Lil Wayne Wraps ‘Tha Carter IV,’ Announces Release Date

[phantomgerald]

To pin your hopes on Beckham is stupid. They're 99% out of EURO08, and to ask him to fly half the world back is just ridiculous. And with what he's doing, what seperates him from Erikkson? At least Erikkson can be a good club manager. I say fire Mclaren now.

 

[Wrestling God]

Mcllaren needs to go after the croatia game, because russia will beat israil.

 

[hbk4894]

Wayne Rooney is facing four weeks on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury in training.

The Manchester United striker will now miss England's final Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley on 21st November.

A club spokesman said: "Wayne Rooney picked up an ankle injury in training and will be out for about four weeks."

The 22-year-old has been in superb form recently, forming an impressive partnership with Carlos Tevez, and was named the Barclays Player of the Month for October.

England boss Steve McClaren will now have to re-think his striking options against Croatia and the preceeding friendly with Austria with Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe in contention to partner Michael Owen.

Blow

McClaren said: "It is hugely disappointing for us and him.

"Given the form he has been in and the contribution he has made to England over the last two games means it is a blow.

"But we have to deal with it, like we have dealt with situations like these before.

"It is an opportunity for someone else to come and do a job."

Rooney will miss Sunday's clash with Blackburn at Old Trafford and the forthcoming Premier League fixtures against Bolton, Fulham and Derby.

The star striker will also miss the UEFA Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon, but could return against Roma on 12th December.

But with Sir Alex Ferguson's side already through to the last 16, Rooney is unlikely to be rushed back into action.

 

[AJ styles fan01]

he was on fire atm aswell and he got injured 60 mins after picking up his barclays player of the month award it looks like were out of Euro 2008 anyway so not much a big loss for England as for Man united also it doesnt really matter if he misses the lisbon and roma games as we qualified anyway and sir alex was planning on sending out second string teams for them two games anway and I think we can survive without him for the Derby and fulham games and probably the bolton game but its still a big loss

 

[excellence of execution]

benayoun cans inspire israel to a win over russia,you're still in with a chance,but i admit it's hanging by a thread.

 

[hbk4894]

Yossi Benayoun will miss Israel's Euro 2008 qualifier with Russia after being ruled out for three weeks by Liverpool.

The midfielder suffered an adductor tear during Liverpool's 2-0 Premier League win over Fulham on Saturday.

He featured for the full 90 minutes at Anfield, but Reds boss Rafa Benitez admitted after the game that Benayoun was 'very, very doubtful' for his country.

The club have confirmed that the summer signing from West Ham United will miss the next three weeks, forcing him out of next Saturday's game with Russia.

Benayoun's club colleagues Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch had been hoping he could have a decisive role in helping Israel secure a result against Russia, which would boost England's Euro 2008 qualification hopes.

In addition to sitting out international action, Benayoun is also likely to miss the league game against Newcastle United and UEFA Champions League encounter with Porto later this month

 

[phantomgerald]

WTFH. Grant needs to go. Mourihno will never have let Everton get that equaliser.

 

[hbk4894]

Joey Barton will not face any disciplinary action following his challenge on Dickson Etuhu in Saturday's Tyne-Wear derby.

The Football Association confirmed it was looking into the Newcastle United midfielder's clash with Etuhu in the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Barton caught the Sunderland man in the groin with his studs, but escaped any on-pitch punishment from referee Martin Atkinson.

But, on Sunday, the FA said it would investigate the incident once Atkinson's report on the Premier League fixture had been received.

Following a review of the challenge, the FA has now stated that no formal action will be taken against Barton.

An FA spokesman said: "The Football Association can only take action in the case of incidents that are not seen by officials.

"Whilst it is clear that the officials did not see the full extent of the incident, they did see players coming together and to take any further action would be tantamount to re-refereeing the game and this would be contrary to the laws of the game."

If the matter had been pursued, the summer signing from Manchester City could have been hit with a three-game ban for violent conduct.

 

[hbk4894]

Simpson sacked by Preston

Preston North End have sacked Paul Simpson following the club's disappointing start to the season.

The Championship side are 21st in the table after one win in seven games and Simpson has paid the price for the poor run of results.

Only on Monday, Simpson revealed that he would not stand down, despite describing Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Hull City as the 'worst performance of the season'.

However, Preston have now taken the decision out of the former Carlisle manager's hands by relieving him of his duties.

Heavy heart

"It is with heavy heart that this type of decision has to be made, but the board and I felt that a change was necessary to try and halt the recent slide in results and performance," chairman Derek Shaw told the club's official website.

"Modern football is a cut-throat industry and is results based and without an away win in the league this season and with three away league wins in the whole of 2007 we felt we had to act now.

"We have asked Rob Kelly, Billy Barr and Dave Timmins to look after first-team training while we search for a successor to Paul, but we hope this process can be concluded quickly and hope to try and get someone in place before the next game, against Charlton Athletic a week on Saturday.

"May I place on record my thanks to Paul for his honest and hard-working approach in his time at the club and wish him every success in the future."

 

[Dooshbag]

Liverpool havent even played united yet !!!

 

[excellence of execution]

liverpool will probably beat united.Last season we dominated both matches but poor finishing cost us.This time around hope it will be different.The games against newcastle and porto should give an indication of the true level of the team with the return of agger,alonso.

 

[phantomgerald]

I don't know which way he would go. Liverpool might be overconfident after the Bestikas match, which I think was more of Bestikas being bad then Liverpool was being good. United have been good of late. Somehow I think UNited might pull off a win.

 

[hbk4894]

Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out England's clash with Austria with a knee injury.

The Manchester United midfielder will not make the trip to Austria after complaining of a knee problem.

Hargreaves has been troubled with a knee injury for most of the season and only recently made his return to the United first team.

The former Bayern Munich man will remain in Manchester to receive treatment on the knee and his fitness will be reassessed at the weekend ahead of next Wednesday's crucial Euro 2008 qualifier with Croatia.

England boss Steve McClaren will be keen to have Hargreaves fit for the clash with Croatia as it could decide the team's Euro 2008 fate if results go their way this weekend.

Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips missed training on Wednesday as he struggles with an ankle problem.

However, Wright-Phillips is expected to recover in time to face Austria.

 

[hbk4894]

Steven Gerrard has reiterated his support for under-fire England manager Steve McClaren.

The midfielder is set to skipper England for Friday's friendly with Austria and next Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia in the absence of injured captain John Terry.

England's hopes of Euro 2008 qualification rests in the hands of others following defeat to Russia in Moscow last month and McClaren has received heavy criticism.

McClaren's side must hope Israel can record a positive result against Russia on Saturday and then target a win against Croatia at Wembley.

Change

But Gerrard has called for 'continuity' in England's management even if they fail to progress to next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland.

"No. Not necessarily," Gerrard told a press conference on Sky Sports News when asked about a change in management should England not qualify for Euro 2008.

"I'm backing Steve McClaren, it's as simple as that. He is a good manager as far as I'm concerned.

"There's no point changing the manager every six months or every year. You need continuity.

Faith

"I've got a lot of faith in the manager. I've enjoyed working with him so far and speaking to the other players I'm sure they feel the same.

"We've been moving forward in the right direction. I think results of late have been really positive.

"We didn't get the result we wanted in Russia, but we feel it was a really positive performance."

 

[hbk4894]

The Football Association has issued charges against Luton Town, former and current club officials and six registered agents with breaching regulations.

Luton have been charged with making alleged payments to agents through a holding company - Jayten Stadium Limited - rather than the club, which breaks FA rules.

The club has also been charged with providing misleading information to the FA. Current directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot are charged along with former chairman Bill Tomlins and ex-finance director Derek Peter.

The six agents - Sky Andrew, Mike Berry, Mark Curtis, Stephen Denos,

David Manasseh, Andrew Mills - have all been charged with failing to ensure that payments to them were made and disclosed through proper channels.

The FA said in a statement: "It is alleged that in a number of player transfers, loan deals and contract renegotiations between 2004 and 2007, payments were made to the six agents for their services directly from Luton Town's holding company, Jayten Stadium Limited.

"These payments, totalling around £160,000, were not disclosed to the FA on the required disclosure forms, representing a breach of FA Rules.

"It is alleged that this payment mechanism was initiated by Bill Tomlins as chairman of the club, with each individual payment authorised by Derek Peter as finance director.

"It is alleged that John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot subsequently became aware of this system but did not alert the FA."

In relation to the alleged breaches of the agents' regulations in force at the time, the FA claimed investigations showed they were paid even though they were not representing the club.

The statement added: "The six licensed players' agents have all been charged with knowingly accepting payment from Jayten Stadium Limited specifically for their services to the club in securing the services of players.

"In addition, The FA's investigation revealed that none of the agents acting for the club in each of the deals had a representation contract with Luton Town.

"It is also alleged that in two transactions to secure the services of players, Luton Town dealt directly with two unlicensed agents, both of whom were paid via Jayten Stadium.

"In addition, the club has been charged with negotiating with two unlicensed agents in two further player transactions."

Luton said no one was available to comment and no date has yet been set aside for a hearing.