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Aston Villa have completed the signing of Bulgarian captain Stilian Petrov from Celtic for a reported fee of 8 million pounds. The initial fee is six and a half million but it could rise to 8.

The move reunites the Celtic medio with his ex coach Martin O Neill. It was during O Neill’s time at Celtic that Petrov established himself and won several awards and trophies including SPL’s player of the year in 2001.

Villa are also supposedly in the hunt for Barcelona reject Javier Saviola, but face stiff compeition from other Spanish and English clubs for him.

Egyptian striker Ahmed Mido has returned to Tottenham on a permanent deal from Roma. Mido was on loan at White Hart Lane last season from the Italian giants and scored 11 goals for Spurs.

The fee is an estimated 7.5 million euros.Mido now joins Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe in the list of strikers Spurs have. The Egyptian striker is known for his strength in the air, but is equally famous for his volatile temperament.

Mido has also played for Celta Vigo, Ajax and Marseille in the past.

The much loved Belgian GP at Spa Francorchamps,will return next year in place of the European GP.Spa, which was dropped out of this year’s race calendar, thanks to repair work being undertaken by the authorities, has been witness to some of F-1’s most important moments–Michael Schumacher’s first race win ,as well as the German’s record 52nd race win

There was no Belgian GP in 2003, due to the stringent anti tobacco laws in force.

Imola, which was where the great Ayrton Senna died has also been struck off the list. There is a change in venue for the Japanese GP– from Suzuka to Fuji.

Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City( Joey Barton-penalty)
One of the unexpected results this week, but credit to Manchester City for the way they defended. Arsenal were clearly the better team on display ,like they were in their opening game against Aston Villa,but they just could not find the back of the net.

Fulham 1 -0 Sheffield United ( Jimmy Bullard)

Absolutely stunning free kick from Bullard and there was little the Sheff Utd defence could do to keep it out

Manchester United 2-1 Watford ( Mikael Silvestre,Ryan Giggs,Damien Francis)

Manchester United continued their good start to the season with a comfortable win.They are now top of the table and if they continue their form, the rest of the teams have some thinking to do. Ashley Young ran Silvestre ragged, and I rate him as a good prospect.

Liverpool 2-1 West Ham ( D. Agger, Peter Crouch, Bobby Zamora)

First win of the new season for the Reds. Zamora gave the Hammers an early lead,but 2 goals in four minutes before the lemon break were sufficient for the Reds. Agger produced a superb strike, and Crouch scored a rare one with his feet.

Charlton 2-0 Bolton ( Darren Bent *2)

Two red cards in this game-one for Charlton and one for Bolton.Darren Bent produced another solid performance to ensure a win for Alan Curbishley’s men . El Hadji Diouf missed a penalty for Bolton.
Tottenham 0-2 Everton ( C.Davenport-OG,Andy Johnson)
Spurs have started this season quite badly and need to get back on track if they want a spot in Europe. Everton were reduced to 10 men early on after the dismissal of Kevin Kilbane,but a Callum Davenport own goal and a cool strike from Andy Johnson gave them the win.Johnson has started his season quite well at Goodison and the Toffees will hope he performs consistently in every game.

Wigan 1-0 Reading ( Emile Heskey)

Important goal for ex Liverpool and Birmingham striker Emile Heskey –his first one in 6 months for the club. Reading slump to their second loss in three games.

Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle ( Luke Moore, Juan Pablo Angel)

The Randy Lerner era got off to a winning start for Villa as they continued their impressive start to the season under Martin O’Neill. A draw against Arsenal and wins against Reading and Newcastle have seen the Villain’s storm into the top half of the table. Newcastle also had Obafemi Martins stretchered off on debut and he will be out for close to two weeks.

Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn ( Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba)

Chelsea got back to winning ways with a hardfought 2-0 win over Blackburn. Frank Lampard converted a penalty after John Terry was brought down in the box. Didier Drogba showed his physical strength while adding a second in the second half.

 Middlesbrough 0-4 Portsmouth (Kanu*2, Mwaruwari, Todorov)

Middlesbrough were brought to earth after a 2-1 victory over Chelsea. Gareth Southgate has serious problems with his defence and needs to sort them out if Boro are to avoid losing like this. As for Pompey, they are second in the league now, tied on points with Everton and Aston Villa. If Pompey ,Villa and Everton maintain their excellent start to the season, we might as well see a different top half of the table.

Ok folks,here I will give various clues and you have to guess who the person is. Please leave your answers here as comments and you have your result tabulated.Last date is the 31st of August.

• 1.) I am a well known left footed forward currently playing for a club which many of you would not have heard at all.

My sporting hero is Allan Border.I love Chinese cuisine and have played most of my career in a country which is among the most successful countries in Fifa world cup history.
I missed out on the recent world cup due to a knee injury and am a part of Pele’s 125 greatest living footballers of all time.

• 2 .)I am a defender, currently working as an assistant coach in a club which has qualified for the Champions League group stages.It is at that very club where I acheived a lot as a player.

I have played for 2 Premiership clubs,one of which is not in the top flight this season.My last match for the other club was a FA cup final victory.
I hold the record for captaining my country a record number of times

• 3.)I am currently managing a side which is not in the top division of its country. I played for that club for 5 seasons in my career after which I switched to England for a brief one year spell.

I was once nicknamed “water carrier” ( more of an insult) by a player to whom the name of Matthew Simmons will ring a bell

I am also a part of Pele’s 125 greatest living footballers list.

Thanks to all those who replied. Hope you will again participate in future competitions:

Here are the answers:

1.) Christian Vieiri ( sitter thanks to Allan Border)

2.) Oleg Luzhny ( the toughie)

3.) Didier Deschamps ( the guy who insulted him was Cantona)

Sevilla added the European Super Cup when they beat compatriots and Champions League winners Barcelona 3-0 at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

The result came as a bit of an upset for the Catalans ,who were looking for their fourth piece of silverware in as many months. Brazilian midfielder Renato started the scoring in the 6th minute. Former Tottenham striker Frederic Kanoute added a second just before half time. Italian Enzo Moresca scored from the spot 2 minutes from time to seal the victory. Moresca scored 2 when Sevilla thrashed Middlesbrough 4-0 in the Uefa Cup final,which was Steve Mclaren’s last game in charge of the Riverside club.

Group A:

Barcelona

Chelsea

Bremen

Levski Sofia

A mini group of death?? Possible.People would tip Barcelona and Chelsea to go through but do not underestimate Werder Bremen. Bremen have lost Micoud to Bordeaux,but they still have some fine players in Klose,Klasnic,Borowski etc..If Bremen do play upto their potential we could see a surprise in this group

Group B:

Inter Milan

Bayern Munich

Sporting Lisbon

Spartak Moscow

Shouldn’t be much of a headache for the current Italian and German champions to go through. Going to play in the freezing climes of Moscow may represent a challenge though

Group C:

Liverpool

PSV

Bordeaux

Galatasaray

The second spot is up for grabs here.PSV are the sole representatives of the Dutch after FC Copenhagen stunned Ajax . Bordeaux have some good players,Micoud and Denilson being examples. Galatarasay are no newbies to European competition and will be a force to reckon with.

Group D:

Valencia

Roma

Olympiakos

Shakhtar Donetsk

I do not see major problems for Valencia or Roma to go through from this group.I’d back the Greeks to go into the UEFA cup

Group E:

Real Madrid

Lyon

Steaua Bucharest

Dinamo Kiev

Madrid will be keen to avenge their 3-0 loss to hands of Lyon last season.Lyon had an even more heartbreaking exit to the Rossoneri in the quarters last time around.Both of these teams to go through.

Group F:

Manchester United

Celtic

Benfica

FC Copenhagen

Tricky group for United.On paper neither of the remaining three teams have real big names,but as a unit they canplay very effectively. United need to play well to win this. Benfica to take the next spot ahead of Celtic for me.

Group G:

Arsenal

Porto

CSKA Moscow

Hamburg

This IMO is a real group of death. Porto are no bunnies,CSKA were European Cup winners in 2005 and Hamburg are a rising force in the Bundesliga. Arsene Wenger and his boys will have to be very wary of the three other teams.

( edit Arsenal have signed a Brazilian medio by the name of Denilson–http://sportsunlimited.wordpress.com/2006/09/02/arsenal-sign-denilson/)

Group H:

AC Milan

Lille

AEK Athens

Anderlecht

The simplest group,some would say. It definitely looks like that for Milan,who lost at the semifinal stage last season. No major worries for Carlo Ancelotti and a spot in the last 16 is virtually guaranteed. Lille were not at all bad last season in Europe and I back them to make the knockout stages.

Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins has arrived in the Tyneside for a medical.If he does pass it,the Inter Milan and Nigerian forward is expected to complete his move for an estimated fee of 10 million pounds.This will bring an end to Glenn Roeder and Freddy Shepherd’s summer long search for a replacement for Alan Shearer.

Martins who arrived at the San Siro from Reggiana,was also the subject of discussions in the English media which claimed that his actual age was 25-26 years old.The rumour was finally confirmed as untrue

Martins had handed in a transfer request at Inter.following the arrival at Hernan Crespo on loan from Chelsea.He had earlier signed a  5 year contract in December 2005 at Inter.

If the move does materialise,Martins will partner Shoela Amoebi upfront and he will be reunited with Turkish midfielder Belozoglu Emre at St.James Park

A late Mark Viduka goal ensured that Gareth Southgate started off his first home game at the Riverside with a win.Andriy Shevchenko scored in the 16th minute but Yakubu equalised from the spot and Viduka added one later on

The first warning bells for Chelsea???May be yes,may be no…This match was a rare time that Jose Mourinho admitted that his side deserved nothing from the game

What ever it is ,it does prove that Chelsea will have to work hard to complete a treble of Premierships.It is like Chelsea vs the rest in the Premiership and if the rest put in their best then Mourinho will have to really get his thinking caps on.

This is Chelsea’s second consecutive defeat at the Riverside.

Liverpool drew with Maccabi Haifa away 1-1 to go into the group stages on a 3-2 aggregate.The game was not actually a home game for the Israelis though,with it being played in the Ukranian capital of Kiev.

Nir Davidovich put up a fine show in the first half to deny Liverpool and a Peter Crouch goal in the second half calmed their nerves. Robert Colautti equalised 9 minutes later but the Reds held on for a draw.

Other scores:

Osasuna 1-1 Hamburg

R.S.Belgrade 1-  2 AC Milan

Benfica 3- 0 Austria Vienna

Valencia 2-0 Salzburg

In this fast paced world of ours it is always essential that we remain one step ahead-both physically and mentally. Practising martial arts is a great way of doing this.Although many people view martial arts as just a mode of self defence, it is actually much more than that.

Apart from self defence,martial arts aim at fitness,mental toughness,character building and self confidence .Martial arts help a person to develop physically,mentally as well as spiritually.

Taekwondo, Karate, Jujutsu, Pehlwani ,Kobudo and Qin na are a few examples of martial arts. Striking,grappling,kicking and weaponry are an integral part of many martial arts.

To ensure that you do it the right way, you need the right martial arts equipment too. Hand held mats, rebrakable items, folding mats, stretchers etc are absolutely essential for you to achieve mastery over the subject.

Premiership club Bolton Wanderers have offloaded Jared Borgetti to Al Ittihad.Borgetti,an experienced Mexican striker, scored the largest no.of goals en route to FIFA 2006 in qualifying-16.

Bolton on the other hand have moved for the speedy Nicolas Anelka as a replacement for Borgetti. The ex Manchester City striker has agreed to personal terms but it is being rumoured that Fenerbahce’s president is dragging his heals over the deal.

Bolton started their Premiership campaign with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspurs courtesy Kevin Davies and Ivan Campo.

List updated as on 12th December ,2006

• Club ———— Home Ground ———- —————Manager

• Arsenal——- Emirates Stadium,Ashburton Grove—– Arsene Wenger

• Aston Villa——– Villa Park————————— Martin O’Neill

• Blackburn——- Ewood Park————————– Mark Hughes

• Birmingham—-St. Andrews—————————-Alex McLeish

• Bolton ——— Reebok Stadium———————-Gary Megson

• Chelsea———- Stamford Bridge ———————Avram Grant

• Derby————-Pride Park————————–Paul Jewell

• Everton ——— Goodison Park———————— David Moyes

• Fulham———- Craven Cottage,Loftus Road———-Roy Hodgson

• Liverpool ———Anfield ——————————Rafa Benitez

• Man City—— City of Manchester Stadium ————-Sven Goran Eriksson

• Man Utd ——–Old Trafford —————————Alex Ferguson

• Middlesbrough ——The Riverside ———————-Gareth Southgate

• Newcastle——— St.James Park ———————–Kevin Keegan

• Portsmouth——— Fratton Park———————– Harry Redknapp

• Reading———– Madejski Stadium ——————–Steve Coppell

• Sunderland ———-Stadium Of Light ————————Roy Keane

• Tottenham——— White Hart Lane——————–Juande Ramos

• West Ham———-Upton Park ————————-Alan Curbishley

• Wigan————–JJB——————————–Steve Bruce

For a major part of this game,I felt a sense of deja vu.At Championship manager,this scenario has happened umpteen times.You dominate possession,have lots and lots of cracks on goal,the opponent keeper or defender puts in a cracking show,and the opponent sneaks in one,and you end up losing the game and tearing your hair out in frustration.

At the end of this game between the two teams who always start as No.1 and 2 when the Premiership starts,Arsene Wenger was a slightly more happier manager than me at the end of my game.Gilberto’s equaliser gave the Gunners a point,after they rattled and bombarded the Aston Villa goal.For much of the second half,Martin O Neill thought that his side would give him a dream start.They tried their best,but couldn’t prevent that goal from going in.The game also gave us glimpses of Theo Walcott,and the youngster had a hand in Gilberto’s equaliser.

Here is a list of firsts at the new Emirates stadium

First goal:Olof Mellberg

First goal for Arsenal: Gilberto Silva

First yellow card : Kolo Toure

First substitute: Robin Van Persie ( Came on for Adebayor)

A point gained for Villa though,and two points lost for Arsenal,just as Liverpool did earlier in the day.

Other Results:

Sheffield United 1 - 1 Liverpool

Everton 1- 1 Watford

Newcastle 2 - 1 Wigan

Portsmouth 3 - 0 Blackburn

Reading 3 - 2 Middlesbrough

West Ham 3 - 1 Charlton

Bolton 2 - 0 Tottenham

Good result for Reading,though.Boro need to shore up their defence

Hamburg SV defender Khalid Boulahrouz has agreed to personal terms with Chelsea.Boulahoruz’s capture is an attempt by Mourinho to shore up the defence which looked completely out of sorts against Liverpool in the Community shield.

Boulahrouz is more famously remembered as one of the four men who saw red against Portugal in that infamous World Cup game which saw four men sent off.Before Hamburg,he was at RC Waalwijk.

It will be interesting to see how Khalid the Cannibal performs

Nigerian striker Kanu has signed for Portsmouth on a one year deal.Kanu is Portsmouth’s third major signing of the season after Sol Campbell and David James.

Kanu left West Bromwich Albion after the club’s demotion from the Premiership last season  and was a free agent.

Portsmouth is Kanu’s fifth club,the others being Ajax,Inter,Arsenal and WBA in that order.

England won their first game under John Terry’s captaincy  when they beat Greece 4-0.

It was a sweet first victory for Steve Mclaren who took over from Eriksson after the World Cup

Goal scorers: Terry,Lampard,Crouch*2

Scoreline: England 4-0 Greece

Scorers for England: Theo Walcott,David Nugent

Scorers for Moldova:Serghei Alexeev,Alexander Zislis

Walcott scored after three minutes and was substituted in the 6th minute

Pompey are still hopeful of signing ex Arsenal striker Kanu.The Nigerian was released on a free by West Bromwich Albion this summer,but is also being chased by Valencia and Hamburg.

Portsmouth have only fit striker in the form of Svetoslav Todorov,with Benjani Mwaruwari and Lomana Lualua both injured.This increases Harry Redknapp’s need for the 6′5” forward

New English coach Steve Mclaren has announced his starting 11 for the friendly against Greece at Old Trafford.This will be England’s most likely formation

Robinson

Neville————Terry————Ferdinand—–A.Cole

Gerrard———–Hargreaves——-Lampard——Downing

Defoe————–Crouch

Dean Ashton misses out on a debut because of an ankle injury suffered in training

South Africa are ready to pull out of the triangular series in Sri Lanka after a bomb blast in  Colombo on Monday afternoon.The series also includes India and Sri Lanka.They are currently waiting for a green signal from the ICC

20 year old Scott Carson has joined Charlton on loan from Liverpool. Carson,who helped Sheffield Wednesday avoid relegation during his stint there in May 2006,is a regular member of the English U-21 squad and was on standby for the World Cup.

Charlton now have three keepers in their line up–Norwegian Thomas Myhre,Dane Stephan Andersen and Carson.

Liverpool won the Community shield after beating Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea by 2 goals to one.The goals for the Merseysiders were scored by John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch while Andriy Shevchenko scored in his first major match for Chelsea.

Riise’s first goal was quite a stunning one.After Frank Lampard had whipped in a corner,the ball went to the edge of the area.The Norwegian ran with it,into ther Chelsea half,and then produced a stunning shot which thundered past Cudicini.

Shevchenko showed why he is considered as one of the best finishers in Europe with a cool slot past Reina.Bellamy then produced a perfect cross from the left which Crouch headed home to give Liverpool the victory

This is Steve Mclaren’s England squad

Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson,Ben Foster,Chris Kirkland

Defenders:Ashley Cole,Luke Young,Rio Ferdinand,Jamie Carragher,John Terry,Wes Brown,Gary Neville,Phil Neville,Michael Dawson

Midfielders:Stewart Downing,Owen Hargreaves,Steven Gerrard,Frank Lampard,Jermaine Jenas,Aaron Lennon,Kieran Richardson,Shaun Wright Philips

Strikers: Darren Bent,Dean Ashton,Jermain Defoe,Peter Crouch.

The main omission is that of David Beckham. Mclaren wants pace on the wings and his selection of Lennon and Wright Philips indicates that.

After several failed attempts,Sir Alex Ferguson has  finally managed to sign Tomasz Kuszczak from West Bromwich Albion.The transfer fee is unknown ,but youngsters Paul McShane and Luke Steele will permanently move to the Hawthorns.

Kuszczak’s capture means that Ben Foster can head to Watford on loan. The Polish keeper is now No.2 at United with Tim Howard on loan at Everton to Dutchman Edwin Van der Sar.

Swedish and Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has transferred to Inter Milan for a fee of 24.8 million euros.Ibrahimovic,who did not have a great tournament in Germany where Sweden crashed out to the hosts in the second round,is the second player to make a move from Juventus to Inter this season–Patrick Vieira being the first.

The Swedish striker’s sale is probably the last in the list of players out of the Stade Delle Alpi.That list now reads

Emerson

Cannavaro

Zambrotta

Thuram

Vieira

Ibrahimovic.

The move also fuels rumours that Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins will move out of the San Siro into the Premiership.Inter now have Cruz,Adriano,Crespo,Recoba,Ibrahimovic and Martins in their list of strikers.

Chelsea defender John Terry has been named by Steve Mclaren as England’s new captain.Terry,who also captains Chelsea has produced some top notch performances over the years for both club and country and has assured himself of a guaranteed starting 11 place.

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard who was also tipped as a contender for the post,was named as vice captain.

The English skipper’s post fell vacant after Real Madrid’s David Beckham stepped down after the World Cup.

The list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy has been announced and IT CONTAINS SAURAV GANGULY.

All 15 members selected for the Tri Series to be held later this month(SL) were selected and some players who played well in the Top End series in Australia were also rewarded with a call up.Among them is young Rohit Sharma,who is yet to play a Ranji game.

List of probables:

Rahul Dravid, V.Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni , Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Mongia, Ajit Agarkar, S.Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Venugopal Rao, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, TP Singh, Shib Paul, VRV Singh, Parthiv Patel , Dinesh Karthik

Newcastle boss Glen Roeder could make a move for either Dirk Kuyt or Obafemi Martins to solve his striking crisis.

However Feyernoord’s asking price for Kuyt is rumoured to be a little too much for Roeder’s liking and Martins may be targeted by him. Martins has been pushed down the Inter Milan striking list after the arrival of Hernan Crespo and is on the wishlist of many Premiership clubs.

Ex Arsenal and Tottenham defender Sol Campbell has signed for Portsmouth on a two year contract. The veteran centreback had late interest from Manchester City but decided against a move to the Eastlands.

Sol Campbell is the third major signing for Pompey this season,the others being Glen Johnson on loan and David Thompson on a free from Wigan.

It also looks like David James will follow his England teammate into Fratton Park in the next few days.

Dinamo Zagreb 0—3 Arsenal

After a goalless first half,the Gunners scored thrice in the second half.Cesc Fabregas celebrated his 100th appearance for the Londoners with a brace and Robin Van Persie scored the third

Austria Vienna 1-1 SL Benfica

Nuno Gomes scored for Benfica while Joecyln Blanchard equalised for the Austrians

English centreback Sol Campbell,who is now available on a free,may end up going to the Eastlands instead of the South Coast.

Campbell,who chose not to extend his contract after five seasons in the top flight with the Gunners was undergoing a medical at Fratton Park and was expected to join Portsmouth ,but reports say Manchester City have made a late move for him.

If Campbell does move to City,the Eastlands club may then sell Sylvain Distin to Portsmouth instead for a fee rumoured to be about 4 million pounds.Campbell’s arrival will certainly strengthen the back four of Stuart Pearce’s side as they aim for a spot in Europe this season.

Australian commentator Dean Jones was sacked by his employers,Taj Television( who own Ten Sports ) after he reportedly called South African middle order batsman Hashim Amla a “terrorist” live on air.

Jones,who later admitted it was a mistake,said that he had utmost respect for the Muslim community .

Veteran England defender Sol Campbell is on the verge of signing for Portsmouth .Campbell,who is the only English player to play in six major consecutive tournaments is currently undergoing a medical and a move to the South Coast looks to be a mere formality at this moment.

The news has shocked many people,including Arsene Wenger because Campbell had originally stated that he wanted to play outside the country after leaving Arsenal.He was linked to Olympique Marseille and Fenerbahce,but nothing materialised.

Campbell earlier moved to Arsenal on a bosman from bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur,a move due to which many diehard Spurs fans hold a grudge against him till today.

Britain’s Jenson Button,widely regarded as one of the best drivers of today’s generation without a GP win,finally secured his maiden GP in a an actionpacked GP at the Hungaroring on Sunday.

The race also saw F-1 title contenders Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso who started from 11th and 15th respectively due to time penalties,crash out .

Mclaren’s Pedro De La Rosa took his maiden podium position  behind Button,while Nick Heidfeld finished third.

F-1 enthusiasts would do well to remember that Fernando Alonso introduced himself to the world with a maiden win at Hungary.Will this win bring about a change of fortunes for the normally not so lucky Button?

Charlton striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has urged England boss Steve Mclaren not to forget team mate Darren Bent while naming the England squad.

Bent was the highest English goal scorer in the Premiership last season,but failed to make it to Germany,where England were found wanting in the striking department.

Hasselbaink,who played under Mclaren at Boro has urged his manager not to do what Sven Goran Eriksson did .

New Manchester United signing Michael Carrick is expected to be out for upto 3 weeks after suffering ligament damage to his ankle in the Red Devils’ victory over Ajax in a pre season friendly.

It was Carrick’s second game for the Old Trafford club since his 18.6 million pound move from White Hart Lane.He is now expected to miss United’s opener against Fulham and possibly games against Charlton and Watford too.

The news comes as another setback for United,who have several players already on the injury list.

Currently,they have Heinze,Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic,Rio Ferdinand and John O’ Shea on the injury list.

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis’ B sample has also tested positive for more than permitted amounts of testosterone.

The report means that the American’s Tour De France title will most likely be taken away from him.It also means that runner-up Oscar Pereiro of Spain will come into the limelight as the likely new winner.

Landis has been fired by his team Phonak.

Here is a quick look at all the games we have played till December 2003

4-0 (Pompey)

1-2( Anderlecht)

0-0( Leeds)

3-3 ( Charlton)

1-2 ( Inter)

2-0( Blackburn)

4-0( Birmingham)

2-0( Stuttgart)

1-1 ( Chelsea)

0-3 ( Manchester United)

2-1 ( Liverpool)

4-0( Stuttgart)

2-0 ( Manchester United)

1-3 ( Spurs)

2-1( Boro)

3-0 ( Anderlecht)

3-1( Southampton)

2-0 ( Bolton)

We have been knocked out of the league cup by Manchester United.Shoela Amoebi has been in tremendous form.

AND GUESS WHAT –We are first in the league with 34 points from 16 games

Arsenal are second with 30. They started off well,but have faded off in the last few games.

Thierry Henry has signed a contract extension with Arsenal,which rules out chances of snapping him up on a free.

Marseille right winger Franck Ribery has announced that he wishes to leave the Stade Velodrome.Ribery told French television channel TF1 that he wished to win titles and play in the Champions League.

Ribery signed a contract extension in March,but a set of impressive performances for club and nation have seen him appear on the shopping cart of many top clubs,including bitter rivals Lyon.

Marseille issued a statement of disapproval of Ribery’s behaviour while Lyon’s president Jean Michel Aulas welcomed it.

The scar faced Ribery,who joined Lyon from Galatarasay last summer has also been linked with several other clubs,prominent among them Manchester United and Arsenal.

Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes has said that he hopes to confirm a move to Spain by Tuesday.Real Madrid and Reyes have made no secret of their mutual admiration for each other in the past.

Madrid have said that they would be interested only in players who could play in all competitions for them.Arsenal have qualifying round against Dinamo Zagreb coming up on Tuesday and if he plays,he will not be eligible to play for the Merengues in Europe’s premier club competition in the later rounds.

Reyes has always longed for a move back to Spain.He has no complaints at Highbury at the club he joined from Sevilla for a reported fee of 20 million euros,but he would like to go back to the environs where he is more at home .

The appointment of Martin O’Neill as the next Villa coach is 99% done,say sources.He is set to be formally appointed today evening.O’Neill was chairman Doug Ellis’s first choice as a replacement for David O’Leary who quit less than a fortnight ago.

O’Neill has had a successful managerial career in British football,prominently so with Leicester City and Scottish giants Celtic.He has been awarded an OBE for his services too.

It will be interesting to see whether O’Neill can replicate his success at Villa Park.

Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen’s future at Real Madrid looks to be in doubt after new manager Fabio Capello criticised him for his attitude . Gravesen was reportedly involved in a bust up with ex Santos forward Robinho.

Many Premiership clubs will be more than happy to secure the Dane’s signature,given his track record in England.He was a pivotal part of the Everton side which came 4th in the Premiership the season before last, and many Toffees fans agree that his departure was one of the reasons for the club’s dismal form last season.

Gravesen has struggled to secure a firm first 11 place and Capello’s signing of Emerson will push him further down the pecking order. Newcastle are rumoured to be among the various clubs interested,but it will interesting to see whether he will move back to England.

Empoli forward Francesco Tavano’s agent has said that his client is on the verge of talks with Newcastle United about a possible move to St.James Park.

Tavano scored 19 goals in his last season with Empoli and is rated at about 7 million pounds by his club.He has also been linked with Inter Milan and Valencia.

Tavano is the latest on Glenn Roeder’s list of striking targets. Dirk Kuyt,Marlon Harewood and Mirolslav Klose are also rumoured to be on that list.

This is an update till 1st September 2003.

We won all friendlies by decent margins.As for our Premiership campaign,it is currently 2 wins ( Everton,Man City) one loss ( Arsenal) and one draw ( Leicester)

We are currently placed 8th in the Division.

Players in (Major)

Jussi Pekka Savolainen

Jairo Fernando Castillo

Jose Julian De La Cuesta

Lucio

Jan Kristiansen

James Graham

Players out :

Andrew Griffin

Jamie McClen

We have qualified for the Champions League where we are with Anderlecht,Inter Milan and VFB Stuttgart.

We suffered an embarassing 5-0 loss to Arsenal.Beat Slavia Prague 4-0 ( Bellamy*4).Our first game against Slavia was quite frustrating as we made numerous attempts and finally got just late late one in ( Amoebi).( 25 shots on goal–no shot for Slavia)

Other Major transfers

Sanli Tuncay ( Man City)

Simone Perotta ( Chelsea)

Sean Davis has gone to Liverpool while Arsenal have snapped up Mikel Arteta.

Tottenham midfielder Michael Carrick has completed his move to Manchester United for an estimated fee of 13 million pounds. The fee could rise to 18.6 million pounds,which would make him the fifth most expensive player to wear the sacred jersey of the Red Devils.

Carrick was targeted by Sir Alex Ferguson as a replacement for the legendary Roy Keane whose abrupt departure last season left United with a gaping hole to fill in midfield. Tottenham have made a clean profit from the sale of Carrick whom they acquired from West Ham for 2.75 million pounds.They have also signed a replacement in the form of Ivory Coast midfielder Didier Zokora.

Many pundits feel that United have paid a little too much for Carrick,which I second.He is nowhere in the league of Keane,although Sir Alex could make him one.

As stated before,I am starting my CM 03-04 update thread.

Database:small

League selected : Premiership ( full detail)

I am managing Newcastle United.

Here is a look at the team at the starting of the game.

Newcastle United

Please follow this link for further updates –Championship Manager