Doing some updates and working through some technical troubles, stay tuned for more!!

Manchester City seem to be leading the way in speculation these days. The floundering billionaire-backed team is constantly being linked with top players while the side continues to drop points in the Premier League.

It seems newly appointed manager Mark Hughes' failure to cement the Blues in the top half of the table, let alone the top four, has none-too-pleased his new owners. As the Welshman flies to Dubai in what was supposed to be a meeting about transfer targets, could this be it for Sparky?

Equally outrageous to the various player names associated with City at the moment is the possibility of signing mega-manager Jose Mourinho from Inter Milan. The ex-Chelsea man is rumored to have been offered, or soon to be offered, a £15 million a season to take over at Eastlands. As the Portuguese tactician has just taken over in Milan, it seems doubtful at this point in time, but who knows in the future. At any rate, the Citizens did land Robinho, so anything can happen!




In other transfer news, word on the street is Chelsea are lining up a move for Theirry Henry. Three quick reasons this is probably a fabrication.

1. Barcelona are ridiculously free-scoring right now, and although Henry is not necessarily creating a lot of goals himself, he's not playing half bad either.

2. Chelsea arn't spending. How can they sign him without paying?

3. Henry is an Arsenal legend. Some players have done worse (ie Figo), but with Henry's passion for the Gunners, I can't see him in South London.

This one can be chalked up to the gossip writers, but then again, you never know.

League leaders and favorites are finally starting to take shape around the football world, but that doesn't mean there is not some room for surprises!

In the Premier League, Chelsea have taken the top spot off Liverpool as Robbie Keane finally opened his EPL account with the Reds. The Irishman has finally began chipping away at his £20 million pricetag.

Arsenal have proved doubters wrong while denting Manchester United's title challenge significantly. Seems like Berba and Rooney may not be a match made in heaven, but at least Rafeal looks like a gem!

Manchester City are on a three game skid, while in a game marred by questionable cards and sending off's, Tottenham moved clear of the relegation zone. Mark Hughes will be in hot water when he goes to meet his new owners for the first time, yet with a rumored £100 million plus to spend, who knows what the Welshman can do.

Abroad, Real Madrid got back on the high road with a sintilating performance from Hinguain. The Argentine tore apart Malaga for four goals. Maybe Madrid don't need a striker after all. Around La Liga, Barcelona saw off Valladolid by convincing 6-0 margin. Eto'o's four goals in 45 minutes will go a long way to shut up his critics. So will his league leading 13 goals in La Liga. Valencia have also seen off Getafe. Shaping up to be a good season in Spain.

Italian league leaders AC Milan heading into their tie will be dissappointed to leave Lecce with only a point after fighting ahead with a Ronaldinho strike. The injury time equalizer will set the Rossonari behind last years champs Inter Milan as Julio Cruz put the Inter by Udinese at the San Siro. With so many teams playing well in the Serie A, it should be a tight one again this year. Here is hoping Roma can get their domestic form in order!

Stay tuned to the Fanatic for more gossip this week!

So with a league loss to Almeria compounded with two Champions League group stage loses to Juventus, it is clear that Real Madrid might be in a spot of bother.

Well, some would say, shouldn't they have seen it coming?

A few reasons why yes might be the right answer.

1. Letting Robinho go without a replacement was never a good answer, especially with Robben's constant and laughable injuries.

2. Striker options limited and untested. Beyond Raul and RVN, Real looks weak up front. Combined the duo are about 70 years old as well.

3. Defense is out of sorts. Canna keeps talking about Napoli, Pepe still hasn't settled, Heinze just wants to talk about Fergie and Ronaldo, while Ramos is too busy yapping to the media about the team dressing room. Casillas is the only rock in the side.

Schuster better make some big, well-thought out long term moves in January if he wants a successful run and the results necessary to keep his job.

Lets make this a Ronnonari Winner/Loser this week, shall we? With so many headlines attached to the club is seems only natural.
Big Winner:



Pippo Inzaghi - The aging striker has managed to secure a contract extension with the club, even at his age with the amount of strikers Milan has on their books. Superhuman Pippo just cannot be stopped and continues to be one of the most feared goal poachers in the game. Winning a new contract and being able to finish out his career in Milan may not be a new thing for AC to do for their players, but it will be a relief to Pippo who feared getting the axe in the face of a Milan revolution.

Big Loser:



Alessandro Nesta - This legendary center back looks set to lose out to his own body in a bid to regain enough match fitness to continue his career. With reports rife that the ageing Italian is ready to hang up the boots, it seems extremely long spells on the sidelines have ended the journey for this world-class footballer. After missing Euro 2008 and large chunks of World Cup 2006, extended runs on the sidelines have plagued Nesta. Perhaps a major turn of fortune is on the cards, but for now it seems to be all she wrote making a major dent in the Rossonari back line.

After Inter's owner Massimo Moratti poked fun at Milan's inability to reach the top spot over the last few campaigns, it seems Milan head honcho Adriano Galliani took the bait and bit back at the wild haired millionaire.

In return for the degrading jibe, Galliani declared: "Are we thrilled to be at the top of Serie A? Moratti should take a look at our trophy cabinet and then he would understand our thrills."

Speaking of old trophies, I wonder if Galliani is going to parade David Beckham around in front of Moratti? Surely he'd be classified as an old trophey as well.

In Manchester City's endless circus, it now seems that another super-star name has been linked with the struggling mega-rich club. Now Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero seems destined for the City of Manchester Stadium, with Mark Hughes ready to put the player at the top of his wishlist when he travels to Dubai to meet with the new owners.

Along with the likes of Buffon, Casillas, Torres, Gerrard, Essien, Ronaldo, Kaka, etc, etc, Manchester City's list of potential targets just keeps going and going.

Who would have thought that losing to Bolton could bring about so much good news?

After Juventus managed to dispose of Spalletti's wounded Roma in Turin, the boys from the Eternal City were welcomed back with feisty supporters hurling coins and shouting abuses to the team as they made their way off he bus. Things are not looking up for hurting Roma.

If anyone is next to go up on the managerial chop block it has to be Spaletti, but his efforts surely were not helped with the board deciding to part with the likes of Mancini while bringing no big names in.

FANATIC PREDICTION: Spaletti loses his job in the next month. Roberto Mancini to replace?

The list:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, Togo), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg, Russia), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Spain), Deco (Chelsea, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal, Spain), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan, Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich, France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), John Terry (Chelsea, England), Fernando Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Holland), David Villa (Valencia, Spain) and Xavi (Barcelona, Spain).

Vastly similar to the Balon list, but a little more refined and predictable.

Most would have to say it comes down to only a few when you look at form over the last year, or so: Ronaldo, Messi, Torres, Fabregas, Aguero, Gerrard, Xavi, Villa, Lampard and Casillas. To me, the rest have some injury or inconsistency to keep them out of serious contention, but you might not agree!

Spain dominates the list, but interestingly enough Chelsea rules the roost as far as clubs go, but the Blues boast no Spanish players. Interesting....

Cesc and Ade have to be eating their words now. Their Spurs taunting surely did not go unnoticed. What a comeback, probably one of the best in history.

Now that Uncle Harry has been in the hotseat he has managed one win and an Arsenal draw, better than Spurs had done in eight. Looks like the managerial switch paid off.

After Modric's performance, I can't see Juventus luring him from under Harry's nose, but weirder things have happened.

Mourinho has shown his scary side again. It's been reported Adriano has been out on the town with, none other than, Ronaldinho. Not only that but he was late to training and sent home by the Portuguese tactician.

After Adriano's successful return from a year long loan to Sao Paulo to get his head on straight, things looked on the up for the Brazilian to get his career on track under the ex-Chelsea gaffer. Now it seems that their relationship has soured.

I could only imagine if Ronaldo was still in Milan. Yikes.

So, six goals in six games. I think the verdict is in for now, good move for Robinho.

While things can still go south for the samba boy, for now it seems he's finally playing the football that makes him happy. While City may still be transitioning, Robinho is surely going to be an ace in Mark Hughes sleeve as he looks to create a team capable of breaking into the top four.

Now for the Citizens, who's next to come in?

Some technical difficulties have kept the Fanatic at bay, but rest assured he will be back!! Big weekend of football, stay tuned!!

Well, the nominee's have been announced and look like this:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Togo.
Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid), Argentine.
Andreï Archavine (Zénith Saint-Pétersbourg), Russia.
Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Germany.
Karim Benzema (Lyon), France.
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus Turin), Italy.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast.
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelone), Cameroon.
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.
Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC), Spain.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC), England.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Sweden.
Kaka (Milan AC), Brazil.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea), England.
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelone), Argentina.
Pepe (Real Madrid), Portugal.
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), France.
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England.
Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Spain.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Spain.
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy.
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Netherlands.
Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV puis Real Madrid), Netherlands.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Netherlands.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Serbia.
David Villa (Valence CF), Spain.
Xavi (FC Barcelone), Spain.
Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscou), Russia.

First and foremost, the left-outs. Henry, Ronaldinho, not a surprise. World class, but as of late have been rubbish. The likes of Sheva can be added to that list, as his struggles have been well documented. Also, past winner Fabio Cannavaro is absent from the list most likely a victim of the list reduction from 50 to 30.

World class names without a chance: Ballack, Pepe, Senna, Vidic, Zhirkov.

Best shots: Messi, Ronaldo, Torres, Casillas, Xavi.

Messi - Probably the dark horse favorite behind Ronaldo. Undeniable talent and youth at one of the world's biggest club. Their new number 10 and talisman with Ronaldinho's departure. He's Barca's highest paid player for a reason, but is that enough to lift the trophy after Barca listed no trophies last season?

Ronaldo - The bookies favorite. 40 plus goals in all competitions last season. European Club champion. English champion. Pretty much sums it up. Over the years will surely be battling with Messi for best player in the world. Mouth watering if a move to Madrid materializes. El Clasico will be phenomenal.

Torres - Lit up the Premier League with underachieveing Liverpool. Will look to lead them to a domestic title, but his form has been undeniable. If he stays healthy he will be a nominee year after year.

Casillas - Takes the keeper position to a whole new level. Casillas or Buffon is everyone's first choice for a goalkeeper. Yet, it might prove tough to outshine the skilled wingers on the list.

Xavi - All around player. Golden ball winner from the summers Euro Championship. Truely the complete midfielder.

So, anyone's guess who the committee will select, but the bookies have to have Messi and Ronaldo as the favorites. What do you think?

Naturally, with England's decent run of results and scapegoating of the WAG phenomena of 2006, I find it only natural to highlight the women behind the men of football. Plus, not to bad to gander at either.

WAG of the week: Cheryl Cole, wife of Chelsea's Ashley "Cashley" Cole.

Cheryl Cole, member of pop group Girls Aloud and new judge on The X Factor (guilty pleasure?), has definitely earned her title of WAG of the week.

After his highly publicized cheating last summer, Cheryl seems to have bounced back with a successful professional stint with the band as well as her new judging gig. Seems she wants to start a family with the cheater as well, how sweet.

As for the man of the house, from his rise to stardom, controversial London switch, and cheating ways, Ashley Cole has always been a man for the media. The controversial England international defected the Gunners to fulfill his Cashley persona under Roman Abromavich’s revamped Chelsea regime and hasn’t looked back since, yet regrets may exist in his private life.

Cheryl has her hands full keeping tags on Cashley, a job in itself!

Stay tuned for next week's WAG.

Ok, for arguments sake, let us get a few things out of the way.

Becks:

1. Wicked right foot, worth it for free kicks alone.

2. Has looked sharp in cameo roles for the national team.

3. Probably went to the US too soon and could do more damage in Europe.

4. World class, for the time being anyway.

Well now that those points have been made, David Beckham to AC Milan in January? Seriously? The side that took on fatty Ronaldo, have signed a lagging yet promising Ronaldinho and have floundered midtable for nearly the last two years, losing nearly every friendly they've played in while making marks in unknown waters for themas '06 Champions League winners in the UEFA Cup.

If they want a deal breaker, a real solution to their right midfeild problem, why not go for a young world class talent with years of service to give? Why not chase some starlets with their legendary club status? Beckham has experience on his side, yet alongisde the likes of Emerson, Maldini, Nesta, Pippo, Zambrotta and Seedorf, Milan are starting to look like a geriatric side in a Sunday league. Beckham would be another bloke with a walker stumbling through the halls of the San Siro.

Milan need to get serious. Their future isn't in Beckham, their future isn't even with Ronaldinho or Kaka. (Well, maybe Kaka.) It's with the Pato's who are coming on strong, and the Gourcoff's they've scared away and loaned out. It could even lay with the Flamini's they enticed for free. It's in world class youth with a nice mix of experience, with experience in abundance in Milan at the moment. Time to use the AC Milan name and entice some world class lads for the future, not names soon to be left in the past.

With the recent attention of racism in football around the world, the UEFA ban on Atlético Madrid for racist fans, chants, that sort of thing, seemed a step in the right direction. Albeit harsh, denying Fernando Torres his homecoming would have been a bold statement, yet it was not to last.

Not only is it rumored that Atlético has had the ban postponed, but it seems that Liverpool helped by complaining that the change would cause more of an inconvience than anything for traveling fans, etc.

So, on one hand, we have players and clubs demanding action (i.e. Portsmouth and Sol Campbell against Tottenham) while Rio Ferdinand and Emile Heskey have blasting the racist abuse that is prevelant in the modern game. The English FA has even moved to distance the possibility of a friendly with Spain in the Santiago Bernabéu, citing the racist chants directed at Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

So, now that UEFA has stepped up to address the problem with a harsh penalty, everyone seems to have a problem with it. So what now?

A tradition is born! This week we begin a mainstay to the Fanatic. Pretty straight forward: Someone has it tough, someone is kicking some 'A, so here they are for week one!

Winner: Catania Supporters

The constantly troubled Serie A ran into problems last weekend, finding Catania and Chievo fans at odds during a league match which found a Cheivo fan being robbed of his sat-nav system in a public scuffle. Instead of the story ending there, as many Italian football stories do lately, a regal group of Catania fans took it upon themselves to raise funds in hopes of making it right. Going one up on the hooligans who caused the trouble, the Catania organization organized (lots of organing) a fund raiser that saw a new sat-nav purchased and presented to the Cheivo fan. Classy move.



Loser: Sven-Göran Eriksson

There can be little doubt of Eriksson's pedigree, but the Swede just can't find his groove. After a disappointing international spell with the English national team followed by becoming the first managerial victim of the morphing Manchester City, becoming the Mexican national coach might have been viewed as strange choice and an effort to jump-start a bumpy career. After Mexico's latest loss to Jamaica the gaffer is on ice again. The loss compounded by the fact that Mexico has now been leapfrogged by their neighbors to the North in the FIFA rankings will not sit too well with the Mexican FA. With Mexico booked to play Canada this week, the Swede better hope for a win or face a whole new round of troubles from the unforgiving Mexican people. Muy interesante!

England really can't win, even if they win 5-1 against Borat's beloved Kazahstan. After a first half display reminiscent of the McClaren era, the introduction of Shaun Wright-Phillips and a reshuffling of the midfield found the Three Lions coming to life. However, even with blasting the visitor's for 5, the crowd could not resist booing Chelsea man Ashley Cole who's flub cost his side the clean sheet.

An honour usually bestowed upon another Chelsea man, Frank Lampard, the boo boys of the English support seem to always find their way into the headlines. Post game write-ups and commentary was less about the football, Rooney's hair, or Heskey's inability to finish (Emile over Defoe? It took Jermaine two minutes to get on the scoresheet!), and more about the boos that reigned down over Cole after his flub.

Now with stand-in captain Rio Ferdinand calling the crowed boos 'immature' and the FA labeling the booers 'crazy,' the problem seems to affect a wide range of individuals. If England can't get respect for winning 5-1, then what can they get respect for? Perhaps only a trophy will do, but they have to qualify first.

At least over the last three or so years, football has actually been on the back-burner when it comes to the Serie A. After Milan's Champion's League win in 2006, little has looked up for the league with slumping attendance and overall absence of fresh mega stars. The downfall seemed to stem form the Calciopoli scandal that saw Juve relegated and stripped of past titles for match-fixing and other sporting irregularities (so, cheating).

Now, some years later, even with Ronaldinho's move and "the Special One's" ascent to the Inter thrown, the scandal still remains in the back of everyone's mind when it comes to Italian football.

So with Juve chairman Jean-Claude Blanc (French?) bringing up the scandal yet again, drawing attention away from actual football (where Juve sit surprisingly middle of the table), when will this scandal go away? The Director of Football seems reluctant to let go of the two league trophies won by "The Old Lady" that were taken away and also errily remarks that "the truth will one day come out" about the scandal itself.

The inability of Italian football to bounce back from ths dark days of the scandal might be a sign of trouble ahead, as seen here with a member of the Juve hierarchy still spending time on a scandal a few years old while the club sit middle of the table. While stadiums remain underwhelmingly underfilled and Italy continues to underperform in Europe since the '06 Milan crown, this year is make or break for the Mediterranean country. Who knows, perhaps Italian football could crash like the economy?

Welcome to Footy Fanatic! The blog that uncovers the deeper side of football and deciphers the truth behind the gossip from all the top leagues!

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