Welsh Player News 5th February Premier League (Part 2)

Stoke City
Danny Collins
League: Bolton H 2-0 (bench)
FA Cup replay: Cardiff A 0-0, 0-2 aet (played all)
League: Fulham A 2-0 (starts, off 58)
FA Cup: Wolves A 0-1 (bench)
League: Liverpool A 2-0 (bench, on 65, Y foul 81)

Ryan Shawcross received his third red card in less than a year in Stoke City’s defeat to Fulham but Tony Pulis says it was all Clint Dempsey’s fault for apparently placing his body under Ryan’s hand.
League: Bolton H 2-0 (played all)
FA Cup replay: Cardiff A 0-0, 0-2 aet (unselected)
League: Fulham A 2-0 (starts, R foul 55)
FA Cup: Wolves A 0-1 (suspended)
League: Liverpool A 2-0 (suspended)

Tottenham Hotspur
Gareth Bale lasted just eleven minutes of Tottenham Hotspur’s draw with Newcastle United before leaving the field with a recurrence of a back injury. He has seen an osteopath and has been told to rest for two weeks. Gareth is training again but has not been named in the Wales squad to face the Republic of Ireland.
Harry Redknapp doesn’t want Gareth to leave and said Tottenham would fall apart if Gareth left. Maybe he should leave then.
Real Madrid and Inter Milan want to make a £40 million bid for Gareth, which would make him the most expensive British player in history. It would also make him just £5 million better than Andy Carroll.
Interview with Gareth in the Telegraph.
League: Man Utd H 0-0 (played all)
League: Newcastle A 1-1 (starts, off 11)
FA Cup: Fulham A 4-0 (out, back)
League: Blackburn A 0-1 (out, back)

West Bromwich Albion
Boaz Myhill says he won’t be taking his new first-team place for granted. Bo believes West Brom can survive.
League: Blackpool H 3-2 (played all)
League: Blackburn A 2-0 (played all)
League: Wigan H 2-2 (played all)

West Ham United
Jack Collison is training but not ready to return from a knee injury.
Interview with Jack in the Daily Mail.

Danny Gabbidon left the field with a hamstring injury after just 33 minutes of West Hams 3-1 away win over Blackpool. Just when he’d finally been persuaded to come out of international retirement.
Danny attracted the attention of Celtic and Rangers during the January transfer window. But he is far more tempted by Cardiff City.
League: Arsenal H 0-3 (bench)
League: Everton A 2-2 (bench)
Carling Cup: CC Birmingham A 3-1, 4-3 on agg aet (bench)
FA Cup: Forest H 3-2 (Y foul 19, played all)
League: Blackpool A 1-3 (starts, off 33)

Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wayne Hennessey has attracted the attention of former employers Manchester City.
League: Man City A 4-3 (played all)
FA Cup: Doncaster H 5-0 (bench)
League: Liverpool H 0-3 (played all)
FA Cup: Stoke H 0-1 (bench)
League: Bolton A 1-0 (played all)
Dave Edwards returned to the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury and made his return sooner than expected when a Wolves player injured himself after fourteen minutes.
Dave says he won’t blame the Molineaux pitch for their FA Cup exit to Stoke. He wants to become Wolves’ ‘midfield enforcer’.
League: Man City A 4-3 (out, hamstring)
FA Cup: Doncaster H 5-0 (out, hamstring)
League: Liverpool H 0-3 (out, hamstring)
FA Cup: Stoke H 0-1 (bench, on 14)
League: Bolton A 1-0 (starts, off 75)

David Jones wants to stay at Wolves – he’ll be hoping the next contract they offer is to his liking.
League: Man City A 4-3 (played all)
FA Cup: Doncaster H 5-0 (G5 93, played all)
League: Liverpool H 0-3 (bench)
FA Cup: Stoke H 0-1 (bench)
League: Bolton A 1-0 (played all)

Sam Vokes finally played again after a hamstring injury that has seen him face a number of setbacks and just thirteen minutes of game time this season. Sam suffered the injury on loan at Bristol City but is now back with his parent club.
League: Man City A 4-3 (bench)
FA Cup: Doncaster H 5-0 (bench, on 78)
League: Liverpool H 0-3 (bench)
FA Cup: Stoke H 0-1 (bench, on 84)
League: Bolton A 1-0 (unselected)

Premier League Fixtures 22nd January (Part 1)

Aston Villa v Manchester City
Villa are near the bottom of the table, having won only one of their last ten matches but Manchester City are pretty good now. A win for them would put them back on top of the table.
James Collins should start for Aston Villa.
James is delighted that Villa have signed Darren Bent.

Blackpool v Sunderland
Sunderland could buy Blackpool’s squad five times over with the money they got from selling Darren Bent. So maybe it wasn’t quite such a stupid move but they will miss him. Blackpool will be hoping for a double over Sunderland – they are the only side to have beaten Sunderland at home in the Premier League.
Neal Eardley and David Vaughan will probably start for Blackpool. Rob Edwards will probably be on the bench.
The Blackpool players recorded a charity single this week to raise money for their coach Gary Parkinson who has locked-in syndrome and Donna’s Dream House.

Everton v West Ham United
Another week has passed and Avram Grant is still at West Ham. But Everton have beaten West Ham more times than they’ve beaten any other Premier League team. West Ham are looking for their second away win of the season.
Danny Gabbidon will hope to be back in West Ham’s starting line-up. Jack Collison almost certainly isn’t ready to return from a knee injury although he is back in training.

Fulham v Stoke City
The Premier League’s two Welsh managers meet for the third time this season – I wonder if Tony Pulis will shake Mark Hughes’ hand this time. I hope he does. He can’t help disliking him but that sort of behaviour is too childish even for me.
Simon Davies should start for Fulham.
Ryan Shawcross should start for Stoke and Danny Collins seems certain to start too now Danny Higginbotham is injured.

Premier League Fixtures 15th January 2011 (Part 1)

Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves haven’t won many games this season but they’re still in a position to claim a double over title-hopefuls Manchester City. Their last double over City was 40 years ago.
Wayne Hennessey should start for Wolves. Dave Edwards will probably miss out due to the tweaked hamstring that forced him off the field during the FA Cup match against Doncaster Rovers but he hasn’t completely ruled himself out – although the Wolves medical team might have a different opinion, If Dave is out, David Jones could take his place. It looks as though David won’t be signing a new contract and will be free to move in the summer but Mick McCarthy hasn’t entirely given up hope.
Sam Vokes played in a behind-closed-doors friendly for Wolves this week but he isn’t ready to play for the first team yet. He says he’s happy to go out on loan but he’d rather stay and fight for his place.

Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers
Bolton have just one point from their last three matches but are still in seventh place, which will be a Europa League place if Arsenal can win the FA and Carling Cups like I want them to. Losing to Blackpool at home doesn’t necessarily make you a bad team but Stoke have also lost to Fulham at home recently and Fulham never win away. They’ll be hoping to make up for that against Bolton.
Danny Collins should return to Stoke’s starting line-up to play alongside Ryan Shawcross.
Sam Ricketts should start for Bolton.
Tony Pulis says he won’t be banning his players from using Twitter.

Wales News 12th january 2011

The Welsh FA still don’t want their players playing for Great Britain at the Olympics.

There’s been more speculation about the return of the Home International Championship. I think they should include the Republic of Ireland and then divide England into two teams, North England and South England, based on place of birth. That should even things up a bit.

Gary Speed likes the idea of reviving the Home International Championship but he says it couldn’t be a regular thing.

FA Wales have announced that Vauxhall will be their sponsors for the next three and a half years.

Tony Pulis would like to see Ryan Giggs playing for Wales again.

Gary Speed would like Danny Gabbidon and Simon Davies to come out of international retirement. He might even consider bringing Robbie Savage back. This is South Wales feels Wales should be grateful for what they can get.

Gary might also call up Wolverhampton Wanderers’ David Jones.

Ryan Shawcross is another possibility. The newspapers will have a field day if this happens… not that I’m hoping it won’t happen.

Wales Online suggest that Aaron Ramsey should be Wales’ new captain.

Neville Southall believes James Collins would be a better choice.

Andy King would like a bigger role with Wales.

Transfer News and Rumours 8th January 2011 (Premier League)

Arsenal will not allow Nottingham Forest to extend Aaron Ramsey’s loan spell with them. And quite right too.

Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers are fighting it out to sign James Collins from Aston Villa.

Ian Holloway says he could sell his stars including David Vaughan… if a top four club wants them.

Manchester United have first refusal on their former player Ryan Shawcross, according to Stoke City manager Tony Pulis. Apparently, Alex Ferguson sorted that out when he sold Ryan to Stoke. Ryan won’t move this January however.

Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t want Michael Owen to leave Manchester United just yet. West Ham United will be disappointed to hear that.

Or no wait, maybe Sir Alex Ferguson does want Michael to leave. And he can take Owen Hargreaves and possibly Ryan Giggs with him.

If Michael is in need of a new club, Everton are said to be interested.

Ryan Giggs’ contract ends this season but he is expected to sign a new one. As long as the lure of New York Cosmos doesn’t prove too great.

Gareth Bale’s agent says that Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid are all interested in signing the Tottenham Hotspur left-footer. They’d be lucky. Gareth’s says that Gareth wants to play in Italy and maybe he does but what’s the poor boy supposed to say if his Italian agent asks if he would like to play in Italy one day? He’s hardly going to say no, is he? He’s much too nice to say no.
The Welsh FA, however, aren’t too nice to say no. Or they haven’t been so far. Gareth wants to play for the Great Britain Olympic team, the GB people don’t want a team without Gareth – but nothing can happen unless the Welsh FA learn how to say yes. (Although to be fair to them, there is no real word for ‘yes’ in Welsh…)

Fa Cup Fixtures 8th January 2011 (Part 5)

Southampton v Blackpool
So, a win for Southampton would be quite a major giant-killing then. I love football.
Blackpool won’t be taking all members of their first team so it’s unlikely that Neal Eardley and David Vaughan will be there but Rob Edwards has a good chance of playing.

Stokc City v Cardiff City
Cardiff check out their Premier League credentials at Stoke, who are well-known for their intimidating home atmosphere and the large number of resulting wins.
Tony Pulis really wants to take Stoke to the final and he says he will play a strong side so Ryan Shawcross and Danny Collins could feature. Danny believes Stoke could get into Europe – and if they win the FA Cup, that will happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/9341881.stm
Craig Bellamy will have a late fitness test on his knee while Jason Koumas might not recover from a niggle. Darcy Blake, Adam Matthews and Aaron Wildig are all fit as far as I know. Jonathan Meades was in Cardiff’s last squad so maybe he’ll be there again.
Cardiff manager Dave Jones says Craig is an inspiration and Stoke City manager Tony Pulis feels Craig has a future in management.

Premier League Fixtures 18th December 2010

Arsenal v Stoke City
Ryan Shawcross faces Arsenal for the first time since breaking Aaron Ramsey’s leg. Some papers reported that Stoke will be providing Ryan with extra security. Arsene Wenger feels this isn’t necessary. Tony Pulis is inclined to agree but it’s probably the only thing he and Arsene do agree on.
Some people have criticised Arsene Wenger for saying it’s up to Aaron to forgive Ryan, not Arsene. I think it’s probably the best thing he could have said although it does put a bit of pressure on Aaron. If Arsene said he does forgive Ryan, he risks upsetting Aaron and the Arsenal fans. If he says he doesn’t, that will upset the Stoke fans – something he’s succeeding in doing on quite a few occasions in the last year. So he’s attempted to remove himself from the equation altogether and to me it seems like he is effectively saying he has nothing personal against Ryan.
Far more necessary from an Arsenal point of view is not losing another game at home. Only West Ham United have lost more home games than Arsenal although there are quite a few who have lost three.
Danny Collins should also start for Stoke.
Aaron Ramsey is, of course, on loan at Nottingham Forest.

Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United
Avram Grant has allegedly been given three matches to save his career – he needs to win at least one. He has denied this is the case but all the same, winning at least one of the next three sounds like a good idea to me. West Ham have won only two league games this season and they’ve both been at home (they haven’t won away for sixteen months) but a team who has lost their manager for no good reason will often be fair game.
Danny Gabbidon missed West Ham’s last game with an unspecified injury. There’s nothing to suggest he will miss that match too but there wasn’t anything last time either. Jack Collison is definitely still out but he is back in training following his long-term knee problems.

Liverpool v Fulham
Roy Hodgson takes his new club back to meet his former club - and neither club is where they want to be. Liverpool are nine points from a Champions’ League place while Fulham are outside the relegation places only on goal difference. But with Liverpool’s home form looking fairly healthy and Fulham not winning away for more than a year, I know what result I’m expecting.
Simon Davies should start for Fulham.

Sunderland v Bolton Wanderers
Sunderland are unbeaten at home and they’ll hope this run continues – but sixth-placed Bolton will provide a stern test although they’ve only won twice away this season. Even a point for Bolton will be an improvement on last year, when Sunderland beat them twice.
Sam Ricketts should keep his place in Bolton’s defence. Sam was one of a group of players who visited Bolton Hospice to meet the patients and give out presents.

Wigan Athletic v Aston Villa
A point could be enough to hoist Wigan out of the bottom three – and Villa’s only away league win was nearly three months ago.
James Collins should start for Villa. He’s pretty much the only defender who doesn’t seem to be either injured or dumped in the reserves.

Premier League Results 11th December 2010

Aston Villa 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa’s run of five straight defeats came to an end when they won the derby match with West Bromwich Albion.
James Collins played for Villa despite daring to go out for a meal with his wife in the vicinity of a nightclub the night before a game. He nearly scored (during the match, I mean, not at the nightclub) and finished the game with a match-saving block.
Boaz Myhill was on the bench for West Brom and missed the chance to play against a former club.

Fulham 0-0 Sunderland
Both teams have drawn more than their fair share of matches this season so this result was no surprise at all. Fulham remain outside the bottom three on goal difference and have equalled the record for the biggest number of draws in the opening seventeen games. This was their tenth draw. I won’t say how many matches Mark Hughes has won from his last twenty-six because I’m supposed to be nice to Welshmen.
Simon Davies played the full match for Fulham. He might have got an assist if the referee hadn’t been paying attention.

Stoke City 0-1 Blackpool
Tony Pulis and Ian Holloway are good friends and Tony’s son Anthony Pulis, now at Stockport County on loan from Southampton, is apparently Ian Holloway’s godson. Which practically makes Ian Welsh if you’re me. But if Tony had had another child after this match, maybe he would have chosen a different godparent.
Stoke are formidable at home and they were on a five-match unbeaten run but Blackpool fear nobody and they do have the third-best away record in the League, after Arsenal and Manchester City. The win puts them into the top half of the table. They haven’t done enough to stop them from going down (not even Manchester United have done that) but at least they’ve managed to shut up most of the people who are saying they’ll go straight back down again.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross played in defence for Stoke. Danny says he can’t blame the fans for jeering.
Neal Eardley nearly scored on his 150th league appearance and also made a great block to deny Stoke a certain goal but this was unfortunately credited to a team-mate.
David Vaughan also had a good game – 91% of his passes were successful. Rob Edwards was on the bench. It’s nice to see the Blackpool players being so complimentary about two of my favourite Blackpool players.

West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
West Ham must be so disappointed. If only their former player Carlos Tevez had decided to leave forty-eight hours earlier. It would have thrown the club into disarray and maybe West Ham could have got a point or three.
Danny Gabbidon didn’t play for West Ham due to injury. Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion are both said to be interested in bringing Danny to the Midlands.

Premier League Fixtures (and Postponements) 4th December 2010

Arsenal v Fulham
Arsenal might be only third in the league but they’re second in the form table and they’ve never lost to Fulham at home before. As for Fulham’s form, it’s all about drawing. They’ve drawn nine of their fifteen League matches this season and are yet to win away. They haven’t won away for 33 matches.
Simon Davies should start for Fulham.

Birmingham City v Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham are having an injury crisis but I don’t have too much sympathy for them. They’d better hope they don’t get any penalties because the chances are, they’ll miss. Birmingham have only lost once at home this season.
Tottenham won’t be leaving out Gareth Bale.

Blackburn Rovers v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Blackburn really need to bounce back from last week’s embarrassing defeat while Wolves are still looking for their first clean sheet of the season. And their first away win. And their second away point.
Wayne Hennessey has done enough to hang onto his first-team place. David Jones is out after injuring his foot in Wolves’ match against Sunderland. Dave Edwards isn’t ready to return from a thigh injury and is using a scuba chamber in order to speed up his recovery.

Blackpool P-P Manchester United
This match is postponed due to Blackpool’s lack of undersoil heating.
Michael Owen will be back from his hamstring injury soon. But Owen Hargreaves’ return has been put back again.
Blackpool will hope the rearranged match happens before the transfer window as contract talks have hit a problem: David Vaughan doesn’t want to take a pay cut if Blackpool gets relegated. Well, if they keep going as they have, pay cut clauses shouldn’t come into it.

Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City haven’t scored at home in the league for two months. And with their strikers, there’s no excuse. But this offers Bolton the chance to reclaim their place in the top four.
Sam Ricketts should keep his place in Bolton’s starting line-up.

Wigan Athletic v Stoke City
Stoke will be hoping Wigan left back Maynor Figueroa doesn’t score another Goal of the Season but this season he hasn’t looked like the sort of player you’d want to buy to replace Gareth Bale. But who does? Stoke are unbeaten in four matches.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross should both start for Stoke. Tony Pulis says he is focusing on Stoke’s survival rather than a top ten finish.

Premier League Results 20th November 2010

Arsenal 3-2 Tottenhm Hotspur
Tottenham beat Arsenal away for the first time in the league since Gareth Bale was at nursery school.
Arsenal were deservedly leading 2-0 and Gareth was doing really well but Harry Redknapp took exception to the way he shook hands with Bacary Sagna and poor Gareth ended up scoring after all
That would have been fine but his team-mates got it into their heads that it would be okay if they scored too. Gareth says the comeback was special but I don’t blame him, Theo Walcott told everyone he was an Arsenal supporter last week so Gareth had to do something. But I’d have preferred 4-3 to Arsenal, I really would.
The only consolation is that Chelsea lost to Birmingham so they’re not too far ahead. And Arsene Wenger’s antics with the water bottle made me smile so well done to him, not many people can make me smile when Arsenal are losing. Unfortunately his job is to make me smile in different ways.

Blackpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
It was a great might in Blackpool, where you could have spent the afternoon watching the home team win again and the evening watchng the wonderful Ann Widdecombe dance. But it was Wolves who finished the night in the bottom two, five points adrift of safety and with their goal difference, they really need six points. Blackpool are halfway between the Champions’ League and the relegation places as they succeeded again in being just as entertaining as their manager.
Neal Eardley and David Vaughan were both back in the starting line-up for Blackpool with Rob Edwards on the bench.
David Jones was back in Wolves’ starting line-up and could have scored from a free kick. Wayne Hennessey was on the bench. He was this week told he couldn’t go on loan in case something happened to Marcus Hahnemann. Well something happened to him today: goalkeeping errors.

Bolton Wanderers 5-1 Newcastle United
I’m not looking forward to Arsenal playing against Bolton. Newcastle scored a goal against Arsenal too but they didn’t let five in. Or even one. Bolton have most of the same players as last season but the difference is remarkable. But I hope Johan Elmander is appropriately grateful to Wales. If we hadn’t let you score, Johan, maybe you wouldn’t be banging them in now.
Sam Ricketts kept his place in Bolton’s starting line-up.

Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
West Ham are looking in serious trouble. If Liverpool can score three goals against you, you’ve got problems. West Ham did at least seem to tighten up at the back after three first-half goals from Liverpool – they kept a clean sheet in the second half but you can’t win games without scoring. That only works if the game’s over two legs and you won the other one.
Danny Gabbidon conceded a penalty for handball but it really looks like an accident.

Manchester United 2-0 Wigan Athletic
Manchester United moved level on points with Chelsea after Wigan played fairly well but lost two players to red cards. Match of the Day claimed the reaction to Wayne Rooney was mixed. But it’s hard to tell if anyone likes you when you’ve just come on with Paul Scholes in a double substitution. He’s not back to his best and it was up to Man Utd’s new star striker and the left back who never scores to win the game for Man Utd.
Ryan Giggs was sufficiently recovered from a hamstring injury to sit on the bench for Manchester United. Ryan is expected to have his contract extended by another year in the near future.

West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Stoke City
After a bright start, West Brom are sliding back down towards the bottom of the table after losing 3-0 to a team who never win away. From being the team in the league with the worst run of form, Stoke must now be the best., just three points behind the Champions’ League places. It is the first time Stoke have won three consecutive games in the Premier League – the last time they did it in the top division was seventeen seasons ago.
Boaz Myhill was on the bench for West Brom.
Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross played well in defence for Stoke. Ryan’s manager Tony Pulis and team-mates Robert Huth and Matthew Etherington say Fabio Capello made a mistake in leaving Ryan out of the England squad.

Premier League Results 13th November 2010 (Part 1)

Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United
Aston Villa kept their unbeaten home record intact but let a 2-0 lead slip in the last ten minutes to give Manchester United another undeserved point. Manchester United are unbeaten both home and away.
James Collins scored for Villa in their last game and could have made it two in two but his effort hit the crossbar. James believes Villa should have won and he’s kind of right really.
Ryan Giggs, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen were sitting on Utd’s treatment table nursing their hamstrings.
Jordan Henderson says he really looked up to Ryan as a child. Not when you were sitting on his shoulders, you didn’t, Jordan.

Newcastle United 0-0 Fulham
When you’ve just suffered the agony of watching your team being beaten by Newcastle, the last thing you want is then to see that team only managing to draw against a team who can’t win away.
Unfortunately, this is what they did. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been if Bobby Zamora was fit.
Simon Davies played the full match for Fulham. He used to do things like that for Wales.

Stoke City 2-0 Liverpool
Those people who say Liverpool are back to their old selves are not wrong. After a couple of blips which saw Fernando Torres score goals, Liverpool are back to what they do best. Stoke moved into the top half of the table, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference after beating them for the first time for twenty-six years. Torres would have been a few months old at most. But there is some good news for the Liverpool fans: Lucas won’t be playing next week.
Ryan Shawcross and Danny Collins helped Stoke to keep a clean sheet.
Tony Pulis isn’t going to criticise Fabio Capello for leaving Ryan Shawcross out of the England side (neither am I!) but he does make it clear he’s left out the best young centre back in the country.

Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 Blackburn Rovers
There, you see. He doesn’t just do it against the big sides. He does it against Blackburn too. Gareth Bale tied Michel Salgado in so many knots (again), he was taken off after 37 minutes and replaced by a striker. Well, Gareth went past him like he wasn’t there so he might as well not be.
Gareth, who was making his 100th league appearance, scored Tottenham’s first goal, set up the second and scored the fourth, ensuring that a first-half penalty miss (not from Gareth) didn’t matter. I don’t know what he was doing when the third goal went in, probably doing his hair or something. But if Gareth keeps being Man of the Match, they need to change the rules and give him a bottle of something he’ll actually drink.
Blackburn weren’t great but at least they had a go at fighting back. That’s not something you’ll see from every team.

Welsh Player News 1st November 2010 (Premier League)

Ryan Giggs is back in training and could return from a hamstring injury in time for the derby with Manchester City on November 10th.

Sir Alex Ferguson says Owen Hargreaves will have to play this season or he will have trouble recovering mentally from his injury problems.

Anyone who writes Michael Owen off is making a big mistake.

Tony Pulis isn’t happy about Stoke City’s disallowed goal.

Dave Edwards believes Wolverhampton Wanderers’ win over Manchester City will kick-start their season. And maybe there will be another Manchester win to come.

Welsh Player News 16th October 2010 (Premier League)

James Collins says his Aston Villa team-mate Ashley Young is not a cheat.

Should Fabio Capello have called up Michael Owen? I would have done. But not for the matches against Wales.

Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross has been linked with Liverpool but he’s not going to get carried away. These days, it’s hardly a compliment.

Tony Pulis is far from impressed with Danny Murphy, accusing him of trying to boost his media career. The fact Murphy left the field during Fulham’s match against Tottenham with a groin injury might suggest Tony is not alone in feeling this way.

Danny Gabbidon (West Ham United) and Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland) have invested in a male grooming spa.

Mick McCarthy says he doesn’t want Wayne Hennessey going anywhere on loan. He’s told Wayne he’s not far away from getting back into the team… but he would say that, wouldn’t he?

Welsh Player News 15th October 2010 (Championship Part 1)

Lewin Nyatanga could leave Bristol City on loan in order to get some match fitness but manager Keith Millen has no plans to let him go anywhere permanently. He’s much too good for that.

Brett Pitman is hoping to help Bristol City to a shock win against Cardiff City next weekend.

Sam Vokes could return to loan club Bristol City soon as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury. He has been training with parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers but he’s not likely to be ready to play for Bristol City until the end of the month.

Cardiff City manager Dave Jones is trying to work out the best way of dealing with Craig Bellamy’s knee problems. The Cardiff medical team think he can manage 30 games this season but no more than one game a week.

Craig will be starting the Cardiff Half Marathon but luckily this won’t be as strenuous as starting a football match.

Andy Dorman says Crystal Palace’s position in the bottom three will motivate them to get good results.

Gareth Roberts is back in training for Derby County following a hamstring injury.

Robbie Savage has stuck up for managers including Tony Pulis following Danny Murphy’s criticism.

Brian Stock admits he could leave Doncaster Rovers in January. But there’s no way he’s retiring from Wales.

Welsh Player News 2nd October (Premier League)

It’s not just the wags who like their footwear. James Collins says his new boots have helped him to overcome the injury problems he suffered at the beginning of the season.

Bolton Wanderers defender Sam Ricketts says that nothing is more important than getting the right results. Sam feels last weekend’s shock results were good for the Premier League.

It is thought Michael Owen has so far failed in his bid to convince Fabio Capello he should be playing for England. Alex Ferguson feels Michael has improved as a player since joining Manchester United. But Soccerlens say it is Michael’s own fault that he’s not playing for club or country – he picked the wrong club.

Darren Fletcher is delighted to see Owen Hargreaves back in training for Manchester United.

Tony Pulis believes Ryan Shawcross will grow into his new role as Stoke City captain.

Harry Redknapp says Gareth Bale has a great future ahead of him – and he won’t be leaving Tottenham anytime soon.

Danny Gabbidon is hoping to West Ham United and win himself a new deal. Danny has spent much of the past three seasons on the sidelines.

David Jones says the Wolves players can be flexible friends… which sounds a bit naughty to me and he does mention the word ‘grinding’.

His team-mate Dave Edwards is also feeling positive about the match against Wigan Athletic. He is hoping to become a regular in the starting line-up for Wolves.

Wales v Bulgaria/Switzerland v Wales News 29th September 2010

Brian Flynn will announce his squad to face Bulgaria and Switzerland on Friday 1st October.

Doubts
Robert Earnshaw (hamstring) is a doubt for Wales’ next two matches. Sam Vokes, currently on loan at Bristol City from Wolverhampton Wandererers, has a hamstring injury and is yet to return to Bristol City’s squad.
It has been speculated that Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp doesn’t want Gareth Bale to play in the qualifiers as he needs a rest but this is just speculation.

Out
Craig Bellamy has been ruled out of Wales’ Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.
Jack Collison (knee) and Aaron Ramsey (leg) will definitely be missing.

Possible Call-ups
Tony Pulis believes Danny Collins will be called back into the Wales squad now Brian Flynn has taken over from John Toshack. Danny has done very well the last few seasons and thoroughly deserves a call-up and he’s even said he’s like to play for Wales again but he’s one of quite a few players to have had issues with Tosh.
Brian spoke to Danny when he visited Stoke’s training ground and asked if he’d retired from international football. Danny said he hasn’t.
Robbie Savage has declared himself available for international games again following Tosh’s ‘resignation’. However the midfielder, who also presents radio show 606, will be 36 next month.
Simon Davies announced his retirement from international football. However, it is thought that he has since been in touch with Brian Flynn, who has recently watched him playing for Fulham.
Vital Reading say that Hal Robson-Kanu has been called up to the full Wales squad. It would be a deserved call-up after Hal’s excellent form for Reading and the Wales under-21s but to my knowledge the squad hasn’t been announced yet.
It is thought that Jason Koumas could also return to international football but the Wigan Athletic player, now on loan at Cardiff City, says he is currently focused only on building up his match fitness.
Darcy Blake is hoping to be called up to the full Wales squad again after having to withdraw from the previous squad. His excellent form for Cardiff suggests this is a real possibility. Wales have few central defensive options, as well as being light in midfield, and Darcy can play both roles.

Welsh Player News 18th September 2010 (Premier League)

James Collins loves being a daddy – but if you call him the old man in the Villa dressing room, he won’t be happy. He was not thrilled to be told he looks older than 27 – but only last year he was mistaken for an 18 year old youth player, although the two do share the same name.
James would like caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald to stay at Villa despite his not being appointed as permanent manager. But although James is disappointed that MacDonald isn’t still their manager, he was happy to hear about new manager Gerard Houllier’s interest in Michael Owen.

David Jones says he would like to sign a new contract and stay at Wolves

West Bromwich Albion’s first-choice keeper Scott Carson is very aware of Boaz Myhill looking over his shoulder.


Condolences to Stoke City manager Tony Pulis – and to his son, Anthony Pulis, who is at Southampton - who heard before Stoke’s match last Monday that his mother had died. He drove from Newport and watched most of the first half (phoning the bench to give instructions) before taking charge for the second and inspiring his side, who were 1-0 down, to a victory.

Welsh Summer Transfers 2010 (Premier League,S-T)

Stoke City
Manchester United were rumoured to want Ryan Shawcross back but they didn’t get him. Tottenham were also interested.
Danny Collins was also linked with the exit door after not being a regular last season but he didn’t go either.
Stoke were one of many clubs who wanted to sign Joe Ledley. At one point they were the favourites and Neville Southall told them to make a bid but Joe went to Celtic instead.
Stoke, like a lot of clubs, wanted Swansea City’s Ashley Williams but they didn’t get him either.
Tony Pulis was suggested as a possible contender to manage Wales but he says he hasn’t finished his job at Stoke yet.
Welsh Players: One and a half - Danny Collins and Ryan Shawcross (who wants to play for England)

Sunderland
Sunderland were yet another club who wanted Joe Ledley but he chose to go to Celtic.
Welsh Players: None

Tottenham Hotspur
Gareth Bale signed a new four-year contract at the end of last season but that didn’t stop the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Ajax getting their hopes up. But Gareth wasn’t going anywhere.
Tottenham were linked with Craig Bellamy but I don’t think anyone paid too much attention as he’s always linked with them. Craig is now at Cardiff City on loan from Manchester City.
Tottenham were also interested in Boaz Myhill but he went to West Bromwich Albion instead.
Ryan Shawcross was also thought to be on Tottenham’s radar when they were a bit short of centre backs.
Welsh Players: One - Gareth Bale

Transfer Deadline Day August 2010 - Welsh Players

I was very intrigued to hear that ‘Christian Bale’ was moving to Birmingham. I assumed they meant Gareth which sounded a bit unlikely (although any move that weakens Tottenham Hotspur can only be a good thing) but it turned out they meant former Arsenal man Alexander Hleb. They managed to get him too, despite interest from Liverpool, Tottenham and Benfica.

Mark Hughes was named as a contender to become manager of Aston Villa despite only arriving at Fulham five minutes ago (okay that might be a slight exaggeration). This one didn't happen... although the last time I checked, manager don't have to stick to transfer deadlines.

Swansea City received a bid from Leicester City for Ashley Williams but they told Leicester where to go. Former Swansea manager Paolo Sousa is now at Leicester so it was probably his idea.

Reading striker Gylfi Sigurdsson has made a shock move to the Bundesliga. No he’s not Welsh but striker team-mates Simon Church, Hal Robson-Kanu and Jake Taylor are and Sigurdsson was keeping them out of the team.

Danny Gabbidon was very excited to hear Ryan Babel might be joining him at West Ham. West Ham fans were probably equally excited to hear that Danny is on Twitter and is therefore unlikely to be heading anywhere in the next few hours. Always a worry on transfer deadline day.

Tony Pulis had a go at signing Jermaine Pennant (formerly of Arsenal, Liverpool and Birmingham and I think also Portsmouth) and his Welsh charm worked. Pennant is now an on-loan Stoke City player. For Tony's sake, let’s hope he’s grown up since his Arsenal days.

The Craig Bellamy Saga - 18th August

Celtic still seem to think they can sign Craig Bellamy but Cardiff City might have a few things to say about that.

Tony Pulis says that Stoke City were yet another team interested in signing Craig.

But maybe Craig’s next club will be Manchester City. Roberto Mancini hasn’t quite slammed the door in Craig’s face.

Manchester City will continue to pay Craig’s wages while he’s at Cardiff. Some would say it’s worth paying that much just to get rid of him. I think it’s City’s loss. He can seem arrogant but at least he’s a hard-working team player.

John Hartson thinks Craig will be a big success at Cardiff after being one of the Premier League’s best players last season.

The fans seem pretty keen on Craig too.

Wales’ assistant manager Roy Evans thinks the signing of Craig will be great for Welsh football – but not so good for the natonal team.