Newcastle move in for Poyet

Owner Mike Ashley made his move last night as Spurs No 2 Poyet met Toon officials in London. He is seen as the perfect man to replace Kevin Keegan thanks to his brilliant relationship with Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez. Poyet was Wise’s assistant when he was boss at Leeds and Swindon and also played alongside the Toon director of football at Chelsea. Poyet, 40, is also close with vice-president Jimenez who played a controversial role in the departure of Keegan. Spurs boss Juande Ramos will try everything he can to keep Poyet, who has been his No 2 for 11 months. Gianfranco Zola, another Wise pal, remains in the frame however — even though he will be offered the West Ham job today.

Robinho: I’m ready for Blues

ROBINHO has told SunSport: I am itching to shoot down Chelsea.

The Brazilian superstar was speaking after his first match since his incredible £32.5million transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester City. He inspired his country to a comprehensive 3-0 World Cup qualifier victory over Chile in their South American neighbours’ capital. And The Sun was the only British newspaper inside Santiago’s Estadio Nacional to see Robinho’s master class. The silky-skilled Samba sensation was just too hot for Chile to handle and capped a mesmerising display by scoring the visitors’ key second goal just before the break. It was perfect preparation for his Premier League bow this Saturday, when he will make his City debut against the club he almost joined on deadline day — Chelsea. The battle of the billionaires — Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim v Roman Abramovich — is already being dubbed ‘The Oil Firm Derby’. Robinho said afterwards: “I am satisfied with my performance and that of my team. We have to use this as preparation and motivation for our game against Bolivia on Wednesday. I was tired at the end but I will be ready to face Chelsea. “Everybody knows I expected to sign for them. But I am happy to be at Manchester City and my only thought is to help us beat Chelsea. “I love playing and scoring for Brazil. Every time I play for the national team, I feel I become a better player. “I was pleased to score against Chile and now I am determined to do the same against Chelsea. “I want to score at least one goal.” Robinho started up front with Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano in a three-pronged attack. Seville star Fabiano may have netted twice but it was Robinho who stole the show. City’s new maestro, 24, bamboozled Chile with his superior skills, technique and movement. Having started out on his preferred right flank, he made full use of the licence to roam given to him by coach Dunga. After Fabiano had headed Brazil into a 20th-minute lead, Ronaldinho saw a spot-kick 14 minutes later superbly saved by red-hot Chile keeper Claudio Bravo. Robinho then took a Fabiano pass in his stride and waltzed through the home defence to make it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time. Not even Fabiano’s second and red cards for team-mate Kleber and Chile sub Jorge Valvidia could overshadow Robinho’s impressive contribution. And in case critics scoff that City’s record signing could never reproduce such form on cold Tuesday nights in Manchester, they should note that Chile is currently in the grip of a freak winter. With temperatures hovering at five degrees, conditions felt much more like Salford than Santiago. Meanwhile, City starlet Ched Evans has opened the door for a move by claiming there is ‘no point’ in staying if he is not going to play for the first team. Cardiff are one club interested in the Wales international, 19, whose chances of progress have been threatened by Robinho’s arrival. Evans, who only signed a three-year contract in the summer, said: “I expect to play in the first team, otherwise there would be no point in being here.”

Zola set for Hammers job

Gianfranco Zola is expected to be named West Ham boss on Thursday after the club’s directors made him the favourite to take over from Alan Curbishley, who resigned last week.  West Ham hope they will unveil their first foreign manager at a news conference on Thursday, but may face a slight delay as the former Chelsea midfielder is joint coach of the Italy under-21 side and they are in action in Croatia on Tuesday night. The club have also been in talks with fellow Italian Roberto Donadoni, but reports suggest that he is dismayed at the Hammers’ handling of the recruitment process and has ruled himself out of the job. The ex-Italy boss, who was sacked from his post with the Azzurri after a disappointing showing at Euro 2008, is unhappy that the Premier League club appear to favour Zola – Donadoni’s former junior in the Italy set up – for the role. Donadoni said in a statement: ”I would like to thank West Ham United Football Club for approaching and speaking with me in relation to the vacant manager’s position at the club. ”I welcomed the opportunity of speaking with such a prominent Premiership club and of course, the opportunity of coming to the English Premiership. ”However, is does appear that the board have not yet, after some time, come to an agreement and a conclusion on who the successful candidate should be. ”It is important for me to feel that I have the full support of the club and I have therefore this morning taken the decision to withdraw myself from the candidate shortlist for the club. ”Donadoni has more managerial experience than Zola but he does not have the 42-year-old’s long association with English football and another on the Hammers’ radar to take himself out of the running is Croatian coach Slaven Bilic. Bilic’s hopes of succeeding Alan Curbishley floundered on the complications surrounding his release from his current job as coach of Croatia, though he was never top of West Ham’s wish list. The Hammers’ chief executive Scott Duxbury and technical director Gianluca Nani have led the selection process and the pair provided a detailed report to a meeting of the club’s board. They outlined the merits of as many as 30 names who were initially considered and then the reasons why they were whittled down to a shortlist of six. With Zola and Donadoni heading the list, it now appears Zola will take the job, especially as Michael Laudrup, the Danish former coach of Spanish side Getafe, was due to have an interview but was ruled out after it emerged he was set to accept an offer from Spartak Moscow. Kia Joorabchian, who works as an advisor to West Ham, said both Zola and Donadoni had impressed. He told Sky Sports News: ”Zola has a lot of experience in the Premier League, he was admired by every fan in the league irrespective of which club they supported. ”He has built a big reputation for himself in Italy. He hasn’t Premier League experience as a manager but he understands the Premier League very much. ”But Donadoni has vast experience and is a good candidate. ”They are moving fast. They would like to appoint a new manager before the weekend but it is a process they will consider carefully. ”It is a different system, a more European system of working and it will be a manager who will be working under that style in order to minimise and avoid errors which have occurred in the past.”

Essien ruled out for the year

Chelsea look set to be without Michael Essien for the rest of the year after it was confirmed the midfielder would need surgery on a knee injury. The 25-year-old suffered the problem while on international duty with Ghana and a club statement read: “Michael has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and will undergo an operation as soon as the majority of the swelling has subsided.”

Barton banned for six games

Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton has been banned for six matches by the Football Association for his attack on Ousmane Dabo, with a futher six games suspended. The England international attacked Dabo during a Manchester City training session in May 2007. He was also fined £25,000 after pleading guilty to the charge.

Keegan quits, Newcastle back to square one

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was today going back to the drawing board with his dream for the club in tatters in the wake of Kevin Keegan’s resignation. And League Managers’ Association chairman Howard Wilkinson has branded the decision to bring in Dennis Wise as executive director [football] as a ‘recipe for disaster’.

Pele: Robinho had to be total nuts

BRAZILIAN legend Pele reckons his fellow countryman Robinho ‘needs counselling’ for turning his back on a move to Chelsea.

 

The Manchester City new boy caused a big shock in his homeland when he opted for a £32.5million switch to Eastlands. That came after he had spent the previous few weeks trying to engineer a move away from Real Madrid and expressing his wish to go to Stamford Bridge. Many believe Robinho moved just for the reported £95,000 a week offered by City. Pele, 67, said: “Chelsea are lucky. This boy needs some serious counselling. He has been badly advised.” Former Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo added: “If you want to become the best, you need a team with possibilities to shine. I don’t know if his football or his career will go back at City.”

Robinho hits back at Pele criticism

Robinho has responded to Pele’s criticism him for joining Manchester City, insisting the Brazil icon and again criticised Real Madrid for the failure of his move to Chelsea. Former Santos forward Robinho, 24, joined City from Real Madrid on Monday in a shock transfer-deadline-day move after having looked on course for a transfer to Stamford Bridge. City – newly rich as a result of investment the Abu Dhabi United Group – stepped in to meet the asking price and Pele is reported to have said Robinho ‘needs some serious counselling’ as he had been ‘badly advised’ by people close to him. Robinho has stressed the move to City is the right one. ‘I accept Pele’s criticism as he is the king of football, but if he had been me, he would have done the same,’ said Robinho, who arrived in Teresopolis in a helicopter yesterday to train with the national team ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia. ‘Real did not want to retain me. They even used me as a potential exchange to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. But as that negotiation fell through, they wanted to retain me then. ‘If they didn’t want to count on me, I didn’t want to stay there either, so that is what I told the president.’ Robinho admitted his first intention was to move to Chelsea to be coached by former Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari but a number of issues led to Real Madrid cancelling negotiations. ‘My first goal was to go to Chelsea as it was the only club to have made a formal offer,’ he added. ‘But Real did not like Chelsea shirts with my name on being sold before sorting out the negotiations,’ he said, referring to an embarassing episode that saw Chelsea’s commercial arm peddling Robinho merchandise when a deal was nowhere near being done. ‘Also, they did not reach the value Real demanded so then Manchester City came in at the last minute to sign me.’ Robinho said Real’s refusal to release him to play at the Olympic Games was one of the main reasons why he quit the Spanish side to join City. The Primera Liga giants denied the forward the chance to play in Beijing last month claiming the Brazilian had an injury, but the forward became angry with the club’s board and asked president Ramon Calderon for a move away from the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. ‘I cried when he (Calderon) didn’t let me play at the Olympics and you can check that by asking him,’ said Robinho. ‘I didn’t cry to quit. I just told him I didn’t want to stay there any longer so I asked to be transferred.’

Kick out Wise and I will stay – Kevin Keegan

KEVIN KEEGAN last night told the Newcastle board: Sack Dennis Wise and I’ll stay on as boss.King Kev produced an amazing series of ultimatums during showdown talks with club owner Mike Ashley yesterday.

Knowing he has the Toon fans behind him, Keegan called for:

 Executive director of football Wise to be paid off.

Vice-president Tony Jimenez, who is in charge of player recruitment, to also be shown the door. 

Control of all transfers in and out — AND given the power to negotiate all player contracts.

 Just 24 hours earlier Keegan’s eight-month reign seemed to be coming to an end with the board squeezing him into a corner. The ENTIRE first team was up for sale during the summer transfer window and two players — Xisco and Ignacio Gonzalez — were brought in without his say so. But, after vocal demonstrations by the fans, a revolt by the players and threats of a supporters’ boycott of the next home game, Keegan emerged holding all the aces. A Toon insider told SunSport: “The way Keegan is trying to pull this round is staggering. “If he gets his way, he’ll have a power which he hasn’t had since coming back.” Most of the Toon squad felt ‘insulted’ by the discovery that they were up for sale. Now, if Keegan does go, the stars loyal to him will ALL slap in transfer requests in January. The insider said: “The players feel surprised and disappointed and they also feel insulted. “I’ve never known it so quiet here. It’s like there was a funeral going on, like there had been a death in the family. “Kev’s hugely popular among the players, so the mood is nothing like normal — how could it be with so much hanging over the club?”

Manchester United finally complete £30.75m Berbatov deal

Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed £30.75million man Dimitar Berbatov as a ‘key signing’ in Manchester United’s quest for a Premier League title hat-trick. Berbatov finally completed a four-year deal to join from Tottenham just before the closure of the transfer window last night, bringing an end to one of the summer’s major transfer sagas. And while neighbours Manchester City might have sent shockwaves across the city with their own pursuit of Berbatov and eventual signing of Robinho, Ferguson is intent on ensuring United remain top of the pile in England. ‘This is a key signing,’ the United boss told www.manutd.com. ‘Dimitar is one of the best and most exciting strikers in world football. ‘His style and ability will give the team a different dimension and I am sure he will be a popular player with the fans.’ Berbatov was driven away from Old Trafford just before the announcement of his move was made public. But the Bulgarian was clearly happy as he was pictured inside the stadium and is looking forward to becoming a United legend. ‘Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me,’ he said. ‘I look forward to playing my part in helping this club win more honours in the years to come. ‘After a breathless afternoon, in which Berbatov spent time at United’s Carrington training complex and then Old Trafford, he was then taken to a south Manchester hospital for a medical. With no problems reported, he returned to Old Trafford, where he was greeted warmly by Sir Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill to begin the long wait to see if a deal could be done that would eventually see Berbatov wear the number nine shirt vacated by Louis Saha, following the Frenchman’s sale to Everton. Forty minutes before the deadline expired, United submitted papers to the Premier League, hoping the registration would go through in time, with the deal, which will see Fraizer Campbell move in the other direction on a season-long loan, being confirmed at 12.40am. While the fee is more than United ideally wanted to pay, they have gained agreement from Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy that he will not pursue his complaint against the Old Trafford outfit for approaching Berbatov in the first place. Having agreed an amazing £35million deal with cash-rich Manchester City, Levy knew he might have pocketed even more cash. However, he was also aware Berbatov had his heart set on joining United having unloaded a player who clearly no longer wanted to be at White Hart Lane and was beginning to unsettle other members of Juande Ramos’ squad. For Ferguson, Berbatov’s arrival was a matter of extreme urgency. While United were always confident Manchester City would be seen off as potential bidders, the evidence of the past two weeks, when Darren Fletcher has been the only player to score in the Premier League and the Super Cup was lost to Zenit St Petersburg on Friday when Nemanja Vidic found the target, Ferguson knew he needed another senior striker. The Scot has won the last two Premier League titles, and the Champions League a man light of his preferred four-pronged forward line. And he knew this time around, there would be no surprise signing such as Henrik Larsson to help the Red Devils out, or an unexpected seam of goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, or, due to his current injury, 42 from Cristiano Ronaldo. Campbell might have impressed in pre-season but Ferguson realised it was too much to expect the youngster to hold down a regular place should either Wayne Rooney or Carlos Tevez be ruled out for an extended period. And, though other targets such as Michael Owen, Thierry Henry and David Villa were mentioned, Berbatov was the man Ferguson kept returning to. At 27, Berbatov is slightly older than most of United’s recent major purchases but Ferguson feels his silky touch – which the Scot first experienced when Bayer Leverkusen faced the Red Devils in Champions League combat five years ago. Ferguson believes Berbatov has the quality to score goals himself and create chances for others. Some may question the player’s temperament in light of his recent behaviour but Ferguson has worked with plenty of highly-strung individuals, including Eric Cantona, and got the best out of them. He will expect to do the same with Berbatov, starting when United travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on September 13.

Keegan quit rumours hit Newcastle

Kevin Keegan has ‘quit’ as manager of Newcastle United following a meeting with club owner Mike Ashley, according to sources.

The 57-year-old did not take training on Tuesday morning but the Magpies are yet to confirm the speculation. Reports suggest that Keegan was unhappy with the club’s transfer policy. Last week 22-year-old James Milner was sold to Aston Villa for a fee of £12million, despite Keegan insisting he wanted the winger to remain on Tyneside.  Tension over transfers has simmered ever since Dennis Wise was drafted in as Executive Director (Football) to head up activity in the market, only weeks after Keegan’s appointment. At the time former Newcastle player Keegan, who joined the club for a second spell as manager in January 2008, insisted he had no problem with Wise’s surprise appointment. But having been unable to add big names to the signings of Argentinian pair Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez Keegan is believed to have become disillusioned with his lot at St James’ Park. The bookies have stopped taking bets on Keegan becoming the next Premier League manager to lose his job and have installed Wise as the favourite to take over at Newcastle. Keegan’s first stint as Toon boss began in 1992 and after five successful years at the helm he shocked the footballing world in January 1997 by announcing his resignation. After leaving Newcastle Keegan went on to manage Fulham, England and Manchester City.

Robinho leaves Madrid for Manchester City

Manchester City have completed the British record £32.5million signing of Robinho with just minutes to go in the transfer window. He has signed a four-year contract at the City of Manchester Stadium.  Manager Mark Hughes told the club’s official website tonight: ‘I am absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to work with such an incredible talent like Robinho. I have said that in order to compete with the best teams in the Premier League we have to be in the market for players of this calibre, and Robinho is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world.  ‘I am really looking forward to introducing him to the rest of the squad, and to the City fans at the earliest opportunity. This is a real statement of intent as to the ambitions of Manchester City Football Club. Robinho will be in line to make his City debut against, of all clubs, Chelsea after the international break. It follows bids earlier in the day for Dimitar Berbatov, David Villa and Mario Gomez. The Brazilian claimed he wanted to move to England at a press conference yesterday and also criticised Real coach Bernd Schuster for denying him the chance to move to Chelsea. However, London will not be his next destination. Sources suggest that Real were determined not to sell the Brazilian forward to Chelsea but were happy to deal once the Eastlands side moved in. Chelsea had been tracking the player all summer and will be furious to lose out to another English club. Rather than find himself marooned at the Bernabeu until January was prepared to move to the Premier League with Mark Hughes’ side. Real Madrid’s decision to accept City’s offer for Robinho was made for both ’sporting and human’ reasons, the Spanish club’s president Ramon Calderon has said. ‘We have sold Robinho for reasons of a human nature and for sporting reasons. The fact that he has accepted an offer from Manchester City says that he is not going for sporting reasons,’ Calderon told Spanish television station Veo. ‘It’s an important sum of money. It’s not the objective of Real Madrid to sell players, neither do we need the money, but for reasons of human and sporting nature, it has been decided this is for the best. ‘It’s a decision agreed by all the coaching staff, who understand it is best for the player and for the club. ‘(Coach Bernd) Schuster thought until yesterday that he could recover the player, but that has not been the case. Every time I have spoken with him he was very sad, crying and asking to leave Spain. Real Madrid are more important than any one player. ‘He’s a great kid, but badly advised.’ Robinho burst on to the scene as an 18-year-old when he helped Santos win their first Brazilian championship in 2002. His trickery, skills and physique led to comparisons with former Santos great Pele and eventually attracted the attention of Real Madrid. Robinho pressured Santos for a move to Real and after a lengthy tug-of-war transfer saga, the Brazilian club relented and agreed to sell the player to the Spanish giants in August 2005. Classed as the new Galactico when he arrived at the club, Robinho made a dazzling debut as a substitute in the 2-1 victory over Cadiz in the opening game of the season but then went on to struggle for the remainder of his first campaign in Europe. He won his first Spanish league title under coach Fabio Capello in 2007, but often featured as a substitute and only really took off last season when he helped Real to their second consecutive championship, scoring 11 goals in 32 outings. Robinho is a regular in the Brazilian national side and played an instrumental role in their triumph in the 2007 Copa America, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals. City’s fortunes were transformed this morning when Abu Dhabi United Group announced they had agreed in principal to buy the club from Thaksin Shinawatra, who will remain on the club’s board as a shareholder and honorary president. Prospective new Manchester City owner Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim believes only ‘formalities’ remain before he can rubber-stamp their takeover of the Premier League club.  Al-Farim confirmed that ADUG had also considered investing in City’s Premier League rivals Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool before deciding to press ahead with a buy-out – thought to be worth around £150million – of the Eastlands outfit.

Sorry, I love Kate Moss…. Nothing to do with Football

Exclusive: Wayne Rooney had jaw broken at Stereophonics gig

Wayne Rooney proved his love for the Stereophonics recently with a tattoo in honour of the band – now we can reveal that he put life and limb on the line for his musical heroes.

The Sterophonics even played at Wayne and Coleen’s wedding – just before Wayne had the title of the band’s album Just Enough Education To Perform tattooed on his arm.

But now it’s emerged that a skint young Rooney went to even greater lengths in the name of being a Phonics fan, and rumour has it he had his jaw broken by an employee selling band merchandise when he tried to steal one of the  T-Shirts.

Ferdinand completes Sunderland switch

The England under-21 defender joined Sunderland from West Ham on a four-year deal.

Manchester City weigh-up Ronaldo move

Mark Hughes’ side favourites to sign Brazilian with the player’s former club AC Milan suggesting move is imminent.

I will not stay with Manchester United, says Vidic

“In England they just don’t have time to feel the joy of life. They all work so hard, only talk to people at lunch, then in the evening come home and watch the telly.” United defender casts doubt on future after criticising England and “rainy” Manchester.

Kaka denies all knowledge of move to Chelsea

Reports of Kaka joining Chelsea for a £80m fee look hugely exaggerated after the Brazilian committed his future to AC Milan and said he knew nothing about a move to Stamford Bridge. Kaka’s words fly in the face of English tabloid reports which stated Kaka would be joining Robinho in a double swoop by Luiz Felipe Scolari for his Brazilian counterparts. While Robinho’s move from Real Madrid is set to happen, according to agent Wagner Ribeiro, the Kaka move, rumoured to be tied in with Andriy Shevchenko’s return to Milan, looks dead in the water after the 26-year-old denied the rumours. ‘Me going to Chelsea? I’m staying as a Rossoneri player,’ Kaka told Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. ‘I should help Milan to win the trophies we’re up for this season. The club have made some great signings and Sheva will fit in without any problems. If someone has promised me to Roman Abramovich, it wasn’t me. ‘I’ve always said I’m happy at Milan and as long as my aims remain the same as Milan’s I’ll stay here. Until now it’s always been that way. ‘My goal is to win, Milan’s is too. As long as we are like that, I’ll remain at Milan.’ Milan are targeting a league and UEFA Cup double this season and Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani also denied any deal Kaka had been mentioned during the talks with Chelsea over Shevchenko. He told the club website: ‘In the issue of Shevchenko, Kaka was never, ever talked about and so the fans have to stay calm. We’ve been saying the same thing for two years.’

James Milner rocks toon with a transfer request

The 22-year-old has been long linked with a return to Aston Villa, where he spent the 2005/6 season on loan and has also been mentioned as a possible solution to Liverpool’s winger problem. Kevin Keegan had looked to have persuaded the England U21 star to stay at St James’ Park after he was able to stop Milner heading to Anfield as part of Danny Guthrie’s arrival on Tyneside. Yet, it seems the player’s head has been turned. A club statement said: ‘The club is very disappointed that James sees his footballing future as being away from St. James’ Park. He is a valued member of the squad and it is only a year ago that he signed an improved long-term contract. ”We have yet to receive an offer for James that has matched our valuation of him. However, should such an offer be received then the Club would be reluctantly forced to consider it, given James’ apparent desire to leave. The request comes the morning after Kevin Keegan praised Milner to high heaven after Tuesday’s 3-2 Carling Cup extra-time win over Coventry City in which Milner’s cross shot put Newcastle into a 2-0 lead. Keegan, who described the former Leeds player as a ’superb athlete’ said post-match: ‘James Milner has played too many under-21 games, he’s very underrated and needs to make the step up now. He’s getting everything out of the game that he puts in.’

STEVEN GERRARD wants to lead Liverpool to yet another Champions League final.

The Reds won the European crown in 2005 before again reaching the final two years later. Liverpool must overcome Standard Liege in tonight’s crunch qualifier to book their spot in the group stages. But Gerrard, whose side lost to Chelsea in the semi-finals last season, has already set his sights on a third final in five years. The skipper said: “We want to go one further than last year and we’re confident we can do it. “The squad’s even stronger this year and we know how good we can be in Europe over two legs. “To go to Rome and get to another final would be an unbelievable achievement but that’s the target we’ve set for ourselves.” But Gerrard has warned his side ahead of tonight’s banana skin second leg at Anfield, with the tie level at 0-0. He added: “An away goal would throw a spanner in the works so we have to defend properly. “But we’re capable of keeping clean sheets and we know we have match winners in the team. “They were the better team on the night two weeks ago and you have to give them credit. “It was a massive wake-up call and they can’t be underestimated. They have some big, physical boys who can also play a bit. “We need to make sure we improve from Saturday against Middlesbrough and see that we’re on it – if not, we’ll come unstuck. “It’s a massive game and we need to play very well. But we know we’re at home and we’re at a better level than two weeks ago, so we’re very confident we’ll win the game. “There certainly is respect for the opposition. We can’t afford to start slowly and go a goal down – that would be a disaster. “There is a bit of pressure but we have to play our own game. A first goal will help us settle but, you know, on paper we should win this game. “It’s easy to say that, though. Now we’ve got to go out there and do it on the pitch.”