Wednesday, 28 July 2010

New Blog on Blogger:

http://pottersadventures2010.blogspot.com/

A new blog set up by myself and a close friend Jamie Palmer. This blog will feature all the experiences of our away travels to Football Grounds across the country in the Premiership. This blog will be more of a light-hearted approach and will feature stories and experiences which we can look back on in years to come and remember.

The main feature we will be running is 'Rate the Pie'. This will be rated out of 5 for 'Value for Money', 'Appeareance' and 'Taste'. This chart will soon be looked upon by football fans galore as a guidance for future football match pie statistics!

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

Andrews Networks:

http://facebook.com/andrewleese89
http://twitter.com/andrewleese89
http://andrewleesesport.blogspot.com/
http://andrewleesesport.posterous.com/

New Blog Feature: Andrews View

In other sports news today, it seems like the transfer window is taking some shape. As a new feature to my blog I will be giving my own thoughts on the recent transfer activities and rumours regarding the Premiership clubs and the European Giants.

Gill insists there is money available
Manchester United chief executive David Gill insists there is money available should Sir Alex Ferguson want to dip into the transfer market. This is after Sir Alex has previously said he is not interested in any new players.

Andrews view:
Sir Alex has faith in his side so I don't expect Fergie to sign anyone else. Fans of Manchester United are still looking for a Ronaldo replacement and I feel David Gill has come out and said this statement to take the pressure of the Glazor family leaving the decision up to Sir Alex. If Sir Alex decides not to buy another player who are the fans to argue?

Sol Campbell to Newcastle:
After being released from Arsenal, linked with Celtic and Sunderland it now looks like Newcastle have landed the former England international. Sky Sports News understands Sol Campbell is to undergo a medical at Newcastle United ahead of joining the Premier League new boys. The signing of Campbell would be a boost for the Premiership new boy's who have only signed Dan Gosling and James Perch so far this summer.

Andrews view:
The signing of such a high profile name would be a great signing for Newcastle. However, at 35 will this signing benefit the club on the field? Campbell would add organisation and a level head at the back, something that cost Newcastle their Premiership status two seasons ago. There is a doubt on whether at 35 Campbell can take part in a whole season, possibly the main reason he was released from Arsenal for the second time. My view on this.... Sol's not cut out for the Premiership anymore.

City close in on Balotelli (Apparently):
Once again sources are telling Sky Sports news that Manchester City have agreed a fee with Inter Milan for Mario Balotelli. Reports in Italy have suggested that a £25million move has already been put in place, but it is understood that no such terms have been agreed.

Andrews View:
I won't believe this transfer until I see Mario Balotelli standing in the City of Manchester Stadium wearing a Manchester City shirt and holding a scarf above his head. The media in Italy are having a field day with this transfer saga and Balotelli's agent seems to be the only person involved who is giving honest answers. This saga will continue until the very last minute in my opinion and I expect this to be the biggest deadline deal of the summer.
One point that does interest me on this transfer is the view of new Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez, nothing has been said about whether he wants to keep Mario Balotelli are not.

Mascherano wants out of Anfield
It is reported that after meeting with new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson that Javier Mascherano wants out of Anfield with his only destination being Inter Milan. It has been widely reported that Mascherano wants to join up with his former boss and now it looks like he may get his wish. His representative Walter Tamer has previously suggested a move to the European champions would be a 'dream' for Mascherano.

Andrews View:
Not surprised by this at all. I expect Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti to be adding another star to the European Champions. If this happens, it spells trouble for Liverpool who would be losing out on there best players.

1st Pre-Season Game Tonight - Derby v Stoke

Tonight I am making the short journey to Pride Park to watch Derby County welcome Premiership side Stok Citye.

As a Stoke City fan I am excited to watch there first real competitive match of pre-season. After scoring six past Newcastle Town on Saturday I expect them to be in confident mood especially hat-trick hero Tuncay. I expect Tuncay to start tonight but I won't be surprised to see Tony Pulis go with his preferred partnership of Ricardo Fuller and Mama Sidebe upfront.

Derby also scored six at the weekend but conceded five against Chesterfield which will be a bigger concern for manager Nigel Clough.

I'm looking forward to this and tomorrow I will upload a match report and where these two teams can go from here. Not done a match report since the England warm up games for the World Cup so this may be interesting challenge for me. Also with the match report a friend of mine will be giving his expert opinions on the half time pies and coffee.

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Mancini confirms interest in Donovon

Manchester City boss has said the signing of Landon Donovon from LA Galaxy is a possibility.

Donavon who impressed for the USA in the World Cup has caught the eye of the Eastland’s boss after a good loan spell at Everton. The former Bayern Leverkusen player is contracted for LA Galaxy who will be un-willing to sell but with Manchester City's spending power LA Galaxy may be forced to part company with their US starlet.

Manchester City who are currently touring America as part of their pre-season have two games scheduled with the New York Redbulls and Club America could use the possible signing as a way to break the US market; something Manchester United and Chelsea have done well in recent years. The arrival of Landon Donavon would give the same merchandise opportunity as their Manchester rivals who have with Park Ji Sung who is the now biggest player in Asia.

One problem Manchester City may face is will Donavon be willing to move to a team that already have the attacking options of Adam Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy and new signing David Silva.

FIFA approves use Two Additional Assistant Referees

Fifa has approved the use of two additional assistant referees for the next two seasons of UEFA Champions League football.

UEFA experimented with two extra officials during the 2009/10 Europa League and after a successful campaign it has been expanded to be included in UEFA's premier competition the UEFA Champions League.

After a meeting and review in Zurich, the board has decided to continue the trails for at least the next two Champions League campaign.

After an incident involving England's Frank Lampard against Germany in the last 16 of the World Cup goal line technology will now be on the agenda of the next Annual Business Meeting of the IFAB (International Football Association Board) in October this year.

Tuesday, 20 July 2010

Gerrard Commits Liverpool Future & other EPL news

Steven Gerrard has today pledged his future to Liverpool after transfer rumours he was on his way out of the club.

The Liverpool captain was reported to be leaving Anfield this summer after a disappointing season saw Liverpool finish 7th below Spurs, Manchester City and Aston Villa in the race for a Champions League spot.

"I made it clear that I simply needed to concentrate on the World Cup and then have a decent holiday with my family," Gerrard told the Liverpool Echo.

"I wanted the chance to meet Roy Hodgson privately and having done so, I'm very impressed with his plans for the future.

I've only returned to training today at Melwood with some of the other World Cup players, but I can't wait for the new season to start."

Gerrard has also spoken on the signing of Joe Cole claiming it to be a fantastic signing for the Mersey side Giants.

"He's proved his ability over many years in the Premier League, sometimes against us - so it will be fantastic to play alongside him in a red shirt for Liverpool."

In Other News:

Fulham target Martin Jol has snubbed the chance to become there new manager and has decided to stay with Dutch giants Ajax. The news will be a blow for Fulham who had made Martin Jol there number one target to replace Roy Hodgson. Fulham will now need to go back to there shortlist and look at other possible options. Those include former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has said the club will be not making anymore further signings this summer. United have bought in Chris Smalling from Fulham and Mexico's young star Javier Hernandez arriving from Chivas Guadalajara. This news now rules out a move to Inter wonder kid Mario Balotelli who is also a target for city rivals Manchester City.

Monday, 19 July 2010

Breaking News: Joe Cole signs for Liverpool

Liverpool has signed former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole on a free transfer on a four year deal.

The 28 year old England international failed to impress the Chelsea board and left the club at the end of last season. Cole is expected to complete a medical within the next 48 hours.

Joe Cole had been linked with Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal but has chosen Liverpool even though the Merseyside club could not offer him Champions League football.

Cole is the second summer arrival at Liverpool after Serbia forward Milan Jovanovic joined following the expiration of his contract with Standard Liege.

Friday, 9 July 2010

Final's Day

Now it's been a while since I uploaded a post on here, due to work & other reasons. I'm still working hard on my articles & trying to find myself a writing style I'm comfortable with!

So this weekend is the World Cup final. Holland vs Spain, an all European final which I cannot say I am surprised about with it's dominance but it was looking like it was going to be an all South American final for a while! I guess it has been the best two teams over the last two years competing in this final. The European Champions Spain against the team with the best record in qualifying and the team who has won all 6 games so far in this World Cup!

My prediction is go with Spain simply because of the quality they have. Iniesta and Xavi never fail to perform and hardly ever give away the ball, with David Villa on hot-form I think he could be the difference between the teams & who am I to argue with a physic octopus?!