I have always been a big fan of Smithy but he has done absolut ely nowt for the Toon yet

He may come good again or maybe wise old Fergie knew something....?

Hey did you all see what happened today?

Owen scored

Holy shit, Owen scored. Seems like it has been 89 years since he last scored. But serioulsy how long does Keegan last if they keep playing like this?

And great to see Fulham come back to beat Villa. Always good to see Team America win. And McBride is finally back from that horrific injury.

Bullard was making his first start in 16 months for Fulham what a game for him..

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Manchester City will be ordered to buy Portsmouth striker Benjani by the Premier League. However, City will be allowed to renegotiate the £9m fee. (Mirror)

However, City do not want a deal to go through and they are ready to go to court to prove that Benjani is not their player. (The Sun)

Paraguay striker Nelsen Cuevas claims he has signed a pre-contract agreement with Blackburn. (Mirror)

Dutch side AZ Alkmaar are claiming new Middlesbrough striker Afonso Alves is their player and want Fifa to ban him from playing. (Mirror)

Bolton midfielder Blerim Dzemaili wants a loan move. (Mirror)

Arsenal midfielder Alex Hleb is a target for Barcelona, who claim they will meet him this week. (Daily Mail)

Teddy Sheringham's son, Charlie, is to be offered a deal by Danish second division club Fremad Amager after an eight-day trial. (Mirror)


OTHER GOSSIP
Steve Cotterill, Kevin Blackwell and John Gregory have all been interviewed for the managerial vacancy at Southampton. (Mirror)

Former Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld will become the manager of Switzerland next season. (Mirror)

Rangers manager Walter Smith is angry that the Scottish FA has ruled out Wednesday as a Scottish Cup replay date because of international commitments. (Express)

The Scottish FA is set for a U-turn to allow Rangers to play their Scottish Cup replay against Hibernian on Wednesday. (Record)

Rangers are poised to appeal against the red card shown to goalkeeper Allan McGregor in Sunday's Scottish Cup tie against Hibernian. (Various)

Scotland could bid to host the Euro 2012 finals if political instability rules out Poland and Ukraine. (Various)

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee has denied suggestions that he will move to Hearts in the summer. (Record)

Munich remembered

Wednesday 6 February marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash when 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, lost their lives as the team returned from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade.

BBC PROGRAMMES
BBC News and BBC Sport coverage throughout the week on TV, radio and online.

Plus:

Nation on Film - Munich Remembered


Nation on Film - Munich Remembered
Archive footage and powerful personal testimony tell the story of the Munich air disaster 50 years on.
Monday 4 February - 2200, BBC4
Wednesday 6 February - 2200, BBC4
Friday 8 February - 1930, BBC2

Nation on Film - Sir Bobby Remembers Munich
4 February - 2230, BBC2
Munich survivor Sir Bobby Charlton with his Munich memories.

Radio 5 Live
Monday 4 February - 2100
Mark Saggers looks back at the events, telling the story of one of football's greatest tragedies - hearing from survivors, including goalkeeper Harry Gregg and Sir Bobby Charlton... as well as the thoughts of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Radio Four


Sportsweek podcast
Interviews include crash survivor Harry Gregg

Very sad

Yeah, he's got the heart for it. I thought his sending off against Man Utd was amazing; 5-0 down and so fucked off you get a red on 90 for dissent. I think the team in general are suffering from a lack of self-belief, though. All it takes is a few goals. Smith's a better captain candidate than Owen, anyway. Owen's very anxious around the penalty area, and you can clearly see a reluctance to over-stretch himself; he's not the bravest of characters.

In short, Michael Owen should not be a captain for Newcastle. He's not a leader.

I think if Owen had better service, he would obviousley get more goals so he must be lacking in confidence at the moment, nice too see him score on sunday hopefully he will carry it on for England wednesday.

He'll probably break both legs on Wednesday and never play for us again.

Thats normally the case with Owen.

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Manchester City aim to reduce the original fee for Portsmouth striker Benjani but the on-off deal appears to be going ahead on Tuesday. (Various)

Birmingham will open contract talks with midfielder Mehdi Nafti when the Tunisia international returns from the Africa Cup of Nations. (Daily Star)

Chelsea are interested in signing IK Start's Ghana international midfielder Anthony Annan. (Daily Mirror)

Liverpool are set to permanently sign Javier Mascherano. (Various)

Former Lens coach Guy Roux says Daniel Cousin cannot be transferred from Rangers to Fulham because the striker played twice for the French club earlier this season. (Various)

Falkirk striker Pedro Moutinho's £200,000 move to Kayserispor has collapsed ahead of the closure of the Turkish transfer window tonight. (Daily Record)

Crystal Palace have postponed contract talks with Julian Speroni after the Argentine goalkeeper demanded vastly improved terms. (Daily Star)

Sheffield Wednesday will sign on-loan Sunderland midfielder Graham Kavanagh permanently in the summer. (Daily Star)

Nottingham Forest want Watford striker Will Hoskins on loan. (Daily Star)

Craig Armstrong is to rejoin Cheltenham on a free transfer after only five months at Gillingham. (Daily Star)

Kevin Phillips is set to agree a new deal with West Brom. (Various)

Out-of-favour Derby midfielder Bob Malcolm could join MLS outfit Dallas FC. (The Sun)


Back to top

OTHER GOSSIP
New England boss Fabio Capello's first words to his assembled squad were: "I hate losing". The Italian addressed his player by their last names and laid down a number of rules, including banning WAGs. (Daily Star)

Republic of Ireland will offer Giovanni Trapattoni the manager's job with a £1m bonus if he takes them to the World Cup in South Africa. (Daily Mail)

Celtic midfielder Scott Brown will be suspended for the Scottish Cup quarter-final against Aberdeen after being booked against Kilmarnock at the weekend. (Daily Express)


Back to top

AND FINALLY
Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has celebrated becoming the Premier League's highest-paid player by splashing out £4m on a new home. The five bedroom mansion boasts an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, gym, cinema room and media suite. (The Sun)

Hopefully we will get off to a good start tommorow under capello,it's alaways good to get a win under a new managers belt straight away

im going for a 1-1 draw..

3-0 England

England U-21 3-0 Rep of Ire U-21

England virtually assured themselves a play-off to reach the 2009 European Championships with a patient victory.
The hosts broke the Republic's spirited resistance on the hour mark when Stephen O'Halloran deflected James Milner's low cross into his own net.

Andy Keogh wasted three decent close-range chances for the visitors.

And as Ireland tired, the excellent Milner drilled in a low drive from 25 yards, while Theo Walcott sealed the win with a delightful clipped finish.

Stuart Pearce's side now need only a point from their final group game against Portugal to claim top spot and guarantee a play-off place.


England U21: Hart, Gardner, Wheater, Taylor, Mattock, Lennon, Noble (Surman 85), Muamba, Huddlestone (Jerome 79), Milner, Walcott (Johnson 85).
Subs Not Used: Lewis, Mancienne, Moore, O'Hara.

Booked: Wheater, Johnson.

Goals: O'Halloran 60 og, Milner 68, Walcott 78.

Rep of Ireland U21: Randolph, Nolan, O'Cearuill, O'Dea, O'Halloran, O'Toole, Garvan, Quinn (Morris 83), Stokes (O'Brien 87), Clarke (Rooney 65), Andrew Keogh.
Subs Not Used: Supple, Richard Keogh, Dennehy, McFaul.

Booked: Garvan.

Att: 31,473

Ref: Jouni Hyytia (Finland).

And you guys said Theo was over rated.

Some good friendlies tomorrow. Obiviously with you guys and your new coach and us taking on Mexico. Hope we kick their ass again.

3-0 England over the Swiss

2-0 US over Mexico.

I said he was over rated.

Good luck with your game.

Wednesday, 06 February 2008
International Match
Algeria v Belgium,
Austria v Germany, 19:35
Bolivia v Peru, 23:30
Croatia v Holland, 19:30
Cyprus v Ukraine, 16:00
Czech Republic v Poland, 19:30
England v Switzerland, 20:00
FYR Macedonia v Serbia, 16:00
Georgia v Latvia, 20:00
Greece v Finland, 19:15
Hungary v Slovakia, 16:00
Iceland v Armenia, 16:30
Israel v Romania, 18:45
Italy v Portugal, 19:45
Jamaica v Costa Rica, 23:00
Malta v Belarus, 18:45
Moldova v Kazakhstan, 14:00
Northern Ireland v Bulgaria, 19:45
Rep of Ireland v Brazil, 19:45
Slovenia v Denmark, 19:00
Spain v France, 20:00
Turkey v Sweden, 18:30
Uruguay v Colombia, 23:30

Thursday, 07 February 2008
Africa Cup of Nations
Ghana v Cameroon, Semi-Final, 17:00
Ivory Coast v Egypt, Semi-Final, 20:30

International Match
Argentina v Guatemala, 3:30
Honduras v Paraguay, 1:30
USA v Mexico, 2:00
Venezuela v Haiti, 0:30

Owen tipped to be sub for England

Michael Owen is expected to miss out on a place in England boss Fabio Capello's starting line-up for the Italian's first game in charge on Wednesday.

The striker is set to be on the bench for the friendly against Switzerland.

Capello had Joe Cole operating behind Wayne Rooney up front in his final training session on Tuesday.

Matthew Upson joined Rio Ferdinand in central defence, with David Bentley and Ashley Young alongside Owen Hargreaves and Steven Gerrard in midfield.

With David James given the nod in goal, if that line-up took the field on Wednesday, only temporary captain Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole would remain from the team beaten 3-2 by Croatia in Steve McClaren's last game at the helm.

Capello has vowed not to tell his players who is in the team until shortly before they leave their hotel for Wembley on Wednesday afternoon.

Newcastle star Owen, who has scored 40 goals in 88 appearances for his country, has only just returned to first-team action after a succession of injuries.

Young, 22, would be making only his second appearance for the England senior team but he has enjoyed an impressive season with Aston Villa.

606: DEBATE
Who should start for England ?

He would start in the left side of midfield, with 23-year-old Bentley on the right.

The Blackburn Rovers player, who has played twice for England, has long been tipped to fill a role that David Beckham had been hoping to occupy.

But new boss Capello decided the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder would have to wait until he was fully match fit before being given the chance to win his 100th cap.

James appears to have beaten off competition from Villa's Scott Carson and Wigan's Chris Kirkland to start in goal.

The 37-year-old, who has been in tremendous form for Portsmouth this season, will be earning his 36th cap.

In front of him, Upson would be making his first England appearance since coming on a substitute in the 1-0 defeat by Spain in Madrid on 17 November 2004.

And Manchester United's Wes Brown looks to have landed the right-back berth ahead of Micah Richards.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Expected team: David James (Portsmouth), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Ashley Cole (Chelsea); David Bentley (Blackburn), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Ashley Young (Aston Villa); Joe Cole (Chelsea), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

What do you think to stevie G being captain? i think he deserves it he does it well for liverpool

Him or rio would be my captains, i think capello has made right choice.

Not rio mate, i dont rate him

hes still the best c/b in england

i only said that to see what you would say


Where you watching it tonight?

at home

I have had a score on Gerrard first goalscorer,and 30 quid on England 3 nil



I hope they come in!

what are the odds

8/1 for England to win 3 nil

and

13/2 for Gerrard first goal

USA vs. Mexico is always fun here in California with so many Mexicans living here.

I predict USA beats everyone. EVERYONE. By at least 3 goals each.