Blackburn Rovers supporters have been told to expect a prudent approach from their prospective new Indian owners.
Venky's, an Indian poultry giant, expect to complete a £45million takeover at Ewood Park in the coming days and will wipe of the club's debt, which reportedly stands at around £16million.
However, they are unlikely to go down the route of some foreign owners of Premier League outfits who have bankrolled their club to record-breaking levels.
Reports claim manager Sam Allardyce will be given just £5million to spend on new players in January.
"We will pump in whatever is needed but the main thing is to get the club back into good shape," Venky's chairperson Anuradha J Desai told the Economic Times.
"This is an investment and it will grow on its own strength.
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"We won't need to buy expensive players, we can always lease (loan) them.
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Every year there are hundreds of rumours in regards to transfers that may or not happen which seem to last for weeks. Each window there is a transfer saga that most of the footbal world gets absolutely sick of and just wants the player in question to just leave and be done with it!
Here are ten of the Premier League transfer sagas which have most interested me. Think I’ve missed out some transfer sagas that just dragged on and on and on? Let me know in the comments section after you’ve taken a look at the top ten…
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John Obi Mikel, Manchester United to Chelsea (2006)
Mikel wore a United shirt a press conference, saying he was “delighted with United move”. A week later, with involvement of Chelsea, he stated he no longer wanted to join United and that he had been “forced into signing a contract” against his will. After death threats and disappearances he eventually did move to Chelsea, who paid Manchester United £16m to settle the fiasco.
Andrey Arshavin, Zenit St. Petersburg to Arsenal (2009)
It was 2 February and transfer deadline day. Andrei Arshavin been linked with a move to Arsenal, amongst others, for what seemed like years, but was actually just many months. With, reportedly, only an hour left on the transfer window clock, Arsenal finally made an offer that Zenit were willing to accept. Although he had agreed personal and medical terms there were still negations regarding extra fees to be resolved. Amazingly, poor weather conditions led the Premier League to extend the deadline beyond 5pm. This gave arsenal the time they needed to complete the move. The deal was not confirmed until the following day nearly 24 hours after the formal transfer deadline had passed.
Rafael Van der Vaart, Real Madrid to Tottenham (2010)
On the final day of the transfer window at 4pm Tottenham signed Van Der Vaart, seemingly out of thin air. Redknapp said: “I thought he was going to Bayern Munich for about £18m and suddenly he became an awful lot cheaper and the chairman came to me and said: ‘Look, he’s available for around about £8m.’” Spurs managed to secure their bargain in the same window as Manchester United spent £7m on Bebé an unknown quantity. This season Van Der Vaart has scored 9 league goals, while Bebé has not scored any.
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David Beckham, LA Galaxy to Tottenham on loan (2011)
One of this year’s highest profile transfer rumours began when Harry Redknapp said “He would be a fantastic player to have here – and he wouldn’t be coming just to sell some shirts”, setting off alarm bells over the potential loan of Beckham. Beckham then confirmed he wanted the move. He even got as close as training with the club, being filmed daily to and from the ground. Sadly, Beckham was denied the chance of a Tottenham friendly by insurance snag. It looks like the potential loan transfer will now fizzle out in to what might have been.
Michael Owen, Newcastle to Manchester United (2009)
As Michael Owen’s Newcastle saw relegation, he became available on a free transfer. With teams such as Everton, West Ham, Birmingham and almost every EPL club being linked with the former teenage starlet, sensation was rife. However Owen clearly had his sights set on something higher and so produced a farcical transfer brochure, calling himself “the athlete; the ambassador; the icon”. It also included a full medical review and rewrote many of the tabloid stories which had highlighted his injury-proneness and his lack of desire. It was made available in Spanish and Italian. Despite the hilarious headlines Owen secured a free-transfer to Manchester United, and so concluded the speculation.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal to Manchester City (2009)
If the transfer alone was not enough, the proceeding spectacle between Adebayor and Arsenal fans was a saga in itself. In the build up to The Man City v Arsenal game, Adebayor, who had recently left the Emirates for Newlands stoked the fires of Arsenal fan’s by putting his good city form down to the city fans; ‘When the fans love you, you try to give them something back’. In a game where Adebayor was always going to be a central focus he did himself no favours with a challenge on Robin Van Persie that involved a boot to the head. However, the fiasco culminated when Adebayor ran the length of the pitch in order to celebrate in front of his former Arsenal fans. He will no doubt never be forgotten in the heart of Arsenal fans, but for all the wrong reasons.
Robbie Keane, Tottenham to Liverpool to Tottenham (2008-9)
This was not so much an on-going saga as a Rafa Benitez ‘special’. Keane moved to Anfield for a fee of circa £20 million, a similar price to Fernando Torres. Upon his arrival, Keane commented “I’ve been a Liverpool fan all my life… to be here now as a Liverpool player is incredible and I couldn’t be happier.”
But after 6 months Rafa Benitez had still not been convinced by Keane who played largely as an impact sub. In January he returned to White Hart Lane for a basic fee of £12 million, with a net profit of around £5 million. Which was about a million month, not great business really. Keane is still struggling to find a place in the Spurs team and looks set to move in the next week. Last year he went on loan to Celtic, upon arrival he said, rather familiarly, “The club is brilliant. I am a Celtic fan… I always wanted to play for Celtic”.
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Dimitar Berbatov, Tottenham to Manchester United (2008)
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It was a cat fight that saw Levy and Ferguson come head to head. After initially turning down an offer of around £20 million, Daniel Levy commented that he had “absolutely no wish to sell the player”. The problems began when a national paper then reported Alex Ferguson to have said that he would indeed sign Berbatov this transfer window. An argument ensued which lead Tottenham to submit a complaint to the league with, apparently, one year’s worth of evidence, regarding Man United’s illegal pursuit of Berbatov.
Ferguson’s reaction was one of denial; “It’s going to be very embarrassing for Spurs because the complaint appears to be on the basis of a story in a paper.” After all this speculation, to-ing and fro-ing, and negotiation upon negotiation, Ferguson eventually got his wish and Berbatov joined for £30 million. Although it has taken Berbatov time to find his feet at Old Trafford, Ferguson seems to be reaping the rewards this season as Berbatov has scored 19 league goals.
Robinho and The Abu Dhabi to Manchester City (2008)
Deadline day of the summer in 2008 saw the arrival of both the Abu Dhabi United Group and Robinho to Manchester City. These two additions to the Premier League would remain at the centre of transfer talk for years to come. Man City are now linked with anyone and everyone. The Arab Investment group, said to be worth 250 billion, reshaped the Premier League in a matter of moments. Changing the big four into the ‘big 4 plus Man City if they buy some world class players’. Having rumoured to have spent almost 1 billion pounds on the club can see why. The speculation regarding Robinho was caused by his apparent move to Chelsea being scrapped at the last second in favour of £160,000 wages at Man City. Unlike the Arabic owners though Robinho has left and returned to his native Brazil a very rich man but not a billionaire.
Wayne Rooney, Manchester United (2010)
Six weeks of headlines saw Wayne Rooney asking for a transfer away from Old Trafford. He cited the club’s “lack of ambition” as the reason he wanted to leave the club. However, amid fears and speculation that he might leave, Rooney made a U-turn and accepted a rumoured £200,000 week contract. This lead many to suppose that Rooney never in fact wanted to leave but used the suggestion of a transfer in leverage to negotiate a new contract. This suspicion has risen since he has been unofficially quoted as saying that he was never going to leave anyway. The mind boggles…
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Real Madrid captain Cristiano Ronaldo says his side are driven to break the dominance of arch-rivals Barcelona – both at home and abroad.El Clasico enemies Barca have cast a long shadow over their La Liga foes in recent years, complementing their three consecutive league titles with the 2009 and 2011 Champions League trophies.
Jose Mourinho’s Real last won La Liga in the 2007/08 campaign, and Portuguese attacker Ronaldo believes the Madrid club’s time to rise above Barca is now.
“We have had this ambition for a couple of years. We are on the way to winning something, but the moment has not come yet,” he said.
“But we are working hard to make this happen. We have to have hope. We have the players, we have a great coach and now we have to have the ambition to win the Champions League.”
The two clubs renew acquaintances in the first leg of the Supercopa de Espana on August 14, and Ronaldo said the two-legged meeting with Barcelona was already on his team-mates’ minds.
“We are just concentrated on the preparation factor and when the game against Barca comes up, we will surely be fully prepared,” he said.
“We have a lot to work on. We are just concentrating on the training. This is what we have to think about.”
Ronaldo was speaking in China, where Real are continuing their pre-season programme with games against Chinese Super League clubs Guangzhou on Wednesday and Tianjin Teda on Saturday.
With off-season signings such as Fabio Coentrao (Benfica) and Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund) still getting to know their team-mates, Ronaldo stressed the importance of the matches.
“(Wednesday) it’s a preparation game that we need to try to win because it’s important, because the victory will help us increase our rhythm (match play) so we can start the season in a better way,” Ronaldo said.
“And this is what we are going to try to do: to play well, to win in a physical way, and start the season in a better way.”
Manchester United could leapfrog rivals City and go top of the Premier League if they beat basement boys Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils are in sparkling form at the moment and go into the game off the back of two successive 5-0 wins. This is the time of year that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side usually picks up momentum as they make their charge towards top-flight glory. United have been imperious since their 6-1 drubbing at the hands of City back in October winning eight of the subsequent nine games keeping seven clean sheets in the progress. Despite having 12 players out injured including captain Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, midfield enforcer Darren Fletcher and winger Ashley Young fringe players like Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov have stepped in to fill the breach with the Bulgarian striker helping himself to six of United’s 10 goals over the last two games. He scored five in this fixture last season and is sure to be hungry for goals again as the Ferguson sets himself up for another championship assault.
Blackburn boss Steve Kean has a very different agenda as he prepares to take his side to Old Trafford knowing a defeat could cast them further adrift at the bottom. Rovers will go into the game with renewed optimism after holding Liverpool on Boxing Day gaining a vital point in their survival bid. However I doubt Kean and his players will believe they can beat United on their own patch with and last season’s 7-1 thrashing likely to be fresh in their minds. Goalkeeper Mark Bunn will be keen to avoid a similar score line this time round and should he perform like he did on Merseyside on Monday then he could be the difference for Blackburn. The club will hope their supporters once again provide positive noises from the stands after they got behind Kean and the players at Anfield as they attempt to engineer the biggest scalp of the season thus far.
Manchester United 2nd : 45 points
Team news: Sir Alex Ferguson is without 12 first team players but could have Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand and Fabio back for the visit of Blackburn on New Years Eve.
Key Player: Wayne Rooney
Since rediscovering his knack of scoring goals at the start of December the England strikers performances have been near perfect. Rested for the game against Wigan on Boxing Day he’ll be firing on all cylinders as he looks to guide United to Premier League glory in 2012.
Blackburn Rovers 20th : 11 points
Team news: Blackburn have doubts over Paul Robinson, David Dunn and Junior Hoilett who all have knocks. Six other players are definitely out until the New Year.
Key Player: Mark Bunn
With Paul Robinson a doubt for the trip to Old Trafford it looks as if Bunn will start for the second successive game. His performance against Liverpool on Boxing Day was nothing short of spectacular with his reaction save from Andy Carroll’s header out of this world. Will be crucial to thwarting United’s goal hungry attack.
PREDICTION
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United are unstoppable at the moment scoring 10 in their last two games and looking on course to regain the Premier League top spot. At the other end of the table Blackburn are staring into the abyss and defeat at Old Trafford will see them start 2012 rock bottom.
Remember the internet joke doing the rounds in the summer about a certain Titus Bramble coming to the Arsenal? If you missed it some mischievous cove used Twitter to spread the rumour that the bungling Bramble was on his way to the Emirates and that Arsene Wenger was convinced it was he, not Per Mertersacker, Gary Cahill, Chris Samba or Phil Jagielka, who was the answer to our defensive woes.
My how we laughed.
Fast forward a few weeks and we’re not laughing anymore are we? Why? Because TV5 is bleedin’ crocked again and we are back to square one. Yes, the big German from Werder Bremen has provided rearguard reinforcements. But can you say, with hand on heart, that you are encouraged by the fact that we must rely on either Johan Djourou or Laurent Koscielny as his partner? To be fair, the latter is the better bet but has he fully recovered from his back injury in time for Saturday? What’s that? Seb Squillaci? Nurse, more pain-killers, please.
Which takes me back wild and inaccurate rumours (and Lord knows I know what I am talking about here) – and may I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer I gave some moments ago (Bramble)…for we have a ready-made former international central defender in our midst. A stalwart stopper who is training with the Gunners, isn’t attached to a club and can be signed on a short-term deal until the entire medical team at the club are sectioned and TV5 is nurtured back to fitness.
Yes, step forward Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell. Dare AW do it? Hire a player that was shown the door in the summer after a stuttering spell at Newcastle United? He knows the boss. He knows the players. He knows the set-up. Is he up to it? Discuss…
Article courtesy of Carl Eldridge from the excellent Arsenal Insider
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Real Madrid maestro Cristiano Ronaldo has backed former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney to return to top form in the not-too-distant future.
Twenty-five-year-old Rooney, who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury, has scored just once for United this season, while he recently hit the headlines by asking to leave Old Trafford before sensationally signing a new five-year contract.
Ronaldo told The Sun:"Wayne has not started this season very well, but he is still a fantastic player and I know that very soon he will be back to show that.
"He has made his decision to stay with United and sign a new contract and we must all respect that. It's not my position to give him advice on that, but I know that things can change very quickly indeed.
"I didn't start this season very well, either. But it is difficult to play at the highest level all the time.
"I just stayed calm, worked hard and did my job for the team and suddenly I scored a few goals and everything changed.
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"Football is like that. Sometimes we play bad and then you score a goal and everyone thinks differently about you. That will happen for Wayne."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
England boss Fabio Capello already knows his starting XI for Saturday's World Cup opener against the United States in Rustenburg.
Capello was believed to be still considering which of his 23-man squad to play in a couple of key positions in the Group C curtain-raiser.
Which of his three goalkeepers in David James, Joe Hart or Rob Green should start the tournament as number one, who could partner John Terry in the centre of defence following the injury to Rio Ferdinand, whether to rush Gareth Barry back from injury to start in defence and who should play alongside Wayne Rooney up front were all believed to be selection issues.
However, the Italian coach has revealed he already knows the make-up of his first starting line-up, subject to nobody picking up injuries during the final few training sessions.
Asked whether he knew which goalkeeper would start against the US, Capello replied:"Yes, I've decided, I know.
"I know the 11 that will play Saturday and I hope the next two days, during the training, all the players will be fit."
Meanwhile, Capello claims he is in relaxed mood ahead of the tournament despite snapping at photographers before a training session at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex base on Wednesday morning.
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"I'm relaxed," he added."I can understand the pressure because in every moment we walk around you can see the security, the journalists, you can see when you move to golf, to safari, you need to police a lot of this.
"I understand that this is a really, really important moment for the country."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Blackburn Rovers will carry the threat of relegation and a major selection headache into their trip to Everton on Saturday.The Trotters are suffering an ill-timed slide down the English Premier League table as their form under manager Steve Kean worsens, slumping to 15th with nary a win from their past eight games.
There is just three points separating Blackburn from the drop zone and four points between them and last-placed Wigan Athletic, and with six games left – including visits from Manchester United, Manchester City and Bolton – there is little margin for error.
Making matters worse, the club is dealing with a sudden availability crisis due to a rash of injuries.
New Zealand international Ryan Nelsen limped from the field with a knee injury during Blackburn’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham City last Saturday and will not feature in the fixture.
So too is on-loan Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz, who is battling a hamstring strain, and captain Chris Samba, who is laid low with a twisted ankle.
Add to that Steven N’Zonzi’s suspension for his red card against Arsenal, Gael Givet’s ongoing contract dispute and Kean’s apparent dislike for Nikola Kalinic and the Trotters are beginning to look thin indeed.
But in some better news, Junior Hoilett is expected to play despite suffering hamstring soreness last weekend.
The Canadian starlet fired his third goal in four games against the Blues and will be sorely needed in a Blackburn outfit short on attacking options.
The Merseyside visit will pose a test to Hoilett and his team-mates and Everton will be keen to keep their six-game unbeaten run alive.
The Toffees have staked a claim for seventh on the table with 44 points from 32 games, and could find themselves one point off sixth place and a possible Europa League berth if they win and Liverpool topple Arsenal on Sunday.
That Everton have managed to keep their season ticking along while carrying their own extensive injury list is a credit to boss David Moyes.
Moyes has had to do without a number of first-team regulars, including Tim Cahill (foot), Louis Saha (ankle), Marouane Fellaini (ankle), Mikel Arteta (hamstring) and Jack Rodwell (ankle).
Republic of Ireland international Seamus Coleman, who was shortlisted for the PFA’s Young Player of the Year award earlier this week, is also in doubt to play with a recurrence of an ankle injury.
Blackpool manager, Ian Holloway, has insisted that he is not worried by the prospect of his captain and best player, Charlie Adam, leaving Bloomfield Road this summer, because the situation is not in his control. The club, who find themselves languishing in the relegation zone with 5 League games remaining, turned down bids from Tottenham and Liverpool for the Scottish midfielder in January, and it is thought he will leave this summer no matter which division his current team will be playing in next season.
A growing number of observers believe that speculation linking Adam with a departure from Blackpool has unsettled the club, pointing to the team’s run of two wins in 16 games since the turn of the year to support this view. In my opinion, Blackpool were right to reject the bids offered to them in January, not just because they were rightly considered by Holloway as disrespecting the club and the player’s quality, but also because without him, the Tangerines may have been further adrift at the foot of the table by now.
If he had been sold, and Blackpool embarked on a similar or worse run than they have recently endured, then his sale would have been the principal factor in the club’s demise, something Holloway would have been unable to justifiably contest. The actual reason for the team’s slide down the table is that the squad isn’t good enough. Sure they have suffered a number of injuries in each position throughout the campaign, but not significantly enough to distinguish them from any other club.
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Blackpool are not the only team in recent history to achieve promotion to the Premier League for the first time, play above themselves in the opening stages when others are still finding their feet and then get found out after January when other teams work out how to beat them with ease. Hull won promotion to the top flight for the first time in 2008 and were beaten just once in their opening nine games, which included a 2-1 defeat of Arsenal at the Emirates and a 1-0 win against Spurs at White Hart Lane. Despite this feat, the Tigers won just twice in the League after their autumn honeymoon and entered the final game of the season one precarious position above the relegation zone and with more than one keen eye on other results. They were beaten 1-0 by Manchester United but survived after Middlesbrough and Newcastle were also defeated, by West Ham and Aston Villa respectively, ensuring a second season in the Premiership.
The squad’s true ability was discovered the following season as they were relegated with 30 points, and it would be difficult for Holloway to avoid acknowledging parallels with Hull, even though Blackpool have already attained 33 points from as many games.
Without a doubt, Blackpool have provided Premier League onlookers with immeasurable entertainment and colour this season, not least because of their bright kit, goal-laden games and eccentric manager, which far succeeds the dour and uninteresting insipidness offered by Hull and Phil Brown over two terms. Unfortunately, the Tangerines joined the Premier League at the start of what has become an unusual season, where as many as eleven clubs face the prospect of relegation with just a handful of games remaining. As much as I would personally like to see them survive, it seems likely that Holloway will be once again managing in the Championship come August, but at least he can recognise that maintaining Adam’s services is the reason they still have a shout at such a late stage.
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With Andy Gray sacked from Sky Sports, and his mate Richard Keys having resigned, the attention now turns to the future and the question of who should replace Gray and take his job? There are plenty of contenders out there, including ex-players, managers and current pundits who would be keen to get a promotion and of course the pay rise that goes with that!
It will be interesting to see whether Sky Sports promote from in-house, with Jamie Redknapp the favourite in the online betting markets, or look to head hunt someone from one of their competitors. The other option is to go for a footballer still playing but set to retire in the near future. However, they wouldn’t have the experience of a seasoned pro that’s been a pundit for many a year.
So who do you think is the man (or woman) to step into Andy Gray’s shoes at Sky? Take a look at the contenders in our gallery below and then vote for your favourite and of course let us know if we’ve missed a major contender out!
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