Archive for September, 2007
Spurs deny King delay
Tottenham have denied that Ledley King has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from knee surgery. King went under the knife in June and there have been constant rumours that his recovery had stalled, putting his scheduled return in October at risk. Spurs have denied any complications and that he is “recovering well”. They hope to have King available to them next month, although that is likely to be too late for Martin Jol. Meanwhile Michael Dawson completed a 60-minute run-out for the reserves last night on his return to full fitness.
ContinuedLampard 50-50 as Drogba withdraws
Frank Lampard is apparently rated as 50-50 for England’s Qualifying clash with Russia next Wednesday. Lampard has been sent back to Chelsea to continue his rehabilitation from his thigh muscle tear and McClaren is hopeful that the midfielder will react well to treatment and have a chance of turning out next week. Meanwhile Didier Drogba has withdrawn from the Ivory Coast squad for their Nations Cup tie with Gabon this weekend. Drogba hobbled off in the defeat at Villa Park on Sunday with a knee injury.
Both are obvious doubts for Chelsea’s clash with Blackburn on September 15 but there is better news for Jose. Both Wayne Bridge and Ricardo Carvalho are apparently back in training. Carvalho could be available by the end of the month while Bridge is thought to be still 6-weeks from a return.
ContinuedWigan lose Landzaat as injuries mount
Wigan will be without Denny Landzaat for several weeks after the midfielder suffered a fracture eye socket against Newcastle at the weekend. Landzaat has been withdrawn from the Dutch international squad and it seems likely that he’ll be out for Wigan’s fixtures throughout September.
The injury follows the news that Wigan have also lost Antonio Valencia for six weeks to a knee injury. Paul Scharner and Antoine Sibierski are also nursing knee and hamstring injuries respectively, while Kevin Kilbane faces a one-match ban against Fulham. The Wigan side that Hutchings puts out for that game then is likely to be a seriously patched up lineup. The likes of Michael Brown, Marcus Bent, Josip Skoko and new Dutch signing Rachid Bouaouzan, seem set to start.
ContinuedParker and Ljungberg on the mend
West Ham have been boosted by the news that both Freddie Ljungberg and Scott Parker could be fit when the Hammers return to action after the international break. Parker has yet to appear for the Hammers after missing the last two months with a knee injury. Ljungberg meanwhile picked up a groin injury a fortnight ago.
With Solano also available to Curbishley for the game against Boro, West Ham’s midfield could be set for a shuffle. Given their fine 3-0 victory last time out, it is likely that all three will find themselves warming the bench for the time being at least. However, Noble and Mullins now face stiff compeition for thier places.
ContinuedThe Ronaldo rush is on
Barring injury whilst on international duty, Christiano Ronaldo will return to the United lineup for the Everton clash on September 15. His return is likely to see a frenzy of transfer activity amongst Fantasy Managers as players are swapped in order to free the funds to sign him up. This is a major factor in the Fantasy Premier League game where player values rise and fall with transfer activity within the game.
Ronaldo is currently priced at 11.9 in that game, that’s 0.1 million cheaper than his original price. That’s likely to change by the start of gameweek 6, once thousands of Managers have shifted their sides around and bought him back. Many who haven’t kept the cash in reserve during his suspension, will have to make a transfer to free up funds and then decide whether to take the 4 point penalty for the extra transfer, to avoid the risk of a Ronaldo price rise. More significantly, the next few weeks are likely to see a massive rise in the popularity of the bargain buys who offer the opportunity to free up the funds to spend on Ronaldo. The likes of Schmeichel and the City defence, Scharner and Sibierski at Wigan, Dempsey at Fulham and Kanu and Utaka at Portsmouth are all likely to be very popular targets in the next fortnight.
For those looking to deal in the Ronaldo market, the question is do you wait until the Internationals are over and move when you’re assured of a clean bill of health, or move now before your potential targets rise in price and risk having to spend extra transfer to cover any injuries? In normal circumstances it’s always best to wait, but if your budget is extremely tight and if your targets are likely to be popular, then it could be wise to move now.
ContinuedWeekend Scout Notes
Liverpool show no mercy as Torres lets rip. United stutter to a Saha-inspired victory over Keane’s men and Chelsea crash at Villa Park. Anelka continues to set the pace in the goalscoring charts, while Owen gets himself in the race with a winner against Wigan. Bale continues to impress as does City’s Schmeichel, while Fantasy Managers enter the international break pondering just how to work Ronaldo back into their lineups. Get my thoughts on the weekend’s events…
ContinuedNew contract for Schmeichel as Isaksson looms
Kasper Schmeichel has been handed a new 3-year contract that trebles his earnings. The City keeper, who has conceded just 1 goal in 4 games thus far, was apparently one of the Premiership’s lowest earners on £1500 a week.
Fantasy Managers have been quick to jump on the City defensive bandwagon by snapping up the budget buy keeper. However, it’s worth considering that this new deal could well be a sweetner for the young Schmeichel, as City’s number one, Andreas Isaksson, could well return after the international break. It would make sense that Sven would seal the future of his new young keeper before relegating him to the bench. If Schmeichel concedes at Blackburn today we could see an awful lot of Fantasy Managers forced to shop for a keeper.
ContinuedOwen and Sibierski both start
Michael Owen starts for Newcastle against Wigan with Martins relegated to the bench. Perhaps more surprisingly, Wigan’s Sibierski has been passed fit and takes his place up front with Heskey against his former club.
Elsewhere in those sides, Harper keeps his place in goal an Cacapa comes in at centre-back with Taylor presumably covering the right-back role. Wigan meanwhile give a first start to Brown in place of Valencia who failed a fitness test. Brown seems set to start on the right of midfield with Scharner keeping his place in the centre.
ContinuedThe window slams shut
The transfer window for Premiership clubs closed…mmm about 56 mintues ago now. There was the usual frenzy of activity but not too much to cause Fantasy Managers to rethink their transfer strategy….O’Neil, Bouba Diop, Diarra, Rosenior…hardly Fantasy shortlist material. However, there are perhaps a few things to consider as a result of this evening’s activity. Here’s my take on the array of rather average movers and shakers…
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