Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic will return to full training this week, The Sun reports.
The commanding Serb centre-half missed the majority of last season after picking up a cruciate ligament injury against Basel in the Champions League before the turn of the year.
United missed their leader at the centre of their defence, with the likes of Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones deputising.
After undergoing an operation the eastern European stopper has been in a strict rehabilitation program, and is said to have made excellent progress over the last couple of weeks.
Vidic can now run without any trouble or pain, and will start to get into more rigorous training this week.
A regime to increase the defender’s core strength has been drawn up, which will help Vidic to regain the ability of sharp movements and hopefully avoid another relapse of the injury.
United are set to start pre-season for 2012-13 on Monday, with the players who played in Euro 2012 to get a leave of absence after a packed summer of football.
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During the long summer months, the big four have been going about strengthening their side for the upcoming season but have a quick look at teams outside the top four and you will notice a distinct lack of summer transfers. Are these teams suffering in the transfer market because they cannot get shot of the unwanted players at their club?
A perfect example of a team in this situation is at Tottenham whose only summer capture has been 40-year-old Brad Friedel on a free transfer from Aston Villa. They have numerous players who are unwanted by the club but they have had no success in trying to offload many of them with only one high paid payer Jonathan Woodgate being released in the summer.
They must trim the side in order to fit in with the Premier League’s 25-man squad limit and while Daniel Levy is commanding large transfer fees for these unwanted players it is easy to see why they have not been able to offload them. David Bentley has three years left on his contract at White Hart Lane and Levy is asking for a huge transfer fee or large loan fee for the unwanted winger.
Niko Kranjcar, Jermaine Jenas, Peter Crouch and Alan Hutton all seem to be unwanted by Redknapp for the new season but until Levy drops his asking price it is unlikely that the club will move these players on especially when large wages are involved. After they are excluded from the 25-man squad announced soon the players may realise their future lies away from White Hart Lane and then Spurs could get rid of them.
Redknapp is anxious before the end of the transfer window to secure a world-class centre-forward who would give him the option of playing either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. However Levy’s wage ceiling of £75,000-a-week is preventing such a transfer occurring as big name players can get more than double that at Manchester City and the like. This ceiling while financially viable is actually preventing Spurs from becoming a genuine top-four club as the quality they require will not arrive for these sort of wages. I think they got very lucky with the Van Der Vaart deal and unless Redknapp can pull a similar deal out it could be a hard battle to reach fourth place.
Redknapp knows he has to get rid of these players before he can bring fresh blood into the team but thus far he has not managed to get any of them off the wage bill, so he has not been able to strengthen his team. Without Levy reducing the asking price of these unwanted players it is unlikely that they create the space for new players who would represent value for the club.
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One option that Harry may look into is to include these players as part of a transfer to bring players into the club as this would kill two birds with one stone by getting them off the wage bill while also bringing in new talent to the club.
It looks today that Robbie Keane will be soon off the wages with striker set to join LA Galaxy but this is just one of the many players the club must clear out before they can strengthen.
Unless Redknapp can find a solution to this problem, it is doubtful whether or not he would be able to bring in the players he wants in this transfer window. Wouldn’t it be wise to sell players like Hutton and Jenas at a reduced price to remove their wage bull while generating transfer fees that could be used to sign new players? Until Levy sees this the club may be stuck with unwanted squad players and no new signings.
Let me know your thoughts, is Levy holding back the club or is it the right policy to under-take?
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Rangers moved within two points of Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic with a 1-0 win at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Tuesday.SPL top scorer Kenny Miller – reportedly on the verge of a move to Turkish club Bursaspor – was left out of the Rangers team by Walter Smith, with James Beattie and Kylie Lafferty starting up front in his absence.
Visitors Inverness came closest to taking the lead early on at Ibrox through striker Richie Foran, who saw his header tipped on to the bar by Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
Lafferty twice came close at the other end, before he was involved in the opener on the stroke of half-time.
The Northern Ireland international – a three million-pound signing from Burnley in 2008 – saw his shot blocked, but the loose ball fell for Steven Davis, who found the bottom corner of the net with a strike from just outside the box.
Inverness could feel aggrieved at going behind after referee Craig Thomson failed to award a free-kick for a foul on Adam Rooney in the build-up.
Defender Graeme Shinnie kept the away side in the contest during the second half, making goal-line clearances from Lafferty and substitute Nikica Jelavic.
Visiting goalkeeper Ryan Esson also saved from Lafferty late on but, while Rangers failed to extend their advantage, Inverness proved unable to force an equaliser.
The win means Rangers are now two points behind Celtic with two games in hand over the league-leaders.
Elsewhere, third-placed Hearts came from behind to beat Kilmarnock 2-1 away from home and stay within five points of Rangers.
Visitors Hearts started the better of the two sides at Rugby Park, but it was Kilmarnock who took the lead in the 19th minute through Portuguese forward Rui Miguel.
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Still trailing at half-time, Hearts boss Jim Jefferies introduced Stephen Elliott a minute after the restart and the substitution paid off.
Former Preston striker Elliot levelled in the 73rd minute, and with four minutes remaining Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell fumbled an Elliot shot into the net to hand all three points to the visitors.
Hearts are now 11 points ahead of fourth-placed Kilmarnock but remain five points behind Rangers, who have played one game fewer than the Edinburgh club.
Samir Nasri has stated that his goal celebrations after he scored against England on Monday night were aimed at the French media.
The Manchester City attacking midfielder scored from range to square things up at 1-1, and wheeled away with a finger over his mouth as a silence sign.
The playmaker has confirmed that he was hitting back at his homeland critics, who have been sceptical over Les Bleus’ performances of late.
“That was at you,” he reportedly stated to reporters after the game, reported by The Guardian.
Nasri went on to state that he felt that his side had a good chance of making the knockout stages and that he was happy with his goal in the game.
“It’s nothing serious. A win would have made things better still, but I was happy with the goal. Joe Hart knows me from City, and knows I usually open my body up, so this time I closed it and aimed at the near-post.
“I’m confident in our ability to go through after this point. Our goal is to reach the quarter-finals, and we didn’t lose this game. We can be happy.
“We’ve made a lot of progress since all the mistakes at the 2010 World Cup: we are more mature now and we want to do something with this generation of players,” he concluded.
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According to the Mirror, Aston Villa have given Charles N’Zogbia a transfer ultimatum as the winger continues to stall over a move to Villa Park.
Villa boss Alex McLeish has made the Wigan Athletic winger his top transfer target after losing Stewart Downing to Liverpool.
The Scot met the £10 million asking price but the Frenchman continues to drag his feet over joining the Midlands outfit.
Villa are offering N’Zogbia £50,000 and McLeish is fears he may be getting messed around by the player for the second summer in a row.
McLeish wants to get the deal done and dusted before flying out to Hong Kong with the squad on Saturday, but both N’Zogbia and Wigan are seemingly holding out for more lucrative offers.
The events are unfolding in a similar fashion to last summer, when McLeish was Birmingham City boss, with the deal collapsing at the 11th hour Aston Villa have told the winger to make up his mind.
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The club have already started looking at alternatives should N’Zogbia decide a move to Villa Park isn’t for him.
Mile Jedinak’s second goal in as many matches helped Australia edge Bahrain 1-0 and qualify for the Asian Cup last eight as Group C winners.Jedinak produced a scintillating strike in the shadows of half-time to give the Socceroos the hard-fought victory in Asia’s flagship soccer tournament on Tuesday as South Korea’s 4-1 triumph over India failed to dislodge Holger Osieck’s side from the summit of the standings.
As expected, the Socceroos made three injury-enforced changes for their final group game, with David Carney (shoulder), Jason Culina (knee) and Luke Wilkshire (groin) still bearing the battle scars from their arduous draw with South Korea.
In their place, Matt McKay replaced Carney at left-back despite being more accustomed to playing a midfield role for A-League club Brisbane Roar, Jade North filled the void left by Wilskshire on the right side of defence, and Carl Valeri was a natural swap for Culina in the centre of the park.
For Bahrain, who needed all three points to stay alive in the tournament, attacking midfielder Faouzi Aaish, scorer in each of their two games to date, was suspended for the match.
Brett Emerton made an early drive at goal for the Socceroos but hooked his shot from outside the penalty area, while Bahrain showed attacking intent of their own as they sought to expose the incongruous McKay with a number of thrusts down the right wing.
The Socceroos struggled to construct the fluent passing exchanges they were afforded against minnows India, a task made doubly difficult by the wet conditions at Al-Sadd Stadium in Doha along with the high level of intensity employed by their opponents in defence.
Against the run off play, the lively Abdulla Fatadi broke beyond the Australian defence and offloaded to Ismaeel Abdullatif, but the man who netted four times against India could only clip the woodwork from a narrow angle.
Australia launched a counter of their own as Brett Holman put Harry Kewell through on goal, but the alert Mahmood Mansoor darted off his line to foil the striker’s shot.
Mansoor could do little to stop Jedinak in the 37th minute, however, as a burst from Emerton set the former Central Coast Mariners midfielder up to launch a powerful strike from the edge of the area that skidded off the soggy turf and into the back off the net.
It was Jedinak’s second ever strike for the Socceroos following his equaliser against South Korea, as he begins to add a penchant for scoring crucial goals to the defensive midfield traits that have seen him become a regular in Osieck’s side.
Jedinak almost repeated the dose two minutes later, this time launching another fierce drive from a free-kick that forced Mansoor into a smart save.
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Abdullatif nearly gave Bahrain the perfect start to the second half when he forced Mark Schwarzer into a lunging stop, while at the other end, Tim Cahill, whose usual aerial threat was lacking on the night, wasted an ideal opportunity to make it 2-0 when he uncharacteristically skewed his header wide despite having an empty goal to aim at.
The Socceroos sought to protect their fragile lead and were only able to do so thanks to the superb Schwarzer, who made a pair of clutch saves to deny Fatadi and Abdullatif, as Salman Sharida’s side pressed forward in search of the equaliser that would re-ignite their quarter-final hopes.
But that never came as Australia did just enough to earn the three points and set up a quarter-final clash against the runners-up from Group D.
With just one game left of the regular season Oxford United are still within an outside bet of the playoffs, but look more than likely to spend another year in League Two.
To see United climb into the final playoff spot Crewe need to drop all three points when they welcome Aldershot to the Alexandra Stadium on Saturday and we need to win away at Port Vale.
Our promotion race was effectively ended when the U’s suffered a disappointing defeat to high flying Southend in a game which promised to be such a close encounter, but in reality was very one sided.
The Shrimpers, who had already secured a play-off place, dominated the first half scoring two decent goals and upstaging us in every department. It could have also been three if not for the goal line clearance from Michael Duberry. In the second period Oxford put up a bit more of a fight and started passing the ball around, having some more of the possession. Unfortunately they were unable to get anywhere close to scoring and the lack of striking options was clear to see with Scott Rendell the only fully fit attack-minded player.
However it was encouraging to see both Jon-Paul Pittman and Tommy Craddock play a part in the game as they continue their recovery from their respective injuries.
The trouble is that even if United were to find themselves in the playoffs come Saturday evening, they would be facing such an uphill task with such problems up front.
A brighter note from our last home game was the announcement of both the supporter’s player of the year and the player’s player of the year. It was very pleasing to see Andy Whing pick up the supporter’s award and shows just how much the Oxford faithful have changed their opinion of the inspirational midfielder since the start of the season. Ryan Clarke picked up the player’s accolade and you can see why having had another superb season between the sticks, which was unfortunately hampered by an injury in the Torquay game.
Deputy Wayne Brown came in and did really well but then in training also suffered an injury setback, meaning United had to get in an emergency loan. England under 19 ‘keeper Connor Ripley came in from Middlesbrough and did a decent job, even if the first goal was perhaps stoppable, and looks set to have a bright future in the game.
With just the away trip to Port Vale left in the normal season the rebuilding process can begin soon and it will be interesting to see how quickly manager Chris Wilder gets his business done this time round.
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Luis Suarez had looked lacklustre during the early stages of the Copa America but picked his form up to fire Uruguay into the final, with two characteristic finishes. He is now joint top of the scoring charts in the competition, and on the brink of becoming a national hero
Whilst his form in the Copa America will delight Liverpool fans, the result of his actions may not, as it delays his return to England even further. His efforts mean the earliest he will now return to the UK is just three weeks before Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Sunderland.
Suarez wasted little time in establishing himself as an Anfield favourite with a series of glorious performances after joining in January and was pivotal to the red’s turn around in fortunes last season. Should he bring success to his country, he will return to Merseyside brimming with confidence, but there is a small cause for concern over his long-term fitness.
After an intense summer, having played eight games for the national side, it is likely that Kenny Dalglish will want Suarez to have some rest and recovery time, which could push his return to Merseyside back even further, throwing his participation in the seasons opener into doubt.
The worry for Liverpool is that he will return jaded-both physically and mentally-after a summer without much time off. Lucas Leiva is another who has been in action at the tournament and will also return to Liverpool late. This shouldn’t worry Liverpool too much as they do have much better strength in depth than previous years, so should be able to cope should Suarez and Lucas not be fit for the opener. They will certainly not want to rush either player back and risk potential injuries or burnout in the long run.
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Suarez wouldn’t be the first to struggle after a heavy summer of matches. Javier Mascherano had a bad start to 2009 after returning from Argentina duty, and struggled for form in a Liverpool shirt for a while, complaining of tiredness, although he also wanted a move away from the red’s which probably affected his form as well.
It will be a long season for Suarez and Liverpool will want to look after their prize possession, to ensure they can get the best out of him. If that means giving him some time off at the start of the season to rest and recuperate and ensure he is in the best shape possible to face the vital season ahead, then surely that is what they will do.
City broke the deadlock in the 29th minute thanks to a goal from Yaya Toure but had to wait until the 73rd before putting the game to bed when Toure's shot struck the post before hitting Green and nestlising into the back of the net.
Adam Johnson made it 3-0 before James Tomkins grabbed a late consolation goal for the Hammers with a powerfull header.
Meanwhile, Alan Pardew's reign as Newcastle manager got off to the perfect start as the Magpies beat Liverpool 3-1 in the late kick off at St James' Park.
Kevein Nolan put Newcastle in front after 15 minutes before Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot levelled matters just after the break. However goals in the last 10 minutes from Joey Barton and Andy Carroll wrapped up the win.
Elsewhere Blackpool continued their fine season with a 1-0 win away at Stoke with DJ Campbell getting the only goal in an entertaining game.
Aston Villa eased their relegation fears with a 2-1 win over Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park.
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Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey put Villa 2-0 in front before Paul Scharner pulled one back for the visitors at the death to set up a tense finale.
Everton and Wigan both remain in relegation trouble after fighting out a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park and so do Fulham who also had to settle for a goalless encounter at home to Sunderland.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Everton’s Leighton Baines is believed to have the option to move to Manchester United or Bayern Munich in the summer, after admitting an interest in leaving Goodison Park, according to Metro.
The left-back has been a solid performer for the Toffees over the last number of seasons, and as such has broken into the England international fold, with inclusion in the Three Lions’ Euro 2012 squad likely.
However, it is believed that the defender is ready for a new challenge, and is drawing a raft of suitors with his combative defending and excellent delivery going forward.
United are in the market for a long-term successor to Patrice Evra, whilst left-back has been a position of difficulty for Bayern this season, who have had to play versatile midfielder David Alaba there to fill a gap.
It is thought that the cash-strapped Merseysiders would accept an offer in the region of £15 million for the defender, but are in no rush to sell as he has three years left on his contract at the club.
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