Fulham have announced the signing of Giorgios Karagounis on a one-year deal.
The Greek veteran midfielder has spent most of his career with Panathinaikos, but has also played for Benfica and Inter Milan, whilst internationally he has represented his nation over 100 times.
Martin Jol is glad to have Karagounis in his contingent and feels the experienced man will add quality to his midfield.
“Giorgos Karagounis has a wealth of club and international experience and I’m happy that he’s joined us for this season,” he told the Cottagers’ official website.
“He’s been an influential player for his club sides and is a renowned player in world football as he’s about to become the most-capped player for Greece. He brings many certain qualities to our squad.”
Karagounis is excited by the chance to play in England and is looking forward to getting started with his new team.
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“I’m delighted to have signed for Fulham Football Club and I am excited by a new challenge in England and the Barclays Premier League,” he expressed.
“I’m looking forward to working under Martin Jol and playing alongside some fantastic players at this club.”
Leeds have eliminated Everton from the Capital One Cup, with the Championship side beating their Premier League rivals 2-1 at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
Goals from Aidan White and Rudolph Austin put the hosts into a great position, before Sylvain Distin pulled one back for the Toffees close to the end.
David Moyes admitted his frustration after being knocked out of the competition, and berated a poor first 45 minutes after the loss.
“We were not very good in the first half, but we got better in the second, but not as good as we’ve been playing,” The Daily Mail quote the Scot as saying.
“We started terribly, gave them the initiative and lost the game in the opening 20 minutes due to the way we started.
“We gave away a really poor first goal and left ourselves trying to get back into the game.
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“These boys are in the squad and have to be able to show they can come in and play. If you don’t use them, what’s the point in having them? The players want to play and be involved,” he concluded.
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has stated that he is only now getting back to his best form after overcoming lengthy injury rehabilitation.
The Wales international suffered a broken leg after a horror challenge from Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross in February 2010, and the Emirates Stadium man feels he is only now getting back to top form three years later.
“I had a really bad injury and it takes a while to get back to your best,” Ramsey told Mirror Football.
“But I’m feeling good, confident again and it’s like I’m getting back to my old self and the form which got me here in the first place.
“It’s always difficult to overcome things like that in life, a lot happened last year for me, there was loads of things going on off the pitch for me as well but I’m feeling happier now and hopefully that’s showing now in my performances.
“I think I grew up a lot as a person while I was going through it. It does make you stronger and it’s just getting over the mental side of it.
“As soon as you get back into it, the confidence thing comes into it, but once you get over that and start playing again it’s a thing of the past then.
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“I spoke to a number of people who had similar injuries and they reassured me through it all. They had nothing but good advice and I was patient, didn’t want to rush back and wanted to make sure everything was right,” he concluded.
Manchester United have carved themselves a reputation as comeback kings, a reputation that dates back to the Premier League’s earliest days.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are notoriously known for turning deficits into victories, often leaving it until stoppage time to ensure some of the most dramatic and iconic Premier League moments.
Fantastically entertaining to watch, but this season United have been on the comeback trail far more frequently than they would have liked.
Tuesday nights 3-2 win over Braga was yet another example of United making things as difficult as possible for themselves, falling 2-0 down before half time, leaving them a mountain which they inevitably climbed.
Teams leading United know by now you can never ever afford to feel comfortable, even at 2-0 up with a minute to go you wouldn’t put it past Fergies men to stage an improbable comeback, but the amount of times they have had to do so this season leaves a big question toward their title credentials.
United have fallen behind in six of their eight Premier League fixtures this season, coming back to turn four deficits around at home to Fulham, away at Southampton and Liverpool, and once again at home to Stoke last weekend. Add to this their midweek Champions League performance, United have picked up 15 points from losing positions in all competitions.
Whilst you must commend their attitude, desire and spirit, you must also ask the question as why this season United are simply so slow out of the blocks?
They had conceded within three minutes against Fulham, inside 16 at Southampton, and inside 11 minutes against Stoke. They conceded less than a minute after the restart at Anfield, leading you to wonder why their concentration levels seem so poor when emerging for the start of either half.
The loss of Nemanja Vidic is noticeable, despite his replacement Jonny Evans showing signs of definite improvement over the past year. The Serbian has been missing from United’s back four for the best part of a year, and during his absence United have often looked vulnerable.
Defensive lapses and individual errors have haunted United on too many occasions, with goalkeeper David De Gea still not looking entirely convincing. Injuries to Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have also been disruptive, with Michael Carrick having to fill in at centre back on the odd occasion, notably during the opening day’s 1-0 defeat at Everton.
Whilst United continue to win matches, everything will appear rosy. But with Ferguson stating his disappointment at the manner in which his team fell behind after only the second match of the season against Fulham, you do wonder why his side have continued to make the same mistake over and over again.
The pressure being put on the likes of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck has been far too much, and they and in particular Van Persie deserve tremendous credit for the goals they have produced to ultimately turn so many matches around.
It is a habit United need to nip in the bud as soon as possible, as the early indications this season suggest three teams will be battling it out for the title all the way to the wire.
Noisy neighbours Manchester City are enduring defensive problems of their own, and have mirrored United’s performances at times, Saturday’s comeback victory at West Brom being the most noticeable. The strength in depth they have in their squad will be enough to ensure they are in the title hunt once again come May.
But most worrying for United has been the emergence of Chelsea, who currently hold a four point lead the top of the Premier League table. Roberto Di Matteo’s new brand of expansive football has drawn plenty of admirers, and plenty of points. Defensively they have looked for the best part sound, with goalkeeper Petr Cech particularly outstanding.
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Sir Alex will know his team cannot continue the way they are going without being caught out sooner or later. A positive way to look at would be the fact United have not played to their full potential so far this season, and despite their defensive difficulties they still sit second with an impressive 18 points from a possible 24.
With the front three of Welbeck, Rooney and Van Persie looking irresistible against Stoke City, United have arguably the strongest strike force in the league. Whether they continue to fall behind or not, I would back that trio to ensure United are well within the title hunt come May. And I think we can expect plenty more dramatic comebacks along the way.
Of all the footballers that have donned the famous Manchester United shirt over the years, few would have frustrated the club’s fans more than the undoubtedly talented man from the Cape Verde Islands.
Nani summed up his career at United in just 90 minutes of the 120 played at Stamford Bridge last night, as Chelsea got some degree of revenge for their Premier League defeat and beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s side 5-4 after extra time in the Capital One Cup.
Ferguson blamed the Portuguese international for his side giving away a costly penalty in the final minute of stoppage time, which Eden Hazard stepped up to score the Blues’ third equaliser.
Instead of playing the ball into the corner, the 25-year-old went for glory and tried to beat his man on the edge of the penalty area. Unsurprisingly, he was dispossessed and led to a Chelsea counter-attack which resulted in Scott Wooton fouling Ramires inside the box.
But on the flip side, he proved his quality after linking up superbly with Anderson to execute a delicate chip from a tight angle to score United’s third goal.
He has had his recent troubles, including a protracted contract wrangle and fallout with reserve player, Davide Petrucci, which have been well-publicised and showed his dramatic fall from grace in recent months.
The fact is, Nani was once one of the first names on Sir Alex’s teamsheet; being used down the right-hand side to terrorise full-backs and relied upon to produce a moment of brilliance and win a match.
But his reported greedy behaviour has affected his performances on the pitch, with the man being a shadow of the player many United fans had expected him to become after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure.
Some would say he is gradually being phased out of the team, as Ferguson adopts a new diamond formation without the need for traditional wingers. Although against Chelsea in the league encounter, he decided to revert to a more familiar 4-4-1-1 shape, but elected to use Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia on the flanks.
These players are the more consistent performers than the Portuguese winger, especially Valencia, who is a typical no-nonsense kind of player that does the simple things effectively while not taking the uncalculated risks which Nani does.
He has had ample time to shine, much more than many other players during their time at the club, but has simply flattered to deceive.
His frustrations at letting the match slip away from his grasp were evident in last night’s game, sparking a melee after clashing with Oscar in what was a rather innocuous incident, but he still took issue with the Brazilian.
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The fact that Ferguson rarely vents his criticism to individual players shows the significance of his public rant at Nani. It appears he is being pushed towards the exit door and a summer transfer move will come as a shock to no one.
Winning is becoming something of a gratifying habit for Spurs in recent weeks as they slowly but surely ascended into the Premier League’s top four. Andre Villas-Boas’ new age approach to management has certainly started to bear fruit on the fertile grounds at White Hart Lane as his ruthfully efficient side successfully navigated two tricky games in the space of three days. Now is the biggest test of Villas-Boas’ short reign in North London. Having guided Spurs into a Champions League place the task now is to sustain that position during the punishing winter period. Such a defining point of the season will decide whether the 35-year-old has the managerial mettle to succeed where he failed so miserably down the road at Stamford Bridge last term.
This week on FFC could AVB’s full scale Europa League assault damage Spurs’ Champions League hopes and which Toon striker is the Portuguese coach targeting?
[divider]
Best of FFC
What to do with Gylfi Sigurdsson?
Simply counter-productive for Tottenham and Manchester United?
Are Tottenham still built on weak foundations
Why it’s time for AVB to end this Tottenham soap opera
Could Andre Villas-Boas grand euro designs prove toxic?
Time to cut Tottenham’s short term measure a bit of slack
Has Redknapp lost his ambition?
The FIVE signings that could improve Tottenham
Spurs And Liverpool Among 15 Clubs In For £8m ace
Tottenham weigh up move for Sanchez
Tottenham plot move for Newcastle ace
Madrid set to tempt Tottenham with player exchange deal
[divider]
Best of WEB
Whatever Did Villas-Boas Say To Bale? – Harry Hotspur
Like being punched in the face by God – Dear Mr Levy
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From Hotspur Cricket Club To An Empire – Harry Hotspur
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Quote of the Week
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“We want to avoid surgery if we can. If there happens to be surgery I think we are looking for one month, one month and a half. Hopefully that will not happen because we have some good indications the player will be back in one week or two weeks. It’s a pain that goes away or happened to go away when he was at Fulham for two or three days and the pain went away but it is still there. He can’t move himself properly so he will have a deeper scan on the injury so we can assess it properly.” AVB is staying upbeat despite losing Moussa Dembele to a hip injury for six weeks
Queens Park Rangers legend Rodney Marsh claims that if Harry Redknapp takes charge of the West London club then they will definitely stay up this season.
Redknapp is set to replace Mark Hughes who was sacked yesterday and Marsh didn’t hold back when blaming Hughes and the owners for Rangers’ current poor form.
“Harry Redknapp is, in my opinion, one of the most fantastic football people that there are around. If it is him, I have got no doubt that he will turn it around and QPR will stay up,” Marsh told talkSPORT.
“Over the last 18 months the players they have signed have been really, really terrible players. That has to go down to the manager and the owner; it’s as simple as that.
“I’ve seen every single game QPR have played this season either on satellite in America or in London and they have absolutely no consistency or continuity about the football team.
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“Before the season started we had this fantastic heralding of a new goalkeeper that we were going to sign – Robert Green. He lasted one game. They have not played the same team twice the whole season and that tells you something.”
David Silva is available for selection for the Manchester derby on Sunday after a rapid recovery from a hamstring injury.
City’s midfield maestro underwent special training sessions organised by the club’s medical staff in the past few days, the Mirror reports.
It had been feared that the Spaniard would be out of action for far longer, after reports that his hamstring injury was related to back problems.
The news will be very welcome to Roberto Mancini, for whom Sunday’s contest against city rivals United is of the highest importance.
The Italian manager knows his future at the Etihad will be in jeopardy if City lose to the Red Devils, which would see them concede a six point gap at the top of the table.
Mancini finds himself under pressure after his side’s poor Champions League campaign, as they were eliminated at the group stages of Europe’s premier competition for the second successive season.
Silva did not travel to Germany for Tuesday’s match away at Borussia Dortmund. The 1-0 loss meant City collected a measly three points from six matches, the lowest ever points total by an English club in the group stages of the tournament.
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Despite their European struggles, Mancini’s men remain in the hunt for the Premier League title and would leapfrog United into top spot with a victory in Sunday’s lunchtime fixture.
That would swing the title momentum significantly back in City’s favour, who will now focus on retaining the domestic prize for a second season, while United continue to compete on several fronts.
Manchester City lost major ground in the title race after losing at Sunderland watching local rivals Manchester United sneak past Newcastle in a seven goal thriller at Old Trafford. QPR returned to the bottom of the Premier League after losing at home to West Brom and Chelsea continued their fine run under Rafa Benitez
Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle United
Javier Hernandez’s 90th minute goal settled a seven goal thriller United came from behind three times to beat Newcastle. James Perch gave the Magpies a shock third minute lead when capitalising on a spill from David De Gea to tap home but Jonny Evans scored in similar circumstances at the other end to equalise in the 25th minute. Evans then put through his own net in controversial circumstances as the away side took their lead into half time.
But just before the hour Patrice Evra drove home from the edge of the box to peg Newcastle back again. Parity didn’t last long as Alan Pardew’s men took the lead for a third time courtesy of Papiss Cisse’s thumping effort from Gabriel Obertan’s cutback. But United aren’t top of the table for no reason and after Robin Van Persie fired home to make it 3-3 with 19 minutes to go, Hernandez popped up sweep home from six-yards to earn a vital three points.
Everton 2-1 Wigan Athletic
Everton survived a late scare to beat Wigan at Goodison Park and intensify their push for a Champions League spot. The Toffees stretched their unbeaten run to seven matches and took the lead just after half time when Leon Osman’s long range strike flicked off Gary Caldwell and looped over Ali Al-Habsi. The win was all but wrapped up when Phil Neville, playing his 500th Premier League game, crossed for Phil Jagielka to head home with 13 minutes to go, before Arouna Kone bundled the ball into the net to set up a tense finale.
Fulham 1-1 Southampton
Rickie Lambert’s late penalty salvaged an important point for Southampton and deny Fulham a crucial win. After losing 4-0 to Liverpool on Sunday the Cottagers were straight out of the traps and broke the deadlock with only minutes on the clock. Sascha Riether’s cross wasn’t dealt with by Kelvin Davis and Dimitar Berbatov accepted the invitation to notch his sixth of the season before being booked for revealing a t-shirt saying ‘keep calm and pass to me’ as he celebrated. But the Saints are made of sterner stuff nowadays and when Chris Baird handled in the penalty area five minutes from time, Lambert stepped up to bury his spot kick and keep his side out of the bottom three.
Norwich 0-1 Chelsea
Juan Mata scored the only goal maintained Chelsea’s fine run under Rafael Benitez and consigned Norwich to a second consecutive defeat. After smashing eight past Aston Villa on Sunday the Blues could only managed to find the net once at Carrow Road but it was a veritable peach from Mata. Oscar created it, wriggling away from two Norwich players, finding the Spaniard 20-yards from goal and his rasping 20-yard drive beat Bunn to chalk up a third league win in a row for Benitez.
QPR 1-2 West Brom
Harry Redknapp’s salvage job at QPR got even harder on Boxing Day as they returned to the foot of the table after losing to West Brom at Loftus Road. Despite kick off being delayed by 15 minutes due to the Baggies coach hitting Boxing Day traffic Chris Brunt gave them a deserved lead on the half hour with a delicious 30-yard drive, before Rangers keeper Robert Green palmed the ball into his own net from Brunt’s corner four minutes into the second half. Djibril Cisse offered some hope of comeback when he cooly lifted the ball over Ben Foster with 22 minutes left but the visitors held on to remain sixth and within earshot of a Champions League spot.
Reading 0-0 Swansea City
A point was enough to lift Reading off the bottom as they nipped a run of seven straight defeats in the bud by drawing with Swansea at the Madjeski Stadium. The Royals had an effort ruled out in the 74th minute when Adam Le Fondre was adjudged to have handled the ball while Chico Flores’ goal line clearance secured a point. Swansea’s best chance of the game came when he took advantage of a poor chest back to his goalkeeper by Chris Gunter but the 13 goal Spaniard could only lift his effort over from six-yards. He limped off late in the game to give manager Michael Laudrup a major injury concern.
Sunderland 1-0 Manchester City
Adam Johnson scored the only goal at the Stadium of Light against former club Manchester City to hand Sunderland a third win in four games to move them clear of the relegation zone. Just under a year after Ji Dong Won’s last minute winner earned the Black Cats a surprise victory against the eventual Premier League champions, Johnson was the match winner on this occasion. The England winger’s left footed strike somehow found its way past Joe Hart in the City goal as the visitors protested that it shouldn’t have stood after Craig Gardner fouled Pablo Zabaleta int he build-up. But, despite their best efforts, the Robert Mancini’s men couldn’t force an equaliser and now have a seven point mountain to climb if they’re to peg back United at the top of the tree.
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Aston Villa 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur
Gareth Bale struck a second half hat-trick as Tottenham showed no mercy on Aston Villa to regain fourth place in the table. After conceding eight without reply at Chelsea on Sunday manager Paul Lambert expected a mean response from his players but they were powerless to resist Bale and Spurs as they ran riot at Villa Park. It as actually Jermain Defoe who opened the scoring just before the hour, beating Brad Guzan with the outside of his boot after being picked out by Kyle Naughton. It then turned into the Bale show as he put the finishing touches to a rapid counter attack in the 61st minute to round Guzan and flick the ball home. The Wales winger doubled his personal tally 12 minutes later with a sharp finish before completed the scoring six minutes from time, hammering home a cross from Gylfi Sigurdsson to record his first top-flight treble.
Stoke City 3-1 Liverpool
Stokes unbeaten run now stands at nine games after they came from behind to beat Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium and move to within five points of the top four. A frantic opening first quarter hour saw Steven Gerrard open the scoring from the penalty spot in the third minute after Ryan Shawcross fouled Luis Suarez. John Walters restored parity within two minutes, beating Pepe Reina with a powerful strike after a slip from Martin Skrtel opened the chance up to the Potters striker. The Reds couldn’t cope with their trademark aerial power and Kenwyne Jones took full advantage to power home a header from Glenn Whelan’s 12th minute corner. And just after the break Walters applied the seal with a spectacular volley that left Reina clutching at air.
Everton are tracking Brazilian left-back Fernando Marcal with a view to a possible January move, according to the player’s agent.
The news will increase speculation about the future of Toffees full-back and star performer this season, Leighton Baines, who is being linked with a transfer away from Goodison Park in the summer.
Despite having Bryan Oviedo on the books, Everton boss David Moyes appears keen to boost his defensive options and has sent scouts to watch Marcal feature for Portuguese club Nacional.
Nacional, who are currently 14th in Portugal’s top division, are yet to receive any offers for the 23-year-old but his agent Lee Payne has confirmed the Toffees have registered an early interest in the player.
However, he warned Everton are one of several clubs to have watched the defender in action and they are likely to face stiff competition for his signature.
“We know Everton have watched him, that is true,” Payne told Sky Sports. “But Fernando has been playing very well and a number of clubs are following his progress.
“As far as we are aware no bids have been made but we know a number of clubs have him on their list and it would not be a shock if someone did push ahead with something this month.
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“But Fernando is happy and settled and so if he does not move in January that is no issue at all.”
The Sao Paolo born Marcal has made 26 appearances for Nacional since joining last January. His current deal runs until summer 2015.