TheGame - Times Online - WBLG: Ahead of the Game

The news in 60 seconds

LET THE MADNESS COMMENCE
Eight hours to go before the curtain is drawn across the transfer window. Who will risk the Curse of West Ham for a wheelbarrow of dosh? Will Riquelme swap his Spanish villa for Merseyside? Can The Wardrobe find a new home? And what rabbit will ’Arry pull out of his hat? Keep up to date with all the ins and outs.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/08/transfer-deadli.html

THREE LIONS, 13 CROCKS
Steve McClaren has named his England squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers and the surprise is he’s managed to find 26 fit players. With an unlucky 13 crocked stars, the England head coach has had to earn his money. David Bentley, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing are in.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/euro_2008/article2361799.ece

UEFA CUP DRAW
The draw has been made but fans are none the wiser about who their teams will be playing. Tottenham, Blackburn, Bolton, Everton and Aberdeen have been drawn against the footballing powerhouses of Anorthosis Famagusta, Larissa, FK Rabotnicki, Metalist Kharkiv and Dnipro. Answers on a postcard, please.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article2361965.ece

SPENDING A PENNY
All cisterns go at Portsmouth after they sealed a £4 million deal for Glen Johnson, the right back who was fined £80 for stealing a toilet seat. The England star was caught putting a more expensive seat in the box of a cheaper one at a B&Q but is flush with cash now.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2361806.ece

DAVIES JOINS VILLA
Curtis Davies has joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan with a view to a £10 million deal. It seems complicated but a reliable source tells Ahead of the Game that it’s all a tax sting. The defender will definitely join next year, but West Brom don’t want to pocket the money just yet.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2362005.ece

HAIRDRYER TREATMENT
Great Uncle Fergie – his words – has gone all cuddly. Apparently even Roy Keane noticed it, accusing the Govan Governor of going soft. Fergie also reveals that the hairdryer is a myth – he didn’t go behind the stands to practise screaming. He didn’t need to.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article2358168.ece

PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEWS
Lennon will be back whizzing up and down the touchline like a whippet, a couple of West Ham’s cursed crocks could be on the mend and Anelka is set to pay back the first instalment of that loyalty bonus.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2360541.ece

>>>>>FANTASY FOOTBALL WITH BRAINS<<<<<
* Register today for PlayTheGame, so controversial Camilla is staying away
* It’s free and you can still enter
* Win monthly prizes and tickets to the Euro 2008 final
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/playthegame

If you've got another couple of minutes

PERESTROIKA AT ARSENIKI
To paraphrase the man himself, Comrade Dein has parked his tanks in front of the Emirates Stadium and is firing roubles at the boardroom. Arseniki’s former vice-chairman is fronting a takeover for the club after flogging his stakeholding to a Russian oligarch for £75 million. It raises the possibility of yet another British club passing into the hands of an Eastern European billionaire (Abramovich, Romanov, Gaydamak). All in all, nine other English clubs have foreign owners or co-owners – Chelsea, Fulham, Birmingham City, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham United, Portsmouth - but no one has yet expressed an interest in Derby County.
Ahead of the Game thinks it’s rubbish – not Derby, the sell-off – but what about you? Dein says the oligarch genuinely loves football, and he’s confirmed today that he wants to up his stake, but has the beautiful game taken an ugly turn? E-mail: sport@timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article2358137.ece

AT FULL STRETCH
There’s no denying that gangling Peter Crouch has a long reach, but even the 6ft 7in beanpole with the telescopic legs must struggle to be in two places at once. According to readers on BBC’s transfer rumours, Mr Robotic has been in London and the Midlands today sounding out possible deals with West Ham and Aston Villa.

RAMS RAIDING
Schools aren’t even back yet, but one bookie thinks that Derby are as good as down. Paddy Power will pay out on all single bets placed on the Rams before today - if they fail to beat Liverpool tomorrow. The bookie faces a payout of about £40,000, but the odds are in their favour.

480
Number of minutes before the transfer window shuts (if this e-mail arrived on time, which is highly unlikely).

A quickie before you go, sir?

SHOWBOAT
Whatever happens in the next eight hours, let’s hope that Chelsea don’t sign Ronaldinho. Do we really want to see the buck-toothed virtuoso ploughing a lonely furrow up and down the left for Jose’s Chelsea tractor boys? They’d be unbeatable and watchable…
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/794937/ronaldinho_outside_games_freestyle/

>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
* Riquelme talking to Everton – Daily Mail
* Davies calls for stricter heart-test monitoring – Daily Express
* ‘Marvellous’ Berbatov is not joining United, says Ferguson – The Independent
* New fears of fan violence as United draw Roma again – The Guardian

The transfer wrap

Portsmouth expect to complete the sale of striker David Nugent to Derby County before the transfer deadline ... The South Coast club hope to push through a deal for Eidur Gudjohnsen, the Barcelona forward, for £7 million ... Everton are holding talks with Juan Roman Riquelme, the Argentina playmaker, over a one-year loan deal ... Middlesbrough have offered a trial to Alessandro Pistone, the former Everton defender ... The Teessiders are also hopeful of completing a swoop for Manchester City's out-of-favour forward Georgios Samaras ... Blackburn Rovers are keeping tabs on Tom Huddlestone, the Tottenham Hotspur midfield player ... Birmingham City will move for Fulham's unsettled midfield player Papa Bouba Diop … Manchester City want to solve their shortage of strikers by signing the out-of-favour Wigan Athletic player Henri Camara ... Alan Pardew, the Charlton Athletic manager, has loaned Amdy Faye to Rangers … Wolverhampton Wanderers hope to sign Shefki Kuqi, the Crystal Palace striker, after making an official inquiry.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2361665.ece

>>>>>THE TABLOID SCANDAL<<<<<
E shame of rugby legend – The Sun
What you need to know: 1) Rugby league icon Andrew Johns has been cautioned for possessing an ecstasy tablet. 2) The Aussie star was nicked at King’s Cross underground station but told cops that someone had slipped the tab into his pocket. 3) Johns had been hired by Australia to warn young players about the dangers of drugs – so now he can talk with authority. 5) It’s not only footballers dragging their sport through the dirt.