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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has refused to rule his side out of this season’s Premier League title race despite dropping more points.Wenger’s side now trail league leaders Manchester United by six points and dropped to third after they threw away a 3-1 lead at Tottenham on Wednesday in an exciting 3-3 draw.

A win could have cut the margin to four points, but with Arsenal still to play the leaders, who also play Chelsea, Wenger remains hopeful.

“It is completely open,” Wenger said.

“This team has a remarkable attitude, even if at the moment we are not rewarded with the number of points.”

“We are remarkably consistent. We are on a 16-match unbeaten league run but we have had too many draws.”

“It is open. Chelsea are back in the race and they play Man United and Spurs. It is down to us to keep our faith and keep battling. We will not always draw when we score three goals.”

Wenger bemoaned the fact his side had to play Liverpool on Sunday and then back it up with another hugely important match just four days later.

“It is a massive disadvantage to play two games of such stature in a matter of days,” he said.

“The Liverpool game had a bearing. Physically we dropped in the second half, which explained why they equalised and why there was room to score goal numbers four and five.”

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp sang the praises of his side after their fight-back allowed them to claim a point, but concedes Manchester City are now the favourites to finish fourth in this season’s Premier League, which would give them a spot in Champions League qualifying next season.

“I’m so pleased with the character we showed, there is a spirit in this football club now that we never give in,” Redknapp said.

“We have come back from losing positions so many times and you need players with real character to do that.”

“They (Manchester City) were favourites at the start of the year, because of the squad and because we finished above them last year and they went out and spent about 150 million pounds to try and get above us.”

“Obviously they are favourites, but I can’t ask any more than to have a team that plays like they did tonight.”

In the week where Tottenham confirmed the controversial signing of William Gallas, it is another former Chelsea and Arsenal player that Spurs are after, but this time there cannot be any split opinions

Lassana Diarra has been told he can leave Real Madrid and his former boss Harry Redknapp is keen to add him to his current Spurs squad as they prepare to embark on their first ever UEFA Champions League adventure. Despite the addition of Brazilian starlet Sandro to an already strong center midfield, it is clear that Redknapp is keen to bring in one more before the transfer window shuts at the end of this month after also declaring interest in West Ham’s Scott Parker

When comparing Diarra to Parker, it is like having the option to buy a Porsche cheaper than a Ford Focus. £15million for a player that gets credit from the media simply due to what it says next to ‘nationality’ on his passport is ludicrous compared to £9million for someone of Diarra’s quality. But wait a second I hear you cry, Parker is a good, competitive old fashioned midfielder. But then again if you were dating a girl who was not the most pleasant on the eye would you say you that or would you say she has a wonderful personality? A “good, competitive old fashioned midfielder” is just a nicer way of saying “not a great player but works hard”, but enough about Parker.

When Real Madrid signed ‘Lass’ in January 2009 for £20million, Spurs and all of the other teams who wanted him thought that there chance was gone as he would go on to become a Madrid icon, when he became their player of the season in just six months those thoughts were seemingly confirmed. But we all should have known better with Real Madrid being the notorious talent-wasters; they made the same mistake with Claude Makelele and Esteban Cambiasso which took them until they signed Diarra to find such an able holding midfielder… and they are about to do it again

Similarly, Wilson Palacios joined Spurs at the same time as he joined Real and had an instant impact, winning over his new supporters and teammates with some pulsating performances. The Honduran added to Spurs what they had been missing for a number of years, determination, bite and a genuine presence in midfield. The Champions League dream would not have been possible without his contribution and must be acknowledged but his dip in form in the last half of the season plus Luka Modric’s superb displays alongside Tom Huddlestone in the big games means that he is no longer a guaranteed starter.

Looking at Spurs’ strength in that position it would be wrong to sign anyone, unless they were signing a world class player, and that is exactly what they would be getting with Diarra. One of the best in his position, impeccable at recuperating the ball and knows how to build up play from deep positions. He is not just the new Makelele, I genuinely believe he is his clone.

A problem stated by Redknapp was that his wages could be a problem in reaching an agreement as he earns around £110,000 a-week but this is a player whose normal value is double the suggested £9m Real are asking, that saving alone should be worth meeting his wage demands.

An opportunity not to be missed for Tottenham, a player whose impact would improve the team greatly. Now to sign a top class striker, Adebayor anyone?

Written By Andrew Vou

Click on image below to see the gallery of Mario Balotelli’s stunning girlfriend

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Sir Alex Ferguson has quashed reports that United are interested in signing Frank Lampard from Chelsea. The United boss suggested that there is no way in the world that Villas-Boas will look to sell his best players, especially given the difficulty he would have in trying to replace them. Fergie also suggested that he may not buy, given the lack of quality that is generally available in the January window.

Elsewhere in the news Aston Villa confirms their interest in Keane; Arteta did consider representing England, while Neil Warnock is irate over Joey Barton’s ban.

News

Aston Villa confirm interest in Robbie Keane

Liverpool criticised over Suarez support

Sneijder not expecting January move

Triple blow for Manchester City

Neil Warnock irate over Barton’s ban

Mikel Arteta considered his options

West Brom suffer injury blow

England announce pre-Euro 2012 friendlies

Sir Alex Ferguson given transfer greenlight

Joksimovic confirms Tottenham and Chelsea interest

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Other transfer Talk

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Redknapp lines up £12million double swoop on rivals – Mirror

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Liverpool are the latest to show interest in £10m Birmingham winger Redmond – Daily Mail

Blues set to miss out on Van der Wiel – Sun

Ferguson ramps up interest in Cuenca – Daily Mail

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Cruziero ensured top spot in Group 7 of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday, while Deportes Tolima scored a consolation win.Cruziero ended their group stage efforts undefeated after a 3-0 away win at Estudiantes of Argentina in a match between two sides who had already progressed to the last 16.

With both sides having their focus on the next stage, it was the visitors who claimed an 11th minute lead through Thiago Ribeiro.

He was joined on the scoresheet by his strike partner Wallyson on the stroke of half-time, before Gilberto wrapped up the victory with his effort eight minutes from time.

The win propelled Cruzeiro to 10 points leaving them on top of the group after six matches, with Estudiantes second with eight points.

In the other group match, Colombian side Deportes Tolima ended their campaign on a positive note with a 2-0 win at Guarani of Paraguay.

Deportes, who stunned Brazilian giants Corinthians in the first round, hit the front four minutes into the second half thanks to Danny Santoya’s goal.

Luis Closa put the result beyond doubt with his goal 21 minutes before the conclusion of the match, the result was moot with both sides eliminated from the competition.

Ronald Koeman has confirmed his interest in the managerial vacancy at Aston Villa.

The Dutch coach is interested in succeeding Martin O'Neill in the Villa Park hot-seat following the Northern Irishman's decision to step down on the eve of the new Premier League season.

Koeman has been out of work since being sacked by Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar in December 2009.

The former Netherlands international has spent time in charge of Vitesse, Ajax, PSV, Benfica and Valencia since turning to coaching in 1999.

"I'm interested in the position of manager from Villa. I know that I'm on their list," he told Dutch media.

"I don't know how many more candidates are on that list. But I haven't had contact yet with Villa."

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O'Neill walked away from Villa Park last week having seemingly become frustrated by a perceived lack of funds to try and strengthen his squad.

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Ajax boss Martin Jol and United States coach Bob Bradley have all been linked with the job in recent days.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Calling on football fans from around the UK. We don’t often have a chance to celebrate being British in the world of football, what with the home nations struggling to make it to the big championships and crashing and burning if they do get there. It’s a continue battle, having to put up with the taunts of Germany, France and now Spain, who have all won big tournaments in recent years. When was the last time a home nation won a major tournament? Everyone will tell you, even Scottish fans begrudgingly, that it was when England won the World Cup at Wembley in 1966. You do the maths; soon it will be fifty years since silverware was lifted. However, here’s an opportunity for you to show your Best of British and win a tidy cash prize.

Betfair are running a competition, which requires your British accent to come to the fore. You don’t even have to use your own accent if you don’t want to, if you’re something of a specialist when it comes to accents then you can show off and use a completely different one. It doesn’t matter whether you use a Geordie, Scouse, Cockney or Brummie accent, as long as you sound 100 per cent British then the job’s a good ‘un. So get practising that accent to make sure that you can pull it off without any trouble at all. That’s half the job done; but what do you need this accent for I hear you ask? Now all you’ve got to do is create a great video!

Betfair are looking for you to create a video that explains what they’re all about. If you’re not familiar with the betting website, then you might want to do a bit of research while you’re perfecting that accent. The three million strong betting community want you to explain their betting system, how other than football there are sports aplenty for you to bet on and that you can even bet in-play. Cram all that info into a 60-90 second video and Bob’s your uncle. You’ll be marked on how compelling your story is, the production quality of your video, how well you capture the spirit of Betfair and how accurate your video is, so don’t go telling porkies!

Watch the clip below to get an idea on just what you have to do and then get making your video so that you’ll be in with a chance of winning a chunk of the $15,000 prize pool. If that wasn’t incentive enough, I don’t know what is…

Click here to enter the competition

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This post is sponsored by Zooppa – Betfair.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has hit out at Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Ham.Scudamore has accused managers of not showing enough respect to officials and Ferguson is currently serving a five-match FA touchline for criticising referee Martin Atkinson following his side’s defeat at Chelsea.

“Richard Scudamore has not got a lot to do, has he? He?s trying to elevate the Premier League and fine, good – that’s his job. I don’t think managers disrespect referees,” Ferguson said on Friday.

“I got done for what I considered a fair comment but he didn’t, he gave me a five-match ban. That’s fine, but that doesn’t say we don’t respect referees.”

“It’s a difficult job, we all know that, you wouldn’t referee a game would you? But I think Richard is jumping off a high diving board here without thinking about it.”

With just eight games remaining the Premier League title race is still wide open.

United lead the way but Arsenal, Chelsea and even Tottenham are still in with a chance of lifting the trophy in May, according to Ferguson.

“With eight games to go you can’t exclude anyone. Arsenal, ourselves, Chelsea and Tottenham – you can’t exclude anyone,” he said.

“Whoever becomes the most consistent will win this league, I can guarantee that. We want to be consistent, we hope we will be and if we are, we have a good chance.”

“We are involved in three competitions which is great. The difference between now and 1999 [when United won the treble] is that nobody was injured then, apart from Henning Berg in the Champions League final.”

“At this moment in time this next few weeks are crucial to get players back from injury.”

Midfielders Anderson (knee) and Ji-Sung Park (hamstring) are both doubts.

Defenders Rio Ferdinand (calf), John O’Shea (hamstring) and Rafael (hamstring), and midfielders Owen Hargreaves (shoulder) and Darren Fletcher (virus) are all missing.

The Chelsea FanCast crew discuss the ‘pre-season friendly’ – aka the Community Shield against the Mancs and look ahead to the real season opener against West Brom on Saturday.

After Four pre-season losses in a row including losing 3-1 to the Mancs in the Community Shield, on paper it doesn’t look too good for the Chelse: losing matches, leaking goals, toothless upfront, no marquee signings…

Shhhtop!!! This team isn’t ready yet!! That’s right, like the old Grolsch adverts, don’t panic – we haven’t started the season proper yet and many of our players have had a total of a week’s pre-season training. Carlo’s not worried so why should we be. In Carlo we trust!! The boys discuss the Community Shield defeat and whether we really should be worried or not.

We’ll also be have a look forward to the real season opener against West Brom and the return of a true Chelsea gent and legend, one Roberto Di Matteo. We also have a look at the latest transfer and other gossip and welcome Ramires to the Blue cause with ten things you didn’t know about Ramieres!

As always, Dr Martin answers your questions in Dear Mart and Chidge reads out the best posts from the website and facebook group in “You’re on CFFC”…

The Chelsea Football FanCast: Good riddance to the Phoney war!

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Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is allegedly targeting Manchester City’s Nigel De Jong, after the Dutchman’s recent contract talks broke down. (Metro)

The midfielder’s performances in recent seasons have brought widespread admiration, and last season in particular De Jong was seen as a key player in Roberto Mancini’s side.

However, following another summer of investment by City, De Jong has struggled for a starting berth, with Mancini often preferring a more attacking line up with Gareth Barry given the holding role.

Now, following a recent breakdown in contract talks, De Jong’s days at City may be numbered. The defensive midfielder is rumoured to want at least double his current £55,000 a week deal, yet the City board are not willing to offer such a significant wage increase and will not be offering a new deal until the summer at the earliest.

City paid £18 million to land De Jong from Hamburg two seasons ago, and Real Madrid are believed to see a fee of around £20 million as value for money.

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If De Jong is to leave City, it is likely Madrid will face competition from Europe’s other big guns for a player with significant international and European pedigree.

Birmingham have been fined 40,000 pounds by the Football Association due to a pitch invasion after their Carling Cup clash with Aston Villa.More than 1000 Birmingham fans invaded the St Andrews pitch after their team’s 2-1 win over their west Midlands rivals Villa in December.

The club was also warned about its future conduct and suspended half of the fine until the end of the 2013-14 season.

In response to the punishment, a Birmingham statement read: “The fine could have been much more significant but was determined after the FA commented on the professionalism adopted by Birmingham City in its preparation of the fixture, which was well documented, and the level of co-operation the club gave following the investigation and charge,” the statement read.

“Club officials would like to thank the FA and regulatory commission for their patience and assistance with this matter.”

Birmingham went on to win the Carling Cup, securing the trophy with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Wembley on February 27. It was the Premier League club’s first silverware in 48 years.