Football Reloaded

Bolton Wanderers captain Kevin Davies is reportedly a transfer target for Bolton’s Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers.

Davies endured a (very) difficult season for the Rovers way back in 1998/99 after a £7.5million move from Southampton. In his spell with the Rovers Davies scored just once in 24 games and was promptly sent back to Saouthampton in the summer of 1999 in a player swap deal. Needless to say Davies isn’t particularly well liked at Ewood Park and it seems as if a move is fairly unlikely.

In contrast to his Rovers career Davies’ time at Bolton has been a huge success for the player and the club. He arrived in a free transfer in 2003 after being signed by Sam Allardyce, the man who now wants to take him to Blackburn, and quickly established himself in the Bolton first team.

Last season was arguably his most successful on a personal level. He forced his way into England contention, though didn’t make the final squad, and bagged an impressive 12 goals over the course of the campaign. Davies was also given the captain’s arm band after Kevin Nolan departed for Newcastle and has flourished in his new role.

To be perfectly honest, even if Blackburn do table an offer, I just can’t see Davies moving to Ewood Park. He has previously described his spell with Blackburn as one of the darkest times of his career and he certainly receives some stick from the Rovers fans whenever he lines up against them. His form at Bolton has been outstanding and he has been voted the club’s player of the season for the last two seasons and at 32-years-old you would have thought he would stay where he is guaranteed first-team football and the love of the fans.

Bolton resisted the attempts of Hull City last summer as Tigers boss Phil Brown, a former Bolton assistant, tried to persuade Davies to join and it would seem as if they’re ready to reject Blackburn’s advances as well. If they are to build on last season and move up the table they need to keep their key players, with Davies perhaps the most important. His work-rate and ability to hold the ball up are matched by few and if Bolton do let him go I doubt they’ll be able to find a suitable replacement easily.

Bolton boss Gary Megson had one of the smallest squads in the league at his disposal last season and I very much doubt he’ll be willing to let any of his first-team players leave without a fight. Reports have stated a deal for Portsmouth midfielder Sean Davis is all but done but Megson still needs at least five new faces to compete for places and make sure Bolton aren’t involved in the relegation dog-fight come May 2010. Sporting Lisbon’s Miguel Veloso, Liverpool youngster Adam Hammill and West Brom full-back Paul Robinson have all been linked with moves to the Reebok but for me it is more important that the Wanderers keep hold of Davies before focusing their attentions on new additions.

By Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who writes about Premier League betting for Betfair.

“Keeping Davies the key for Bolton” was originally published at Soccerlens.com – Football News.

Yaya Toure’s agent has stoked the rumour mill regarding his client. Dmitri Seluk reckons Barca don’t ‘respect’ his client and has suggested the powerful midfielder might be playing his football elsewhere next season.

This is what Seluk has had to say: “Barca have not complied with the gentleman’s agreement that we reached.

“(Barca president) Laporta says that Valdes is the best goalkeeper in the world, the same about (Lionel) Messi, with Xavi, with (Andres) Iniesta… but with Toure, never anything,

“If he is not good enough to play in this team then that will be that.

“He has spent two seasons earning a minimum salary. He earns less than many of the first-team regulars and less even than some of those that hardly play at all.

“We have put our faith in the word of the club, but they have not respected it.

“Clearly he is a professional and if the club do not respect him then he would to go and that would be a shame because he feels at home at the club and in the city. He has adapted marvellously.

“Toure has done everything for Barca and always thinks about the team. He has never cause any problems and remember that last season he played a number of games while injured.

“This term, after Rafa Marquez picked up an injury, he played as a centre back and did so without complaining, while (Seydou) Keita, for instance, said he did not want to play at left-back in the UEFA Champions League final.

“Therefore, I think Toure deserves more recognition on the part of Barca.”

He might well be right, Real Madrid played out a similar scenario a few years ago with Claude Makelele and Toure is certainly an important cog in the Barca machine.  He is the man who is best equipped to win the ball in midfield and play the ball to one of his more skilful team-mates.

I do rate Toure highly but I doubt Pep Guardiola would allow him to go without a suitable replacement lined up.  Reports have linked Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano with a move to the Catalans and he plays in the same role as Toure so perhaps if he does arrive Toure will be allowed to leave.

It could all be agent talk of course, with Seluk just trying to get a better deal for Toure.  Though Toure has been tipped to join Arsenal in the past but according to his agent their offer is not enough, but he has hinted he could move to Italy or England.

Personally I see no need for Barca to sell Toure, but then again Guardiola has my utmost respect after his impressive trophy haul this season.  He is a quality holding midfielder and also a pretty decent centre-half when called upon.  One thing is for sure though, if Barca do allow him to depart Camp Nou they’ll need someone to fill his shoes because he has had an excellent season with the Spanish champions.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who writes about online football betting for Betfair.

“Is Yaya Toure still part of Barecelona’s plans?” was originally published at Soccerlens.com – Football News.

Last summer I was bored of all the Ronaldo moving to Real Madrid stuff pretty quickly, it carried on through right up until the transfer deadline and I’m fairly sure everyone was thinking ‘just go already’.

When Florentino Perez started his campaign for the Real Madrid presidency he didn’t seem too keen on Ronaldo and focused his attention on other targets.  Now it has all come back and we’re set for another summer of ‘Will he? Won’t he?’, great.

This is what Perez actually had to say: “He’s a player that would be very good if he came to Real Madrid,

“What I know is what I’ve read, that there is an agreement by means of which he would come for £80million…”

I don’t doubt the Portuguese playmaker is a fantastic player, perhaps not the best in the world but he isn’t that far off.  However, the whole soap opera last summer really derailed Real’s transfer plans and was incredibly damaging to the team.  They didn’t manage to bring anyone of any real note in and Robinho left, though he had been fairly disappointing the previous season anyway.

Basically as good as Ronaldo is I personally think Real should be looking elsewhere.  Reports suggest they’ve already pretty much signed Kaka, while Franck Ribery, David Silva, David Villa, and Sergio Aguero would also be great additions to the Real team. The Real team needs a lot of improvement and I don’t think spending all their time pursuing Ronaldo for a second summer is such a good idea.  If this is indeed their plan then you have to ask is he enough to lift Real Madrid on his own?  For me the answer to that is probably not.

When asked about his future Ronaldo gave a frustratingly ambiguous statement, this is what he said: “My future now is the national squad, so that we can win, so that we can be in a good position in our qualifying group.

“About clubs, I do not want to talk about that, I want to rest, go on holiday, I am very tired, I have played a lot of games, a lot of pressure.

“The future, we will see.”

Whether he goes to Madrid or not, I don’t really care.  I just know I can’t deal with another summer where he dominates the headlines.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who writes about football betting predictions for Betfair.

“Madrid Merry-go-round: Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United remains a mystery” was originally published at Soccerlens.com – Football News.