Tottenham, to Arsenal, to Portsmouth, to Notts County, to.. MANCHESTER UNITED? That’s how the career of Sol Campbell could look should the former England International make an astonishing move to Old Trafford. United’s injury list reads more like a yellow pages directory at the moment, with Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Fabio, Rafael and more all out injured.
Some sad news for Football, and West Ham United striker Dean Ashton, as the 26-year old has been forced to call time on his professional career after failing to recover from a nasty ankle injury picked up in a training session whilst on England duty.
It was Ashton’s first call up to the National side, one of many highs during a career that possessed so much potential.
Dean Ashton has been forced to retire from playing football at the age of 26 after failing to recover from the ankle injury sustained while on England duty in August 2006. Despite surgery and intensive rehabilitation, Ashton has not been able to recover full fitness and, following independent medical advice, he has now decided to quit. With warnings about his long-term mobility, the Swindon-born striker has been left with no option but to retire.
West Ham United CEO Scott Duxbury said:
“This is a sad day and our thoughts are with Dean. I would like to place on record our thanks to him for all his efforts and wish him the very best. I would also like to thank the fans for their patience and understanding during what has been a difficult time.”
Ashton and West Ham are both said to be looking into compensation options. The striker is believed to be investigating whether both Shaun Wright-Phillips – whose tackle was responsible for injuring Ashton in that fateful England training session – and his employers at the time, Chelsea, can be the subject of legal action. Ashton is thought to be insured for £7million by West Ham. But the insurance claim against the FA will be a complex one, as Ashton eventually returned to action, so they could well be unsuccessful.
After missing a full season, he came back in 2007-08, playing 35 games and hitting 11 goals. It earned him a new five-year contract at Upton Park, with wages of about £50,000. He also won an England cap under Capello, playing against Trinidad & Tobago in June last year but he broke down again last September. In May this year, Ashton was hopeful he would be in good shape for the start of the season but he started to suffer continued problems with the ankle.
All the best to Dean and I hope we see him again soon, whether it be with coaching or as a Sports pundit on television. A real shame as he is just the striker that West Ham and England need at the moment.
So the WC2010 will remain as we knew it yonks ago. There will not be any video technology, but there will also not be the extra referees circa Europa League 09/10! Fifa’s voting committee (i.e. Blatter alone for sure). This is rather surprising because after all the furore of the Ireland – France playoff, I was genuinely expecting some changes. Sure Fifa had some valid points when they said its still too early in the trial stages but how many games do you need to conduct a trial? There are thousands of matches being played at national level, and if there was an open and transparent voting system, I’m quite certain that most nations would vote in favour of the extra refs, France included, only to get the monkey off their back of course.
read more…
The twitterati has gone mad in the last hour with strong rumours emerging that Serbian teenage sensation Adem Ljajic has had his Manchester United transfer cancelled by the Red Devils
The story broke at about about 2200 GMT as newspaper feeds started to hear about the situation. read more…
As expected Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or 2009 by a substantial margin. The Barcelona and Argentina star succeeds Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the trophy last year after helping Manchester United to glory in the 2008 Champions League. Ronaldo finished runner-up this time around. read more…
More than just another defeat…The death of a footballing philosophy – Chelsea destroy Arsenal
It was one of the few occasions that i wanted Arsene Wenger to be right…I wanted him to be 100% correct. His army of North London kids led by the va-va-voom of ‘the future greatest midfielder in the world elect’ Cesc Fabragas playing their unmatched brand of total total total football. I wanted them to give Chelsea a real lesson…a kick in the gut of confidence.
Glad i didnt hold my breath. read more…
The full list of nominations for the 2009 Ballon d’Or has now been shortlisted down to ten and the winner will be announced on Tuesday 1st December. The Ballon d’Or is voted for by journalists and organised by France Football magazine.
It’s gotta be Messi’s this year though right? read more…
The most decisive match of the year, much more than 3 points are at stake, the whole world watching 22 men fighting on the ground, and so on…Many clichés and trivialities surround this beautiful football game which involves a long-time rivalry prompted by social, politic and of course sporting subjects.
Yet, we should point out one of those phrases we hear over and over during the previous week – “no matter whether they are in or off form, when the times comes no one knows what will happen”. Or paraphrasing Cristiano Ronaldo’s words, “it doesn’t really matter who will play the match”.
Manchester United managed a 4-1 win against Portsmouth in a hotly disputed match at Fratton Park, with the main events being 3 penalties awarded, 2 for United and 1 for Portsmouth, Rooney scoring a hat-trick, and ‘Sir’ Ryan Giggs finally finding the net for his 100th goal in the Premier League, a perfect gift as he celebrates his 36th birthday tomorrow.
Just very very funny!
David N'gog nicks the goal that gave Liverpool hope in Hungary
Liverpool’s awful start to the season got even worse this evening as they were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage for the first time in 7 years. A 1-0 win away at Debreceni was not enough to keep the Reds alive in the competition, as Italian giants Fiorentina overcame Lyon by the same scoreline sending them through to the next stage.
It was a typically cagey performance from Liverpool over a side whom Fiorentina and Lyon have put 13 goals past in 3 games, with Lyon finishing the group stage at home to the Hungarian champions on the 9th December. It was a performance that summed up the last few months for Rafael Benitez’ side, and one that was certainly not deserving of progression in the competition.
Sepp Blatter has called an emergency meeting with FIFA’s executive committee; with the controversy surrounding the Republic of Ireland’s play-off elimination by France said to be top of the agenda. Also in this meeting they will discuss the recent arrests across Europe by officers investigating corruption in football and the violence that marred Egypt’s play-off encounter with Algeria in Cairo, in which the Algeria team bus was stoned. read more…
Following Wigan’s embarrassing defeat at White Hart Lane on Sunday, the players have decided it right to offer all those loyal supporters who travelled down to North London to watch the game a full refund of their ticket, providing they bought it at the ticket offices at the DW Stadium.
