Bristol City sign Tottenham's Danny Rose on loan

Bristol City have signed Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Danny Rose on loan for the rest of the season.

The 20-year-old, who had been linked with City for some time, joined Spurs for £1m in 2007 from Leeds United.

City boss Keith Millen told BBC Radio Bristol it is a signing which should give him more options in midfield.

"He's one we feel would enhance the squad in terms of the position he plays and we've been looking for a left-sider for a while now," Millen said.

The deal is until the end of the current campaign, but Spurs do have the right to recall him after the opening 28 days of the agreement.

Rose is unavailable for City's trip to Scunthorpe on Saturday because of a slight ankle injury, picked up playing for the England Under-21s, but is expected to be fit for their home game with Watford.

Meanwhile, City have confirmed that they have released Peter Styvar's contract with immediate effect.

via BBC Sport

Manchester United defender Gary Neville has revealed he thought he was about to be released by the club at the end of last season

Neville, who did not sign a new one-year deal until the end of April, believed he had just three weeks left at the club before finally joining fellow veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes in signing a new deal.

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"I turned round during training one morning and said 'I have three games to go at Manchester United','' said Neville at a sponsorship announcement for Singha Beer.  "I had not spoken to the club and I genuinely felt it could be the last three weeks.  The club didn't owe me anything and I was more than happy. I was enjoying myself. In some ways, my best football came in a period I thought I was just going to enjoy.

"Because of my injuries, I have thought about the fact I might have to find something else. Two years ago I thought it would be my last season. Obviously last year I felt the same. I recognise this one could be as well.  I am on a one-year contract.  If I don't perform or I feel the club don't want me anymore I will be gone.  That is life. In the 19 years I have been here, it has happened to better players.  What keeps me going is the thought of running out at Old Trafford and winning trophies.

"It is all I have known since I came to my first match when I was four.  If I was anywhere else I would struggle.  At this stage of my career, my motivation is to extract every since ounce of enjoyment I can.  I want to contribute to a team that can win things.  That is all I have ever wanted to do.

"My career has been in three distinct parts.  I had the pre-first-team time, then from 19 to nearly 33, it was virtually flawless.  I was always on the teamsheet and regularly playing nearly 50 games a season.  Then I got the injury and was missing for 18 months.  Coming back I felt as though the game had moved on and found it really difficult to adapt.

"I feel as though I am starting again. I have had to build myself up from the bottom. Now I have to target 30 games.  There are periods where I have to be ready for the manager to use me. You can almost tell when those times will be. Coming up to Christmas when the pitches start to get a bit rougher and experience is required. Post-Christmas when some of the younger players have had six months and need a rest."

Jermain Defoe will miss 6 weeks

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has confirmed that striker Jermain Defoe faces at least six out through injury.

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Defoe, who was stretchered off while playing for England late in Tuesday night's 3-1 win over Switzerland in Basle, suffered an ankle knock and the player had insisted he would to be fit to face West Bromwich Albion this weekend.

However, Defoe is now due to miss the first half of Spurs' maiden Champions League campaign and is also a major doubt for England's next Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro at Wembley on October 12.

Aston Villa finally finds a manager

Gerard Houllier is set to be confirmed as the new manager of Aston Villa this week, with L'Equipe reporting that he has agreed a two-year contract with the Premier League club.

After spells managing Liverpool and Lyon, Houllier is currently the technical director for the French national team, but he has scheduled a meeting with French Football Federation president Fernando Duchaussoy to follow Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"I will meet Wednesday to take stock of the situation with him," Duchaussoy told reporters. "I'll ask him. I would like to continue working with him."

Houllier, 63, is set to confirm that he is leaving the role to take charge at Villa Park, despite opposition from the club's supporters.

Kevin MacDonald, who has taken charge of Villa on a caretaker basis since the shock resignation of Martin O'Neill, has impressed owner Randy Lerner and could stay on as Houllier's assistant, a first-team coach or return to being in charge of the first-team.

via ESPN SOCCERNET

Walcott is injured

Theo Walcott of the English national team was taken off the field in the first half versus Switzerland with an injury.  This could be a very big blow to both the English national side as well as Arsenal.

The news coming in regarding Walcott's injury is that on first inspection, it's a sprained ankle. That's a relief for England.  More information will be given once a full inspection is done and reported later today.

Remember the name... Conor Doyle

Conor Doyle is an American trailblazer.  While he is only in the Championship rather than the EPL, he is playing significant minutes for Derby County, a very respectable accomplishment for any American player.  What makes him a trailblazer is that he is only 18 years old and playing in the public radar of England. 

Doyle could become the next big thing for American soccer in the EPL in the next few years.  Already earning a 1st team spot barely out of high school, he is everything that is missing in the American training process. 

The big quesation now is, will he play for Ireland or the United States if/when he makes his international debut.  But that aside, an 18 year old American in the Championship right within view of the EPL, I personally never saw it coming.

Dirk Kuyt injures shoulder.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP)—Winger Dirk Kuyt injured his left shoulder in training Monday and could be out for several weeks, Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said.

Van Marwijk said Kuyt was injured when he fell awkwardly while attempting to reach a cross while training at ADO The Hague’s stadium.

Photo via: The Sun

“Dirk does that a lot, there was nobody close to him, but this time it went wrong,” Van Marwijk told national broadcaster NOS.

Kuyt has “strained and possibly torn ligaments in his shoulder,” Van Marwijk said.

Kuyt will miss the Netherlands’ European Championship qualifier Tuesday against Finland at Feyenoord’s Kuip stadium.

Kuyt opened the scoring from the penalty spot on Friday in the Netherlands’ 5-0 defeat of San Marino in their opening Group E match.

The 30-year-old Liverpool player flew back to England on Monday to return to his club.

The Netherlands’ attack is already missing Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben to injuries for Tuesday’s match. Van Persie has a left ankle injury and Robben a left hamstring injury that threatens to sideline him for the rest of the year.

Power Rankings 9-6-10

Power Rankings for the week of 9-6-10

1. Chelsea-  The defending champs are at it again with three victories and a +14 goal differential and no goals allowed so far this season.
2. Arsenal- Theo Walcott has started on fire with 4 goals in 3 games including a beautiful hat trick versus Blackpool, this may be the year that Arsenal gives Chelsea a run for their money.
3. Manchester United- With a so so start to league play, many are picking Man U to drop some this year.  Ill believe it when I see it.
4. Tottenham Hotspur- I am tempted to ignore the abberation versus Wigan and say that they contend for 2nd or 3rd place, but with the Champions Legaue games plus the EPL games it may be asking too much to get above 4th. 
5. Manchester City-  Again, a very very talented squad that may or may not gel into a team and challenge for the EPL gold.  Best case, they finish 1st... Worst case, they finish 8th-10th. 
6. Liverpool- The Reds look to be on the outside looking in with regards to the top 5 teams in the EPL. Fernando Torres' health will be vital to the rest of the season. 
7. Newcastle United- With Andy Carroll on fire and the addition of Hatem Ben Arfa to the squad, Newcastle is enjoying life with the big boys.
8. Bolton Wanderers- One of the 6 remaining squads with no losses to start the season, it will be seen if Bolton can maintain this ranking. 
9. Birmingham- Very active in the transfer window, the Blues may be able to make some noise and be one of the top 8 in the league.
10. Wolverhampton Wanderers- A very workmanlike performance to begin the season has put the Wolves in the top 10 with a realistic chance to stay between 10 and 13.
11. Aston Villa- The worst is yet to come for Villa with the team and coaching situtaion in flux.
12. Sunderland- The Darren Bent show is alive and well in Sunderland.
13. Fulham- Still struggling to put away teams in the second half, it seems that Fulham is still attempting to establish an identity but 10-13 seems a realistic resting place.
14. Stoke City- Stoke has played well so far this season.  Although they have lost the first three, they will being to rack up wins and justify this ranking. 
15. Blackburn Rovers- Blackburn plays their rough style of play that will keep them out of relegation but not allow them to seriously compete with the upper 10 of the league.
16. West Bromwich Albion- Once the schedule eases for Brom, more points will come and allow Brom to move upward in the rankings. 
17. Everton- A combination of uncharacteristic follies by Tim Howard and an inability to score puts Everton right on the relegation cliff.
18. Wigan Athletic- Was last weekend's victory over Tottenham a sign of things to come or an abberation..... I am going with abberation.
19. Blackpool- The magic of the opening weekend 4-0 win over Wigan is fading as shown with the 6-0 loss to Arsenal and the poor showing in the second round loss in the Carling Cup.
20. West Ham United- So far, a rough go in the EPL season and now the owner is calling out players.  Seems like a recipe for relegation.

Michael Dawson out 8 weeks.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admits he was relieved to discover Michael Dawson is expected to be fit within eight weeks.

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Michael Dawson is stretchered off after sustaining the injury

Dawson was stretchered off during England's 4-0 victory over Bulgaria on Friday night after his leg collapsed beneath him in a freak accident early in the second half.

Scans showed the 26-year-old defender had only sprained left knee ligaments and a left ankle ligament and he could be back in action by the end of next month.

"First of all, it's a big blow for Michael and a great shame for him," Redknapp told the club's official website, "but watching it live, I thought it could have been worse than it's turned out.

"It could have been his cruciate ligament and that would have been the end of the

Robinho's excuses

Robinho has decided to grace us with his "reasons" for failing in Manchester:

1.  He found the city "an awful place to live".
2. "Neither Hughes nor Mancini understood me," he told the People newspaper. "Perhaps they only believed in the sporting side of things, but that wasn't enough for me.
3. There was a lack of contact between the players and the club.
4. I am a special footballer and I need to be happy when I'm playing. That was the case at Real Madrid but never at City.

So, AC Milan, make sure that you keep him happy and hope that he finds a happy place to live and the manager understands him, and there is a special contact with the players and the club, and maybe give him more hugs.  Robinho is definately an interesting player.