28 days to go until the window is flung open

It’s only four weeks until the January transfer window opens and all eyes turn eagerly towards Manchester City in the hope they they will pump some money around and get a merry-go-round started. What better time than now then for The Spoiler to bring back it’s daily transfer rumour round-up? Here are the latest whisperings that we’ve heard:

Dean Ashton to the highest bidder
Everybody is expecting a FIRE SALE! at West Ham next month but which player do the Daily Mirror think is on top of every Premier League club’s wishlist? Not Robert Green, who starred against Arsenal and Liverpool, nor Matthew Upson, who has established himself as England’s third-choice centre-back. Instead it’s injury-prone pizza fan Dean Ashton, who may not play again this season, who West Ham are supposedly expecting £18 million for.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Any sale would surely happen in the summer and for a seven-figure fee

Emile Heskey to Aston Villa

Football Manager 2009 will benefit Moyes and co

Today, men all over the world will bid farewell to daylight, loved ones and basic levels of hygiene, as the latest life-consuming edition of Football Manager is released. No one is more happy about this than the staff at Everton, who will be letting the game’s huge databases take some of the work out of scouting:

The Premiership side have done a deal with the makers of the bestselling video game Football Manager to get an early look at their database of 370,000 players worldwide.

It cuts out the first stage of scouting for players - waiting for feedback from the club’s network of talent spotters.

Football Manager’s footballers, from junior level upwards, are

Three ways to make Kinnear less grumpy after a game

According to a poll held on The Spoiler yesterday, the overwhelming majority of football fans believe there is a problem with the standard of Premier League refereeing that must be addressed post haste. The likes of Joe Kinnear, Mark Hughes, and David Moyes are all outspoken on the subject, but none are keen to offer or endorse a positive, practical solution to the issue. With this in mind, The Spoiler has compiled a three point plan to improve the state of officiating in the top flight…

1. Introduce a video referee

It’s a sad fact that the game moves far too fast for an infallible human to keep up with - a referee can’t be everywhere at once, and a linesman cannot expected to be perfectly accurate when he must be looking at two places at once (technically a physical impossibility). The video ref system has been touted for years, and as Spoiler reader Sack the Juggler eloquently says, it has been successfully implemented in rugby, so why not in the beautiful game? It’s time to embrace technology and make proper use of the cameras that cover every angle of every stadium anyway.

2. Pay the referees more money

At present, Premier League referees receive a retainer of £33,000 and a further £1,000 for each match they officiate. This usually equates to about £60,000 per year. While this seems an ample amount for 90 minutes of work on a weekend, surely there is enough money in the game to pay them £100,000, or even £200,000 per year? Some clubs will pay that for one week of services from a player! There is a general

Uruguayan leading the race for Geordie hotseat

The list of candidates to replace Kevin Keegan ranges from the very popular - Alan Shearer - to the hugely unpopular - Dennis Wise. Right now though, it’s Tottenham assistant Gus Poyet who is favourite to get the job.

Here’s a rundown of the current contenders, courtesy of the handsome devils at chickendinner:

Gus Poyet
Can someone really go from being assistant manager of Leeds in League One to manager of Newcastle in less than a year? The bookies seem to think so. Poyet worked with Dennis Wise at Elland Road and many believed that his departure had a greater impact on the club’s promotion bid.

Alan Shearer
The former Newcastle striker would probably be the most popular choice with the fans but Shearer is thought to be reluctant to take charge at this point in time. While it would take some of the heat off Mike Ashley in terms of his relationship with the fans, this appointment would be a huge risk.

Dennis Wise
If Shearer would win a popularity contest between the candidates then there is no doubting that Ratboy would lose it. The highlight of his managerial career so far was taking Millwall to the 2004 FA Cup Final. Last year he got Leeds off to a great start in League One but it is argued that Poyet was really pulling the strings. Observe:

Wise with Poyet: P13 W11 D2 L0
Points per Game: 2.69

Wise without Poyet: P15 W7 D3 L5
Points per Game: 1.6

Didier Deschamps
The BBC claim that Deschamps

Tomorrow’s headlines today…

It’s official, we’re now living in a world where big tough guys like Brad Pitt are allowed to call their children Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, and English cricket will be globally represented by a young South African gentleman with shiny diamonds in his ears. The future feels weird. Here’s what you’ll be talking about tomorrow… whilst wearing futuristic jump suits with a guy called Zog.

Van Persie loves you
Robin van Persie isn’t used to having so much free time, what without having a painful injury to recover from, so he has filled the void by sharing his positive outlook with the world. When he gets injured, he turns it to his advantage: “I learned a lot in the last two years because I have been injured so much. I learned what my body can take and what it can’t, so it was an interesting period for me.”

And get this, he’s even really positive about his new positive outlook: “I just do not want to think about that negative stuff. If you think positive, you get positive.”

Is he on drugs?

Moyes is getting livid
Everton boss David Moyes has admitted that the club’s lack of progress in the transfer market isn’t anything to do with being satisfied with the players at his disposal, but is, indeed, a crisis.