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Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will be hoping his side bring a halt to an alarming run of six successive defeats against Fulham at the DW Stadium on Saturday.

Despite starting the season in good form the Latics have plummeted down the table scoring just three times in the current winless run. Goals have been hard to come by in recent weeks with Hugo Rodallega sidelined with injury whilst Victor Moses and Franco Di Santo have failed to hit it off up front. The Colombian returned last week at Newcastle but missed a couple of gilt edged chances before Yohan Cabaye scored a late winner when it looked like a point was secure. They should be buoyed by their display in the North East but ultimately came away empty handed and Martinez will need to get his strikers back on the goal hunt. They’ve scored only six times in the Premier League – the lowest in the top flight this season. Defending needs improve drastically as well with the back line all over the place ad individual errors costing the team dearly in recent weeks. Martinez will be hopeful of having James McCarthy back from injury to pull the strings from midfield after he missed the game last week. The history books do favour the Latics though with Fulham failing to win inthis fixture in 11 games dating back to third-tier encounter in 1992.

It’s been a month since Martin Jol’s side thrashed QPR 6-0 at Craven Cottage with many expecting them to build on that result and kick start their season. It’s been a polar opposite though with back-to-back defeats seeing them plummet to 17th just keeping their head above the relegation zone. A third successive defeat would represent their worst sequence of result in 19 months although it could have been different had Bobby Zamora not fluffed his lines against Everton last week. With the score poised at 1-1 the England striker had a glorious chance to claim victory in the 90th minute only to blast the ball over the bar after rounding keeper Tim Howard. To rub salt into the wounds the Toffee’s scored twice just minutes later to win the game. Dutchman Jol has struggled to get the Cottagers playing consistently and their record against teams in the bottom half has been poor – they’ve failed to win in five attempts. They are unbeaten in the last nine meetings with Wigan but have failed to win in 11 attempts at the DW Stadium.

Key Players

Hugo Rodallega – The Colombians return from injury has boosted a frontline that is struggling to score goals of late. His pacey movement up front will give Wigan an extra edge in attack and with Victor Moses and Franco Di Santo supporting the net should be bulging in no time.

Clint Dempsey – It’s been a topsy turvy season for Fulham so far but Dempsey has continued to show why he is so highly rated in the Premier League. The American will equal fellow countryman’s goal record of 36 in the Premier League should he find the net on Saturday and it’s certain that he will cause Wigan no end of problems from the wing.

Prediction: 1-2

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Despite their poor run, Wigan have some high performing players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Defender Maynor Figueroa and midfielder Ben Watson are the top two tacklers, having won 39 and 29, 91% and 81% of all attempted respectively Victor Moses continues his unlucky streak in front of goal – no other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index has had so many shots on target (17) without scoring. Moses has now had 26 attempts at goal in total without a goal. Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey has troubled goalkeepers more than any other midfielder so far this season, getting 18 attempts on target from 29 efforts overall and scoring twice Damien Duff also continues to threaten the box and has put in 31 crosses so far, the fifth highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

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When the time comes for Premier League clubs to break away from their main focus and allow the big guns to join up for international duty, we are all treated to a few age-old arguments about whether or not the games are actually worth anything, or how players are wrong (or right, depending on your opinion) to drop out of the squads due to ‘injuries’. But after last week’s delightful show of mid-week friendly internationals, something else dawned on me. The influence of an international manager seems to be eclipsing that of a club’s, with players doing all they can to stay alive in the international scene. But how disruptive is it to the domestic games and especially club managers?

Just ask Steve Bruce. Darren Bent left Sunderland in a spot of bother last month after his self-imposed transfer to Aston Villa, and for those of us cynical to believe it, we are told the reason he moved was because England manager Fabio Capello, told Bent, that should he want to progress with his country, then he is better off plying his trade away from the Stadium of Light.

Part of me wonders why Bent needed to jump ship, though. Sunderland were getting the best out of him, in a system that worked and showed just how clinical he could be. What are Villa going to do with him differently which will make Capello sit up and think, “yes, actually, Signor Bent must be good enough, he’s still scoring for Villa!” In all probability, what really happened is that Bent firstly had his head turned by money, and then twisted even further by Capello’s wise words. The end result? Bent played and scored for his country, yes. But wouldn’t he have done if he was still at Sunderland? My guess is yes. So really the end result is the Black Cats are a player short, half way into the season, through no fault of their own.

He’s not the only one, though. Darron Gibson had been put under some unnecessary pressure by the Republic of Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, after he played and scored for Ireland. But at this stage of the season, what has the Italian actually achieved by saying Gibson should move away from Old Trafford? The window’s closed, he can’t move until the summer. So every time Gibson isn’t included in a first team Manchester United squad, is his international place going to be under threat? In his own mind it will be, and I’m sure neither the player himself nor Alex Ferguson will want such an unnecessary weight on his shoulders. Realistically, whether he is playing first team football at Old Trafford or not, Gibson is going to be picked for his country because I can’t think of too many better options.

Players should want to play for their country. If the fact that they are not getting regular football at their clubs means that their starting berth internationally is under threat, then sure, they have every reason to think about moving clubs – but at the right time. Robbie Keane is an example of that, David Beckham is another. But in the case of Darren Bent, Capello has been nothing but a disruption. If he plays and scores in the Premier League, does it matter if it is at Aston Villa or Sunderland? Maybe if Man United or Chelsea came calling, he would have a point as Champions League football can only enhance a player’s ability, but I can’t see too much difference between the team from the North East to Bent’s latest employers.

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It’s a strange argument, I know. Players would have to be confident in their own ability to undermine the thoughts of an international manager, but there comes a time when Capello and co have to take a step back and leave players and clubs alone to their own devices. If players are good enough, they are good enough, it shouldn’t take ‘Capello the agent’ to prove that.

Like my rants? Follow me on Twitter @Joino

Liverpool have agreed terms with Heerenveen for winger Ousmane Assaidi, with the player set to move to Anfield if he passes a medical.

Brendan Rodgers is eager to strengthen his inherited Reds squad this summer, and has already brought Joe Allen and Fabio Borini to the Merseyside club.

A wide attacker has been on the wishlist for the Northern Irish manager all summer long, with moves for players such as Gaston Ramirez touted.

The Morocco international has been speculated with a move to a bigger club this off-season, with Fulham and Ajax reportedly keen to sign the African flyer.

However, the Reds have confirmed on their official website that they have agreed a fee with the Eredivisie side for the winger’s services.

Assaidi has 22 caps for his country and has scored 20 goals in 68 appearances for Heerenveen.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Chelsea may have lost to Manchester United last weekend, but there’s only one way to see the Blues bounce back against Swansea on Saturday – from a Stamford Bridge Box.

If it’s something you’ve never done before, make sure you put that right straight away. Be treated like a VIP at Stamford Bridge courtesy of Football FanCast and 188BET. Not only that, but you can join the Chelsea FanCast boys in the box and meet your favourite podcast presenters!

You can win two places in the box for Chelsea v Swansea on Saturday 24th September, simply by signing up to 188BET and depositing £10 of cash. That’s what Rob and Paul did, and they won places in a Stamford Bridge box for Chelsea v Norwich. This is what they thought of the experience…

Rob (talking to Chidge at Chelsea FanCast): “Just got home, long way but so worth it, what a fantastic day, it was great to finally meet you and tell you in person what a great job you do on the FanCast.

What a great FanCast; always gives me a little buzz when I get a mention, so can you imagine my delight today, it was fantastic to meet you boys and you were right we were well up for it. I have been going to Chelsea for over twenty five years and had some great days but that one was up there with the best!!”

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Sounds great, doesn’t it? Make sure you don’t miss out on the chance to experience for yourself and enter our competition now to win two places in a box at Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea v Swansea.

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Napoli’s Serie A title hopes took a blow after they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Chievo Verona on Wednesday.

Walter Mazzarri’s side had the chance to cut AC Milan’s lead atop the Serie A to just two points with a win, but goals to Davide Moscardelli and Gennaro Santo powered Chievo to an important three points at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi.

The result lifted Chievo into 10th place in the league, while Napoli remain five points behind Milan in second spot.

Roma climbed into fourth despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Brescia.

Marco Borriello handed the hosts the lead just before the hour mark, but Brazilian striker Citadin Eder levelled proceedings after 69 minutes to ensure a share of the spoils.

Juventus slumped to eighth place with their second loss in a row, Luigi Delneri’s side going down 2-1 at Palermo.

Fabrizio Miccoli and Giulio Migliaccio gave the hosts a two-goal lead after just 20 minutes, and although Claudio Marchisio pulled one back for Juve nine minutes before the break, they could not find an equaliser. Palermo climb to sixth with the win.

Sampdoria fell to their third loss from four league matches after a 1-0 home defeat to Cagliari.

Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan scored the only goal of the game nine minutes before half-time meaning Cagliari have now won four of their last five.

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Fiorentina climbed to 11th place with a 1-0 win over Genoa at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with Argentine winger Mario Santana scoring the winner five minutes before half-time.

Lecce moved three points clear of the drop zone with a crucial 1-0 away win over Parma, while fellow relegation battlers Cesena and Catania played out a 1-1 draw.

Udinese and Bologna also drew 1-1, after Maurizio Domizzi cancelled out Marco Di Vaio’s opener for Bologna.

Ask any football fan what is so special about the 31st August every year, and the vast majority will tell you just to turn on Sky Sports News and watch events unfold. Tune in to see the ‘drama’ that is transfer deadline day. We know what it’s all about, seeing reporters outside football grounds, cars leaving training complexes and Big Ben getting closer and closer to that midnight cut off point when the window closes.  In the weeks and months prior to that, we must endure tens of made up transfer stories in rumour mills across a broad range of media outlets.

So why is the transfer window so melodramatic nowadays? One cliché may suggest it is just yet another indication of the way our beautiful game is heading. It is less about football on the pitch, more about capital off it. Who can make the headlines not for winning the most games or scoring the most goals, but for signing the biggest players and spending the most cash? Transfer rumours will get more coverage than some of the football matches that happen every weekend.

It also helps to maintain high readership and viewing figures amongst those footballing outfits when frankly, there’s not a lot else going on in the close season. Players are on holiday and training grounds are temporarily made redundant so people covering matters at such locations have little else to resort to. Transfer stories are reported based on barely a shred of evidence, but people still buy the newspapers, watch the TV Channels and click on the websites in the hope that the latest rumour is true, and in fact Fillipo Inzaghi will be joining Watford or Yann M’Villa has ‘100%’ signed for Arsenal.

It is true though, that football fans love nothing more than to be full of optimism going into a new season, the rumour mills and the drama of the transfer window only fuel this notion. If every story reported was proven to be true, all of the 92 teams in the football league would be considering themselves for success, becoming completely unrealistic over their teams hopes for the upcoming campaign. But the modern football fan is all too used to the speculation and the pre-season buzz.

There are other and more intelligent football stories that could be covered throughout the close season, taking in wider aspects of the game. To look at the impact of goal line technology, the poor financial structure of some the biggest clubs in football or the prospect of certain young talents. Whilst such stories can be seen, the underlying and consistent feature of summer footballing news is always transfer speculation.

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We may all find ourselves avidly following the transfer window in the close season, hoping for each rumour to be true, but the realistic aspect of the situation is that it is all made up, constantly fuelled by half stories just to keep football fans tuned in when there is very little else happening.

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Tottenham finally got their season started today with a hard thought win this afternoon. Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe were the heroes today and Harry Redknapp will be hoping that the result is the kickstart to their season.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Spurs blogs that includes time for Bale to be pushed back, Harry is no replacement for Capello, while Levy’s transfer standoff has the desired effect.

We also look at the best Spurs articles around the web this week.

 

Is Tottenham the place to showcase his talents?

Why Harry is no replacement for Capello

Time for Bale to be pushed back at Tottenham

Will transfer standoff have the desired affect at Tottenham?

Tottenham deserve great credit for showing some balls

A view that Tottenham can’t progress until they get rid of him

Has Harry Redknapp been let down?

The man to tame Emmanuel Adebayor

The rising star who has become the object of Premier League club’s affections

Barca looking to gazump Spurs with £15m bid

Ndinga reveals Tottenham and Newcastle approach

Best of WEB

What can possibly go wrong? – Spurs Musings From JimmyG2

Benny, the weight of the world is on your shoulders son – Dear Mr Levy

Levy: The King Canute of Football – Tottenham On My Mind

Ahoy-Hoy & Toodle-Pip: Musings on Spurs’ Transfer Window – All Action No Plot

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Arry Preparing Tottingham Exit – Harry Hotspur

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This season’s Premier League campaign is hotting up for some and cooling down for others. At the weekend Tottenham were frankly lucky to snatch a point at St James’ Park against Newcastle, Manchester City turned in yet another ‘not quite good enough’ performance against a spirited Aston Villa. West Ham saw three points turn into one as Everton refused to give up the ghost. Manchester United’s reputation for being late starters came back to bite Birmingham in the butt as Dimitar Berbatov scored another hat-trick. Arsenal unsurprisingly walloped Wigan and Liverpool didn’t let Wolves in the game as they put three good goals past them.

There are four more Premier League fixtures for us to enjoy this week and if you’ve got fed up of Mark Lawrenson’s frankly shocking predictions, take a look at these…

Bolton v Chelsea: This has to be a Chelsea win. Bolton blazed a trail for a while there, but their form has dropped off as the Londoners has improved, if only ever so slightly.

Prediction: 0-2 (7/1 on bet365)

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Blackpool v Man United: Tomorrow sees Manchester United eventually getting to play the game that was postponed due to Blackpool not bothering to have under-soil heating installed. Blackpool’s home form is dreadful and Ian Holloway’s end of the pier show may just be losing it’s charm with some.

Prediction: 0-4 (16/1 on bet365)

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Wigan v Aston Villa: The win over Manchester City wasn’t all about the Darren Bent goal, it was all about what a great team performance Aston Villa put on.

Prediction: 0-2 (9/1 on bet365)

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Liverpool v Fulham: Liverpool host Fulham on Wednesday night. Fulham’s form is patchy to say the least and although it was only Wolves, Liverpool will be devastated if they can’t take all three points here.

Prediction 3-0 (10/1 on bet365)

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This article was originally published on FootballTransferTavern.com.

Real Madrid’s out of favour midfield enforcer Lassana Diarra could be on his way to join new Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane, reports The Metro.

The 27 year old has been deemed surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu since joining in 2009, and his high wage demands have led to the La Liga champions becoming eager to part company with the Frenchman.

However, Spurs may have some competition in securing Diarra’s signature as QPR, Everton and Newcastle make up a list of 3 other English clubs also reportedly looking to attract Diarra to the Premier League.

Having already proved himself in England’s top flight thanks to spells at Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth, a move back to the Premier League could suit Diarra; provided his new club can meet his wage demands.

There is also interest from abroad in the form of Spartak Moscow and Fenerbache, as Real Madrid are willing to let their enforcer leave for as little as £4 million.

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Whilst Tottenham may have to fight off some stiff competition to bring Diarra to White Hart Lane, it could mark the start of a busy summer as Villas-Boas looks to strengthen his new side.

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Lille midfielder Ludovic Obraniak believes Paris Saint-Germain’s attention-grabbing role in the transfer market could work in his side’s favour.Since being bought out by the Qatar Investment Authority, PSG have made a series of big money transfers, including Jeremy Menez, Kevin Gameiro and Mohamed Sissoko, with a 40-million-euro move for Javier Pastore expected this week.

The massive influx of money and players in the French capital means expectations are high that Antoine Kombouare’s side can win their first Ligue 1 title since 1994.

But Poland international Obraniak said defending league champions Lille were more than happy to let PSG hog the spotlight, preferring to plot their route to consecutive titles more quietly.

“It’s great for us,” Obraniak said. “We’ve always liked to work in the shadows; we like working calmly.”

“All the pressure is now on PSG who, along with Marseille, will be heavily armed this season.”

“PSG already had a solid squad, and with the new names they’ve brought in, they’ll be very hard to beat. But still, they have to put a style of play into place, while we just need to give our all.”

Lille have hardly been stagnant in the transfer market, replacing the losses of Adil Rami, Gervinho and Yohan Cabaye with the likes of Marko Basa (Lokomotiv Moscow), Dimitri Payet (Saint-Etienne) and Benoit Pedretti (Auxerre).

Crucially, Belgian winger Eden Hazard has spurned the advances of several of Europe’s glamour clubs, and Obraniak was confident the side could recapture their title-winning form of last season.

“We still have the same core as last season,” he said. “We still joke around, we don’t put too much pressure on ourselves.”

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“We know it will be tough to perform as well as we did last season, but still we played some excellent football in the Trophee des Champions.”

“It’s exciting to get going again with some new players on board. They provide a breath of fresh air even though we would have loved to hang onto the ones who left.”

“It gets you asking the tough questions again; there is a competitive air in the squad. The new guys want to prove themselves and that forces everyone to lift their game.”