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Newcastle United have had a stunning start to the 2010/11 Premier League season, but if there is one negative it’s their stuttering home form at St James’ Park. That came back to haunt the Magpies on Wednesday as they lost 2-1 to Blackburn and former Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce got one over his old club. It wasn’t the result that made the headlines, though, it was Joey Barton and the return of his ‘bad boy’ image. Barton has been banned for three matches by the FA for his punch on Morten Gamst Pedersen, something he has since apologised for. Here he is talking to Newcastle’s success story of the season Andy Carroll, who himself has got into trouble off the pitch, but what pearls of wisdom are they sharing?

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Sir Alex Ferguson is the most controversial and compelling figure in football today. For many he ranks as the greatest manager of all time. He is certainly the most successful. His twenty-five year reign at Manchester United has seen him win every major footballing honour. And then win them again. Award-winning journalist Patrick Barclay has been pitch-side and spoken to all those who know Ferguson best: fellow managers, former players, colleagues and commentators. In Football – Bloody Hell! the game’s biggest living legend is finally laid bare.

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Harry Redknapp has stressed that speculation surrounding Tottenham making a move for Manchester City forward Emmanuel Adebayor is 'absolute nonsense'.

Spurs have been increasingly linked with a raid for the former Arsenal striker, who has become frustrated with his lack of first-team football at Eastlands over the course of this season. But Redknapp has hit out at speculation suggesting he could look to take Adebayor to White Hart Lane in a deal that might result in Gareth Bale going in the opposite direction.

Redknapp described the claims as "absolute nonsense".

He added on Talksport: "I've never made any enquiries for Adebayor whatsoever. I keep seeing in the papers that we're after him. I've never ever asked about him or enquired about him."

Redknapp also ruled out the possibility of Bale being allowed to depart Tottenham in the near future.

"We don't want to sell Gareth Bale," he said.

"At the end of the day it won't be my decision, it'll be above my head but it would take an absolute fortune one day to buy him.

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"For me, at this particular time, he's got to be the Footballer of the Year in this country. I can't think of anyone who's done as well as him.

"He's not a player that we would really want to sell. You've got to hang onto your best players. If Tottenham want to be a club that's always looking to get in Champions League football you can't sell those players."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

At Christmas time everyone likes an old story. If it is unashamed football clichés you are looking for, perhaps direct your attention to what promises to be a pivotal battle for both sides and their hopes for retaining top-flight status for next year.

Both Mick McCarthy and Roberto Martinez will have earmarked this fixture for weeks now as one where the traditional three point stocking filler from Santa Claus would be most needed.

Neither man would have thought that this season would be free of these sorts of battles, particularly considering the torrid autumn experienced at both the DW and Molineux.

It is hard not to watch Wolves and feel that for all their enterprising football, the ability to grind out wins in games of this fashion is missing from their armoury. Whilst I would expect Wigan to have the Premier League experience necessary to pull out a result here, I believe both sides’ fear of defeat will outweigh their desire to land a decisive blow for Premier League survival.

Prediction: 1-1

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You can get odds of 5/1 on a 1-1 draw

Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled out the possibility of Manchester United making signings during this January transfer window. Sir Alex Ferguson normally stays away from the market in January but with the spending power of Manchester City and Chelsea, it seemed that Ferguson would act this January. Although Manchester United are top of the table and have remained unbeaten this season, many Manchester United fans feel the squad needs a few tweaks if the club are too push for domestic honours this season.

There is no doubt that this Manchester United squad lacks star quality of other squads that Sir Alex Ferguson has put together. The squad is young and will get better, but I feel Ferguson is missing a massive opportunity by staying away from signings this January. Manchester United have put themselves in a fantastic position; a position many could only dream of in October, so why not take advantage by adding a top class player to the mix. The obvious weakness for Manchester United is the continued absence of Owen Hargreaves from the squad. Manchester United have been linked with Lassana Diarra. The Frenchman would be a superb acquisition for United and lighten the load on Darren Fletcher.

If Manchester United are to win the Premier League this season, their task would be made easier if Sir Alex Ferguson made one or two signings in January. It is difficult to say the squad needs such a revamp – due to the position they have found themselves in in, but Manchester United haven’t played well this season and Chelsea have allowed their rivals back into a title race that looked over eight games ago. If clubs continue to drop points, Manchester United will win the Premier League this season. If Arsenal or Chelsea find consistency and put pressure on this Manchester United side, they could crumble.

As well as buying a top quality player that could ultimately replace Owen Hargreaves at Manchester United, there are still a few areas of the squad where Manchester United are light. At left back, a significant injury to Patrice Evra and Manchester United would struggle in a big way. Fabio Da Silva hasn’t showed the potential of his brother and Jonny Evans is the only other player that would be seen to cover at left back. United would be a different team both defensively and offensively, and without the passion, determination and craft of Evra, United would struggle. Added to this the fact that Ferguson wants to send Jonny Evans out on loan for the remainder of the season, and it is clear United need to invest in quality cover for Evra.

There is no need for massive clear outs of the Manchester United squad, but a few tweaks this January could go a long way to United regaining their Premier League crown. Rather than bring in fresh faces, Ferguson has a vast selection at his fingertips and he is looking to loan out some of his fringe players. Long term this will benefit the players but it will weaken the squad for the remainder of the season. Without a plan to bring in any players, an injury crisis at Old Trafford later in the season could derail their title bid.

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There is no doubt that every Manchester United fans trusts Sir Alex Ferguson’s’ judgement in the transfer market but there would be a greater feeling of optimism if Ferguson was looking. Tottenham thought their business was done by the end of the transfer window in the summer, and up pops Rafael van der Vaart. Manchester United could not afford to miss out on a player of such quality for a bargain price again, and if even if Ferguson is not actively seeking to buy, hopefully the club are still open if a player in the same circumstances comes along.

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Juventus boss Luigi Delneri believes new signing Alessandro Matri from Cagliari will be the ideal replacement for Fabio Quagliarella.

Quagliarella, who has scored nine times this season, sustained a knee injury during his side’s 4-1 loss to Parma last month, and Delneri believes the signing of Matri – scorer of 11 goals this term – is a perfect fit for the vacant striker’s position.

“I think Juventus have done pretty well as far as the transfer market is concerned,” Delneri said.

“I’m not giving grades as I don’t like to give grades. I can only give my opinion, which is excellent since we have acquired players who we were missing in certain departments either because of injuries or because of different skills.”

“We have compensated the loss of Quagliarella with an important player like Matri who has different technical skills compared to (Luca) Toni.”

With his side sitting in seventh place in Serie A, 13 points behind league-leaders AC Milan, Delneri said he is looking forward to regaining some familiar faces as they return from injury ahead of their game with Palermo on Wednesday.

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“Tomorrow there will be a new player and by Saturday Toni should be recovered. Little by little the injured players will be back to support in terms of solutions, experience and positive energies,” he said.

After a weekend of thrilling Premier League football action there is another story about controversial ‘Tweets’ by a professional player; it’s starting to become a bit of a trend. There’s been Darren Bent’s rant to Daniel Levy in 2009 and Ryan Babel’s infamous FA charge at the start of the year, whilst a number of QPR players tweeted their feelings on El Hadji Diouf which caused accounts to be suspended. This weekend however, it was the Tweet of Arsenal midfielder, Jack Wilshere.

The Gunners youngster posted a comment about ‘inconsistent refereeing’ in regards to Abou Diaby’s sending off at Newcastle on Saturday. Wilshere felt that Newcastle’s Kevin Nolan should’ve been sent off for raising his hands to the Arsenal ‘keeper in the same game. It’s been labelled as an attack on the referee for that game, Phil Dowd, but the Twitter post has since been removed and it is unlikely Wilshere will face any FA punishment. Is it a case of double standards?

Just look at the punishment Liverpool’s Ryan Babel received when he made a Twitter post about referee Howard Webb. Babel had posted a mocked up picture of Webb in a Manchester United shirt after Liverpool’s FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford. Despite his apology for questioning Webb’s integrity, the FA charged Babel with improper conduct.

Although Wilshere did not post any mocked up pictures of Phil Dowd in his Tweet, he still gave a public opinion that referees are inconsistent. So what is freedom of speech for footballers? And what do the FA classify as improper conduct?

These are important questions with the growth of social networking sites like Twitter, which are able to bring the professional players that bit closer to the fans. If these stories continue for the rest of the season then we could see an FA ban on professional players using the social networking site, or at least using it as their own verified selves. Instead, Twitter could be full of pseudonym footballers who tweet in Morse code.

Ryan Babel will be asking questions to the Football Association after Wilshere escaped punishment for a pretty similar incident. Even though Wilshere wasn’t charged, I wonder where it leaves pro footballers and their social networking days. As if these stories keep occuring and the FA keeps reprimanding players, footballers will have no voice and become more distant from the fans who play a huge part in who they are.

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Defending Copa Libertadores champions Internacional moved top of Group Six on Wednesday with a 4-0 rout of Mexico’s Jaguares.Argentina midfielder Mario Bolatti scored a brace for the Brazilian side, while Leandro Damiao and Oscar scored the other goals to seal a resounding win that sends Internacional above Ecuadorian side Emelec on goal difference in Group Six.Elsewhere on Wednesday, Argentine champions Estudiantes had to work hard for a 1-0 win over Deported Tolima of Colombia, with a Pablo Barrientos free-kick just before the interval proving the difference in a tight affair.The win lifted Estudiantes to third place in Group Seven, level on three points with Tolima, with Brazilians Cruzeiro on top with six points.In Group One, a first-half Carlos Zegarra goal lifted Peruvian side Leon de Huanuco to a 1-0 win over Bolivia’s Oriente Petrolero and in Group Three Brazil’s Fluminense and Uruguayan outfit Nacional played out a goalless draw in Rio de Janeiro.

Roma coach Claudio Ranieri is expecting a ‘beautiful game’ when his side takes on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Roma will be hoping to put a poor run of form in the Serie A behind them when they host the Ukrainian side in the round-of-16 first leg at the Stadio Olimpico.

Shakhtar qualified for the knockout stages at the top of Group H, and with a strong Brazilian influence in Mircea Lucescu’s side, Ranieri is expecting the match to be an impressive spectacle.

“I expect a beautiful game tomorrow against a very good side,” Ranieri said.

“Shakhtar are a great team and those that thought that this was a good draw for us will no doubt reconsider.”

“This is a difficult season. But we have to think of tomorrow’s game and make amends for our defeat at the weekend.”

“We have struggled defensively and this is something we have to improve on.”

Roma have slid to eighth in the Serie A after defeats to Inter Milan and Napoli in the last fortnight.

But Ranieri refuted rumours of a rift between him and his players, saying the squad was committed to fighting out the remainder of the season.

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“The coach is like the husband, he is the last to know,” Ranieri said. “But this is just Roman gossip done for the love of the team.”

“I always have enthusiasm because the players give it to me. I asked my players that if I was the problem then I would leave but they said ‘No’.”

“We want to fight and we will do so until the end.”

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Mexican ace Javier Hernandez as ‘unbelievable’ following Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Marseille on Tuesday.Hernandez produced a goal in either half at Old Trafford, ensuring United dumped the French champions out of the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals.The 22-year-old, who received a dream ticket to the Premier League from Mexican outfit Guadalajara last year, linked up with Wayne Rooney in the first instance, and Ferguson praised the growing awareness between the strike pair.”It has developed very well,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.”Where Wayne has been playing in the last couple of games, he is a real threat to teams because he has got such power and speed with the ball.””And, of course, Hernandez is unbelievable, his movement. Did you see his movement for the (opening) goal?””He has made three different types of run – in, out, in, out – and the boy has just got goals in him.”Marseille’s only score of the match came from an own goal by United defender Wes Brown, but the visitors never looked out of the tie.Ferguson admitted his men had been ‘nervy’ against the French side, blaming their at-times flustered display on hamstring injuries to John O’Shea and Rafael.”It was nervy because we kept having players taken off with injuries and it shook the balance of the team in a big way,” Ferguson said.”I thought we were quite comfortable, and then O’Shea is off, and then Da Silva (Rafael) is off.””We had made a substitution, which was a killer because we could have brought (Darron) Gibson on to give us a bit more height.””The problem tonight was always going to be height. Marseille’s set-piece play, of course, was very good and it caused us a lot of problems.”Marseille boss Didier Deschamps was critical of his side’s poor finishing at Old Trafford, with Andre-Pierre Gignac and Souleymane Diawara missing the best of a clutch of chances.Asked if he felt Marseille would have qualified for the last eight had they made more of their opportunities, Deschamps told Sky Sports: “I am sure.””I have got young players and it was difficult at Old Trafford but after that my players did well and we had opportunities, good occasions, but we didn’t score and then to be 2-0 down it was more complicated for us.””I think the players, and me as well, felt it was possible because Manchester United were not really fit physically.”

The ambitions of new Eintracht Frankfurt coach Christoph Daum extend far beyond securing the club’s Bundesliga status.Daum, 57, joined Frankfurt on Tuesday following the dismissal of Michael Skibbe.

He arrives to find the team 14th on the Bundesliga table, just three points clear of the relegation zone with seven matches left to play.

While Daum acknowledges that his priority is to keep the team in the top flight, he also has grand plans for the future.

“I’m not a fireman, I’m a concept coach,” Daum said.

“Laying on of hands isn’t enough. I will work for Eintracht 25 hours a day.”

“I want to create a spirit of optimism in Frankfurt. Eintracht are a traditional club with huge potential. I’m not thinking about the 2. Liga (second tier).”

Daum, who has coached Bayer Leverkusen and Fenerbahce along with four other clubs in a 25-year managerial career, believes developing the right mentality within the squad is the key to success.

“The head always plays an important role in football,” he said.

“When it works properly then it is a third leg and can make the difference.”

“The most important thing is to make ourselves safe as quickly as possible.”

After the international break, Frankfurt’s next match is away to fellow strugglers Wolfsburg on April 3.