Stoke manager Tony Pulis has revealed that his side failed in attempt to sign Scott Parker on transfer deadline day.
The England international opted to move from relegated West Ham to Tottenham in a £5 million move last week, but the White Hart Lane outfit were not the midfielder’s only choice.
“We did have a go for Parker. It was something we were trying to do for a few weeks,” Pulis admitted to The Sentinel.
“But we realised that if he could, he wanted to stay in London. That was a big part of it with him. I felt there were certain areas of the team we can improve and have to improve and that was one of them.
“I enquired about him and kept in touch with Sam Allardyce to find out what the situation was. But Sam said Parker would prefer to stay in London because he’d got three boys in school there,” the Britannia boss concluded.
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Stoke did manage to confirm the signings of Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and Cameron Jerome before the window closed however, and all three are in line to feature for the Midlands club against Liverpool on Saturday.
Goals from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young gave Aston Villa a narrow 2-1 victory at fellow strugglers Wigan on Tuesday.
After an even first half, two goals in the space of 11 minutes after the break allowed Villa to take a stranglehold on the English Premier League encounter, which they held on to despite James McCarthy’s late consolation.
Villa’s 24-million-pound man Darren Bent was quickly into the game, taking delivery of a lovely through ball from Carlos Cuellar with instant control, although his finish was weak and straight at Ali Al Habsi.
Midfielder Stewart Downing then tested the Wigan goalkeeper, who was up to the shot, with Bent also finding the goalkeeper with the rebound.
Wigan winger Charles N’Zogbia had two decent chances for Wigan and – despite failing to work Brad Friedel in the Villa goal – teed up striker Hugo Rodallega, who should have done better from the edge of the area.
The Colombian then squandered a great chance mid-way through the half, firing over after superb build-up play from McCarthy.
The rest of the half petered out, but Villa flew out of the blocks after the interval and found the opening goal inside four minutes.
Young had already seen an effort tipped over by Al Habsi when his corner was met by the head of Cuellar. But while Al Habsi made a magnificent save to deny the Spaniard, the ball looped up on the goal line and was nodded in by Agbonlahor.
Wigan’s response was immediate, with McCarthy’s cross headed inches over his own crossbar by Villa defender James Collins.
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But Villa stamped their authority on the game on the hour mark when Young was needlessly tripped inside the box by Hendry Thomas and the forward picked himself up to smash the penalty down the middle of the goal and past Al Habsi.
Young missed a good chance to make it 3-0 before McCarthy pulled a goal back on 79 minutes with a shot that deflected in off Collins. But Wigan could not muster another to claim a share of the points.
Roberto Di Matteo has admitted that he is fully aware of the pressure on him to deliver with Chelsea in 2012-13, after moving from the interim manager to permanent boss of the Stamford Bridge club.
The Italian coach filled in on a temporary basis last term and excelled after Andre Villas Boas’ dismissal, leading the west London side to the Champions League and FA Cup trophies.
Despite this, Chelsea are on something of a transfer push this summer, signing Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Kevin De Bruyne, and Di Matteo knows he needs to succeed to keep his job.
“I am very happy to be here,” he told reporters at a press conference, reported by Sky Sports.
“I was going to respect and accept any decision [from the board] but I am looking forward now to working with this group of players and hopefully bringing further success.
“The pressure will always be there. There has been speculation from day one and I have lived with it from day one.
“I have lived with it and I focus on my job and everyone else can say and write what they want.
“I have been in football all my life. I clearly know that managers are judged by results, as simple as that. It’s no different for me than anybody else.
“The end of the season was remarkable and the team was outstanding in achieving those targets, but that is the past – now we look to the future and we have to start again.
“We have to try and get running from the start and be competitive in all the competitions we are involved in.
“With Chelsea you are always looking to compete and be in the frame to win something at the end of the season, that will be the key.
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It’s been an exciting summer in the red half of Merseyside with Kenny Dalglish flexing his financial muscles. Over £100 million has been spent since John W. Henry bought the club in October 2010. A January splurge by Dalglish for forwards Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez was followed by another spree, which saw Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing all move to Anfield. It’s been a remarkable upturn in fortunes for Liverpool who look a completely different side to the one that started the 2010/11 campaign under Roy Hodgson. Money has been spent on young and exciting players boasting Premier League experience. Whether they can all gel and take Liverpool back to the summit of the Premier League is uncertain but under King Kenny you’d be foolish to bet against them.
Steve Bruce also splashed the cash this summer bringing in nine new players during pre-season. The most exciting of all is young Connor Wickham signed for £13 million from Ipswich Town. Touted as the future of England’s front line the 18-year-old shows that the Wearsiders have ambition. They looked set for at least a 7th place finish last season only to fall down the table dramatically after the sale of Darren Bent. But the money gained from his and Henderson’s sale have been spent wisely with John O’Shea and Wes Brown being brought in from Manchester United to add experience to a leaky backline. Seb Larsson, David Vaughan and Craig Gardner are shrewd buys from relegated Birmingham City and Blackpooland will offer flair, goals and plenty of graft in the midfield.
With both teams fielding a hoard of new signings this has the makings of a very exciting season opener. Jordan Henderson making his Anfield debut against his boyhood club adds a little extra spice and I think he and his side will come out on top against the Black Cats.
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Verdict: 2-1
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New signing Steven Pienaar could make his Tottenham debut when Spurs travel to face Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.The 28-year-old South Africa international, whose three million-pound move from Everton was completed on Wednesday, will inject even more guile into a Spurs midfield that already features the likes of Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon.
The north Londoners are in fifth place in the league table, eight points behind leaders Manchester United, who they held to a goalless draw in their most recent Premier League outing.
Newcastle are in ninth place in the league, eight points behind Spurs. In their last league fixture they held sixth-place Sunderland to a 1-1 draw in the Tyne-Wear derby at the Stadium of Light, and have claimed seven points from their past three games.
Alan Pardew’s men will, however, be keen to reverse the 2-0 loss they suffered at White Hart Lane last month.
Pardew is still waiting on the fitness of star striker Andy Carroll, who missed the Sunderland game with a thigh strain, meaning Irishman Leon Best could again partner Shola Ameobi up front, with Dane Peter Lovenkrands another option.
Defender Ryan Taylor and winger Hatem Ben Arfa are long-term casualties and are certain to miss out, while Cheik Tiote is out through suspension.
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Redknapp has little news from the treatment room to concern him ahead of the clash, with only long-term absentees Jamie O’Hara, Ledley King and Tom Huddlestone unavailable.
In further positive news for Redknapp, defender Jonathan Woodgate emerged unscathed after making his long-awaited comeback from a groin injury when he played for a Spurs XI in a 9-2 win over Queens Park Rangers in a training-ground friendly on Tuesday.
As Liverpool fans continued to debate last week whether Roberto Martinez was the man to reinstate them to the Premier League’s upper echelons the news that Brendan Rodgers would be their new messiah must have been like a bolt from the blue. After all everyone including the media thought Martinez would be the man to replace Kenny Dalglish in the Reds dugout. It must have come as somewhat of a surprise to learn Rodgers was the man Fenway Sports Group had pinpointed to lead them into a new era. His record at Swansea is certainly an admirable one and he’s certainly proved his top-flight credentials after guiding the South Wales club to 11th in their first season after promotion from the Championship 12-months prior. More so the preference for his teams to play an attractive brand of possessional football, closely resembling the tiki-taka philosophy, has won him a legion of admirers. It will be interesting to see whether he can mould the Reds to his requirements and implement his style upon a playing squad that drastically underachieved under Dalglish.
This week on FFC do the Liverpool owners need to act under a degree of stoicism with Rodgers and could an Icelandic midfielder he managed at Swansea be following him to Merseyside?
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Best of FFC
Liverpool Must Exercise Patience To Exorcise Demons
Have Liverpool missed a big trick here?
The man to oversee the Anfield rebuilding process?
Time for English football to break away from tradition?
Liverpool looking to hijack Swans £6.8m deal
Ligue 1 ace confirms Liverpool interest
Caption Competition: Chelsea and Liverpool stars clash on the course
Changes to English football mean nothing in the wrong hands
A huge investment that delivers no guarantees
Gone but certainly not forgotten at Anfield
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Best of WEB
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Why Rodgers Is The Perfect Man To Usher In A New Red Dawn – Live 4 Liverpool
“The truth is…” – Agent responds to £30m striker speculation. Still a chance…? – Liverpool Kop
FSG = Future Success Guaranteed? – This is Anfield
“It’s legal! – Luis Suarez can’t really believe this…can he? – Liverpool Kop
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Rodgers: Blueprint for a Bright Red Future – The Tomkins Times
A Rational Look at Raheem Sterling – Live 4 Liverpool
LFC manager search: Brendan Rodgers in profile – This is Anfield
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Quote of the Week
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“This is a long-term plan, that was important for me. It’s going to be over a number of years. First and foremost I want to defend the principals of this great club, which is about offensive, creative football but with technical discipline and to maintain the values of the club.” Brendan Rodgers talks about his vision for Liverpool after being appointed manager at Anfield.
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Liverpool unveil Brendan Rodgers as their new manager
Corinthians have confirmed they will be unable to sign Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez before the Brazilian transfer window closes.The Sao Paulo-based club have pulled out of negotiations to sign Argentina striker Tevez, with the clubs unable to finalise the deal before Brazil’s transfer deadline of Wednesday 20 July.
Despite City manager Roberto Mancini claiming on Monday that a fee had been agreed for the 27-year-old, a formal statement attributed to Corinthians director of football Edu Gasper confirmed the transfer has fallen through.
Corinthians are hopeful of renewing negotiations in January.
“The director of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista comes forward officially to communicate the impossibility of the signing of Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez,” the statement read.
“While recognising Manchester City’s efforts and those of everyone involved, there’s no more time for the signing to be finalised, considering that the window to sign players from abroad ends on Wednesday, July 20.”
“We are aware of the dream our fans had of having this player at Corinthians again and we look forward to him being with us in the near future.”
A major issue in negotiations is believed to have been the structure of the fee – Corinthians had hoped the reported fee of 40 million euros could be paid in instalments, but this condition was rejected by City.
It is not yet known if the collapse of the Tevez deal will prevent City from continuing their pursuit of Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero.
Tevez, who requested a transfer as he seeks to move closer to his daughters in Argentina, remains under contract at City until 2014.
He captained the team last season, finishing as the club’s leading goalscorer.
It’s being reported today that Wayne Routledge’s time at Newcastle is set to come to an end. The winger looks set to return to Queens Park Rangers, the club he signed for Newcastle from a year ago, but whether that’s to join Neil Warnock on a permanent deal or on a six-month loan until the end of the season is yet to become clear. The exit of Routledge could well pave the way for a new addition to Alan Pardew’s Newcastle squad, and that could well come in the form of Shaun Wright-Phillips.
I might be getting ahead of myself a little bit here, but that would seem to make sense. It’s been well documented that Newcastle have been after SWP for a long period of time and made a firm bid for the England winger a couple of years back. Wright-Phillips is currently frozen out at Manchester City and seemingly desperate for a move away from Eastlands to resurrect both his club and international career.
I wrote an article a few weeks back saying that if Newcastle could sign one player in the January Transfer Window, I would want it to be Shaun-Wright Phillips (you can read that in full here). SWP is an exciting talent and exactly the sort of player that the St James’ Park faithful love, a winger that’s willing to take players on. The 29-year old would bring pace to the Newcastle starting eleven and has plenty of experience of playing at the top level, and in many ways could be described as a BETA version of Wayne Routledge. Even if SWP did only sign for Newcaslte on loan, it would still be a good move for the club, and if he impressed they could snap him up on something more permanent like they’ve done recently with Hatem Ben Arfa.
There is of course the possibility that Newcastle let Routledge leave and don’t bring anyone in to replace him. While this would be extremely disappointing, it would not be the end of the world. Joey Barton has been on fire this season and seems to be fairly comfortable on the right hand side, and the returning Dan Gosling and Ben Arfa could both be deployed in that position. In regards to Routledge, he hasn’t really cut it in the Premier League and probably never will, but credit has to be given to him for helping Newcastle get promoted from the Championship last season.
So will the impending exit of Wayne Routledge from Newcastle lead to an exciting arrival in the form of Shaun-Wright Phillips? This could purely be wishful thinking on my part, but I’d love to see SWP at SJP! Whether it will happen we’ll have to wait and see, but Wright-Phillips would definitely be an asset for Newcastle and strengthen Alan Pardew’s squad as the Magpies look to kick on in 2011. SWP to Newcastle? Watch this space…
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Real Madrid are ready to make a move for Manchester City’s star playmaker David Silva in the summer, according to Mirror Football.
The Santiago Bernabeu club have been long-term admirers of Sergio Aguero, and it was initially expected that the newly-crowned La Liga champions would move for the Argentine striker when the transfer window reopened.
However, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain already competing for places in attack, Jose Mourinho may well turn his attention to Silva instead.
The Spain international is being eyed up as a possible competitor to Mesut Ozil, who currently is the side’s first-choice playmaker.
Silva starred throughout the season for the English champions, and is widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted players in the Premier League.
The attacking midfielder has two years remaining on his current contract, but recently stated that he is happy at City.
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With the Liverpool Daily Post reporting recently that Jay Spearing could well make a loan move to Wolves this season, it got me thinking about some of the imbalances still apparent in our squad. Although there hasn’t been any real news on his predicted departure, Christian Poulsen will also likely depart this summer if a club can be found for him.
With both Poulsen and Spearing seemingly out the door, it will leave Kenny Dalglish with only one realistic holding midfielder in Lucas Leiva . Although there is now tremendous faith in Lucas after his stellar season last campaign, I still think it would be unwise to go an entire season relying on one player to continue in the holding role.
For sure, it could be argued there is no need for another as the Brazilian showed last year he has tremendous fitness levels which saw him play in nearly every match for the Reds. On top of this, there is less matches to play next season with the Reds not being in Europe, so it seems logical that Lucas could cope well on his own.
I would draw the line though at those who think the Reds could go without a recognised holding midfielder at all in some matches this season. Some fans who have suggested their first choice eleven next season have proffered a central midfield trio of Aquilani, Gerrard and Adam, and although I admit this looks very exciting on paper, the likelihood of such a formation working in reality is negligible. For one thing, you would be asking Adam to play as the most withdrawn of the midfield trio, and one thing we know about the Scot last season is that he can’t tackle. His foul count and his reckless lunge on Gareth Bale is testament to that.
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In addition, when considering Lucas, you have to consider that he has had a long summer with Brazil at the Copa America and after having only a short break from football he may not be as fresh or fit as he was last season. His form may dip or he could pick up an injury; it is something you really shouldn’t take a risk on by not having a backup option.
It is one of the reasons why I have been advocating for us to buy a strong physical defensive midfielder like Yann M’Vila or Blaise Matuidi . (The Reds have actually been linked with Lee Cattermole for £10million but I am hoping this is nothing more than a rumour).
If finances dictate however that the priority for signings lies elsewhere, such as left back and centre half, the Reds may have to look in house unless either Spearing or Poulsen stay. The most logical choice would of course be Conor Coady .
The youngster has impressed in pre-season already, after scoring against Guangdong, and the fact he has already featured in many squads under Dalglish at the back end of last season, suggest King Kenny maybe keen to give him a chance in the first team.
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The most likely scenario would be that he features in a few League Cup ties next season, but with FSG and Kenny keen to ensure that exciting youngsters have an opportunity to progress to first team level, I feel Conor may have the talent to step up if he is called upon. What do you think?
Read more of David Tully’s articles at Live4Liverpool