Pick your favourite player who wears the revered squad number
Calendar enthusiasts will be aware that today is 09/09/09, which is easily the most significant day in the Gregorian system since 07/08/09. In celebration of this tremendous occasion, we’re asking you to pick the best current number nine in the Premier League.
It’s a fairly mixed bunch - which sees no representatives from nine-haters Fulham and Everton - and we suspect one of two names will dominate…
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A further helping of transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Kyle Naughton to Everton BBC Radio Sheffield claim that Everton have agreed a fee of around £5 million for Sheffield United right-back Naughton. The talented 21-year-old isn’t expected to discuss terms with the Toffees until Monday though.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Everton could have a fantastic all-English back four of Baines, Lescott, Jagielka and Naughton next season, all capable of making the World Cup squad. It’s unbelievable that Coral are still offering 5/1 on Everton being the highest-placed team outside the Big Four next season.
Fraizer Campbell to Sunderland Sky Sports are reporting that Sunderland have had an offer of around £5 million accepted for the England Under-21’s striker. Phil Brown confirmed
Super subs Fraizer Campbell and Theo Walcott defeat Spain
England are through to the semi-finals of the Euro Under-21 Championship with a game to spare after beating pre-tournament favourites Spain 2-0.
It looked like Stuart Pearce’s side might have blown their chance when James Milner missed a first-half penalty but the 62nd minute introduction of Theo Walcott, to a ridiculous roar from the crowd, turned the game.
Fellow substitute Fraizer Campbell opened the scoring five minutes later before Walcott set up Milner in the 73rd minute to guarantee victory and a place in the semi-finals.
The Aston Villa winger then picked up a rather convenient yellow card for a needless foul late on which means he will serve a suspension during the “nothing” clash with Germany - words you would never expect to hear uttered - rather than missing either the semi-finals or final.
In which Juande Ramos gets to grips with the team’s striking crisis.
After the Berbatov deal went through, says Mole, Ramos arrived one morning to find a new face in his squad…
“Ramos walks into training on the Friday, asks Fraizer Campbell who he was (as he’d never seen him before) and then picks him to start on the Saturday.”
Profit collected at White Hart Lane’s revolving door
It was revealed today on Sky Sports that just four Premier League teams made a profit over the summer and not one of them was Arsenal.
Blackburn made a net gain thanks to the £15 million they received for David Bentley and West Ham made the biggest profit of anyone after selling half of their first team. It is also being claimed that Chelsea made a profit but The Spoiler’s calculator doesn’t come to that conclusion (surely the £24.2 million spent on Deco and Jose Bosingwa exceeds the £19 million gained on Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben-Haim?). The other team to have received more than they spent were Tottenham.