I decided to write this piece after the dust had settled over a pitiful transfer window that failed to prompt the excitement of last year’s winter bonanza. However what gripped me were the transfers that didn’t transpire as clubs eagerly sought to boost their squads for the second half of a gruelling campaign. Keane’s decision swap Hollywood and return to familiar surroundings in the Midlands was one that caught my eye. I questioned the reasons as to why McLeish felt he needed to bolster his attacking options despite having Gabriel Agbonlahor, Darren Bent and Emile Heskey to pick from at Villa Park. After doing a tiny bit of research into the trio’s goal scoring exploits it turns out the Villa boss’ motives for signing the 31-year-old were all too clear. Agbonlahor, Bent and Heskey had only managed to muster a measly 14 goals between them this season. All three are vastly experienced top flight forwards who have consistently under performed in the first half of a disappointing campaign for Villa and that has prompted McLeish to bring Keane in to add a dash of extra knowledge in the final third. Whilst some may have questioned the decision to sign Republic of Ireland’s all time top scorer following an atrocious loan spell at West Ham the 53-year-old has already reaped the benefits of Keane’s predatory prowess after watching him put Wolves to the sword on his full debut.

That led me to beg the question as to why other clubs yearning for a proven goal scorer seemingly passed up on the opportunity to snap the former Tottenham striker up prior to his move across the pond to LA Galaxy. Clubs like Bolton, Sunderland and Wigan have all lacked a natural predator in the final third and are crying out for a player of Keane’s ilk. Yet they all opted to look elsewhere in their quest to sign a centre forward leaving the one time Inter Milan hit man at a crossroads. There is a thought that his hopeless stints at Liverpool and West Ham have tainted his once illustrious reputation causing many football managers and chairmen to consider him washed up. His big money move to Anfield in 2008 set the ball rolling on Keane’s decline and within six-months he was back at Spurs where he failed to recapture the form that saw him score over 100 goals in six-years during his first spell at White Hart Lane. Two consecutive January loan spells followed with Keane scoring goals for fun whilst at Celtic in 2010 and then failing to prevent West Ham’s demise in 2011 as they dropped into the Championship. It’s the underwhelming period at Upton Park that has had a cataclysmic effect on his reputation as a proficient  top flight forward. Admittedly Keane’s performances at the Hammers were well below par and a majority of the time he didn’t look interested in playing at all. From my point of view it looked as if he was no longer able to cope with the rigours of Premier League football.

Unfortunately that, coupled with his excessive wage demands, left clubs unwilling to take a chance on him during the summer and a move to America soon followed once it became apparent his first team opportunities at Tottenham would be non-existent. However whilst many players see the MLS as one last hurrah before retirement it seems to have ignited the fire in Keane’s belly once again. With a desire to prove his doubters wrong a loan move to Villa soon ensued and his stunning return to top flight football will have caused many an eye to widen and mouth to resemble a black hole of disbelief. Watching him zip around Molineux striking fear into the hearts of Wolves’ beleaguered back four and looking like the player he was five years ago and was a far cry from the man who was considered a failure 12 months ago. It’s clear that Keane has come back to prove a point and Villa’s boldness and willingness to give him a platform to do that should see him turn out to be one of the better signings the transfer window has thrown up.

At 31-years of age he is coming into the twilight years as a forward and seems to have rediscovered his verve for playing again. The managers and chairmen that wrote him off did so at their own peril and will now surely fear the repercussions.

FREE football app that pays you CASH

James Forrest is looking to stay at Celtic this month despite interest from Tottenham, says Sky Sports.

It’s been confirmed that Harry Redknapp is an admirer of the Celtic winger and was looking at the possibility of bringing the 20 year old to White Hart Lane.

Forrest has, however, expressed his desire to remain in Scotland saying, “It’s obviously good to hear, but it doesn’t bother me.

“The main thing is I want to keep playing well for Celtic. I am not thinking about it, we’ve still got the second half of the season to go with Celtic.”

Harry Redknapp is thought to be looking to add to his squad as Spurs continue their charge on the Premier League title alongside Manchester City and Manchester United. (TalkSport)

James Forrest is likely on a shortlist of players Redknapp has earmarked for the future, alongside Lazio striker Mauro Zarate, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan, according to reports in the Daily Mail today.

Forrest has an impressive six goals and four assists in 23 league games for Celtic this season and has been described as the best player to come out of the team’s academy since Aiden McGeady.

Second Division side Arbroath entertained Rangers while Peterhead of the Third Division welcomed league leaders Celtic to Balmoor. The matches epitomised the fairytale of the cup and everybody that is not a fan of either Glasgow side would have been hoping for an upset. It wasn’t to be as the Glasgow sides won 4-0 and 3-0 respectively but watching these sides compete was magnificent.

With both sides miles ahead in the Scottish Premier League like they are every season and progressing in the cup, it is almost guaranteed that the trophies will end up with one of these two teams. And it is this total domination that again brought up the debate of whether the Old Firm should be invited to play in the Premier League instead. Rather than pitting their wits against teams that are part-time or have inferior wealth and support they would be playing against the two Manchester sides and other major continental footballing forces.

It has been an idea that has been suggested on a number of occasions and gets batted around before it falls away again but I can’t help feeling that one day it will become a reality. If the Old Firm want to continue playing north of the border they will carry on winning trophies but if they want the challenge of playing against the best clubs week-in, week-out, then a move to the Premiership will happen sooner rather than later. And when that day comes, I can only see the Old Firm regretting their decision to join.

Between the two sides they have won 96 league titles and the trophy hasn’t been won by a team outside of Glasgow since the 1984-85 season. It is pretty much certain that they will be the top two in the SPL every year because their resources and their larger budgets which allow them to bring in much better players than the other clubs. With that they have a shot of European football each term and Rangers even reached the UEFA Cup final in 2008.

The fans are some of the most passionate in world football and it would be brilliant to include them in the Premier League for that. The opportunity to play at Ibrox and Parkhead every year would be great for the other teams in the league. They are formidable teams and have been so dominant in Scotland that a new challenge may be good for them.

However, English football will be far more competitive because the other clubs will be able to compete with them in the transfer market, whereas big money signings in Scotland only go to Rangers or Celtic. Competing with the likes of Manchester United, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham for European places will be extremely difficult because the Old Firm do not have the funds or the players to compete at the top of the league. They will attract some of the biggest crowds each week but they cannot afford to spend £20 million on a player or offer £100,000 a week wages either. Because of that they would not be given the chance to play in Europe so there would be even less money available and they would be unable to attract players that would normally want to come to their club.

The clubs also have squads that would struggle in the Premier League, regardless of their obvious success in Scotland. Despite reaching the UEFA Cup final less than five years ago, they regularly struggle in Europe, with Celtic being knocked out in the group stages of the Europa League but only after being reinstated into the competition when FC Sion, who had knocked them out in the qualifying round, were expelled for fielding ineligible players. At the same time, Rangers were knocked out of both European competitions in the qualifying stages. Last season the Gers did make the last 16 in the Europa League but it doesn’t set the world alight.

Both sides have players that are capable of playing at the top of the Premier League. Celtic have Emilio Izaguirre, Beram Kayal and Joe Ledley while Rangers have Allan McGregor, Nikica Jelavic and Steven Naismith who are all magnificent players but there are also a number of first-team players at these clubs who would struggle to get a place in any Premiership team. Many of the players that move from England to the SPL come from the Championship such as Gary Hooper, David Healy and Kris Commons. They are still good players but it would not see them challenging high in the top-flight as they would hope. They would be found out very quickly so drastic changes would be needed to bring them up to speed in their new league.

Although the quality of Scottish football would fall dramatically without its two biggest and most successful teams it would be a great coup to bring the Old Firm to the Premier League. Despite teams facing long journeys to Glasgow twice a year they would be a great acquisition to the league but after constant success for the teams, a move would spell much tougher times for them and in their current situation I cannot see them succeeding. There is more fierce opposition here, there is more money at the other clubs and those at the top of the tree are much better equipped to challenge for trophies.

It would be good to regularly face up to the Old Firm in the league but I think the idea should be shelved for a while.

Would you want the Old Firm in England? And would they succeed? Comment below or tell me on Twitter @jrobbins1991.

FREE football app that pays you CASH

They gave their sides something special and they were a major influence on their sides success. Their former teams are crying out for a player with their ability to come and save them now and fans will be wishing they could call on these greats.

Click on Tugay to unveil the top 10

To sum up the horrors I have seen, even David Beckham would struggle for sex appeal in these…oh who are we kidding? The guy would easily pull off Tiger stripes.

Click on Stade de Francais to see the worst 20 kits of our time

List compiled by Dan Blazer

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have expressed an interest in Macclesfield Town young central defender George Whiteoak, according to the Daily Mirror.

The 16-year-old centre back has been the main attraction in the Silkmen’s under 18’s this season and he has apparently been watched by scouts from Liverpool, Spurs and Celtic. Harry Redknapp is keen to add Whiteoak to his youth system as a possible long term replacement to Ledley King.

Kenny Dalglish has already added youngsters to the Liverpool academy and is looking for that to continue with the addition of Whiteoak. Some of the best youngsters in Europe have been attracted to Merseyside since King Kenny’s return and he clearly cares about the long term ambitions of the Reds.

Spurs and Liverpool will be confident of giving the youngster a chance at the big time and Whiteoak is likely to be keen on moving to such illustrious clubs. Celtic manager Neil Lennon is also interested in the Town defender as financial difficulties surround Celtic; blooding youngsters is now the main attention for the Hoops.

Macclesfield Town youth team boss John Askey said: “He’s already attracting a lot of interest, so we’re delighted to have him here at the football club.”

The 38-year-old’s brother Donny will play a footballer who makes the mercurial rise from amateur football to Premier League player, with the team manager being played by Billy Elliot’s Gary Lewis.

McNamara told the BBC: “They were just things I had in my mind for a long time, playing football,”

“I think a lot of players had a lot of stories over the years and it’s just my way of putting them into a comedy and making characters up.

“Some people go and do a book or an autobiography. This is my way of doing things.”

With the ex-Celtic player’s decision to try his hand at TV writing, we look at other possible football related TV shows.

Monitoring Mario

Following the life of the world’s most entertaining footballer, this show would always be worth a watch. It could be a reality TV show although it may be better as a sitcom because nobody would believe that someone would do the outrageous things that have now become a regular occurrence.

The biggest problem would be where to begin. Wearing the shirt of your biggest rivals? Holidaying on a boat owned by the Italian mafia? Throwing darts at a youth team player? Or setting off fireworks in your own bathroom?

This show would definitely become a guilty pleasure.

Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner- Carlos Tevez

With the striker now seemingly on strike after refusing to return back to Manchester, his hideaway antics resemble the Looney Tunes cartoon. Despite the best efforts of the City, they just cannot catch the Argentine who looks like he is totally unaware of the furore surrounding him. Like Wile E. Coyote they know where to find their prey, but catching him is a totally different task.

I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here- Manchester City

The club has such a vast array of talent that outside of the first team there are a lot of unhappy players not getting a game. Many of them will want to leave and what better way than making them do ridiculous tasks and voting one out at the end of each week. It’s much easier than finding someone to pay their wages and the transfer fee.

Boot of Fortune- Manchester United

A show to kick-off Saturday nights, the players enter the changing room where a pile of kit is lying in the middle. A boot is randomly placed in their before the boss arrives and viewers can ring in to place bets on who will be the unfortunate victim to receive a stud to the face. One kick, one recipient, one prize, one winner. Definitely better than the Cube.

1 v 100- Chelsea

Villas-Boas thinks that referees have it in for his team, so in a twist to the pre-lottery show the Scot would face 100 officials and answer a series of questions based on these situations. May well turn into Jerry Springer after a few differences in opinion.

Mr Benn- Emmanuel Adebayor

The Togo international walks into the local JJB Sports and the moustachioed shop assistant hands him a football shirt. He walks into the changing room and is transported to the board room of a different ground and a contract is in front of him to sign. The adventure continues as he joins the team and continues until he gets bored and visits another JJB store to begin the next episode. Loosely based on real life.

Managerial Merry-go-round

Another game show for any manager in-between jobs. They sit on the traditional fairground ride which then begins to spin. A post bearing a contract for an available manager’s position is put up at the opposite end of an obstacle course. The contestants must get from the ride, across the course and be the first to reach the contract.

To comment on this follow me @jrobbins1991.

10) Ajax v Feyenoord

The most heated fixture in Dutch football is one spurred on between class differences of two cities a mere 30 miles apart.

Amsterdam’s cosmopolitan image is reflected in Ajax’s fluent brand of football whilst near neighbours Feyenoord carry the look of its port district labour image.

Ajax and Feyenoord have dominated Dutch football alongside PSV Eindhoven, yet ‘Der Klassieker’ is by far the most fiercely contested match in the Eredivisie.

The contrast in image is illustrated by the contrasting homes of each team, with Ajax’s uber-modern Amsterdam Arena in stark contrast to the traditional and hostile atmosphere of Feyenoord’s De Kuip stadium, yet both clubs grounds have been littered with scenes of crowd trouble for years.

In 1997 an Ajax fan was killed after pre-arranged ‘battle of Beverwijk’ – an Amsterdam suburb -  which led to a banning order of away fans from the fixture.

Once the ban was lifted, incidents continued to occur and in 2004 Feyenoord’s Jorge Acuna was hospitalised after being attacked by an intruding Ajax fan.

Last season the Dutch authorities agrees to once again impose an ban on visiting support but those measures are unlikely to dilute the hatred of these two sworn foe’s.

9) Roma v Lazio

The Italian capital’s two clubs not only share a city but a stadium meaning meetings between the pair become tribal, with each claiming spiritual ownership of the site.

Again, the tensions were pre-cursed by supposed divides along political and social lines with Lazio apparently the club of the social elite, whilst Roma were the team of the Romany’s.

The Derby della Capitale is notorious for being Italy’s fieriest clash with Lazio’s notorious fascist ultras regularly bearing arms to Roma’s far-right facets.

Like so many city derbies, the proximity of one another’s support lends to widespread conflict outside of the ground and the spacious nature of the Stadio Olimpico does nothing to temper tensions inside.

The first ever recorded fatality in Italian football came about thirty years ago during the Rome derby and scores of incidents since have marked this out to be one of Europe’s most fractious encounters.

During a game in 2005, Roma’s ultras forced a game to be abandoned midway through after rumour spread that police had killed a supporter and the two sets of ultras became involved in a barbarous brawl which resulted in almost 200 police officers being injured.

The Derby della Capitale remains arguably Europe’s most vicious mainstream derby.

8. Manchester United v Liverpool

These two are England’s most successful clubs and the fate of the cities football teams significantly plays its part in an inter-city rivalry which has been brooding since the Victorian industrial age. Manc’s don’t like Scousers. Scouser’s don’t like Manc’s. End of.

Both clubs claim to be the greatest English club and both have had ample opportunity to taunt the other during periods of success and failure.

Liverpool outshone United for large parts of the 70’s and 80’s much to the envy of United and United’s subsequent success during the 90’s and beyond has caused similar resentment on Merseyside.

The clashes between the pair are by far and away the most feverish of the English top flight calendar and even thought the safety and segregation of grounds limits terrace trouble, the hostilities frequently are taken out on the turf.

The 20-year-old is one of Scotland’s top young talents and has been on Redknapp’s radar for months and is now poised to make a bid and test the SPL giants resolve to hold onto him when the transfer window reopens at the start of next year.

Spurs’ chief scout Ian Broomfield has already been sent to Parkhead to run the rule over £10 million-rated Forrest during the Bhoys’ game against Hibernian on Saturday and was impressed by what he saw.

It’s now thought that the North London club are weighing up a bid worth £7 million with a view to bringing him to White Hart Lane despite the winger having two and a half years left on his contract.

Boss Neil Lennon is reportedly set to fight tooth and nail to keep his prized asset north of the border despite Forrest’s ambition to play in the Premier League.

Lennon was full of praise for the Scottish international after the 0-0 draw with Hibs although that is unlikely to keep him at the club with the lure of playing England likely to see him leave in January.

The Mirror claim the highly-rated young South Korean midfielder could make the move to Anfield for around £5 million. Celtic signed Ki Sung Yeung from Japanese first division side FC Seoul for £2.1 million in December 2009 and he has gone on to establish himself as a key member of the Celtic first team.

The 22 year-old has caught the eye of several Premier League teams with his performances for the Scottish side over the past year and it seems Liverpool are ready to act swiftly, as they look to pip their rivals with an offer for the talented midfielder in January.

Ki, dubbed the ‘South Korean Steven Gerrard’, has been impressive in the Scottish Premier League and he has become a fans’ favourite at Parkhead. Ki has made 45 appearances for Celtic since his move in 2009, scoring 6 goals.

Ki Sung Yeung made his international debut at the age of 19 and now, at just 22, he has 44 caps for the South Korean national team, scoring 5 goals for his country. Ki was a member of South Korea’s World Cup squad, making three appearances in South Africa.

It appears Celtic may be powerless to stop the midfielder from moving on if he feels the lure of the Premier League is something he can’t turn down, especially since several of his fellow countrymen currently ply their trade there.

If Ki was to make the move to England he would become the fifth South Korean player in the Premier League, joining Manchester United’s Ji Sung Park, Arsenal’s Park Chu-Young , Bolton’s Chung Yong-Lee and Sunderland’s Dong-Won Ji .

Article courtesy of Tariq Saleh from the Transfer Tavern