Hatem Ben Arfa, the newest at Newcastle

Hatem Ben Afra, the supremely talented yet troubled French midfielder.  Can he finally put it together and become a star on the club scene?

There is a very good article on his move to Newcastle and his troubled past linked to ESPN soccernet's Andy Brassell.

Getty Images

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=819121&sec=england&root=england&cc=5901

My personal favorite reason for Tottenham signing Van Der Vaart

This is his girlfriend.  Need I say any more?

Carling Cup Round 3 Information

The third round of the Carling Cup will be played on September 21-22 with 19 of the 20 EPL teams still in the running.  Only Blackpool was eliminated in the second round.  Games are as scheduled.  EPL teams are in Bold.

September 21, 2010

Birmingham v Milton Keynes Dons
Brentford v Everton
Burnley v Bolton Wanderers
Millwall v Ipswich Town
Peterborough United v Swansea City
Portsmouth v Leicester City
Stoke City v Fulham
Sunderland v West Ham United
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Notts County

September 22, 2010
Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers
Chelsea v Newcastle United
Scunthorpe United v Manchester United
West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City
Wigan Athletic v Preston North End
Liverpool v Northampton Town
The EPL could have as many as 13 of the final 16 teams playing in the 4th round.  But they are guaranteed at least 5 of the final 16 due to head to head matchups.
 

Canadian History in the EPL

These are all of the players from Canada that have played at least one English Premier League game since 92-93.


Jim Brennan - Norwich City - 2004-05

Terry Dunfield - Manchester City - 2000-01

David Edgar - Newcastle United, Burnley - 2006-current

Craig Forrest - Ipswich Town, Chelsea, West Ham - 1992-95, 1996-01

Tomasz Radzinski - Everton, Fulham - 2001-07

Paul Stalteri - Tottenham, Fulham - 2005-08

Frank Yallop - Ipswich Town - 1992-95


Current Canadian Players in the EPL:

David (Junior) Hoillet - Blackburn (English Premier League) 21 and under players.

Manchester United overspends by £7.2 million

Some believe that former Portuguese Third Division player Bebe, signed for £7.4 million, will become a great player under Sir Alex Ferguson’s charge. Others believe that it was a terrible signing of a player that will never reach the 1st team with the Red Devils.


One thing that is certain after this news is that Man U could have saved themselves a lot of money if they would have taken the chance on Bebe earlier. Estrela Amadora manager Jorge Paxaio told the Daily Mail, "Last season we had no money at all," Paxaio told the Daily Mail. "We were trying to transfer Bebe to other clubs. We had to raise money desperately. We told everyone in England and in Europe: 'For €150,000 you can have him'.

"We couldn't get anybody interested. Nobody trusted him. None of the clubs were interested because he had never played at a high level."

So, the question becomes, has Man U made a colossal mistake in signing a player to a transfer over 7 million when they could have gotten him a few months earlier for a fraction of a million?

We will have to wait and see what the 7 million pound man will be able to do.

EPL squads submit their 25 man rosters.

Each club's 25-man squad should have eight homegrown players who - regardless of age or nationality - spent three years (or a total of 36 months) in the youth system of a club in England or Wales before they reached the age of 21.


Contrary to reports elsewhere, players aged under 21 can, if required, be named in the 25-man squad as a homegrown player. An Under-21 player is defined as being born on or after January 1, 1989.

Clubs can use an unlimited number of Under-21 players in addition to their 25-man squad. For instance, Chelsea would not need to name Daniel Sturridge or Gael Kakuta in their 25-man squad.

Any player who is left out of the 25-man squad will only be eligible to play in the Carling Cup until January 1. From January 1 to January 31, clubs can make unlimited changes to their 25-man squad. On February 1 a new 25-man squad must be named to run until the end of the current campaign.

If a club chooses fewer than 25 players for their squad it is almost certainly due to them having a large number of under-21 players. Clubs with fewer than 25 players in their squad are still permitted to sign free agents.


Notable players to be left out of the squads include: Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham), Ben Alnwick (Tottenham), Luke Moore (West Brom), Michael Kightly (Wolves), Mamady Sidibe (Stoke), Riga Mustapha (Bolton), Paul Rachubka (Blackpool).

Honestly, no bnig suprises on any of the notable names left out.  Most have or are currently facing major injury issues and will either be moved in the winter transfer, let go completely, or added to the squad if fulled healed. 

Thanks to ESPN soccernet for the list.

Van Der Vaart officially signs with Tottenham

The Premier League have given Tottenham Hotspur permission to sign Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid for €11 million.

This is 3 million more than previously thought but is still a bargain for a premier midfielder that will immediatly contribute to the Spurs.  The Premier League had investigated Spurs' claim that they had difficulties with the computer servers used in the transaction between themselves and Real, which hindered their attempts to submit the relevant paperwork on time.


The Premier League said in a statement: "The Premier League can confirm the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart's registration from Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur.''

A statement on Spurs' website read: "We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of Rafael Van der Vaart. The Holland international came through the ranks at Ajax and won two league titles during 141 appearances with the Eredivisie side, scoring 60 goals before leaving for Hamburg in the summer of 2005.

So, now that I have finally put behind me the debacle versus Wigan, I can look forward to seeing what this Dutch player can do to add to the squad.


Thanks to ESPN Soccernet staff for some of the info.

Newcastle, Stoke Sunderland, and Tottenham transfers in

Newcastle
Sol Campbell
From: Unattached
Fee: Free
Dan Gosling
From: Unattached
Fee: Free
James Perch
From: Nottingham Forest
Fee: Undisclosed
Hatem Ben Arfa
From: Marseille
Fee: Loan
Ismael Tioté
From: Twente Enschede
Fee: Undisclosed

Stoke City
Florent Cuvelier
From: Portsmouth
Fee: Undisclosed
Kenwyne Jones
From: Sunderland
Fee: £8,000,000
Jonathan Walters
From: Ipswich Town
Fee: £2,750,000
Eidur Gudjohnsen
From: AS Monaco
Fee: Undisclosed
Marc Wilson
From: Portsmouth
Fee: Undisclosed
Salif Diao
From: Unattached
Fee: Free
Jermaine Pennant
From: Real Zaragoza
Fee: Loan

Sunderland
Simon Mignolet
From: Sint-Truidense
Fee: Undisclosed
Cristian Riveros
From: Cruz Azul
Fee: Free
Ahmed Al Muhammadi
From: ENPPI
Fee: Loan
Marcos Angeleri
From: Estudiantes La Plata
Fee: Undisclosed
Asamoah Gyan
From: Stade Rennes
Fee: £13,240,000
Titus Bramble
From: Wigan Athletic
Fee: Undisclosed
Danny Welbeck
From: Manchester United
Fee: Loan
John Mensah
From: Lyon
Fee: Loan
Nedum Onuoha
From: Manchester City
Fee: Loan

Tottenham
Rafael Van der Vaart
From: Real Madrid
Fee: £8,000,000
Stipe Pletikosa
From: Spartak Moscow
Fee: Loan
William Gallas
From: Unattached
Fee: Free

Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United transfers in

Fulham
Philippe Senderos
From: Arsenal
Fee: Undisclosed
Jonathan Greening
From: West Bromwich Albion
Fee: Undisclosed
Alexander Kacaniklic
From: Liverpool
Fee: Undisclosed
Lauri Dalla Valle
From: Liverpool
Fee: Undisclosed
Carlos Salcido
From: PSV Eindhoven
Fee: Undisclosed
Rafik Halliche
From: Benfica
Fee: Undisclosed
Moussa Dembele
From: AZ Alkmaar
Fee: Undisclosed

Liverpool
Paul Konchesky
From: Fulham
Fee: Undisclosed
Suso
From: Cádiz
Fee: Undisclosed
Adam Hajdu
From: MTK Budapest
Fee: Loan
Raul Meireles
From: FC Porto
Fee: £11,500,000
Brad Jones
From: Middlesbrough
Fee: £2,300,000
Christian Poulsen
From: Juventus
Fee: £4,500,000
Fabio Aurelio
From: Unattached
Fee: Free
Danny Wilson
From: Rangers
Fee: £2,000,000
Joe Cole
From: Unattached
Fee: Free
Milan Jovanovic
From: Standard Liege
Fee: Free
Jonjo Shelvey
From: Charlton Athletic
Fee: £1,700,000

Manchester City
Alex Henshall
From: Swindon Town
Fee: Undisclosed
Aleksandar Kolarov
From: Lazio
Fee: Undisclosed
David Silva
From: Valencia
Fee: Undisclosed
Yaya Touré
From: Barcelona
Fee: Undisclosed
Jerome Boateng
From: Hamburg SV
Fee: Undisclosed
Mohammed Abu
From: Sporting Club Accra
Fee: Undisclosed
James Milner
From: Aston Villa
Fee: Undisclosed
Mario Balotelli
From: Internazionale
Fee: Undisclosed

Manchester United
Chris Smalling
From: Fulham
Fee: Undisclosed
Javier Hernández
From: Guadalajara
Fee: Undisclosed
Bebé
From: Guimaraes
Fee: Undisclosed

Blackpool Bolton Chelsea and Everton transfers in

Blackpool
Craig Cathcart
From: Manchester United
For: Undisclosed
Eliot Grandin
From: CSKA Sofia
For: Undisclosed
Ludovic Sylvestre
From: Mlada Boleslav
For: Undisclosed
Malaury Martin
From: AS Monaco
For: Free
Matthew Phillips
From: Wycombe Wanderers
For: £325,000 
Dudley Campbell
From: Leicester City
For: Undisclosed
Luke Varney
From: Derby County
For: Loan
Dekel Keinan
From: Unattached
For: Free 
Chris Basham
From: Bolton Wanderers
For: Undisclosed

Bolton
Rodrigo
From: Benfica
For: Loan
Tom Eaves
From: Oldham Athletic
For: Undisclosed
Ivan Klasnic
From: Unattached
For: Free
Marcos Alonso
From: Real Madrid
For: Undisclosed
Martin Petrov
From: Manchester City
For: Free
Robbie Blake
From: Burnley
For: Free

Chelsea
Yossi Benayoun
From: Liverpool
For: Undisclosed
Ramires
From: Benfica
For: Undisclosed

Everton
Jermaine Beckford
From: Unattached
For: Free
Magaye Gueye
From: Strasbourg
For: Undisclosed
João Silva
From: Clube Desportivo das Aves
For: Undisclosed
Jan Mucha
From: Legia Warsaw
For: Free