Ahead of TheGame: Keegan ready for Ashley showdown

The news in 60 seconds

KEEGAN READY FOR ASHLEY SHOWDOWN
The Newcastle manager has confirmed he will meet the club's owner in London tomorrow. Keegan insists he is looking forward to it, despite speculation that their relationship is strained after the manager expressed doubts about his ability to break the dominance of the big four.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3894295.ece

ERIKSSON CONFIRMS BENFICA TALKS
The Manchester City manager has confirmed he held negotiations with officials from the Portuguese side. The Swede is pondering his next step after his impending dismissal from Eastlands. "I've had a meeting with the Benfica people," he said. "I'm considering the offer and it could be a step forward in my career. Let's see what happens."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3894866.ece

CROUCH ON SALE FOR £15M
Rafael Benitez accepts that the striker could have his head turned after a frustrating season on the fringes of the first team, but the Spaniard insists he will not leave on the cheap. "Crouch wants to play every week but knows he must fight it out with Fernando Torres," the Liverpool manager said. "We keep seeing Portsmouth linked with the player but we have had no offer as yet. A £15 million price tag would not be unreasonable."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3895038.ece

BENITEZ LOSES FIRST TEAM COACH
Alex Miller is leaving Anfield to become manager of JEF United Chiba. "This is a very good opportunity for him to coach in Japan," Rafael Benitez said. "It means we will be promoting some of the existing coaching staff and over the summer we will be looking to bring in a replacement."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3895029.ece

CAMPBELL TRANSFER RULED OUT
The Portsmouth chief executive has denied reports that the defender will leave the club at the end of the season. "Sol is happy at Portsmouth and has another year left on his contract," Peter Storrie said. "He is concentrating on leading the team at Wembley in the FA Cup Final plus the challenge of the Uefa Cup next season if we beat Cardiff."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3895131.ece

MOYES EXPECTED TO SIGN NEW DEAL
Keith Wyness, the Everton chief executive, has dismissed suggestions that the Scot will not sign a new contract at Goodison Park: "Bill [Kenwright, the club chairman] and David [Moyes] have been deep in talks for some months. Those talks are going fine, there is absolutely no problem there at all."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3893820.ece

HUNTELAAR HAPPY AT HOME
The Holland forward could shun the attention of some of Europe's top clubs to remain at Ajax. Reportedly a target for Liverpool and Manchester United, Huntelaar says he is tempted to stay and work with Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp, who are expected to take over coaching duties at the Amsterdam club.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article3893646.ece

KEANE STARTS CLEAR OUT
Andrew Cole, Ian Harte, Stephen Wright and Stanislav Varga have been released by Sunderland. Roy Keane admitted after the defeat against Bolton that he would show the door to a number of players before recruiting new ones.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3893669.ece

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If you've got another couple of minutes

The pay-off
The Premier League summer clear out has started (cue gleeful hand-rubbing by Championship fans), but it is not always the case of grabbing a player by his belt-loops and tossing him through the security gates. West Ham have offered Freddie Ljungberg £3 million to leave Upton Park after one season. The Swede has the choice to either move on to find first-team football or do a Winston Bogarde and sit on his lucrative contract for the next three years. Maybe, he'll return to Arsenal - there'll be a place in midfield for him soon.

Which player you would happily pay to see leave your club? Let's shift some dead wood.

E-mail: sport@timesonline.co.uk

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Victories Steve Bruce enjoyed over Manchester United in nine attempts as Birmingham City manager.
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A quickie before you go, sir?

Tim Wiese, the Werder Bremen goalkeeper, pays homage to Harald Schumacher with this ludicrous challenge on Hamburg's Ivica Olic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGplCUlBCtw
At least Wiese was booked. At the 1982 World Cup, Schumacher was rewarded with a goal kick for nearly decapitating Patrick Battiston. Doesn't it still make you mad?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coSfMSUSVPI

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>>>>>THE TABLOID TALE<<<<<
Final straw - The Sun
What you need to know: 1) Carlton Scarfe's hotel for the Champions League final in Moscow is 650 miles from the stadium. 2) The 51-year-old Manchester United fan paid lastminute.com £3,900 for tickets and a trip for him and his son and was told by email that his room was 25 minutes from the ground. 3) Instead, a map showed that it is in Samara, a city 14 hours by train from the Russian capital. 4) Scarfe has since found a floating hotel in Moscow. 5) That sounds like a tabloid tale for tomorrow.
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In TheGame

Fabio Capello picks his top Premier League players, best-ever striker, favourite goalkeepers and potential Euro 2008 winners. He also reserves special mention for Trevor Francis. Watch the video to find out why.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/05/fabio-capello-i.html
In his fortnightly blog, David Gold explains why he is proud to be a Premier League chairman and how much it would mean to him to remain so. The Birmingham chairman also backs Alex McLeish to perform a daring escape from relegation at the weekend.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/05/birmingham-can.html
In Fanzine Fanzone, our Chelsea expert describes two schools of thought attributed to Didier Drogba. The first suggests that the best thing to do is to sell him for £20-odd million after the Champions League final, putting the money into a piggy bank marked "Kaka". The second suggests that the club should keep him because you will not find a more effective striker with Premier League nous anywhere in the world. What's your verdict on the striker?
http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2008/05/the-trouble-wit.html
Bill Edgar has posted his daily trivia question: which club, then in the fourth tier, had to apply for re-election to the Football League (they were successful) just six years after playing in the top flight?
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/05/bill-edgars-t-1.html

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>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
'Avram's attacked because he's a ... Jew' - The Sun
Wenger hits out at want-away stars - Daily Mirror
Fergie in the hunt - Daily Express
Keegan faces showdown with owner - The Daily Telegraph
Chelsea put down marker in Ramos move - The Guardian
Keegan called to account - Daily Mail
Eriksson talks to Benfica in anticipation of City sacking - The Independent
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Joe Bloggs' Soapbox

AOTG hasn't seen this much mail piled on a desktop since Multi-Coloured Swap Shop:

"Although you choose to Anglicise football club names, which excuses quaintness such as 'Lyons', is it not true that to say 'Inter Milan' is wrong whichever language you're using? It's equivalent to saying 'Everton Liverpool', and the true name of the club is Internazionale, but I'm sure you knew that. Just because Internazionale doesn't sound very English doesn't mean you should give the club a completely false name. Perhaps, if you're desperate, you could use 'Inter', the only valid abbreviation of the name.

"Of course, you have every right to stick to your guns and disastrously popularise the name 'Inter Milan' even more in the UK. Why not encourage everyone to pronounce a hard 'J' on the start of Juventus while you're at it? In a further act of consistency, you should probably refer to them as 'Juventus Turin'.

"If you Anglicise, you wade into a minefield of inconsistency. You wouldn't say 'The Miners of Zabrze' because it makes sense to stick with the Polish name 'Gornik'. You wouldn't talk about the 'Neza Bulls' in a discussion about Mexican clubs because everyone knows it's Toros Neza. You wouldn't talk about the Harmony of Frankfurt and you wouldn't try to translate 'Spartak' or 'Metallurg'. For the same reason you should leave 'Internazionale' well alone."
Cheers, Michael Gatenby. AOTG enjoys correspondence that shows an eye for detail. However, the full name of the club is Football Club Internazionale Milano, which can easily be shortened to Inter Milan without anyone feeling guilty.

Nikolai von Stieglitz (name of the year runner-up 1998 and 2003) offers a nice catch for our club crest wildlife park [yesterday's AOTG] after trekking in the J- and K-League. He brings Omiya Ardija's squirrel, Kawasaki Frontale's dolphin and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma's pegasus. That's right, we're building a special enclosure for winged horses.

On the same topic, Stephen Murray tantalises us with this cryptic message: "Refer to the book One Fantastic Goal by the ABC reporter Trevor Thompson around page 50 - I'll have to get the details from home and send them in tonight."

"Here we are at the business end of the Premier League season and I am somewhat disinterested. Relegation and the Championship itself is going to the wire and, for once, there is an exciting climax to the season. Watching the Premier League seems to have taken its toll. Last weekend I realised why.

"In the space of about 16 hours, I saw the highlights of Middlesborough v Portsmouth four times on various programmes. Average teams playing mediocre football in an empty stadium. Yet it is televised constantly. It is the very reason that Sky turned its back on Scottish football. If there ever comes a day when the 'big four' can leave the league in pursuit of greater riches, the rest will fall like a pack of cards because they are far less of a product than the flashing lights and headlines would have you believe. I know folk won't be happy but it saddens me too."
Al from Glasgow sends a warning to Richard Scudamore after the Premier League chief executive expressed his confidence in the top tier [yesterday's AOTG].

"Have plans to insist on players understanding English up to GCSE level [yesterday's AOTG] really been scrapped with players such as Park and Tevez in mind or rather with the forethought that such a measure would render a number of players unavailable for England with an important qualifying campaign in the offing?"
John, Brockley

"Just responding to the comment about 'United' [yesterday's AOTG]. Who are Man U? Does he mean Manchester United?"
Yes, Paul McDermott. But we don't want to get Brian Shorten started again, do we?

"Has anyone else noticed the similarity between Fernando Torres ...
http://sport.setanta.com/upload/Sport/Football/Premiership/liverpool/torres_closeup.jpg
... and Carly Telford, the women's FA Cup runner-up goalie?
http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/75333C10-3261-4533-B60E-C484D2701451/127546/Telford_H2.jpg
Normally, AOTG wouldn't encourage the hoary old staple of look-alikes but we'll let Chris Hall off this time.

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Tomorrow's news today

- Race row casts shadow over title run-in
- Benitez admits Anfield coffers are empty
- Everton stadium deal in danger of collapse

And expect...

Kevin Keegan to appear in a football smugshot with one of our London readers. Presumably outside a theatre.