Football News And Views

At last the transfer window is well and truly closed shut and I spent most of yesterday paying close attention to all the deals going on. There were a couple of deals such as Jermain Defoe moving to Portsmouth, Middlesboro finally getting Brazilian striker, Alves and Tottenham signing full back Gilberto even though it was earlier announced the deal wasn’t going ahead. The top four were not involved with any incoming transfers however several youngsters were loaned out. personally I was surprised at the amount of loan deals that took place yesterday. Special mention must go to Norwich City who brought in 4 players on loan including Gibbs from Arsenal who did show some really encouraging signs in a couple of pre season games so he could turn out to be a really big signing for The Canaries. I wont go into every move in detail because I’ll be here forever but thanks to the BBC I can provide you with a list of all the days transfers.

Simon Ainge [Bradford - Halifax] Loan
Brian Allison [Falkirk - Stirling] Loan
Afonso Alves [Heerenveen - Middlesbrough] Undisclosed
Mikael Antoine-Curier [Hibernian - Dundee] Loan
Curtis Aspden [Hull - Farsley Celtic] Undisclosed
Matt Bailey [Wolves - Kidderminster] Loan
Matthew Bates [Middlesbrough - Norwich] Loan
Elliott Bennett [Wolves - Bury] Loan
Kevin Betsy [Bristol City - Walsall] Loan
Michael Blackwood [Kidderminster - Oxford] Loan
Leigh Bromby [Sheff Utd - Watford] £600,000
David Brown [Accrington - Rushden & Diamonds] Loan
Elliott Buchanan [Northwood - Stevenage] Undisclosed
Ronnie Bull [unattached - Ebbsfleet]
Lee Bullock [Hartlepool - Bradford] Free
Stephen Bywater [Derby - Ipswich] Loan
Felipe Caicedo [FC Basel - Man City] Undisclosed
Tony Caig [Gretna - Houston Dynamo] Free
Stuart Callaghan [Brechin - Berwick] Player exchange
Iain Campbell [Kilmarnock - Clyde] Loan
Roy Carroll [Rangers - Derby] Free
Jamie Clapham [Wolves - Leicester] Free
Billy Clarke [Ipswich - Falkirk] Loan
Nick Colgan [Barnsley - Ipswich] Free
Sam Collins [Hull - Hartlepool] Undisclosed
Lee Cook [Fulham - Charlton] Loan
Michael Corcoran [unattached - Rushden & Diamonds]
David Cowan [Gretna - Dundee] Loan
Dyron Daal [St Johnstone - Fuenlabrada] Free
Ousmane Dabo [Man City - Lazio] Undisclosed
Michal Danek [Viktoria Plzen - West Brom] Loan
Scott Dann [Walsall - Coventry] Undisclosed
Steven Davis [Fulham - Rangers] Loan
Anderson De Silva [Everton - Barnsley] Undisclosed
Gary Dempsey [Yeovil - St Patricks Athletic] Free
Iain Diack [Berwick - Brechin] Undisclosed plus player exchange
Jonny Dixon [Aldershot - Brighton] £56,000
Ian Dobbins [Montrose - Stranraer] Undisclosed
Craig Dobson [Stevenage - Milton Keynes Dons] Undisclosed
Nathan Elder [Brighton - Brentford] £35,000
Anthony Elding [Stockport - Leeds] Undisclosed
Stuart Elliott [Hull - Doncaster] Loan
George Elokobi [Colchester - Wolves] Undisclosed
John Eustace [Stoke - Watford] £250,000
Shaun Fagan [unattached - Clyde]
Leo Fortune-West [Cambridge - York] Loan
Paul Gallagher [Blackburn - Stoke] Loan
Anthony Gardner [Tottenham - Everton] Loan
Chris Geddes [Brechin - Forfar] Undisclosed
Kieran Gibbs [Arsenal - Norwich] Loan]
Billy Gibson [unattached - Clyde]
Gilberto [Hertha Berlin - Tottenham] Undisclosed
James Grady [Gretna - Hamilton] Free
Anthony Grant [Chelsea - Southend] Loan
Stuart Green [Crystal Palace - Blackpool] Loan
Darren Gribben [unattached - Stranraer]
Rostyn Griffiths [Blackburn - Gretna] Loan
Erik Hagen [Zenit St Petersburg - Wigan] Loan
Steven Hammell [Southend - Motherwell] £110,000
Dean Hammond [Brighton - Colchester] £250,000
Jamie Harris [Dunfermline - St Patricks Athletic] Free
James Henry [Reading - Norwich] Loan
Paul Henry [Tranmere - The New Saints] Loan
Geoff Horsfield [Sheff Utd - Scunthorpe] Loan
Chris Hughes [Brechin - Albion] Free
Roddy Hunter [Albion - Montrose] Undisclosed
Michael Husbands [Macclesfield - AFC Telford] Free
Ben Hutchinson [Middlesbrough - Celtic] Undisclosed
Dougie Imrie [Clyde - Inverness CT] Undisclosed
Simeon Jackson [Rushden & Diamonds - Gillingham] £150,000
Jiri Jarosik [Celtic - FC Samara] Undisclosed
Ryan Jarvis [Norwich - Notts County] Loan
Allan Jenkins [Gretna - Morton] Undisclosed
Toni Kallio [BSC Young Boys - Fulham] Undisclosed
Graham Kavanagh [Sunderland - Sheff Wed] Loan
Przemyslaw Kazimierczak [Bolton - Darlington] Undisclosed
Darren Kenton [Leicester - Leeds] Undisclosed
Do-Heon Kim [Seongham Ilhwa Chunma - West Brom] Loan
Darryl Knights [Yeovil - Kidderminster] Loan
Artur Krysak [Birmingham - Gretna] Loan
Aaron Labonte [Dunfermline - Finn Harps] Free
Scott Laird [Plymouth - Stevenage] Undisclosed
Simon Lappin [Norwich - Motherwell] Loan
Neil Lennon [Nottm Forest - Wycombe] Free
Jari Litmanen [Malmo - Fulham] Free
David Livermore [Hull - Oldham] Loan
Paul Lunan [Forfar - Arbroath]
David Mannix [Ham Kam - Accrington] Free
Dave Martin [Crystal Palace - Millwall] £50,000
Willie Martin [Elgin - Albion] Undisclosed
Alan Maybury [Leicester - Aberdeen] Loan
Billy McKay [Leicester - Hinckley] Loan
Steve McKay [Peterhead - Elgin] Free
Rhys Meynell [Gretna - Barnsley] Loan
Lubomir Michalik [Bolton - Leeds] Undisclosed
Ishmael Miller [Man City - West Brom] £900,000
Vitezslav Mooc [unattached - Partick]
Ian Moore [Hartlepool - Tranmere] Undisclosed
Charlie Mulgrew [Wolves - Southend] Loan
Colin Nish [Kilmarnock - Hibs] Undisclosed
David Niven [Ross County - Elgin] Free
David Norris [Plymouth - Ipswich] Undisclosed
Lewin Nyatanga [Derby - Barnsley] Loan
Jim O’Brien [Celtic - Dundee Utd] Loan
Joe O’Cearuill [Barnet - St Patricks Athletic] Free
Gary O’Connot [Berwick - Stenhousemuir] Loan
David Partridge [Brentford - St Patricks Athletic] Free
Jim Paterson [Motherwell - Plymouth] Undisclosed
Alex Pearce [Reading - Norwich] Loan
Krystian Pearce [Birmingham - Port Vale] Loan
Lee Peltier [Liverpool - Yeovil] Undisclosed
Mark Randall [Arsenal - Burnley] Loan
Isaiah Rankin [Grimsby - Stevenage] Free
Grzegorz Rasiak [Southampton - Bolton] Loan
Carl Regan [Macclesfield - Milton Keynes Dons] Undisclosed
Andy Reid [Charlton - Sunderland] £4m
Craig Reid [Celtic - Queen of the South] Free
Reuben Reid [Plymouth - Brentford] Loan
Barry Robson [Dundee Utd - Celtic] £1m
David Rozehnal [Newcastle - Lazio] Loan
Alan Sheehan [Leicester - Leeds] Loan
Enoch Showunmi [Bristol City - Sheff Wed] Loan
Rob Sinclair [Luton - Salisbury] Loan
Rudi Skacel [Southampton - Hertha Berlin] Loan
Paul Stalteri [Tottenham - Fulham] Loan
Pavel Steinbors [FK Jurmala - Blackpool] Loan
Alan Stubbs [Everton - Derby] Free
Shane Supple [Ipswich - Falkirk] Loan
Cleveland Taylor [Scunthorpe - Carlisle] £50,000
Gareth Taylor [Tranmere - Doncaster] Loan
Aswad Thomas [Charlton - Accrington] Loan
Lee Thorpe [Brentford - Rochdale] Free
Nicky Walker [Stirling - Brechin] Free
Tony Warner [Fulham - Barnsley] Loan
Andrew Waterworth [Lisburn Distillery - Hamilton] £20,000
Glenn Whelan [Sheff Wed - Stoke] £500,000
Ben Wilkinson [Hull City - Gretna] Loan
Fabio Zamblera [Atalanta - Newcastle] Undisclosed
Abderouf Zarabi [Gueugnon - Hibernian] Free

Yesterday it was announced a third club was interesting Woodgate hours before he made his move to Spurs. A lot of places announced that this club was Arsenal but it is now being said this is a hoax and Arsene Wenger has denied all reports on Arsenal being linked with the centre back. and had very little to say on the matter.

“I do not know where that story came from,” he said. “There is no truth in it at all. We have never been in touch with Middlesbrough about Jonathan Woodgate.”

To be honest I do think Arsenal need another centre back as I don’t think Djourou is good enough and Senderos is inconsistent and without Kolo Toure at the moment Arsenal are a little short at the back. A lot of reports say Arsene is interested in Joleon Lescott who I personally think would be a great signing for the Gunners but with Yobo playing at the African Cup of nations, Everton would not sell Lescott now and I don’t think they will sell him cheap anyway.

As for Spurs they have a good signing in Woodgate if he can stay fit. Ledley King and Woodgate could be a great pairing but neither of them have stayed fit long enough between them. If they do get a run of games together at the back then Spurs may be able to sort out their lack of clean sheets.

I was thinking of something offensive and polite to use as the title of this post but couldn’t really find anything to use. What can you say really about Lassana Diarra. He joined Arsenal on deadline day so he could get first team football. No one said he would be promised first team football and surely he should have already known that Arsenal have a handful of really talented centre midfielders, second only to the crop at Manchester United IMO (on paper at least). He soon made it clear he wanted to leave. I find it hard to believe he thought he was in with much of a chance especially as Cesc Fabregas will always start in the middle and Gilberto, Flamini and Diaby are all talented players as well as Denilson who looks promising. Diarra did get his chances in the cup games but didn’t make much impact. All the before mentioned centre midfield players have scored this season already for Arsenal too.

So Diarra was sold to Portsmouth. A little bit of profit was made for Arsenal and Portsmouth got themselves a promising player for a low figure. However no matter how good Diarra is or how good he thinks he is he still lacks any type of personality. He proved this straight away at Portsmouth by saying the following:

Portsmouth is a respectable club, which has achieved a very good start to the season. Some people say I made a mistake by joining Portsmouth considering Les Bleus. I don’t think so. The people at Portsmouth know I will not spend my life at this club. If I shine, if a really big club wants me, I know already that everything will go well.

Nice that he thinks so highly of Portsmouth. They are a mere stepping stone in his bid to get a first team place at a bigger club. Instead of helping his club progress he wants to just help his career and let other scouts see that he is a good player. I hope after this statement he struggles to make an impact at Portsmouth and I hope a big club never comes in for him. At this stage in his career he is not good enough t play in the first teams at Chelsea or Arsenal and he could be a real star at Portsmouth but his attitude could disrupt harmony and as it did at Arsenal it could also restrict his chances.

Burnham Ramblers have made an approach to take Craig Hudgell to Leslie Field. Burnham are short on strikers and they see Hudgell as the ideal man to solve the problem. Hudgell was an integral part of the Heybridge Swifts reserve side which won the reserves last time out and as a keen eye for goal finishing as the sides top scorer. He also made his debut for the senior side and made his first start against AFC Wimbledon at the Fans Stadium

At the start of this season Hudgell, 20 from Chelmsford left Heybridge and joined Tiptree United and after scoring 4 goals in 4 games he was told that his chances from now on were going to be limited after the club signed Luke Webster from Championship side Ipswich so Hudgell decided he wanted to be playing and not sat on the bench so he left by mutual consent and he went back to train with Heybridge.

Burnham have their biggest game in the clubs history on Saturday against Chelmsford City in the FA Cup Qualifying 2nd Round and would love to have Hudgell in their team for then but it is still to be seen if Hudgell wants to leave Heybridge again after all he has only been back a matter of weeks and Burnham play in the Essex Senior League which is two leagues below the Ryman Premier League which is where Heybridge play.

It’s that time of the year again folks. Deadline day where almost everyone is expected to sign someone last minute but that’s not always the case. On a quieter than usual deadline day here are all the transfers so far:

Sam Aiston [Northampton - Burton] Loan
Santiago Aloi [River Plate - Watford] Loan
Sone Aluko [Birmingham - Aberdeen] Loan
Mickael Antoine-Curier [FK Haugesund - Hibernian] Undisclosed
Anthony Basso [Auxerre - Hearts] Free
Roman Bednar [Hearts - West Brom] Loan
Marcus Bent [Charlton - Wigan] Loan
Habib Beye [Marseille - Newcastle] Undisclosed
Chris Birchall [Coventry - St Mirren] Loan
Lee Bradbury [Southend - Bournemouth] Free
Henri Camara [Wigan - West Ham] Loan
Jamal Campbell-Ryce [Southend - Barnsley] Undisclosed
Leon Clarke [Sheff Wed - Southend] Loan
Michael Coulson [Barnsley - Northwich] Loan
Curtis Davies [West Brom - Aston Villa] Loan
Lassana Diarra [Chelsea - Arsenal] Undisclosed
Paul Dickov [Man City - Crystal Palace] Loan
Papa Bouba Diop [Fulham - Portsmouth] Undisclosed
Jason Euell [Middlesbrough - Southampton] Free
Abdoulaye Faye [Bolton - Newcastle] Undisclosed
Amdy Faye [Charlton - Rangers] Loan
Marco Ferreira [Benfica - Leicester] Loan
Jaroslaw Fojut [Bolton - Luton] Loan
Caleb Folan [Wigan - Hull] £1m
Paul Gallagher [Blackburn - Preston] Loan
Michael Gardyne [Celtic - Morton] Free
Carl Gibbs [unattached - Woking] Non-contract
Andy Gooding [Coventry - Burton] Loan
Lewis Grabban [Crystal Palace - Motherwell] Loan
Izedin Harusha [unattached - Woking] Non-contract
Stephen Henderson [Bristol City - York] Loan
Ian Holmes [Matlock - Mansfield] Undisclosed
Evan Horwood [Sheff Utd - Gretna] Loan
Stephen Hughes [Leicester - Motherwell] Undisclosed
Paul Huntington [Newcastle - Leeds] Undisclosed
Alistair John [unattached - Stevenage]
Craig Jones [unattached - Hereford] Non-contract
Glen Johnson [Chelsea - Portsmouth] Undisclosed
Jemal Johnson [Wolves - Milton Keynes Dons] Undisclosed
Richard Keogh [Bristol City - Huddersfield] Loan
Dan Kirkup [Carlisle - Clyde] Loan
David Knight [Middlesbrough - Swansea] Free
Shefki Kuqi [Crystal Palace - Fulham] Loan
Paul Lawson [Celtic - Ross County] Free
Mikele Leigertwood [Sheff Utd - QPR] £900,000
Larrys Mabiala [Paris Saint-Germain - Plymouth] Loan
Stephen Maher [Yeovil - Dorchester] Loan
Zibi Malkowski [Hibernian - Inverness CT] Loan
David Martot [Le Havre - Brighton] Loan
Clark Masters [Brentford - Welling] Loan
Marvin McCoy [unattached - Hereford]
David McGoldrick [Southampton - Port Vale] Loan
Jon-Paul McGovern [MK Dons - Swindon] Undisclosed
Borja Oubina Melendez [Celta Vigo - Birmingham] Loan
Kenny Miller [Celtic - Derby] Undisclosed
Danny Mills [Man City - Charlton] Loan
Danny Murphy [Tottenham - Fulham] Loan
Christian Nade [Sheff Utd - Hearts] Undisclosed
Jason Norville [unattached - Barnet] Non-contract
George O’Callaghan [Ipswich - Brighton] Loan
Gary O’Neil [Portsmouth - Middlesbrough] Undisclosed
Eric Odhiambo [Leicester - Southend] Loan
Luke Oliver [Stevenage - Salisbury] Loan
Wilson Palacios [Olimpia - Birmingham] Loan
Demar Phillips [Waterhouse - Stoke] Undisclosed
David Proctor [Dundee Utd - Inverness CT] Free
Reuben Reid [Plymouth - Wycombe] Loan
Ally Ridgers [Inverness CT - Elgin City] Loan
Adam Rooney [Stoke - Chesterfield] Loan
Liam Rosenior [Fulham - Reading] Undisclosed
Alex Russell [Bristol City - Northampton] Loan
Iain Russell [Brechin - Morton] Undisclosed
Moustapha Salifou [FC Wil - Aston Villa] Undisclosed
Andy Sandell [Bristol Rovers - Salisbury] Free
Georges Santos [unattached - Chesterfield] Non-contract
Tyron Sealey [Stevenage - Hitchin] Loan
Seol Ki-Hyeon [Reading - Fulham] Undisclosed
Ricky Shakes [unattached - Brentford]
Jon Shaw [Burton - Halifax] Loan
Mohamed Shawky [Ahly - Middlesbrough] £650,000
Jay Simpson [Arsenal - Millwall] Loan
Nolberto Solano [Newcastle - West Ham] Undisclosed
Jonathan Smith [unattached - Aberdeen]
Sam Sodje [Reading - Charlton] Loan
Dejan Stefanovic [Portsmouth - Fulham] £1m
Zander Sutherland [Inverness CT - Elgin City] Loan
Elias Wagner [Hibernian - Hearts] Free
Callum Warburton [Rochdale - Kendal] Loan
Sean Webb [Ross County - Accrington] Free
Andy Welsh [Toronto - Blackpool] Free
Harry Worley [Chelsea - Carlisle] Loan
James Younghusband [unattached - Woking]

Yakubu has finally moved to Everton for £11.25m after being granted a work permit. He has moved from Middlesbrough who’s striking options now look very thin indeed. Remember last year when they had Viduka and Yakubu? They got plenty of goals for Boro who still only finished 12th in the table. This season I think 12th will be a great achievement for the club unless they spend this £11.25m wisely. Another striker is certainly a must now for Boro. They have bought in Aliadiere and Tuncay but neither of them have proved themselves at this level yet. They also have Mido who played quite well recently for them. I still think one more striker is needed. Southgate will have to act quick to find a replacement and he may have to look to the continent to find a decent striker. Samaras has been linked to the club from Man City. I think he would be a good signing for the club and shouldn’t cost more than £5m. He has shown signs of his class at City but his chances are limited now and he could well find his form again at Boro. I know a few Boro fans would not like to see him but believe me is better than Aliadiere.

Boro also could do with a couple more midfielders and maybe we will see a couple more players go there before Friday’s deadline. Let’s just hope Southgate spends wisely. He now has a lot of cash to play with.

As for Everton I think they might have wrapped up their summer spending now. Stephen Appiah has been linked to them so maybe he will come to the club too. He is a great player and Everton will certainly be a force this season. They are already a very good team and I think they will get 5th this season and the signing of Yakubu only makes that prediction more accurate.

Real Madrid are reported to be adding three new Dutch stars to their ranks before the summer transfer window closes. You may be aware that they are determined to land Arjen Robben and reports in Spain say that they are close to striking a deal with Chelsea for him. Also close to signing for Madrid is highly rated Dutch youngster Royston Drenthe. The left winger was easily the best player for Holland in the recent under 21s tournament even though some Liverpool fans may argue that is was Ryan Babel who was also very impressive. These two transfers seem very likely to go through but there is also a third Dutch star linked with Madrid who may also be on his way. Ajax’s Wesley Sneijder is also rumoured to be on his way to Madrid. I rate him very highly and it is not hard to see why. He is one of the top stars at Ajax and they will be reluctant to let him go but with the amount of money Real Madrid have to spend they could lure him to the Spanish capital too.

Craig Gordon has become the most expensive Premiership goal keeper by completing a £9m move to newly promoted Sunderland. Sunderland have been very active in the transfer window and Gordon has been one of Roy Keane’s main targets for over a month and The Black Cat’s manager is delighted with the signing of Gordon:

“I’m delighted that we’ve managed to sign Craig.

He’s a top goalkeeper and he’ll be a massive asset for us over the next few years.

We’ve already got two very good goalkeepers and Craig is a big signing for Sunderland.”

Gordon will undoubtedly be first choice at Sunderland and will be hoping to make an impact. He is certainly a good goal keeper who could be kept very busy this season. It is quite a large step up from being in a top half Scottish Premiership team to a newly promoted Premiership team but there is no doubt Gordon is up to the challenge. I can’t wait to see him in action I just hope he has a couple of off days when Arsenal play Sunderland this season.

Now that Leeds Utd can sign players again they have not hung about adding new faces to their small squad. First on the agenda was a new goal keeper who they have found in Brondby stopper Casper Ankergren. The 27 year old joins the club for an undisclosed fee. Up front I think Leeds have pulled off a little bit of a coup in landing former Port Vale striker Leon Constantine. He was wanted by a host of championship clubs but he has chosen to join Leeds and I think he will be key in getting them back in to the Championship. Another new face at Leeds is young midfielder Curtis Weston who was released by Swindon in June and has agreed a two-year contract at Elland Road. I am sure there will be a few more faces at Leeds before the transfer window ends as they look to push for promotion.

Well with Sven Goran Eriksson buying almost a new team at Manchester City it was only a matter of time before players already at the club would be allowed to leave. It emerged today that Manchester City are listening to offers for Danny Mills, Ousmane Dabo and Paul Dickov all of which are likely to move to championship clubs. Norwich have been linked to Danny Mills in the last and the former Canary would be a good replacement for the departed Jurgen Colin. Also likely to leave Man City are Georgios Samaras, Darius Vassell, Ishmael Miller and Kasper Schmeichel. Young Schmeichel has been linked with a loan move to Falkirk however they tied up a loan move for Newcastle Utd keeper, Tim Krul. It is likely Samaras may go to a new club on the continent as he never really cut it in the Premiership. Darius Vassell would be a great signing for any championship club but he could also be a target for lower premiership clubs. He is another player I would love to see in a Norwich shirt but I can’t see that happening. Ishmael Miller will be cursing his luck after he started to break into the first team last season but now his chances at City look over so good luck to him at whatever club he may move to.