The cult hero, every club has them. They are not always the best player to turn out for your team, indeed sometimes they can be among the worst. But they had that little something that meant they were held in the highest regard by the fans. Sometimes there is a personal reason why a supporter has a particular affection for a player. Maybe they scored in the first game you attended or perhaps you bumped into them in the street and they made a lasting impression on you? Below are five well known cult heroes, all for differing reasons. There are plenty more of course, and would love to hear your cult heroes and comments below. 1) Shaun Goater – Manchester City

“Feed the goat and he will score!” Was the chant that echoed from the Maine Road terraces, though not too many people know that Bermudan striker Shaun Goater actually began his career at Manchester United. He left the club without making an appearance but carved out a successful lower league career at Rotherham and Bristol City before moving to Man City in 1998. He hit 40 goals in his first two seasons as City won back to back promotions to the Premier League. Goater then finished top scorer for the third successive season with 11 goals, though it wasn’t enough to prevent relegation. The following season though Goater hit 30 goals as City returned to the Premier League as Champions. Kevin Keegan’s men spent big in an attempt to stay in the top flight but despite the high profile signings of Jon Macken and Nicolas Anelka, ‘The Goat’ still managed to score seven times in 14 appearances – including two against City rivals United.

2) Paul McGrath –Aston Villa

Despite leaving Aston Villa 14 years ago Paul McGrath’s name is still sung from the stands today, which shows the high regard in which he is held by the Villa faithful. McGrath’s first club was St Patrick’s Athletic in Ireland before signing for Manchester United in 1982. Often regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, several knee injuries stopped the Republic Of Ireland international from becoming a regular at Old Trafford and he was eventually transfer listed by Alex Ferguson in 1989. Moving to Villa, McGrath played some of the best football of his life despite recurrent problems in his knees which meant he barely trained between games, as well as his recurrent alcoholism. Villa came close to winning the title in McGrath’s first season, finishing second to Liverpool. Four years later he won the PFA Player of the Year as well as being a member of the side that beat Man United in the League cup final. He left in 1996 with his legendary status firmly secured.

3) John Jensen – Arsenal

When new Arsenal signing John Jensen scored a spectacular goal for Denmark from 25 yards in the 1992 European Championship Final, many Gunners fans thought they would soon be celebrating similar strikes at Highbury. However, the reality proved a little different as Jensen’s chronic inability to hit the net became stuff of legend. Arsenal fans would scream ‘shoot’ when he picked up the ball, in the hope he would finally break his agonising duck. Finally, after 98 attempts, Jensen curled home a 25 yarder against QPR in December 1994 before understandably celebrating wildly with the supporters. It would be his only goal in his 132 game Arsenal career, though he did pick up an FA Cup, League Cup and Cup winners Cup medals in his time at Highbury to cement his cult hero status.

4) Jimmy Bullard – Wigan, Fulham and Hull.

Known as much for his off-field antics than those on it, Jimmy Bullard has quickly become a popular figure among supporters of all clubs in the Premier League. He started his league career at boyhood club West Ham but was released in 2001 and joined Peterborough. A successful two year spell at London Road earned him a move to Wigan in January 2003 where he helped them climb two divisions into the top flight for the first time in their history. Moves to Fulham and Hull followed, though Bullard has never really recovered from a serious knee injury that initially kept him out of action for over a year back in 2006. Thankfully for a player who has missed so much football Bullard doesn’t take himself too seriously and always has a smile on his face. He quickly become cult hero for infamous on field antics that included throwing an inflatable ball into play instead of the actual ball and pulling Freddy Ljungberg’s shorts down when the floodlights went out in a league cup match with Arsenal. He also mimicked Hull boss Phil Brown’s infamous on-the-pitch half time lecture when he scored a penalty for The Tigers against Man City in the Premier League. He is a reminder for everyone to not always take life so seriously.

5) Barry Horne – Everton

Barry Hooooorne! Is the chant you may hear from the Everton fans from time to time, despite the player in question last playing for the Toffees in 1996. Why? Well let me tell you. The Boyhood Blue was already 30 when joined Everton from Southampton for £700,000 in August 1992, but enjoyed something of an Indian summer to his career during his time with the club, winning the FA Cup in 1995. Known for his tough tackling and fierce determination, his battling qualities meant he became popular with the fans, who watched a side that consistently battled against relegation. Horne wrote his name in the history books though and became a cult hero in the process when he scored the most important goal of his career. It was the final day of the 1993/94 season and Everton needed a win at home to Wimbledon to avoid going down for only the third time in their history. Midway through the second half, with the Toffees trailing 2-1 Horne chested down a high ball and unleashed a swerving, dipping 30 yard volley that thundered off the post before nestling in the net. Everton fans were delirious and although Graham Stuart’s late winner was the goal that kept Everton up, the importance of Horne’s equaliser cannot by understated – especially by the fans who later sung: “Who needs Cantona when we’ve got Barry Horne!”

Hmmm.

Sergio Aguero is one of the many high-profile transfer prospects on the market this summer

The World Cup will dominate the world’s football focus this summer but that doesn’t mean the usual wheeling and dealing of the transfer market won’t be in full force. Last summer saw the high profile departure of Christiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and Emmanuel Adebayor trading in the red of Arsenal for the blue of Manchester City. At this point in the season transfer rumors come thick and fast with many “stories” turning out to be little more than speculation. Here’s a roundup of some of the rumors for some of the biggest stars in the world and where they may end up within the Premier League.

A quick disclaimer, some of these rumors are a little old or slightly ludicrous but the main point of this post is to generate discussion.

Franck Ribéry: The Bayern Munich midfielder has been linked with a move away from the Bundesliga for years now so these rumors are nothing new. This time Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in the Frenchman. Ribéry, who is currently dealing with a public relations crisis due to being asked to testify in relation to a Paris prostitution ring, has promised to make a decision on his future by April 24. Chelsea seems to be the least likely of the three clubs for Ribéry to end up in and can the Blues really handle another player enveloped in a sex scandal?

Gianluigi Buffon: The Juventus keeper’s possible departure has been in the news for a few weeks now but his likely destination appears to be Manchester. There was a post yesterday discussing where the best fit for Buffon would be so I won’t rehash old material but Buffon in the EPL is an interesting proposition indeed.

Cesc Fabregas: The Arsenal captain is sidelined for the rest of the season following his Champion’s League clash with Barcelona at the Emirates back in March. Rumors have been swirling ever since that game about Fabregas’ possible return to Barcelona, his boyhood club. Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood told ESPN Soccernet last week that Barcelona made assurances they would not try to sign the Spanish striker during the summer but Barcelona claims they made no such assurances. Over the past few days Real Madrid, who are always looking to compete with Barcelona over big-name talent, have rumored to be interested in Fabregas as well.

Sergio Aguero: The Athletico Madrid striker has expressed interest in a move to Chelsea during the off-season. No reports have confirmed that Chelsea has recipricated interest in Aguero but the Argentine has been a hotly sought after commodity for the past few seasons so one must think there is some interest at Stamford Bridge.

Joe Cole: The Chelsea/England midfielder has been linked with a move to Manchester City for  a four-year, £40 million contract, making him the highest payed player in the Premiership.  Manchester United has also shown interest but if City’s offer is as high as reported United will stand no shot in a bidding war.

Landon Donovan: The American forward has impressed the English public with an impressive loan stint at Everton over the winter. The Toffees attempted to extend his loan deal to the end of the season by Donovan was recalled by the L.A. Galaxy. Rumors swirled back in March about the possibility of Chelsea making a £10 million offer but that relies heavily on the future of Joe Cole.

Craig Bellamy: Never one to mince words, whether it be about John Terry or his views on his colleagues, the Manchester City forward may not be with the club next season due to reported clashes with Roberto Mancini. No word yet on his possible destination but The Independent is reporting City is having difficulty convincing Bellamy to stay.

Kevin Doyle: This is slightly less glamorous than some of the other rumors but Everton is reportedly interested in the young striker from Wolves. It will probably take a bid of £10 million or more by the Toffees to lure to Irish International.

There will always be the rush for some the higher-payed players for the relegated sides. Players such as Jimmy Bullard, Jozy Altidore, Steven Fletcher and David James may become available during the off-season. There are also clubs in desperate need of improvement, like a goalkeeper for Arsenal, a second striker for Manchester United and every position for Liverpool. There will be plenty of twists and turns once the EPL season wraps up next month. So have fun in the comments section discussing where you think these players should go, rumors I have may have missed or who your favorite club should be pursuing.

Things are very rarely simple at the K.C. Stadium, not while Phil Brown is there. Back in January, he raised eyebrows when he paid £5 million for the effervescent Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard. Not that there is any doubting the quality that Bullard offers, but that a player who had suffered so much from a bad run of injuries could be worth such a punt for a team that were in free fall at the time.

Bullard has been the most under rated midfielder in the Premiership since he arrived with Wigan Athletic for the 2005-2006 season. Gasps were heard when Capello called him into the England squad for the matches against Andorra and Croatia, but it was no real surprise to any one who looked further than the big four for footballing kudos. Capello knows exactly what this bubbly, infectious player can offer your team.

Brown quite rightly realised that if he had a player of Bullard’s quality at Hull City, then regardless of the misfiring front line, the Tigers would be harder to beat and have a player who can drag and drive a team on to victory. Of course, much was made of Bullard’s dodgy knee, especially when it went in his debut for the Tigers, but Brown has wrapped him in cotton wool since that incident and the benefits can finally begin to be seen in the Tigers recent performances.The magic hands of Dr. Richard Steadman seem to have once again worked a surgical miracle on another damaged knee in the Premiership.

Bullards career is one of those true life stories of a lad who failed to make the grade in his teens and fell in to non league football, before signing for his boyhood idols. The difference with Bullard is, that he managed to climb back twice. West Ham United signed him in 1999, but released him on free transfer two years later and Peterborough United picked him up. Under the tutelage of renowned diamond polisher, Barry Fry, Bullard once again climbed up the league ladder after joining Wigan Athletic, then Fulham.

If their is one characteristic that Bullard has in spades, it is determination. To seize a chance on the second time of asking is almost immeasurable, but add nearly a two year lay off through knee injuries and you see the size of his grit. He is a player that needs to be involved, to be the fulcrum of a side that needs a bit of quality and fight adding to it.He never gives up, never stops running, spray’s passes all over the place, he oozes quality.

Hull City already look a better side with Bullard now cemented in the heart of the Tigers midfield. He knows he owes Phil Brown for taking a risk that ultimately may have blown up in both their faces and that will benefit both player and manager. Bullard has been to the top and fallen down the ladder once. When that happens, you try everything in your power to avoid the same fate occurring.

With a World Cup at the end of this season, occasionally someone breaks in to the squad or gets picked against the grain such as Gazza in 1990 or Owen in 1998.  Or a squad player gets an opportunity to fill in for a more illustrious player and seizes that chance with both hands, such as Trevor Steven and Paul Parker in 1990. England will probably take 8 midfielders to the World Cup next summer and right now 5 of those places are up for grabs.

Of that only Barry, Lampard and Gerrard will probably be definitely in at this precise moment, with Lennon and Wright-Phillips vying for the right wing but one of Capello’s strengths is that he judges the player on their ability, not the postcode of the team they play for. Bullard could earn the right to go to South Africa next June if he can continue to show the qualities he injected in to Hull City’s side so quickly this season.

When a team only wins 2 games out of 18, you’d fully expect them to be propping up the Premiership table, already planning for life in the Championship the following season. Thankfully for Hull City, their fantastic start to the season has kept them out of the bottom 3, hanging on by their fingernails to 17th and desperately looking over their shoulder, at the three teams below them and hoping they can struggle to the finish line and not fall away at the last.

It would be simplifying matters to point out that they just need to get some points on the table as the Hull City side that are currently in deep, deep trouble seem to bear no relation to the one that began the season. With 20 points from the first ten games of a debut season from heaven in the top flight, no-one surely at the K.C. Stadium could have imagined it would come to this would it? A side that were like a breath of fresh air, knocking so called bigger sides’ noses out of joint as they racked up away wins at White Hart Lane, The Emirates and St James’ Park.

Playing a brand of swashbuckling football that saw them come up against more illustrious opponents and bloody their noses, they are now reduced to reverting to type. Thumping it forward and playing for set pieces, desperately clinging to the long ball game and getting nothing for it. The side who were gaining all the plaudits as Summer turned to Autumn, now find that for a season that promised so much, time is beginning to run out.

Of course, it may not matter, as up the coast, Newcastle and Middlesbrough are doing a fine job of preserving Hull’s Premiership status for them, but 3 points for the Tigers would be the best medicine that Browns sickly side could be prescribed, rather than facing the placebo effect of Newcastle’s visibly draining confidence and Middlesbrough shot shy side. Phil Brown is also beginning to suffer from the pain of the dogfight, so in demand for his refreshingly honest appraisals at the beginning of the season, now the media twists his words to spitting barbs from his tongue. Brown hasn’t changed, but the way in which he’s being reflected in the media certainly has.

People point to the Manchester City game as the defining point of the season for Hull City, as Browns fettered ego saw him ride roughshod over the norm, holding his half time team talk on the pitch as Eastlands as his side recuperated from a first half battering against Mark Hughes’s millionaires. Yet that was on Boxing Day, coming into that game, they were already falling away with only 1 win in the 8 previous matches, a confidence sapping 2-0 lead had been dropped at Anfield two weeks previously, an embarrassing 4-1 defeat against Sunderland the week before had laid the foundations for the capitulation in Manchester.

The transfer window couldn’t come soon enough for Hull City and as it opened Hull threw some money at the side to freshen it up, making Jimmy Bullard the key signing. What a mistake that was, well known to be carrying an injury, to the extent that Fulham wouldn’t offer him a contract based on their concerns, Bullard’s knee went after just 37 minutes in a Hull City shirt. Now that for me was the moment the wheels fell off Hull’s season, he was the big signing and there is no doubt that a fit and buzzing Jimmy Bullard is a smashing player. Yet this is not the Bullard that we saw at Wigan Athletic and sporadically at Fulham and that injury deflated the sails of the Tigers survival schooner. Couple with the strikers drying up and reverting from football to hoofball, the points are slipping through their fingers.

Sure they picked up 3 surprising points at Fulham, but they are falling away at the wrong moment and Phil Brown has it all to do to rescue a Hull City season that promised so much but is beginning to rely on the failings of others. Unfortunately, that’s when you have no control over your destiny and they have to try and snatch something, anything from the next 3 matches, the last game I fear may be too much to ask unless Manchester United have the Premiership in the bag and have beat Arsenal in the Champions League, with the final 3 days after the end of the Premiership season.  I hope that there is a happy ending to Hull’s Premiership season, I really do, but I’m beginning to fear the worst for them and that would be a terrible shame.

This is the second in a series of relegation assessments.  For a similar look at Bolton Wanderers.  Check here.

Hull City surprised everyone at the start of the season, winning six of their first nine, knocking off an over-confident Arsenal. The club lost composure. Phil Brown lost his sweet goatee, and perhaps his sanity. Hull won just two of their next 21 games, drifting from a solid European challenge to treading above the relegation zone. They currently set in thirteenth place, a mere four points over the drop.

Form: Hull have done nothing recently to suggest a resurgence. They have won just one of their last eight, and lost four. Shoring up their defense slightly may inject a bit of optimism, though, as the most generous side in the league (52 goals allowed), a 5-0 defeat seems perpetually possible. Hull may stay, but probably not because of a massive fortune turn.

Schedule: Hull’s schedule has difficult tests, though there are points available. The Tigers host both Liverpool and Manchester United, but have softer ties against Portsmouth and Stoke City. Hull also travel to fellow strugglers Middlesbrough and Sunderland. They also play Bolton and Aston Villa. A couple good results, particularly at the expense of clubs such as Middlesbrough and Sunderland could do a great deal to keep them up.

Injuries: Injuries have hurt Sunderland in midfield. George Boateng and Jimmy Bullard are the exact type of experienced, steady midfielders Hull needs to keep the ship upright. Unfortunately both are crocked. Boateng may be back by the end of April, but January-signing Bullard is out for the season. It’s difficult to replicate that type of presence.

Prognosis: Hull City should stay up. They have had an atrocious run of form. If they replicate that in the last eight matches, that would put them on 39 points, giving them a good chance at staying in the Premier League. Their first start and subsequent fall affect perceptions, but being in the position to stay up is an incredible feat, given their squad and pre-season expectations.

Why doesn’t Roy Hodgson get the credit he deserves in the United Kingdom? As I’ve mentioned before, In Scandinavia and Italy, he’s held in high regard, in  Britain people point to his sacking at Blackburn Rovers back in1997. With 33 points gained so far this season, Fulham are one win away from emulating their points total for last season already.Hodgson is a class act, he knows his football, his list of contacts stretches world wide.

Fulham, under Hodgson, have begun to repair the damage that Lawrie Sanchez’s reign presided over, as Hodgson has looked to ship out some of the deadwood that arrived during the former Northern Ireland managers spell. Sanchez’s problem seemed to be his obsession with signing players he’d worked with at Northern Ireland, tallied with a depressing addiction to long ball football and a high defensive line, whilst using defenders not blessed with pace.

This season, after keeping them up by the skin or their teeth last year, has seen Hodgson add to the canny signings he made in the transfer window of 2008. Capturing the new strike force of Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora in the summer has been key to allowing Hodgson to implement his footballing philosophy on the Cottagers. Johnson with his pace and eye for key combined with Zamora’s strength and ability to hold the ball up has given them a new dimension, it allows Fulham to break and bring more players in to attacking positions. With Danny Murphy and Simon Davies resurgent this year, their seems to be no worrying about a relegation scrap, simply looking to finish as high as possible in the Premiership. They could even possible match or surpass their best Premiership finish of 9th, which was earned under Chris Coleman in 2004.

With the tightness of the Premierships bottom 14 sides, 7th is not beyond Hodgson and his Fulham side, they showed just how much better they are than the bottom side West Bromich on Sunday with an impressive footballing display. 2-0 frankly flattered West Brom, they were never in the game, Danny Murphy imperious in a midfield display that harked back to his days for Liverpool and England. An F.A. Cup Quarter Final against Manchester United awaits in March. The transfer of Jimmy Bullard now looks a masterstroke.

Yet there is still room for improvement. Whilst their home record is currently the 2nd best in the Premiership, they share an unenviable record with Stoke City in not achieving an away win this season with only 6 draws and 3 goals scored in 13 matches away from Craven Cottage. A decent away record could have seen them challenging Everton and Arsenal for a UEFA cup spot. That said though, they’ve earned impressive draws at Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa, if Hodgson can nick a couple of away wins towards the back end of the season at say Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City and Newcastle who knows where they could end up.

Hodgson knows his team need strengthening in the summer, a striker to compliment Zamora and Johnson is paramount, when fit and available, they’ve started every single game and more midfield depth to cover his first choice combination of Murphy, Davies, Dempsey and Gera. The return to form of Ethuhu and the loan signing of Olivier Dacourt shows where Hodgson needs to add options. The back four could also do with more depth, as the back four seems to pick itself currently.

Allied with another expansion of the stadium, it seems 4000 seats are to be added, a top ten finish can give them something to build on. The board of Fulham keep increasing the capacity where they can as they try to push it up to 30,000. The Hammersmith End is ripe for increased capacity and will add vital revenue to the clubs coffers.

Fulham can be pleased with their progression this season, but Hodgson and the fans know they need to start winning games away from Craven Cottage for real progress to be made.

Can anyone remember the last time Hull City won a Premier League game? December 6th at home to Middlesbrough was the last time. Since then, they have been very much in freefall.  When Hull first arrived in the Premiership, they were tipped to go straight back down but decided to tear up the script and go to well established top flight sides like Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United and win. How dare they!

 Since then however, Hull have had a bit of a reality check. Despite two very credible draws at Anfield and Stamford Bridge, a couple of resounding batterings from Manchester City and Sunderland, accompanied with some less humiliating defeats and the odd draw have seen Hull fall into thirteenth. By all means this is a respectable position but the worrying thing for Phil Brown’s side is that they are looking over their shoulder now, rather than towards the dizzy heights of Europe that their early season form suggested.

The run of form that they are in at the moment suggests only one thing; a relegation scrap. This is the last thing that they would have wanted or expected at the time of their last league win but have struggled to maintain the kind of form that shocked the world before Christmas. Credit to Brown, he acknowledged their slump and tried to shake things up by bringing in some new faces, most notably Manucho on loan from Manchester United (to replace the outgoing Marlon King) and record signing Jimmy Bullard from Fulham. The latter however seems to have backfired for the time being as Bullard required further surgery to his troublesome knee and is out for the remainder of the season having only made one substitute appearance for the Tigers.

A problem that is still rectifiable this season though is their home form. The KC Stadium has hardly been a fortress having picked up just three wins in the league there all season. Perhaps this is because it is a welcoming venue for travelling teams with nice facilities and doesn’t boast the most hostile of atmospheres. If a team is to avoid the drop, it is often their home form that will decide it. Stoke City are a good example of a side who are making the most of their home territory and in turn made themselves very difficult to beat there. Hull’s next three home games all come against sides who are in the relegation mix and the phrase ‘six pointer’ starts to take on some real meaning. Sunday’s match against a rejuvenated Blackburn Rovers is a crucial match and a win for Hull could spark a run that results in a comfortable finish to the season and doesn’t require the need for a positive result against Manchester United on the final day. Newcastle United and Portsmouth are the following home games for Hull while upcoming trips to Fulham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Sunderland suggest that Hull should pick up enough points to survive.

Most neutrals would like to see Hull stay up, purely because of the way they shook things up in the opening weeks of the season and think it would be a waste to then throw it all away. Hull have achieved a lot in a short space of time and sending them back to the drawing board now would be harsh. However, you only stay up if you’re good enough and time will tell.

Sorry Drogba, but I have to call BS on this one.

After spending this season doing more sulking than any professional football player should be allowed to do by law, and in a week where Marseille’s president has said he wants Drogba back, Didier Drogba has attempted to shut people up by saying he wants to stay at Chelsea. He even wants to get a contract extension.

Look Drogba, get out. After showing your lack of professionalism by not bothering to fight for your spot up front when Scolari was around, you think that it’s okay to all of a sudden have a change of heart because of the new manager? You think it’s okay to do more flopping around than Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard combined? Even worse to me, you think it’s okay to take your jolly sweet time to come back from injury? Yes I will admit that by that time, Scolari had had enough of your dog and pony act and your attitude deserved nothing but the bench. However when you are benched, you fight for a spot on the team, not fight to get the manager removed.

It’s going to an awfully long time for me as a Chelsea fan to warm back up to your performances. If you only had the balls to play like you did against Liverpool in last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg, you might actually be respected as a footballer. Instead, your words ring hollow, no one cares about your prepared statement.

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So Jimmy Bullard is going to be out another lengthy spell of time. This time, Hull City could be without their record signing for up to nine months. While Fulham is sitting back counting their money, Hull City have to be wondering if Bullard will be able to get anywhere near the form he had coming back for Fulham. At 30, that’s going to be a difficult task. Yes Paul Duffen, this was a gamble that didn’t pay off.

What’s 2 weeks to Eduardo? The time it will take to come back from the hammy he suffered in his return to Arsenal first team action.

You have to give David Moyes credit. He is going to do everything in his power to make sure Jack Rodwell and Dan Gosling gradually work their way into regular first team action. The last thing Everton need is for these two to have something happen where they have to be built back up from scratch. I think these two will be just fine.

Ian Herbert is asking if this Manchester United squad is the greatest Premier League team ever?

Joe Kinnear looks set to leave the hospital this weekend. I hope part of his orders is to not watch Newcastle/Everton on Sunday.

Here’s Christopher Samba coming out and saying that Blackburn are ‘too good to go down’. Umm..sure.

And finally, Giofranco Zola goes off on the bencher. You know, the big shot at the small club who takes the big contract to ride the bench at a bigger club.

Now that Eduardo is back, I was expecting this one. Last year when the injury happened, we got headlines galore about no apology being made. Tonight, that same headline is back.

Of course there is two sides to every story, and Martin Taylor certainly has his. He claims to have done everything to apologize after Eduardo came out of surgery, but even Taylor admits that Eduardo probably doesn’t remember it due to the drugs. Taylor then admits to doing everything possible to keep up on Eduardo’s progress. Yet, no apology…at least one Eduardo remembers.

I know it’s difficult to apologize for anything, accidents in particular. And it’s even stranger that some people want them more than others. But for Eduardo almost a year to again say that he has yet to receive a formal apology directly from Martin Taylor just doesn’t make sense to me. Does Eduardo think that he’s going to get one now?

Martin Taylor in the Daily Mail had every opportunity to say I’m sorry. Instead, Taylor just wanted to reflect on how happy he was that Eduardo was back, the death threats he received, and what would happen if the two played against each other. That tells me we probably never will read about Eduardo getting one directly from Taylor. It’s a pity, if there is anything to say ‘I’m sorry’ about, an accidental tackle that left a player out of the game he loves for a year would be it.

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Harry Redknapp is placing their UEFA Cup tie against Shakhtar Donetsk at the bottom of the priority list. Getting out of the fight for relegation and staying in the Premier League is just a little more important than the extra two games the round of 32 brings.

I would like to thank Stiliyan Petrov for letting the whole world know he can’t make a decision on his own. Instead of deciding for himself without any outside influences helping to make up his mind about staying at Aston Villa, he’s going to wait and see what Gareth Barry does before deciding if he stays or goes. Talk about the ultimate cop-out.

Thank you Arsene Wenger for finally admitting Arsenal have no shot at the title this year. At least he’s also right in saying that Manchester United right now are untouchable.

The famous Colorado doctor Richard Steadman has a new patient, Jimmy Bullard. No wonder why Fulham was so quick to sell him for only five million pounds after he was starting to get a sniff around the England National Team. I guess the bigger question now for Hull is if Bullard will play again this season?

Two more footballers have been charged in the same assault case that Steven Gerrard was charged in. These players though play for Accrington Stanley.

In a suck up to fans move, Mike Ashley will cut the price of a season ticket in order to keep fans coming to St. James Park.

FC Copenhagen boss Stale Solbakken feels that all the money Manchester City have will end up destroying football. Gotta love bulletin board material.

Mark Hughes though has finally had it with City’s players with regards to their away form. Mark, don’t you think it’s a little too late for that statement?

Marseille president is saying he’ll do everything he can to resign Didier Drogba. Works for me.

I have to admit when I first read this I simply went ‘that’s it’. But that was my first reaction to when I read that Arsenal are set to offer Theo Walcott a 50,000 a week deal to keep him at the club.

And finally in a move that I can only put into the category of ‘boy Chelsea are desperate to show their fans they are moving forward’, around 5,000 people showed up for a Chelsea training session on Tuesday.

Well we know the Andrei Arshavin deal according to the Premier League is complete, but how much trouble was there in completing this deal?

It seems that lawyers had to be called in to make sure everything was in order as this deal was finally competed almost twenty-four hours after the deadline. What’s making this deal even more questionable is that reports are coming out that paperwork submitted to the FA post the five pm deadline had ‘small issues‘.

Now I’m pretty sure the FA and Premier League are going to continue to say this deal is valid, but I have just a few questions that I think need answering by the FA.

1) Since Arshavin was already in London on Monday, why was this deal green lighted for a post five pm completion other than the fact the fee wasn’t agreed upon?

2) So the FA are saying it’s okay to ratify a deal when forms aren’t completely filled  out?

3) If this deal was for a club like Hull City, West Bromwich Albion, ect, would the FA had been so kind to green light the move?

While I will be so happy once this is all said and done, some serious questions need answering. Sadly, I don’t think we will get any of those answers. Again, we aren’t talking about this had the deadline simply been midnight.

So Sky Sports have won four of the six TV Rights packages for the 2010-2013 seasons. What is good news for the Premier League is their fears of having to take a pay cut on the rights in the UK are for naught. The deal Sky made for the four packages they have won will guarantee that with the other two packages, the sum of the packages will at least match what the current deal is. The only question about the last two packages is…will Setanta and ESPN partner on getting those last two packages?

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Frank Lampard’s red was rescinded. There’s a shock…not.

Here’s another one of Rafa’s crazy rants. This time about Robbie Keane. Hey Rafa, have you for one second stopped to ask yourself this question…did you properly know how to use Keane? It seems to me you were trying to jam the square peg into the round hole…it never works.

But Rory Smith of the Telegraph comes out in response of Rafa’s comments with a statement about the lack of options up front for Rafa should there be a single injury.

Could this be why Fulham got rid of Jimmy Bullard? Bullard’s only played one game for Hull City, and has already needed a knee scan.

So Sam Allardyce has made a promise to Roque Santa Cruz…keep Blackburn in the Premier League and you can go. I wonder if that’ll be motivation enough to start scoring the goals again.

Looks like Criag Gordon will have to be content until the summer with being Sunderland’s number two.

Nicky Butt will be staying at Newcastle United until the end of next season. I wonder if he’ll call it a day after that?