Kevin Foley has been earmarked for more central midfield duties by Wolves boss Mick McCarthy.Y! again has Foley listed as a defender, but if he's going to continue in midfield he might be a bargain signing. Of course in his run at right mid last year he didn't do too much, but still. Hard to resist the defender playing in midfield. Maybe he's this year's Mancienne, if not this year's Kevin Foley.
The Republic of Ireland international was voted fans’ Player of the Year in 2008-09 playing right-back.
But two of his three appearances have been in the central role after playing the second half of last season at wide right.
And McCarthy believes the 25-year-old has the football brain and mobility to play more in a midfield role.
“I’ve played Kevin in midfield because I know he can play there,” said the boss.
“Kev’s been versatile – right-back and right wing – and he’s very comfortable with the ball. We’ll have to play three in the middle from time to time and I like him in there because he’s comfortable.
“He gives us another option in there.”
Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given could make his return from injury in Thursday's friendly against Club America.
The 34-year-old has been absent from Roberto Mancini's side since dislocating his shoulder towards the end of last season.
But the shot-stopper is now hoping to resume his role as No.1 for the Blues - either in Atlanta or in Saturday's clash with Inter Milan.
Newcastle United have finalised the signing of veteran defender Sol Campbell on a one-year contract.In keeping with the theme, it's another defender on the move. This is a good signing for Newcastle if their expectations aren't too high. Sol had a great impact on Arsenal over a short period of time. I don't think he has the legs for an entire season. But if he can be professional and an example of what a Premier League quality player does and how one has to prepare and play, then they'll get their money's worth out of him.
Liverpool have made a surprise move for the Aston Villa full-back Luke Young. Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, tried to sign Young earlier this year when he was in charge of Fulham and he has now rekindled his interest in the former England international. Liverpool have agreed a £2.5m fee for a player who has been told he is surplus to requirements at Villa Park.Young has long been a fantasy favorite, back to his Charlton days when he was listed in the game as "Young, Luke". He was also a fierce tackling, adventurous fullback. Which we love. I don't remember where his price was last season, but hopefully we'll get another starting full back on a top-7 team for reasonable money.
Although Hodgson's pursuit of Young might raise a few eyebrows among Liverpool supporters, the 31-year-old is able to operate in both full-back positions... He would also increase Liverpool's quota of homegrown players to comply with the new Premier League rule.
"He has the ability to play in numerous positions and is very good in midfield," Mancini told the club's official website.You had me at "midfield".
"This is an additional benefit to the team. He has a fantastic international career ahead of him. I first saw Kolarov in his Lazio debut back in 2007. I was impressed by the speed and strength of someone so young.
"I have watched him a lot since then and so have the Manchester City scouts. His attacking capability is very good. He is fast and can shoot with power and accuracy.
"He was composed on the ball, had an excellent delivery with his left foot and was technically very able."
Newcastle United have completed the signing of former Everton midfielder Dan Gosling on a four-year contract.Gosling is a fantasy favorite from his time at Everton, having been listed in the fantasy game as a defender but getting his playing time - such that it was - in the midfield. He also had a knack for scoring big goals. Which was nice too. But before you rush out and pick him up for your side, just remember that a) NUFC had a pretty settled midfield last year with Nolan, Gutierrez, Smith and Guthrie, and b)
Skysports.com reported on Wednesday that the promising 20-year-old was close to agreeing a switch to St James' Park.
He has now put the finishing touches to the move, becoming the Magpies' second summer signing in the process - following James Perch's arrival from Nottingham Forest.
While Gosling is keen to get going, Newcastle supporters will have to wait some time yet before seeing him in action as he is still nursing his way back to full fitness following a serious knee injury.
Fraizer Campbell denied Brighton with a late equaliser as Sunderland claimed a 1-1 draw in their pre-season friendly in the Algarve...What I'm taking from this for fantasy purposes:
Young keeper Trevor Carson had to make a superb save from Murray after Matt Kilgallon's error and the Black Cats then had George McCartney stretchered off, but Campbell provided a silver lining when he stretched to turn in Jordan Henderson's excellent free-kick.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is set to miss the start of the new Premier League season after tearing a calf muscle in training on Tuesday.Hilario or Turnbull? I've never regretted not picking either of them in the past. But if we know who the number two is, he would certainly come into the conversation if Cech is missing for the first few weeks of the fantasy English Premier League season.
Cech, 28, is expected to be out for a month, during which Chelsea play four pre-season games and the Community Shield against Manchester United.
Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez is closing in on a move to MLS side New York Red Bulls according to Sport.
Sunderland goalkeeper Marton Fulop will spend the next few days on reserve team duty despite Craig Gordon's broken arm.So fantasy managers might get James at Sunderland and/or Fulop at another club. Veeery interesting.
The 27-year-old Hungary international was among a 17-man party which headed for Scotland as the senior squad set off for Portugal.
Fulop has made no secret of his desire to leave the Stadium of Light in the search for regular first-team football, although his position looked to be unclear last week when it was revealed Scotland international Gordon has suffered a recurrence of a lower arm fracture in training.
But amid speculation England veteran David James could be a short-term target for manager Steve Bruce as he decides whether or not to entrust youngsters Trevor Carson and recent arrival Simon Mignolet with the goalkeeping duties for the start of the Barclays Premier League season, the former Tottenham man was not among the group of players who flew out to the Algarve.
Sunderland's Andy Reid is to a visit a specialist after suffering a setback in his return from injury.Also,
The Irishman has picked up an Achilles complaint and will seek medical advice before stepping up his pre-season plans.
Lee Cattermole is also nursing a knock.Well, we won't have BFAR to pick at the beginning of the season. And further back, Sunderland have now lost both Cana and Cattermole - who just can't stay healthy. Riveros will start, but alongside whom? Jordan Henderson, with Malbranque left and Campbell right?
The combative midfielder was forced out of Saturday's 1-0 victory over Darlington with a groin strain and he too will be assessed on Monday before being freed for training duties.
Liverpool FC are delighted to confirm the signing of Joe Cole on a four-year deal.Benayoun is gone. Long live Benayoun.
The England midfielder has agreed personal terms with the Reds and will undergo a medical in the next 48 hours.
Avram Grant has continued his rebuilding programme at West Ham with the capture of French striker Frederic Piquionne as well as Mexico winger Pablo Barrera.Grant is bolstering a line-up with a lot of attacking pieces, even if they never meshed last season. Piquionne can play with CCole or replace him, if need be. Barrera is the true right-sided attacking midfielder they lack with Collison sidelined again. For fantasy my worry is that Barrera, like Diamanti last year, will be listed as a forward even though he'll line up in midfield. That being said, 11 goals in 28 games for his club last season is a good return regardless of position.
Israel international Tal Ben-Haim, whom Grant also worked with at Portsmouth, is reported to be close to completing a switch to Upton Park, as the club reported "further major additions are expected within the next 72 hours."Could we see Bridge leaving Citeh for West Ham? Or Neal's favorite, Nedum Onuoha? Either would be welcome in East London.
The Scottish Football Association says Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon is set to be out until at least October after breaking his arm.Is Fulop still a buck?
Gordon underwent an operation on Thursday after fracturing his bone during preseason training for English Premier League club Sunderland.
Sunderland only said Gordon would miss the start of the season in August, but the SFA went further, announcing that the 27-year-old 'keeper "is expected to miss the first four games" of Scotland's qualification campaign for the 2012 European Championship.
The fourth qualifier is against Spain on Oct. 12.
Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland is off the club's pre-season trip to Sweden today with a back injury - to give Roberto Martinez a major headache.So not only will Al Habsi provide backup for Kirkland, and not only could he challenge for the gloves... he may be wearing the gloves when the season opens, at home, against Blackpool.
Kirkland pulled up in training and will be left at home for treatment, leaving Latics with just one fit senior keeper in veteran Mike Pollitt.
If Kirkland is sidelined for any length of time Martinez may have to make an emergency signing as both Richard Kingson and Vladimir Stojkovic - who appeared for Nigeria and Serbia in the World Cup - have left the club.
Funniest Interruption Of The Tournament
Emmanuel Adebayor's mobile phone ringing live in the BBC studio as he settled in to talk up South Africa v Uruguay. Made even funnier by him instantly turning it off, despite it apparently being the news that he'd just become a father.
1421 BST: The Times is reporting that Manchester City have given a trial to the son of Dirk Benedict, the former star of popular 80s TV show The A-Team. Roland Benedict, 20, whose father played Face in the show, has been training with City's development squad. I pity the fool.
If ever there was going to be something that was going to get me to support Manchester City, this would be it. If Roland Benedict is starting and daddy Dirk is in the audience smirking and doing Starbuck/Face things, I might just have to be in on Citeh. Since that isn't likely to ever happen, I feel pretty safe in maintaining my distaste for all clubs in the greater Manchester area. In fact, if Citeh continue down the path to being the new Chelsea, they might actually make me support ManYoo in the Manchester Derby. Frightening stuff.
Until 8-year-olds aspire to be Landon Donovan rather than LeBron James, the United States is as far away from matching the new world-standard Spain as it has been with any World Cup champion of the past 80 years.I'm not saying I disagree. In fact, I've been saying it for a decade now. But what bothers me is that no one has taken the time to really mine this particular meme for all it is worth. This is blog fodder of the purest form. Link bait extraordinaire! So I'm, um... taking the bait and am doing it myself. Who would make the "USA best athlete" starting eleven, and why?
[Roman Pavlyuchenko] stole the show with a superb second-half display, scoring twice and creating another goal as Harry Redknapp's Champions League hopefuls turned the screw after the break.In the same match, however:
Jonathan Obika netted the only goal of the first half. The youngster profited from a mix-up in the Bournemouth defence and rolled the ball into an unguarded net after 36 minutes.
Andros Townsend set-up Pavlyuchenko to make it 2-0 before the two players combined again soon afterwards to create an opening for Danny Rose to score.
Pavlyuchenko completed the scoring with a deft lob after latching on to a long throughball.
[David Bentley] was forced off during Spurs' 4-0 win in the pre-season friendly at Bournemouth on Saturday and scans revealed Bentley had damaged right ankle ligaments.Meanwhile, it's all happening at Liverpool.
A short statement on the club's official website confirmed Bentley would miss the tour of the USA to receive further treatment at Spurs Lodge.
Arsenal have seen a bid for Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer rejected and the Gunners could now switch their focus to Handanovic as an alternative, with the player seen as a long-term option for the club as he is only 25-years-old.
I hadn't heard about the Schwarzer bid being rejected, but it makes sense. Fulham are reliant on Schwarzer and they won't want to let him go, even if £3.5million is good money to get for a keeper.Sunderland skipper Lorik Cana has left the club after just one season to join Turkish side Galatasaray.This certainly comes as a bit of a surprise. Cana was one of the highlights of Sunderland's early run up the table, but like the team he was struggling at the business end of the season. His ability to play at center-back was a saving grace at times, but his accumulation of cards - 11 yellow and one red - meant he was unavailable for many matches.
The 26-year-old Albania international, who joined the Black Cats in a £5million switch from Marseille last summer, has moved on after the club accepted an offer of in excess of 6million euros for him.
MILAN JOVANOVIC completed his move to Liverpool today.It's tempting to look at last season's Fulham squad to find parallels for how Hodgson will set up his Liverpool side. Is Jovanovic Gera, a wide-man playing behind a lone-striker? I don't think he's quite the orthodox winger, a la Damien Duff. Maybe Clint Dempsey is the closest comparison. Either way, it's exciting to have an attacking player coming in to a "big side" from outside the League. The +10 possibilities are there for Jovanovic as long as he's listed as a midfielder in the fantasy game.
The Serbia international has joined the Reds on a three-year deal from Belgian club Standard Liege...
Jovanovic can play as a striker or wide on the left and is seen as a replacement for Yossi Benayoun who joined Chelsea last week.
Arsenal are on the verge of completing a £10million deal for French defender Laurent Koscielny from Lorient.Another summer, another £10million investment in a central defender. If this one turns out half as well as the Vermaelen signing, then Gooners and fantasy managers alike will be very, very happy.
Arsene Wenger has tracked the 24-year-old for some time, as Koscielny, who is also eligible to play for Poland, impressed in the French domestic league.
The Gunners boss is in need of cover at the back, with Sol Campbell mulling over a new one-year deal and fellow veterans William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre set to leave after the end of their contracts.
Everton have lost out on up to £4 million for England U21 star Dan Gosling after an administrative error allowed the midfielder to walk away for nothing.Really? "Gosling walks"? That's the best that Y!'s headline writers could do? No, "Gosling flies" or any nest puns? I'm a bit embarrassed for them.
Gosling stunned Everton by walking out of the Merseyside club as a free agent despite a £15,000 a week contract offer.
And his decision was a double blow for the Merseyside club: an administrative error saw them fail to make Gosling an official written offer, meaning that they will miss out on a tribunal fee should he move to a rival Premier League club.
Newcastle are set to start their summer recruitment drive with the signing of Nottingham Forest's James Perch.Well, well, well. I don't expect Newcastle to be keeping many clean sheets next season, but if Perch does claim a midfield spot - that's where he played most regularly for Forest, and Nicky Butt has left the club - then he could be worth a look in for fantasy managers. The new Graham Alexander? Another Jack Rodwell perhaps.
The Magpies have agreed an undisclosed fee with the Championship side for the 24-year-old, who can play in midfield and across the back four.
Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner could miss the start of the new Premier League season because of a groin injury.The "Arsenal injury crisis" starts early this season. Good think they've secured Chamakh.
The striker had surgery to rectify the problem in November last year, but said the pain had returned during Denmark's World Cup campaign in South Africa.
The 22-year-old said he struggles to get out of bed at times and has cut short a holiday to return for scans.
"I have spoken to Arsenal throughout the holiday and I am having a big scan when I return this week," he said.
[A]ny organized attempt to look deeply at something risks being self-defeating: you can end up disappearing down all manner of silly dead ends, and understanding less than you would with a more-is-more approach.So true for fantasy English Premier League. Especially when it leads to Friday trades.
The last time Argentina were humiliated 0-4 in a World Cup quarterfinal the dark skies sundered and rain fell with the force of a monsoon. That game took place 36 years ago in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany and left observers reeling with admiration for the Dutch victors, led by Johan Cruyff, playing “total football.”
In Cape Town last weekend the Albiceleste were humiliated 0-4 once more, albeit without rain, by another swift-moving team playing soccer from the future. Only this time the defeat was inflicted by brilliant, free-spirited Germans...
The current tournament is making the Dutch both happy and troubled. They are euphoric that Oranje is winning, but uncomfortable about the “ugly” fotball and loss of attacking elan. Meanwhile, seeing the once-hated Germans is getting Dutch fans even more confused. They look in the mirror and see the face of the old enemy. They see the beautiful, creative, new multi-ethnic Germans and realize, with a flush of potentially healing recognition, that they remind them of the best of themselves.
World Cups are always best understood as epic psychodramas involving entire nations. Yet this sort of symmetrical Jungian mirroring is rare.
Manchester City have secured the signing of Yaya Toure on a five-year deal from Barcelona.Between Touré and Jérôme Boateng, it's going to be hard to write about Citeh just because of the special characters in their names! [/geek]
The Ivory Coast international midfielder returned from World Cup duty on Monday following the African side’s exit from the tournament.
Toure has completed a medical with City physios in Spain and also finalised the details of his switch from the Spanish Champions.
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has confirmed that new signing Stephen Hunt will be out until October due to a foot injury.So Matt Jarvis should still be the pick of the litter (do wolves have litters?)... for the time being.
McCarthy signed the Republic of Irelandinternational for £3million from relegated Hull City earlier in the summer.
The 28-year-old ironically suffered his injury playing for the Tigers in a Premier League game against Wolves back in February.
