midfield with the likes of Gareth Bale, Rafael Van der Vaart, Aaron Lennon, and Luka Modric.  Again, I’d steer clear until we see whether he gets enough playing time to merit picking him for your squad.

It's like he never left...

Roque Santa Cruz – Manchester City to Blackburn Rovers
I like this one.  RSC is bound to get more playing time with Blackburn and he’s a proven goal scorer.  He can be picked up right now for a bargain price.

Wayne Bridge – Manchester City to West Ham United
I want to say something nice about Wayne Bridge because he’s had a tough go of it lately.  But you don’t want any West Ham defenders on your squad right now.  Just don’t trade him in for John Terry because that’s been done and it was awkward for all involved…

Scott Ferguson

Aston Villa have confirmed they have accepted a loan deal from Stoke seeing the Carew join Stoke until the end of the season.

Since his signing in 2007, Carew has been Aston Villa’s leading scorer every season, (last season he scored 16) and along with the likes of Gabby Abonglanhor, Villa were a side pushing for a coveted European spot with Martin O’Neill. The shock resignation from O’Neill in August saw Houllier take over and he made some drastic changes, resulting in Stephen Ireland and John Carew ignored for starting for places.

Carew has been forced to warm the bench for much of this season and has started irregularly under Gerard Houllier. The drop to the bench for the forward had come as a result of a public spat with gaffer Gerard Houiller, claiming he was “disrespectful” that he didn’t get to earn a new contract and has started in only six of Aston Villa’s Premier League matches this term. A change of clubs has come at the right time for the striker having failed to score at all for Villa this season.

It seems both parties were happy with signing the Norwegian as Carew states:

“The important thing now is to make the most of this opportunity. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I am happy to be here.

“Although I had other offers, I saw Stoke as the best team and the strongest team, so this is a great chance for me to join a side fighting in the top half of the table.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis was also understandably pleased at the signing of Carew and told the club website:

“This is a fantastic signing.  “John’s record speaks for itself because he has scored goals at the highest level throughout his career.

“As well as the experience he has gained at international level he has played for some top clubs across Europe and performed in the Champions League for many seasons, including an appearance in the final for Valencia.

“On top of that, he was Aston Villa’s leading scorer last season with 17 goals, so we have acquired a striker with an outstanding pedigree.”

Unfortunately for Stoke, last week they were reported to have signed Hoffenheim striker Demba Ba but the deal collapsed due to medical reasons and were left to pick up the pieces and with Ricardo Fuller set to join Sunderland, it seems an ideal move for the out of form Norwegian hit man.

• Aston Villa striker John Carew has joined Stoke City on loan until the end of the season. Stoke now employs two strikers who were displaced by Darren Bent.
• Sunderland are currently closing in on signing Stoke City striker Ricardo Fuller to replace the void left by Bent. Fuller is probably now deemed surplus to requirements since John Carew showed up.
• As for Bent, he’s totally stoked (HA!) about making his Villa debut against Manchester City this weekend. Bent scored the loan goal in a 1-0 Sunderland win over city earlier this season.
• Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli will miss that match; he’ll be rehabbing his recurrent knee injury for two weeks in Vermont.
• Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia could make his return from injury in February. In other United injury news, midfielder Owen Hargreaves has been left out of Manchester United’s 25-man Champions League squad.
• Sir Alex Ferguson’s options to replace suspended right back Rafael include John O’Shea, Wes Brown, and playing Rafael as his twin brother Fabio.
• Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin hopes that Arsenal have more landslide victories; Arsenal fans agree, and presumably hope that Arshavin can start actually participating positively in those landslides victories.
• Blackburn have terminated defender Pascal Chimbonda’s contract.
• Blackburn have extended manager Steve Kean’s contract.
• David Beckham was denied the chance to play for Tottenham in a friendly against Queens Park Rangers by common sense an insurance snag.
• Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli has confirmed his interest in Ajax striker Luis Suarez and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young.
• Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina would seriously like the press to quit linking him with every possible club that has needed or will need a goalkeeper.
• Barcelona will look to break out of their one game losing streak against Racing Santander tomorrow.
• Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is not a happy camper and has refused to commit to the club beyond this season.
• Miroslav Klose hopes to start for Bayern against Kaiserslautern on Saturday; Klose has missed most of the season with various muscle injuries.
• Roma striker Adriano will miss at least a month with a broken arm. This is different from normal, when he misses matches due to being terrible.
• Juventus fans have blamed their club’s injury problem on the close proximity between the Juventus training ground and a horse track.
• The Philadelphia Union have signed two Colombian internationals: goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon (39, from FC Köln) and defender Carlos Valdes (25, from Independiente Santa Fe).

By Tony Alvarez

With reports suggesting Aston Villa’s John Carew is on the brink of a move to Stoke following Darren Bent’s high profile move, Shouts From The Stands looks into whether this is a good move for club or player.

Sky sports have reported that Carew passed a medical ahead of a loan move until the end of the season, which is when his contract at Villa runs out.

While there is very rarely a bad loan deal I personally don’t see this as a good move for Stoke City. Although the move will never be a flop because they are only going to be covering his wages which I doubt are excessive.

I should elaborate I don’t see Carew being a flop and may notch a few goals and add to their game but he is not as good as Kenwyne Jones, he may be better in the air but is no where near as mobile and not as much of a handful for defenders.

Whilst he will be a good squad player I find it unlikely that he will be happy to come and sit on the bench, I would be very shocked if he played alongside Jones as they are too similar and do not have enough goals between them.

I think should this deal be complete it will stop Tony Pulis going into the transfer market for a real goal scorer as he will think they have enough options upfront but for me a real goal scorer or a poacher is what they need.

From Carew’ point of view I think this is a great move. For whatever reason he was not getting enough game time at Villa which would of only been lessened by Bent’s arrival

This move provides Carew with the opportunity to get some game time under his belt, if the move is a relative success Stoke will sign him in the summer if the move is a huge success he could attract the interest of some bigger clubs in the summer ( no disrespect to Stoke).

It is also clear that Stoke play to Carews obvious strengths they like to hit the target manarly and hope he can flick on or hold up the ball both of which Carew is very good at, they also get some good deliveries (from crosses, contrary to popular belief they don’t only throw the ball into dangerous areas)  which they will hope Carew can latch on to.

Carew is the obvious winner in this move but should his performances prove a success he could be a massive bonus for Stoke City.

What do you think? Are you happy to be taking him on loan? Do you think he will cut it at Stoke? Villa fans are you glad to see the back of him or would you of preferred to keep him? Would you of signed Carew If you were in Pulis position? Let us know

Also if you could click the link below and join our Facebook group it would be much appreciated.

Derision has been cast on Aston Villa and Gerard Houllier for shelling out £18million, which could rise by another £6million, on the 26-year-old.

But a look at Bent’s goal scoring record suggests it is a perfectly reasonable price to pay for a proven Premier League striker.

Since the beginning of the 2005/06 season Bent has netted 81 times in 186 games playing for Charlton, Tottenham and Sunderland.

That is just a goal less than the Premier League’s top two marksmen during that period, Wayne Rooney, who has scored his 82 in 172 games, and Didier Droga (159 games).

Both Rooney and Drogba play in teams that create far more chances than the three teams that Bent has represented.

In that spell he has shown his versatility at adapting to and scoring goals for three different clubs, and while he has scored quite a few penalties for Charlton and Sunderland, he has also scored plenty of goals from open play.

Bent can also consider himself unlucky not to have been given more of a chance to establish himself as an England player.

As the second most prolific English striker of the last six years he is surely deserving of another chance. It is difficult to see what Emile Heskey offered England in South Africa that Darren Bent couldn’t have doubled.

He has an excellent all-round game for a striker, quick, strong and powerful, he has good aerial ability as well as being comfortable on the ball, and is a sure-footed finisher.

It is an excellent signing for Houllier, who likes having a strong striker to lead the line, something he has been deprived of since arriving in the Midlands.

He has failed to get the best out of John Carew and has found that Emile Heskey is not of the same vintage as the Heskey he had at Liverpool between 2000 and 2004.

There can be little doubt that Darren Bent will score goals for Aston Villa, and in one signing the club will almost certainly have erased any concerns they may have had about being relegated.

If they can hold on to Ashley Young in this transfer window, then a front trio of Bent, Young and Agbonlahor could cause Premier League defences a lot of trouble over the next 18 months.

For a striker who averages around 20 goals a season in the Premier League, £18million seems a perfectly fair price to pay.

It has been a difficult start for Houllier. No, it really has.

Gérard Houllier has certainly ruffled a few feathers since taking the helm at Aston Villa at the start of this season.

Young academy graduates have been given an increasingly important role in the first team, with the likes of Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark and Barry Bannan establishing themselves as regulars.

The trio are joined by a hoard of other starlets making a mark on the squad, which has seemingly paved a way for several big-name players to exit Villa Park.

John Carew and Richard Dunne have become visibly frustrated at a lack of opportunities, while the eccentric Stephen Ireland looks set to bow out of the club less than six months after joining.

While Houllier’s ideals would rightly be lauded should Villa be impressing in the Barclays Premier League, his decisions are instead being derided in some quarters as Villa teeter dangerously over the precipice, although the signing of Darren Bent for £18million this week sends out a clear message of intent.

“We are all desperate for the club to move forward. That is very clear. There has been a lot of change,” said Gary McAllister, the former Liverpool manager’s right-hand man at Villa.

“This group of players have had three managers this season. They started with Martin O’Neill in pre-season, then Kevin MacDonald and then Gerard Houllier came.

“There has been a lot of change, loads of different ideas, training schedules, training times et cetera. The players have been asked to change.”

While the change has seen the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker come back in from the cold to play a major part, it has had the opposite effect on several regulars under O’Neill.

Dunne, for example, was one of the best players not just for Villa but in the Premier League as a whole last season.

Up until recently, though, the Republic of Ireland international found himself fourth in the pecking order, behind former defensive partner James Collins, Carlos Cuellar and the aforementioned Clark.

However, the dropping has emoted a positive response from the jilted defender, who was recalled for the 3-3 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge at the start of the month.

“He has done exactly what we thought he would do,” added McAllister. “He was left out of the team, we were conceding goals and we had to make change.

“He has done what every top professional would do. He has responded.

“He came back into the team and he is a big player for this club and he will continue to be a big player. We need everybody.

“It was not a personal thing when he was left out. It was performance-related.

“We were conceding goals and losing games and we felt we had to make some changes.”

With Villa still struggling, McAllister also stressed that out-of-favour midfielder Ireland and striker Carew could also have futures at Villa.

“Is there a way back for Ireland and Carew? Absolutely,” he continued. “We are very much about people coming in and performing in training.

“We want people to come in here and be competitive during the week. They’ve got to train like winners as well.”

And McAllister stressed the need for Houllier to be given time to stamp his mark, although he believes Villa already have an abundance of quality.

“The manager has got to be given time,” said the former Leeds midfielder. “Everyone needs a bit of time.

“He needs to bring his own people in but, I’ve got to say, there is not a great deal that needs to be added to this club.

“It is a few little tickles here and there. There are a lot of quality players here.

“We just feel in certain positions we might need a bit more experience and in other positions we might need a bit more quality.

“But it doesn’t need a great deal. It just needs a little bit of tinkering.”

Monaco striker Dieumerci Mbokani, Paris-Saint Germain playmaker Stéphane Sessegnon and unhappy Blackburn skipper Christopher Samba have all been linked with moves in recent days, while Tottenham defender Kyle Walker has joined on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

If Houllier can strike a balance with his squad while making his own mark, Villa should be safe.

Confidence is definitely an issue and Roberto di Matteo’s side desperately need a win from somewhere.

West Brom’s latest defeat came at the hands of Fulham and losing 3-0 was the last thing Albion needed. West Brom should have got at least a point from the game and everything was going well until The Baggies conceded just before half-time.

Big questions need to be answered at The Hawthorns and the current situation at the Albion is bleak.

Not good enough

There were plenty of positives to take from the game against Manchester United despite losing the game but football is a results business.

It doesn’t help having so many players ruled out with injury and losing Jonas Olsson was a huge blow. The Swede is a leader on the pitch and why he is not the captain is beyond belief.

Without Olsson, Albion have struggled at the back and the defensive frailties continued at Craven Cottage. Two goals conceded yet again from set pieces and if you are going to survive then you cannot afford to be conceding soft goals on a regular basis.

It was the same with Javier Hernandez’s winner on Saturday. No one marked the Mexican from the corner, end result = Goal!

The only positive for me to come out of the game at Fulham was the performance of James Hurst. I thought he was Albion’s best player on the night and it was his debut. So well done to him and he could be someone to look out for in the near future.

Scott Carson should have done better with Fulham’s first goal. The former Liverpool stopper failed to keep out Simon Davies’ effort and he really does need to look at himself. With the goalkeeper making mistakes, this is not exactly going to give your defence any confidence is it?

I think now is the time to give Boaz Myhill his chance between the sticks. Myhill has proved he can cut it in the Premiership as he did with Hull and I personally feel it is time di Matteo gives him a chance.

Respite

West Brom will get a brief respite from the league when they go to Reading in the Third Round of the FA Cup. Reading are just outside the play-offs in the Championship and I’m sure The Royals will fancy their chances of beating Albion.

The Baggies need a win from somewhere and hopefully that win will come on Saturday. The fringe players will probably be given a chance and hopefully some of Albion’s main defenders will be back to full match fitness before the next league game against Blackpool.

West Brom do need to bring in some players in January preferably a defender and a striker. Peter Odemwingie is low on confidence and you cannot keep relying on him to get you the goals.

Federico Macheda looks as if he will be going to Italy for the rest of the season so he is out of the question. In my last article I mentioned John Carew being linked with a move to West Brom and I personally feel the Norwegian would do a job for us.

Another potential target could be Tuncay. The Turkish striker has not had the best times at Stoke and he could be someone Albion could take a punt on.

West Brom’s next league game is against Blackpool and The Tangerines have been terrific this season. Ian Holloway’s side have been pretty decent on the road and they will be looking to get something from the game against Albion.

It is backs against the wall time for The Baggies but I just think that one win can re-ignite Albion’s season. Let’s get behind the lads at Reading and hopefully we will be talking about a West Brom win.

Come on You Baggies!

Who do you want to see the Baggies sign this month? And realistically who do you feel The Baggies could attract?

A deserved win against a poor Hull side, does not mean we have turned the corner for our season but it at least it keeps some the habitual moaners at bay. But I’m sure they’ll find something wrong.

I’m extremely happy that we got the 3 points, but also unhappy that Greg Cunningham is a casualty because of a rough tackle, for the rest of the season. This could impact his entire career, and I do hope he can recover both physically and mentally.

There always is a wave of optimism when when win, especially against the odds, but there is always an underbelly of negativity within our support, which will not be happy until they are proven right. That somehow we will never be as good as when we were under Pearson, carrying the torch for him as man who could do no wrong, and will be seen as a martyr forever more. Yes he did well with us, but he is no longer here, and this is the present. We have a new manager, new owners, and the team and manager deserve our support. Not bitter and cynical never-ending sputum about how this is all going wrong, and will end in disaster, and this would never happen under Nigel, and we had a league winning team last year, and it’s incompetence of our current manager that we are not top of the league. Because it’s not as black and white as that. It never is.

So that brings us to what will be the main topic of discussion and derision for the next month and beyond. The transfer window. We already have Sol Bamba and Ben Mee confirmed, which already is a note of annoyance to some, as one is a loanee.

Bamba is a questionable signing from Hibs fans point of view, but Sven most see something in him that we do  not have currently in our locker.

Mee is a bright player from Man City who has captained their reserve side and apparently has a very good future ahead of him. He will be very keen to prove himself and gain attention for the England under-21s call up. I do wonder how composed he is, and with the little experience he has how he’ll fit in, but then Cunningham was showed a few doubters that he was worthy of his position.

Sven has stated he is looking to bring in Premiership quality to the team, but is not looking to revolutionise the squad, so he’ll be looking to bring in players where we are lacking. I could argue we need a GK, CB, LB, CM/CAM, FW. So how that can’t be interpreted as a revolution I don’t know.

I have drawn a list from  the Prem teams who potentially might be available, and of course a good few which are long shots, so don’t shoot me down, it makes the list a bit more comprehensive.

If there are players I have left out then let me know I’ll add them, and by all means comment on the players listed. Debate is fine, but I am already aware of the list’s flaws.

I am also aware there are no CCC players on there, which might be more realistic cost-wise, but the problem with that type of list is, that at this moment in time, unless the team from which the quality player is at, is broke, the reluctance to sell/loan a player to us in the same league is unlikely due to the tightness of points from top to the middle. So that is the reason I am not listing them. If you disagree with my reasons that’s fine too.

Each player should link directly to their wiki page. (Let me know if one of them does not work)

Goalkeeper:

Ben Amos

Ander Lindegaard

Shay Given

Wojciech Szczęsny

Carlo Cudicini

Ádám Bogdán

Carlo Nash

Defender:

Ritchie De Laet

Jonny Evans

Chris Smalling

Wayne Bridge (really long shot)

Shaleum Logan

Jonathan Woodgate

Anton Ferdinand (long shot)

Richard Dunne

Midfielder:

Corry Evans

Aaron Ramsey (avail in Jan)

Henri Lansbury (avail in Jan)

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

Kyle Walker (avail in Jan) & also to piss off Colin Wanker!

Danny Rose (avail in Jan)

Jay Spearing

Alan Smith

Kieron Dyer

Isaiah Osbourne

Steve Sidwell

Stephen Ireland

Greg Halford (avail in Jan)

Striker:

Federico Macheda (only avail to be loaned to who will play him most

Giovani dos Santos

Gaël Kakuta

Eiður Guðjohnsen

Ricardo Fuller

Jordy Brouwer

Nathan Eccleston

Shola Ameobi

Xisco

James Vaughan

Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Jermaine Beckford

Frank Nouble

Benni McCarthy

John Carew

David Elm

Marcus Bent (avail in Jan)

Michael Owen

Remember, I have tried to be as objective about this list as possible, these are not my choices per se, and I realise that a few are ‘pie in the sky’.

Comments are welcome, contributions more so!

If you haven’t already then join my SphericalFox Facebook page for new article updates!

UPDATE:

So the results are in for now and the top  5 players tonight you are interested in, are in the poll below. If you could bring one of these players in permanently or on loan which one would you choose?

If the 2-0 loss at Bolton was hard to take then the defeat against Blackburn was even more frustrating.

The goals Albion have been conceding in recent games have been poor and the number of clean sheets kept by Roberto di Matteo’s side this season is a concern.

But now is not the time to turn on the players backs and I am still optimistic West Bromwich Albion will finish above the bottom three.

Spurning Chances

In the away games against Aston Villa and Bolton, West Brom should have got something out of both games based on the number of chances they created.

Against Owen Coyle’s side, Albion had numerous chances to score but if you do not take your chances you will get punished. And inevitably they paid the price for not taking their chances at the Reebok.

Conceding a goal on the stroke of half-time will have been a body blow for di Matteo’s team but you still felt West Brom could get a result.

However Albion continued to waste more chances and Johan Elmander secured the points late on for the Trotters.

Whenever you are dominating a game you have to take your chances otherwise the opposition will make you pay and that’s exactly what Bolton did.

It was great to see Albion create chance after chance but it was frustrating they could not find the back of the net and not get a result.

Disappointing

West Brom’s week got worse as they crashed to a 3-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers. This game provided a perfect opportunity for The Baggies to bounce back from the defeat against Bolton.

Defensive and individual mistakes led to all three of Blackburn’s goals which was disappointing. Rovers like Albion went into the game on the back of two straight defeats and you felt this was the perfect time to play them.

Roberto di Matteo’s side did not get off to the best of starts by conceding an early goal. However they did bounce back and Jerome Thomas equalised for Albion after good work from Somen Tchoyi.

West Brom to be honest did not turn up in the second half and conceding two early second half goals proved to be the sucker punch.

Even though Nikola Kalinic did get sent off, Albion were unable to create clear cut chances and to make matter worse Gabriel Tamas saw red late on.

It was a disappointing display from West Bromwich Albion and the team will have targeted the Blackburn fixture as a winnable game. There will be Albion fans out there who are now starting to worry about the club’s form.

But now is not the time for panic stations. I’m sure most Albion fans will have taken 22 points from 19 games at the beginning of the season. However it could have been more had Albion got something from the games against Villa, Bolton and Blackburn.

Just as the week could not get any worse, Albion face Manchester United on Saturday in the early kick off. All the pressure will be on United but I fear The Baggies could be in for a long difficult afternoon based on what I have seen in recent games.

January

Personally I feel Albion need to bring in a striker as well as another defender. Jonas Olsson will be back in January which will be a relief but I still think The Baggies could do with another defender.

The Hawthorns outfit do need a striker but the question is who do you bring in. Peter Odemwingie has been a revelation at Albion and I have been impressed with the way the Nigerian has quickly settled at the club as well as to the Premier League.

With Ishmael Miller still regaining full match fitness, Marc Antoine Fortune not scoring enough goals, Roman Bednar on loan at Leicester, it is crucial Albion bring in a striker.

There has been speculation about John Carew joining Albion. The Villa man is injury prone but when he is on fire, the Norwegian can be a real handful for anyone. I personally would not mind seeing Carew in an Albion shirt and he has shown he can cut in the Premier League. 

I would be interested to hear from Albion fans about who they would like to see the club sign in January.

Up The Baggies and Keep The Faith! Lets get behind the team!

Big Sam - unsettled at rumours

A humiliating 7-1 defeat to Manchester United aside, it’s been another decent season for Blackburn so far, with the reservations that still remain for some supporters about the style of football played countered by the fact that they once again appear to stand a strong chance of a top-half finish.

With only goal difference keeping Rovers out of tenth place – a consequence of the aforementioned annihilation at Old Trafford – and two points separating them from Sam Allardyce‘s old employers Bolton in sixth, a top half finish looks probable.

However, while their takeover by Indian poultry company Venky‘s and the promise of investment in January should in theory make that target even more obtainable, there are reports that manager Sam Allardyce is concerned that he won’t have the final say in determining who the club try to buy.

The former Newcastle boss has, according to the Daily Telegraph, grown unsettled by the influence of sports agency Kentaro on the new owners and fears that he will be sidelined when it comes to policy, despite boosting a reasonable record when it comes to recruiting players.

Big Sam had supposedly set his sights on Robbie Keane, John Carew and ex-Rovers man Roque Santa Cruz to strengthen up front, though it is thought that Venky’s and Kentaro have different plans that haven’t been received well by those already working behind the scenes at Ewood Park.

Allardyce suffered a similar demise at Newcastle, where he was sacked by Mike Ashley in his first season having been hired by former chairman Freddy Shepherd, and wasn’t impressed with chairwoman Anuradha Desai’s recent claim that “the way we play is vital”.

Villa boss Gerard Houllier is desperate to offload unhappy hitman Carew, 31, next month.

The pair do not get on from their time together at Lyon and Villa want the £52,000-a-week marksman off their huge wage bill.

The struggling Hammers have registered an interest in the Norwegian international, who fancies a move to London.

West Ham manager Avram Grant has admitted the club will listen to offers for struggling striker Cole, who could go to Liverpool.

And if Cole, 27, leaves, then Carew may replace him as he is available for just a nominal fee with his contract up next summer.

Houllier is also stepping up his search for new players next month and is determined to bring in at least one new keeper.

Villa have been told they can have Rangers shot-stopper Allan McGregor for a bargain £2million.

Cash-strapped Rangers intend to sell McGregor,28, unless the club is taken-over.

Houllier wants to find a long-term successor for US veteran Brad Friedel,39, who is out of contract in the summer.

Villa goal-keeping guru Rafael Gonzalez watched 6ft Scottish international McGregor in action recently against Manchester United.

Villa are also keeping tabs on United’s back-up shot-stopper Tomasz Kuszczak and Middlesbrough’s Jason Steele.

Houllier could buy two new keepers as deputy Brad Guzan is out of favour.

If Villa are successful in their pursuit of a new shot-stopper, Friedel may go on a free transfer to MLS side Columbus Crew who want him as a player-coach.

• Manchester United have been hit by a virus ahead of their derby clash with Manchester City tomorrow; Dimitar Berbatov, Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes, and Nemanja Vidic were affected by the illness, which has left Sir Alex Ferguson “counting heads”.
• Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina could leave Anfield in the summer if he’s not satisfied with the level of investment put into the club.
• Harry Redknapp thinks that Peter Crouch should retain his spot in the England national side; since Capello was looking at strikers from the Championship to fill in last week, I think that Crouch is pretty safe.
• Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton thinks that England would be more successful if they stopped calling up “goody two-shoes” players (actually, that’s taken out of context a bit by ESPN; the entirety of his comments are much more measured and mature than one would expect of Joey Barton).
• Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier and striker John Carew may or may not have made up after a weekend spent verbally sparring over Carew’s desire for a new contract.
• Edgar Davids has left Crystal Palace; Davids – previously of Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter, Spurs, and Juventus – joined the Championship club on a free transfer over the summer.
• PSV Eindhoven winger Ibrahim Afellay wants to ride the bench at Barcelona next season.
• Hannover 96 defender Karim Haggui was banned for five matches after doing this to Dortmund defender Jakub Blaszczykowski (incident starts at the :12 mark):
  
• Manchester United is supposedly interested in signing Udinese wonderkid Alexis Sanchez in January.
• Filippo Inzaghi may look to poach goals from an offside position for someone other than AC Milan in January.
• Croatian FA president Vlatko Markovic has banned homosexual players from playing for the Croatian national team.

Norwegian striker John Carew has hit out at his manager Gerald Houllier after the manager labelled him ‘stupid’, Carew who is out of contract at the end of the season and took offence to his manager’s comments by speaking about contract talks via the media suggested he will delay the decision on announcing where his future lies . John Carew missed yesterday’s game through a calf injury,

“If he wants me to fight for a contract, he should speak to me directly and not through the media,” Carew said.

“This is disrespectful to me and to the fans who sing my name week in week out.”

Houllier commenting after yesterday’s dismal draw with Fulham yesterday at Craven Cottage, “I think he is stupid,” he said,

“How can he say that? I didn’t lack respect to him or anybody.

“Somebody asked me if it was a good chance for him and I said yes. What do you want me to say? No?
“I think John is living in the past at the moment.

“He should look at the figures, how long has he played and how many goals have we scored when he has been playing.

“I didn’t lack respect to him but in doing that, he is lacking respect to me.

“I don’t question his ability. I am not living in the past. We have been very unlucky with him with injury and illness. I know his ability.

“If he thinks that me saying yes is lacking respect, then I am not going to say sorry.

“I feel he should focus on the games, we are in difficulty at the moment. We don’t get enough points.”

The Dutchman missed a penalty and was sent off during the midweek Champions League clash with FC Twente and afterwards thanked his colleagues for wrapping up a 4-1 win and ensuring his errors did not prove costly.

Rafael van der Vaart scored twice for Spurs (PA)

Van der Vaart made amends in style by scoring a pair of vital goals against Villa.

His first came in first-half injury-time when he headed home at the far post after Peter Crouch had nodded Roman Pavlyuchenko ‘s cross back across goal.

That made the score 1-1 at half-time, after the visitors had taken the lead through Marc Albrighton in the 16th minute. Emile Heskey held off Sebastian Bassong and crossed to present the Villa youngster with a tap-in.

Both sides had chances to go ahead during an entertaining second half.

Stiliyan Petrov made a superb last-gasp tackle to deny Van der Vaart and Crouch headed over, while John Carew squandered a number of good opportunities for Gerard Houllier’s men.

Van der Vaart had another chance to put Spurs in front with 15 minutes to play – and this time the ex-Real Madrid man took full advantage.

Crouch was again heavily involved, heading down an Aaron Lennon cross for the Dutchman to fire home what proved to be the winner.

He even had a chance to complete a hat-trick, but the new darling of the White Hart Lane faithful hit a late free-kick over the bar.

Kevin MacDonald - last game in charge of Villa

New Villa boss Gerard Houllier won`t be in charge at today`s game, he is awaiting clearance from his former employers, The French Football Association, so Kevin MacDonald stays in charge, on a caretaker basis, MacDonald has won two and lost two in his temporary position.

Villa so far have won both their previous home games against West Ham and Everton and will be looking to get a result against Bolton. Last season the same fixture saw Villa beat Bolton 5-1, but pundits dont expect the same result this time around. Bolton have two players suspended, Jussi Jaaskelainen and Gary Cahill and Kevin Davies will hope to avoid a caution, he is the most booked player in the history of the Premier League has been cautioned in each of his last four games for Bolton.

Aston Villa will give late fitness tests to John Carew and Stephen Ireland both have hamstring strains, Fabian Delph is a definate non-starter with a knee problem.

See our match prediction Aston Villa v Bolton

Kevin Macdonald takes Villa to the Potteries

Kevin MacDonald takes his Aston Villa side to Stoke City tonight and stays in charge despite Gerard Houllier being appointed midweek as the new Villa boss. Houllier cannot formally start managing Villa until he has negotiated a release from the French Football Federation.

Stoke City go into tonight`s game, joint bottom with West Ham in the Premier League table, a position they don`t really deserve to be in. Narrow defeats against Wolves 2-1, at home to Spurs 2-1 and losing 2-0 away at Chelsea leave Stoke manager Tony Pulis looking for the team`s first points of the season.

Aston Villa on the other hand are sitting in sixth place, two victories, 3-0 at home to West Ham and a 1-0 win over Everton was overshadowed somewhat with a 6-0 thrashing away at Newcastle. Consistency is what Villa fans are looking for if they are to enjoy success come the end of the season.

Stoke could give debuts to transfer deadline day signings Eidur Gudjohnsen, Jermaine Pennant and Marc Wilson. Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen hopes to play despite missing Denmark’s Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday because of an elbow infection. Aston Villa will check the fitness of Stephen Ireland, who suffered a hamstring strain in the warm-up to the Everton game a fortnight ago. John Carew is a doubt after limping out of Norway’s match in midweek.

And for the stat lovers here`s some fascinating facts leading into tonight`s game. Stoke have won only one of their last nine league matches since April . They have only once lost their first four matches in a top-flight season – in 1906-07, when they were relegated.  Villa have only lost one of their last seven away league matches on a Monday – 2-0 at Newcastle United in November 2008.

And something to give Stoke City fans hope, they have conceded 17 goals in their last six away league matches, including nine in their last two and Aston Villa have only beaten Stoke once in the last six attempts, a 1-0 home victory last December.

See our match prediction for Stoke City v Aston Villa

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Aston Villa’s Gerard Houllier has no qualms with former Liverpool players (Photo: Getty)

Defender Stephen Warnock and goalkeeper Brad Friedel played under Houllier at Liverpool, while the Frenchman managed striker John Carew at Lyon.

Warnock and Friedel’s first-team opportunities were limited at Anfield while Houllier allowed Carew to leave Lyon and join Villa.

Houllier said: ‘At Jamie Carragher ’s testimonial last weekend, I came across a few players that had left during my time at Liverpool.

‘There was not a problem and there will be no problem here. Stephen Warnock was too young [at Liverpool]. Brad, I got on very well with. Don’t forget, Brad had to leave because we couldn’t renew his work permit. As for John Carew, he is an outstanding talent.’

Houllier was due to meet the Villa players yesterday before flying back home to tie up the loose ends with the French Football Federation after quitting as their technical director.

Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald will, therefore, take charge for tonight’s league match at Stoke, for which midfielder Stephen Ireland (hamstring) is a doubt.

MacDonald will again be at the helm for next Saturday’s home match with Bolton, although Houllier hopes to attend that game.

Houllier revealed: ‘If all goes to plan the Carling Cup match [against Blackburn on Wednesday week] will be the first game I pick the team for.’

Olsen brought the national squad to the World Cup in France in 1998 where they were the only team to beat Brazil except from France who beat them in the final. Norway also managed to qualify for the 2000 Euro Cup, but did poorly and did not get further than the group stage. Since then there has now been a 10 year long drought, with a lot of almosts but not quite good enough.

This time however Norway is off to a great start with 6/6 points, putting them at the top of their group. They still have lots of work to do with facing Portugal away and Denmark twice, but this just might be the beginning of something big for Olsen and his men.  Norway is the only “underdog” to stand at 6 points and lead their group in the qualifying. All the other groups are either lead by the favourites, like Spain, Germany and Italy or they are to close to call at the moment with only a few points separating the best teams in the group.  

Without major injury problems and with Aston Villa striker John Carew in form, Norway can prove to be one of the underdogs to win their group and qualify to the Euro Cup without having to face another team in a playoff. The squad who beat Portugal this week had to play without former Liverpool player John Arne Riise, as he got injured during training the day before.