EPL Ramblings & Transfer Gossip

By: Wayne Farry | January 28th, 2009

Howdy, this is my third installment of EPL Ramblings & Transfer Gossip here on the EPL Offside. Given that it’s the third installment it’s looking increasingly likely that I’ll keep this up, and you can expect to see it on a weekly basis. Obviously, after the transfer window it’ll change to the simple EPL Ramblings.

So I want to know, do you guys like this feature? Or do you think it’s a waste of time that you could do without? Let me know…

First off, anyone else think that these midweek matches were actually pretty good? Better than the usual midweek fair anyway. Perhaps it’s because everything is ridiculously tight in every aspect of the EPL of this season but almost all the matches were good, which is very unusual! I could talk about Man United looking impressive, or Liverpool drawing their sixth game out the last 7 in the EPL but I won’t. What I am going to talk about is Aston Villa. How impressive do these guys look? Performance wise, they’ve been below their usual level lately. But what they’ve lacked in the quality of their performances they’ve made up for with guile, determination and more than giant handful of luck!

Right now, for me the signing of Heskey from Wigan is looking like a stroke of genius. Not because he scored the goal against Pompey. It’s a nice move because he is exactly what Villa wanted, and needed. He doesn’t score many, not as much Carew anyway, but he’s a better target man than Carew in my opinion and brings player into the game so well. Villa now sit 5 points ahead of Arsenal in the EPL. That’s quite alot. I’d imagine both Villa and Arsenal will record home wins in the next round of matches but if that happens, the gap is still 5 points.

I honestly think it’ll be very hard for Arsenal to bridge this gap, especially if they don’t improve the team during what remains of the transfer window. Wenger needs to pull his finger out and just put up the money for Zenit’s Arshavin. He has said that the return of Rosicky, Eduardo, Theo and Cesc will be like new signings. But the simple fact is, they’re not new signings! Arshavin could do very well for Arsenal and at the moment, at least, they need him. Because right now, RVP is the only person that’s looking even half decent in that team.

So, Man City’s Little Rob was questioned by police over an alleged sexual assault yesterday, or the day before, or whenever it was. So much has happened lately with this guy that when I heard the news I actually thought that he’d literally been arrested as soon as he got off the plane. The whole thing’s a mind-fuck! I’m not going to go in to whether he’s guilty or not. I’m simply going to write down the thoughts that always go through my head when footballers get into this sort of thing.

First off, footballers, more often than not can get any woman they want, especially any woman in certain Leeds nightclubs. If they can in fact get any woman then why force themselves on one? Secondly, and this is one that intrigues me. Perhaps footballers do this sort of thing because they’re so used to getting what they want, that when they don’t, they get it anyway, with or without consent. Then, there’s always the thought that perhaps this chick is a fame-whore who wants her 10 minutes of notoriety and a 2 page spread in The Sun.

Anyway, Robinho has a fiancé and a kid, so he wouldn’t go after other birds, right?!

So, transfers, transfers, transfers…..

Shay Given looks like he’s on the first train to Middle Eastlands after he apparently realised that years of disappointment on the international and domestic front are not good for one of the world’s best goalkeepers. But is he really making a step up, other than financially, at City? We’ll have to wait and see. Forgetting that City want him, I’m here thinking why none of the big European teams are after the boy from Lifford. AC Milan could certainly do with a sturdy goalkeeper and with an Italian managing our international team, the links, if they existed, would make sense.

In a little, strange and fairly unimportant piece of information I’ve heard that Stuttgart’s Jens Lehmann apparently wants to return to the EPL. Anyone want him? Anyone?…….

Sir Alex is allegedly sending suspicious looks over the border at Rangers‘ teenage ‘wunderkind’ John Fleck. He’s a highly rated wee lad. And if Football Manager is anything to go by then he’s going to be a superstar. I say, buy him. Rangers’ chairman Sir David Murray has already stated that the club are looking to sell their prized assets, and Fleck looks like he could fit that profile.

There’s been recurring news lately that Pompey are trying to get Javier Saviola on loan from Real Madrid. It’d be a good move I think. The last time they got an Argentine on loan, in the form of Andres D’Alessandro, it was pretty successful. And who knows, if Saviola’s proposed loan spell is successful maybe he’ll realise that he likes pitches instead of benches, and he might want to permanise (that’s not a word) the deal!

By the way, if you’re wondering what the ‘Scripted Gossip’ pic is about, let me explain. I typed ‘gossip’ into Google Images and all that came up was that crap US show Gossip Girl which sucks and that fat chick from The Gossip who probably doesn’t suck, not a good look for this blog, mainly because they couldn’t be more irrelevant. So, I picked that one because it says ‘gossip’ and the guy looks kinda like me, what with his hair that’s slightly too long to be cool and his charming face. Brilliant, eh?

So that’s all my rambling for now. Laters folks…