Today’s rumours, gossip and damned lies

Various whispers suggest arrogant winger David Bentley is no longer a target for the Big Four coffers, and will join Tottenham today. We’re desperately hoping it’s true after a weekend where the biggest transfer news was Watford’s Danny Shittu rejecting a move to Rangers…

Brad Friedel to Aston Villa
Spurs are supposed to be shifting shifting Paul Robinson over to Blackburn as part of the Bentley deal, and Paul Ince has so much faith in the slippery-fingered one that he will offload Friedel to Aston Villa.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: The only thing Robinson has over Friedel is youth. Sort of.

Ronaldinho to Man City
Citeh have made an £18 million bid (controversially via email, not the Premier League’s preferred communication method of fax) but you get the impression that he would arrive reluctantly, possibly with a roll of fifty pound notes shoved in his mouth to silence the screams. Ronaldinho’s camp have allegedly leaked the deal in a desperate attempt to get Milan to bid and save him.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: He wants to go to Milan but it looks like they can’t match Man City’s offer. You couldn’t have dreamt of reading that sentence a year ago.

Alexander Hleb to Barcelona
One irritating saga that is finally reaching its conclusion is Hleb’s great escape

Who will enjoy a fleeting stay in the Premiership next season?

For its entry, “Terminal Five - a 21st Century Nightmare”, the British Airports Authority has unanimously been awarded this year’s gold medal in the coveted Customer Disappointment Awards. A very special mention, however, goes to all 24 teams of the Coca Cola Championship, especially those vain enough to consider themselves worthy of promotion. The judges said “Congratulations to all of you for consistently letting your fans down. When faced with the opportunity to go top, you have rarely failed to squander the opportunity and your ability to throw away points, even at home against truly pathetic opposition, has not gone unnoticed. You truly are an absolute shower, and woe betide the three of you who make it into the Premier League next season.”

The statistics

* The lowest number of league wins a team has won the title with in the last 20 years is 23 (Middlesbrough, 1995; Sunderland, 1996). Stoke can’t achieve that, Watford would need to win their remaining five, Bristol City need four from four, Hull four from five - hence West Brom have the advantage.

She sounds posh, but her public steamrollering habits say otherwise

The night before England’s crucial qualifying match with Croatia at Wembley, the England squad stayed at the Grove Hotel in Watford, whose decor is more akin to a knocking shop than a top-class hotel. The same day, a group of models were attending a photoshoot for breast cancer awareness at the hotel, and the paths of ‘soccer ace’ Alan Smith and Sophie Bovington-Kerr collided. In a

The best sports on the telebox this weekend

Kevin Keegan’s latest stint at Newcastle will undoubtedly be the highlight of a packed weekend for armchair sportsfans – will his rejuvenated side be able to get the better of Bolton? Check out our preview here, then place your