Ahead of TheGame: Fans protest against Keegan 'sacking'

The news in 60 seconds 

FANS PROTEST AGAINST KEEGAN 'SACKING'
The Newcastle manager is believed to have left the club amid angry scenes at St James' Park. There has been no official confirmation of Keegan's departure yet, but The Times has been given every indication that he has gone after a meeting with club owner Mike Ashley.  www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article4659767.ece

CITY TO BID FOR RONALDO
Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the new Manchester City owner, plans to make a £135m bid for Manchester United's best player. "Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world," Al-Fahim said. "So we will see in January if he is serious." Making an early bid to become the new star of irreverent football e-mails, Al-Fahim also said that he plans to have the same impact on English football as a certain Russian oligarch. "We want Manchester City to be challenging in the Champions League," he said. "We want them to be in for every trophy available."  www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article4659785.ece

ENGLAND TRIO FIT 
John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole are expected to be fit for England's World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday even though they missed training today. Wes Brown was also rested this morning with a minor injury but should be available for the match in Barcelona, as well as next week's fixture against Croatia.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/international/article4661309.ece

EVERTON COMPLETE FELLAINI DEAL 
David Moyes has finally had some success in the transfer market after a frustrating summer by completing the signing of Marouane Fellaini, the Standard Liege midfielder, for a club record £15m. Working hard on deadline day, Everton also captured Louis Saha, from Manchester United, and Carlo Nash, from Wigan.  www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/everton/article4659336.ece

CLUBS SPEND £500M 
Premier League sides showed no signs of being affected by the credit crunch by spending a record £500m on players over the summer, an estimated £30million more than last year. "This level of transfer spending is far in excess of spending by other European leagues," Paul Rawnsley, director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said.  www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article4660912.ece

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FANTASY FOOTBALL - TWO GREAT GAMES 
The game you love is back, and this year it's double the fun. We've got two top games for you to play - the classic Times Fantasy Football with £100,000 in prizes, and the more advanced management experience of PlayTheGame. So who are you: Mark Hughes or Tony Pullis? Click on the url below to find out more. 
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/fantasy_football/

FREE MOBILE SERVICE TRIAL 
Try our football alerts service free of charge for 14 days and get match-day team sheet, goal alerts, half-time updates, full-time results and league position for your team.  www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_services/mobile_times/
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If you've got another couple of minutes

WHAT NOW FOR NEWCASTLE? 
Another season, another period of turmoil at St James' Park. Kevin Keegan looks set to leave Newcastle after a frustrating eight months in charge. According to reports, Keegan met the club's board to express his frustration at being denied money to buy players, yet was told that any member of his squad would be sold at the right price.

It seems the hidden debts that Mike Ashley discovered after buying the club have crippled his hopes of lifting Newcastle to a place among Europe's elite. So, how should the chairman react to this huge setback?

Employ a caretaker manager and spend time trying to find an established manager to replace Keegan, thus potentially writing off any faint hopes of achieving success this season?

Concentrate on appeasing the fans and do everything he can to hire a leading coach quickly, almost certainly a difficult task given that managers such as Harry Redknapp and Mark Hughes turned him down before Keegan signed?

Sell up and limit his participation to swilling pints on the terraces?  Have your say.
timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/09/who-should-newc.html

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND £200m?
Suspend your disbelief for a moment and imagine that you're the manager of middle-ranking Premier League club, with limited hopes of success.

Stretch the illusion a little further and pretend that one of the world's richest families has decided to buy the club, handing you a slush fund of about £200 million to spend on the world's best players.

Who would you buy? Would you follow the get-big-quick Chelsea model in which you stump up often inflated fees for the most established players, thus targeting familiar names such as Kaka,Thierry Henry and David Villa?

Or would you prefer to invest in youth, allowing you to mould a side over time and without the complications involved in hiring football's biggest egos? That presumably would involve chasing emerging talents such as Karim Benzema, Bojan Krkic or Alexandre Pato.

Maybe you would hold to an old-fashioned principle and show loyalty to the squad that Sven-Goran Eriksson and Mark Hughes have built up. Even if that means keeping Darius Vassell on the payroll.
Send us your imaginary plans.
timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/09/manchester-ci-1.html

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>>>>> THE TABLOID TALE <<<<<
Carragher: I want to be Liverpool's manager - Daily Mirror
1.) The Liverpool defender has a burning ambition to take charge at Anfield. 2.) He says winning the Premier League would mean more to him as a manager than a player - as if he will ever win it as a player. 3.) He hopes to get the opportunity to pit his wits against Sir Alex Ferguson. 4.) Why? So that Carragher can "knock him off his f****** perch".

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>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
Lampard: Boo boys must belt up - Daily Express
The midfielder has told the England fans that have heckled the national team to stay away from the imminent World Cup qualifiers.
www.express.co.uk/posts/view/59479/Smells-like-team-spirit-to-Lamps

Mourinho: Youth system will always hold Capello back - The Daily Telegraph
The former Chelsea manager says the Premier League needs to establish a better development programme for its junior players. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/2663338/Jose-Mourinho-Why-Premier-League-youth-system-will-always-hold-Fabio-Capello-back---Football.html

Arsenal in last-gasp attempt to capture Alonso - The Independent
Arsene Wenger failed in a £14 million bid to sign the Liverpool midfielder just before the transfer window closed.
www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/arsenal-attempt-to-capture-alonso-on-hectic-deadline-day-915884.html

Juande wants a smaller window - The Sun
The Tottenham manager says the transfer window should close before the season starts. www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1635563.ece

Newcastle fail in attempt to offload Barton - The Guardian
Joey Barton revealed that he would not be leaving Newcastle yesterday via a text sent to Sky Sports. The midfielder was the subject of a bid from another Premier League club, thought to be Portsmouth. www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/02/newcastleunited.portsmouth

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28
Keegan's win percentage in his second stint as Newcastle manager, the lowest of his six managerial jobs.
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In TheGame

Oliver Kay: Why City can emulate Chelsea's model of success 
The Times columnist says that the loyalty and size of Manchester City's fanbase could make the club even bigger than Chelsea under their new cash-rich ownership.  timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/09/manchester-city.html

City's magnificent seven
Kay has cast his eye over the world's finest talent and identified the seven players that Mark Hughes should make it a priority to sign, while also naming those City players that should fear for their long-term future. Wright-Phillips might want to take note.
timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/09/magnificent-sev.html

Tom Dart: Only here for the beers
Writing in the hours before Kevin Keegan's departure, our writer presciently suggests that Newcastle were in danger of slipping into turmoil and that Mike Ashley is to blame.  timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/09/only-here-for-t.html

TheGame Podcast: Why Robinho spurned Chelsea
With Phill Jupitus as their host, Gabriele Marcotti, Tony Cascarino and Nick Szczepanik discuss the Brazilian's move to Manchester City, Michael Owen's omission from Fabio Capello's squad and English prospects in the Champions League. Gary Jacob, The Times transfer expert, gives his definitive verdict on the summer sales.  www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/thegame_podcasts/article4635375.ece

Window on the spending spree
All the essential information on the transfer window, including the smartest investments, the best lower league deals, a breakdown on signed players' nationalities and the most memorable last-day deals in recent seasons.  extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/window2.pdf

Everton Fanzone: School of Silence
Our Goodison Park loyalist has had his hopes that the club would break into the top four eroded by a depressingly quiet summer - their deadline-day activity notwithstanding - and by David Moyes staying tight-lipped over his future.
timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2008/09/the-school-of-s.html

Bill Edgar's trivia question
Today's teaser: Which defender scored at both ends in a Championship match last season when playing against a former club? (This summer he moved to a Premier League club.) Edgar has also revealed the answer to yesterday's poser.
timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2008/09/bill-edgars-tue.html

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Joe Bloggs' Soapbox

Ola has a wry suggestion for Manchester City's new owners:
"Offer Arsene Wenger £199m to leave Arsenal, give him the remaining £1m, wait a season ... hey presto, trophies."   

Tim, in Belfast, takes the cynic's approach: 
"They should buy Joe Cole or Bentley, then SWP can go back to playing in the reserves. Alternatively they could buy Beckham. He would give them a worldwide profile and be one of the many over-paid passengers who will be signed in the next couple of years. City should also consider buying Eastlands. They could argue they have the right-to-buy and get a discount."

CJ is more considered:
"GK Gianluigi Buffon - £30m 
D Christian Zapata - £12m 
D Andrea Barzagli - £12m 
D Philipp Lahm - £15m 
D Nicolas Burdisso - £8m
M David Silva - £35m
M Danielle De Rossi - £25m
M Bastian Schweinsteiger - £15m
M Joaquin - £18m 
M Ashley Young - £23m 
F Lukas Podolski - £20m 
F Bojan Krkic - £20m 
F David Villa - £45m"   

Which is £78m too much. Has nobody told him about the credit crunch?

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And expect...
Al-Fahim to reveal that he bought City because it was the only Premier League club supported by an Oasis.

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