Aidan McCartney @aidan-mccarthy ?

The entertaining comeback against Colchester as of a week ago meant Crewe made the short journey to Shrewsbury full of optimism that the corner had been turned in the search for the elusive consistency that had undermined the season so far. The Colchester victory made it 2 wins out of 2 and over 1,000 fans who [...]

He’s probably more famous for falling out with a procession of managers but perennial loan man Leon Clarke is currently doing his talking on the pitch. Once again out on loan, this time at Scunthorpe United, the 27-year-old heads the League One goalscoring charts with ten goals in his 12 appearances at Glanford Park. The loan-move [...]

Chelsea will have to include Fernando Torres in any deal to bring Atletico Madrid star Radamel Falcao to Stamford Bridge, according to the Daily Star. The Champions League winners want the Colombian marksman to head up their new look attack but the Spanish club require Torres in exchange who they view as a ready-made replacement as they challenge Barcelona for [...]

Liverpool are preparing a bid for Dutch international striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after it was revealed the Schalke 04 striker may be available for a bargain £6m. According to the Sunday People , Brendon Rodgers is planning to take advantage of his current contract dispute with the German club to try and bring the clinical striker to Anfield. [...]

Spurs have suffered a setback in their pursuit of Ajax star Toby Alderweireld after being told they would have to pay a ‘super fee’ to secure his signature, reports Sky Sports. Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas is searching for another centre-back and was very keen to reunite the defender with Jan Vertonghen who played alongside Alderweireld at Ajax. [...]

Arsenal outcast Andrey Arshavin may be offered an escape route by Premier League new boys Reading in January, according to Sky Sports. The Gunners are desperate to remove Arshavin’s sizeable wage package from the club and Arsene Wenger made it clear recently that he was no longer part of the first team. Reading have found life back [...]

Ryan Giggs future at Manchester United looks uncertain after the club put back contract talks with the long serving midfielder until the end of the season, reports Goal.com. The United legend was set to start talks about renewing his existing one-year rolling contract within the next month but it is now understood that officials at the club will [...]

Manchester City are lining up a shock move for Brazilian superstar Neymar in the summer, according to Mirror Football . Roberto Mancini will request funds to initiate the transfer when he meets his new director of football Txiki Begiristian later this week. Despite the interest across Europe for the Santos wonderkid, the Citizens may have an distinct advantage [...]

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew believes that his side are more than capable of coming away with a win against a ‘vulnerable’ Liverpool side at Anfield today. The Magpies chief claimed that despite the Reds going in as favourites for the tie, the huge change in the side implemented by new boss Brendon Rodgers had damaged [...]

Arsene Wenger has labelled the dismissal of Jack Wilshere for second bookable offence during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday as a naive decision. The midfielder, who has just returned from an season-long injury layoff, was booked early in the first half for a poor tackle on Tom Cleverley. He then was fortunate to be given [...]

Manchester United forward Robin Van Persie has claimed that respect for his former side prevented him celebrating his goal during yesterday’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford. The Holland ace opened the scoring after just three minute when a mistake by Thomas Vermaelen gave him the chance to slot the ball past Vito Mannone in [...]

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has lamented his side’s performance on Saturday as they crashed to an embarrassing defeat to Wigan at White Hart Lane yesterday, reports  talkSPORT. Spurs went into the match on the back of a rich vein of form having won five of their previous six Premier League matches, but a disappointing display meant Wigan left [...]

Millionaire Premier League footballers just don’t seem to have the time to get a half decent haircut. In the last 20 years there have been some shocking efforts and Joey Barton, who probably thinks it is a useful mode of expression, started the season in fine form with an appalling attempt of his own last weekend. [...]

After failing to take the optimism generated by the win over Hartlepool down to the south coast where Crewe saw a heartless surrender to Portsmouth by way of another 2 early goals, a commodity that had marred defeat to MK Dons, even the Hartlepool win before it occurred again at Walsall to suggest quick-fire lapses were [...]

Liverpool are considering a £7m swoop for Newcastle striker Demba Ba in their attempt to bring a top-class striker to the club in January, reports  The Daily Mail . The Reds were already looking short in the attacking department after letting Andy Carroll join West Ham on-loan for the season but the situation worsened this week with the [...]

Roberto Mancini has turned his attentions to Malaga midfielder Isco after cooling potential moves for Radamel Falcao and Steven Jovetic, according to Goal.com The Spanish starlet has a relatively low £16.9m release clause which makes the youngster an attractive proposition for Manchester City  during the January window. It appears that City have baulked at the £48m needed to bring [...]

Arsenal are ready to replace contract rebel Theo Walcott with Atletico Madrid’s Adrian Lopez according to the People . The 24-year-old Spaniard netted 18 times last season and will be available for a reasonably cheap £15m given a buy-out clause in his current contract. Similarly to Walcott, Lopez has been forced to spend most of the season on [...]

Aston Villa are preparing to sell Darren Bent in January as his disagreement with manager Paul Lambert intensifies, reports Mirror Football. A whole host of Premier League sides will be alerted to the availability of the England striker who has been repeatedly left on the bench and stripped of the captaincy at Villa Park by Lambert. Villa’s [...]

Newcastle will not lose strike pairing Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba to 2013 African Cup of Nations duty in January after Senegal failed to qualify for the tournament. It will be a relief for Alan Pardew who faced the prospect of losing both of his main strikers for up to six weeks in January and February especially with [...]

Roy Hodgson will consider making Wayne Rooney England’s permanent captain of the future after his positive all-round display against San Marino reports T he Telegraph . Rooney’s double took him past Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse and Alan Shearer into fifth place in England’s all time scoring list but it was his composed leadership which stood out. The 26-year-old Manchester United forward was [...]