The real reason for Jermaine Jenas’ recent good form
In the 2007/08 season, Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas netted seven goals, produced solid and consistent performances every week and earned his first cap (and goal) in Capello’s England side against Switzerland [that’s his first cap under Capello’s regime, not for England in general - Ed.]. Some blame his transcendence on new manager and mentor Juande Ramos, but others give credit to his girlfriend of six years Sabrina Keogh, a lady who looks jolly smashing in a bikini.
It’s like Kramer vs Kramer all over again… in a way
People of north London, lock your doors, put bars on your windows, and head upstairs to hide under a dressing table - it’s all kicking off in the transfer market. And yet again, London-bound players are being ordered to chose between Spurs and Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger has been granted full access to the club purse over the summer, and this week he should be putting a ribbon on a gorgeous £11 million deal for Marseille’s Samir Nasri. But then the trouble begins
For those who lie awake wondering whatever happened to Bill Wyman after he walked out on the Rolling Stones in 1993, you can breathe easy - he’s totally fine, and making a fine living as the face of SuperSmoker electronic cigarettes. They look brilliant/ridiculous. Anyway, now that you can relax properly, why not fill your mind with new information, like today’s transfer rumours?
Paul Robinson to Bolton
Forgetful Gary Megson - Egyptian keeper Ali Al Habsi emerged as a star in Bolton’s relegation run-in, he was brilliant. Not brilliant enough to keep Megson’s beady eyes away from Robinson’s slippery wet hands though.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: For £5 million! Madness.
Gregory Coupet to Tottenham
While Robinson takes his eel-like fingers back up North. Juande Ramos is putting France’s number one goalkeeper on a ferry for half the price.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Likely, even for a 35-year-old.
It’s inevitable that Berbatov will be playing Champions League football next season, hence the men in suits at Tottenham have been frantically shuffling paper and yammering about possible alternatives. David Villa was looking the most likely target.
With Berbatov bound for the exit, it looks like Ledley King - aka. Mr Tottenham - could be joining him.
The feeling is that Ramos is going to spend the summer refashioning the team that he inherited from Martin Jol. Rumours have been flying around that Lennon, Huddlestone and Jenas will all be surplus to requirements at the new look Spurs, and now, by not confirming King as next season’s skipper, it looks like the Ramos overhaul is going to be even more gigantic than expected.
Fans of Real Betis have been performing their signature move again this weekend - bringing down the opposition with a well-hurled bottle. Last year they knocked Sevilla manager Juande Ramos out cold, on Saturday it was the turn of Bilbao keeper Armando Riveiro, who needed stitches in his eye. The fan, who has been left to contemplate the wisdom of his gesture in prison, has been banned from the stadium and Betis could be facing sanctions from the Spanish FA.
Following Arsenal’s sublime victory over European Champions Milan this week, the Spurs boss today insisted his side are of an equal quality:
“Arsenal were magnificent and deserved their victory over two legs. But I’m not jealous, we played similarly good football in the Carling Cup final.”
Does this mean we can expect Arsenal to crumble 4-1 to Wigan this weekend, mirroring the feat that your side achieved at Birmingham straight after their magnificent performance, Juande?
No one can accuse Newcastle owner Mike Ashley of not listening to the fans. Indeed, his choice of Kevin Keegan as manager was a rare instance of management listening to customer. If the powers that be at the Toon have been watching the message boards at the Newcastle Chronicle recently, however, they might not be so eager to take the latest list of suggestions into the next board meeting.
Firstly, it looks like the fans have already started to realise that Keegan isn’t the Messiah they’d hoped. One Chronicle blogger writes:
“He did nothing @ Man City, and the England job showed him up for his lack of technical nous.”
So who’s being suggested as the successor to King Kev? It’s everybody’s favourite crook Terry Venables:
“How about NUFC getting in Terry Venables to help KK until the end of the season? I know people will say this will undermine KK etc etc and will say how much they hate Venables but clearly KK needs help from somewhere.”
Carling Cup winners are setting their sights mighty high
Yesterday, Juande Ramos bolstered his already-impressive CV with a victory he claims will allow Spurs to ‘gatecrash’ the top four. Is the Carling Cup victory the start of a new era, or just one of many false dawns.
Says emotional man who mistakenly thought Ramos was going to share his English pounds with him
Not everyone, it seems, is pleased that Juande Ramos has got himself a big fat job in England. At his old club Sevilla, for “not everyone” read “no one”. The latest of his old friends to take to the papers to describe their good mate’s shabby attitude is his former agent, a Mr Torres, who wrongly assumed he would be getting a taste of whatever currency they use at Spurs.
