A fantastic performance in the cup gave Chelsea a 4-0 win against Division 1 rivals Aston Villa. Villa thumped Chelsea 4-1 in the league recently but that was all but forgotten as Chelsea moved into the Semi Finals. This was the 1st game under manager Lee Clarks' time at Chelsea where they were tactically correct. Chelsea will be hoping the cup run helps inprove the league form too with time running out to get the much needed victories to avoid relegation.

Archer Horror as Neville leaves

Ipswich manager Andy Archer was said to be 'desparate' yesterday as he went into work to find no tea on his desk. Archer ran around for hours, only to find out that Phil Neville had been sold.

Quoted as saying 'Man im gasping for some tea' and 'Yes he was shite, but he sure as shit knew how to make a brew' ,

Archer may already be regretting ever selling Neville as he searches for another tea boy

Nottingham Forest are rumoured to be in transfer talks with a Premiership and Division one side in the hope of bringing some new players to the City ground.

The teams have yet to be named but they are rumoured to be in financial trouble and Forest are set to cash in on this.

Forest are desperate to get a new keeper and a few defenders in for the start of next season.

Liverpool manager Simon Walton finally managed to recapture one of his favourite players A_Shevchenko bringing him back to Anfield after over a season away from the club but at a price.

SW "I'm really pleased to have brought Shevvy back to Anfield but I had to sacrifice T_Bramble and Liverpool stalwart M_Owen, leaving just S_Gerrard from the original squad from season 1 who has just pledged his entire future to Liverpool as long as I am the manager!

Chelsea entered the transfer market for the first time under new manager Lee Clark. The transfer of C_Cort from Ipswich for £1.75 million was over shadowed by the big transfer of the week. E_Petit left Chelsea for Manchester United with R_Ferdinand and P_Scholes coming to Chelsea. Chelsea also paid Man Utd £6.5 million.

Manager Lee Clark made this comment. "I felt we could cope with the loss of Petit so long as we had midfield cover and a very good defender. This is what was on offer from Man U so it seems good business to us."

Nottingham Forest kept up their amazing undefeated streak with a hard earned draw over Chelsea in the KO Cup.

Forest needed to win this game to qualify for the knock out stages and could have done had loan signing A_Shevchenko not missed an important penalty.

Despite the draw, Forest boss Adam Pyke was in a bouyant mood.

"We've not lost a game so far this season, thats 13 games in the league and cup, we also have a transfer budget that Premiership teams can only dream of and we can improve the side at the end of the season."

Exciting times are expected at Forest at the end of the season when the transfer market reopens and hopefully they can gain promotion to Div 1 by becoming Champions.

Rovers go nuts!

The media are starting to suspect that Rovers manager Päärn Volk has gone bonkers.

Transfer activity never to be rivalled before at Ewood Park saw England's best left-footed player Garry Barry and Brazilian magican Romario leave for Newcastle and French World Cup winning captain/wizard Zinedine Zidane, strong English centerforward Carl Asaba and young up-and-coming defender Joleon Lescott join the Club on Tuesday 18th May in part-ex deal.

In the wake of this deal Welsh midfielder Jason Koumas left the Club two days later to join Sheffield United in search of first-team football. The deal also sees Argentine whizkid Julio Arca join Rovers with £20 million goin the other way.

Blackburn supremo is very happy with the dealings as he commented: " Yeah sure, we had to let our captain Garry go with Romario joining him. But in return we got one of the best players in the world has ever seen in Zizou. And we also snatched up future England international Jo Lescott in the deal and striker Carl Asaba who needs no introduction and who I believe will be an able replacement for the Brazilian wonder. And I can also reveal that talks are on the way with Kick Off officials to arrange a Face/Off style operation that will see Carl fitted with the face of Romario so that our fans who have become so accustomed with the little wizard wont miss him. I hope that these three new players will help us in turning our fortunes and we can mount a serious promotion bid with the remaining 6 games. There is 6 points between us and 2nd place and if the results go our way I cant see why we wont be the 2nd team to go up."

On the departue of Koumas and arrival of Arca: "Jay has been a great little player for us over the 3 seasons he has been with us but sadly time has come for him to move on. I would've been more than happy to have him in the team but his first team chances were dealt a heavy blow with the arrival of Zizou and with the young stars coming throught his chances wouldve been few and far between. I can understand his decision to leave in search of first team footy as he needs to keep his match fitness being Welsh international and all that and when Sheffield United can offer that so who am I to stop him. And in return we got a young wing-back Julio Arca who ive been a quiet admirer for a long time but never had the chance to have in my team. But when the chance presented itself I took it with both hands and am very happy with our days work. Yeah, we had to depart with 20 million also but its not my money so who cares except the chairman but them lot are wankers anyway. Only joking mate;)."

His final comments were on the subject of his own mental state: "Yeah, it may come as a surprise to many as we havent been very active in the transfer market and those may suspect that somethings wrong with my head but theres not and we would have a long way to go in matching that Birchy guy who's in-charge of Newcastle. And I can assure you lot that we have no plans to do that.."

UP THE ROVERS!!

Newcastle United remain top of the premiership by three points despite managing only a draw at home to Man Utd. Newcastle were helped by other results which have also enabled Wimbledon to climb up to second place ahead of Liverpool and Man Utd. The title race is certainly hotting up with just four points separating the top four.

Newcastle boss Matt Birch "I'm just relieved to still have a little breathing space at the top as our goal difference effectively means we are four points clear instead of the mathematical three. But we are going to have to fight all the way, especially with two away games coming up, away to 2nd and 3rd places. But even then the fixtures don't calm down. Every team in this division this season is capable of beating every other team. And it's a mark of how strong and competitive the league has become when you see Arsenal and Spurs in relegation trouble.

"To be honest I thought that the cup would be our big chance for success this season but we are as good as out of that, barring three home wins in the last week. And if I were to predict how the league will go then I can't honestly see us hanging on there either.

"Whatever happens, this season has been a hum dinger and will only get better from here on in."

sky news: it was shock in and outs at "molineux" J Yobo and J Rednap have left wolves,with K muscat and L Bowyer coming in at wolves, it was a straight swop deal with man city !! wolves boss i mcn was happy with the deal, it was a rench to let both players go but we just felt it was the right deal for both players, on the players coming in i mcn said " i have been a admirer of lee bowyer for a long time and the lad felt it was a good move for him, kevin muscat returns to molineux to add some bite at the back, also brought in on loan E Pope from sheff utd.

Tom Morgan has been officially been announced as Bradford boss. The manager had been spotted at the matches but many Bradford fans had no idea who he was. He still is to impress but drew his first game in charge again a good Ipswich team but lost too  premiership high flyers Manu at the weekend. He has not yet given an in depth interview but has sold veteran favourites Gay McCalistter and Carlton Palmer. The 2 would not sign deals longer than 2 years so instead of waiting for them to leave on a free he decided to trade them in for younger models. He has spent 4million of his cash budget aswell with bringing Teddy Sheringham to Bradford. He is highly skilled and has scored 4 goals this season already. He also bought Yousseff Chipo on a permanent after only one game, impressive it was, but repaid it with a commanding role against Manu. A sign for things to come? He has targeted a cameroon international aswell. The target is though to stay off bottom starting this weekend.

Thats all from the bradford beagle.

I have been Anthony O'Connell.

25th April 2004

Chelsea picked up only their 2nd win of the season and the 1st under new boss Lee Clark this weekend against Tottenham. The amazing 6-5 win came in group 4 of the cup. Ronaldo stole the show scoring 5 of Chelsea's 6. How many would he have scored if he hadn't got sent off in the 53rd minute.

This victory only goes to strengthen the view that Chelsea are at the wrong end of the wrong division.

Nottingham Forests amazing unbeaten run stretched to 9 games after a 1-1 draw at Blackburn in the KO cup this weekend.
Forest currently are in second place in the cup league and top of division 2.Forest are gunning for promotion and a good cup run to bring some extra revenue to strengthen the squad for next season.

Ipswich manager Andy Archer last night slammed F_Kanoute, calling him arrogant and a prat after comments the player made in the press about his proposed move fell through.

Kanoute was quoted in The Sun as claiming "I am distraught at not having the chance to play in the Premier league, and the fact i will have to play with players of a lesser ability to myself"

Archer said "I am disgusted with Freddys attitude, its bang out of order, and if he thinks he's better than the rest of the lads, he should think again, why does he think i am trying to flog him?"

It remains to be seen what happens after this incident but it looks as though Kanoute will be leaving sooner rather than later

Newcastle had another trademark busy week on the transfer market, making deals with Arsenal, Sheffield United and Wimbledon. Newcastle lost a number of key players but signed some old favorites and the squad looks stronger for the trading. The big names arriving include Harry Kewell, one of Matt Birch's long time targets, Ariel Ortega and Willy Bouma.

The timing of the deals seems odd considering Newcastle have managed to go top of the premiership but Birch had this to say: "While we may be top of the premieship with a 100% home record and a healthy goal difference, we have been seriously struggling away from St James Park and have not picked up a single point from our 2 away league games or our 2 cup games played on neutral ground. And with us having more away games than home games coming up, we need to start taking our home form with us on the road. We are already virtually out of the cup after just two games so the upcoming away league games are what we have to concentrate on.

Birch continued: "I've made the key signings this week to try and give us some more depth and also having versatile players like Willy, Harry and Ariel, I think we have three players who can do something very special and hopefully create something out of nothing when the chips are down."

Wednesday boss Joe Davies had this to say on his most recent signings.

'I felt i needed some more depth in the forward area and after failing to land Kanoute on the transfer market. i was more than happy to pay £15million for him from Ipswich. he is a great player and will provide perfect cover for Henrik and young Carlton Cole.

I also made the move for two great signings from Fulham. i have always been a fan of Edgar Davids and my midfield was missing a little something and he fits the bill perfectly. Chris Coleman also came along in the deal to provide cover at the back while Jon Woodgate is away on loan at Forest. he will also fill the Assistant Managers role as i feel he shown he is more than capable at the managing end of things. i am delighted to be working alongside such a great young manager.

I am very happy with this weeks dealings and look forward to hearing what Chris has to offer to my team.

Cheers.'

A good win against the Blades, a little disappointing two of my defenders decided to becoming raging maniacs. They've left us short of cover at the back for our next match against Newcastle. I'm especially disappointed with Ashley Cole who's racking up the disciplinary points with ease. To control his anger he's decided to undergo voluntary castration to become a better professional. With the exception of his wife we all think it's the best decision.

wolves manager imc speaking after wolves cup win over sunderland " it was a well earned win but our form this season has been in & out, our league position is disappointing although we have some positives, pierre has starting scoring again, although defensively we look fragile at times" imc made it clear his aim was to strenghen the back line & that there maybe some changes in playing staff at molineux !!!

11th April 2004

Bradford City today criticised ex-manager Lee Clark for his untimely exit from Valley Parade. Clark has been likened to Steve Bruce and Mark McGhee after he quit Bradford for the vacant Chelsea post. Clark had only been at Bradford for a few games and has only picked up 2 points in his time there. "We hope he fails miserably and is relegated to face us next year" was one comment from a fan.

Nottingham Forest went a point clear at the top of Division 2 after this weekends win against a stubborn Watford side.

The breakthrough came as early as the second minute when midfielder Micheal Brown made a hash of a backpass that ended up un the back of the Hornets net.

Forest manager Adam Pyke was pleased with the display but had concerns over his sides finishing.

"We had a lot of chances to put the game to bed before half time when Adrian Mutu was put clean through on their keeper but couldn't finish, thats football, on another day we could have scored four or five."

That win puts Forest top of the table with Barnsley to come next, only time will tell if boss Adam Pyke can win the Manager of the month award.

Bantams boss Lee Clark today announced that L_Emanel has left the club in a deal that sees D_Wise, A_Haaland and A_Lesott all move to Tyneside. The youth policy and the future of Bradford City looks better now with 6 youth players going to Braford in return. The deal was completed with a further £11 million going in the Bantams direction. M_Poom was bought from Sunderland in an effort to concede less goals.

Lee had this comment. "I won't deny it has been a lot more difficult this season than I thought it would be. We have however made strides in the right direction with our loan signings and these latest signings will mean Bradford will be able to compete on a more even playing field in the coming seasons."

Clark also denied any rumours about a move away from Valley Parade.

Bradford look set to sell much sort after L_Emanuel to strengthen the squad. L_Emanuel has been watched by a number of clubs but it is only now that manager Lee Clark has been listening to offers. Both Manchester United and Newcastle United are rumoured to be involved in talks with Bradford. Watch this space for further details.

Newcastle today announced a massive coup in the signing of Wimbledon striker Christian Vieri. Boss Matt Birch uncharacteristically sacrificed his defence in order to land the Aussie striker and while the Toon strike force must now be the most feared in the land, question marks will surely be asked about how well they can save from leaking many goals at the back.

Newcastle fans were today left despondant after a great chance to go top of the league went begging. Newcastle had the run of the game but poor finishing meant they were lucky to lose by only one goal after Larsson's penalty miss for Wednesday.

But rumour had it Newcastle boss Matt Birch had not been motivated this week in preparing his team for this big match and it would seem there was good reason for this when the players and officials held a minute's silence before the game in memory of Birch's beloved pet rat Bosley who had to be put to sleep the day before the game.

Bosley, Rest In Peace my dear friend.

Today, the press of Birmingham gathered at a press conference held by Aston Villa FC. The relatively new manager to Kick Off, has had a string of successful results taking them to joint top of Division1, this spot is being tied with Sunderland, Nicholls' boyhood club.

When asked about selling Villas two best players from last year- young Gareth Barry and excellent striker Hernan Jorge Crespo, Nicholls said, "I did'nt want Villa just to be based around 2 great players, i want the squad to be filled with talent, and i think that by bringing in such players as Gavin MCann, Sergei Rebrov and others, it will strengthen the team as a whole. i also needed to replace Peter Schmeichel, who hung up his boots after last season, and i think we got a great replacement in Iker Cassilas, a young but already excellent keeper!"

With 3 wins in a row, Villa seem to be on the up, and the prospect of the round 5 game with Sunderland is mouth watering!

Brian Brown for The Birmingham Metro.

Bantams appoint new manager.

Lee Clark (without the E) met with fans of Bradford today to try and put much ill feeling behind them. Clark was seen singing Palace 2 Bradford 1 last Saturday but had to forget his alliegiances as Bradford looked to fill Kelletts shock move to Man Utd.

When asked how he felt about Bradford, Clark said, "It could be worse, it could be Manchester."

Newcastle United have stormed the transfer market during the pre season break but for the first time in over a season, it seems like boss Matt Birch has a firm plan of what he hopes to achieve: "I set out to improve the defensive capabilities of the squad, the one area that really cost us big time last season and with the capture of Ferdinand and Lebouef I think I've really succeded. I also felt we lacked depth last season, and resorted to playing 9 or 10 rated players quite often, so getting cover for each position was also a priority which I think we've got more than covered now. And I've also managed to get some promising youngsters on board for this season who I hope will gain in stature in the reserves. And while it would have been nice to have landed one more superstar, I think that the squad as it stands looks a far better bet for the long term than if I'd had 11 superstars and nothing else. But of course I still have one card left up my sleeve... one more player I'm very keen on signing and if that comes off then I'll be one very happy manager!"

molineux press conference!!!

on the eve of the top of the table clash with coventry wolves manager was playing his cards close to his chest when asked about his teams chances at the weekend, " coventry are a good all round outfit and have been in the top 4 all season, this is the most important game of the season for us, the players are motivated and are up for it, yes we have Dugarry back in contention for a starting place but we will have to see if he does enough in training before making a decision whether he starts. wolves manager imc then left to catch the team coach for the short journey down the m6 motorway to coventry.

Newcastle boss Matt Birch was upset to be knocked out of the semi finals of the cup for the third season in a row.

Birch "I don't know what we have to do to make that extra step into the final? Today we had the tactics right, keeping United virtually at bay but my key was to bring on Goater as a fresh pair of legs up front at the end in order to finish the game off. Unfortunately Raul injured himself in an off the ball incident meaning we had to carry on with just one up front when Goater came on."

Birch "And with Abbiati getting his third yellow card of the season, we now have to face Arsenal in the big game with our third choice keeper in the sticks. This blows. We will now need to pull something special out of the hat against the Arse though one positive piece of news is that they will be without influential midfielder Viera for the tie."

Newcastle and Wimbledon sealed their second transfer in a week today with Steve Howey and Ramon Vega swapping places as well as the Don's paying 5 million pounds for the priveledge.

Newcastle boss Matt Birch "I had been biding my time with Howey, waiting for him to get his stat increase before listing him for sale. We've been lucky to get a more than adequate replacement backup defender in Ramon plus the cash will go a long way to helping sign my main transfer targets."

Toon boss Matt Birch had much to celebrate this weekend. His side first demolished Spurs 6-1, putting to an end the Spurs hopes of breaking the "Big 4", and then went on to scoop a belated MOM award.

Birch "I could not ask for any more from the team than what they showed yesterday. To win 6-1 away from home is exceptional no matter who you play, but for it to be against a team of Spurs' calibre is just remarkable.

I'm especially pleased to see so many names on the score sheet and am delighted for Goater to get a brace as he's been a bit in the shadow of Raul since his arrival.

As for the MOM award, I thought it would be close between myself and Gabe at Arsenal and I am chuffed to have been given the nod."

"This may be the last news conference I attend as boss of Manchester City. I won't disclose any details now because discussions are ongoing. I'd just like to say that this is a fantastic club with a great chairman and some wonderful players. I would certainly be happy to continue as City boss if things don't materialise."

Newcastle boss Matt Birch was said to be pleased with his side's progression into the cup semi finals following a Simon Francis inspired victory. But Birch is clearly unhappy about the attitude of Forest boss Adam Pyke:

"We have been in talks with Franny for three or four months now and he is desparate to escape his Forest hell. He has repeatedly asked Adam Pyke for a transfer and keeps getting rebuffed. In recent weeks he's clearly been seen feeling the strain, scoring own goals and mising the all important penalty in the cup game against us. I don't know what Mr Pyke is up to as Franny gave a little wink to the sidelines just before stepping for his crucial penalty miss and even came into our dressing room after the match to get changed.

I've offered Forest well above the asking price for young Franny but Pyke just refuses to budge.

You can see the despondance in the Forest camp as they have slipped into relegation certainty and the players seem to want rid of Francis a.s.a.p. so they can start rebuilding for next season."

Birch went on to preview the upcoming fixture against Spurs at the weekend:

"The match against Spurs is a massive, massive test for both teams. Last season it looked like there was a clear division at the top of the Premiership with four teams head and shoulders above the rest. Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd and Newcastle with the rest trailing in well behind but this season Spurs have been the shock team, hoping to make it into a "Big 5" instead of a "Big 4". Now that the four afore-mentioned teams make up the four teams left in the cup, the pressure is on Spurs to prove themselves in the league and gain a top four finish. Should the same four teams make up the top four this season as well as in the cup, then there can be no doubt of the division in class in the game.

So obviously our lads will be gee'd up for this match as a victory would send us three points clear of Spurs and if other results go out way, we could have hope of a 3rd or even 2nd place finish for the season."

Birch finally went on to comment on the capture of Didier Domi from Wimbledon:

"I am delighted to welcome Didi back to St James' Park. With Aldair retiring at the end of next season I knew I had to try and bring in some younger blood at the back and Didi is just the man. He seems to be a better player for his spell at Wimbledon and he's looking forward to renewing his wing-back partnership with Lucio. I can't wait to see the lads play together when Franny arrives from Forest too as we'll then have a very young and attack-minded defence to feed the likes of Zola, Raul and Goater."

*FOREST IN SHOCK TRANSFER SIGNING*

In the last few moments, Nottingham Forest boss Adam Pyke has captured the signature of highly rated young goalkeeper Fabian Carini.

Carini will play his last Coventry game this weekend before moving to the City ground with Richard Wright and an undisclosed fee moving to Highfield Road.

Wrights move was sealed last week after boss Pyke and the former England stopper were involved in a training ground bust up.

More news as it comes...

SPURS THUMP LEEDS

Edward Tomlin was delighted to see his team return to winning ways against a Leeds side who were simply overwhelmed 5-2 by Spurs attacking firepower:

"It'll make the long journey home that much more pleasant" said Tomlin. "It's a shame we conceded 2, but it's difficult to apply yourself 100% when you are way ahead and have a difficult game next - something we must work on."

Tomlin's side surely must be now safe from relegation , something Tomlin was keen to avoid at the start of the season. "Well it's nice to have this amount of points so soon" Tomlin went on. "I thought we might have a fight on our hands, but we've outperformed expectations. Now we go on to a very very tough game against Arsenal where it would be nice to get something. Safety isn't certain yet, but at least now we can look more up the table instead of down"

Tomlin refused to comment on whether he would make a move into the transfer market following the 2 week injury to Paul Devlin.

Rumours are circulating in the media that Nottingham Forest manager Adam Pyke has been involved in a training ground bust up with new goalkeeper Richard Wright.

It is alleged that there was an altertation between the two and they had to be seperated by other squad members.

Nottingham Forest FC have made no statement as yet but this could mean Wright being shipped out only a week after joining the relegation dogged side.

If Wright were to move on, Adam Pyke may make another bid for Sheffield United's Iker Casillas or even launch another big money offer for Coventry's Fabian Carini with Wright moving to either Highfield Road or Brammal Lane.

Pyke has been a keen admirer of both 'keepers in the past and now has the funds to make either keeper his new number 1.

Toon boss Matt Birch made another behind the scenes signing today, snapping up his second BBC celebrity. Following Mrs Jago's appointment last season, Newcastle have appointed David Dickinson as chief scout.

Dickinson: "I'm absolutely delighted to be working with such a cunning manager as Matt Birch and am looking forward to hunting for some good bargains. I've already suggest Matt try and prize away Wimbledon's two antique defenders. Lebouf is an absolute bobby dazzler while we are hoping to land Weir cheap as chips."

Dickinson also commented on the title run in: "I reckon the championship will definately go to the red team..... but what do you at home reckon? Will it be the red's of Liverpool, Arsenal or Man Utd or will the white and blue's of Spurs pull of a shock late surge? Call us on 0800 1234 and let us know. One lucky called may even win a signed copy of my autobiography"

With six games to go until the end of the season Notingham Forest manager Adam Pyke has placed seven players on the transfer list to boost transfer funds and reduce the wage bill.

Wes Morgan, Ian, Taylor, Bobby Zamora, Craig Westcarr, Riccy Scimeca, Pablo Counago and David Johnson are the players who can leave the City ground in order to prepare for Forests imminent relegation to Division 2 next season.

"I'm really sorry to put the lads on the market but money talks in football and we need to get our finances right for next season to avoid slipping into administration and seeing other players leave for next to nothing."

No firm offers have been made yet but as the season draws to a close, managers will be after new blood for next season.

"a magic 4 minutes"

wolves boss imc called for goals and got them!!! imc "the game was over in in a awesome start to the match, watford did well to stem the flow, although i think we took our foot off the pedal after the 1st ten minutes lol" wolves boss went on to say " i havent seen the other results yet but there,s a chance we could go top, at this stage of the season its important we keep our feet on the ground and work hard for every point"

SPURS WIN AT THE DEATH

Edward Tomlin was seen to be fuming at the end of his side's 5-4 win against a hard battling Wimbledon side.

"I can't believe we let a 4-1 lead slip like that. Credit to Joe Cole for getting the winner, but I'm not happy with the performance even if we got the three points. After seeing us battle so hard earlier in the season then lose 3 goals by switching off like that doesn't make me a happy manager. We were playing a good game up to the penalty, then we had to go and spoil it."

Tomlin seems eager to not let his players get into a comfort zone even if they do for the moment seem to be safer from relegation than they might have expected at this stage.

"We face Liverpool next week" as Tomlin ranted on. "If we play like that, we'll get hammered. End of. We don't turn up to get hammered, we showed that against Man U, where we were unfortunate to only get a point. They'll be back in training noon on Sunday, to show that I won't tolerate a bad performance whatever the result."

Tomlin was the last of the Spurs playing and coaching staff to leave WHL after the game, reportedly in his office attempting to sort out a transfer deal.

Gunners run out of Ammo

Arsenal finally found themselves on the backend of a result, falling to a powerful Liverpool side. The Gunners seemed to be in the match, getting scoring contributions from the unlikely boots of William Gallas and Landon Donovan, both scoring early. This was not a sign of a team scoring binge unfotunately. Once again the high-price talent didn't show up for the Gunners. To be fair, this was likely the toughest resistence that the Arsenal strikers has have faced, but that does not account for the measley 4 shots from the boots of Ronaldinho and Harry Kewell combined, Ronnie's total of 3 being a season low. Moreover, last week's major signing, Wayne Bridge, was a major flop in his Arsenal debut, although he had company in the person of Marcus VanBommel, who was only noteworty in his absense of effective play. Manager Gabe Frail may be right that Arsenal are probably just as well to have the streak off their backs, but he had promised that his side would give Liverpool a rough go of it. Although the scoreline was by no means a rout, those watching the match certainly have to question if many of the Arsenal players brought their hearts with them on the pitch.

Frail certainly has a job ahead of him, turning around this recent tide of apathy in the Gunner ranks, and quickly. This may have been Arsenal's first and only loss, but the club only leads the Premiership by 3 points, a single game. Gunners supporters cannot help the sense of Deja Vu, as Arsenal were in similar stead at this point last season. Although the club recovered to march on to a Cup title, a disappointing 4th place League finish has seen a fire under Frail this campaign. The pathetic display of zeal against the Reds must then beg the question whether the current Arsenal players have that same fire. Frail can't wait too long to find an answer before shopping for replacements, lest Arsenal fall prey to last season's fate, and this time without any hardware of any kind.

Landon Donovan has been on the transfer block for most of the season now, yet when his position seems most fragile with Arsenal FC, Donovan steps up his game.

In Arsenal's first loss of the season, Donovan proved to be one of the few highlights for Gunner manager Frail's side. Perhaps this is why loan and transfer talks are continuously being halted by Frail, just when the manager seems ready to sign the young American striker away.

"Frail has had his hand on Donovan's button, so to speak, all season. His reluctence to grab up the possible prizes a deal that Arsenal could obtain for Donovan can be chalked up to the recently-broken unbeaten streak that the his side was having, and the weekly flashes of brilliance that Donovan has shown. I truly believe that Frail is intent, or at least sincere when he is offering Donovan in deals. It's not a power ploy or a mind game that Frail is playing with Landon, but it does appear to be having a positive effect. This is the second league match that has seen Donovan make a scoring contribution when the doors seemed shut on the Arsenal offence. Donovan is worth shopping, but can Frail afford to risk his departure?" said an Arsenal source who wished not to ne named.

Landon Donovan is certainly not the hottest young property in the game, but as Frail has mentioned before, he's the only one being offered around. This is not absolutely true, but realistically speaking, Donovan is the only young striker on the market. The issue that Frail is finding difficult to deal with is that Donovan could probably perform better on a side where he was higher on the depth chart and playing against competition that was considerably less stern. His meager 2 goals and 1 assist in 10 matches could and should be better. Clearly Frail has a decision to make about his young star, however, the difficulty is whether Frail can risk not having Donovan around when the rest of his so-called talent is stymied and he needs someone to save the day.

News is emerging that Nottingham Forest boss Adam Pyke is monitoring the financial dealings of a club in the second division very closely this week as he is planning to launch a large bid for an unnamed player in the region of £10 million.

Mr. Pyke was unavailable for comment but a spokesperson said that he is looking to build for next season as Forest are hot favourites for the drop.

More as as it happens.

Sunderland striker Henry today slammed his team mates as lazy bastards. He was outraged at the end of the chelsea game and has threatened to turn his back on the northeast outfit if they don't start playing to their full potential. So far this season the Mackems have dissapointed fans by not holding on to the leads that Thierry has usually given. Although a few key players have been missing and the squad depth has shown to be the weakness the french striker is adament he will quit the outfit and take his mittens with him if they don't start getting the results they should be. If the team don't buck up they could see this season fade away before them. However still in the cup they could still be after a trophy somewhere.

post match interview

Wolves manager imc was pleased to have another win in the league even though his team played under par imc " it was one of those banana skin games, weve been on a good run lately, so it was very important we focused on the game today, bradford is not the easiest place to come and take 3 points and we had to dig deep to get something out of this game, we rode our luck at times especially in the last 10 minutes or so but thats football"

Coventry Manager Sean Mckeown confirmed yesterday, that he has had several enquiries for his influential midfield duo, P Aimar & O Hargreaves. "Im not going to let two players go for peanuts, they are the backbone of my side, and if a deal is going to be done, then its got to be a significant deal to persuade me to part with these guys. I bought these players when i was manager of Ipswich, and when i came here to Highfield Road, i signalled that these were two players i needed to have in my new side to compete with the best. Aimar is a player that is just at home playing upfront, as he is playing in the centre of the park."

It seems that these two players will remain Coventry players next week, which will please many Coventry City Fan, as they have become firm favourites amongst the terraces.

MCFC released this statement concerning speculation of more transfer movement involving the club. "Even though it is not the policy of MCFC to comment on transfer speculation, we can confirm that we are looking to bring in one more top class defender. We have been in several negotiations with different clubs and we are hopeful something will happen in the next couple of weeks. Of course for the moment those targets shall remain nameless but MCFC are willing to listen to clubs who may be selling quality defenders."