At 3.00pm GMT, today, it will be exactly 12 days until the first round of Premier League fixtures get underway.
At Ewood Park, Craven Cottage, Anfield, Loftus Road, White Hart Lane, The DW Stadium and at St. James' "We-don't-know-quite-what-the -stadium-will-be-called" Park, the first whistle of the season will blow, and with it, absolute joy will wash over millions of football fans up and down the country!
After the (shorter-than-it-seems) Summer period where limited football is played and the back pages become filled with news of Cricket and Golf, we will finally start to see normality return as football will start to dominate
The fixture list in full, then, for the weekend of 13th-15th August: Saturday, 13 August 2011 Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland, 15:00
QPR v Bolton, 15:00
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00
Wigan v Norwich, 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Stoke v Chelsea, 13:30
West Brom v Man Utd, 16:00
Scotland to Sheffield?
Having been relegated from the Championship at the end of the 2009-10 season, Sheffield Wednesday finished only 15th in League One last season. This season, they'll hope to 'do a Southampton' and win promotion back to the Championship- perhaps their rightful home.
This year they'll be joined by city rivals, Sheffield United, who were relegated in 23rd place last season.
To signal their intent, the Owls have joined the hunt for Ipswich Town striker Jason Scotland. The former Wigan striker has provoked interest from Brighton, newly promoted to the Championship themselves, and, whilst they can offer a higher grade of football, Wednesday chairman, Milan Mandaric is attempting to tempt him to Hillsborough.
Blackburn interested in a 4th Cissé
Blackburn have made a fresh bid for Freiburg and Senegal striker Papiss Cisse, a 26-yr old who finished 2nd top scorer in the Bundesliga last year.
If he joins the Rovers, he will become the 4th Cissé to play in the Premier League, joining Édouard Cissé (West Ham), Aliou Cissé (Birmingham, Portsmouth), and the most famous, Djibril Cissé (Liverpool, Sunderland).
The German club insist they won't accept anything less than €15million for him, which is believed to be double Blackburn's initial offer. However, Steve Kean, Blackburn Rovers gaffer, has upped his offer, to above the club record transfer fee.
There are a number of clubs interested in Cissé, however, and Blackburn will have their hands tied financially to offer the expected fee. Zenit St Petersburg, Dynamo Kiev and Lokomotiv Moscow and all keen on Cissé, and the wages on offer in Russia and Ukraine could hamper Blackburn's bid. In addition, Arsenal, Liverpool and Fulham have all been believed to be 'keeping tabs' on Cissé.
Sunderland set to sign Gardner
Craig Gardner, 24-yr old Birmingham midfielder, is close to a switch to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has long been interested in bringing lifelong Birmingham City fan to the North East, and is poised to make a significant transfer breakthrough as he closes in
It is understood the 24-year-old is close to agreeing a move to the Black Cats following Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.
Part of the side who lifted the Carling Cup in February with a famous 2-1 victory over Arsenal, Gardner began his career with Birmingham arch-rivals, Aston Villa. However, he and his team-mates were unable to prevent Birmingham from slipping out of the top flight on a dramatic final day of the season, and following manager Alex McLeish's departure, Gardner looks set to exit St. Andrews.
English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers have launched their new home kit at a special event attended by a handful of players including crowd favourite Roque Santa Cruz, Brett Emerton, Morten Gamst Pedersen and new signing Paul Robinson.
The royal blue and white home kit is manufactured by Umbro and features a mirrored design with royal blue on one side and white on the other. Made from 100% polyester and jam-packed with the latest in fabric technology to enhance player performance, the shirt is matched with white shorts and socks.
Former Arsenal trainee, David Bentley, has crossed the divide to sign for hated rivals Tottenham from Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee in the region of Ł15-18 million.
The signing comes just days after Spurs sold striker Robbie Keane to Liverpool, and follows the arrivals of forward Giovani Dos Santos, midfielder Luca Modric and Heurelho Gomes this summer. The England winger with six caps to his name, is understood to have agreed a deal which could run for up to six years.
Despite the reported transfer fee of between Ł15-18 million, Rovers are only expected to pocket half that amount because of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's business acumen - he insisted on a 50 per cent sell-on clause when he sold Bentley to Blackburn for around Ł2m 2 and a half years ago.
Wenger realised the potential Bentley had but could not find a place for the player in the first team given the world-class talent at his disposal. Bentley grew frustrated at his predicament and asked to leave, which Wenger agreed to, but only if the buyer (Rovers) accepted a hefty sell-on clause.
As it turns out, the Gunners will now pocket around Ł7 million for the sale of Bentley from Rovers to Spurs.
Newly-appointed Blackburn boss Paul Ince will see his new team play in an all-new away strip for the 2008-09 season of the English Premier League.
The striking all navy kit by sportswear makers Umbro features a lighter shade of blue around the collars, sleeves and two centre stripes down the body - broken up by the logo of sponsors Crown Paint - in white and blue.
As per all Umbro kits, the new Blackburn away kit features all the latest in apparel technology and is designed to allow players to perform at their peak under all conditions.
Former England midfielder Paul Ince has agreed a three-year contract to manage English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers after former manager Mark Hughes left the club to take over the reigns at rivals Manchester City. He is scheduled to be officially unveiled by the club at midday today.
As a player, Ince was a midfielder nicknamed the Guv'nor for his combative attributes that took him to clubs such as inter Milan, Liverpool and Manchester United in an illustrious career where he also captained his country on a few occasions.
Paul Ince during his days as a Liverpool player
After retirement as a player, Ince began honing his managerial skills in the lower echelons of the English game with clubs such as Macclesfield who he saved from relegation, and the MK Dons where he won the Coca-Cola League Two title and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy last season. With his stature as a football manager growing, a Premiership club finally came calling and despite lacking a Uefa pro licence to coach in the Premier League, Blackburn were still keen on installing Ince as their new manager. He has reportedly been given a two-year extension in which to earn the licence from the FA.
The 40 year-old will become the first black Briton to take charge of a top-flight club in England.
The 2007-09 season Blackburn home shirt features the club's traditional colour of blue and white.
There are mesh panels at the underarms and shoulders with the club crest embroidered on the left chest. Manufactured by Umbro and sponsored by bet 24, the strip features Climate Control and is made using 100% polyester.
Blackburn Rovers have bizarrely chosen to unveil their new home and away kits a full week and a half AFTER the new season started.
Scheduled to be officially launched simultaneously on August 23, the new home kit is in the traditional blue and white while the away kit is in red and black.
Enjoy the preview of the new home and away shirts only - full kits to follow.
Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Man City
Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham
Sun, Mar 18:
Charlton 2 - 0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal
SUMMARY:
Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Wayne Rooney both scored a brace in their team's 4-1 victory over Bolton at Old Trafford.
However, the chief tormentor for Bolton was none other than in-form Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo who played a part in three of the four goals, including a stunning 80 yard run from the edge of his own box to setup Wayne Rooney for a chipped goal.
A serious-looking ankle injury to skipper Gary Neville in the 10th minute was the only sour-note of a dominant Red Devils performance and with six senior players already on the treatment table, the latest injury blow will truly test the depth of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Chelsea are still in hot pursuit of the league leaders with a comfortable 3-0 demolition job on struggling Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and substitute Michael Ballack were more than enough to settle a game in which the home side were rarely in trouble.
Arsenal and Liverpool, however, were unable to keep up with the top two sides with a loss and draw respectively.
The Gunners lost to an injury time winner from Everton's Andy Johnson which came from Mikel Arteta's corner. Arsenal chose the worst time to lose concentration and failed to clear the ball allowing the striker to drill home with a left-foot shot.
Meanwhile, Liverpool dominated possession at Villa Park but was unable to find a way past a resilient Aston Villa defence, reinforcing the need for a world-class striker in the off-season.
The man known as "God" to Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler, replaced Gerrard with six minutes left and almost won the game for Liverpool when his header was turned around the post by Sorensen.
Oh what might have been had Fowler been brought on earlier when it was clear that a goal-poacher of his quality would not go amiss.
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 2 - 1 Reading
Fulham 1 - 1 Aston Villa
Man City 0 - 1 Wigan
Newcastle 0 - 0 Middlesbrough
Sheff Utd 1 - 1 Everton
Watford 2 - 2 Charlton
Portsmouth 0 - 2 Chelsea
Sun, March 4:
Bolton 1 - 2 Blackburn
West Ham 3 - 4 Tottenham
SUMMARY:
Liverpool's unbeaten home run was ended in dramatic fashion when Manchester United defender John O'Shea's shot from a loose ball ended in the back of the net in the dying seconds.
Manchester United visited Anfield knowing that a win would give them a hand on the prized Premiership trophy but Liverpool had other ideas and dominated the game throughout the match.
However, in the dying seconds, the Red Devils pulled off an amazing "smash and grab" when O'Shea scored after a Ronaldo free-kick had rebounded off Liverpool keeperJose Reina.
Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Manchester United were lucky to beat Liverpool - and admitted the referee was right to send off Paul Scholes, who flung a stray arm at Xabi Alonso, for violent conduct.
Manchester United now has a nine-point lead in the Premiership race with just nine games remaining and the win at Anfield may have just sealed it for the Red Devils.
Chelsea remains within sight of the leaders with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park courtesy of Didier Drogba's 29th goal of the season and Salomon Kalou's 82nd minute goal.
Arsenal bounced back from their recent disappoint to beat Reading at home to move within a point of third place Liverpool.
Elsewhere, West Ham's relegation battle looks doomed after throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-4 to Tottenham. The Hammer's defensive frailities were cruelly exposed when Tottenham scored twice in as many minutes to down the fellow Londoners.
English Premier League outfits Chelsea and Tottenham went on scoring sprees in the FA cup with both teams recording 4-0 victories against Norwich and Fulham respectively.
Championship side Norwich was always going to be in trouble against a Chelsea team that could summon the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Essien from off the bench in an easy match for the Blues as they begin an important week with a Champion's League fixture against Porto in mid-week.
Tottenham annihilated fellow Londoners Fulham with a 4-0 romp including two expertly taken goals by skipper Robbie Keane and substitute Dimitar Berbatov.
Premiership leaders Manchester United and Arsene Wenger's Arsenal had no such luck and were both held to fifth round replays after draws at home against Reading and Blackburn respectively.
Reading 2 - 0 Aston Villa
Chelsea 3 - 0 Middlesbrough
Everton 1 - 0 Blackburn
Man Utd 2 - 0 Charlton
Newcastle 2 - 1 Liverpool
Sheff Utd 2 - 1 Tottenham
West Ham 0 - 1 Watford
Portsmouth 2 - 1 Man City
Sun, Feb 11:
Bolton 2 - 1 Fulham
Arsenal 2 - 1 Wigan
SUMMARY:
The results from the Premier League this weekend was "same old, same old" with Manchester United and Chelsea achieving 2-0 and 3-0 wins respectively.
The Red Devil's 6-point cushion remained intact despite never hitting top form after goals from midfielders Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher secured a 2-0 victory.
Didier Drogba's brace helped Chelsea on their way to a 3-0 victory against Aussie Mark Viduka's Middlesbrough with the Aussie guilty of missing a sitter after superbly pulling away from his marker, England captain John Terry, no less.
Rather than celebrating their first win under new American owners, Liverpool came unstuck against Newcastle at St James' Park having taken the lead through ex-Newcastle player Craig Bellamy (who was roundly booed, as one would expect) before the Toon brigade fought back to snatch a 2-1 home victory.
On Sunday, Arsenal came from behind to earn a hard fought victory over Wigan to keep their unbeaten home record intact.
Wigan stole the lead in the first half with a screamer from Denny Landzaat and it took until the 81st minute for the Gunners to equalise through a fortuitous own goal.
Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky then scored the winner for Arsenal with a header in the dying minutes of the game to seal the three points for the home side.
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