Liverpool's new stadium

Liverpool will retain their famous Kop end when they move into a new 60,000-seater stadium in the city's Stanley Park in 2010.
Computer-generated images of the new stadium were revealed by the Premier League club on Wednesday with a steeply banked, 18,000 capacity Kop end an integral part of a design which veers away from the bowl-like appearance of many new grounds.
An official planning application has been submitted to Liverpool City Council for the 300 million pounds ($617.9 million) development in the north of the city.
Moving from the club's spiritual Anfield home is an emotive subject for fans of the five-times European champions, but chief executive Rick Parry said the new Kop end would become the "heartbeat" of the four-sided stadium.
"We've always recognised the central importance of the Kop," Parry said in a statement. "It will have a significantly increased capacity of 18,000 seats in a single tier structure that will be the heartbeat of the new stadium.
"The rake of the stand will be steeper and the seats tighter together, with the acoustics of the roof designed to accentuate the atmosphere during games."

European nights at Anfield are one of the most colourful sights in British football. The current Kop end becomes a sea of red banners while thousands bellow out the club's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Many Premier League clubs have abandoned their historic roots for new stadiums with Arsenal being the latest example, leaving their Victorian Highbury stadium in 2006 for the bowl-like Emirates complex just down the road.
Liverpool's current Anfield capacity of 45,000 is deemed insufficient to compete with the likes of Manchester United (76,000) and Arsenal (60,000) while the likes of Newcastle United also have much bigger stadiums.

Club captain Steven Gerrard said keeping the Kop was vital.
"The fact that a massive Kop end in incorporated in the new stadium is great," he said. "I was completely blown away by the plans. I've played in some great stadiums but this is something special."
Stadium designers, American-based architects HKS, have been involved in many sports arenas including the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and the new venue for Super Bowl champions the Indianapolis Colts.

50 Worst ever transfers in EPL contd...

25 Stephane Guivarc’h, Auxerre to Newcastle United, £3.5m, June 1998

The World Cup winners’ medal that the striker collected with France needed to be seen to be believed by frustrated Newcastle fans.

24 Glen Johnson, West Ham United to Chelsea, £6m, July 2003

The first signing of the Roman Abramovich era has still to establish himself four years and one loan spell at Portsmouth later.

23 Corrado Grabbi, Ternana to Blackburn Rovers, £6.75m, June 2001

The Italian striker scored two goals in 30 Premier League appearances. That’s £3.38m per goal.
22 Adrian Mutu, Parma to Chelsea, £15.8m, August 2003

As if six goals in 27 league games was not bad enough, the Romania striker was sacked after failing a drugs test for cocaine.

21 Tore Andre Flo, Rangers to Sunderland, £6.75m, August 2002

Four goals in 29 league appearances by the Norway striker helped Sunderland towards an ignominious relegation.

20 Joey Beauchamp, Oxford United to West Ham United, £1m, June 1994

The Oxford-born winger was so homesick after joining West Ham that he left two months later without playing a competitive game. He returned closer to his roots with a move to Swindon Town.

19 Hugo Viana, Sporting Lisbon to Newcastle United, £8.5m, June 2002

The young Portuguese midfield player spent most of his two years at the club on the bench.

18 Andrea Silenzi, Torino to Nottingham Forest, £1.8m, August 1995

The Italian striker was so poor that Forest allowed him to leave for nothing.

17 Florin Raducioiu, Espanyol to West Ham United, £2.4m, July 1996

Lasted only six months after missing training to go shopping.

16 Sasa Curcic, Bolton Wanderers to Aston Villa, £4m, August 1996

Fell out with Brian Little, the manager, amid accusations of a wild lifestyle off the pitch.

15 Alex Nyarko, Lens to Everton, £4.5m, July 2000

Complained that the English league was too physical. Walter Smith, his manager, appeared to side with the Everton fan who ran onto the pitch at Highbury to confront the Ghanaian over a supposed lack of effort.

14 Ade Akinbiyi, Wolverhampton Wanderers to Leicester City, £5m, July 2000

Known to some Leicester supporters as Ade Abadbiyi, he was lampooned by fans across the country for his desperate misses.

13 Chris Sutton, Blackburn Rovers to Chelsea, £10m, July 1999

The striker was a regular goalscorer with Norwich City, Blackburn and Celtic but never recovered from missing a couple of sitters on his debut for Chelsea, for whom he scored once in

28 Premier League appearances.

12 Jean-Alain Boumsong, Rangers to Newcastle United, £8m, January 2005

Somehow made it into France’s World Cup finals squad last year but Newcastle fans were relieved when the error-prone central defender left for Juventus.

11 Juan Sebastian Veron, Lazio to Manchester United, £28.1m, July 2001; United to Chelsea, £15m, August 2003

To spare the Argentinian from appearing twice, these two moves have been placed together. If anything, Chelsea’s signing was worse, given that they knew Veron had failed to adjust to English football.

10 Darko Kovacevic, Red Star Belgrade to Sheffield Wednesday, £2m, December 1995

The forward made no impression at Hillsborough but promptly became a prolific goalscorer in the Spanish league with Real Sociedad when he left.

9 Robert Fleck, Norwich to Chelsea, £2.1m, August 1992

The Scottish striker was a cult hero at Carrow Road but a carthorse at Stamford Bridge, where he scored five times in 40 league appearances.

8 Bosko Balaban, Dynamo Zagreb to Aston Villa, £6m, August 2001

The Croatia forward did not start a league game in his two and a half years at the club.

7 Sergei Rebrov, Dynamo Kiev to Tottenham Hotspur, £11.5m, June 2000

The player who formed an outstanding attacking partnership with Andriy Shevchenko at Dynamo Kiev lost his radar after joining Tottenham.

6 Marcelino, Real Mallorca to Newcastle United, £5m, June 1999

Dubbed the “lesser-spotted Magpie”, he played just 17 Premier League games in three and a half years at St James’ Park.

5 Steve Marlet, Lyons to Fulham, £11.5m, August 2001

The Frenchman provided just one goal per five league games, fell out with Chris Coleman over his refusal to play out of position and spent two years on loan to Marseilles.

4 Tomas Brolin, Parma to Leeds United, £4.3m, November 1995

Injury had left Brolin overweight and over the hill but Leeds paid well over the odds for the Sweden striker. He left two dismal years later when his contract was cancelled.

3 Albert Luque, Deportivo La Coruna to Newcastle United, £9.5m, August 2005

One of a host of expensive signings by Newcastle to have disappeared down a black and white hole. The Stevens Inquiry placed a question mark over the transfer and the rest of the world placed a question mark over why Newcastle bought him at all.

2 Valerien Ismael, Strasbourg to Crystal Palace, £2.75m, January 1998

Hopeless in South London, the French central defender has since won the German league and cup double both with Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich.

1 Per Kroldrup, Udinese to Everton, £5m, June 2005

Everton paid a fortune for the Denmark central defender but then showed no interest in actually playing him amid suggestions they had suddenly discovered he couldn’t head the ball. Made one league appearance before returning to Italy.

50 Worst ever transfers in EPL

Out comes the chequebook, up go the expectations; then down to earth come the fans. Here are the 50 worst signings made by Premier League clubs since its inception in 1992, based on the size of transfer fee and impact made by the player. Do you agree?

50 Stan Collymore, Liverpool to Aston Villa, £7m, May 1997

The striker scored just seven goals in 46 league appearances for the club he supported as a boy.

49 Khalid Boulahrouz, SV Hamburg to Chelsea, £7m, August 2006

The “Cannibal” has devoured only the weakest of Premier League opponents.

48 Eddie McGoldrick, Crystal Palace to Arsenal, £1m, June 1993

The Ireland winger was reunited with Ian Wright but could not supply crosses for his former Crystal Palace team-mate as he had done at Selhurst Park.

47 Mark Hateley, Rangers to Queens Park Rangers, £1.5m, November 1995

The England centre forward was a hero in Glasgow but the fans at the other Rangers did not take to him.

46 Darren Huckerby, Coventry City to Leeds United, £4m, August 1999

A world-beater on his day, the forward was not one of David O’Leary’s successes at Leeds.

45 Georgios Samaras, Heerenveen to Manchester City, £6m, January 2006

A lack of goals led to Stuart Pearce’s sacking as manager and the Greece striker was among the chief culprits.

44 Massimo Taibi, Venezia to Manchester United, £4.5m, August 1999

United splashed out in the hope of finding the next Peter Schmeichel, to no avail. The Italian goalkeeper lasted just four months.

43 Titus Bramble, Ipswich Town to Newcastle United, £5m, July 2002

Bramble looked like a future England player when at Ipswich but became a byword for calamitous defending at Newcastle.

42 Fernando Morientes, Real Madrid to Liverpool, £6.5m, January 2005

The striker who helped knock Chelsea out of the Champions League as an AS Monaco player failed to trouble English defences much while at Liverpool.

41 Francis Jeffers, Everton to Arsenal, £8m, June 2001

Signed as Arsene Wenger’s “fox in the box”, he was sold as a donkey in the box at a loss of £5.4m.

40 Michael Owen, Real Madrid to Newcastle United, £16m, August 2005

The English striker has fared reasonably well when fit but injuries mean Newcastle have yet to see anything like a decent return for their money.
39 Chris Kiwomya, Ipswich Town to Arsenal, £1.25m, January 1995

Signed in the dying days of George Graham’s reign and later allowed to leave for nothing.

38 Massimo Maccarone, Empoli to Middlesbrough, July 2002

Views on the Italian range from not picked enough to not good enough. Either way, 18 league goals in four years was a poor return for the striker, who was allowed to leave on a free transfer.
37 Gerry Creaney, Portsmouth to Manchester City, £1m, September 1995

The Scottish striker was a prolific scorer at Portsmouth but misfired at City.

36 Jon Dahl Tomasson, Heerenveen to Newcastle United, £2.5m, July 1997

Played as a striker rather than his more familiar attacking midfield role, the Dane was out of position and out of luck.

35 Ned Zelic, Borussia Dortmund to Queens Park Rangers, £1.25m, July 1995

Blamed the hard English ground for his injuries and quickly returned to Germany.

34 Dean Saunders, Galatasaray to Nottingham Forest, £1.5m, July 1996

The striker who specialised in relegations endured a barren run in front of goal as Forest plunged from the Premier League.

33 Eoin Jess, Aberdeen to Coventry City, £2m, February 1996

An unsuccessful spell at Highfield Road had the Scotsman scuttling back to Aberdeen for a third of the original transfer fee.

32 Paul Furlong, Watford to Chelsea, £2.3m

Chelsea would spend this on a team bus nowadays but it was their record transfer fee in 1994. The striker’s spell was characterised by howlers in front of goal.

31 Ramon Vega, Cagliari to Tottenham Hotspur, £3.5m, January 1997

The Switzerland central defender gave Tottenham fans countless nervous moments.

30 Salif Diao, Sedan to Liverpool, £5m, August 2002

Gerard Houllier, the Liverpool manager who signed the midfield player, compared him to Patrick Vieira. Well, he is tall and from Senegal, but otherwise...

29 Milan Baros, Liverpool to Aston Villa, £6.5m, August 2005

Nine goals in 42 league games was not what Villa had in mind when signing the Czech from Liverpool and they were happy to offload him to Lyons.

28 Faustino Asprilla, Parma to Newcastle United, £6.7m, February 1996

The Colombian was a fine player who enjoyed some good times at Newcastle but his mid-season arrival appeared to unbalance a team that had seemed destined for the Premier League title.

27 Kevin Davies, Southampton to Blackburn Rovers, £7.5m, June 1998

The burly striker is having more luck down the road at Bolton Wanderer but at Blackburn he managed just one goal in a whole league season.

26 Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan to Chelsea, £30.8m, May 2006

The Ukrainian may yet justify his fee but so far his arrival has contributed little apart from prompting a change in formation that arguably hindered Chelsea last season.



Just wanna knw who are in the TOP 25: visit this space tommorrow. Please leave a comment if u dont think any of the above aint as bad as it is made out to be.

What they Earn???

Premier League's Top Ten Earners

News that Chelsea have agreed a new £6.8 million-a-year deal with their captain John Terry means that the central defender - who is also England skipper - is set to become the highest-paid player in English football.

Terry's wages will be £131,000-per-week uner the terms of his new five-year contract.
But how does that compare with the wages of other big-earners in the Premiership?
According to The Sun, the table of the Premier League's top ten earners prior to Terry's new deal looked like this:

1= Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack (both Chelsea) £121,000 a week

3 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) £120,000

4 Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) £119,000

5= Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Michael Owen (Newcastle) £110,000

7= Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd) £100,000

9= Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Didier Drogba (Chelsea) £90,000

FIFA asked to solve Tevez issue

Manchester United remain ultra-confident Carlos Tevez will eventually become their player after chief executive David Gill confirmed the Red Devils bid to sign the Argentina forward was heading for FIFA.
With no end in sight to the row over Tevez's registration, the 24-year-old, who has scrapped plans to have a medical in Manchester this week, has called in the world governing body in a bid to resolve the issue once and for all.
A special 'Dispute Resolution Chamber' will be set up, possibly within a fortnight, to effectively determine who currently owns Tevez, West Ham or his adviser Kia Joorabchian.
"There has been a lot of discussions over the last few days between Manchester United, West Ham and the Premier League but the case will probably go before FIFA's dispute resolution chamber," said Gill.
"We are very confident this will be resolved in favour of the player and he will be free to achieve his wish of joining Manchester United."
West Ham confirmed they have written to the Premier League this morning requesting the matter be referred to FIFA.
A West Ham spokesman said: "It now makes sense for this to be dealt with by FIFA.
"All parties agree this is the best way forward and of course we will be involved in helping this be resolved as quickly as possible."

Dhoni - the Man U fan...

LONDON, July 18, 2007 (AFP) - India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni is relishing being in England right now where he is far removed from the superstar adulation that has come his way at home.
The 26-year-old wicket-keeper, whose 17 different sponsorship deals dwarf the off-field commercial activities of England batsman Kevin Pietersen, has become a huge hit with India fans since making his international debut in 2004.
But Dhoni, who risks being mobbed by enthusiatic supporters when he walks out of his home in Ranchi, east India, insists his celebrity is nothing compared to that of batting great Sachin Tendulkar.
"When we are walking through airports I love to walk behind Sachin because that is a time when you can really sneak through. You sense all eyes are on him," Dhoni told reporters at Lord's where the first of a three-Test series against England starts on Thursday.
But despite his sex-symbol status, he insisted his focus was firmly on cricket.
"The day I stop playing cricket everything stops: whether it's the fan following, the endorsements, or anything else," said Dhoni, who has put his name to footwear, soap and a bank among other deals.
"My responsibility is to play good cricket and that is what I am here to do.
"It is lovely to be here. I can walk in the street, I can sit in restaurants, go wherever I want. If you go to a crowded place in India, such as a mall, you will get mobbed."
Dhoni has thrilled crowds around the world with his big-hitting, a talent he developed as a young player.
"I used to play tennis ball cricket a lot and the only thing to do is hit the ball hard," he said. "You look for a six, no singles, no fours."
Concerns, however, have been raised about his wicket-keeping with fellow gloveman Dinesh Karthik already in the side for his batting alone.
Although Dhoni averages 46.97 in 76 limited-overs internationals, his Test mark of 33.75 in 17 matches, which includes only one hundred, is only marginally better than Karthik's record.
"I always take my matches as my last," said Dhoni. "If you have a bit of pressure, which comes from having competition within the team, it brings the best out of you."
Dhoni, a soccer goalkeeper before he became a wicket-keeper, also said he was happy to be in the birthplace of football.
"I was always quite inclined towards football and so when I was 12 to 13 I went to camp and practised for those couple of years," he explained. "After that we needed a wicketkeeper in our school team.
"Our games teacher said that the basics were the same - as a goalkeeper you move well and catch the ball - so why didn't I give it a go? That's how it started for me.
"I still love football now. I support Manchester United. When our first-class season begins in September/October the Premiership has already started, so when we used to come back from the ground, there was nothing much to do, so we used to watch the games on television."

This is the worst time: Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wants to see his side develop a ruthless streak against weaker opposition to give themselves a chance in the Barclays Premier League title race.
The Gunners took points off the other teams in the top four last season and did the double over winners Manchester United but still finished 21 points off the pace.
"If you make a table of the results against the other teams in the top four, then we were top," Wenger said. "Then if you make a table against the teams in the top half, Manchester United have 43 points, we have 40, so do Chelsea, and Liverpool have 33.
"That shows that we lost the championship against teams in the bottom half of the table.
"So that is where we will have to be much more efficient this season. We have to be consistent in our mental preparation, in our ruthlessness as well."
Defender Kolo Toure agrees with his manager, and added: "We showed we can make it. If you can beat Manchester United you can beat any team in the league.
"Maybe sometimes what we missed was being focused on the game through the whole season. To be the champions you need to concentrate for all the games."
Meanwhile, Wenger is likely to wait until the season starts before appointing a director of football at the Emirates Stadium.
He has been looking for a new man to work with since the departure of David Dein as vice-chairman in April but is willing to wait in an attempt to keep a settled atmosphere over the summer.
Club scout Gilles Grimandi is considered the front-runner for the new post, with Reading's Nicky Hammond also suggested as a suitable candidate. In the meantime, long-serving Arsenal director Ken Friar has been working with Wenger.
"I wanted to do it before the end of the season when I started buying and selling," said Wenger on the club's official website, www.arsenal.com.
"But then I thought that now is the worst time because I have no time to tell someone how I want to do things.
"I did not want to unsettle the team before the end of the transfer market. So at the moment I work with Ken Friar and it is working well for us."
Wenger has brought Lukasz Fabianski, Eduardo Da Silva, Havard Nordtveit and Bacary Sagna to the club this summer as Arsenal plan for the post-Thierry Henry era, although the most important signing would be for the manager to agree a new contract.
The Frenchman's current deal expires at the end of the coming season, with negotiations under way.
"For me, I think he will stay," said Toure on Arsenal TV Online. "Mr Wenger brings something special to this club and to keep him would be a great thing.
"We need to win some trophies and I'm sure Mr Wenger will bring lots of trophies to the club."

Newcastle United, Portsmouth &Glasgow Rangers raided

Three top-level football clubs were at the centre of a police probe into alleged corruption tonight.
Search warrants were executed at the home grounds of clubs Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers.
The investigation is being led by detectives from City of London Police's specialist economic crime unit.
Officers also raided the homes of two individuals, but their identity or location is not yet known.
Various authorities have been probing claims of bungs and bribes at the heart of football for several years.
Lord Stevens is leading an ongoing inquiry by his company Quest into several hundred Premier League transfers.
But City of London Police said their inquiry, targeting "corruption in football and its impact on owners and shareholders'', is independent of any other.
Last month officers arrested a 61-year-old man in Manchester on suspicion of money laundering.
Newcastle issued a statement denying that ``the club itself'' is the target of the police investigation.
A spokesman said: ``If the investigation by the City of London Police, or the ongoing internal review of operations by the club's new owners, show that the club has been the victim of any criminal activity, the club will take appropriate action.''
Spokesmen for Rangers and Portsmouth confirmed staff co-operated with police during their search.
A City of London Police spokeswoman said: ``We can confirm that search warrants were served at three football clubs and the homes of two individuals in connection with corruption in football and its impact on owners and shareholders.
"This investigation is a totally independent inquiry. It has not been influenced or informed by the Quest inquiry in any way.
"As this is a live investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.''

Gooch backs ageing Indian stars

Gooch backs ageing Indian stars
July 15, 2007
"He's still standing still, watching the ball and has the ability to counterattack," says Graham Gooch of Sachin Tendulkar

Graham Gooch, the former England captain who played his last Test at the age of 42, has urged India's experienced middle-order batsmen to convert the final phase of their careers into a "golden one", and said they still had four or five years left in them. Having watched the Indians' tour game against England Lions at Chelmsford, Gooch gushed about Sachin Tendulkar's 171 on the second day and felt there was nothing to suggest that his powers were on the decline.
Gooch scored more than half his Test runs, including 12 hundreds, after he passed the age of 35, and was the top-scorer in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. "I think the likes of Sachin, [Rahul] Dravid, [Sourav] Ganguly are all 34-35 and for me that was the golden period of my cricket," he told Cricinfo at the County Ground in Chelmsford. "My batting got better in those four or five years, so there's no reason why they can't go on."
Tendulkar has occasionally spoken of the demands that age imposes and even changed his game accordingly. While he used to attack more often in the early part of his career, he's off late preferred the more compact style, accumulating more often than blazing away. He spoke about this after his classy innings yesterday and indicated that his body dictated the way he approached an innings.
Gooch echoed the sentiment. "It [carrying on despite the growing years] depends on your desire, your fitness ... and if you haven't got the desire you aren't going to be able to remain fit. You need to work that much harder, naturally you're deteriorating and you're concentration and general sharpness disappears. There's no reason why they can't carry on for 4-5 years."
However, he was quick to point out that Tendulkar still possesses all the attributes. "He's still standing still, watching the ball and has the ability to counterattack. I didn't see anything yesterday to suggest his powers are on the decline. It's how much you want to keep going, whether you've got aspirations still. He'll hope he's got one last flurry over here to entertain people in this country. If he and the rest of the batsmen can put up 500-plus in their matches they're definitely going to stand a chance."
India's senior-most cricketer, though, isn't a middle-order batsman but a legspinner who will be expected to carry the attack. Gooch, who faced a bespectacled 20-year-old Anil Kumble on the 1990 tour, believes he can pull it off. "He played the second Test at Old Trafford in 1990 [when Tendulkar got his first Test hundred] and what I liked about him was his desire to take wickets. I faced Derek Underwood early in my career and they were similar with regard to the pace they bowled with. Underwood wasn't a big spinner of the ball but relied on accuracy. Same with Kumble.
"He'll get bounce on English pitches and that's what he mainly relies on for those catches at silly point and bat-pad. He's not a big turner like conventional spinners but his record stands the test of time. The pitches in England don't deteriorate as much these days and are tough for spinners but he doesn't rely too much on a pitch that spins square, it's the bounce that gets him wickets usually."

David in LA

David in LA

David Beckham is set to collect even more air miles after the Los Angeles Galaxy's owners revealed they are planning to send the team on lucrative tours to boost revenue.
Beckham is facing plenty of travel time already following his England recall, with the midfield star looking at near 11,000-mile round trips between his new home in Los Angeles and London to report for international duty as Steve McClaren's team bid to reach the European Championship finals.
The Galaxy have already lined up a friendly in Australia at the end of the Major League Soccer season in late November and Tim Leiweke, chief executive and president of the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) - who own the Galaxy - revealed other money-spinning games are being lined up for England and Asia next year.
Referring to reports Real Madrid were being offered six million US dollars (£3million) a game to play exhibition matches in Asia, Leiweke told reporters at the Home Depot Center: "I think the greatest opportunity for the Galaxy is touring and doing international matches.
"I don't think it is six million dollars a game but I think it could be a pretty good percentage of that.
"And if you can do six games a year, that can add a significant amount of value to the team and its revenue."
The Galaxy will play Sydney FC at the 83,500-seat Telstra Stadium on November 27 and Leiweke added: "We have the Australian dates locked
"We have a couple of dates in the US that we're going to do and we're mindful of giving David some rest so we're trying to be a little focused on making sure we don't overload the schedule this year.
"We're still focused on training in Asia and doing games there next year at the beginning of the season and I think it's more than likely we're going to take a trip over to 'Jolly Old' [England] and do a game or two over there next year as well."
Leiweke claimed his emphasis on lucrative friendlies stemmed in part from the inability to expand the Home Depot Center beyond its current 27,000 capacity without entering into a complex and time-consuming planning process.
He reiterated his ambition to catapult the Galaxy into the top tier of world club football during the period of Beckham's time at the club.
"I've already stated that we'd like to be considered one of the top clubs in the world and that means there's that mystical 100million dollar (£50million) revenue stream that we want to try and get into that classification," he said.
"I think that would designate us as one of the more significant and relevant clubs in the world.
"From a competitive standpoint, I think we're going to go through a bit of a learning curve.
"You can't expect that we're going to beat Chelsea or Chivas Guadalajara right off the bat. We're not quite at that level but we'd like to get to that level in the next four or five years.
"But I've always felt the biggest, most important thing that David can do above and beyond the exposure, the media coverage, the sponsorships, the dollars, the ticket sales - can David ultimately prove to a lot of other players around the world that it's okay to come and play in this league, that the quality of play, our facilities and in particular, the fan support for soccer in this country is there.
"If that happens then David has left a legacy that is probably more in impact and standing than Pele did with the North American Soccer League.
"But I think we're going to have to work hard to get to the next level. The 100million mark is not just thrown out there without understanding the consequences.
"As well as we're doing this year, we have to double our revenue and that's going to be a challenge because, as I've explained, it's not probably going to be driven by the gate here because of the restrictions from an attendance standpoint."
The AEG chief executive explained television viewing figures for Saturday's sold-out Chelsea friendly, when Beckham is due to make his Galaxy debut, would have a big bearing on how much clout the club would have when it came to re-negotiating broadcast rights contracts.
He said: "If David has the impact we think he's going to have and our ratings do what we think they're going to do then there is a good re-negotiation coming in the future for some of our packages.
"Some of our packages expire in four years, some in eight years, so clearly there's some upside there."

Heinze, and the war for him

GIANTS GO TO WAR OVER HEINZE

Liverpool are ready to meet Manchester United's £6million asking price for Gabriel Heinze, but the Premiership champions are determined to prevent the Argentine full-back joining their bitter rivals.

Under new FIFA legislation, Heinze can buy out the last two years of his United contract, leaving the Red Devils powerless to prevent him moving to Anfield. And according to The People, Liverpool are ready to test that ruling.

United are already involved in a bitter transfer wrangle for Heinze's countryman Carlos Tevez, and this new row could escalate to similar heights.

Heinze, currently in Venezuela preparing for the Copa America final, has slipped down the pecking order at Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson will not stand in his way if he wants to leave.

However, Ferguson and other senior United figures would rather see him move abroad than become the first player to make the move from Old Trafford to Anfield in over 40 years.

The paper claims Heinze is keen on a move to Liverpool, but would rather go with United's blessing.

I could not stop Henry: Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted he could not stop Thierry Henry swapping north London for Barcelona as "he wanted to leave".

Henry joined the Spanish giants for £16million last month after eight years with the Gunners and Wenger admits it was firmly the player's decision.

"Of course you don't want to lose a world-class player without having thought about it," he told the News of the World. "At the end of the day, it was his decision.

"He wanted to leave. You don't make a decision like that in a minute. You check to see if the player is really completely sure of what he wants to do.

"But Thierry Henry's decision is down to him. It's not my decision. He wanted to make the move.

"He's nearly 30. Maybe he didn't have the patience anymore to let the young team develop. You can understand that. It was a tough decision."

Muralitharan the magic man.

Pls read reviews from ex-cricketers and modern day cricketers about Muttiah Muralitharan on the Occassion of his 7ooth wicket

Chaminda Vaas
Murali is one of the best bowlers in cricket arena. After 500 he aimed to reach 600 and once he was there he eyed the 700-mark. This guy just wants to continue playing and taking wickets - he loves to take wickets. When he doesn't get wickets, which is rare, he is very frustrated. I have been his bowling partner for more than a decade now and it has been a pleasure to bowl from the other end. He wants you to tie from one side because that makes it easy for him to buy wickets. The other thing about Murali is he never stops from learning: even if batsmen are trying their best to study him he himself has improved in the years to come up with new balls and variations, he never gives up. He is very hungry and at the same time he wants to set a good example for others. Nobody can match him. I would like to see him play for at least three to four more years and help produce young spinners in Sri Lanka.
Barry Richards
It is a wonderful achievement. No one questions his ability, he is a genius. He might be one of the last spinning geniuses in the today's totally-batsman dominated cricket. I must admit I had my doubts about his action in the early stages of his career but everybody now accepts genuine talent.
Harbhajan Singh
He is a great role model for all of us. He has been there for many years and always been a match-winner. He has taken Sri Lankan cricket to big heights, without him they wouldn't be where they are today. He is a champion spinner - his consistency of taking wickets, the way the creates the pressure by bowling good balls is just amazing. He is so hungry for wickets and that despite taking so many wickets and he wants to do it again and again. On the cricket ground he is a such a big presence and he leaves an effect on you. With his variations he can surely reach the 1000-wicket mark if he continues to play for at least a few more years. People feel he buys his wickets easily but he makes it look easy even if it is not so easy. In my intereactions with him he has always asked me keep motivating myself and keep playing and keep enjoying the game. After the retirment of Warne and McGrath we need heroes in the game and guys like Murali and Kumble are players we to look upto.