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…

Also appearing on a computer near you…

Sport get an excuse to extol the virtues of Barcelona by considering which of the Champions League have produced the most home grown talent [click image to enlarge]

How to avoid a transfer to Stoke by Christian Lell
[OTP]

Follow us on Twitter
[Twitter]

Interestment give us an update on the world of football
[Interestment]

How the crappy Newcastle away kit came to pass
[ChannelBee]

Hertha Berlin refuse to comment on Roman Pavlyuchenko loan deal
[Goal.com]

Ryan Babel could be off to Ajax
[Caught Offside]

Yeah, that was a pretty crappy transfer deadline day
[The Telegraph]

Spoiler promotion: Fancy a free punt? Of course you do, silly billy! Check out hundreds of pounds worth of free football bets at
OLBG Sports

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Franck Ribery to Real Madrid
Our Spanish friends at AS today report that Florentino Perez has already agreed a five-year deal to bring the French midfielder to the Bernabeu next summer. The deal - which is awfully similar to the pre-contract arrangement that brought Cristiano Ronaldo to Spain - will be worth €25m. That’s around a quarter of Bayern Munich’s ridiculous valuation of the Bundesliga’s best player.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Throughout the summer we have said that Ribery will leave next year for Los Blancos, so it’s nice to see the Spanish newspaper backing us up with their (relatively unsubstantiated) report.

Roman Pavlyuchenko to Spartak Moscow
Despite his appearance in Tottenham’s B-team last night, and ‘Arry’s insistence that the club can keep him involved with a rotation policy, The Mirror report that the Russian could be sold back

Premier League stars go Gaelic for Adidas

One of the most popular sports in Ireland, Gaelic Football is as complicated as filling in a tax return in Swahili while underwater. Dublin GAA’s Alan Brogan took time out of his busy schedule of remembering the rules to teach Jermain Defoe, Ashley Young and Roman Pavlyuchenko about his nation’s pastime, with mixed results.

[101GG]

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Douglas Costa to Manchester Utd
The Times claim the Red Devils are moving closer to securing the services of Gremio’s highly-rated midfielder Douglas Costa. Despite being just 18, the Brazilian club are trying to get £20m for their free kick specialist.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: That’s a helluva lot of cash for a teenager with twelve senior club appearances to his name. Surely this will only happen if Gremio lower their asking price.

Mirko Vucinic to Tottenham
‘Arry has been linked to the Roma forward for a few weeks, and Italian daily Il Tempo believe a €20m bid is on the immediate horizon. Roma are said to be in desperate need of cash, and the man who has perfected the stripping goal celebration may become a high profile sacrifice.

Also appearing on a computer near you…

Dirty Tackle live up to their name by finding this flagrant abuse of a referee

Blackburn’s 2009/10 looks a little cheap
[Pies]

Bye bye Roman Pavlyuchenko
[Caught Offside]

Tottenham are offering £1.25m for Ruud van Nistelrooy - surely that’s insultingly low?
[Daily Mail]

Billy Bob Gillett and Hank Hicks have been making some outrageous expense claims
[Guardian]

Cátia Rocha - FC Porto’s hottest and nakedest fan (slightly NSFW)
[On205th]

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Roman Pavlyuchenko back to Spartak Moscow
Pavlyuchenko insists he is happy at Spurs, but in light of the fact that Tottenham have been linked to every player under the sun for the past few months, rumours that he no longer has a future at The Lane are growing. According to The Daily Mail, a source at the striker’s former club says he would be welcome back on loan.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Guus Hiddink would certainly like to see his Russian star getting more games, and he has made his opinion about English food and women very clear, but it all depends if ‘Arry brings in some new faces in the summer.

Joey Barton to Bolton
If The Spoiler was in charge, vile oxygen thief Joey Barton would never be allowed near

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Harry Redknapp plans to shuffle his striking options
The Daily Mirror are reporting that Redknapp is ready to sell Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko, scorers of a combined 29 goals this season, and replace them with Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Bent may go but Redknapp is unlikely to axe Pavlyuchenko after a respectable first season.

Sebastien Bassong to Aston Villa
Aston Villa’s haven’t looked anywhere near as solid at the back since Martin Laursen injured his knee in January so they may target Newcastle defender Bassong in the summer.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Newcastle may struggle to keep Bassong even if they survive and he would stand more chance of breaking into Villa’s first team than Arsenal’s.

Edison Cavani to West Ham
There are only about ten youngsters playing in Italy who haven’t been linked with a move to West Ham this season. Palermo’s Uruguayan striker Cavani is reportedly the latest player to intrigue Gianluca Nani.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: 33-year-old duo David Di Michele and Diego Tristan are currently leading the Hammers’ line so an injection of youth wouldn’t go amiss.