It’s not just England who lack a decent number one

So what did we learn over the weekend then? Well the England goalkeeping problem became a little clearer, in the sense that we now know it is a real problem. Alternative candidates have come and gone, but it seems certain that David James will start “between the sticks” as football writers say, come next June.

But as Paul Wilson pointed out in a terrific article in Sunday’s Observer, the days of long-established number ones are no more. In World Cups of yore, the faces wearing green in the Panini sticker book, were recognisable to football fans up and down the country. Zoff, Zubizaretta, Oliver Kahn - you knew where you were back in the 80s and 90s. Yet now, the current Nationalmeinshaft’s nummer ein, Rene Adler, could have sat next to you on the bus this morning without your knowledge. And who would know if French custodian Steve Mandanda had delivered their mail this morning? Casillas and Buffon aside, we live in a world bereft of top keepers.

So its not just England who have problems - some comfort ahead of next summer. But what possible reason is there for this global phenomena? Light balls flying all over the place? Strikers banging the ball harder than ever? Or government anti-bullying campaigns in school stopping the infirm being forced into goal at a young age? Leave thoughts below…

The final few hours of the window are painfully quiet

James Collins to Aston Villa
The Villans have released a statement claiming they have agreed a fee for the West Ham defender. The fee has yet to be disclosed, but the professional fee-maker-uppers out there have decided it will be around £5m.

David Bentley not going to Manchester City
Despite dedicating most of the morning to the exclusive that we had two weeks ago, Sky Sports News now seem to believe that DB will spend the rest of the season on the bench at White Hart Lane, and not on the bench at Eastlands.

David James not going anywhere either
Jesus this is a boring deadline day so far. David James’ car was at Portsmouth’s training ground in Eastleigh, then it went away, and then it came back again. We’ll stay tuned to SSN to see if Jamo uses his car again today.

Transfer deadline day rages on at a relatively furious pace…

Nicky Shorey to Portsmouth
Sky Sports News are reporting that the Aston Villa left-back is on his way to Fratton Park for a medical. Shorey will avoid the prospect of Championship football by limiting his move to the South Coast to a season-long loan deal.

The Carlo Cudicini and David James switch-a-roo
Rumours that Jamo will jump ship to join ‘Arry at the Lane have been circulating for a few weeks, but The Daily Mail suggest Portsmouth have rejected a swap deal with Carlo Cudicini. Despite the rebuff, The Times say Mr Redknapp and Mr Levy are currently at Loggerheads over whether they should bring in the 39-year-old shot stopper.

Gennaro Gattuso to Arsenal
Ian Wright’s latest outpouring of wisdom in The Sun sees him arguing the merits of the AC Milan nutter. The pundit says Arsenal need a surrogate Patrick Vieira/ Tony Adams/ big mean person person to stop them getting bullied in the manner of Saturday’s defeat at Old Trafford. This may be true, but Gattuso ain’t going nowhere.

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They pose in homoerotic photoshoots, of course

If you thought David James was the only shot stopper to abandon modesty in front of a camera lens, think again.

As Heinz Müller made the move from Barnsley to Mainz this summer, Bild have unearthed a picture from the 31-year-old’s clothes shy past. “I was young and needed the money,” he said while reflecting on the generous distribution of suds around his man zone.

The latest transfer, gossip and damned lies

Fabricio Coloccini to Espanyol
After tragically losing their captain Dani Jarque, Spanish paper Sport report that Espanyol are lining up the shaggy-haired Newcastle defender as a replacement.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: The Argentinean will surely favour a return to sunny Spain over second tier football in the north east. Winter is coming…

David Nugent to Hull
After Madrid’s Alvaro Negredo turned his nose up at the prospect of humiliating half time team talks on the pitch, Hull

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

David James not going to Tottenham
Harry Redknapp will not pursue the former England man while he has two keepers already on the books, say The Telegraph.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: This will be bad news for Jamo, who appears keen to jump the SS Portsmouth before it goes down…

David Bentley and Alan Hutton to Everton
The Mirror believe David Moyes is set to make a £12m ‘double raid’ for Harry Redknapp’s least favourite human and the Scottish defender. They seem to think the cash will be generated by the sale of a certain Mr Lescott to a certain Manchester-based club.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Everton have been linked with Hutton all summer and is s strong possibility. Although David Bentley will almost certainly move on too, our secret squirrel still thinks

The most search for Prem players on the web

As we sit on the cusp of another Premier League season, the folks at Google have released figures of all their football related searches from the past month. The team above represents the most-searched for Premier League stars on the web based on their positions.

As you can see, most of them have been involved in transfer deals or speculation. David James’ relatively-surprising spot in the side is probably helped by his occasional newspaper columns, and Steven Gerrard can attribute his first team place to his impossibly persuasive legal team.

The most searched team was Liverpool with 16 million hits, then followed Chelsea (13m), Arsenal (9.1m) and Manchester Utd (9m). Bolton were the least searched for side with 250,000 hits.

Understandably, the most popular WAG was Cheryl Cole, and Howard Webb was the referee who earned the most online enquires.

Is this Hollyoaks beauty an official Pompey supporting lady?

Portsmouth’s David James caused a WAG-based kerfuffle in 2003 when he left his wife Tanya for a lady named Amanda Salmon. Jamo’s home life looks to be in a tempestuous condition once again - Amanda has moved out of James’ house and our friends at Kickette have alerted us to the fact that the former England keeper has been spotted out and about with Hollyoaks star Claire Cooper.