EPL initial thoughts

At the first glance,I can’t see any losing points for top three.All have more than decent records against Villa,Birmingham and Bolton.Arsenal and Chelsea should go in over,as well.

A question for million dollars is does Zola remind you on Shearer (or Southgate)?Still can not imagine West Ham in Championship,but wouldn’t dare even to think about backing them again.Especially at that price.

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Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra is trying to persuade Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery to come to Old Trafford.(The Sun) 
Manchester City and Tottenham are battling it out for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.(Daily Star) 
West Brom defender Paul Robinson says he will leave the relegated club as he wants to play in the Premier League.(Daily Mirror) 
Arsenal have made an £8m bid for Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland.(Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham are ready to make another bid for Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov, who is currently playing for Manchester City.(The Sun) 
Chelsea are confident they have beaten Inter Milan in the race to sign FC Twente striker Marko Arnautovic.(Daily Mail) 
Defender Michael Turner has disappointed Liverpool by pledging his future to Hull. (Various)
Wolves have abandoned plans to sign Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone after being quoted £8m for the 22-year-old.(Daily Mail) 
Rangers manager Walter Smith is set to offload midfielder Barry Ferguson this summer rather than risk him going on a free next year.(Daily Record) 
Tottenham are ready to listen to offers for Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko and are set to step up their chase for Djibril Cisse.(The Guardian) 

OTHER GOSSIP 

Newcastle are ready to offer Alan Shearer a four-year contract as they look to bounce back into the Premier League.(Daily Mirror) 
Shearer has been told that £30m must be slashed from Newcastle's wage budget following their relegation to the Championship.(Daily Star) 
West Brom manager Tony Mowbray is the favourite to succeed Gordon Strachan at Celtic.(The Sun) 
Wigan boss Steve Bruce has been strongly linked with the vacant manager's position at Sunderland. (Daily Mirror) 
However, Strachan is not a target for Sunderland.(The Independent) 
Strachan told family and friends last week that he would be standing down as Celtic manager.(Daily Record) 
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov says following his FA Cup semi-final miss, he will not want to step up should the Champions League final go to a penalty shoot-out.(The Sun) 
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says the club needs to be in the Championship promotion hunt by Christmas if he is to remain in his job.(The Sun) 
Former Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd is hoping to beat Jim Magilton to the QPR manager's job. (Daily Star)

AND FINALLY 

One person that is revelling in Burnley's promotion to the Premier League is former Labour press chief Alastair Campbell. He says Burnley's achievement was "even better than playing football in a charity match with Diego Maradona in front of 72,000 people".(The Sun)
www.bbc.co.uk

Thursday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP 

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o claims he has turned down a £35m move to Manchester City. Inter Milan also want the Cameroon star but he says he wants a new deal at the Nou Camp. (Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham are keen on signing Lokomotiv Moscow goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, who is currently on loan at Grasshoppers Zurich, as back-up for Heurelho Gomes. (The Sun) 
Arsenal, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are tracking CSKA Moscow's Czech Republic international striker Tomas Necid, 19, who is available for £3m. (Daily Mirror) 
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is set to swoop for teenage Brazilian centre-back Jose Rodolfo Pires Ribeiro Dodo from Corinthians. The 17-year-old could end up costing United £5m. (Daily Mirror) 
Ferguson is also watching 16-year-old Real Valladolid centre-back Victor Mongil, after being told the defender is one for the future. (Daily Mirror) 
Derby County defender Claude Davis hopes to turn his loan spell at Crystal Palace into a permanent move. (Daily Express) 
Hearts midfielder Bruno Aguiar, who is wanted by Rangers and Celtic, says he has not decided where he will be playing next season. (Daily Record) 
Hibernian boss Mixu Paatelainen fears striker Steven Fletcher and defender Rob Jones could both leave Easter Road in the summer. Nottingham Forest have been linked with a £1m move for Jones and Celtic are long-term admirers of Fletcher. (Daily Record) 
Aberdeen duo Scott Severin and Lee Mair are set to leave Pittodrie at the end of the season because the Dons cannot afford to offer them new contracts. Burnley want midfielder Severin and St Mirren have approached defender Mair. (Daily Record) 

OTHER GOSSIP 

Roy Keane wants the vacant Ipswich Town job and could be in charge of the Tractor Boys in time for their trip to Cardiff City on Saturday. (The Sun) 
Ipswich representatives made an approach to Keane last week - when Jim Magilton was still in charge at Portman Road - and held further talks with the former Sunderland boss on Monday. (The Sun) 
Magilton, who had been in charge of Ipswich for almost three years, was sacked over the phone on Wednesday. (Daily Mail) 
Keane could be unveiled as Ipswich boss on Thursday. (The Guardian) 
Part of the terms of Keane's appointment will see the former Manchester United midfielder relocate from Cheshire to East Anglia. Keane did not move house when he was in charge at Sunderland. (Various) 
Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen is expected to announce his retirement by the end of the week. The Dane has been warned that attempting to play on through his persistent knee problems could cause him problems in later life. (Daily Express) 
Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz fears his knee injury will cost him a big-money move away from Ewood Park this summer. (Daily Mirror) 
Newcastle United manager Alan Shearer will not drop Michael Owen despite the striker having failed to score in his last eight appearances for the Magpies. (The Sun) 
Shearer is using a therapist to give his players one-to-one talks in an attempt to boost their confidence ahead of Monday's crucial clash with fellow strugglers Portsmouth. (Daily Mirror) 
Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins has postponed groin surgery until the summer so he can help the Magpies in their battle against the drop. (The Guardian) 
Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin says he wants to stay with the Gunners for the rest of his career. (The Sun) 
Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia will recover from his ankle injury in time to face Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. (Daily Mirror) 
Liverpool's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, have pledged to work together to raise the funds they need to refinance the club's loans and retain control of the Reds. (The Times) 
Former Chelsea boss Avram Grant has been offered the chance of taking over as manager of the Czech Republic. (Daily Star) 
AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, who is Chelsea's top target to be their next boss, has been learning English all season. England midfielder David Beckham, on loan at the San Siro from LA Galaxy, said: "Every time I try to fix his English, he insists on making errors and we end up laughing". (The Sun) 
Inter Milan could terminate Adriano's contract on Thursday. The Brazil striker said earlier this month that he is taking a leave of absence because he has "lost the joy of playing". (The Independent) 
Wigan Athletic boss Steve Bruce will hand a new one-year deal to veteran goalkeeper Mike Pollitt, 37, but will allow Antoine Sibierski to leave the JJB Stadium this summer. (Daily Mirror) 
Watford boss Brendan Rogers says club-record signing Nathan Ellington, who cost the Hornets £3.25m from Wigan in August 2007, has no future at Vicarage Road. (Daily Star) 
Derby County boss Nigel Clough is set to release more than 10 players at the end of the season as he looks to overhaul his squad at Pride Park. (Daily Mirror) 
Hearts hope to upgrade Tynecastle so it is suitable to host European ties if they qualify for next season's Europa League. The Jambos have been forced to play at Murrayfield since 2003 because their own stadium and pitch does not currently meet Uefa requirements. (Daily Record) 

AND FINALLY 

Former England international midfielder Paul Gascoigne has signed up for a celebrity version of BBC1 comedy obstacle course gameshow 'Total Wipeout'. (The Sun)
www.bbc.co.uk

Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP 

Chelsea are willing to pay £40m for 27-year-old Valencia striker David Villa. (Various) 
Cash-strapped Valencia will actually demand £45m for the Spanish international. (Daily Express) 
Chelsea are also keen on Tottenham forward Roman Pavlychenko, with manager Gus Hiddink criticising Spurs boss Harry Redknapp's treatment of the player. (The Sun) 
Manchester United will offer Fraizer Campbell - currently loaned out to Spurs - a new long term contract in the summer. (Daily Mirror) 
Fulham are lining up a bid to land England Under-21 star Adam Lallana from Southampton. (Daily Star) 
Chelsea are preparing a £10m swoop for Paris St Germain midfielder Stephane Sessegnon. (The Sun)  
Fulham will continue their quest to sign Spurs duo Gareth Bale and Tom Huddlestone at the end of the season. (The Times) 
Manchester United are closing in on 18-year-old Brazilian star Douglas Costa from Gremio. (The Sun) 
 
OTHER GOSSIP 

Ahead of their clash with Liverpool, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has laid into Reds boss Rafa Benitez by saying he loves "whingeing and moaning". (Various) 
Bayern Munich, fresh from a 4-0 drubbing by Barcelona in the Champions League, want Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to replace Jurgen Klinsmann as manager and are willing to pay the Frenchman £5m a year. (Daily Mail) 
SFA chief Gordon Smith has made a U-turn in the row over Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor's Scotland future. A day after saying they could return, Smith has now written off their hopes of playing for Scotland again. (Daily Record) 
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp reckons his midfielder Tom Huddlestone could be as good as Glenn Hoddle. (The Guardian, Daily Mirror) 
Former Newcastle striker Les Ferdinand reckons the club's temporary boss Alan Shearer will not leave St James' Park if he fails to prevent relegation from the Premier League. (The Sun) 

AND FINALLY 

Shearer has been grabbing advice from Newcastle's former bosses such as Kenny Dalglish, Sir Bobby Robson and Kevin Keegan. Their message to him was: "Welcome to the madhouse". (Various)
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