Search: ' Jermaine Pennant'

There are set to be some big moves and unhappy clubs in the January transfer window

With the transfer window flung open, some confident predictions have been made about likely January moves. Everton will fail to buy a striker from the Russian league and may have to settle for an ageing loanee from MLS, Sam Allardyce could be reacquainted with at least a couple of the overseas players he signed for Bolton and Shay Given will leave Newcastle, probably for north London. Given even took the unusual step of issuing a statement through his lawyer indicating that “turmoil on and off the pitch” had compelled him to seek a new club. Newcastle’s dismayed response to this was reported with some glee, with the Mirror claiming that Joe Kinnear had “hurled insults” when questioned about his keeper’s announcement, as if that were possible. 

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Does money talk loudest in the Championship? Csaba Abrahall
reviews the 2006-07 season in what should surely be called Division Two

Derby’s play-off victory averted the worst-case scenario, but the season was none the less a worrying one for the majority, as only West Brom’s failure to prevail at Wembley prevented all three of the sides relegated from the Premiership in 2006 securing an immediate return. With parachute payments set to rocket, Championship clubs without a recent top-flight history could be forgiven for questioning whether striving for success against such financially advantaged competitors is worth all the bother.

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Dear WSC
In Nigel Harris’s excellent Fools Gold (WSC 241), he mentions that South Wales Police officers are approachable and highly regarded. This got me thinking about when Cardiff City were the visitors to Preston a couple of seasons back. As my friends and I were sat drinking in our usual pre-match pub, a jolly officer from the aforementioned constabulary approached us and informed us that they would be letting a group of Cardiff City “fans” into the pub and that we should drink up and leave or they wouldn’t be responsible for the consequences. The SWP officers then proceeded to welcome these fans into the establishment and chuckled along as they went round taunting everyone else in the bar with racist anti-English insults. Though I agree that no set of supporters should ever be banned from seeing their team, Cardiff City’s cause is not helped when the body employed to control their unruly fans’ behaviour is seen very much to encourage what they do. South Wales Police may be “highly regarded”, but not in Preston.
Bobby Dilworth, via email

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Monday 1 Manchester United miss a chance to go nine points clear, drawing 2‑2 at injury-hit Newcastle. Liverpool’s 3‑0 win over Bolton takes them third. “They’ve shown me in the last couple of weeks why they are down there,” says Alan Curbishley as West Ham crash 6‑0 at Reading, their third successive defeat. Wigan drop to 17th after a fifth straight loss, 3‑0 at home to Blackburn. Antti Niemi is hospitalised with a serious neck injury in Fulham’s 0‑0 draw with Watford. Derby’s 2‑1 win at Preston takes them to within three points of Championship leaders Birmingham, beaten by a 90th‑minute goal at Ipswich. Torquay are six points adrift in League Two after losing 1‑0 at Bristol Rovers.

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Saturday 1 Berlin’s stadium announcer is replaced after urging the crowd to cheer Germany during their quarter-final. Glenn Hoddle resigns at Wolves. “My expectations and the club’s have drifted too far apart,” he says. Paul Ince is tipped to step in.

Sunday 2 David Beckham quits as England captain, although he wants to keep playing. He tearfully mentions Steve McClaren and Peter Taylor twice, with a solitary nod towards “Sven”. “Maybe we’re a victim of our own honesty and Wayne more than most,” reasons John Terry as the campaign against “Sly Senor” Ronaldo gathers momentum. Honest Wayne is quoted as telling team-mates over breakfast that he wants to “smack him on the head and split him in two”, though he may have been referring to his boiled egg.X

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