On Sunday a British tabloid reported that Newcastle are preparing a bid for Manchester United's Micheal Carrick. The report went on to say that Carrick is Keegan's top transfer target, and owner Mike Ashley is ready to spend 18 million pounds to land the Newcastle-born midfielder. But I think this report is based on pure speculation rather than concrete facts.

However, if Newcastle DOES manage to lure Carrick to the Tyneside, it will be a great signing for them. The Newcastle team is in free-fall right now and they need new blood desperately. Carrick is a sort of a player that can instantly shore up the midfield and bring creativity in a side that seems utterly incapable of finding their way to goal, even at home. Moreover, he can also play in a defensive role and his tackling has improved immeasurably.

But I don't think Sir Alex Ferguson will be willing to part company with Carrick, even for 18 million pounds. I know that many of United's fans are annoyed with Carrick's inconsistency and want him to be sold as soon as possible. I admit that he is inconsistent, but still, he is a very useful player to have in your squad. When he is at the top of his game, he can dictate a game with ease, spraying passes all over the field that are simply unstoppable. Furthermore, Scholes can't play forever and Hargreaves is very injury-prone. That leaves us with Carrick as the only alternative to partner Anderson in midfield apart from Fletcher, who is not frankly good enough to play first-team football (although his commitment is highly commendable). United should only sell Carrick if, and when, they sign another quality midfielder or any youngster gets promoted to the first-team.

Carrick to Newcastle is a move that has as much chance of materialising as Newcastle finishing in the top six this season. I for one see Carrick remaining at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future.

After months of speculation, Nicolas Anelka(real name Abdul-salaam Bilal) has finally left Bolton. Although he was linked with many clubs,including Manchester United,it is Chelsea who have signed him Manager Avram Grant is delighted that Chelsea have been able to sign their main transfer ,and many think they have pulled off a real coup. The $30 million that Chelsea paid Bolton to secure Anelka's services have made him the most expensive player in history of football.

Anelka's footballing abilities have never been in doubt . He is probably one of the best strikers in the world at the moment, possessing terrific pace and brilliant finishing ability. He is one of those few players that will score 9 times out of 10 in one-on-one situation with the Goal-keeper. He is at equal ease when he plays with a partner or alone upfront. Not only does he score goals ,but he chips in with quite a few assists as well. He had already scored 11 goals for Bolton this season,which is an outstanding achievement considering the fact that Bolton are fighting relegation.

It is Anelka's off-the-pitch antics that have blighted his football career and tarnished his image. He even got the title of 'Le Sulk' when he demanded a move to Real Madrid during his time at Arsenal. But I think Anelka greatly improved at Bolton and he is past his bad-boy days now.

Anelka has said that Chelsea will be his last club. I doubt this statement very much, but there is a great chance that this WILL be Anelka's last shot at the big time. This would be a huge motivating factor for him to do well. It will be interesting to see whether Anelka plays with Drogba. Although they may play together this season, the general feeling is that Drogba will leave Chelsea in the summer and Anelka has been bought to replace him. Regardless of the fact Drogba stays or not'Anelka has the potential to be a hit and other teams should fear his presence at Stamford bridge. He has a crucial role in this season's title race too. if Anelka fires,You can expect Chelsea to push manchester United and Arsenal all the way or the premiership crown.

Chelsea have also completed the signing of 23-year old Serbian defender,Branislav Ivanovic, from Russian outfit Locomotiv Moscow. He ahas already earned 9 international caps and partners Manchester united's Nemanja Vidic in the heart of Serbia's defence. Understandably, Old Trafford was thought to be his next destination. He was even linked with Juventus,Inter Milan and AC Milan,but Chelsea managed to land him in the end.Being a versatile player,He can play all across the defence and in a holding midfield role. In my view, has been bought for the future,with his current role being to provide cover for the first-choice players.This is partly due to the fact that foreign players take at least 6 months to adjust to the premiership. If he turns out to be anything as good as Vidic, Chelsea will have gem on their hands. His arrival will also signal the end of Tal Ben haim's time on Stamford Bridge,and I think the Israeli defender will be off to a mid-table club soon.

Chelsea have shown they are not afraid to keep spending big. Let's see if they take another dip in the transfer market this January.

Last night, Reading gave Manchester United a good contest and managed to keep United at bay for 75 minutes. But then, the inevitable happened and United went ahead. Ronaldo also scored in the stoppage time, ensuring another victory for the Red Devils and maintaining their top spot.

There were two major changes for United in their starting line-up.Hargreaves returned in midfield in place of Anderson, while park replaced Giggs on the left wing. Steve Coppell opted to have a go at United, and Reading had all three of their main strikers, Doyle,Kitson and Lita, in the team.

Coppell's strategy appeared to have succeeded when the first real goal scoring chance went to Kitson but Vidic kept him from scoring.United dominated the next 30 minutes but their finishing let them down and Hahnemann made a stunning save from a Hargreaves free-kick which looked destined for the top-corner. After that, Reading came back into the game and Kitson again had an excellent oppurtunity to score. With Van Der Sar off his line, he unleashed a great shot from range but the back-tracking Ferdinand cleared the danger to save his keeper's blushes.

In the second half, United re-discovered their rhythm, and Reading were forced to play a counter-attacking game. But the Reading defence stood strong and it seemed only a moment of brilliance will break the dead-lock. That moment duly arrived 15 minutes from time. Tevez chipped in an excellent ball into the penalty area which Rooney guided into the net through a deft touch. But there was a nervous finish for United as reading chased an equaliser. James Harper came agonisingly close to scoring, but it proved to be the last chance for Reading to rescue something from the game as Ronaldo scored in the stoppage time to finish a swift counter-attack to ensure 3 points for United.

In my view, most of the credit for the victory should go to the United defence. They managed to thwart all of the Reading's attacks, keeping yet another clean-sheet. Carrick and Hargreaves were quite good but Park looked distinctly average. Rooney managed to score at last, and hopefully, he will go on a scoring run again. Ronaldo looked off-colour as all of his 7 shots were prior to the goal were off-target. But he has taken his seasons tally to 23 goals already and no-one can blame him. United's finishing was poor too, which might persuade Sir Alex to buy another striker in January or in the summer.

After the match Sir Alex said:
"We had a number of chances in last third but we started to worry that we weren't going to get the goal."
"Credit to Reading who never stopped working and really made us work."
"It was a really open match. Our own attacking play wasn't at its best and more care was needed up front. We scored at the right time and held on."

To sum it up, it was a great win for United as Reading are a bit of a bogey team for them and they appear to be on course to retain the title. Now the team heads to Saudi Arabia to play a friendly. The wisdom of such a trip is disputed, and I do hope that there are no injuries to any of our key players during the tour.

Another premiership weekend is nearly upon us. This time, Manchester United travel to the Madejski stadium to face Reading. At this time of the year, all is looking good for United. Top of the table, with no major injury worries, and clashes to look forward to in the Champions League and the FA Cup. United's players have had a week's rest, and they should really up for this game. Although Reading's home form has been quite good, I don't see them getting anything out of this game.

Arsenal face Fulham in a London derby. The Gunners are suffering a little blip right now. They drew with Birmingham last week, and they should have been beaten by Tottenham in the Carling Cup. They are also missing Toure. Not only he is as solid as a rock in defence, he also started quite a lot of their attacks by virtue of his excellent distribution. Therefore I think this match is going to be a lot closer than most people think,but Arsenal will be able to grind out a result in the end.

Chelsea are away to Birmingham, and I see birmingham making it difficult for Avram Grant's side. They got a good result at The Emirates last time around,and this would give them a big boost. But I think Chelsea's superior quality will tell and they will get the 3 points they need from this game. Anelka will make his full debut, and he has a good chance of scoring his first goal for the Blues.

The Monday Night fixture sees Liverpool hosting Aston Villa . This season , Martin O'Neil and his side are realistically chasing the fourth place and they will be extra-motivated for this game. Liverpool are not playing well these days, and it seems doubts sorrounding over Rafael Benitez's future and all the boardroom uncertainity is finally affecting the players. I think this will be a really interesting match, and Liverpool will be victorious in the end, securing Rafael Benitez's future-for now.

This is what I think will happen in all the matches of this weekend.

Birmingham v Chelsea 1-2
Blackburn v Middlesborough 2-0
Fulham v Arsenal 1-2
Portsmouth v Derby 2-0
Reading v Manchester United 1-2
Tottenham v Sunderland 3-0
Newcastle v Bolton 3-1
Wigan v Everton 1-1
Manchester City v West Ham 1-0
Liverpool v Aston Villa 2-1

This is how I did with my predictions last week. Predictions are in the brackets.
Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham (3-0)
Aston Villa 3-1 Reading (2-1)
Bolton 1-2 Blackburn (1-1)
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham (1-1)
Derby 0-1 Wigan (1-1)
Everton 1-0 Man City (1-1)
Man Utd 6-0 Newcastle (4-0)
Middlesbrough 1-1 Liverpool (1-1)
Sunderland 2-0 Portsmouth (1-2)
West Ham 2-1 Fulham (2-0)
I got FOUR results right and ONE perfect score

Newcastle have announced that Kevin Keegan will be their new manager,who is making a dramatic return to management after leaving manchester city in 2005.He is already being regarded as a messiah by the geordie fans. Personally,I think his appointment is a good move by the club as they could not have found any better candidates for the job other than keegan.Also,I think keegan will be able bring some stability to the club and rujuvenate the side. Now I can see Newcastle making a decent finish to the season.Reaction to this remarkable news is certain to follow over the next few days.

Tom Hicks has publicly revealed what many of Football fans have suspected,that he had a meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann in Amearica back in November and offered him the Liverpool manager's job. Klinsmann turned him down,and since then Bayern Munich have announced that he will be their new manager come June.Hicks said that the purpose of thr meeting was to have 'insurance' in case Rafael Benitez left to join Real Madrid or any other club.This meeting is what led to Rafa's infamous outburst against the owners in a pre-match conference in November.This is what Hicks exactly said:

"We attempted to negotiate an option as an insurance policy... if Rafa left for Real Madrid or other clubs rumoured, " Hicks told the Liverpool Echo.

He added: "Or in case our communication spiralled out of control."

"After George and I had our long and productive meeting with Rafa following the Manchester United match, we put all of our issues behind us and received Rafa's commitment that he wanted to stay with Liverpool," said Hicks.

"We never reached agreement on an option with Jurgen, and we are both pleased for him that he has a great opportunity to return to Germany and coach a great club team.
"Rafa has both of our support, and our communication has greatly improved." (source:BBC)

I have no clue whatsoever as to why Hicks chose to inform the press about this meeting.As Alan Hansen has said,maybe he thought the tabloids will get hold of the story soon enough and it would be better to tell the world about the meeting himself. If truth is to be told The Sun did carry a story about the meeting back in november or december. This revelation has seriously undermined Rafa. When an owner offers the manager's job to somebody, it clearly shows he is not confident in the current manager,. I don't care what excuses Hicks mentions,I think what he has done is unethical,outrageous and disrespectful towards Rafael Benitez. I believe he has always intended to,and still plans to, get rid of Benitez. And now this revelation has effectively turned Benitez into a dead man walking. If I was Benitez,I would have left Liverpool now. In any case,I expect Benitez to get the sack by the summer.(I think Benitez and Liverpool should part company also because Liverpool are not playing well and have failed to mount a serious title challenge in the Premier League,but that's another story.)
This season,Premiership clubs' owners and chairmen have shown an alarming degree of impatience withe thier managers. Nine managers have already left thier clubs this season snd I think Benitez is the favourite to be the next one to go.

On Saturday, Manchester United faced managerless Newcastle at Old Trafford. Before the match, I had a feeling that United were playing against the Magpies at just the right time. This is exactly what happened as United notched up an incredible 6 goals a woeful Newcastle defence.

Sir Alex fielded his best available eleven players. Rooney and Tevez started upfront, Giggs and Ronaldo took their positions at either wing and Carrick partnered Anderson in midfield. in defence, O'Shea replaced the suspended Wes Brown.

The Manchester United players took a while to get going which resulted in a goalless first-half. Despite dominating possession, they failed to create many clear-cut chances, making the Newcastle defence look unusually good. United had two good penalty shouts, but I can't blame Rob Styles for not giving them. It was Newcastle who were most hard-done by, as Owen's strike was ruled out due a wrong offside flag.

And Newcastle were made to rue the mistake by the assisstant referee as United turned on the style in the second-half. The Magpies defence was ripped apart countless times, and they had no answer to Man utd's passing and movement. Ronaldo scored from the free-kick to open up the flood-gates.Soon after this,calamitous defending by Jose Enrique and Shay Given allowed Tevez to score an easy goal.A simply sublime foer-man move led to united's third,with Ronaldo showing excellent skill and composure to control Tevez's pass and bury it into the net.Ferdinand volleyed in the fourth,scoring a goal any striker in the world would be proud of.Even after this,United kept up the pressure and Ronaldo got his first-ever hat-trick for the red devils as a deflection carried his shot past Given. Tevez rounded the scoring,when the linesman correctly judged that his shot crossed the line.Alan Smith did not agree,and the ref gave him a straight red when he foolishly confronted the referee.

Man Utd scored six when they could easily have scored beyond ten.Newcastle cleared the ball off the line four times and I lost count of united'ds total Goal scoring oppurtunities. Towards the end of the match,it was like men against boys,professionals against amateurs and a Premiership club against a pub team. Such one-sided matches are rare,and you really enjoy if the dominating team is the team you support.

Needless to say,Ronaldo was absolutely brilliant in the match,taking his tally of goals to 22 for the season.Also,it is good to see that Tevez's finishing is up to the mark.It is interesting to note that Roonry failed to score,but I think he will go on a scoring run soon enough.All in all,it was an awesome,breath-taking display of beautiful football by man utd.(That which othe football owners and managers crave for,most notably, Roman Abramovich).

As far as Newcastle is concerned,they need to appoint a manager as soon as possible and bring in a few players in the transfer window. If they don't improve their game, I think they have an outside chance of being relegated.

To cap off a wonderful weekend for United, Arsenal vould only manage a draw against Birmingham. (I think that the Gunners took Birmingham lightly, and missed their defensive stalwart Toure, who has gone for AFCON). After this performance, United should be able to hold on the first spot for some time, if not until the end of the season.

Premiership is back again this weekend and the most high-profile match sees Tottenham visiting Chelsea.I think Spurs have a real chance of causing an upset this time around, and a draw looks the most likely result to me.But I would not not bet against Anelka scoring the winner for the blues.Manchester United face Newcastle at Old Trafford when the Magpies are in all sorts of trouble.I fancy United to dish out a bashing to a very poor Newcastle side.Arsenal have an easy game against Birmingham City and whatever side the Gunners put out,it will be just too strong for Birmingham.Liverpool have a tricky trip in prospect to the Riverside to play Middlesborough,who always seem to raise their game against the 'Big Four'.Liverpool are not in any sort of great rhythm and I feel Boro have a real chance of getting a draw.This is what i think will happen in all the 10 games of the premier league being played this weekend.

Arsenal v Birmingham 3-0
Aston Villa v Reading 2-1
Chelsea v Tottenham 1-1
Derby v Wigan 1-1
Everton v Manchester City 1-1
Boro v Liverpool 1-1
West Ham v Fulham 2-0
Manchester United v Newcastle 4-0
Sunderland v Portsmouth 1-2
Bolton v Blackburn 1-1

On New year's day, Manchester United defeated Birmingham, thanks to an amazing goal by Carlos Tevez. But United's performance was not up to the mark' and Birmingham had many chances to equalise. Fortunately, they did not have their shooting boots on. West Ham failed to do to Arsenal what they did to United, and the Gunners ran out comfortable winners at the Emirates. Fulham continued their wretched season as they were beaten by Chelsea at Craven Cottage. Most surprisingly, Wigan managed to hold Liverpool to a draw at Anfield. Torres gave Liverpool the lead, but incredibly, Titus Bramble equalised near the end, to end Liverpool's title challenge once and for all.

Here are all the results, and my predicted results are in the brackets.

Fulham 1-2 Chelsea (2-2)

Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea (3-2)

Manchester United 1-0 Birmingham (4-0)

Middlesborough 0-2 Everton (1-1)
Reading 0-2 Portsmouth (1-1)

Aston Villa 2-1 Tottenham (2-2)

Newcastle 0-2 Manchester City (1-1)

Bolton 1-0 Derby (3-0)

Liverpool 1-1 Derby (3-0)

Blackburn 1-0 Sunderland (2-0)
I got FOUR results right.

Its FA Cup weekend now, so do not miss the magic of the cup.

Manchester United have surprised everyone by signing a 24-year old Angolan striker who goes by the name of Manucho Goncalves. Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed his signing in a pre-match press conference and he will join up with his team after the African cup of nations.

Manucho has been the top-scorer of the Angolan league for the past two seasons. In addition, he has already won a handful of international caps, scoring 2 goals for his country. United were made aware of his talents through Carlos Queiroz's contacts and subsequently United took him on trial for 3 weeks. He is said to have impressed the United staff and officials during the trial and therefore, a 3 year deal was offered to him which was accepted. He adds to the Portugese-speaking
contingent among the United players. According to Manucho, Ronaldo and Nani have already been of great assistance for him in his time at United so far.

As far as his contribution to the team is concerned, I don't think he will feature too much, if at all this season. This is because foreign players take at least 6 months to adjust to the English game. Next season, he may replace the injury-prone Louis Saha. Sir Alex has described him as being a tall, agile striker. Therefore, I think he might not be the finisher United fans have been crying for. He sounds more like a striker with a physical presence in the penalty area and good aerial ability. If he turns out to be anything like Drogba, I will be quite pleased. Having said that, Manucho's signing is a gamble by United and only time will tell if this gamble will pay off.

These days the biggest news is Berbatov's likely departure from Spurs. I think United will be a great destination for him as his type of is what United lacks now; a quality finisher. But I do think Berbatov's signing in this transfer window by United will be more of a luxury than a necessity and he looks more likely to join Chelsea or any European team.

Alan Hutton of Glasgow Rangers was also linked with United last weekend. He is a quality right-back who is brilliant in attack as well. He has earned rave reviews for his performances this season, especially his outstanding display against Barcelona in the Champions League and looks set for a move away from Scotland. With Gary Neville' continuous injury problems and Wes Brown's possible departure, United's right-back slot is up for grabs. Hutton has the potential to be a Neville's long-term successor at United, but let's see if Sir Alex is willing to take him on.