Ahead of TheGame: West Ham appeal blocked

------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. 1600GMT
------------------------------------------------------------------

News in 60 seconds

WEST HAM APPEAL BLOCKED
Sheffield United have won their latest High Court battle with the London club in the dispute over Carlos Tévez's transfer. The court has granted a temporary order stopping West Ham from appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over a ruling that they breached regulations when signing the Argentinian. Click here for Gary Jacob's analysis of the situation.

ARSENAL APPOINT NEW CEO
Ivan Gazidis, the deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer, will be the new chief executive at the Emirates. The South Africa-born businessman will take up his post in January. "Ivan's credentials are first class," Peter Hill-Wood, the club chairman, said. "He has a wealth of business acumen together with a broad knowledge of football." Read Tom Dart's analysis of the appointment here.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO VOTE ON FOREIGN PLAYERS
A new proposal could limit the number of foreign players at Football League teams. The quota would require match-day squads to include at least four players who were registered domestically for three seasons before their 21st birthday. Sides will vote on December 16 on whether to introduce the plan.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEWS: GERRARD FIT
The Liverpool captain has recovered from a muscle tear and is fit to face Marseilles at Anfield, while Chelsea will be without the suspended Deco for their trip to Bordeaux.

LIVE: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
With Liverpool and Chelsea hoping to qualify for the knockout stages, you can follow the action from all of tonight's matches with our live stats and scores service.

CAHILL DENIES EXIT PLAN
The Everton midfielder has dismissed reports that he will return to Australia when his contract expires in 2012. "I am fiercely proud of my roots and one day I may play football back home but to say I will be doing it at the end of my deal is not true," he said.

SEEDORF WANTS PREMIER LEAGUE SWITCH
The AC Milan midfielder, who plays against Portsmouth in the Uefa Cup tomorrow, wants to end his career in England. He said Manchester United and Arsenal have tried to sign him in the past. "English football has had a transformation in the last few years," he said. "Now, I am looking at it and it is attractive."

----------------------------------------------------------

If you've got another couple of minutes

Ricketts goes native 
Rejected by Spurs and Wolves, Rohan Ricketts appears to have found his niche at Toronto FC, earning cult status among fans for his performances on the wing and becoming the star of the MLS side's website.

As the presenter of an online television show and author of a blog, both entitled Rollin' with Ricketts, the winger shows an ear for the local vernacular. Entries to the blog are prefaced with a jolly "Yo, yo, yo, what's popping?", make reference to "dudes" and has the Clapham-born player revealing a desire to start "bussing out show-stopping tricks".   

The author of three monthly articles so far this year, Ricketts has yet to post in November, unfortunately. Perhaps he was preoccupied with a recently acquired pastime. "I have started reading books," he writes. "I've been reading some really interesting books like [The] 48 Laws of Power, Art of Seduction, The Power of Now and 50 Cent's biog, 50 X 50." 

Here's an interesting tale published in the People column of today's Times:

Thatcher and Redknapp: a South Pacific riddle
Harry Redknapp: a manager ascribed messianic qualities. Baroness Thatcher: well, she certainly made her mark on UK FC.

Could they be related? Apparently so, after receiving evidence from the South Pacific. On the remote Vanuatuan island of Tanna is a delightful small resort called Whitegrass (bear with us). The managers are an Australian couple, Ted and Robyn Redknap.

Laurie Margolis, BBC News editor and a recent visitor to the resort, asked the couple if, despite the missing ‘p’, they were related to the Spurs manager. “Oh yes,” said Ted. “Harry’s a cousin. I didn’t know much about him, but I gather he’s pretty famous in the UK.” A beer or so later came a further revelation. “On my mother’s side,” said Ted, “we’re related to Margaret Thatcher. More cousins.”

“So let me get this clear,” said Margolis. “ ’Arry Redknapp and Margaret Thatcher are related as cousins, via you?”

“Yup, guess that’s true.”

----------------------------------------------------------

>>>>>THE TABLOID TALE<<<<<
Carly's cash is such a burden - Daily Mirror
What you need to know: 1) Joe Cole's missus finds the Chelsea player's wages a burden. 2) Carly Zucker made the revelation on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! 3) She said: "If you've got a budget to work around, it's easier. That's why I got stressed last year." 4) She's not all bad, though. "If all my friends are staying in a three-star hotel," she added, "I'll stay there."

----------------------------------------------------------

In TheGame

Should English football adopt French plan? Martin Samuel responds
Our Chief Football Correspondent has tackled your responses to his debate on whether football in this country should be controlled from abroad. He suggests that Michel Platini has distanced himself from the idea with the intention of attacking English football via another method, claims that the FA lacks cajones and reiterates his belief that football should be open to the whims of the free market. "That freedom permits people to dream," he writes.

Gabriele Marcotti: Hard-headed Morgan, Premier League wage cuts, Slob's saliva
Our European Football Correspondent notes that Chris Morgan is as happy to receive rough challenges as he is to dish them out but insists that the kind of tackle he inflicted on Iain Hume should be outlawed. He also explains how the fall in the value of the pound and a proposed new supertax could affect the top tier's European imports and says Fifa was right to reduce the one-year ban that a Chelsea teenager on loan to FC Twente received for spitting at a referee.

United Fanzone: Is Ronaldo a coward or courageous?
Our Old Trafford loyalist says Sir Alex Ferguson was right to speak out against persistent fouling of his Portuguese winger. "Arsene Wenger suggested that players who attempt to play football despite knowing that someone is trying to injure them are the courageous ones," he writes. "After seeing Capdevilla tackle Ronaldo’s kneecap last night, I think the Arsenal manager was right."

Wednesday's trivia question
Today's poser, set by Bill Edgar: "Which former Aston Villa player last week ended his international career having played – effectively – for four different national sides?" Edgar has also revealed the answer to yesterday's question.

----------------------------------------------------------
17
Defeats Celtic have suffered in 18 Champions League ties away from home.
----------------------------------------------------------

Joe Bloggs' Soapbox

ExWulfrunian, from Exmouth, has an axe to grind:
"Suppressing the onset of coma, I have to ask: why the obsession with the Premiership? It shouldn't have escaped your notice that great things are taking place in the Championship, where Wolves are currently wringing the neck of previous performances of top Championship clubs such as, say, West Brom and could well register 100 goals and points. So, c'mon, fair crack of the whip for the real talking points in English football."

Paul Underwood has leapt to Arsene Wenger's defence:
"I have been an Arsenal fan long enough to appreciate what an excellent job Wenger is doing. It is not only his work for the club and that he is an excellent ambassador for us but also his services to the game. On good days, Arsenal and United are still the most entertaining teams to watch.

"Both Wenger and Ferguson have worked hard to produce great teams and have been given the opportunity to do so. Like everything else in life, perseverance is required. Like great restaurants, it is easy to produce the occasional good meal but to be consistently great year after year is an art."

Tracey has a different opinion of football's Jamie Oliver:
"Oliver Kay says Wenger is a visionary and a genius. Yet he has never won a European trophy, gone past the Champions League quarter-finals once in ten attempts, never defeated Mourinho in eight attempts and won nothing in four seasons, which would get him sacked in any other league. With this level of sycophancy, no wonder he thinks he's perfect."

Either Tracey is a visionary and knows the destination of this season's silverware or she has one of her facts wrong. Arsenal won the FA Cup three years ago.

----------------------------------------------------------

And expect...

Redknapp to strengthen his coaching staff by making Thatcher his right-wing specialist.