It is a mystery at how much players are built up before they have even kicked a ball in the Premier League and here is a look at the top ten footballing mysteries that have occurred in the Premier League over the past 20 years.

Click on Mido to unveil the top 10 football mysteries

The Premier League has always been a mixed bag of players and I always welcome witnessing a mismatch on the field whether it is Ramon Vega looking to mark Dennis Bergkamp; Tony Hibbert attempting to shackle Cristiano Ronaldo, or simply Gregorsz Rasiak attempting to take on any Premier League defence; the bad will always play a major part in adding to the excitement of the league.

This current Premier League season has been no different and this is the FIRST PART in my look of  who I consider to be arguably the worst players plying their trade at present:

Click on Stefan Savic to unveil the top 10

The players now call the shots at football clubs and are controlling the contract situations, while parasite agents tout their client out from club to club in order to get a new club or bigger deal. I’m sure this wasn’t Bosman’s intention when he first set out in the courts to fight his right to freedom, but the subsequent change in EU Law has created the beast we are not witnessing now.

A staggering 109 players who were registered for Premier League football are out of contract at the end of this season resulting in many clubs looking to either move them on in the summer or risk making a loss in May. There will be plenty of chances to earn a new contract for the future Bosman players, but having now let their contracts run down to just over six months remaining, perhaps the clubs are eager to get rid of them.

The list of out-of-contract players is not just packed with squad players and bit-part first team members, but star internationals that have brought a lot to the Premier League in the past five years or so.

At the end of last season there was not a huge rush to snap up free signings from the Premier League as there was very little to choose from. Hargreaves, Ba and McFadden were about as glamorous as it got last May but this year a team could be built solely from free signings that could well finish in the top half of the league. A club could spend their whole transfer budget on wages for these players and have a better side than most in the Premier League next season.

Click on Tomas Rosicky to unveil the Bosman XI for 2012

Elsewhere in the news Mancini set to hand Carlos Tevez a lifeline; Bernstein claims the England job is an attractive position, while the HMRC are determined to clean up the game and expose the murky financial side within football.

Sir Alex Ferguson has caused Luis Suarez a disgrace and believes his actions prior to the game at Old Trafford could have incited a riot – Guardian

FA Chairman David Bernstein has claimed that the England job is an attractive proposal and that ‘serious’ managers will be keen to take up the opportunity if it was presented to them – Guardian

Roberto Mancini has suggested that Carlos Tevez still has a role to play at the Etihad Stadium and could feature for City between now and the end of the season – Guardian

The HMRC will not be deterred in their quest to clean the game up and exposed the murky financial side within football – Independent

Roy Hodgson remained coy over his own personal ambitions to take over the England national job – Independent

Kenny Dalglish has implied that media scrutiny has played its part in the ongoing tensions between the two football clubs – Sky Sports

Wayne Rooney has thrown his hat in the ring for the vacant England Captaincy. The United striker will welcome the opportunity and believes he will thrive on it – Daily Mail

Andre Villas-Boas bemoaned Chelsea’s defeat and claimed it was arguably their worst performance of the season – Daily Mail

Tottenham will line up move for Jurgen Klinsmann to replace Harry Redknapp, should he wish to take the reins of England – Mirror

Nicolas Gaitan has put both Manchester clubs on alert by suggesting that he may be leaving Benfica at the end of the season – Metro

Everton have joined Liverpool in the transfer race for Anderlecht striker Dieumerci Mbokani – Metro

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has revealed that he has funds for a big signing, amid reports that the Scot has been told to tighten the belt of the club coffers – Mirror

It is 7pts out of a possible 9 in what has been a tough run of games for United and their current form will certainly put the fear in their title rivals at the top end of the Premier League.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of blogs that include Fergie’s fledglings management reports; blind faith at Old Trafford, while United would have proved the better move for Super Eagle.

Best of FFC

WAG Weekly: Lindegaard’s Stunning Catch

Ravel Morrison: Drinking In The Last Chance Saloon?

In hindsight would Manchester United have proved the better move?

The top TEN Man United Tattoos…well sort of

Spanish Tax ruling may ultimately play into the Premier League’s hands

Fergie’s Fledglings – the management reports are in!

Is blind faith keeping him in the Old Trafford good books?

Dutchman open to United move

Patrice Evra Deserves Better Treatment From Some United Fans – Red Flag Flying High

Audio : Munich Air Disaster – Lost Interviews – 7Cantonas

Stunning comeback masks opportunity lost – United Rant

Podcast: Blogging Reds Discuss Chelsea, Liverpool, Racism & Suarez – The Busby Way

The forgotten man to eventually replace Ferguson – The United Religion

Quote of the Week

“There have never been any concrete contacts with Manchester United. I see everything, I am not blind, but there is nothing concrete right now,”

“I am happy at Inter, but we will see. I currently have no contacts with other clubs and I am living day by day.

“If on the last day of the transfer window an offer had arrived, maybe I would have left.The truth is that I feel at home at Inter, but I do not know where I will play next season,” Sneijder responding to transfer speculation about a potential United move. (Daily Mail)

This Afternoon’s action at Old Trafford

Post Match view

So whether it’s team mates coming to blows, the paparazzi snapping players boozing it up or just stupid and bizarre actions, they make it onto the list. What didn’t make it was the England WAGS from the 2006 World Cup, they reportedly distracted the players during the tournament and although it wasn’t the players misbehaving themselves, they nearly made it into the top ten. Also, quite a few people recommended Cristiano Ronaldo photographed in speedo’s as a criminal activity, but again it failed to make the ten below…..

Click on Gazza below to see the Top TEN!

Compiled by Matt Freebody

Kenny Dalglish excused the treatment of Evra as fine – after all, he was regularly booed as a player, so what’s the difference?

Really it’s about time managers stopped the siege mentality and stopped defending their club’s every action. By defending the club this usually means the players’ actions and the fans’ actions. It seems obvious they won’t criticise the owners- that wouldn’t be a good career move, as Alex Ferguson knows well enough.

When considering  examples of when defending your club goes too far, Dalglish’s conduct over Suarez is  an obvious choice.

Despite Liverpool’s anger over proceedings, surely everyone realised it was time to move on once Suarez returned to action. But not Dalglish, who had to mention the injustice of it all once more in a press conference. The problem with Dalglish is that he is a fan of the club he manages – it runs through his blood, and which of us is happy with criticising the actions of our club when the club is under attack? No, we adopt a siege mentality, and back our team to the hilt.

It seems clear that managers are loath to criticise fans, whatever they do. Even Steve Kean can’t bring himself to do it much. Fans could throw bags of faeces onto the pitch and the manager would probably claim it was a protest at national toilet facilities. Burn down the souvenir store? That’s a term of endearment in Dundee. Now it seems that just being related to the alleged victim of a racial insult is now a crime, and thus appropriate for a “lively” reception from opposition fans. Needless to say, Andre Villas-Boas passed off Rio Ferdinand‘s treatment as normal.

Villas-Boas said: “You don’t expect opposing fans to cheer your players.” He added: “This is a normal situation in the Premier League.” To be fair to Villas-Boas though he did admit such actions were wrong, which was good to hear.
“You have to condemn it when there is discriminatory, aggressive behaviour.”

Managers are loathe to criticise their players either, not surprising considering what delicate souls they tend to be. Hence, managers will regularly critics the actions of opposition players whilst defending identical actions of their own (if they saw it), no doubt adding that the other team’s player was looking for it, and got his player sent off.

Managers rely on the support of the fans of course, so won’t be keen to get on their wrong side. But do they not realise that they may gain more respect from many of their fans of they were honest? Plenty of Chelsea fans would have been disappointed by the booing of Rio Ferdinand, in the same way that many Liverpool fans found the booing of Evra distasteful. Wouldn’t they appreciate their manager saying so?

Part of the problem is, as we saw with Suarez, is that the fans’ behaviour is often shaped by the actions of their club’s hierarchy. This may only make matters worse. And with the modern phenomena of social media, fans have a gateway to the players, to continue their odious behaviour. Thus only yesterday, Manchester City‘s Micah Richards deleted his Twitter account, having finally had enough of racial abuse on the social network. This is a problem that clearly hasn’t gone away as we had hoped. Away from the experiences of Richards and back to Suarez (who it must be reiterated was never accused of being racist), I accept that Liverpool football club and their fans could not accept a ban based not on proof but merely probability, and that they feel aggrieved, and I realise they cannot predict the consequence of all of their actions, but they should realise that keeping the issue bubbling under the surface is only making matters worse, and brings the worst out in a minority of fans. Sometimes you have to accept your fate, and move on.

And as Manchester United and Liverpool go into battle once more, another problem is that of obscene chants, which also begs the question – could clubs do more? If managers spoke out about Munich, Hillsborough or various other songs, could it make a difference? I know clubs have made moves behind the scenes to try and improve matters, but could a more up-front policy bear dividends? Or would they continue nevertheless?

Of course when it comes to criticising their own, not all managers bite their lip. As the pressure tells on Arsene Wenger, he has turned recently on some of the most vociferous fans. The likes of Mick McCarthy too have criticised supporters. I’m all for it. Us fans are generally idiots, happy to dole it out before acting shocked should we get it back, be it off a player or a manager with nothing to lose. But lose the suppor tof the fans, and your days as a manager are numbered. It’s no wonder most managers keep their thoughts to themselves. They’d probably have plenty to say if they could.

As a nation, we think ourselves superior to much of the world in many respects – a progressive, multicultural, well-mannered country that shakes its head and expresses horror at the action of fans and clubs in other countries, where for example the incidents of racism are as common as a swallow dive in the penalty area. Recent events show we aren’t there yet – we still have our problems, be it racism, common abuse, or just acting with decorum and in the right way. Those that represent our clubs have got a duty to help stop those that act appallingly, and occasionally that must involve criticising your own. We’d all be better off for it.

But then comes that controversial, ugly side of football; like a late, late substitution by the opposition you hoped wouldn’t make an appearance, but diving is all too common and certainly takes away from the integrity of the game. In fact, the very mention of integrity in the modern game has become laughable, but that is the situation we’ve come to accept.

Far too many regular divers and conmen line-up for Premer League clubs each week. And it’s not necessarily the fact that you want to get rid of them as players, but rather highlight and eradicate the persistent diving to win one over on the other team. Common, ugly, and with no rightful place in the game.

Click on Didier Drogba to unveil the top 10

Elsewhere in the news Sir Alex Ferguson questions why Liverpool did not appeal the Suarez ban; Arsene Wenger hits out at the rumours regarding Van Persie, while Andre Villas-Boas believes that referees should be made to pay for their errors.

Harry Redknapp claims he is unfazed with the aggro the England job brings with it. The Tottenham manager is the favourite to take the job from Fabio Capello and is fully aware of what the job entails – Guardian

Sir Alex Ferguson has questioned why Liverpool didn’t look to appeal Luis Suarez’s ban if they believed he was innocent of the charges – Guardian

Thierry Henry will return to New York next week after Arsenal failed to extend his loan period at the football club – Guardian

Andre Villas-Boas believes that referees should be made to pay for their errors during games. The Chelsea boss was speaking in light of Howard Webb’s dubious penalty at Stamford Bridge that allowed United back into the contest – Daily Telegraph

Kenny Dalglish believes that the FA should look to Sir Alex Ferguson to take over the reins of the England job vacated by Fabio Capello – Daily Telegraph

Arsene Wenger has hit out of stories coming out of Spain that Real Madrid are preparing a bid for Robin van Persie. The Arsenal boss says the Spanish press like to invent stories and this is another one of those made up ones – Independent

Micah Richards has closed down his twitter account after suffering racist abuse from rival supporters – Daily Mail

Tottenham and Arsenal are set for a transfer battle for the services of Ajax defender, Jan Vertonghen – Metro

Martin O’Neill has revealed that he doesn’t see eye to eye with his opposite number at the Stadium of Light this afternoon. The Sunderland boss says that Wenger has never taken up an offer of a post match drink and isn’t expecting that to change today - Sun

But was there really any real transfer speculation circulating over Deuce’s head during the window of opportunity for many potential suitors? The answer was not really. Clubs seemed far more interested in his injury-plagued strike partner Andy Johnson.

What is more surprising is that when you look closely at Dempsey’s stats, they make for some impressive reading, questioning just why the lack of interest?

Statistics clearly show that Dempsey is the highest scoring American to have played in the Premier League. He currently boasts a tally of 43 goals for the Cottagers. What’s more is that he has struck more goals for the club than any other player in eleven consecutive seasons, and often vacates the left midfield role, failing Martin Jol’s decisions to play him as a centre forward. Still not impressed?

The football public have at times pondered whether an American with such a good pedigree could cut it at a traditional top four club, say an Arsenal or Chelsea. But in five years, no such club has got the cheque book out to acquire his services.

Let us examine his strengths; beside his innate rapping abilities. Dempsey is immensely versatile and has been used on the flanks for most of his Fulham career, but his tall 6ft1 frame has enabled him to hold the ball up well in a centre-forwards role during Bobby Zamora’s absences. It remains to be confirmed whether Dempsey will fulfil this role until the end of the season, as he did in the recent game at City, or whether Russian new boy Pavel Pogrebnyak will fill the void left by Zamora’s move to W12.

Moreover, Clint is highly experienced, winning 82 caps for Jurgen Klinsmann’s Stars & Stripes since his national team debut in 2004, earning a reputation as a hard-working professional with a never say day attitude. Surely traits such as these could be welcomed into the underachieving ranks of fellow Londoners; Arsenal and Chelsea this season?

Current TalkSport pundit Andy Gray told the Fulham Chronicle

“I never feel cheated when I see Clint play, he does it all and works extremely hard for the team”.

If we look back in Premier League history, few American’s have ‘made it’ as such at traditional top four clubs. Failing, Tim Howard’s move to Manchester United back in 2003 where he made 45 appearances, you are hard pressed to find United States internationals at the top end of English football.

American hero Claudio Reyna had a spell at Manchester City, but City have improved into a more established outfit since the start of the 00’s. Elsewhere, Everton have embraced many talents from across the pond including Joe-Max Moore, Brian McBride and currently Landon Donovan. And up the M62 at Bolton, they currently employ Stuart Holden and Tim Ream.

But the question still remains whether Dempsey will one day get a move to a club playing at the elite European level. Clint himself may harbour Champions League ambitions but first he will look to help Fulham battle through the mid-reaches of the Premier League and balance the clubs targets between survival and a top ten finish.

Is Clint good enough to move to a top four club or should he remain at the Cottage? Follow me @http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989