Interest in Shaun Wright-Phillips Grows

You've got to be kidding me? I know that we've come to the point in this pre-season when the tabloids go into overdrive, but Shaun Wright-Phillips??

"Arsenal face competition from Tottenham and Liverpool as they try to sign Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips." - Daily Mail

Who dreams this stuff up? I personally think the guy is useless. If the ball isn't deflecting off his shin, then it's coming off of an opponents body part. Has SWP really fulfilled his potential over the past decade? To be fair, he was pretty decent prior to moving to Chelsea, but since then, he has been awful. How he got on the plane to South Africa still baffles me. The fact that he still thinks he's worth £75,000 per week is also a conundrum not many of us will ever be able to answer.

In other news, Niko Kranjcar has fully recovered from the ankle injury he picked up against Portsmouth in the F.A. Cup semi-final. It will be good to see the lad back in action once again. Maybe his form in pre-season can persuade Harry Redknapp to not sign Joe Cole?

I have started to warm to the idea of Cole joining though.

Before I go, Harry is set to be on talkSPORT later on today. Should be interesting!



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Martin Petrov fails medical?

So I'm in the office, minding my own business, when a fellow Yid and colleague, Rob, comes up to my office and tells me that Martin Petrov is undergoing a medical.

"Great" I say.

About an hour later, Rob comes back and tells me that Petrov has failed his medical due to a problem with his knee. When I asked him for he source, he told me he heard the info from Steve, who I know to be an oracle regarding City.

If anyone other than Steve, in our media department, can vouch for this piece of news, please let us all know.

COYS!!!

PS. Has Niko Kranjčar signed yet? Everyone is 110% sure he has, so why don't the club make an announcement?

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Harry: "We have agreed terms with Niko"

It looks like it's official, well, sort of. I am a follower of Harry Redknapp on Twitter, as are another 270+. Now, I can't be sure that it's really Harry, but some of the things he has said in his tweets sort of confirm that it is him.

In a tweet sent this morning, Harry said the following;

"I'd like to let you know that we have agreed terms with Niko. He'll have his medical today at around 9."

There was no other word from him in relation to this, but it looks as though we have got our man. Plus there's all the other quotes that we've all read on Sky Sports.

I'm pretty pleased with the signing of Niko Kranjčar. He's actually not a bad player and will offer our squad more depth.

Any news on Bentley? It looks as though he'll be off to Manchester City and we'll also get our money back. That has to be the deal of the window in regards ripping them off, or have Everton won that medal with the money they got for Lescott?

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Who's Harry about to buy?

Our great win against the Brum was truly marred by The Modfather's leg fracturing and Ledley suffering a groin injury.

I suppose the one bit of good news is that Woody came through his first training session on Friday. I'm not sure how long he'll still be out for though, but seeing as we don't play for two weeks, he could be fit in time for our biggest test yet, Manchester United at home, although I don't think he'll be match-fit.

I hope we'll get to hear how long Luka will be out for and of course, we send him our regards.

As regards Ledder's, it all depends on what he's done to his groin. If he's torn it, then we could be looking at 4-6 weeks. A tweak can take him out for up to 3 weeks, as can a pulled groin. Either way, I can't see him being back for Man U game.

I was at the Lane on Saturday and saw that Charlie clearly isn't a centre-half. He's a very good full-back, but that's the extent of his game. He just didn't look at all comfortable, especially when being pressured.

So then, what do we do? I'm sure Harry will be looking to bring someone in. Maybe Sgt. Wilson's mate, Ozzie Chavez, can be brought in on a short-term deal?

As regards our goal keeping position, I think Harry's not too pleased with either Carlo or Gomes and may look to bring in James. I don't think James is the answer, but Harry knows him and so make take the plunge.

In relation to signing a left winger to replace Modric, I've got a feeling Keano will be filling that spot until Luka returns, with Crouch and Defoe playing up front. After all, Robbie slotted into that position fairly okay in Luka's absence.

Whist at The Lane on Saturday, I had a great conversion with a guy named Tony. He obviously knew his football and said that "Harry won't be in for that Dutch Real player (Van der Vaart) as Harry prefers to play two central holding midfielders with the other two midfielders being very attack minded.

I agreed with Tony. Azza is a right winger and The Modfather plays on the left but is given the freedom to do as he wishes. Even though I would love to see the likes of Van der Vaart at White Hart Lane, but what would happen when Luka returned to action? We would either have an unhappy Croatian or Dutchman.

If Harry is looking to bring in James, I would ask that Portsmouth take Cudicini as part of the deal. I would then try my damn hardest to sign another midfield enforcer. Unfortunately, both Sandro and Sissoko are unavailable.

I do believe that we need a short-term solution at centre-half, although that's way easier said then done.

Whatever happens, I think there will be some movement before the window closes.

Niko Kranjčar anyone?

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Mental Toughness

In our game against Liverpool, we showed a mental toughness with Sgt. Wilson and Huddlestone bossing the middle of the park.

When Harry first joined, I remember him talking about our "mental toughness" and how important it was to winning matches.

Harry brought Joe Jordan and that proved to be a masterstroke. A lot of the praise headed up Redknapp Drive at the time, but I'm pretty sure that Jordan must have had a piece to play in the way our fortunes turned around.

I remember watching Joe Jordan in action when he was playing for Milan in the early eighties. They were playing Lazio away in the league and were 2-1 down. He came on for the second half. Milan won the game 2-4. After that game, everyone sat up and took notice of Joe and not because he had his teeth missing. If I've ever seen a player take his team by the scruff of the neck, it was in this game.

I remember the Milan captain, Maldera, asking Jordan to calm down after he screamed his team mates to get on with taking a free-kick. Joe was so annoyed with the pace of the Italian game and it made him mad when his team mates took their time. In the Lazio game, Milan midfielder, Ruben Buriani took his time trying to place the ball the way he wanted it, so Jordan rushed up to him, pulled him away from the ball by the scruff of his neck and took it himself. The fiery Scotsman still burns inside the hearts of the Rossoneri.

If we are to win tonight against Hull, we need to be mentally strong. If we can muster up even an ounce of Joe Jordan's spirit, we'll be okay, not only in this match, but for the remaining fixtures.

Harry is still on the look out for some more players, but they've got to be mentally strong. He spoke well of Pompey's Niko Kranjčar. It's been well reported that Portsmouth need to sell a couple more players, so maybe Harry will take the plunge on Niko, after all, he loves Croatians.

If it was up to me, I'd go all out for Sissoko. He's strong both physically and mentally, but unfortunately costs more than Jordan's two front teeth.

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