TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Gerrard disappointed at losing armband • 'It has been a terrific experience. I have loved every minute'• Gerrard 'understands' why Rio Ferdinand is back as captainSteven Gerrard has admitted he is disappointed not to be leading England out at Wembley tonight after Rio Ferdinand was handed the captain's armband for the Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro.Gerrard received praise for the manner in which he handled the responsibility, both during the World Cup and particularly the three games since. But the Liverpool captain insists he knew he only had the job on a temporary basis until Ferdinand returned from his knee injury."I am disappointed I am not going to be leading the boys out," Gerrard said. "It has been a terrific experience. I have loved every minute. But I totally understood the situation from day one the reason why I became stand-in captain. Now Rio is back fit he gets the job."However, Gerrard did acknowledge he is probably producing his most consistent performances for his country. One of only a couple of England players to perform to a reasonable standard in South Africa, Gerrard arguably kept Capello in a job with his two goals to turn August's friendly with Hungary on its head.Gerrard then handled the fall-out from Wayne Rooney's personal problems with grace, while at the same time guiding England to impressive victories over Bulgaria and Switzerland in their opening two Group G games."Maybe it has been my best spell," the 30-year-old told ITV1. "The boost you get when the manager says you are leading the team out and you are wearing the armband is massive."It certainly helps, although I would like to think my performances have improved anyway. I am really happy with how I played since the manager came in."Steven GerrardEnglandEuro 2012guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Dan Gosling not expected to make Newcastle debut until new year Newcastle manager Chris Hughton says former Everton midfielder will have to wait until new year before making his debut. telegraph.co.uk |
Inter Chief Stunned By Milito's Ballon d'Or Omission MILAN (Reuters) - Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti is stunned that striker Diego Milito was not included in the 23-man shortlist for the new FIFA Ballon d'Or. feeds.nytimes.com |
Football transfer rumours: Manchester United to pay John O'Shea how much? Today's Mill is off down the greengrocer's, just for a leek, honestQuestion: how do you make paying Wayne Rooney £250,000 per week seem reasonable? Answer: Pay John O'Shea £80,000 per week. So that's what Manchester United are about to do, according to the Sun. Ta-da! "O'Shea hit's the jackpot!" roars the redtop and it's true that the Irish defender-cum-midfielder-cum-substitute is in luck. For when other utility men are seeking extra money they have to scrawl an ad on a piece of paper and post it on the notice board of their local greengrocer's, where it competes for the attention of passersby with ads for "sensual massages from 18-year-old oriental girls" whose handwriting looks curiously masculine and non-smoking professionals wanted to share a two-bedroom flat close to local amenities, which may or may not include sensual 18-year-old oriental masseuses with curiously masculine handwriting.It remains a matter of some uncertainty as to whether the Glazers will allow any more money to be spent after all the contract extensions but some folks clearly believe they will: and that's good news for Sir Alex Ferguson's long-time penpal Steven Defour, who will finally be brought to Old Trafford from Standard Liège in January. Mind you, that deal could be funded by the sales of Michael Carrick and Darron Gibson, with the former a target for Fulham and the latter highly fancied by WBA and Sunderland.Tomasz Kuszczak, meanwhile, may as well start cavorting in his local greengrocer's, it seems. Because reports in Italy claim that when Gianluigi Buffon recovers from his hernia bother, he'll not resume playing for Juventus but will instead hightail it to United. Goal.com, meanwhile, insists the keeper United really want is Shay Given, who, the site claims, was offered to them as a make-weight in the proposed Rooney-to-City transfer. That didn't go through, as you may have heard, but the Given-to-United bit is still on, or so say the very same sources that said Rooney was definitely on his bike last week.City's suits, meanwhile, are standing excitedly around one of those big cashometers that Blue Peter used to have to gauge donations and jibbering excitedly about how close they are to reaching Sheikh Mansour's personal splurge-target of one billion pounds. There's just a little over £400m to go but market observers are optimistic that City may find a way to pay around that much in January, when synchronised swoops will take place for Sporting Lisbon's 21-year-old defender Daniel Carrico, Lazio's Romanian full-back Stefan Radu and former United flop Diego Forlán.Roma would quite like it if City, or anyone else for that matter, offered even three old lira for all-too-easily inflatable Brazilian striker Adriano. The Italian giants are not big enough to accommodate the Brazilian striker, nor rich enough to pay him £4m a year not to play, and are desperate to ease the strain on their payroll and dug-out. In fact, their payroll is currently so onerous that they are also contemplating selling star man Mirko Vucinic. Internazionale are interested. So, of course, are City.David Moyes, meanwhile, is confident of beating the smurfish Dider Deschamps in a fight, and it may just come to that, so badly do both Everton and Marseille want the 23-year-old Espanyol midfield schemer José Callejón.Swindon's Sean Morrison is causing ructions, too, as QPR, Newcastle and Sunderland all jostle for his signature.At Shakhtar Donetsk, meanwhile, the Croatia defender Darijo Srna is showing that the lessons of the Rooney sage can be applied anywhere, and has put his contract talks on hold while letting it be known that several clubs, including Chelsea and City, would be willing to lavish riches upon him.Paul Doyleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Whitecaps' Martin Nash retires Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Martin Nash is walking away from the game before getting the chance to play in Major League Soccer. cbc.ca |