West Ham secured a vital victory in their battle to avoid relegation thanks to goals from Scott Parker, Demba Ba and Carlton Cole.
Liverpool’s recent resurgence was checked with a stunning display from Avram Grant’s men, who are now only in the bottom three on goal difference.
Glen Johnson pulled one back to make it 2-1 in the final minutes but Cole settled it with a late third goal.
West Ham went into the match looking to build on last week’s heroic draw at West Brom, keenly aware a result against Liverpool would give them renewed hope in their battle to stay in the Premier League.
Parker’s half time team talk inspired the fightback that day and he backed up his words with actions on the pitch, scoring an impressive opener after 21 minutes.
Having exchanged passes with Thomas Hitzlsperger, the West Ham captain brilliantly flicked the ball past Pepe Reina’s grasp to give West Ham the lead.
The hosts got the second goal their first half display deserved when Ba headed home Gary O’Neill’s cross in stoppage time.
Ba, who seems to have settled well in east London, angled his header perfectly to leave Reina with no chance.
Ba almost added another on 52 minutes when his rasping drive just crept past the post while Luis Suarez brought a fine save out of Rob Green on the hour.
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Liverpool finally started to wake up as the match entered the final 20 minutes and Steven Gerrard’s powerful effort stung Green’s palms.
Johnson then poked home Luis Suarez’s cross to set up a tense finale but Cole blasted home in the final minute to end hope of a Liverpool comeback.
Mexico international Guillermo Franco has confirmed that he has played his last game in a West Ham United shirt.
The 33-year-old scored his country's consolation goal in Monday's 3-1 defeat to England at Wembley before limping out of the action with a sprained toe.
Franco expects to be fit enough to represent his country in South Africa but admits he is unsure where he will be playing his club football next term.
"I don't know where I'll be next season. West Ham told me 'Bye bye' so I won't be with West Ham next season," he admitted."Now my focus is on the international team and the World Cup and then I'll think about next season.
"Of course I enjoyed my time at West Ham. The supporters and the people were fantastic. I very much enjoyed my year in West Ham, but now it's finished and this is football."
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Franco scored five goals in 16 starts and seven substitute appearances for the Hammers in the season just ended.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has stated that his side are not interested in signing Michael Owen.
The former England striker was released by Manchester United this summer, and a number of Premier League sides are thought to be weighing up offers for the veteran attacker.
The Midlands club have relied on Darren Bent for goals, and were exposed in attack last term when the experienced hitman was out of action for long periods with injury.
Villa are eager to bolster their squad after a below-par season in 2011-12, but the Scottish manager will not make a move for Owen, despite rumours to the contrary.
“No, that won’t happen,” Sky Sports have Lambert as saying.
“There was no enquiry from us, I don’t know where that one came from.
“That’s a non-starter. He’s a top player, no doubt, a really top player, but that’s for another team,” he confirmed.
Villa have already signed Karim El Ahmadi this summer, and are thought to be closing in on another Eredivisie star, Feyenoord defender Ron Vlaar.
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Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has stated that he is unaware of any attempt to bring Joey Barton to the club, going against comments made by the midfielder earlier in the week.
The now QPR man claimed that if it had not been for his clash with Gervinho on the first day of the season whilst still playing for Newcastle, he may have moved to North London.
The altercation saw the Ivorian striker sent off on his debut, and left a sour taste in the mouth with Arsene Wenger’s men; despite this Hill-Wood is unaware of any interest in Barton.
“It’s not something the board heard about and if it was a serious proposition I certainly would have expected us to,” the executive told The Daily Star.
Barton hit back on social networking site Twitter, claiming he is happy to have moved to Loftus Road.
“Am not going to be drawn on PHW’s comments. He obviously needs to open a dialogue channel with Wenger, Pat Rice and Steve Rowley.
“I feel I made the right move for me, am very happy at QPR and wish Arsenal, the best of luck. Everything happens for a reason, I believe,” he stated.
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Racing Genk missed the chance to cut Anderlecht’s lead in the Belgian First Division to just one point following a 1-1 draw with St Truiden.
Israeli winger Elyaniv Barda gave Genk the lead after eight minutes but Nils Schouterden equalised for the visitors on the stroke of half-time to help secure a point for 12th-place St Truiden.
Genk remain in second place with 51 points, three behind Anderlecht.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Lokeren climbed to fifth with a 2-1 home win over Cercle Brugge, who dropped to seventh.
Jeremy Taravel gave Lokeren the lead after eight minutes but Cercle hit back three minutes later with a goal from Frederik Boi.
But Benjamin De Ceulaer scored the winner for the hosts two minutes after the interval to see his side leapfrog Standard Liege into fifth place.
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Mechelen enjoyed a 1-0 win over Kortrijk thanks to a goal from French midfielder Julien Gorius while Zulte-Waregem cruised to a 2-0 win over 13th-place Eupen.
And Charleroi remain anchored to the foot of the table despite their 2-0 home win over fellow battlers Germinal Beerschot.
Coventry City have finally spent a little bit of money in the transfer market with the signing of young Preston midfielder Adam Barton.
A 21 year old, 6ft 2in central midfielder who has shown a lot of promise making over 50 appearances for Preston as well as representing Northern Ireland at full international level and more recently the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level.
Rumoured to have cost in the region of £50,000-£100,000 and with speculation less than a year ago over a big money move to Liverpool and it seems like we not only have a potentially great player but a real bargain as well.
This though sounds too good to be true, there has to be a catch right and of course there is and it could potentially be a big one. This catch is Barton’s injury record, he is only young but in his short career so far he has already been extremely unlucky with injuries.
He was first taken on as a youngster by his hometown club Blackburn but before he could have any kind of impact there he was told he was free to leave because of a serious back problem. He was however given a second chance by Preston and was this time able to make an impact, which resulted in him being widely recognised as a talented young player with a lot of promise for the future.
This was however until February when in a match against Walsall he suffered what was then thought to be a career threatening injury. It was later confirmed that he had fractured his leg as well as suffering a dislocated ankle after getting his studs stuck in the ground after what could only be described as an innocuous challenge.
His resulting operation though was described as a complete success and after four months out he returned to training for pre season with Preston. He was then however made available to other clubs which led to Coventry’s interest in him and Thorn moved quickly to snap the youngster up.
Looking at the facts and this transfer is a strange one. Barton seems to be rated very highly in the footballing world so first of all it seems strange that Preston would allow him to leave for such a small amount. Obviously the injuries, especially the fractured leg have played a huge part in that but if he is back in full training and improving his fitness again then I can’t see why they would allow him to leave at all.
This does concern me and makes me wonder if they know something about his injury problems that we don’t and whether he is a bigger risk than Thorn knows. I hope this isn’t the case but with Coventry’s luck it most likely will be.
Another scenario is that the deal to bring him to Coventry could include a huge sell on fee which SISU surprisingly seem to like including in deals. New signing Fleck and ex goalkeeper Kieran Westwood are just two examples of this.
The final scenario and the one I am hoping it is, is that the owners and coaching staff at Preston are being naive and don’t realise his true potential. Can we as Coventry fans hope that there are other owners out there that are as stupid as ours when it comes to anything to do with football? Maybe I am hoping too much with this but this is definitely a signing to get at least somewhat excited about.
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He is in my opinion already a better player than Deegan who is the latest player to leave the club. I never really rated Deegan since his arrival from Bohemians and with his own injury problems in his time at Coventry allowing him to move on in order to take a gamble on Barton seems to be a great bit of business for the club.
Personally I won’t be too disappointed even if it does go horribly wrong with Barton as I think calculated risks have to be taken in football in order to be successful. Whilst Barton is clearly a gamble, he has every chance to become a star and let’s hope he does it at Coventry City.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he feels rivals Chelsea will be in contention for the Premier League title come the end of the season.
The Stamford Bridge club finished the 2010-11 season in second place, nine points behind The Red Devils, but the Scottish manager feels the fight for top spot could be much closer this term.
“They have tremendous experience with the likes of Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, John Terry, Alex, Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres – there aren’t any young kids in that team,” Ferguson told Inside United.
Chelsea have received criticism that their team is ageing, but the United coach feels that this will benefit rather than hinder the London club.
“But they don’t have 36-or 37-year-olds like Ryan Giggs. Lampard and Drogba are 33, Anelka is 32 – not dissimilar to [Michael] Carrick and Rio Ferdinand, and we wouldn’t be saying they are dead and buried, would we? So why should they be? They’ll still be a big threat and we expect them to challenge,” he continued.
Chelsea have a new man in charge in the form of Andre Villas Boas, and although admitting that he doesn’t know too much about the new man in the Stamford Bridge hot seat, Fergie thinks the 33-year-old can succeed.
“He has a different set-up there to me, but I’m sure he’ll get plenty of advice from others and he’ll do fine. I don’t know much about him.
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“He’s a young man and it’s a big step coming into the Premier League from the Portuguese championship, but given time and support anything is possible,” he concluded.
Manchester United and Chelsea meet later this month, with the pair going head-to-head at Old Trafford on September 18th.
A mixed day at Anfield yesterday as Liverpool agree a fee for Luis Suarez, while at the same time being rocked by the news that Fernando Torres has handed in a transfer request. Liverpool still hold all the cards here and according to reports will ensure that the Spaniard remains at Anfield; however Dalglish will have to weigh up whether it is worth keeping a player, especially if his heart is elsewhere.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that includes David Gold insistence that West Ham never intended to axe Avram Grant; Fabio Capello hails Gareth Bale as the Premier League’s best, while Trevor Brooking believes the FA can improve England.
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Torres demands to leave Liverpool despite Suárez arrival – Guardian
Gold: we were never going to sack Avram Grant – Daily Telegraph
Brooking: FA can now improve England – Guardian
Gareth is Prem No1 for Capello – Sun
England skipper Ferdinand backs West Ham for Olympic stadium – Daily Mail
Harry rules out striker signing – Sky Sports
Ancelotti: We’re not desperate – Sun
Wenger backs Wilshere for England role – Guardian
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Few players can boast the experience or goal scoring record that Robbie Keane has managed in the Premier League. Having represented six different clubs in England’s top division over a thirteen year spell, his move to LA Galaxy in the MLS may have proven to be a waste of the Irishman’s talent.
A player with his proven quality at the age of still only 31 is surely still more than capable of doing a job in England. Whereas the MLS has proven to be a retiring haven for those past the pace of the Premier League, such as Thierry Henry, David Beckham and Juan Pablo Angel; Keane’s emergence in The US doesn’t prove to be indicative of where he is at career wise.
Having spent two months back in England earlier this year in the form of a loan move at Aston Villa, three goals in six appearances proved a respectable return for a player whose career at Tottenham rather petered out after his spectacular rise to prominence in North London. After his spell at Villa Park, the 31 year old announced his willingness to return there this summer should the opportunity arise.
There in underlines why Keane’s presence stateside simply doesn’t do him justice. He clearly has the hunger as well as the capabilities to become a top goal scorer in England once again. Whilst his fall from grace since falling out of favour at White Hart Lane was quite spectacular, one move back to England could see him performing admirably at the top level once again.
Take a club just promoted for example, to stabilise themselves in the Premier League many look to experienced players who have proven themselves in the top division in the past; and traditionally it has faired them well. A move to a newly promoted team would do Robbie Keane more justice should he rekindle his rich goal scoring vein he enjoyed throughout his 13 years in the Premier League – an ambition he is more than able to fulfil.
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Some may highlight Keane’s poor form after his big money move to Liverpool, or later on his failure to keep West Ham in the Premier League in a disappointing loan move, but the fact remains he has proven enough himself enough to at least be a transfer punt worth taking for any team inEngland, even in the top flight.
Enjoying a much coveted career already, his move to America leaves him somewhat fallen by the wayside, when at 31 years old he is still competent enough to produce talent worthy of one of Europe’s top stages. Whether he be a transfer punt or a well thought out summer signing, Robbie Keane does not need to let his career peter out in the MLS just yet.
Earlier this week, Arsenal’s long time pursuit of a much courted teenage Southampton winger came to an end when they paid a fee of around £12 million (dependant on which paper you read) to bring the youngster to The Emirates. It seems like we have been transported back in time to 2006 but we haven’t – it’s 2011 and the young flying winger is not Theo Walcott, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The parallels between the two deals are uncanny, as no doubt you’ve already heard, but for many, the hope is that this is where the resemblance ends. You see Walcott’s career at Arsenal has been far from smooth so far. The flashes of brilliance and excitement he is so very capable of producing have so far been outweighed by a nasty inconsistency in his game that has seen him be unable to cement a guaranteed starting place. It doesn’t help that there seems to be confusion, even in Arsene Wenger, over what is his best natural position on the field. Is he the much vaunted winger that everybody once claimed he was – with his searing pace and body movement? It seems not as his crossing and final ball leaves a lot to be desired and has surely been noted as a weakness by Wenger. Is he a striker, or forward? He does seem to appear cool when in one-on-one situations, but his shooting often lacks bite and Wenger has doubts over whether he can lead the line. Another of Walcott’s major obstacles has been that many thought of him as the new Thierry Henry – which he quite clearly isn’t, yet (the Frenchman also has a slowish start to his career as an inconsistent but pacey winger, before Wenger’s masterstroke of transforming him into a front-man).
Maybe this added pressure and heightened expectation, all heaped on his young shoulders from the start, has effected what should have been a smooth transition to the big-time for Walcott. His surprising and controversial inclusion in England’s 2006 World Cup squad, before making his Premier League debut, did nothing but help serve the hype surrounding the youngster. Walcott’s career at Arsenal has also been hampered by injury, which has disrupted any rhythm and momentum, and whilst here is certainly no doubting his immense potential, after all the hype, one can’t help but feel underwhelmed thus far.
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Enter Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. As stated above the Southampton youth academy product instantly invited comparisons with Walcott coming from the south coast side, alongside his style of play which is all about pace and an ability to beat defenders. However that’s where the comparisons should end, especially if Arsenal and their fans are to avoid the mistakes made with Walcott. Oxlade-Chamberlain is equally adept with both feet and such ability has led him to play on either wing comfortably. He can also play centrally, though his incredible turn of pace saw him move outside in order to utilise this weapon fully. However he only turns 18 next week, and whilst he played a key role in securing Southampton’s promotion to the Championship, he has yet to play above League One level. With this in mind, maybe a future loan deal would be a sensible option for the teenager in order to gain some constant first team action as surely, he will only see limited playing time in this season’s Premier League – any of which will add un-needed extra pressure on the youngster. However the fee paid for Oxlade-Chamberlain brings instant pressure for his inclusion into the first team and probably rules out any loan deal – especially as Wenger has yet again chosen to spend the relatively large amount on an unfinished article, whilst it’s glaringly obvious there are more pressing needs in his squad.
In this sense Arsenal fans have found Oxlade-Chamberlain’s signing bitter-sweet in nature. On the one hand, they have again captured an immensely gifted youngster with massive potential, beating the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United to his signature. But on the other, it yet again seems like Wenger won’t spend money to purchase an experienced ‘finished article’ which is desperately needed if Arsenal are to challenge for honours right now – particularly in defensive and goalkeeping areas.
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At least Oxlade-Chamberlain can use Walcott as a blueprint of the perils of heightened expectations, and talk to his new team-mate about his experience, whilst Theo had nobody. Also, Alex’s father, the ex-professional, will know all about the pitfalls awaiting any young player. He wanted his son to sign for Arsenal and felt certain his son was coming to the right place in order to progress the right way and aid his development. All at Arsenal will be hoping that Walcott’s experience will provide a smoother, more positive path for Oxlade-Chamberlain.
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