I’ve been toying with the idea of a random news article for a while; a quick mix of opinion and links to stories and events of the last 24-hours. The international break, and the unnerving hush that it brings around the Premier League, offered me the ideal opportunity. Here’s the first set of “Scout Scribbles” then…
So far it appears that Friday’s internationals have passed without any major injury concerns for us Fantasy Managers. Stoke’s Thomas Sorensen did however suffer a recurrence of his ongoing elbow injury which saw him subbed on 32 minutes in the 3-1 defeat to Portugal. Sorensen will be a doubt for Denmark’s qualifier with Cyprus on Tuesday and could also go into Stoke’s trip to Bolton as an injury concern for Tony Pulis. As a side note, Nani continued his sparkling form this season with a brace in that 3-1 win for Portugal.
The Bandwagonesque Rafael Van der Vaart came through 90 minutes for Holland as they ran out 1-0 winners in Moldova. Typically, Van der Vaart provided the assist for Klaas Jan Huntelaar’s winner. His new Fantasy owners will now be looking anxiously to Tuesday’s qualifier with Sweden in Amsterdam and hoping that he can again come through unscathed. Those who have yet to jump on board and have watched his price rise, will be hoping for something very different.
Reports in the Sun this morning, claim that Wes Brown feels that he may be given the elbow at Old Trafford following a pre-season slanging match with Alex Ferguson. Brown has yet to start a Premier League game this season and if there is indeed a rift in place, these latest reports are hardly likely to win him favour with Ferguson. Good news for John O’Shea owners perhaps.
Wes Brown isn’t the only Premier League player set to be victim of a loose lips – Birmingham’s Alexander Hleb is unlikely to benefit from his comments made to the press which were published on Friday. The report offered such gems as…
“In the recent Birmingham games there was a lot of struggle – they were ¬constantly hoofing the long ball forward.”
and
“The Birmingham style is not the kind of game I dreamed about.”
The frustrated St Andrews faithful must have loved that. Alex McLeish meanwhile, will of course deal with that in his own subtle little way I’m sure. He certainly offered little comfort to Hleb in his recent comments on Birmingham’s tactics. According to McLeish, we’re unlikely to see Birmingham shift to 4-4-2 for the foreseeable – apparently they don’t have a player who can make the ball stick up front. Obviously the 6 ft 8 in frame of Nikola Zigic isn’t up to the job; that was many “undisclosed” millions well spent then.
Newcastle have confirmed that Andy Carroll has signed a new 5-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2015. The move follows Carroll’s relegation to the bench at City last time out, a move which obviously broke the patience of some of his Fantasy owners. Carroll has been sold by over 30,000 Fantasy Premier League Managers in the current Gameweek and yet he will face four home matches in the next six, with Wigan, Sunderland, Blackburn and Fulham providing the opponents for those games. Personally, I think they’ll be 30,000+ managers feeling rather regretful over the next few weeks.
Everton are currently running tests on the hamstring injury sustained by Phil Jagielka whilst in training with England on Friday. Jagielka has returned to the club and there are also some “very unconfirmed” reports that he will be sidelined for a number of weeks. Regardless of whether you put any stock in that particular source, it’s clear that Jagielka is a major doubt for Sunday’s Merseyside derby. David Moyes will likely turn to Jonny Heitinga to fill the void alongside Distin in central defence. He will be an able replacement, but Jagielka’s loss would still come as a major blow for Moyes – particularly as his defence was showing promise with just a single goal conceded in the last three.
Heitinga’s shift to defence will relieve the clamour for places in midfield; Moyes’ options here have already been cut here by the recent injury to Steven Pienaar and there are also concerns over Tim Cahill’s availability for Sunday’s game. Cahill will likely start for Australia against Paraguay today, despite worries over a persistent knee problem. All these injuries in midfield could just add up to a prolonged run of starts for Seamus Coleman.
