Footballbits and pieces

Stephen Ireland instantly became the biggest earning star in the Aston Villa dressing room when he signed  earlier this week, but he has no qualms in insisting the likes of Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are worthy of their lavish earnings.

“It’s not up to me to argue what any footballer should be paid and I don’t have any problem in saying I’m worth the money I’m getting now,” insists Ireland, who has just been handed a multi-million pound severance payment to leave Manchester City and join Aston Villa.

“I was City’s Player of the Year last season and things went well for me, so I earned the right to be paid the same as most of the other players who were in the team around me every week.

“A lot of my team-mates were on much bigger money than me at City for a long time and I’d say I have only been on what I would call decent money in the last year or so. People like Micah Richards and Michael Johnson earned more than me at times when they were not even in the first eleven.

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Theo Walcott netted a hat-trick for the Gunners as Blackpool were swept aside at the Emirates

Ian Holloway spoke pre-match about the need to ensure Blackpool’s dream afternoon did not turn into a nightmare in North London, but his players failed to heed the warning as they returned to the changing room at half time 3-0 down, and a man down. Ian Evatt saw red for the visitors and Walcott took full advantage to bag himself a hat-trick.

It was Walcott who opened the scoring when he completed a flowing Arsenal move on 12 minutes, and then Blackpool were dealt the piece of hard luck they could ill afford, with Evatt sent off for a professional foul on Marouane Chamakh. Evatt’s challenge appeared to come outside the box, but Andrei Arshavin cared little as he doubled his side’s lead from 12 yards.

Walcott then doubled his personal tally with the help of some poor goalkeeping, and there was more misery for Blackpool after the break as Abou Diaby expertly turned home Bacary Sagna’s cross, before Walcott completed his hat-trick with yet another cool finish after he meandered his way into the area.

With the match wrapped up, Arsene Wenger was able to give half-hour appearances to Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, and Chamakh rounded off the perfect afternoon late on by opening his Emirates account after he had earlier missed an open goal.

Tottenham were also celebrating on Saturday as their depleted squad secured a 2-1 triumph at Stoke thanks to the brilliance of Gareth Bale.

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I love reading tabloid newspapers. The Sun, Daily Mirror and even the Daily Mail, give me much entertainment during the transfer window. So here is a roundup of today’s silly season soccer sensations from The Sun and others.

Matthew Upson could be rejoining Arsenal, so says journalists close to Arsene Wenger. Perhaps not that close, perhaps not even in the same postcode. But Upson did spend six years at the Gunners and Arsene has mentioned (allegedly) from time to time that selling him was a mistake. Perhaps not too far fetched, Avram may want to get as much cash as possible while he is not a free agent.

A couple of stories from the Daily Fail, I mean Mail, for Hammers fans to have a giggle about. Firstly the Mail is suggesting that Luke Young could head to Upton Park after his move to Liverpool failed to materialize. This one is a bit hard to believe as Grant has brought in Winston Reid and Tal Ben Haim. In addition Luke is the wrong side of 30, so the move doesn’t seem to make much sense for the Villa player.

One rumour that is going round the papers is that the Hammers could be trying to sign Manchester City’s Felipe Caicedo on loan. The 21 year old striker is out of favor, along with so many at Man City, so a loan deal for the Ecuadorian could be on the cards now Mario Balotelli has arrived on the scene.

Lastly a oldie, but a goody, Loic Remy, the Nice striker who signed for Marseille in a

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Arguably the stand-out game in the second round of Premier League fixtures sees Manchester City take on Liverpool at Eastlands.

Although both teams are competing in the Europa League this season, they will be eyeing top-four finishes this term so that they can participate in the 2011-12 Champions League.

However, it will not be easy for either side to force their way in to the top four although Monday’s match should give some clues as to who is more likely to push Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal at the head of the field.

Both sides secured a point from last weekend’s games although the respective goalkeepers enjoyed vastly differing fortunes.

City’s Joe Hart was outstanding after being preferred by Roberto Mancini to Shay Given, making a string of great stops in the 0-0 draw at Tottenham.

Perhaps understandably following their raft of big-name summer signings, City took a while to get in to the game at White Hart Lane and were fortunate to come away from the match with a point.

Meanwhile, Liverpool seemed to have done enough to beat Arsenal 1-0 last Sunday until Pepe Reina contrived to push the ball in to his own net in stoppage time to ensure the Anfield clash ended all-square.

The Reds had debutant Joe Cole sent off in the 1-1 draw so the former West Ham United and Chelsea star will be suspended for the trip to Manchester while Fernando Torres may start on the substitute’s bench as the Spaniard continues his battle to regain full fitness.

Mancini has a wealth of talent to choose from and it is more a case of who he will leave out of his side as he has no injury or suspension worries to trouble him.

Last season, the two teams showed how evenly they were matched when both games ended in draws.

In November at Anfield, the two teams shared four goals with Martin Skrtel, who signed a new contract with the club this week, opening the scoring before goals by Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland made it 2-1 to City.

Yossi Benayoun rescued a point for the Reds with a late equaliser while, at Eastlands in February, the match ended in a grim goalless draw.

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Liam Apicella
Posted on: 19 August 2010 – 15:30
Football
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Every football manager loves to claim the services of a player at a bargain price, but adding a player of international pedigree to your squad for free is every bosses dream. Considering the current financial climate gripping the game, with the exception of Manchester City whose owners appear to have a bottomless pit of resources, managers around the globe are now hunting for the cheapest possible deals to help improve their squads.

In view of Joe Cole’s recent switch from Chelsea to Liverpool on a free transfer, Sport.co.uk reviews 10 of the most memorable transfers since the Bosman ruling swept into world football back in 1995.

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