Setanta shows ITV the way to succeed in commercial TV August 8, 2008 By now there is little more to be said about ITV. The expected bloodbath duly arrived on cue this week and advertising revenue may not recover for 18 months. How different for ITV’s rival Setanta which is broadcasting the FA Cup and England internationals. The Irish pay TV sports broadcaster goes into the new football [...]
Benitez dragging his heels in transfer saga July 31, 2008 The statement from Aston Villa insisting Gareth Barry will not be leaving the club does nothing but drag an already tedious situation on and on. I really can’t see why they just don’t get on with it. Villa say they have set a deadline but you can’t tell me that, if Liverpool boss Rafa Bentez [...]
Eto’o and Arshavin to replace Spurs strike pair July 22, 2008 Tottenham last night stepped up their war on Manchester United and Liverpool for ‘tapping up’ Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, but already look to have earmarked Samuel Eto’o and Andrei Arshavin as replacements. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been angered by what he sees as deliberate attempts to unsettle the strike duo, and yesterday handed [...]
Mind games must be taken with a pinch of salt July 24, 2008 Well, we’re not even at the end of July and already the mind games have started. This promises to be a fascinating Premier League season. Luiz Felipe Scolari has barely hung up his suit on the back of his office door at Chelsea and already he has been given a pleasant ‘welcome’ to English football [...]
Ramos hands United Berbatov incentive July 18, 2008 Manchester United last night moved one step closer to prising Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham after managers of both clubs spoke of their transfer aspirations. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is a long-term admirer of the Spurs hitman and confirmed yesterday he had made an offer for a player, believed to be for the Bulgarian. And [...]
Milan sign Ronaldinho and pay £10m less than City bid July 16, 2008 Manchester City’s audacious attempt to sign Ronaldinho was finally killed off last night when AC Milan agreed a deal with Barcelona for the Brazil playmaker. Ronaldinho, who fell out of favour during his fifth season at Barcelona, will sign a three-year contract in Milan today after completing the routine medical examination. Milan have reportedly agreed [...]
Brazil winger Robinho eyes Chelsea move July 16, 2008 Real Madrid winger Robinho is seriously considering joining Chelsea, although the west London club are unlikely to pay more than half the £48m they were reported to have offered. Robinho’s agent Wagner Ribeiro confirmed yesterday he had held talks with Chelsea, and that the 24-year-old was keen to work with new Blues boss and fellow [...]
Ronaldo: No deal is in place July 11, 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo has denied reports suggesting he has agreed personal terms with Real Madrid. Rumours in Spain say the Portuguese international has agreed to join the La Liga champions in a record-breaking £75m transfer from Manchester United. But the winger, who is likely to be out of action for up to three months after undergoing [...]
Baffling Blatter’s ‘Slave’ remarks are a joke July 16, 2008 So, according to Sepp Blatter, the president of world governing body Fifa, our modern day topflight footballers are being treated like “slaves”. With comments like that, it’s no wonder Blatter is seen as an irritation to our game rather than a so-called leader. I don’t think the man has had a sensible thing to say [...]
Arsenal’s Hleb refutes rant at team-mate and manager July 9, 2008 Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb last night attempted to build bridges with the club by denying reports he had launched a verbal attack on his manager and team-mates. Hleb, whose expected move to Barcelona has failed to materialise, was yesterday claimed to have criticised midfielder Cesc Fabregas and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger. The Belarus international moved [...]