Emmanuel Adebayor have threatened to quit Manchester City if big-spending manager Roberto Mancini doesn’t play him regularly this season.

Adebayor had been left on the bench for City’s opening two league matches this season before returning to the team for Thursday’s Europa League victory against Timisoara.

The former Arsenal star may be back among the substitutes when City travel to Sunderland on Sunday, especially if new signing Mario Balotelli recovers from a knee injury.

Adebayor is not ready to be consigned to a bit-part role for the rest of the campaign and is willing to consider a transfer if the right club comes in for him.

Craig Bellamy has already moved to Cardiff on loan after losing his place, while Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz also look set to leave as Mancini’s spending spree forces out a host of big-name players.

“The season is going to be very long and very difficult for myself,” Adebayor told Talksport. “I’m a footballer and have to keep going and not give up. I need to keep fighting for myself and enjoying my football.

“If you’re in a team and you’re not playing, and there is a team that comes in for me, then I will definitely be on my way out because I’m a footballer and I love playing.

“So if I don’t have a chance to play here there will be a lot of chance to play somewhere else. If they force you out then you always have to follow your destiny.”

Source + Pic: sport24.co.za

The Reds have paid 14m euros (£11.5m) for the 27-year-old who has 38 caps for Portugal.

The Portuguese is a combative player and is seen as a natural replacement for Javier Mascherano, who is poised to complete a move to Barcelona.

“Liverpool are a historic club and I am happy for the move. Roy Hodgson was key because he worked so hard to get me,” Meireles told the Liverpool website.

“It has been a long time coming but finally I have achieved my dream of playing in England.”

Meireles has joined Milan Jovanovic, Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, Jonjo Shelvey and Danny Wilson in moving to Anfield this summer.

He played in all four of his country’s games at the 2010 World Cup finals – Portugal succumbed to eventual winners Spain in the last 16 in South Africa.

In six years at Porto, the former Boavista and Aves player won four Portuguese league titles.

Reds boss Roy Hodgson has swooped for Meireles after the Anfield club agreed a fee, believed to £17.25m, with Barca for Argentina captain Javier Mascherano.

Hodgson’s midfield options have been further depleted by the departure of Italian Alberto Aquilani to Juventus on a year-long loan deal.

Meanwhile, Hodgson is also believed to be on the verge of taking left-back Paul Konchesky from his previous club Fulham, and has been strongly linked with moves for PSV Eindhoven’s Swedish striker Ola Toivonen.

Source + Pic: liverpoolfc.tv

Villa, who saw Martin O’Neill quit as coach on the eve of the Premier League kick-off and James Milner sold to Manchester City, were beaten 3-2 by Rapid Vienna in their play-off second leg.

That gave the Austrians a 4-3 aggregate win to follow up their victory over the Midlanders in last season’s tournament.

Villa twice led on Thursday and also missed a penalty as they joined the Scottish trio of Celtic, Dundee United and Motherwell in being forced to write off their European hopes for another season.

Liverpool and Manchester City were left as Britain’s only representatives in Friday’s draw for the group stages of Europe’s second tier tournament.

Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool overcame a disastrous start to score twice in the last seven minutes to defeat Trabzonspor 2-1 for a 3-1 aggregate victory while City saw off Timisoara of Romania 2-0 at home for a 3-0 triumph. At Villa Park, Gabriel Agbonlahor gave Villa an early lead but Vienna hit back through Atdhe Nuhiu.

Emile Heskey then restored Villa’s lead with 13 minutes remaining after Stiliyan Petrov had missed a penalty.

But Mario Sonnleitner headed Vienna level a minute later before substitute Rene Gartler put the visitors through in the 81st minute.

Playing without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, Liverpool saw their 1-0 first leg advantage last just four minutes in Turkey when Colombian international Teofilo Gutierrez put the home side in front.

He had been set up by Gustavo Colman who had pounced when Dirk Kuyt had given the ball away.

But Hodgson’s side regained the initiative in the 83rd minute when Trabzonspor’s Giray Kacar diverted a Glen Johnson cross into his own net.

Kuyt then added the second on the night for Liverpool in the 88th minute after goalkeeper Onur Kivrak could only parry Joe Cole’s shot into the Dutchman’s path.

“A lot of people have said a lot of things about my future, but for me it is at Liverpool. I like it here at the club and I want to stay here and win things,” said Kuyt.

Shaun Wright-Phillips scored his first goal of the season to help Manchester City overcome Timisoara at Eastlands.

The England winger produced a calm finish in the 43rd minute to open the scoring for Roberto Mancini’s side as the brave resistance of the Romanian minnows was eventually broken.

Dedryck Boyata made it 2-0 in the second half with a close range header to score the first goal of his professional career.

Celtic, who had already been knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers, surrendered a 2-0 first leg lead to go down 4-0 in Utrecht in Holland.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored a hat-trick for the Dutch side with Barry Maguire adding a fourth as Celtic’s dismal away record in Europe continued, with just one win in 28 games on the road.

Motherwell lost 1-0 at nine-man Odense, who won the first leg 2-1, at Fir Park last week. Peter Utaka claimed the only goal in the 28th minute.

Dundee United drew 1-1 against AEK Athens but went out 2-1 on aggregate in a match where the venue had to be moved several times.

Elsewhere, Juventus made sure of their place in the next round when Alessandro Del Pierro netted a 53rd-minute winner against Sturm Graz of Austria for a 3-1 aggregate victory.

RESULTS

Porto (Portugal) 4 Racing Genk (Belgium) 2
Porto win 7-2 on aggregate.

Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 2 Gyor ETO (Hungary) 1
Dinamo Zagreb win 4-1 on aggregate.

Fenerbahce (Turkey) 1 PAOK Salonika (Greece) 1
PAOK Salonika win 2-1 on aggregate.

Aston Villa (England) 2 Rapid Vienna (Austria) 3
Rapid Vienna win 4-3 on aggregate.

Elfsborg Boras (Sweden) 0 Napoli (Italy) 2
Napoli win 3-0 on aggregate.

Juventus (Italy) 1 Sturm Graz (Austria) 0
Juventus win 3-1 on aggregate.

Lille (France) 2 Vaslui (Romania) 0
Lille win 2-0 on aggregate.

Manchester City (England) 2 FC Timisoara (Romania) 0
Manchester City win 3-0 on aggregate.

Motherwell (Scotland) 0 OB Odense (Denmark) 1
OB Odense win 3-1 on aggregate.

Maribor (Slovenia) 3 Palermo (Italy) 2
Palermo win 5-3 on aggregate.

Karpaty Lviv (Ukraine) 1 Galatasaray (Turkey) 1
Karpaty Lviv win on away goals after 3-3 on aggregate.

The New Saints (Wales) 2 CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 2
CSKA Sofia win 5-2 on aggregate.

Grasshoppers (Switzerland) 1 Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 0
Steaua Bucharest win 4-3 on penalties after 1-1 on aggregate.

Utrecht (Netherlands) 4 Celtic (Scotland) 0
Utrecht win 4-2 on aggregate.

Lech Poznan (Poland) 0 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) 0
Lech Poznan win 1-0 on aggregate.

APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) 1 Getafe (Spain) 1
Getafe win 2-1 on aggregate.

Ghent (Belgium) 2 Feyenoord (Netherlands) 0
Ghent win 2-1 on aggregate.

AEK Athens (Greece) 1 Dundee United (Scotland) 1
AEK Athens win 2-1 on aggregate.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) 4 Paris St Germain (France) 3
Paris St Germain win 5-4 on aggregate.

Tavria Simferopol (Ukraine) 1 Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 3
Bayer Leverkusen win 6-1 on aggregate.

VfB Stuttgart (Germany) 2 Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) 2
VfB Stuttgart win 3-2 on aggregate.

Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) 2 AIK Stockholm (Sweden) 1
Levski Sofia win 2-1 on aggregate.

Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) 1 Debrecen (Hungary) 2
Debrecen win 4-1 on aggregate.

PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 5 Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia) 0
PSV Eindhoven win 5-1 on aggregate.

Trabzonspor (Turkey) 1 Liverpool (England) 2
Liverpool win 3-1 on aggregate.

Unirea Urziceni (Romania) 1 Hajduk Split (Croatia) 1
Hajduk Split win 5-2 on aggregate.

Austria Vienna (Austria) 1 Aris Salonika (Greece) 1
Aris Salonika win 2-1 on aggregate.

Brondby (Denmark) 0 Sporting (Portugal) 3
Sporting win 3-2 on aggregate.

Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) 2 Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus) 2
Metalist Kharkiv win 3-2 on aggregate.

HJK Helsinki (Finland) 0 Besiktas (Turkey) 4
Besiktas win 6-0 on aggregate.

Aktobe Lento (Kazakhstan) 2 AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) 1
AZ Alkmaar win 3-2 on aggregate.

Maritimo (Portugal) 1 BATE Borisov (Belarus) 2
BATE Borisov win 5-1 on aggregate.

Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) 2 Club Bruges (Belgium) 3
Club Bruges win 5-3 on aggregate.

Dnepr Mogilev (Belarus) 1 Villarreal (Spain) 2
Villarreal win 7-1 on aggregate.

Garabagh Agdam (Azerbaijan) 0 Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 1
Borussia Dortmund win 5-0 on aggregate.

Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) 1 FC Lausanne-Sport (Switzerland) (II) 1
FC Lausanne-Sport win 4-3 on penalties after 2-2 on aggregate

Played on Tuesday
Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 1 CSKA Moscow (Russia) 2
CSKA Moscow win 6-1 on aggregate.

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

Crouch gave Spurs the perfect start when he headed home Gareth Bale’s cross with just five minutes on the clock to level on aggregate.

And it got even better for Harry Redknapp’s men just after the half-hour mark when Jermain Defoe latched on to Bale’s cross and superbly fired in off the post to put Spurs ahead on aggregate.

Defoe should have stretched the lead further when Aaron Lennon slipped him through, but he put his shot wide, while Crouch was denied from close range after the break.

Crouch did not have to wait much longer for his second, though, when he powered home a header from a corner just after the hour mark.

And after Senad Lulic saw red for a foul on the impressive Bale, Crouch completed his treble from the spot and sealed a 6-3 aggregate win.

Crouch immediately targeted Europe’s biggest names after his hat-trick.

“This is massive, we played extremely well and we deserved the bonus of Champions League football,” Crouch told ITV1.

“That’s why we worked so hard last season. We want massive games. We want Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

“You don’t know how good you are until you play against the best.”

Defoe, who is set for an injury lay-off after postponing an operation to take part in the match, added: “All the hard work we put in last season has paid off now. This means the world to us.

“It’s all about Champions League football. We know we can play on this stage.”

Manager Harry Redknapp described the achievement as his dream scenario when he arrived at White Hart Lane.

“It’s fantastic, it’s a long time since Tottenham played in the top European competition,” he said.

“To get in the main competition and the group stages…when I came here that was the dream for me.”

Spurs can now look forward to some handsome funds from the group stages, but Redknapp has no plans to spend lavishly before the end of the transfer window.

“I don’t think so, people think I like to keep signing players, that’s not true at all. I always wanted a squad where I don’t need to sign players.

“I won’t be pushing the chairman to buy players, not at all. Unless we can really improve the squad we’ll sit tight.”

Redknapp also suggested that Defoe would be going under the knife next week as planned, despite some suggestions to the contrary from the striker.”

“Yesterday they said he’d have to have the operation. He’s booked in as far as I know so unless there’s a change of plan I don’t know, I’m not a medical man.”

Source: football365.com

Pic: supersport.co.za

Italian manager Capello has been under fire since England’s wretched campaign at this year’s World Cup in South Africa, where they exited the tournament at the last 16 stage.

“The problem is the manager,” Mourinho told Wednesday’s Daily Mirror.

“Capello will not work for England,” added Mourinho, who won two English Premier League titles while manager of Chelsea and last season guided Italian giants Inter Milan to a domestic and Champions League treble.

Portuguese boss Mourinho is now in charge of Real Madrid, where Capello was once the manager.

And according to Mourinho, Capello’s deficiencies are well remembered in the Spanish capital.

“He has a one-track relationship with players,” Mourinho said.

“Ask anyone here at Real Madrid. He can’t change. You cannot go around just shouting at players. They need to feel special.

“It is clear. Capello will not work for England. He does not know the players. They are frightened of him and they can’t play for him.

“For me, it is a mess for England. Players need clear tactics.

“They cannot be confused about what they have to do,” added Mourinho, known to remain close to several of the Chelsea players in the England squad, including John Terry and Frank Lampard.

“It is the manager’s fault. And it is a big shame.”

Mourinho also slammed his Inter successor Rafael Benitez, saying the Spaniard’s stewardship of Liverpool had seen the north-west club become a progressively weaker force in the English game.

“It is very difficult for Roy (Hodgson, the new Liverpool manager) to do it with Liverpool as, over the last few years, they have been getting worse, worse and worse,” Mourinho said in the Daily Telegraph.

“The Liverpool of 2004 was better than the Liverpool of 2005, 2005 was better than 2006 and 2006 better than 2007.

“And they arrive at a situation now where, but for Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres, if his head is there, it is very difficult for Roy to make Liverpool champions.

“He needs time and it’s not easy because I don’t think they went in the right direction.”

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

James Milner, on his City debut, set up his former Aston Villa team-mate Gareth Barry to side-foot in the first goal in the 13th minute.

And the Argentina striker got on the end of Micah Richards’s header seven minutes into the second half.

Liverpool — without Javier Mascherano amid reports the Argentina international was on his way to Barcelona — saw captain Steven Gerrard hit the post with a powerful shot.

And in the ensuing scramble City goalkeeper Joe Hart made a fine double save to deny both David Ngog and Fernando Torres.

Tevez made the game safe from the penalty spot after Adam Johnson was brought down by Martin Skrtel.

City manager Roberto Mancini said it was too soon to call his expensively-assembled side title contenders.

“I don’t know this,” the Italian said. “I think it’s important to improve game after game, we need to gel. We need the time to become a strong squad.”

Defeat left Liverpool with just one point from two games after their intitial draw with Arsenal but manager Roy Hodgson pleaded for a sense of perspective about the results.

“We are only two matches into the season,” he said. “We had Arsenal in the first game which we had to play with 10 men (after Joe Cole’s sending-off) and then a strong Manchester City side.

“It’s a bit premature to start discussing how big the match is,” former Fulham manager Hodgson added.

“Hopefully in the next 36 games we can take some points.” City’s win came as their billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour visited the ground for the first time since buying the club two years ago and he was treated to a stunning performance from his side.

It would have been much worse for Liverpool had City, with Adam Johnson in sensational form, taken half the chances they created. City fans hoping for a glimpse of 25-million-pound striker Mario Balotelli were left disappointed as he looked on from the sidelines as he recovered from a knee-cartilage injury that forced him to miss training on Sunday.

Johnson started the move that led to City’s opener with a delightful pass to Milner. He squared to an unmarked Barry, who moved from Villa to Eastlands last year for 12 million pounds, to score from 10 yards, the England midfielder’s third Premier League goal for City.

Liverpool were subdued and clearly missed Mascherano’s influence in midfield as Tevez burst into the danger area before firing into the side netting.

They were no better after the break and two goals in the space of 16 minutes from Tevez sealed the worst night of Hodgson’s spell in charge so far.

Liverpool’s defence was again all at sea as Tevez scrambled the ball over the line from close range after a powerful header by Richards.

The visitors were clearly shell-shocked.

Gerrard tried to rally his side but even the Liverpool captain could not ride to the rescue on this occasion.

City’s battling qualities were highlighted in the 58th minute when, after Gerrard had been denied by the woodwork, Ngog had a shot saved by Hart before Torres had a follow up effort charged down.

Liverpool’s wretched night was complete when Skrtel brought down man-of-the-match Johnson in the box and Tevez beat Pepe Reina from the spot.

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: sport24.co.za

Ferguson’s men were missing Wayne Rooney because of a virus and they lost ground on Premier League leaders Chelsea when Nani missed an 87th-minute penalty that would have secured a 3-1 lead – a spot kick the United boss thought Ryan Giggs should have taken.

Nani’s effort was well saved by David Stockdale and in the final minute Brede Hangeland, whose own goal had nudged United ahead, nodded home the equaliser to earnMark Hughes’ side a share of ther spoils.

“When you get the opportunity to seal the game with that penalty you should be taking it,” Ferguson told MUTV. “It was a missed opportunity and it galvanised them, got the crowd up and they scored the equaliser in the end.

“I thought Ryan should have taken it. In the last game we played against Tottenham at home Ryan scored two penalty kicks and Nani was on the pitch the same day. Maybe Ryan should have taken it.

“When we got that second goal I thought ‘we’ve escaped here’. But to miss a penalty kick to make it 3-1, you’re throwing two points away there I’m afraid.

“You don’t want to be dropping silly points and we dropped silly points today. We can’t escape that. There was an opportunity to go 3-1 ahead with three minutes left and we didn’t take it.”

Ferguson’s frustration at failing to join Chelsea at the top of the table was tempered by the admission Fulham deserved a point from an enthralling contest. An ominous start from United saw Paul Scholes fire a powerful 25-yard drive in the 11 minute only for Simon Davies to equalise in emphatic fashion during a second half controlled by the Cottagers.

“In fairness to Fulham they were the better team in the second half. I don’t think we deserved to be in front at 2-1,” Ferguson said. “They caused us a lot of problem, particularlyBobby Zamora who was very good for them. We can’t complain in terms of the run of the game.”

Ferguson added: “We’ve seen that before from Paul – he’s done that so many times. Once again it was an outstanding performance from him. It’s just disappointing we didn’t ram home the advantage.”

The United boss confirmed that Rooney, who has gone 13 games for club and country since his last competitive goal, was ruled out through illness. “Wayne has a virus,” Ferguson said. “The problem is he turned up yesterday with it and he had no chance in 24 hours.

“If it had been a Thursday or Friday we may have been able to patch him up. Sometimes these viruses are 24-hour things and that could have been the case but there was no attempt to see if he could recover from this.”

Fulham had Stockdale’s reflexes to thank for keeping them in contention but boss Mark Hughes was wary of lavishing praise on the 24-year-old. Arsenal target Mark Schwarzer, who has handed in a transfer request, failed to recover from his back injury so Stockdale continued between the sticks.

“Stockdale has done very well, he’s a good young keeper,” Hughes said. “We’re pleased with what he’s producing at the moment but it’s always difficult for young keepers. They get by initially on enthusiasm, but can they keep it up over time? We’ve got to be careful with him.”

Source + Pic: soccernet.espn.go.net

The hosts, who were embarrassingly beaten 4-0 at home by newcomers Blackpool in their opening game, made an encouraging start but still found themselves behind at half time.

Goalkeeper Chris Kirkland made a fine save from Frank Lampard but Florent Malouda was on hand to tap in the rebound in the 34th minute.

Nicolas Anelka, in the week his France career was effectively ended by an 18-match ban, made it 2-0 with a clinical finish in the 48th and he put the game to bed four minutes later with a close-range header, despite Wigan’s claims of offside.

Didier Drogba set up Salomon Kalou for the fourth before Kalou got his second in the 90th.

Yossi Benayoun slotted home his first Chelsea goal in injury time to complete the rout and leave the Blues, which also thrashed West Brom 6-0 in its opening game, top of the Premier League table.

Source + Pic: sport24.co.za

The summer transfer window has traditionally seen a flurry of activity in the English Premier League. This season though has seen a fairly quite market, especially if you remove Manchester City. The Eastlands side have spent over £ 100 million so far and they’re not quite done yet. Whilst the blue side in Manchester have bought in a dazzling array of talent, the likes of Yaya Toure and David Silva, who has been the best purchase so far? I don’t think it’s been Eastlanders, infact I think they’ve made the worst purchase. The deal that bought in James Milner saw them depart with Stephen Ireland, a fantastic prospect that is yet to reach his potential. Oh and £ 24 million, but it is Manchester City. Their second most expoensive signing, mario Balotelli, will probably be their best buy if Mancini can keep the young Italian disciplined.

Joe Cole was signed by Liverpool on a free and has to be one of the bargains of the window. Even if his wages are some what high, his overall cost to the club is going to be relatively cheap. He’s a fantastically gifted player and if he can remain injury free he’ll certainly help Liverpool push for honours. Another new Liverpool player that may well blossom as the season progresses is Christian Poulsen. The Danish international was an effective contributor as he helped his country qualify for the World Cup and progress to the knock out stages.

I am not one to normally make predictions but I think that Javier Hernandez will be the best buy of the season. The talented youngster is one of many Mexicans now plying his trade in English football. Carlos Vela and Giovanni Dos Santos are the other Mexicans playing in the league, but Hernandez is sure to be the best of them.

Who’s been you’re purchase of the transfer window so far?

Pic : Football 365