Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Thursday's gossip column

Transfers Other gossip And finally

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Hull are considering recalling striker Dean Windass from his loan spell at Oldham as the Tigers bid to halt their Premier League freefall. (Daily Mirror)

Preston will swoop for Manchester United youngster Kenny Strickland. The 18-year-old right-back turned out for North End's reserves on Wednesday. (Daily Mirror)

West Ham winger Julien Faubert fears his dream move to Real Madrid could be under threat after being left out of their Champions League squad. Faubert is on loan at the Bernabeu and was set for a £5.5m move at the end of the season. (Daily Mirror)

Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar is wanted by Russian champions Rubin Kazan. The club have made an improved bid of £6.25m for the South African after offering Everton £4m in January. (Daily Mail)

Bolton manager Gary Megson has blocked a loan move to the Championship for defender Danny Shittu. Birmingham and Reading are both interested in the 28-year-old. (Daily Star)

Scunthorpe hope to tie up a loan deal for 27-year-old Barnsley striker Kayode Odejayi. (Daily Star)

Charlton youngsters Harry Arter, 19, and Ben Godfrey, 18, will both have trials at Gillingham. (Daily Star)

Cheltenham midfielder Alex Russell, 35, is set to join League Two side Exeter for the rest of the season. (Daily Star)

East Fife will finally wrap up the signature of veteran midfielder Lee Makel after red tape held up his move from Swedish side Ostersunds OFK. (Daily Record)

The Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra insists only a "massive" club would be able to tempt him away from Glasgow. (Various)

Airdrie United manager Kenny Black has attacked Dunfermline after accusing the First Division club of going behind his back to sign wingers Joe Cardle and Steven McDougal. (The Scotsman)

Red Bull Salzberg have warned Celtic there will be no talks over £5million-rated Marc Janko until the Austrian side crashes out of the Champions League. (Daily Star)

Massimo Donati has claimed he is being sidelined at Celtic. The Italian midfielder returned from injury in the Scottish cup win over Queen's Park two weeks ago, but has not featured since. (Various)

East Fife will open talks with full-back Dougie Cameron this week. The former Dundee United player is keen to stay at New Bayview, despite interest from Montrose. (Daily Express)

OTHER FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted his future is at Anfield. "There is no part of me that is thinking of walking away from Liverpool," Rafa said after his side beat Real Madrid in the first-leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. (Various)

Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink reckons his Chelsea team are not fit enough to win the Champions League. (The Sun)

Manchester United defender Jonny Evans is hoping United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will let him play through the pain again and take a starting spot for United in Sunday's Carling Cup Final. Evans had pain killing injections on his ankle for United's Champions League game against Inter Milan. (Daily Star)

Tottenham midfielder David Bentley's chances of starting the Carling Cup final have received a boost after he was left out of the Spurs squad for their Uefa Cup tie against Shakhtar Donetsk. (Various)

Arsenal are falling behind in their own repayment expectations on the £133.5m loan for redeveloping Highbury. (Daily Telegraph)

Kolo Toure has ended his feud with Arsenal defensive partner William Gallas for the sake of the Gunners' season. Toure asked for a transfer in January but has helped the club keep five clean sheets in a row. (Various)

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce will not walk out on Rovers at the end of the season - even if they are relegated. (The Sun)

Although Allardyce admits his Blackburn future will be "Under scrutiny" if he fails to save the club from relegation. (Various)

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has spent nearly another £10m on the club in the form of a £4.5m loan for midfielder Kevin Nolan's transfer from Bolton and has paid off £4m the club owed to Real Mallorca for Jonas Guttierrez - taking his total spending to £258m. (Various)

Hull goalkeeper Matt Duke has signed a one-year contract extension to keep him at the KC Stadium until 2011. (Daily Mail)

Striker Danny Cadamarteri, 29, is set to be handed a new contract by League one side Huddersfield. (Daily Star)

Celtic defender Andreas Hinkel has branded Motherwell's Fir Park pitch one of the worst he's ever encountered. (Daily Mail)

Hearts have sacked Bulgarian coach Angel Chervenkov and doctor Ivo Yakimov. (Daily Express)

AND FINALLY

Aston Villa fans have been left fuming after paying more than £1000 to travel to Moscow for Villa's Uefa Cup second-leg game against CSKA Moscow, only for boss Martin O'Neill to take a reserve team to the Russian capital. (Daily Mirror)

Coventry striker Leon Best has become a cult hero after fans decided to wear imitations of the mask he has been wearing since fracturing his cheekbone six weeks ago. (Daily Star)

Aberdeen's Pittodrie pitch is being wrecked by a plague of insects. The leatherjackets infestation started two weeks ago and groundskeepers fear the surface may not recover before the end of the season. (Daily Star)

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