Arsenal gaffer Arsène Wenger went absolutely postal this weekend when his well-trained young charges went off the rails and got beaten 2-1 by Premier League scamps Hull City…

So offensive was his team’s display that it upset his footballing stomach. Super-chef Gordon Ramsay

is known to let food drop out of his mouth, so sensitive are his tastebuds, and Wenger probably has similarly sensitive tastes in football. The Times claims that:

“Arsène Wenger has vowed to make wholesale changes to his side for tomorrow’s Champions League tie against Porto after condemning a performance that he claims left him feeling physically sick. The Arsenal manager was as angry as he has been in 12 years at the club after Saturday’s shock 2-1 home defeat by Hull City and took the highly uncommon
step of publicly criticising his players.” (Times)

After succumbing to such a rotten defeat, Wenger is surely determined to show his steely side to his players. A team packed with so much youthful talent always runs the risk of appearing rudderless at times, and Arsenal definitely need to bounce back against Porto.

Spurs aren’t very good at the mom

ent. In fact, they’re
the worst team in the Premier League, having failed to beat any of their six opponents in the league to date. True enough, the departures of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov upset the applecar

t at White Hart Lane in the summer, although

the current performances are no better than those under Martin Jol twelve months ago.

Everything had seemed rosy for Tottenham last February, when Juande Ramos led the club to success in the Carling Cup. Despite a poor finish in the league after this triumph, it was generally think about
ed that Spurs were moving in the right direction, with the Spaniard making improvements to the defence which might see them challenge the ‘Big Four’ this season. Instead, the Daily Mirror reports that ‘Magic Juande’ is wary of now losing his job.

He said

: “That is something that doesn’t depend on me. We have a board and a chairman who decide that sort of thing.

“It’s true that we’re
in a complicated situation right now. And when you play badly nobody seems to help you. Everyone is quite upset about it.”

Former White Hart Lane boss Martin Jol won twice as many points at the same stage last season, but was sacked in October.

Travelling fans chanted: “You don’t know what you’re doing’’ when Ramos replaced £12.5million striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, but the boss is unconcerned.

“That doesn’t hurt – what hurts is losing matches,” he blasted.

Indeed, it was baffling to see Pavlyuchenko substituted for Bent when his team were chasing the game, and it’s now a question of confidence for the Spurs team, who don’t seem to be playing with the spirit of a Hull City, who are incidentally their next opponents. Spurs fans, do you think Ramos should be given more time to turn things round?

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This Dane is peeved about missing out on all the fun this season, having been relegated from first-team start

er to Carling Cup duty!

Daniel Agger will snub contract talk

s with Liverpool until boss Rafa Benitez confirms his role at Anfield.
The Dane, 23, isn’t
happy at being a back-up central defender and may look for a January move.

Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel have established themselves as Rafa’s preferred pairing.

Agger lost his place through injury last season and has played just twice so far in this campaign. (Lancashire Evening Post)

I guess there’s

not much Rafa can do, his current pairing is doing just fine so until injury strikes or either has a patch of poor form, then Agger is destined to be bench-bound. In many ways, I guess you can comprehend
the frustration that the centre-back feels. After all, he looked pretty solid before injury struck and I guess in some ways, it’s good to see a player showing some emotion. After all, it would be very odd if he expressed satisfaction at having to sit out the season. Do Liverpool fans think that Daniel will come good and fight his way back into the team?

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Reports from many sources are suggesting that Juande Ramos is hopeful of securing the signature of a Brazilian whom he used to manage.

23-year-old Adriano has been at the Rojiblancos since 2004 and has made 74 appearances during his time at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with the versatile left-sided Brazilian reportedly topping Ramos’ list of targets in January to strengthen his options on the left at White Hart Lane.
Adriano is inside the final two years of his current deal with Sevilla, with Spurs hoping that he does not put pen to paper on a new contract until they can make a move to bring him to the Premier League. When the transfer window reopens in January. (premiershiplatest.com)

This left-sided player is also attracting consistent attention from Jose Mourinho’s Inter side, but the fact that he was brought to Europe by Ramos may give him the edge on a signing that could be a decent one. Not to be confused with the ‘other’ Adriano who of course already plays at the San Siro, this diminutive player has a lot of flair and is adept with both feet, not to mention very good going forward. However, the question would have to be, why would Spurs need another wide man as they appear to have a great many as it is?! Do Tottenham fans think the club should think about
such a signing?

Argentine wonderkid Sergio Aguero is on the wish list of massive

spenders Manchester City, according to reports that emerged last week. But it seems that his current club, Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, have denied any such link-ups.

An Atletico Madrid spokesperson has emphasised that they’ve
no bid from Manchester City for Aguero, 20, whose rise to stardom in the past couple of seasons at the Estadio Vicente Calderon has been phenomenal. So much so that a number of top European clubs have already come knocking for the kid they know as ‘Kun’. Last week City did something similar but Atletico’s spokesman insists that no official bid has arrived from the blue half of Manchester.

He said

: “There’s
no news on this subject, neither City or any other club have contacted us about Kun and Atletico isn’t
interested in seeing the exit of this player.”

But somehow you do feel that Man City will return again for Aguero.

Earlier this week, Chelsea signed veteran midfielder Mineiro on a free transfer. The 33-year-old Brazilian was a free agent, having left Hertha Berlin at the end of last season, and has signed a deal at Stamford Bridge until next summer. It’s not normally the sort of deal associated with massive

-spending Chelsea, but nevertheless, I believe he could be one of the signings of the season.

It is thought that both Arsenal and Birmingham were interested in bringing Mineiro to their respective clubs, but Luiz Felipe Scolari’s days as Brazil manager played their part and he opted for a move to Chelsea. He has won 24 caps for Brazil and was a part of their World Cup squad in 2006, meaning he brings with him a wealth of experience at the top level.

It certainly seems that Arsenal’s pUrsuit of the player went further than expressing an interest. Earlier this month, he spent a week on trial at the club and even played in a behind-closed-doors friendly as he sought to impress Arsene Wenger. However, despite the advantages having an experienced midfielder amongst the youngsters would bring, Wenger opted out of signing the player. This left the door open for Chelsea and I honestly believe Arsenal’s loss is their gain.

Mineiro is a top-quality footballer with similar attributes to Claude Makelele. He sits in front of the defence, constantly wins possession for his side and gives the ball to the more attacking midfielders to express themselves. It has been a case of needs must for Chelsea because of Michael Essien’s long-term injury, but they’ve
a real gem in Mineiro. When he’s

ready to make his first appearance for the club, the likes of Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole will appreciate him sitting behind them, constantly pulling the strings.

Of course, it isn’t
only Essien who has pic

ked up an injury recently. Fellow midfielder Deco is out with a thigh injury for an unknown quantity of time. This makes the signing of Mineiro even more key. Should Scolari be short of attacking options, Mineiro could free up Jon Obi Mikel – who has mainly operated in a defensive midfield role this season – to perform further up the field if needed. If nothing else, Mineiro provides Scolari with an increased amount of options in midfield and that can only be a good thing.

Unfortunately it seems that Minerio won’t quite be ready to make his debut against Stoke this weekend, in a game that sees Chelsea travel to a newly-promoted side for the first time this season. In terms of football betting, the odds will obviously be favouring a Chelsea victory at the Britannia Stadium as they look to continue their unbeaten start

to the season. It will be interesting to see if Scolari rests a few players ahead of the Champions League game in Romania on Wednesday.

Thomas Rooney – Professional Sports Writer

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he could have quit the Gunners had he accepted one of the lucrative offers made to him in the past.

Wenger, who has been in charge of the north London club for over 10 years now, admitted he’d
received several approaches but had never ever given any serious thought to them. He said

:

“I was offered the chance to leave but I never think about
ed going. The longer I stay, the more difficult it becomes to envisage leaving. You have to work inside the club like you spend your whole life there but accept as well the idea it can stop from one minute to the next.”

Wenger seems to have made Arsenal his own and loves

the club very dearly. Under him, Arsenal have transformed inTO not only one of the massive

gest and most recognisable clubs in the world but also as one of the most entertaining

sides in Europe.

May Wenger long continue!

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is reported to be eager to land Tottenham Hotspur’s highly-rated Wales left back Gareth Bale in January – for £15 million.

The Anfield side are looking to add depth to their squad in mid-season and are likely to go player-shopping inthe new year. They have a number of players on their radar and the versatile Bale has recently appeared on their wish list.

After being linked with a move to sign Aaron Lennon in the summer, it seems Liverpool are planning to paint Spurs red in January!

Newcastle United are entrapped in a mesh of problems at the mom

ent and virtually all their players have been linked with moves away from St. James’ Park. Latest reports suggest their captain, a certain Michael Owen, will be the first to jump ship – and that could happen as early as January.

It has been reported that UEFA Cup hopefuls Aston Villa are planning to launch a bid for the England striker in the next transfer window. Club chairman Randy Lerner has promised manager Martin O’Neill two winter signings and it appears one of them could be Owen.

Owen has been indifferent on the pitch for Newcastle this season and has already expressed his frustration at the current turmoil at St. James’ Park. And there’s

absolutely no sign that things could improve on Tyneside anytime soon, either on the pitch or off it.

According to this source, Juande Ramos will dip into his transfer budget again when the window re-opens to secure this very impressive winger!

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Tottenham’s goalless draw with Wigan has convinced manager Juande Ramos that Diego Capel is the answer to his misfiring strikeforce problems.
Ramos is reported to be lining up a £12million January swoop for his former Sevilla charge after seeing his pricey

ly-assembled Spurs side fail again on Sunday to register their first Barclays Premier League win.
The left flank has been a problem for Tottenham for two years but Ramos has identified Capel as the man to fill that gap and will swoop when he can move into the transfer market at the turn of the year.
Sportsmail online comprehend
s that Tottenham are ready to offer him a five-year deal which will put him in the £85,000-a-week bracket. (Daily Mail)

Diego Capel has, of course, been inextricably linked with Tottenham pretty much ever since the former Sevilla boss moved to White Hart Lane. The Spanish international is apparently having problems with his La Liga club and this has led many to believe he’ll
more than likely make the move to the Premier League and, more specifically, to the north London club. Do Spurs fans think that Capel is the player to help reverse the club’s fortunes?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!

Watch Spurs Live Online

Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with the Russian hotshot Andrei Arshavin for most of the summer but they and the player’s Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg couldn’t agree

on a specific deal.

Until now, that’s
. It has now been reported that Spurs and Zenit have agree

d on a fee and that the player shall move from the UEFA Cup winners to the north London club in January. The amount that the two clubs have agree

d on is said

to be 15 million pounds, 7 million pounds fewer than what Zenit wanted for the Russian international striker in the summer.

Spurs’ attack has been severely dampened by the departure of Bulgarian international striker Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United in the summer. Arshavin was reported to be willing to join Spurs and it seems that he, as well as Spurs, have met their objective.

Yet, you simply can’t ignore the feeling that Andrei Arshavin is somewhat overrated….

Former Thai president Thaksin Shinawatra seems to have pocketed as much as £50million as a result of selling Manchester City to the Abu Dhabi-based group ADUG earlier this month.

Shinawatra invested less than £80m pounds of his own cash into City when he became the club chairman in June 2007 but he decided to sell to ADUG for £200m, pocketing a cool £50m.

Even though the sale was forced, the fact that Shinawatra was able to flip the club like some kind of beach-side villa for a huge

profit is likely to invite interest from more bored billionaires to do the same. Football clubs as a plaything to spend some money on is bad enough, but if football clubs are looked at as short-term investments to be sold immediately then we’re in real trouble.

Juande Ramos is looking to raid Southampton and capture another one of their talented youngsters!

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TOTTENHAM’S planned raid for Southampton wonderkid Adam Lallana will cost them at least £5million.
Spurs are on the trail of one of England’s brightest young stars but Saints will demand the same fee they received from Arsenal for Theo Walcott.
Tottenham had hoped to nick Lallana, 20, for £2m in a January swoop. He lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, but slipped through Spurs’ scouting net.
Lallana has become a regular at St Mary’s where he only recently signed a new three-year deal.
The attacking midfielder needed an operation to cure an irregular heartbeat in his teens. (The Sun)

Lallana looks the part, a player who shows ability

beyond his years. The 20-year-old has already established himself as regular this season as he looks to help his side ease out of the relegation zone. Obviously the south coast club has had a lot of success in terms of youngsters making it into the top tier and Gareth Bale’s move to Tottenham could turn out to be one of the ideal
purchase
s Martin Jol ever made. Valuations of the attacking midfielder fluctuate between £5 and £7m and he could well be a great investment. What do Spurs fans think they need to do to pull out of their current slump?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!

Watch Spurs Live Online

Juande Ramos is apparently think about
ing a move for this Newcastle player who may be just one of a raft of players think about
ing leaving the crisis club.

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Tottenham are ready to pounce for Newcastle United midfielder Charles N’Zogbia in January.
The People say

s N’Zogbia is among several players weighing up their futures on Tyneside and Spurs are monitoring developments. (Tribalfootball.com)

N’Zogbia has been linked with a move to White Hart Lane for 18 months or so and the talented predominantly left-sided player could well be a decent signing. Available for around £8m, the young Frenchman may well have had enough of the mess in the north-east and has voiced his intent to move to London and this could well be a case of perfect timing for all parties. Do Tottenham fans think that N’Zogbia could be a good signing for a team who must surely be due some good results soon?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!

Wenger is yet again linked with a massive

-money signing, but is this youngster really worth THAT much?!

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Turkey international Arda Turan is being watched by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but he could be put off by Galatasaray’s £15m asking price for the 21-year-old winger. (The People)

The Young Turkish player impressed in patches during Euro 2008 but surely isn’t
worth such an exorbitant fee. The attacking midfielder/winger is a good player but would he be better than what’s
already on offer to Wenger? I think not. I would imagine that unless the asking price dips dramatically then Arda will not be making a move to north London. Do Arsenal fans think that their table-topping side needs additions in January?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!

Things are going well for the Eastlands outfit and Mark Hughes must feel like a child in a sweet shop. Now he’s

aiming for the icing on the cake!

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Manchester City are planning a sensational £25million swoop for Lyon striker Karim Benzema.
Mark Hughes has made the hitman his number one target with the City money men ready to splash the cash again in January.
Benzema, 20, will be offered a mega four-year deal worth £100,000 a week to join the Blues’ revolution in a few months’ time. (The People)

Benzema is a predatory finisher of the highest order and if City capture the 20-year-old it will be one hell of a coup. Clearly having a new owner with limitless cash reserves will greatly aid a club who in a year or two could well challenge the top four monopoly. The first trick to help this occur is persuading players such as Benzema that the Blue half of Manchester are more than capable of keeping up with their Red neighbours in terms of purchasing the top names in the game. I’m
not sure if Hughes will be able to fit the French international into the same XI as Jo and Robinho, but with the former Real Madrid man behind the front two it could well work and would be an awesome strike force that would be mouthwatering to say

the least. Do Man City fans think that such a signing could well happen?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!

Liverpool star Stevie G scored his 100th goal for the club against Stoke yesterday, and ref Andre Marriner even allow

ed Gerrard to celebrate for 30 seconds before cruelly dashing the metaphorical champagne from our hero’s lips.Marriner’s decision to disallow

the goal was a massive

ly contentious one, especially as Liverpool eventually drew 0-0, so the goal wouldn’t
only have represented Gerrard’s century, but a hearty three points. As it stands, the Anfield outfit had to settle for a highly unsatisfactory point.

However, as cheesy cliche merchants tend to say

, every cloud has a silver lining and this one could come in the form of Gerrard’s 100th goal against the old blue enemy, Everton.

Next weekend’s Merseyside derby game would be the perfect stage for Gerrard to bag his 100th and think about
ing that the Everton of this season have been more than generous in terms of conceding goals, it shouldn’t be too massive

an ask, should it?

Fancy stepping outside this page and continuing this debate like real men? Why not shamble over to the COS Forum?

In football, one’s man loss is another man’s gain; in this case, Juventus’ loss could be Arsenal’s gain.

It has been reported in the Italian press that 21-year old starlet Sebastian Giovinco is eagerly think about
ing joining the Premier League high flyers if he continues to be sidelined.

Giovinco is regarded as one of the most talented players in Europe but he has been somewhat under-played at Juventus by coach Claudio Ranieri. The youngster is said

to be unhappy at the lack of regular first-team football and speculation is linking him with the Gunners.

Moreover, he wants an improved £1 million a year contract that Juve comprehend
ably are not so keen to allow
him.

And now here’s a story. You all know how Real Madrid and Manchester City are so desperate to land arguably the world’s ideal
footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who made his long awaited comeback against Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.

Well, it now seems that there’s

another club on his trail… Chelsea.

Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has admitted that he would have signed the 23-year old Portuguese international, with whom he worked during his time in charge of the Portugal national squad.

Big Phil admitted: “Maybe next season, Cristiano is with me. Tell him if he wants to change, I’ll open the door for him.

“He will leave United one day because he won’t play for 50 years.

“If he goes to another club, whether in one year or two years, I don’t know. He’s my friend. I like him as a dad
likes his son. But his life is his life.

“Now, at this time of life, Ronaldo is mature and is better than one or two years ago.

“Now he’s

one of the three ideal
players in the world. I said

that two years ago, and I repeat it now. I never said

he was the ideal
, and I won’t now.

“I’ve
some players here who are fantastic, and I’d never say

they’re
the ideal
. He is one of three, one of five, one of 10.”

Now we’re
about to have some fun. First Real Madrid, then Man City and now Chelsea. How many more are to follow?

In football, one’s man loss is another man’s gain; in this case, Juventus’ loss could be Arsenal’s gain.

It has been reported in the Italian press that Juventus’ 21-year old starlet Sebastian Giovinco is quite eager to join the Premiersip high flyers Arsenal from Juventus before long if he continues to be sidelined.

The 21-year is regarded as one of the most talented players in entire Europe but he has felt somewhat under-played at Juventus by coach Claudio Ranieri, a feeling Arsenal have often taken advantage of to lure young talents from some of the massive

gest clubs around.

It’s now said

that should Giovinco not be included in the start

ing xi in the subsequent matches for Juventus, he would be more than willing to leave the Turin club and move to Arsenal.

Liverpool’s first choice goalkeeper Pepe Reina has reiterated his happiness and satisfaction at Amfield and has assured the club’s supporters that he has no intension of leaving the club next summer.

Reina came under some speculation this summer when there were reports that he wanted to leave Liverpool and move back to Spain to play for Villarreal. But the Spain international goalkeeper who was a member of Spain’s Euro 2008 squad has consistently said

that he aimed to stay with the Merseysiders in the long run.

On Friday, Reina again emphasize

d on his harmonious relationship with Liverpool:

“I see myself continuing outside of Spain. You never know, but I would like to spend a few more years in England. The plan is to stay here.”

Seems like Liverpool can once again heave a sigh of relief.