Nolan - I saw the old Joey Barton re-emerge in his cameo vs. Arsenal yesterday - he could easily have been sent off in under 20 minutes (as it was, he saw yellow for the less flagrant of his two bad fouls). With a derby on tap this weekend, it feels like the time to shift to Nolan if you want a reasonably priced NUFC midfielder.Does Nolan ever score just one goal in a match? It's either brace - or hat-trick - or nothing for him. So frustrating for fantasy purposes.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has confirmed that striker Wayne Rooney's ankle injury is worse than first thought.
Rooney was originally expected to be out of action until the second week of November with the injury, which has restricted him to just six appearances and one goal for his club so far this term.
However, speaking at United's press conference ahead of Saturday's home clash with Tottenham Hotspur, Ferguson revealed that the England striker is set for a longer lay-off, effectively ruling him out of the Manchester derby at Eastlands on November 10.How do you say Little Pea in Spanish?
Ramires and Frank Lampard remain sidelined for this weekend's fixture, but Alex returns to the line-up after a four-week layoff.
The defender has not played since smashing in the second goal against Arsenal on October 3, but will partner John Terry in the centre of defence against Blackburn on Saturday afternoon.Yay! Another week with Zhirkov at a cheap defender playing in midfield!
Tevez is all but certain to miss City's upcoming Premier League matches against Wolves and West Brom...Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.
“He’s the best player that’s ever graced MLS,” said United interim coach Ben Olsen, a longtime teammate. “It’s no coincidence that every trophy that this team has won, Jaime Moreno has been a part of.”
Moreno entered the league during its inaugural season in 1996, and he’ll play his last game Saturday when United ends their regular season against Toronto FC at RFK Stadium. He is the only player in MLS history with 100 goals and 100 assists. His 132 goals are tied with Jeff Cunningham of FC Dallas atop the all-time list—and Moreno has played in four fewer games. Moreno’s 102 assists are fifth all-time, and he’s a seven-time All-Star.
How much have defenses feared him? He’s suffered 703 fouls, 66 more than anyone else.
But it’s the hardware that sets the 36-year-old Bolivian apart from any contender on the MLS legacy charts. United have won 12 trophies with Moreno on the roster: four MLS Cups as league champions, four Supporters’ Shields for best regular-season record, two U.S. Open Cups and a pair of international titles. He is a winner, one who didn’t get sufficient due in the general sports world.
You see, Neal and I are DC United fans. Since day one. Since Eric Wynalda beat us with an 88th minute goal in the first ever MLS game. Since the magic triangle of Etcheverry, Moreno and Diaz Arce turned around that first season and led us to consecutive MLS Cup championships - the second of which we watched in the pouring rain at our home field, RFK Stadium. Since the day Peter Nowak and the expansion Chicago Fire beat us to deny us a hat trick of championships, and broke our hearts.Of that magic triangle, it was Moreno who stayed around the longest, adapted his game the most and really is my last strong link to DC United - which makes me quite sad. But in the words of perhaps my favorite bit of signage ever at a DCU/NY(J) match:
DC is Jaime-town!
Didier Drogba looks set to return to lead the Chelsea attack against struggling Wolves on Saturday, but Frank Lampard will have to wait a bit longer for his comeback - much to the frustration of the England midfielder.
Ivory Coast international Drogba has missed the Blues' last two matches because of a virus but has now resumed full training ahead of the visit of Mick McCarthy's side, third bottom of the Premier League.
Lampard, though, is expected to need more recovery time following his hernia operation which has seen the 32-year-old out of action since August 28.
Aston Villa defender Luke Young is set to miss the next three matches with a torn hamstring.
The 31-year-old missed last Saturday's 0-0 draw with Chelsea after suffering the injury in training on Friday.
Scans show the problem is worse than feared and the former England full-back is likely to be out for two weeks.
He will miss Saturday's clash at Sunderland, Wednesday's Carling Cup tie with Burnley and the home match against Birmingham on 31 October.
PETER Odemwingie admits his chances of facing Fulham on Saturday (ko 3pm) are slim.
The four-goal striker missed the 2-2 draw at Manchester United due to a knee injury he picked up against Bolton almost three weeks ago.
He is itching to get going again but has yet to train this week and will not be rushed back with 11 Barclays Premier League fixtures to come in November and December.
Wayne Rooney's desire to walk out on Manchester United has left the Premier League club facing the loss of a third world-class attacker in two years and its bewildered manager Alex Ferguson in a state of shock.There's so much to this story that is being parsed elsewhere, so I'll try to take a fantasy manager's approach to this first.
Ferguson said he was "dumbfounded'' at Rooney's decision not to enter into negotiations about extending his contract beyond the summer of 2012.
"We just don't know what's changed the boy's mind... I was shocked,'' said Ferguson. "I had a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent had said. He wanted to go.'"
Captain Kirkland will not be a zero next week (probably minus) as Wigan play Bolton and Al Habsi will not be allowed to play against his 'parent' club.Kirkland was on my provisional team as I'm trying to squeeze in both Drogba and Tevez at forward. Now I have to decide if I'm happy with this news or not. At first blush, Wigan have been much better defensively recently, but that could entirely be down to Al-Habsi's form.
Carlo Ancelotti will be without Ramires for the Spartak Moscow game, after the midfielder picked up a knock on his ankle in Saturday's goalless draw with Aston Villa.
The Brazilian travelled to Russia but will not be fully recovered in time and will return to England for treatment, where he will join Alex, Jose Bosingwa, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.
Despite these absences Ancelotti feels he will be able to field a strong side against Spartak in the Luzhniki Stadium, and is buoyed by the return of Salomon Kalou, who trained with his team-mates on the artificial surface on a chilly Moscow Monday.
Carlos Tevez will be rested either tomorrow or in the Europa League on Thursday after he complained of being exhausted.
PETER Odemwingie and Jerome Thomas are both major doubts for West Brom's weekend trip to Manchester United - as Roberto Di Matteo considers loaning out Ishmael Miller.
Odemwingie and Thomas, both of whom scored in the recent 3-2 win at Arsenal, have yet to train since picking up knee and calf injuries respectively.
Di Matteo believes the duo are unlikely to make Saturday’s game at Old Trafford unless they resume training in the next day or so.
Dirk Kuyt and Daniel Agger have been injured on international duty giving Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson more to worry about ahead of the Merseyside derby on Sunday.
Kuyt's injury could be the more serious as he lasted only 29 minutes of Holland's game against Sweden before leaving with what appeared to be a bad ankle injury.
Agger, making his comeback from a groin problem, lasted only 39 minutes of Denmark's game against Cyprus.
SAFC striker Darren Bent has had to pull out from the England squad due to an injury sustained in training...If not, Gyan at 6.39 becomes an intriguing choice.
Sunderland fans will be hoping the injury, described as a 'groin injury' will be minor and he will recover in time to face Blackburn a week today and especially the Tyne-Wear Derby on 31st October.
Arsenal and France defender Bacary Sagna expects to be on the sidelines for another three weeks as he continues his recovery from a left thigh injury.
The 27-year-old is sitting out Les Bleus' Euro 2012 qualifying double header against Romania and Luxembourg due to the problem, and does not plan to rush his return.
He told French television programme Stade 2: 'It's okay. I'm currently in rehabilitation. It will take three weeks. I'll take my time to get back.'
West Ham co-owner David Gold is not panicking about the prospect of losing Matthew Upson on a free transfer and would be happy to wait until the end of the season for the England defender to commit his future to the club.I wouldn't imagine they're too worried. Upson has been awful and is the "leader" of an awful defence.
Upson is unlikely to put pen to paper on his new deal until West Ham's Barclays Premier League status looks more secure given that he will need to be playing top-flight football to make England's Euro 2012 squad.The irony here is that said status won't be secure despite, or because of, his "best" efforts. As for Euro 2012, he'll be 33 years old with a history of serious injury. Does anyone really think he'll be in line for place in the squad? His contemporaries include the incumbents Terry and Ferdinand. And England are producing potential center halves at quite a clip these days - Turner and Bramble (yes, I said it!) at Sunderland; Shawcross at Stoke; Cahill at Bolton; Smalling at Manchester United; Richards; Rodwell; etc...
Losing Upson would be a big blow to the Londoners, who have built their defence around the centre-half since he arrived from Birmingham in a £6million deal in January 2007.14 goals allowed this season, only one better than league worst Blackpool. Big blow, indeed.
"Matthew is always welcome to come to me and talk about it. The fact that we're bottom of the league makes it a bit difficult but it's no rush for neither him nor us."Translation: "I won't laugh him out of my office, but really, he's not going to be here next season."
Fulham forward Zoltan Gera is hoping to play out wide more under Mark Hughes, rather than in an advanced position.Evidence, from the horse's mouth, what fantasy managers could have told you years ago. Gera doesn't enjoy playing through the middle. That's why, despite the attraction of a relatively cheap midfielder lining un "in the hole" as a second striker, the move never paid off for Fulham or fantasy managers.
Gera does not believe his style of play is suited to a striker role which Hughes demands, whereas he does enjoy operating out wide.
The talented schemer believes that with a little patience and hard work he can become a regular under Hughes.
"I really enjoy training but (Hughes') tactics differ from Roy Hodgson's," he told skysports.com. "Hughes wants a strong striker who can run into the space and hold the ball, but I'm not that kind of player.
Danny Simpson is eyeing a recall to the Newcastle starting XI after breezing through a comeback game.
The full-back, who has been sidelined for six months with an ankle problem, stepped up his return with a run out in a behind-closed-doors clash with Aston Villa on Tuesday.
He was able to get 75 much-needed minutes under his belt in that contest and has experienced no adverse reaction to his first outing of the season.
Simpson is likely to be held back in the reserves until he recovers his full match sharpness, but the 23-year-old is delighted to be back in the frame.
[Alex]underwent medical assessment on a thigh muscle injury sustained in the closing moments of Sunday's win over Arsenal, after he had scored Chelsea's second goal.Thanks to a yellow card in his substitute appearance at the weekend, Ferreira is back down to 6.14. Of course we'll also be monitoring Bosingwa's return, which is rumoured to be the Villa match. He's just 6.59 and would be a tasty addition to your fantasy side if he is indeed Chelsea's number one number two.
It is estimated he will be out for three weeks.
Carlos Tevez's volatile relationship with Roberto Mancini has descended into open hostility after a furious row between the Manchester City manager and captain at half-time of Sunday's 2-1 defeat of Newcastle United.
The argument began when Mancini overheard Tevez making a derogatory comment in Spanish and challenged him about it. The argument quick escalated while other team-mates watched in silence as the two men lost their temper. Tevez blamed Mancini for a poor first-half performance, complaining about his tactics and saying the Italian was getting it wrong by being too negative. Tevez has been playing as the lone attacker in a side featuring three holding midfielders and, despite scoring five times, the striker is believed to be increasingly frustrated about the lack of chances coming his way.
Mancini, who has shown an increasingly tough edge this season, saw it as his authority being undermined and responded aggressively, reminding Tevez that he was under orders to follow team instructions and should not be questioning his manager in such a way.
Mancini agreed to Tevez's request to take an extra day off after the international break so that he can visit his daughter who is currently in South America.This probably tempest in a teapot stuff, but hey... it's the international break and we're looking for anything to keep our interest.
FERNANDO TORRES will have a scan this afternoon to determine the extent of his groin injury.
The Liverpool striker was at Melwood on Monday morning to have the problem assessed and the initial diagnosis is that it is a strain rather than a tear.
