Ahead of the Game: Benjani deal could happen
BENJANI DEAL COULD HAPPEN
Portsmouth hope to resurrect Benjani Mwaruwari's bungled sale to Manchester City. Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie hopes to meet the Premier League today, so the authorities can expect a visit shortly after midnight.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/portsmouth/article3288132.ece
BECKS: I'LL BE BACK
David Beckham has pledged to win back his place in the England squad. Fabio Capello has told him it could happen. AOTG reckons the Italian is a man of his word.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3285486.ece
FERGIE BACKS CAPELLO
Sir Alex Ferguson says Capello made the right decision in dropping Becks. The Manchester United manager agrees that a player who isn't fit shouldn't be picked.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article3290167.ece
PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEWS: DEFOE TO START
Jermain Defoe could go straight into the Portsmouth team to face Chelsea tomorrow, plus all the other breaking news on the weekend games.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3277152.ece
Remember, you can follow the action live with our match tracker:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/live_match_tracker/
HUTTON TO START
Alan Hutton is expected to make his debut for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester United. Hutton says Juande Ramos's "plans for the club" convinced him to join. Doubtless he particularly liked the plans for Pascal Chimbonda.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article3288748.ece
DAVIES DISBELIEF
Curtis Davies was shocked when he received a text message from the FA revealing his call up by England. They could at least have given him a phone call.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3285654.ece
CURBS CONFUSED OVER GREEN
West Ham United manager Alan Curbishley can't understand why Robert Green was left out of the England squad. Funny how he didn't say the same about Carlton Cole.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/west_ham/article3290219.ece
McKAY WINS DAMAGES
Football agent Willie McKay has accepted substantial libel damages over a false claim that he was involved in transfer fraud. The Daily Express agreed to pay an undisclosed amount.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3290429.ece?token=1276394571
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If you've got another couple of minutes
Poor Becks. Capello insisted that he might pick the midfielder in the future but the fallen LA Galaxy star will still surely find it difficult to get through Wednesday evening knowing that a new era for English football has started without him. He's fortunate, then, that AOTG has drawn up a list of alternative things for him to do rather than watch the match.
1. Celebrate Waitangi Day
Kiwis across the globe will throw parties on Wednesday to honour the anniversary of the day New Zealand was founded. Given that Australasia is the only continent he hasn't appeared on in the past month, Becks could even visit the country itself.
2. Watch the Los Angeles Lakers
Becks's local basketball club meet the Atlanta Hawks in a match of a significance that AOTG could not decipher when it looked on a few relevant websites. Yes, watching a court full of Peter Crouch clones might make our man melancholy, but the prospect of an ostentatious public appearance should make up for that.
4. Catch up on Doctor Who
BBC America is showing an episode of the revived sci-fi series in which the doctor meets William Shakespeare. Taking a wild punt, AOTG would guess the great bard is not one to capture Becks's imagination, but he should relate to an ageing hero with a pointless female sidekick.
5. Go to the Spice Girls gig
The real reason Becks was so distraught. Now England have discarded him, he'll doubtless be obliged to watch his missus pout and pose at the Nassau Coliseum in New York. If only Fabio had known - the Italian is surely not that ruthless.
Email your suggestions on how Beckham might make it through Wednesday night to sport@timesonline.co.uk
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>>>>>THE TABLOID TALE<<<<<
Ash weeps at Cheryl's Spanish flit - Daily Star
What you need to know: 1) Ashley Cole wept in the Chelsea dressing room when he realised his marriage was falling apart. 2) Avram Grant told him to go home to sort out his personal life. 3) That didn't help. His wife Cheryl has fled to Spain. 4.) Sources said Ash hasn't been that upset since Arsenal offered to pay him £55,000 a week, a princedom in the Gulf and all the women in Persia.
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A quickie before you go, sir?
MANUCHO'S THE MAN
Plucking brilliant African players from relative obscurity is usually the remit of Arsene Wenger but Fergie may have trumped his old rival with the purchase of Manucho. At the age of 24, the Angolan forward is hardly one for the future but he was still earning a hard buck in his country's domestic leagues until United stepped in. Watch these clips of him in action for his country and you'll understand how he caught Fergie's eye and why the rest of the league should beware. The boy is brilliant in the air and when he returns from his loan to Panathinaikos in the summer - necessary while he awaits a UK work permit - he just might fix the one area where United are less than exemplary.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/02/is-manucho-the.html
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2
Honduras internationals joined the Premier League before the transfer deadline. Maynor Figueroa and Wilson Palacios both signed for Wigan Athletic.
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In TheGame
Tom Dart has picked apart every Premier League club's performance in the transfer window. Giving each a mark out of ten, Tom finds that Tottenham excelled, Newcastle United came up badly short and Arsenal made one critical mistake.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/02/window-winners.html
Our poll shows that you think Capello was right to drop Beckham, but the stats are far from equivocal, with only 59 per cent backing the England manager. Voting closes tomorrow. Make a difference while you can.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/01/is-capello-righ.html
In the second part of The Times's series on the Munich air disaster, Matt Dickinson rues the premature ending to Duncan Edwards's career. In TO's special section dedicated to the tragedy, you can also read a compendium of the articles the paper published at the time.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/system/topicRoot/The_Munich_Air_Disaster/
Tom Dart has also run his expert eye over Capello's squad and wondered why England managers tend to experiment like GCSE chemistry students with a Bunsen burner and a bag of brightly coloured powder.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/01/green-doesnt-fi.html
Kaveh Solhekol has filed on the Cameroon coach who has broken the law with his mid-match cigarette habit. Kaveh will keep you up to date with all the other news from the African Cup of Nations on his blog , too.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/01/up-in-smoke.html
Our Portsmouth loyalist Gareth Beavis has put aside a pressing work deadline and posted on the Fanzine Fanzone an analysis of an eventful few days for his club. Gareth is bemused by both Benjani's proposed transfer and the startling news that the club is up for sale.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2008/01/this-is-beyond.html
Stats guru Bill Edgar has delivered his weekly brain-bending quiz. It could keep you occupied all weekend.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/02/think-you-know.html
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>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
Owen must fear the axe - The Sun
Capello's new order ensures all his players start off equal - The Independent
Snub could lengthen Beckham's shelf life - Daily Telegraph
Rotating Rafa ruining my club, says McMahon - Daily Mail
Ballack: We are homing in on title - Daily Express
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Joe Bloggs' Soapbox
"Who would I like to see crawl out of the woodwork and plead mea culpa? [Yesterday's AOTG] The referee of the second leg of the 1965 European Cup semi-final. Liverpool beat Inter Milan 3-1 in the first leg at Anfield and got beat 3-0 in Milan. Every time a Liverpool player tackled a Milan player a foul was given. One of the Milan goals was scored direct off a free kick that was clearly signalled as indirect. Another goal was scored when one of their players kicked the ball out of Tommy Lawrence's hands (Liverpool goalie, better known as the 'Flying Pig'). The disgraceful refereeing robbed Liverpool of the opportunity to become the first British club to win the European Cup (not that I bear a grudge)."
John Milce has felt bitter for 33 years. Hope it feels better now, John.
"My overrated XI [yesterday's AOTG]: Carroll, Boumsong, Finnan, Bramble, Riise, Veron, Djemba-Djemba, Gerrard, Fortune, Shevchenko, Crouch."
Aranya Syed , from London, picks eleven that get more credit than they're due. Well thought out it is too, though AOTG cannot recall anybody ever praising poor Titus.
"Following on from Ray Clark's comments [yesterday's AOTG]: The FA have long held the view that football should be the same from the grass roots up to the Premier League. However, this is not the case, particularly with refereeing. A lot of the throw-ins in Premier League games would be ruled as foul throws in a Sunday league game. Players surrounding the referee Chelsea-style in Sunday league would result in many cautions, red cards and even abandoned games. And there lies the rub. A referee who has graduated from Sunday league to the lower echelons of professional football told me that, as referees climb their ladder, they are instructed to be more lenient with these rules. The justification is, as always, money. Referees are told that supporters (and television companies) pay a lot of money to watch their multi-million-pound stars. It would be damaging to the game then if the stars have been sent off and banned for three matches. If this is how the FA instructs referees then it must live with the consequences."
AOTG has no argument with Richard Stacey's criticism of the powers-that-be.
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Tomorrow's news today
- Wenger: I nearly signed Cristiano Ronaldo
- Munich history lesson stuns United squad
- How Manchester mourned the tragedy
And expect. . .
Beckham to turn up to training with LA Galaxy bright, early and ready to start yet another comeback
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Anonymous tips, suggestions, funnies, fan mail and complaints: sport@timesonline.co.uk
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BY ROBERT DINEEN
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