Crues Control!

United, fresh their narrow defeat at the hands (it should be feet), of Crusaders, must do battle with the men from Tigers Bay at the Showgrounds tomorrow in the Dankse Premier league. United came so close to ending the Crues unbeaten run of 23 games and now we have a chance to halt their run of 24 games unbeaten, but this time its going on a real football pitch and its going to be no place for namby pamby's we think. Of course the ref might think otherwise and he might be as biased as that 'love child' the other night, but if we keep our heads we can do it. If we keep playing the football and stringing passes together the Crues will show their frustration and then we will have them.

As usual when it comes to team news, we don't have any, but Marky and Cookie could be both doubtful, as Cookie didn't play on Tuesday and Marky came off injured at halftime, so we may be down to the 'bare bones' defensive wise. But hell, we've been here before and the boys haven't let us down, so we predict they wont let us down tomorrow. Will Fergie change his tactics for tomorrows game? Its anybody's guess, but who's available will dictate who he plays and the tactics he uses. We at 'Sport were wondering if he might bring in Addis for Dwayne in goals, as Dwayne could be blamed for the first goal we conceded on Tuesday night and for giving away a needless corner, which they eventually scored the winner from.

But later on he kept us in the match with a double save when the linesman had 'missed' a blatant offside or did the lino just avert his eyes. A lot people are of the opinion that the ref on Tuesday, Colin Burns, was the worst they ever seen, but we see just as bad week in and week out, but its just not as barefaced as that which Burns did on Tuesday night, but at the end of the day it's what we have grown to expect from Belfast referees. We just have to score more goals than them and even an incompetent love child like that on Tuesday, will not be able to take the points away from us, but he'll try. But we believe we have right on our side and we'll prove tomorrow, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those paper tigers!

Away Day!

Well we suppose that is a wrong statement, the apt title should be 'away night', but we like 'away day' and on this site, what we like, goes, so there. Having got that off our chest we would like to inform fans about team news, that is if we had any, but like you we are none the wiser. Will Fergie tinker with the team that started at Lurgan on Saturday? It's anybody's guess, we felt sure he was going to bring back Ally on Saturday, but alas we were wrong. Dwayne, played on Saturday and he had a stormer, but Fergie has a policy of starting the 2nd string keeper in cup matches and we won't be surprised if Addis gets the nod, but it would be harsh on Dwayne.

Cookie had to come off at Glenavon and Archie suffered a knee injury early on, so they might both be doubtful and its a good job we have cover in depth. Cush has struggled in last three games, but we need him, for in absence of strikers, he is our only reliable marksman. The novelty of playing Captain Jenks as a target man is starting to look foolhardy, as defenders are coming to grips with his box of tricks and reading him every time, but we have nothing more in our cupboard. Liggie, MM and Dolan are all struggling and they can't hold down  a place in our starting X1. We were saying six weeks ago that Spike was going to have to take a chance on one of them and start him in about 4 or more matches.

But alas he didn't take our advice, he chose to go down the road of converting Jenks to a target man and we are no further forward than we were a month ago. We're still relying on Cush for goals and we bring on the strikers when there's only 20 mins or less to go and expect them to deliver the goods. It takes a very special type of player to do that and we haven't got one, Liggie did deliver a killer blow to tomorrow night's opponents, when coming on a sub, but that 23 matches ago and he hasn't done since. We used to be  dangerous at set-pieces, but now that Cush is taking them, corners and free-kicks come to nothing. No doubt some smart-alec will say the manager says who takes the frees and the corners.

If it is, he needs to have a rethink, we must have forced half a dozen corners on Saturday and we never troubled the Glenavon defence with one of them. We seem to have changed our policy when we are defending set-pieces too, Captain Jenks is not coming back to help our defence and with the 'big men' on the Crues side tomorrow night his help could be crucial. Crues manager Stephen Baxter made some changes to his team when we played them in the Shield semi-final and we only hope he treats us as lightly tomorrow night and we will have a chance. Baxter has his eye on the league but we on the other hand have all to play for and if we get to the final ,who knows what could happen. Come on Sky Blues, let's rumble!

Arsene Wenger urges Arsenal to 'be themselves' at Manchester City

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his side have to 'be themselves offensively' at Manchester City on Saturday, something he felt was lacking on their visit to neighbours United.

Arsene Wenger: Arsenal up against Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City on Saturday

The Gunners were beaten 1-0 in a low-key game at Old Trafford in November but have recovered and could move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League with a win in the lunchtime kick-off at the Etihad Stadium.

Despite such reassuring form, Wenger knows his team must deliver a performance that is much more in keeping with their traditional attacking style against a City side that have been in lethal form on their own ground and whose confidence got a boost with the midweek win at Bayern Munich.

"People forget that United had two shots on target on the day and they scored a goal off a shoulder (of Robin van Persie) from a corner, but I believe we were not completely ourselves offensively and that is what we want to do better, to be dangerous offensively," Wenger said.

"However, a team is not set there (following a poor performance). After they do it, they grow.

"Sometimes if they do it they stop, learn from it and then grow again."It is what we want to show at City. We learn from it and we go again."

Wenger does not want his team to be overawed by their status as Premier League pace-setters and is confident they can perform under pressure.

"I don't see why you should be scared," he added.

"Last season when we went to Newcastle on the last day and we had absolutely to win you could think 'if we don't win it will be a disaster', but today we are in a position where we can look much more at the game in a positive way."

Wenger, though, warned Arsenal will have to be on their guard against City's expensively assembled squad, which has been potent in attack at home this season, thrashing United 4-1 in September, sticking seven past Norwich and hitting Tottenham for six last month.

"We need to make sure we have the ball," Wenger said.

"When they have the ball they are dangerous: (David) Silva, (Yaya) Toure, (Sergio) Aguero, (Alvaro) Negredo - they have potential to be dangerous.

"For us, it is important we have the ball."

SkySports

Manchester City v Arsenal: Arsene Wenger braced for toughest test of Premier League season so far

Arsène Wenger is ready for Arsenal's biggest test of the season when he takes his side to Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime.

Arsene Wenger

The doubts are everywhere expressed. While Arsenal might be enjoying a five-point lead at the top of the table as Christmas approaches, while they might be playing the most attractive and progressive football in the country, many question whether the squad have sufficient depths of resolve and experience still to be doing so come next May.

After all, we have seen this before in the fallow years since Arsenal last won the league: any flowering of promise wilts under the pressure of maintaining a sustained campaign.

At one point in both 2004-05 and 2007-08 Wenger’s teams enjoyed leads as luxurious as this season’s five points only to finish well off the pace. Which is why manager Arsène Wenger believes that the encounter with Manchester City on Saturday has a resonance that goes way beyond the three points on offer.

“It is a game where we can make a difference,” Wenger said. “If we win it will have an influence on some people. Not everybody, but some people.”

What Wenger’s players can do on Saturday is give definitive demonstration that – unlike their predecessors in the noughties – they are indeed made of the right stuff.

“Of course it [would] strengthen your beliefs,” said Wenger of the signal victory at City would send out. “But I am convinced we believe in ourselves anyway, no matter what happens.”

Examinations do not come more challenging than a visit to the Etihad. In a clean sweep of home wins this season, Manchester City have eviscerated every Premier League guest. Were they not such jittery travellers, Manuel Pellegrini’s side would be galloping towards the title, rendering redundant any fretting over Arsenal’s own championship credentials.

“You make them think they are playing away,” smiled Wenger of the tactical challenge posed in east Manchester. “City have a very strong squad, but I look at my squad and think I do not envy them.”

Ending the season’s most gilded home run would send out all sorts of messages about Arsenal. Not least end the nagging doubt that they suffer from a failure of nerve when faced with proper opposition. And sometimes not even that proper. After all, on their last visit to Manchester they failed to do what West Bromwich Albion, Everton and Newcastle United have all managed this season: win at Old Trafford.

“We have been very consistent away from home,” insisted Wenger. “The only blip we had was at Manchester United and people forget that United had two shots on target on the day and they scored a goal off a shoulder from a corner. But that’s what we can learn from the Man United game. We forgot a little bit to project ourselves forward. And that's what we want to do better tomorrow, to be dangerous offensively.”

They will certainly need to be more dangerous offensively than on Wednesday when they were beaten by Napoli in the Champions League. That and retain more possession.

“We need to make sure we have the ball,” agreed Wenger. “When they have the ball they are dangerous: [David] Silva, [Yaya] Toure, [Sergio] Agüero, [Alvaro] Negredo, they have the potential to be dangerous. For us it is important we have the ball.”

And if victory can send out a signal of intent, so losing carries huge implications. Although Arsenal will remain at the top of the division, with Chelsea as their next opponents, defeat could rapidly become a morale-sapping pattern. Not that Wenger believes such a consideration adds pressure.

“I don’t see why you should be scared. Last season when we went to Newcastle on the last day and we had absolutely to win you could think, ‘If we don’t win it will be a disaster’. Today we are in a position where we can look much more at the game in a positive way. Let’s not forget as well that if you are in City’s position and they lose, then they are nine points behind, so they have more negative pressure than we have.”

Whatever the final implications of the game today, it would have assisted Wenger in his preparation for his most significant challenge yet this season had he not been obliged to play away at the club with the best home record in the division barely 48 hours after returning from a strenuous Champions League tie in the south of Italy. Not that he is seeking to take issue with the intricacies of the Premier League fixture programme. He is not Jose Mourinho after all.

“That is not an excuse for us at all,” he says of being obliged to play on a Saturday lunchtime after a Wednesday game in Europe. “We have the fixtures we have. If you had given me the opportunity to do it, I would not have done it like that. But I do not complain. It is another opportunity to show we have the mental strength to deal with it.” Thus it is that every week we learn more about what Wenger’s exciting Arsenal team are really made of.

The Telegraph

Hot'n Cold!

We just noticed, we've reached the halfway stage in the Dankse premiership and nobody's mentioned it, but the league table is starting to take on a familiar look. The four Belfast clubs, Crues, Blues, Reds and Glens are starting to pull away from the rest of us. Portadown, in fifth place seems to be the only club outside the city that has a chance to catch them. That is not to say if another club further down the league were to go on a winning run, they couldn't win the league, potentially they are 57 points out there, but it would take a major transformation in any clubs make-up for that to happen and we haven't seen any omens of that event.

When we played tomorrow's opponents in the first match of the season and they beat us so convincingly, we wondered if we were seeing the birth of such a team, but alas it has all fizzled out in the cold realities of the Irish league. Going into tomorrow's game, Glenavon are just 2 points better off than ourselves (25-23) and a win for the Sky Blues could move us up at least a place or maybe if results go our way, two or even three places. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, we blow hot or cold, there's no in-between with us, we either win, or we lose.

If you look at our position in the league, you will see that out of the 19 games we've have played, we won 7, lost 10 and only drew 2. If we could reverse that form in the other19 matches we have to play yet, we hazard a guess that we would be in the heralded top six place, that we so much covet. That has to our aim for the second half of the league, garner more points from the remaining fixtures than we did the first time around, starting out with a result tomorrow at Mourneview Park. The weather forecast is not too promising, gale force winds, but we have the players to deal with that.

Thommo, fresh his one game ban should start and Ally could be added to the starting line-up and we'll have our first choice keeper Dwayne, in out team for the first time in 2 months. With Cookie and Captain Jenks we have a wealth of experience playing in all sorts of weather and we have players like, Tony K , Sparky and the classy JT, who are able to adapt to anything. With Cush, getting fitter with every match, it promises to be a good game and lets hope we get the right result. With freak conditions it could be a freak result, but from experience, it seldom is, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those Mourneviewers!

Calhanoglu to Arsenal FC? Strootman to snub Man Utd? Luiz to FC Barcelona?

David Luiz

- Barcelona are readying a £29m bid to tempt Chelsea to part with defender David Luiz in January, according to the Daily Star.

- Nemanja Matic, who has been linked with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, has emerged as a target for Paris Saint-Germain, with coach Laurent Blanc admitting he would like to sign the Benfica defender.

- Kevin Strootman, who continues to be linked with Manchester United, is happy at Roma, his agent has said.

"Kevin is very happy in Rome and his intention is to stay here for a long time," Chiel Dekker told Sky Sports.

"They have started a project and a new team and he has adapted well to his new club."

- Hakan Calhanoglu, who has been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool, is not up for sale, insist Hamburg.

Hamburg sporting director Oliver Kreuzer told the Hamburger Abendblatt: "Of course, every player has a price. But we do not have any interest in selling him."

- Arsenal will test Hamburg’s resolve to keep Calhanoglu with an offer next month, according to the Daily Mail.

- CSKA Moscow playmaker Keisuke Honda will join AC Milan on a free transfer next month.

CrunchSports

Football transfer rumours: Wayne Rooney to Chelsea?

This photograph is not a mock-up, even though Wayne Rooney appears to have black hands in it. Photograph: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images

The Mirror has superimposed a photo of Wayne Rooney's head on to a Chelsea player's body to illustrate its story that the London club plan to renew their efforts to sign the Manchester United striker this summer. Helpfully stating that the picture is a "mock-up" for the benefit of anybody who might not know that Rooney has (a) never celebrated a goal while wearing full Chelsea kit and (b) not got the hands and neck of a black man, the story goes on to state that Chelsea are on "red alert" to renew their efforts to bring him to Stamford Bridge, having apparently discovered that zero progress has been made between the player and his club as far as a new contract is concerned.

David Moyes is reported to have sent a team of emissaries to Italy to discuss a deal that would see the versatile Colombian midfielder Fredy Guarín head to Old Trafford in January. Internazionale are prepared to sell Guarín, who would be available for approximately £15m, can play in a variety of positions, and is eligible to participate in the Champions League.

Tottenham Hotspur want to bring the Atlético Madrid midfielder Koke to White Hart Lane, but they may have to participate in a tug of war with Manchester United. The Premier League champions have been scouting the 21-year-old and David Moyes was at the Vicente Calderón Stadium on Wednesday night to watch him score in his side's 2-0 Champions League win over Porto. With Milan and Atlético's city rivals Real also interested in the £15m-rated player, competition for his signature is likely to be fierce.

Manchester United scouts are also keeping their beady eyes on Sporting Lisbon's 21-year-old Portuguese international midfielder William Carvalho, while Hull City are prepared to rescue the 28-year-old Swedish midfielder Seb Larsson from his Sunderland hell; specifically the hell of having to play for Premier League propper-uppers Sunderland each week.

Expect the scramble to turn the head of the 19-year-old St Étienne defender Kurt Zouma to hot up now that the Ligue 1 player's manager has conceded he may have to cash in his prize asset during the January transfer window. He is unlikely to be short of customers with Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Monaco all believed to have been keeping tabs on the French youth international. "As coach I always want to keep my good players, but there are obligations before the summer because there are budgets to do," said Christophe Gaultier. "I know that three clubs are following Kurt very closely. Will they make offers when the window opens? Anything is possible."

Real Sociedad's winger Antoine Griezmann hails from France and is wanted by Arsenal, while West Ham's manager Sam Allardyce has decided the problem of his team's paucity of goals could be solved by bringing the Seattle Sounders striker Obafemi Martins, 72, to the Boleyn Ground on loan.

Perhaps having given the Premier League table a cursory glance, Wesley Sneijder has decided he has no interest in signing for Manchester United and is happy enough in Turkey, playing for Galatasaray. The Dutch midfielder and Didier Drogba certainly looked content as a pigs in muck as they rolled around in the slushy bog that passed for the pitch of the Turk Telecom Arena on Wednesday afternoon, when Sneijder mugged an Old Lady from Turin to send the Turkish side through to the last 16 and eliminate Juventus from the Champions League.

And expect the West Brom manager Steve Clarke's demeanour to be even more dour and hangdog than usual now that he's been told he'll have no money to spend in the January transfer window. Bah!

The Guardian